Todd's Visit

The post I just finally published was written on Thursday evening.  Since then, we've had a wonderful couple of days.  Here are a couple of photos we took half an hour ago when Todd left to drive back up to San Fran in time for work at 3:00 pm.

(Taken by me)

(Taken by Todd)

I must now convince him that longer arms don't necessarily make for better self-portraits!

On Thursday evening, we relaxed for awhile at the apartment and then - since my original plan for that night had been for a gym workout/ dinner with Chrissie - we decided to scrap the workout part (bad bride!) and just meet up with Chrissie at Miceli's for a scrumptious Italian dinner.  Then, Todd and I headed back to my apartment, and I just reveled in the fact that he was actually here, having the feeling of a spoiled child that gets exactly what she's been hoping for. :-)

On Friday, I headed to work (somewhat less enthusiastically than previously) and spent a fairly calm morning researching and writing.  At lunchtime, Todd and I met up downtown, explored a bit, and went to Quizno's for sandwiches.  I discovered that, just down the street from the FPD, in the completely opposite direction from where I'd always gone, there is a bustling little shopping/eating center perfect for going to at lunchtime!  There are several sandwich shops, a chinese place, Johnny Rockets, and a few clothing stores, including the spectacular-but-hard-to-pull-off-on-an-imperfect-body, American Apparel.

That afternoon, there was an office party to celebrate the administrative staff moving to a new building across the street.  It was a great opportunity to meet everyone, and I went up to as many random people as I could and introduced myself.  

About halfway through the party, I saw these two upper-middle-aged gentleman standing in a corner, not really talking to anyone, and so I went over to say "hi."  The men introduced themselves as "Sean" and "Dean," and I realized with a shock that I was meeting the Federal Public Defender and his Chief Assistant FPD, whom Ali (my supervising attorney) had forgotten to introduce me to when I arrived.  Although my face  did turn beet red upon recognition of who they were, we had a great conversation.  Dean told me I should come up to his office next week for coffee and a chat, and Sean was talking about how he was going to run the LA Marathon this weekend.  They were just such friendly, unprepossessing people, and I'm actually glad I didn't know who they were before I met them, or else I probably wouldn't have had the courage to go over!

Todd picked me up after work (and a change of clothes) and we decided to drive to Disneyland.  We wanted to go someplace where we could just wander around and spend time with each other (rather than see a movie, or something like that).  Once we arrived, we went on the Matterhorn, walked around, had literally the best pizza in the world at Naples (SO excited about having the rehearsal dinner on the terrazza there!) and then watched the fireworks from a good vantage point at 9:25.  There's something so - alright, magical - about just standing together looking up at a dark sky exploding with light and sound, just enjoying the spectacle with one another.

We headed home after that and slept very soundly.  Then, this morning, Todd was off!  But he'll be back next Thursday, so that we can see Up at the El Capitan with a bunch of friends!

As much as I hate to admit this (liking to think of myself as a strong, independent woman - but maybe the two aren't incompatible), a large part of me just doesn't feel right when Todd's not with me.  Sure, it's a blast to see friends, re-discover LA, and work at a pretty terrific place, but I'm just not the same person I was three and half years ago.  I'm someone's partner now, and I like that, and I love the fact that I'm going through life with Todd.  Now, you could call that co-dependence but you could also call it just the realization (as Jack Johnson once said in a song) that "everything's better when we're together."  I think having a partner doesn't make you less your own person, it just makes what you do more connected to another.  And that connection is the steady and sweet feeling people call love... 

I wouldn't have it any other way!