The Wedding: What a Week!!!!

I somehow managed to survive a very long week full of many things. I thought I would be all rested up by now, but I am not.
~
Last Wednesday I picked up my best friend and her boyfriend in the big fat minivan that I had rented Tuesday afternoon. We went to lunch at a sports bar not realizing that a Rangers play off game was going on. It was packed but once I found the bartender that knew me we were fine and as a matter of fact we seemed to suddenly go from zero to three waitresses. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting them settled into their hotel and then just hanging out at my house.
~
Thursday afternoon, my daughter joined us to pick up Mom and my brother from the airport. We found my brother but Mom had somehow disappeared. She finally turned up and all was well. The eight of us had dinner at my house in a casual manner. It was lasagne and ceasar salad. I didn't even know my daughter and her almost husband were staying for dinner, but we managed and it was fun. It's been a LONG time since there were eight people here at the same time. Oh yeah, Carole and her husband stopped in to give us some of their famous sugared/brandied walnuts, so there were ten people here. (And my brain didn't explode! Yay!)
~
Friday morning I rode with my brother to pick up breakfast from Mom and him and then got ready fro Meals on Wheels. Lo's boyfriend brought her over and we made the rounds. I gave her a last minute out because of her neck surgery last month but she really wanted to go. She has gone with me every time she has visited. (She actually took a picture of me at a door with the food but I forgot to download it for this post. I'm sure I'll use it later as I have no photos of myself delivering for MOW.) We had lunch and brought food back for Mom and my brother and then spent the afternoon visiting.
~
My Sweetie came home from work early and we headed over to the wedding chapel for the rehearsal. It was weird to see my first husband because I had not seen him since 2002. The rehearsal went very well and it was my first time to meet the minister. He was a cool, fun, large bald man. Very casual and relaxed. I liked him. Aftwards, we headed to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Here's a pic of Kate and me:

On Saturday I woke up very relaxed because it was an open day. My brother, Lo and me went to Lowe's to get glass and things to replace a window pane. My brother does home repair and construction and I wanted him to show me how to do it. One of my cats broke a pane years ago and I never bothered to fix it because it was in an unimportant room. Also I wanted to do it myself but didn't know how. While we were there, I suddenly realized that it was October 9th. That was the day of Dad's retirement party twelve years ago. The retirement party where he died. And the three of us had not only been there but had ridden there together in the same car.
~
So there we were standing in an aisle in a home improvement store waiting for a man to cut our glass when I mentioned to them the date and how odd that the three of us were there together. It was a great moment.
~
My brother and I replaced the pane and Lo helped from inside the house. Then Lo and I took off for some last minute shopping and to pick up the flowers. When we got back, Lo's boyfriend came over and the six of us piled into the minivan for dinner out at Razzoo's - a cajun place. After that My Sweetie manned the computer to take requests for youtube songs while Lo and I did all the flower stuff in here. That was fun.:

The next day, Sunday the 10th, was wedding day. Lo's boyfriend brought her over and the five of us loaded the van and headed to the country club to decorate for the reception. I had allowed a lot of time and we finished early so we headed to the bar. It was nice to feel relaxed and not rushed. Then we headed to the wedding chapel.
~
The bride room getting ready stuff was a trip! The steaming of the dress funked up my hairstyle a bit and the maid of honor was not as knowledgable as Lo on a lot of stuff, so Lo ended up sort of doing most of the work. I felt really bad but thanked her a million times afterwards. She really is the best best friend in the world. Don't get me wrong, I really love my daughter's best friend, but she seemed sort of lost on the whole thing and it shows in this picture:

And here is my bestie:

The wedding went very well. We ran a little late, but I walked in and we started. The cool minister introduced My Sweetie and he did the two short readings and then the cool minister did his thing. And then they were married. People filed out. I thought we were going to do pictures, but my daughter had the guy take maybe two or three pics and then announced: We're doing all the rest of the pictures at the reception!! She was ready to go.

~

The reception was fun and it was great to see people I had not seen since the 80's as well as my second husband who I had not seen since around 1997. It was like a surreal reunion of sorts. I can't wait to see the professional pictures. Kate's dad was not happy when she called her two stepdads to be in a picture with her and him. I thought it was hilarious. And I can't wait to see it.

~

And here's the pic Lo took of my brother, Mom and me in the country club bar when we had that free time after decorating:

There's more stuff, but I have run out of steam. Everyone stayed until Tuesday. I should be back into my regular routine shortly. I missed you guys!