Married? Yeah, married.

It had been a while since I had seen Manager. The last time I saw him he had been dating someone for several months and was considering getting proposing to her. Having been married previously, he was slightly uncertain about this life-changing decision. So, when I saw him a few weeks later, it was a bit of a surprise when he mentioned, very nonchalantly, “Did I tell you I got married last Thursday?” Nope, he hadn’t told me.

One of my stylists has a boyfriend who she has been dating for years. Currently, they live in different states while she is attending school. I hadn’t seen her for a couple of months, so I stopped by recently. I had been there for about twenty minutes, just talking about miscellaneous stuff, when she asked, “Anything new in your life since we chatted last?” “No, not much,” I replied, “How about you?” “Hmmm, well, my boyfriend and I decided to get married last Monday. Just went down to the Justice of the Peace and did it.”

I shared these stories with OregganO just before a pedicure and, only minutes later, as we were getting our pedicures, Five Days informed us she and her husband only dated five days before tying the knot. Unbelievable!

With all of these marriages in mind, I followed my heart to Dewey Decimal’s residence (that’s the library for those of you who might not know) and, not surprisingly, found the movie Ira & Abby, just waiting for me to check it out. They decide to get married within hours of meeting each other.

All of this marrying (and a little chest congestion – caused by the weather and not love pains) drove me to my second love, hot Tang. As I was sipping a comforting cup of hot, sweet, tangy goodness, I decided to research marriage. I learned something that 1) didn’t shock me because of where I live, and 2) might be great news for many of you who are soon to be attending family holiday parties and don’t mind long engagements.

Are you ready for it? OK, here goes, you can marry your first cousin if you are both 65 and older. If you really can’t wait that long, and can prove that neither of you are capable of reproduction, you can apply for a waiver and start that two-branched family tree at 55. If, however, you are related to each other within and not including the fifth degree of consanguinity, it’s not going to happen. Kissing cousins, you’re welcome.