Learning to Exhale

My day began here...

And ended here...

well, not exactly.

Not at the ocean at least.

I took a half day off.

Picked up some groceries,

unloaded and put them away.

Poured myself a glass of wine,

and headed to the patio.

And THIS was the image on my weather app.

On December 30th.

I feel maybe a wee bit guilty...?

So many other people in the country experiencing bad weather.

And yet we've been blessed this past week with 50 to 70 something weather.

Wow.

Just wow.

I'll take it.

I gotta say it felt pretty awesome sitting on the patio,

having a glass of wine,

the sun playing peekaboo with the clouds,

dressed in light cords,

my new UGGs from Santa,

a long-sleeve T,

and a wool blazer

IN DECEMBER.

Girrrrrllll! Drink it in.

LITERALLY.

"...It’s a Season of Change ...

and the Night We’ve Waited for Is Here.."

It's been exactly one week today...and I'm still smiling broadly inside as I reflect back onto that late afternoon and evening when I witnessed their vows and watched them dance the first dance on the shiny wooden floor, as the crowd smiled, and cheered, some with tears ... myself included...and as I listen even now to their song, I struggle to fight back the happy tears...

(Their first dance...incredibly moving!)

We left town for the wedding on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, taking two cars. My husband drove my youngest son’s car, stopping to get my oldest son (best man) on the way, taking along his mother to deposit her at Aunt Karen’s, who lives an hour and a half away from the wedding. She would stay with Aunt Karen until wedding day, and then the two of them would drive to the wedding together, spend the night with us at the Marriott, and the next morning my husband would drive his mom back home and Aunt Karen would drive back to her home. A good solid plan, avoiding having to babysit “Grandma” while we all busied about the days leading up to the wedding. And so he got a headstart that morning, while I waited for my youngest son to hurry up and get his act together so that we TOO could get on the road.

As it turns out, when we finally got ready to leave, we discovered that my battery was dead. The only car left in the driveway to jump start the dead battery was my husband’s BMW, and we quickly learned that BMW hides their batteries. My son had never jump started a car anyway, and not being able to locate the battery in the BMW made it twice as stressful. After texting back and forth fifty times with my husband, he ended up turning around and driving back home to get my battery started with the car he was driving, the more user-friendly Toyota. They keep their batteries in plain view, bless their hearts.

We finally get on the road two hours later than we had planned. We had an appointment at the tux rental place for all the guys to have their final fitting, which we were not gonna make timely. A call was made and they agreed to move the appointment forward a couple of hours. When we arrived, we hurried in to get their fittings underway. As she was measuring Gavin’s pants leg (who’s been in a major bulking phase since his spring competition), she made a comment about how large his thighs were, and then said, “Are you a body builder?” After a slight hesitation, he replied simply, “Sometimes.” I giggled out loud. Add that to my wedding week quote book!

Leaving there, my sons were starving, Z and C having not eaten since that morning. Gavin informed us that Elisabeth's dad had invited us to join their family at the local Moose Lodge for Wing Night. DEAL. I love good wings, and I was sure if they met HIS approval – notoriously anal about most things, and particularly food – that they’d be delicious. And they were. And their homemade ranch dressing was to die for. I tried a yummy new seasonal beer! We spent a memorable fun-filled evening with the two families, the Present Day Brady Bunch, chowing on wings, beer, and for good measure, macaroni and cheese bites (C’s choice), laughing, and telling stories. The guys ended up going to the next room to shoot pool for an hour or so while the women hung out and continued laughing and bonding and romanticizing of the days ahead. We headed back to our motel and enjoyed a good night’s rest after a long day on the road. Our motel rooms were very nice, accommodating, and the beds were incredibly comfortable. This would be our home for the next few days.

The next morning Lis and I stopped by a local Italian marketplace to buy samples of their cheese to put in the welcome bags I had made for our guests arriving from Georgia and North Carolina. Just walking into that place, Delallo’s , I was intoxicated by the yummy smells of baked bread, cheese, sauces, soups, dips, cakes, cookies – the place was bustling with people and employees. I wanted one of everything!

