The Eve of Doom, pt 3

Friday. The day before the jazz fest. The rehearsal. The rehearsal dinner. We figured if anything bad on a parent level was going to happen, it'd be here, when chaos was the rule.

Consequently, Friday opened with Wendy sick in bed. Whether she'd drank too much Thursday (which isn't the case by her count), or was just nervous, dehydrated and exhausted, she'd slept little that night and was shaking like a leaf. Gatorade saved the day. We dumped her in her mom's bed, pumped her full of G-juice, surrounded her with cats, and generally brought her food when we remembered we valued her life. hehe.

A little before noon, she was filling a bit better, which was good, cause that's when people started showing up. We were having a sammich lunch in the park before the rehearsal. My whole family showed up, as did the boys from down south and Nick. Scratch that, I don't remember my Aunt Judy being there yet. I don't think ANYONE other than Wendy's mom was there for that. Katie and Anthony stayed in the house. Highlight of this shindig was Dale (stepdad) and Dad hooking up like best friends. That was a theme that lasted all weekend and was totally unexpected.

After this meal, we headed south to Oshkosh, with a quick stopover to get the marriage license. Our first taste of the heat to come was about all I remember of the rehearsal. Jessica, the Paine's wedding manager was efficient and Rosie, our officiate, kept it short, so we weren't too hot. At some point, we met Claire, Jessica's assistant, who turned out to be the cause of the only stress we had on Saturday. The guys thought she was hot, so I think for her penance, she needs to bag all three of the single Dogs. Not at the same time, though.

Actually, I thought shit was gonna start early, cause while milling about, Wendy's mom and dad started to get into it. Katie and Wendy cut em off quick, and a good speech from Wendy's mom to her dad during the rehearsal seemed to curtail anything at the dinner later. I still had to give Lynn some serious reassurances at the house a couple of times, but later she said that my pep talks and Don's family's acceptance of it all really smoothed her nerves a lot. Good stuff.

I can't remember much else I wanted to say about the rehearsal, so I'll move onto the dinner.

Grandpa started frying shit up well before the coals were ready, so fish and zucchini was ready LONG before beef and pork products. That upset mom a bit, cause the burgers and brats barely got touched. Didn't upset her enough to kill the party though, and the fish was damn good. Everyone that reads this heard this story all ready, but here it is again.

I told grandpa the fish was a big hit. He just smiled and said, "It always is, Brian. It always is."

Incidentally, it was crappie.

Don, Wendy's dad had a big hit with his home smoked salmon, too.

I would have loved to gnosh on it all, but only had a few bites of crappie and some fruit, cause I was pretty edgy. Pointlessly so, cause the whole even went off uber smooth.

Then, we passed out gifts. Well, after Wendy assured Christy that the entire group of bridesmaids and groomsmen weren't making fun of her. I know that's just the way she is, so I'll keep my thoughts to myself there. Wendy's already heard em, anyway. Back to the gifts.

Wendy got her girls jewelry, some of which I had to take the Dremel tool to. That's always fun. My boys, they got weapons. Katana/wakizashi/tanto set to match Joe's room. Footman's Pike to go on Nick's Bludgeoning/Spikey Wall of Pain. Halberd/spear for Boolah cause it combines with his height to give him insane reach. And a long fucking Scimitar for Country. Because, well, it was that or the stereotypical Claymore that was long enough to accommodate his height, much like Boolah's spear. Actually, I wanted to get him this huge frickin axe, but it cost more than the other three gifts combined, so my wallet fell short.

Unfortunately, after the presentation of gifts, everyone split. Twas barely 8, so I wish the party could have lasted longer.

I was hoping to hang with my dad & co, my mom & co, or the Boys after that, but duty called and we headed to Wendy's dad's. Met a crapload of his family that didn't make it to the dinner, few of which I'll remember, then Wendy's cousin Teddy brought out the mortars and we launched pro quality fireworks into the Appleton skyline until an adult told us to stop. Good times.

After that, home and to bed to prepare for the "big day." All in all, a great rehearsal dinner.

Tune in next time for What Is This Wedding Thing of Which You Speak? or Do What? For How Long? Eesh.....