time: 9:15 p.m.
about: family weekend
This weekend was all about the family. Both sides of my family were in town these past three days and hitting them both took up pretty much all of my time. So here's a recap, cause I know you've all been waiting for a really long entry such as this one that follows.
Friday: Friday night was the wedding rehearsal. My cousin Janel (mom's side) and her fiancé (now husband) Aaron married this weekend. So Friday night, my mom, sister, and I had to go to the church for the rehearsal. I was an usher in the wedding, along with my cousin Jeremy (Janel's brother), and my sister was the guestbook/greeter person. The rehearsal lasted about an hour. Jeremy and I had to learn how to light the candles, how to lay out the runner down the aisle (we actually had to mime that; as we walked down the aisle, Jeremy said exactly what I was thinking: "I couldn't feel more stupid right now"), how to escort the grandparents and parents to their seats, how to dismiss everyone, and, most importantly, which side was the bride's and which side was the groom's.
After that, everyone at the rehearsal went to the Pasta House Co. for dinner. The dinner was a choice between chicken parmesan or chicken flamingo (I personally went with the parmesan). What I didn't know was that there were also appetizers of toasted ravioli and warm rolls. I wasn't really all that hungry to begin with, but I scarfed down the ravioli anyway. By the time the subpar entrees came, I was completely full, but I tried it anyway. The noodles were okay, but the chicken sucked. It didn't matter anyway, it all came back up in the bathroom before dessert arrived.
I hung out with the guys later that night and we shot off some fireworks down in Arnold. Good times. Good, legal times.
Saturday: Saturday was the wedding. Jeremy and I had to arrive at the church at 1, dressed and ready to go. I suited up in my tux—I love those things—picked up Katie, and drove down to the church. After an hour of pictures with the bride and bridesmaids, it was time for the groom to get pictures with the groomsmen and the ushers. The nutso photographer (who paid kids quarters to pose) made us all one-by-one put our left hand on Aaron's back, shake his hand, and smile big. Once that was done, the groomsmen lined up and Jeremy and I crouched down in front of them for a group shot (says Jeremy, "I could never be a catcher, dude").
The wedding started at three. It started off with Jeremy and I lighting the candles. We each had these shiny chrome-looking click lighters and I put mine in my inside jacket pocket and practiced sliding it out with just two fingers ("that was awesome, dude, you're like all Pulp Fiction with it"). We did that, seated the grandparents, slid the runner all the way down the aisle without it getting stuck, and then took a seat for the rest of it. It was a really short wedding (with just a couple miniscule mishaps) and before I knew it, Jeremy and I were escorting the grandparents out of the church.
The reception wasn't until 7, and Jeremy and I didn't have to go with the rest of the wedding party for pictures in the park, so there was over 3 hours to kill. I ended up at Applebee's for a very early dinner with Katie, my mom, Kenny, Dan, and Shannon. We all ate appetizers and parted. I went to Katie's for awhile and helped her do some coloring, then we left for the reception a little after 6. The reception was at the Moolah Shriners' Hall way the hell up north, a good 45 minute drive. When we got there, the first thing I noticed (other than how cold it was) was the large ice sculpture in the back of the room. It was two swans with entwined necks above two solid hearts, one engraved with Janel, the other with Aaron. On the other side of the head table was the wedding cake, a three tiered cake building with stairs, two heart shaped landings, and even a miniture working fountain underneath it. The buffet was good (although I wasn't hungry at all) and the open bar looked great. Even though several people offered to get me something and even though they would've given me alcohol anyway (my sister got a 7-7 from them), I decided not to drink anything because (1) I was driving, and (2) I don't drink. Katie being there also had something to do with it, which I'm glad for, keeping me off the stuff. The DJ was pretty good except for taking at least five minutes to explain the Cha-Cha Slide, but we danced the night away anyway and I got some good dances for my dollars (pics later). I also got some great dances I didn't have to pay for. ^_~ I wanted to stay longer, but I had to drive my brother home so he could get up early (why he didn't ride with my mom, who left no more than three minutes earlier, I don't know). After a very inconvenient stop for (who else?) Dan, I dropped him and Shannon off at my dad's and then took Katie home.
