Wedding Saga Part II

Friday, June 23^rd

Pros and I woke up early on Friday, and I was somehow famished! It’s probably a good thing we were at a Bed and Breakfast, right? Well, the not so good news was that no meals were included with the room, despite the café being completely open for business. I started to boil over and asked to talk to the owner. She told me that it was tough luck, that she bought the building after I made the reservation with the previous owner, and that no niceties were carried over to us. She was just so curt with me that Pros agreed we needed to take our $100 a night elsewhere. We quickly grabbed the last room at the Quality Inn and paid for our one night stay where we were. The breakfast at the Summit Diner was probably much better than the one Our Coal Miners Café would have offered anyway.

Hey, we’re all entitled to at least one Bridezilla moment, aren’t we?

We finished breakfast and lugged our stuff to our new hotel room. I was thrilled to note that the room had recently been recarpeted and the mattress was new. We then moved on to the next problem for the weekend, which was making sure Cats made it from her Pittsburgh flight (there are no airports in Somerset) to her room before the rehearsal. The storms we had driven through in Ohio were now centered over Pittsburgh, delaying her flight. A further delay was caused when a plane on the next runway landed without its landing gear. Any requests I made to my parents for help getting Cats were not heard, mostly because they were all at Wal-Mart gathering supplies. I was at another boiling point when Pros calmly picked up his phone and arranged for the best man (we’ll call him WineGuy thanks to his oenphile nature) and his wife (Doc) to swing to the airport on their way. As it made more sense for them to go 30 miles out of their way than it did for me to take a 130 round trip, I smooched the stuffing out of my almost husband and made it to my previously scheduled tea.

The Inn at Georgian Place is a little out of place in Somerset, as if someone grabbed a Southern plantation house and set it down on top of a hill in Central Pennsylvania. Their rooms were sadly booked for the entire weekend, so I had reserved the last tea time of the day for my mother and me. She included my sister-in-law (SIL, to keep it simple) and Laurali since they were already staying at Quill Haven Inn with her. Mom gave me my outfit for my wedding night, which surprised me because I had been expecting an elegant penoir set instead of the barely there slip nightie I unwrapped. The blue garter with it was also a little eye-popping. I put it in my purse for the wedding so I'd have something blue. SIL was more quiet than usual, as she was dealing with the suddent death of her grandmother, but she kept up with the conversation and was happy for my sake. Laurali seemed very focused on her bridesmaid tasks ahead of her and was astonished when I whipped out a green amber amulet on a sterling silver chain. Like I was going to forget my best friend!

After tea, I caught a ride back to the hotel after a quick stop at Quill Haven to see my brother, who was working with his VERY TALL friend K on the arrangement for the music he wrote for the wedding (here's a hint, my brother is the one with our great-grandfather's mandolin). As much as I love my family, I was getting a little anxious about the rehearsal, especially with Cats still stuck in Pittsburgh, so I perched myself on the bed, waiting for any news, until I accidentally fell asleep. Woke up in time to throw on a little black dress, call to make sure WineGuy, Doc and Cats were somehow timing their arrival meet us at Green Gables.

To be continued!

Wedding Saga Part I

Thursday, June 22

We get on the road much later than I would have liked, but we had to pick up the tux, drop off the animals (the majority of time spent on that was spent trapping Pandora and forcing her hissing self into the carrier), eat something, load the car... Needless to say, my quiet down time with the family was a fleeting thought.

Little did I know that almost everyone would be caught in situations beyond their control. As Pros and I dodged hailstorms that lined Rte 70, my parents, grandfather and MOH (Laurali) were trapped on the PA Turnpike. An oil truck decided to slam into the wall of a tunnel and leak gas everywhere. Sheesh! They stopped at a conveniently located rest stop for a snack and listened for news with the truckers. Only Pros' father and company arrived in Somerset on time.

We arrived at our hotel around 7pm and found that the change in ownership of the hotel had killed the few things about it (besides locale near the wedding venue) that I liked. No phone or television, not even an alarm clock. Pros had to repair the air conditioning and the bathroom light fixture. We weren't even allowed to park on the same side of the street as the hotel because the preference was given to people eating in the cafe that had bought out the location. This was shrugged off as we joined my family for dinner.