Up next on our agenda was a 1:00 appointment at Bell’s Banquets where the reception would be held. We had two hours to get that place decorated. Both families were there to help, as well as cousins, best friends, and a few aunts and uncles. Busy as bees, flying around hanging lights, setting and embellishing centerpieces, hanging signs and garland, photos, gift table décor, all of it. It was beautiful, just as they'd wanted -- RUSTIC ELEGANCE --and I couldn’t wait to see all the candles lit, hear the music playing, and get on with the celebration! This place was gorgeous. The PERFECT setting for romance.

The sign I made them...she'd pinned this sign on Pinterest,

and I surprised her with it when we began decorating.

Their wedding theme: The Love Chapter.

The escort card table...
My husband sawed grooves in logs and
I embellished them with moss, acorns and hemlock pine cones.

Lis practiced her Father/Bride dance with her dad on the dance floor -- they're both fabulous dancers -- and Gavin and I practiced our Mom/Groom dance in the parking lot as we were leaving, giggling every step!

Back to the motel, freshen up, then head to the church. Thank God for GPS. I had no idea where any of these places were, but I had street addresses, and that got us there without a hitch. My youngest son C was chauffeuring his older brother Z, and they made it their mission to arrive fashionably late to everything all week – which added to my stress, but it always seemed to work out. (Are they lost? Did they have a wreck? Are you sure they’re coming? Did anyone tell them where we are? Why can’t they be on time just once!) Worry, worry, worry, Mother of the Groom. It never did any good.

Rehearsal went well -- once the groomsmen finally arrived! And then we headed to The Fire Pit, a local favorite restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. It was a long and leisurely dinner, great food, lots of family and friends, and more laughing, bonding, celebrating. I had brisket tacos – one of their specialties and it’s what I was in the mood for – and they were delicious! Afterwards, Uncle Ray – a HOOT! – invited Gavin & Lis and my husband and I over to his home – uh, rather to his man cave, for drinks and chill time. Now THAT man knows how to build a man cave! A garage apartment style, built over his detached garage, beautifully paneled, full bar, huge TV on the wall, video games, overstuffed sofas and fashionable bar stools -- the WORKS. Unreal. And of course ever since, Uncle Ray seems to have a growing list of friends who enjoy hanging out at his place...any wonder??? So yes, we had a blast. Uncle Ray is hysterical! He even offered to chauffeur Grandma and Aunt Karen from the wedding to the reception since they're not GPS saavy. What a guy! Everyone needs an Uncle Ray.

The next day was Thanksgiving. Gavin and Lis would not see each other at all on this day before the wedding. So we took our three sons to see Creed at the matinee showing, then later met our friends from Georgia at the motel afterward, once their flight had arrived. We hung out, catching up and reminiscing in the lobby before heading off to celebrate Thanksgiving Dinner at Cracker Barrel, one of the handful of restaurants open on Thanksgiving Day. It was the first Thanksgiving I’d ever spent away from home in my life. But it was fantastic, spending it with long-time friends we’d not seen since summer at Marco Island. It was a special and memorable opportunity to give thanks – for love and friendships and family and blessings. We stayed up late that night to greet our other "Marco friends" who were driving up from North Carolina, sharing a glass of wine and relaxing with them in the plush, relaxing lobby at the Marriott. I was so blessed that our friends would sacrifice their holiday weekends to celebrate with us so far away!

The next morning I met all the women at her salon, where they served up mimosas and breakfast treats while having our hair done in varying degrees of up-do’s. Lots of giggling, wisecracks and girly banter – what a blast. Even her Grandmother Sally was there; she chose to have a beautiful wide band at the base of her up-do, embellished with bling. So classy! She too was a hoot!

Later in early afternoon, Gavin joined us to get ready with his dad and brothers at our motel, and then we made our way to the church. As usual, his brothers were late leaving the motel and arrived at the church much later than the three of us did. It didn’t bother Gavin in the least. He was calm and collected and assured. This was the day he’d been waiting for, and he was ready, eyes wide open. Life is good. Love is good. God is good. And me? I had never been so proud, so happy. My son was marrying the love of his life…! Suppressing the wave of emotion inside me, I was determined to hold it together.