Sunday: Sunday was the day for my dad's side of the family. I worked until four and then went over to Sue's house for the barbecue that had already started at exactly two-ish. It was both a graduation barbecue for me and a farewell barbecue for my aunt, uncle, and three cousins who were moving back to California. I saw some relatives I hadn't seen in awhile and I got to meet my new uncle Chip (didn't get to talk to him, really, but he seems like a pretty good guy). I had been praying for rain all day, but my prayers weren't answered until I got to Sue's. As all of you know, it poured like a bitch. We lost power, but luckily only for about 90 seconds. Katie came over after the rain stopped and we sat talking to all my relatives until about 8 or so, when we promptly "blew that popsicle stand" and headed to my mom's to watch a movie. We let my mom choose the movie (big mistake) and ended up turning off Road To Perdition halfway through. It sucked that bad. My mom told us the rest of it for some closure and then we put in Under the Tuscan Sun and watched it all the way through. The movie lasted us all the way to 11:45. I took Katie back to her powerless home—more like powerless subdivision—and called it a night.
Monday: Monday was a leisurely day. All of my dad's family left that morning. At 1, I met up with a bunch of friends to play football. Everyone showed up with baseball gloves. We played football, two-touch, no gloves. Eventually, though, we did play some baseball (I was way past the point of caring by then) before losing so many people that the teams became unnecessarily lopsided. Stephan, Riv, Jake, and I went back to my house for awhile, then moved on to Mike Rich's house for some corkball, which was really fun, both to play and watch.
Today: Today went by pretty fast. In Calculus, I learned that I can skip the final and keep my A (albeit a very low one), and in Mechanical Drawing, I got to plot my house on the big printer. I hauled ass home after school so that I could ride with my dad and sister out to the airport. We took my aunt and two cousins out there to catch a plane to Texas (my uncle and other cousin were already on their way to California by car). We ate lunch at Applebee's (I had the Honey BBQ Boneless Wings for the second time in four days) in the Gravois Bluffs plaza which I realized that I need to shop in the next week or so. We had some time to kill, so we took a little stop at Swing-Around Fun Town. I played two rounds of DDRMAX2 (8 dances) a little above my ability level. Sweat was literally dripping off my face during the last dance, something that doesn't often happen to me. I had some serious fun, though, and once again realized that I need my own home set-up, especially before college. Not because of the fun, but because at home I'm not playing next to someone who is insanely good and making me look insanely bad. (Yes, there was an insanely good kid there today, dancing away the Tuesday afternoon.) We made it to the airport right on time.
I was back in Oak-boogie in plenty of time for work at 3:30. It was a pretty busy day for some reason, but I didn't mind. At least I wasn't pushing the carts for long. Story: Some lady bitched me out today over lettuce. Some of the bagged lettuce is "Buy One Get One Free". The sign says "all varieties - California Crisp". The California Crisp is like a line of lettuce (one of two by this company) with sub-varieties, different make-up of lettuce in the bag. Anyway, the lady had one that wasn't on sale (the sign was nowhere near the stuff she picked up) and I did a quick price check and told her this. So she starts yelling at me about how the sign is misleading and now she's gotta go all the way back to get something she doesn't want and blah blah blah. I listened for about four seconds before just walking away and bagging someone else's groceries. When the lady wouldn't shut up, another checker went and proved her wrong once again and she got real pissed and stormed out of the store. It's funny how she thinks we care that she's never coming back. With a bitch attitude like that, we don't want her back.
So that was my crazy weekend which was one of the funnest I've had in a while (discounting Prom). Only three more days of school left and then Pointfest and everything will be wonderful. I'm so amped.
Family Guy,
Drew
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