Lately words have failed me. So I thought I’d post a little montage of the pictures that have been in my mind over the last week. This represents the goings on over a two-day period – the day before and the day of - the wedding. Right now, K and S are in Las Vegas enjoying laying out by the pool and destressing from the prior weeks. I know Kris has told us she’s so glad it’s all over. The wedding was a lot of fun, but it did take a lot of planning and a lot of work on Kris and Sonny’s part – and the part of a lot of others, not the least of which was DH. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as he did to get our home up to a visit from relatives! The best part was the team of people who came in and did the heavy duty cleaning neither of us had the time to do – even with a week off from work.
Anyway, it was a boiling hot day – and so humid, that my reading glasses steamed up when I stepped outside to take a few photographs. Even the lens on my camera steamed up – hence the somewhat foggy view of Kris with her Gavigan/Lefkowitz bridesmaids and flower girls at the house.
My poor Dad had a tough time, with the heat and lack of sleep, but he rallied and it was sooo good to see him and Maureen. Six of John’s seven surviving sibs came, along with spouses – and when his SIL Jackie arrived, I knew the party had STARTED!!!
John had the foresight to get a bus for everyone to get from the reception place to the wedding down in Adelphi – an air-conditioned bus, a handicapped accessible bus! JoAnna went early to Panera and bought sandwiches (she also prepped them) along with coffee and danish for the morning crowd. John and Donald put together three coolers with snacks and soda and water and….well, special water for whoever had the desire and was not in a recovery program (JUST KIDDING). Thus armed, we made our way to the wedding.
The ceremony was delightful, me joyfully striding down the aisle on the arm of our son, D, and DH barely holding back the tears as he walked K down the aisle (not enough room for us both to do it, unfortunately – but that’s oK, I had flower girl duties – as in bribing them with cheerios to keep them quiet once seated – in the meantime).
It took a few minutes for the couple to realize we had not been told to be seated, which made us all laugh – we weren’t even paying attention, either, LOL! The ceremony was quick, with fairly traditional vows exchanged and a reading from 1 Cor 13 – my favorite:) Then a receiving line and pictures.
Then the long drive back to the reception which was a lot of fun. K and S danced to something I didn’t recognize, but it was sweet. DH and K danced to “Landslide” (Stevie Nicks), S and his mom danced to “Sunrise, Sunset”(Fiddler on the Roof), and John and I danced to “Never My Love” (Association) – the song we danced to at our wedding.
The bride and groom asked people to tell them their favorite song in their responses to the wedding invitation. They got what they could find and downloaded the music, then played it at the reception. It was really cool.
The high point of the evening musically for me was getting up and dancing with my kids, my sisters-in-law, granddaughters, and all the other women in the family, singing “We are Family” by Sister Sledge – and also “Don’t stop Believing” by Journey – apparently my kids’ favorite karaoke song (they didn’t know it was also mine and about lost their respective lunches – heh heh heh…).
And in the middle of all the hubbub, I heard “Will You Still Love Me When I’m 64″ (Beatles) and couldn’t help but wonder if Mrs. S. sent that one in…..:)
Later that evening, we had a little get together with John’s sibs and my dad and stepmom back at the house. We all crashed along with the thunder and lightening of the storm that finally invaded after the festivities were over. It was a glorious day.
The next morning I had bells and choir (bells and yells?). Normally, I would have missed if Nancy could have substituted someone for me, but this was her 20th anniversary at SJEC and there was no way I was missing that! She was well and truly surprised and now I can say that the choir was practicing secretly at SJEC when she was on vacation at the end of May and at St. Peter’s down the street, thanks to Tom H., their organist. It was Tom who also did the postlude at the two morning services so Nancy could meet and greet after the service. The funny part was trying to figure out how to get her DH there without tipping him off. Tom’s wife, Donna called him on some pretext or other, but got him there.
The choir sang O Nata Lux, conducted by Barry. She seemed pleased. I wouldn’t have missed that for anything.:)
Afterwards, I slipped over to Baltimore and joined the rest of the family at brunch, drove Dad and Maureen to the train station and then home.
Monday was a day off from work and boy did I need it. Tuesday was catching up on paperwork and today I got ready for court. The weather finally cooled down to the 80s and I HAD TO TURN DOWN A WALK – a much needed walk – WITH NANCY! DAMN~ I was just too far behind at work.
However, tomorrow I have court and then rehearsal at the Baltimore Cathedral for the new Bishop’s consecration at the end of the month. That will be fun.
Oh, and another funny thing: I’m the substitute drummer for the musicians supporting the Bethesda Little Theater’s broadway review. Danny has let me borrow his drums. I’d better not lose so much as a bolt. But What a hoot!!! It’s exhausting dragging the drums around, but it is fun! And I didn’t do too badly:) Well, not that badly… well, they didn’t fire me, LOL!
Well, I’m going to go have some dinner. It’s got to be low-carb because my butt has gotten huge with virtually giving up this winter and then the wedding and pre-wedding eating and drinking. So far, I’ve been behaving this week. But I’ve got a lot of catching up to do there also.
Ah well, such is life!
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