Anticipation!

Anticipation.  It may the best part of a vacation.  Today we leave on a vacation we actually planned 12 years ago, so the build up is a little high on this one. 

12 years ago, when my wife and I first decided to get married, we thought about a honeymoon.  We were living in Russia at the time and thought the Maldives looked like a pretty good place to spend a week or so.  It was not too far away and, more importantly, seemed like a pretty relaxing get-a-way. 

The idea was that we would be married in Russia by the Ministry of Marriages (you can’t make this stuff up) in one of those Soviet style buildings (as one does in Russia) and head directly off to our tropical paradise.  As with the best-laid plans, this never happened, because the Ministry of Marriages would not process our paperwork.

You have to remember, this was the post-Soviet era and everyone had “privatized” their respective departments.  The ministry of marriage was no exception.  In our first meeting with said ministry, I was asked to produce a government issued document that stated that I had never been married.  At first this seemed ridiculous, but then I realized that, once again, we were playing the bribe game.  I argued there was no such document and she argued nothing could be done without it.  The culmination of the game is when the bribee offers, out of the goodness of their heart, to make the obstacle go away for a small fee – cash only, of course.  This time, though, I was not playing. It was one thing to ask for a bribe to get out of a traffic ticket or to get a good seat at the theater (I had come to except and expense these as routine), but to mess with a person’s marriage was too much.  I gave the woman a serious lecture and stormed out … thus ended any chance of ever being married in Russia. 

Not long after, my posting in Russia ended and we decided it was easier just to get married in the US.  After returning, we drove out to Alexandria VA, got the license, scooted across the street to the Justice of the Peace and were married.  The next morning we went to Disney World! 

So, you can image, the one place we, as a couple have always dreamed of, is now at our fingertips and the hype is just too much to bear.  Hopefully, the substance matches the sizzle!