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| The Cat Move |
My feline husbandry tactics were on full display yesterday as
I herded the PanaGals, et al, north into New Hampshire for the start of my son’s
wedding weekend. We stopped first at the
MEF’s parents house to set up for the rehearsal dinner which was our
responsibility. All the PanaGals dove in
to assist and after some furniture moving and table setting up the males were relegated
to watching the ladies transform the house into a five star restaurant.
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| MEF With Her Bridesmaids |
While moving the furniture the MEF’s cat took exception to
his playground’s move. He staged a sit
down strike on top while I was moving it down to the basement. More than a little nervous moving something
downstairs with a pissed off cat inches from my face but these type adventures
are what makes a full life Everything was
set up as we waited for the final piece which was the dessert, gourmet cupcakes
supplied by the Maine musquetera. She
makes great pastries and is completely incapable of arriving on time
anywhere. Everyone was nervous about
this weak link in our execution schedule and it turned out to be as bad as
feared. She got lost three times and
eventually I (with my vast knowledge of the Hudson, NH environs) talked her in
the last two miles. Fortunately the
quality of her friendship and the taste of her cupcakes mitigates against
getting truly angry with her.
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| Son and His Groomsmen |
The cupcake waiting period robbed us of the planned down
time resting in the hotel, the Crowne Plaza in Nashua. We dashed there with some GPS mis-direction,
checked in, and changed in time to get back into the car for the
rehearsal. We did run into my college
roommate and the Keene Friend in the lobby and established plans for a
post-rehearsal rendezvous.
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| The Rehearsal with the Group Offering Advice to son and MEF |
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| The Mothers of Couple |
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| My Daughter Practicing her Bridesmaid Entrance |
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| My Son Appreciating His Sister's Technique |
The rehearsal went longer than planned as the priest was
into the sound of his own voice and wit.
He did have us go through something pretty cool though when he asked the
entire group to individually offer
advice to my son and the MEF. My wife
was panicking when her time was approaching but I told her to just speak from
her heart and she delivered the best comments of the evening. She said she had prayed long and hard that
our son would find a woman who understood and appreciated him and that her prayers
were answered when he found the MEF.
We then adjourned to the rehearsal dinner which went off
without a hitch. The caterers were
already on site and the food was more than delicious. I thought we’d bought too much beer but then
my son’s groomsmen disabused me of that thought with a devastating attack on
our reserves. It was a great night of camaraderie
surrounded by the special people in my son and the MEF’s lives. The biggest surprise came at the end as they were
handing out gifts to their bridesmaids and groomsmen. They finished by giving an all expense paid
cruise to Bermuda to the MEF’s parents and my wife and I. We’re all going together next May. Have I told you how impossibly cool these two
are?
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| The Rehearsal Dinner |
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| My Daughter, Son, and The MEF Making Speeches |
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| My Wife's Reaction To the Bermuda Trip |
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| The Parents and the Soon to be Wedded Couple Showing Off Our Gifts |
After a quick cleanup we ended up back in the hotel bar
where we found my brother in law, sister, and college roommate surrounded by the
PanaGals. They had linked up at some
point in the night and were well on their way to completely dominating the
room. We fell in on the festivities and
may have set a new record for the amount of laughter. Each new wedding guest that arrived was
greeted with a large cheer that had the other bar patrons wondering what they
had wandered into. My son and Wing Man
emerged from a self-imposed cloud of cigar smoke to join the fun as we also
marked my daughter’s and Wing Man’s fifth wedding anniversary. They have lost none of the ability to bring a
crowd together and deliver a fantastic evening of fun. If yesterday was any indication, I would say,
with no overstating whatsoever, that the Best Weekend Ever (daughter’s wedding
5 years ago) may have some competition brewing.
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| My Brother in Law Surrounded by his Harem of PanaGals as We Found him in Hotel Bar |
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| Wing Man, Son and Keene Friend in the Bar |
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