Weekend report: July 14/15/16

This past weekend was a busy one. Every time I think about it, my mind goes numb. There are lots of thoughts in there but they’re muddling each other up. I guess the best place to start is the beginning (watch out, I think this will be a long one)…

Friday:

We drove into London just in time for quick snack, then off to my mani/pedi appointment. It is a totally surreal experience to walk into a salon and realize that the whole place is populated with people related to you! I felt like it was Christmas dinner all over again. So when my mom told me that my cousin’s uncle owned the salon, she really meant that he owned the salon, his brothers, sisters and in-laws all worked there and also that my relatives go in there all the time to get their nails done. Ah well. I got a free pedicure and French manicure so I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Later that night my mother and I went to pick up my dresses from the designer. I am really second guessing the black/red/white dress. I don’t like it as much as I first did but now that it’s been custom fitted, I guess I will have to just live with it.

Saturday:

Woke up with a headache and popped 2 Tylenols. Headache disappeared but was promptly replaced by extreme nausea. Eventually I figured out that it was just my nerves, but the nausea stuck with me most of the day. I have really mixed feelings about my shower. When my mother and I got there, it was all Mike’s family and my two bridesmaids. The women on my side of the family arrived late. I think a turnout of 21 people is pretty good…. However the size of the room and the amount of food just made it seem like a tiny bit of people. My biggest disappointment was that not one of my friends came. Not one. I know that London is a pretty far drive for most people. I also spoke with a few of my friends about them not being able to come, which was very thoughtful. Adele put together a scrapbook of the replies from a bunch of my other friends so that I could see that they were sorry they couldn’t make it. What disappointed me was that there were a lot of my friends who didn’t respond at all, which has got me rethinking my relationships with them. Before this sounds too much like whining, I’m not upset… I just feel a bit let down. It doesn’t help when your cousin pulls you aside and asks you where “all your friends” are. I’m a big loser, what else can I say? The overall sentiment was nice though. I received some very generous, very thoughtful gifts. The part I hated most was being the centre of attention while I opened them! This is why I didn’t want a shower in the first place. I think more than anything, I was glad to have both sides of the family finally meet and that everyone got along well. We played a few games and I guess people got to know me better, so that was nice. I have to say… of the 3 showers I’ve been to this summer, my own was the least fun. Maybe if I had been attending as a guest, it would have been different?

Meanwhile… as all this estrogen was being mixed and mingled, the boys took Mike to Grand Bend for his bachelor party. From the sounds of it he had a lot of fun and it was the perfect type of bachelor party for him, which I’m really happy about. Unfortunately he imbibed a bit too much and was too hung over the next day to make it to any of our appointments!

Sunday:

After failing to get Mike out of bed, I went to meet with our decorator/florist by myself. She was thoroughly unpleasant and it seemed as though she had forgotten that I was coming over at 10. She was much nicer to us before we booked her. Now that she’s got our business she has been quite hard to keep in touch with and totally let us down with the flowers she was supposed to prepare for me to give to Adele as a shower thank-you the day before. She basically wanted me to tell her what to do, rather than give me advice on what would be best. I know nothing about décor or flowers… this is why we brought her into this mess. She also made me feel quite stupid about not having a minute by minute itinerary ready 6 weeks before the wedding. After that, I had to go to mass by myself. We had made an appointment to meet with the soloist after mass and since I was alone, I didn’t know what else to do to kill an hour… so I just went to mass. It was weird doing all that without Mike. After mass I met with Andrew – a very sweet young man. He chatted with me a bit and then we went up to the organ loft to coordinate with the organist. Luckily, Andrew’s fee is half of what the music coordinator’s was, so that’s a nice surprise. After that, I tried to drop off our marriage license at the rectory office, but it was closed so I went home to find Mike still in bed. Eventually he got up and puttered around. I stripped some of the paint from my dad’s garage and finally gave up b/c of the heat. Then we raided my mother’s fridge for dinner and headed home.

All I can say is that I’m glad I don’t have to repeat this weekend ever again. Probalby just about as glad as my readers are not to have to read this much again.