I had thought to call Ruby Tuesday's to warn them a party of six was enroute, but there was a major BIKER RALLY in town, so it was really crowded. To make matters worse, there was a tour bus that arrived before any of us did. Who takes a tour bus to a biker rally?!? It took about 20 mintues, but the six of us were finally seated. Another ten minutes, the server was actually informed that she had people about to attack the salad bar, so we got said salad for free. My grandfather was also in the group, unfortunately alone due to the Alzheimer's which had taken full hold of my dear grandmother. He was having a ball with us, fortunately. The camera was already cranking out the pictures and the flashes, blinding everyone around us. I kept telling myself that I'd appreciate the photos later, and that I could always throw him in the lake at the wedding venue if he didn't behave.

Pros' father, stepmother and stepsister joined us for coffee and conversation. My father was floored at how much Pros' stepsister resembled Alicia Witt, so I'll just call her Alicia for blogging purposes. My brother and his wife? They were still stuck in the middle of two flights, thanks to a mess of weather. My father promised to pick them up so Pros and I could attempt some sleep. This was not an easy feat, considering the door to the hotel was locked in two places and was swollen shut on top of that. Pros managed to kick the door open in a studly manner. The air conditioning was starting to work, and I had moved the annoyingly fragrant candles to another part of the "suite" (two bedrooms connected by a bathroom).

We were dead asleep within minutes, but my eyes soon snapped open with the one horror I should have seen coming. No hair dryer in the room! My hair is rather wavy, and my bangs have a double widow's peak that resembles Ruth Buzzi in "Laugh In" unless they are dried straight. This had me stewing much of the night until I was able to force myself to the reasonable solution of a Walmart run in the morning.

To be continued!

Here we go!

Pros and I are off to the wedding venue. Tra la! Yes, this is the actual location. Pretty, isn't it? A nice place to start a life with someone.

I'll have the details in a few days. Bye!

Waning days of living in sin

Oy, why do I feel like I'm too calm for my own good? My dress is just beautiful, although I'm a little unsure if the zipper is 100% lined up with the pattern in the front of the skirt. The seamstress designed a drawstring to yank the skirt into a perfect bustle, which looks just fabulous! How she managed this, but handed me a choker that is two different widths depending on if it's on the left or right side of my neck is beyond me. I'm steadfastly refusing to sweat the details.

Organizing picture taking details for the photographer's contract is another OY. It's mostly a matter of figuring out as many permutations of family members we can stand before someone needs to bring me something alcoholic. Making matters a little uncomfy is how to arrange pictures with Pros' parents, considering his stepmother has done so much work while his mom is showing up. Slight balancing act.

Apparently, my MOH (well, we only have one attendant each) has been emailing like crazy with several gals who are attending the rehearsal dinner, guaranteeing I'll be whisked away for a bachelorette party. If they try to stick a veil on my head, I may have to hurt someone. I'm not wearing a veil for the actual ceremony! Hopefully, the best man and my brother will take Pros out for a martini or two.

My college roomie Cats is a goddess of a pastor! She's putting together bulletins at her own expense and has done a ton of research to make this a personalized ceremony. With friends like this, who needs rabbis?

The only pain in the butt has been my dad. He grumbled so much about having to drive to airports to get people, I'm doing it myself. This includes getting my brother and his wife in Johnstown (of flood fame), then the pastor in Pittsburgh. Grumble...

Further bulletins as events warrant!

The little ones

I have nothing to really report at the moment (I'm oddly calm considering the insanity that will probably hit next week). Here are the guinea pigs.

Holding pattern

School year is over, which means I'm de facto laid off for the summer. Still haven't heard from any of the places that have my resume, including a couple of school districts. If it weren't for the wedding money coming in, we'd be in big trouble. The most annoying thing at the moment is being completely stir crazy. Maybe I'll go do something exciting like get my oil changed...

I'll admit, I wasn't looking forward to the wedding, but now I'm just looking forward to having something to DO.