Saturday, February 16, 2008

Confluence of Families




I woke a few times through the wee hours of the morning. I easily could’ve upped around 6:30am but forced myself back to sleep for another 45 minutes or so. By then, the kids were already awake and making way too much noise. Mindy admonished them for being too loud. I got up and headed down stairs at 7:10am. I felt terrific.

The kids remained in Bella’s room but continued making an inordinate amount of noise given the early hour. It sounded as though they were jumping off of the bed and onto the air-mattress, which we had already deemed a no-no. I made coffee, fired up my laptop, exercised, and then walked Ykraps. By then the kids had bounced between the basement and Bella’s room a couple of times. I had enough time to relax before taking off on my run. Mindy was up by then, and beginning to prepare our breakfast. I left at 9am.

It was a most relaxing run against a partly sunny sky and more chilly temps. Yet despite the late winter chill, song birds sang away, validating that spring is just around the corner. I listened to NPR while running. I was most pleased with the variety of information I heard this morning. I listened to a piece on President Washington, a true story about one man’s dive into homelessness and his pursuit of the American Dream, and finally a look into Bhangra music.

The smell of maple sausage filed the air as I re-entered the home. Mindy made pancakes too. I was looking forward to some filling grub. I grabbed a piece of sausage directly from the pan. It was so hot it burned my fingers as I bit off a piece. I promptly dropped it. We all enjoyed our pancakes and/or sausage. After breakfast the kids played all over the house. It was difficult for me relax as they went from room to room and then back to the kitchen for more food. They ate all morning long, never allowing the kitchen to be spotless for even just a minute.

Mindy readied Jacob for his party as noon approached. The party would be at Skate of America in Grove-City. Mindy would take Lil’ Rocky home on her way to drop Jacob. And because she’d be in Grove-City, Mindy decided to stop in work to prepare her sub plans for our coming trip. That meant that I’d be home with Bella and Kaileigh all afternoon.

Home with just Bella & Kaileigh went smoothly. They played so well together, and rather quietly too. I was able to work, blog, play Wii, and even steal a short nap. The two girls ate/snacked all afternoon long. Mindy & Jacob returned home between 230-300pm.

Shelly & Joey came to pick-up Kaileigh around 4pm. Where had the day gone? I couldn’t believe that it was 4pm already. We’d be leaving for the wedding in an hour. Yikes! I was still in my running clothes. I headed up for a shower just as they were leaving. We were expecting Rene between 430-445pm. She was coming to watch the kids.

Rene was on time and reviewing the do’s and don’ts with Mindy when I returned from walking Ykraps. It was 5pm on the nose. I really needed to get gas, especially for the airport run in the morning. The Trooper was on “E”. I figured we had enough to make it to Confluence Park. Besides, I didn’t want to show up smelling like gas. We arrived at Confluence around 5:20pm. The place was filling up fast.

I took a couple pictures of Mindy before entering against their picturesque entry way. Immediately inside extended family was hanging out in the corridor leading to the make-shift chapel. We were two of the last to find seats, which at least for a minute proved uncomfortable. We weren’t sure if the empty first, second, and third rows were reserved. Eventually, we seated ourselves in the third row along the aisle. I was in prime position for taking my own wedding photos. While waiting the start of the official ceremony I snapped a few pictures of various family members, including one of Uncle Kenny and his boys. I haven’t seen them all together since Grandma’s 90th birthday party.

Soon the ceremony was underway. Tastefully swift is a good description for the ceremony itself. Just as a side, the bridesmaid dresses were beautiful. That’s rare! The color scheme was black & white. The ceremony lasted no more than 20 minutes beginning to end. We soon found ourselves in the banquet room finely appointed for the reception. Each guest was preassigned to a given table. We were assigned to table #2. We didn’t know it at the time but we were seated along with cousin David and his lovely wife Tracy, brother Bobby, as well as Aunt Char’s old friend Barb and hubby, Mike. There was one open seat. Our table offered a breath taking view of the downtown skyline right on the river. We were located right by the wedding cake. I was most pleased with our seating. You did good Brian!

We had an exceptionally good time chatting with those at our table. I drank only one Heineken, and Mindy one glass of wine. Dinner was served after an hour or so. Mindy and I both specified beef. It was very good. The reception followed a similar script – a speech from the bride’s father and then another from the best man. We learned from Brian and Kim that they would be spending their honeymoon at the same resort Mindy and I spent ours – The Grand Palladium in Riviera Maya, Mexico. They won’t be disappointed.

Soon, the speeches gave way to dancing, and before long the entire floor was full of partiers. Mindy and I gathered our stuff just after 9pm and made our way towards the door. We stopped by dad’s table to discuss once more tomorrow morning’s airport plans. We also hugged all the cousins goodbye. Before leaving, Mindy couldn’t resist asking dad to dance. They cut it up for about five minutes all the while I waited patiently by the door. Brian & Kim planned a very nice wedding to be sure.

My first order of business was to get gas. We took Spring St west, which is route 33. We stopped at the BP station at the corner of Grandview Avenue. The Trooper took 19.5 gallons. And since we were essentially right next door, we opted to stop in at Barley’s for one beer –an IPA. While there we ordered some sauerkraut balls too. We left a VM for Bob Imber whom we assumed would be arriving home from skiing. He called back while we sat at the bar. He was watching a movie with Mary Ann – On Golden Pond, I think.
Anyway, they weren’t about to come out. We agreed to touch base mid-week to nail down any final details for our exciting, and surely fun-filled trip.

We arrived home around 10:30pm. Rene was napping on the sofa watching a movie. I cracked open a Snow Cap Ale. We chatted for about 45 minutes before Rene left for home and we headed up to bed.

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