twicketface

I fucking love weddings. Everything about them. The pomp and circumstance, the exchanging of the rings, the first dance of the newly married couple, the crying relatives; everything. Terry and Danielle's wedding was perfect. It was exactly the way I envisioned it and I'm so pleased that everything went so well.

We went to the rehearsal/dinner on Thursday evening at the church. We got our parts down and met Jane, the pastor, who was wearing the loudest 'get-up' I've ever seen on a holy person. She was oozing energy and I later found out she relocated from LA after spending time as both a clown and a stand-up comedian. The dinner was fantastically prepared by the 'church ladies'. With tummies full, we headed to Deja Vu, a local martini bar, for some socializing afterwards. We didn't stay too late, but got a chance to talk with Melissa, the maid-of-honor who was in town from New York. To call her awesome would be an understatement.

Friday morning Marie and I headed to the DMV to get updated driver's licenses with our new address on them (seeing how each of our old ones had addresses from four locations ago, it was time). We were in and out within 30 minutes but not before seeing a cross-section of society often missed. Skulking teenagers sitting with their moms, mulletted men with greasy jeans and a few teeth short of a mouthful explaining how they bought their brother-in-law's truck, women with insanely large hair and penned-in eyebrows scowling over bureaucratic forms - they were all there.

Afterwards Marie parted to get her hair done and have lunch with the girls. I drooled over the cable modem connection and digital cable that will be going away shortly. In a way, I'm offended to have literally hundreds of choices. Is it any wonder why real change is rare and frustrating? Shortly after noon, I made my way over to Terry's hotel room to meet up with him and Brian. We headed over to grab some lunch and then back to the hotel for a few hours of swimming/hot tubbing. We had the place to ourselves and took full advantage. We positioned ourselves in the pool along the edges and all 'ran' in unison the same way for 6 or 7 laps to get the waves going. We then counted to three and then changed directions to struggle against the current. You really had to be there.

We got ready in Terry's room while watching National Lampoon's Vacation and randomly shouting out lines to each other. I left around 3:30 to return home and pick up Marie. She looked simply stunning. How one woman can possess so much beauty is beyond me. We made our way over to the church and nearly had to break a stained-glass window to get inside to the bridal room to retrieve the flowers. Pictures were in the park, with beautiful weather and backgrounds.

We got back to the church and killed some time before the ceremony started. During the entire thing, to borrow a Brian Burns' phrase, I was sweating like a hooker in, well, church. It wasn't all that warm in the building and I wasn't at all nervous, but I couldn't cool down. The ceremony was fantastic and very special. Brian and I helped the photographer haul his equipment around afterwards. We made our way over to the reception site and I got a chance to catch up with some old high school friends I hadn't seen in a long time.

When someone says that your significant other is beautiful/pretty/handsome/whatever, how do you respond? "Thank you" seems dumb, because it's not something I can take credit for. "I know" seems rather jerky. "He/She sure is" sounds better, but still wonky.

Anyway, we had some food and proceeded to chat and bust multiple moves on the dance floor. Melissa and Brian gave great speeches (complete with Brian acting out Terry sleeptalking). I dedicated 'Hot for Teacher' to Terry and Danielle and proceeded to almost give myself a hernia on the dance floor. It was well worth it. I take too much pleasure in watching older people dance.

We stayed until past midnight and went home sweaty and tired. Headed over to Danielle's the next morning for the gift opening. Had a nice chance to talk with people more and eat more food. We left around 4:30 with Tim, Andrea and Carrie B. following us to see the house. They stayed until almost 7:00, which was really nice. We don't see them enough.

Sunday was a work day - I conquered the lawn while Marie put up most of our decorations. We finally got the %*@)ing computer desk together and it's pretty nice. I have callouses on my hands and a sore back, which I think comes with the territory. My grandparents are coming over tomorrow night to see the house, which should be great. Tonight will be grocery and furniture shopping, as Marie and I need nightstands for our huge bedroom.