We're in the Jailhouse Now...

November first is an important date in a lot of ways. It's considered by some to be the pagan new year, as in that tradition Samhain (aka Halloween) marked the turn of the spiritual year. It's also my fairy goddess mother's birthday! (that would be godmother to most folks)
This year it also fell on a Monday. For those reasons and a couple of others, Russell and I decided to perform a civil ceremony - that's right, we got married!
For those of you who are looking forward to our June 11, 2011 wedding, never fear! We're totally still on for that most excellent event! We just had several legal and financial reasons to go ahead and take care of the paperwork aspect of the thing during the 2010 fiscal year.
One important side of it is taxes; getting married will allow us a big tax break, as well as make it easier to file as Orion's parents if we're already hitched. That tax refund will help us pay for the upcoming wedding, so it makes good sense to do it now! Also, Russell's health insurance is both expensive and not very good. Since we're now officially married, I can put him on my plan at TJ's, and we'll all have health, vision, and dental - for a lot less than we were paying. Getting married now saves us money and safeguards our health. Not to mention that it'll be one less thing to worry about at the wedding!
The process was pretty simple. Jo Ann came over to look after Orion (who was not a very cooperative, mellow boy, unfortunately). Russell and I stopped at both our banks and put each other on our checking accounts, therefore to more easily pay bills, etc. We also (finally) opened the savings account for Orion. I'd been holding money that was meant for him in my own savings, but now it's in a special account with his name on it! Yay, college fund!
Then we headed up to Hillsborough to the register of deeds office. The lady there was funny and energetic. We got the paperwork done to get the marriage license and paid the fees. We called Jo Ann, Runyon, and Kevin to let them know we were done there and that they could head on up to the Hillsborough Weaver St. Market to meet us. We grabbed some lunch while we waited, and then everyone (Orion, too) met up with us and walked over to the jailhouse.
That's right, the jailhouse. For some reason the only magistrate in Hillsborough is located in the jailhouse. We walked in to the anteroom, where we were completely ignored by a bunch of officers hanging around behind the glass window, and waited with a group of folks who were in line to see the magistrate. The two groups before us were there on jail/prisoner related business, so no one but us was very happy. There were only two chairs in the waiting area, which were occupied, and the whole place was dark and dingy, with low ceilings and bad lighting. Even the one bathroom was a mess and didn't have a changing table; fortunately Russell and I are adept at changing Orion's diaper in our laps.
Finally it was our turn to step into the magistrate's office, which was similarly cramped and dingy and overly full of stuff. There was a little window into the holding tank of the jail and that was it; no natural light for him! Fortunately, the magistrate (who was also the brother of the register of deeds; weird) was a really nice guy. Our group was in much better spirits than the previous two, and it seemed to brighten up his day. That made me feel pretty good, because other than that it was a grim place to have a marriage ceremony! He was fun, though, and joked around with us while the paperwork got done. Runyon and Kevin signed as witnesses, we said the "I do's" (though no one actually said "I do"; Russell said "Yep!" and I said "Absolutely!") and we shared both a high-five and a kiss! It was actually kinda fun. Afterwards we stopped outside under a big old oak tree and took a few pictures, and that was that - we're married!
We're not planning on changing our names until the wedding in June, as we feel like that's really the event that will bind us together as a wedded couple. For now, we're husband and wife, but the community, spiritual and emotional aspect of it will really change at the ceremony we do in June.
Either way, there's a lot of love here to go around and we're really happy. It's sure been a good week!