Happy three-day weekend to all.  Mine was more of a nice round six-day, as I was on vacation starting last Wednesday.  Wednesday I did absolutely nothing, then Thursday we flew to Cincinnati for Ed & Kim’s wedding.  I’m not sure exactly what the big hurry was, but apparently they felt they had to get all hitched up, official-like.  You’d think they would want to kind of test the waters first, maybe get to know each other.  But, hey, to each their own.  Donette was one of the bridesmaids, so she went to a luncheon and then the rehearsal on Friday.  Meanwhile, I took this time for my “down day” and hung out reading at the hotel pool all afternoon.  I probably haven’t shed my shirt in public for around three years now, so I figured it was time to catch a few rays.  What the heck, I don’t know these people or their dinner plans, so I didn’t really care if I ruined a few appetites.  So, I popped in the headphones and set about reading “The Dante Club,” which I’ve had for a few years but never got around to opening.  A few hours later, I was rather startled to notice that the air had an odd reddish hue to it.  Curious as to what was causing this peculiar atmospheric condition, I glanced up at the sky, half expecting to see some kind of ominous storm clouds.  Alas, it was not the sky at all, but the glow radiating from my fully baked chest.  And my belly, previously comparable in color to the underside of a catfish, had taken on an almost purple tint.  Seriously alarmed, I threw on my sandals to head inside, and quickly discovered my feet were also near blistering.  Good grief.  I tried to “tough it out” for the rest of the weekend, but it sort of took the wind out of me.  Movement of any kind was a bit torturous.  Donette, with her typically compassionate nature, reminded me that “If I would have been at the wedding rehearsal like I was supposed to be, that wouldn’t have happened.”

The rest of the weekend was spent gingerly shuffling around enjoying the nuptial events.  The rehearsal dinner was Friday evening, which was a lot of fun.  I had an awesome filet mignon, which was I believe the first steak I’d tackled since getting these stupid braces.  I must say, it was worth the effort.  Saturday was pretty much all-day wedding stuff.  Donette went to Kim’s house about 10:00 in the morning, where all the girls met up to have their hair and makeup done.  Ed’s brother Tim picked me up around 11:00 and we went over to the hotel where the boys were staying, where I found them bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, furiously preparing for the day ahead.  (And that’s the honest truth, no matter what stories may have leaked to the press.  Well, maybe not the whole truth, but they did in fact at some point get ready.  Details are of no consequence here.)  The rest of the afternoon was spent on pictures, driving to the church, etc, etc.  The ceremony itself was at 5:00, in a very nice, if a bit warmish cathedral downtown.  You’ve all been to weddings, I don’t suppose I need a lot of detail here.  After that was the reception, highlighted by I would say the best wedding band I’ve seen since one of our friends hired Swingcrew.  They were called “The Mistics” and they were quite entertaining to say the least.  They had everybody out dancing on the first song they played, and I don’t think anybody left the floor from then on.  Well, everyone but me…  My sunburned feet hurt, you know.

Sunday we flew back home, picked up Gabe, and pretty much shut ourselves in the house for the rest of the long weekend.  I have a brisket on the smoker today, so we’ll see how that project turns out shortly.  I posted a few pictures of the wedding in my photo gallery;  For much more comprehensive coverage check out Claire’s (Ed’s Mom) page on flikr though.  She doesn’t have the actual wedding pics up yet I see, but it’s a safe bet they will be there soon, and in the meantime there are “a few” photos of the rehearsal and stuff to keep you busy.