The wedding

First things first. Today is officially the start of summer vacation for me. I have not heard from my old job yet. I chose to believe that this is a good sign. They are carefully mulling things over, knowing that the earliest that I would like to start work is July 2. Queenie has to go into work today. I stayed there until about 4:15 yesterday because I would be damned if I would have to go in another day.

So now for the weekend recap. After not getting my bag last Thursday afternoon, Emerald and I hit the road south. During the drive, she shared with me that while she had thought it would be a total girls' weekend, she was mistaken. As it turns out, Emerald is now expecting child number two. The news spread like wildfire at the reception. Maybe the wedding as well but we didn't attend the wedding.

About a month ago, Kate called up with a request. There was a bunch of stuff that she wanted done at the reception site that the catering folks would not take care of. She asked if Emerald and I would be willing to skip the wedding to take care of things. We quickly agreed. I don't know if I've said it enough times before but Kate, Emerald, and Jade are my best friends in the world and I would do anything for them. Including that the reception site meets the bride's expectations. So Emerald and I spent Friday afternoon setting up the candy bar and the favors on the tables. Just 150 place settings thank goodness. Because there was a printed menu, a card, and three other gifts for each guest. We finished up near 6:00 -- just enough time to run to the hotel next door to get cleaned up for the reception.

I spent the early part of the reception hanging out with the priest. (I'm sorry that I just made you spit out what you were drinking just now.) He was the coolest priest I have ever met. I told Kate that if he wasn't a priest, I'd marry him. After that things become kind of blurry. Must have been the open bar. I do remember that none of the adults would really dance so Kate's sister and I hit the dance floor with the kids in attendance -- about ten or so kids, aged four through twelve. Hours of dancing with said kids was involved.

Saturday we headed to Kate's parents' house for a cookout -- beef, chicken, kielbasa, shrimp, scallops. And don't even get me started on the desserts. Kate's relatives explained to me that this whole second party is a Polish tradition. They told me the Polish word for it but, of course, I have forgotten it now. What I thought was really cool was that many of Kate's relatives also speak Spanish which meant that they were able to communicate with her new Columbian in-laws.

Kate was grateful for our help. So grateful that she gave us a gift. (On Friday when I was about to drive off from her mom's house in the behemoth of the white Bronco, her mom asked how much I charged for my wedding planning assistance. At the time I was more concerned with being a black chick driving a white Bronco in SoCal.)


Isn't it beautiful?

It was hard to return to reality yesterday but I did. Now I'm sitting with boxes of books in my living room that somehow need to disappear by Saturday in time for my party. But first, daytime TV calls.