From A to Z... From B to M....Since when was alphabetical order so important?

After a year and a half of being engaged, you'd think I would be ready for ANYTHING. And I was. My photographer even pointed out to me that I was the most organized bride she has ever dealt with. HA! That was a great compliment, even better than the standard "You are the most beautiful bride ever"... I mean, don't take me wrong, I was looking pretty good and I must agree, my dress was the nicest dress that I had ever laid eyes on... but for me, this compliment of being organized was unique and, what I will coin as an "affecting" compliment. It affected me because it was something that I worked hard at not only in planning my wedding but in life in general. I guess it comes with being a teacher.... being organized and yearning for structure. Without organization, you have CHAOS. And no bride wants chaos on their wedding day. So thank you, Jacqui, for that compliment.

As a newlybride, however, it is more difficult to plan the outcome and be structured in your marriage. Well, number one, you have a newlyhusband in the mix, but this is easy. I have known him long enough to "control" enough of the spontaneity and avoid the chaos. And men are quite simple and easy to predict. Structuring the newlyhusband (I'm sorry Matt, I mean Structuring WITH the newlyhusband..Sometimes it is better for the newlyhusband to think they are the structurers and not the structurees)... CHECK! Okay... structuring the living situation... CHECK! We are so good, this was done a year ago when I moved in! We are doing good ladies....

So here I am feeling great... La-Di-Da... I am feeling gooooood and structured and there is NO chaos and, man, this whole marriage thing is soooo predictable and there are no changes and life is PEACHY... .But, WAIT! What? There was the SILLIEST little thing that just had to go ahead and THROW ME OFF my nice structured transition into my new life as a Mrs.

A Mrs. M that is.

It was the last day of our Honeymoon in St. Lucia. Sad, yes, I know. Our bags were packed and we're waiting in the lobby of the resort waiting for our shuttle to shuttle us off to the airport. Waiting for an hour or so, you just want to get this dreary day of travelling rolling already! YES! The shuttle is here! We jump up and are first in line! Haha suckers! And then this resort lady pulls out a clipboard to check off our names.... I am about to give out our name when she starts calling out names. Okay, that is fine... but wait a minute, she is starting with the As... That's okay, I am a B.... or NOT ANYMORE! It dawns on me... I am NOT at the top of the alphabetical list anymore! WHAT! This can't be happening... As all the As and Bs get on the first shuttle, we have to wait. WAIT! Can you believe it? Another shuttle is here and everyone up to F gets on... This is crazy. Why do I feel so jipped? I am no longer a B. I am an M. This is a BIG CHANGE for me. I will have to get used to being called later in the alphabetical order. There was just something so satisfying about being a B... like I was more important or something... I got my diploma before the Ms and it is always easy to look up my name on a seating chart because it was right at the top. It's alright, I can get used to this. But I will have to prepare the kids one day. I hope they are not jealous of their B friends? Of course they won't be, this is just so silly. But just in case, maybe we should name them Aaron or Alison to put their first name at the top.

This was such a small detail that I overlooked and did not prepare myself for but I do not like to overlook anything. It was not even a big deal at all. I think I might have just looked over at my hubby and said, "Oh man. I am not a B anymore. We have to wait" and that was that. I guess the messsage that I took from this little epiphany of mine was that there will be so many little changes that marriage will bring that I did not even think about. I may like structure, but I do like surprises and challenges once in a while and try to take them in a positive way. As a newlybride, I am ready and excited for what marriage will throw at me. What will it be next?

You know, we eventually got on the third shuttle. (Good thing I'm not a Z!)