It's All Right

So OK--a ton has happened since my last post so I'll just hit the highlights.

The rehearsal went really well. During the first run through, after Sara pronounced us husband and wife and Dave and I kissed, Joey (the older of my two younger bros) yelled out, "Hey! Get your hands off my sister!" Pretty funny actually. Dinner was fantastic, and Dave gave a nifty off-the-cuff speech.

The actual wedding day was hectic. The power went out sometime mid-morning and didn't pop back on until almost one o'clock. Yeah. Panic much? Luckily Sara was uber-cool about everything. Everyone was running behind but she just pitched right in and got things moving. She was officiant/photog assistant/family herder/wedding site liaison/greeter/tailor/insert randomness here.

Because the stress level was high, Marcos decided to slip in one of his trademark laidback jokes to calm everyone down. We were taking pre-wedding photos (me, Dave, my mom and dad, Joey, Marcos, & Tricia), and Marcos semi-whispers, "Dave, don't it! You're throwing your life away!"

Yeah. Lots of laughs on that one.

After that, it was smooth sailing. Well. There was one recurrent problem, but I'm not really ready to hash that one out in public. So yeah. Everything went really well after that. The Kyle House was gorgeously decorated. The ceremony went off without a major snafu. Hell, I didn't even trip over my dress and face plant down the aisle!

The food was amazing, and the cake was scrumptious. I loved meeting new family, making new friends, and catching up with old friends. Speaking of friends! I heard some fantastic news, but I'm not going to share because I'm pretty sure that it's something that's still really private.
The cake cutting and toasting was memorable. First of all, two of Dave's friends have the cutest little girl, and she was so well behaved. During the cake cutting, she started yanking on Dad's pant leg, and when he looked down she said, "Happy Birthday!" Now if that isn't just the most adorable thing ever, I don't know what is...

Oh, and of course, Kyle gave quite a toast. Suffice to say the most memorable line was, "...and may the only ups and downs come in the bedroom." Yeah. I found it hilarious and on par with my bawdy sense of humor. My grandmother, however, not so much. Still. I loved it!

When I threw the bouquet, I gave a little too much oomph and launched it over the heads of the single ladies. It landed with a thud on the sidewalk and my young cousin, Alex, picked it up. God, that was funny! After that, we raced to the truck, and as soon as we turned the ignition, the A/C vents blasted stripper dust hearts all over the cab. No doubt that came from my Joey's pockets, lol.

By the time we got to the Victorian cottage in Calvert, I realized that I had left my overnight bag in Sara's car! Luckily, I had an extra outfit packed in Dave's suitcase, but I had no toiletries. I scrounged through Dave's things and used the rubber band on his phone charger cord to wrangle my hair into the Miss Freihoffer (you'll have to ask what that is if you're confused.)

In the morning, we had breakfast in the Parrish House proper, a gorgeous Victorian home with a wonderful owner and the fattest, goofiest dog you've ever seen! Breakfast was fan-freakin'-tastic! Baked apples with cinnamon granola and whipped cream, soft scrambled eggs with gruyere in a pastry package topped with hollandaise sauce, pepper corn bacon, grilled parmesan oregano tomato with mushrooms, Oh My God biscuits, gingerbread squares, canteloupe, strawberries, jam, juice, and coffee. We visited with Bronwen and her boyfriend for a few hours and took a grand tour of the house. Oh, and incidentally, the boyfriend, Bill, works in publishing, and she works in the furniture store just down the street from our new house! Nifty, huh?

We drove back to CS, met up with my parents, doled out cake, took the extended family out to see the new hosue, and heard all about their late night at Bennigans next to the hotel. Apparently they weren't quite ready for bed afer the wedding so they all walked over to Bennigans, pulled together enough tables for 20, and started kicking back the drinks and telling stories in true Hernandez family fashion.

After all of our family was gone, Dave and I were all alone in the house and we had one of those holy-shit-what-have-we-done moments about buying the new house. Sara warned us about that. It passed quickly, though.

Today we slept in, had some Chinese for lunch, did some mattress comparison shopping, and then stopped by Lowes for a manguera (hose), sprinkler, some Scotts Starter for the new sod, a ceiling fan for the living room, blinds for our "standard" size windows, quotes for our "not standard" windows, and a gorgeous six light old world bronze chandelier. It was originally 90 bucks but was on clearance. They didn't have any left, though, but I convinced Dave to ask if they would sell us the display model. They said sure, and since it was missing a bracket (a $3 piece) they sold it to us for ten freakin' bucks! Sweet!

We borrowed Sara's ladder and drove back to the house to install everything. Well. OK. Dave actually did the installing. I learned how to work the new gas range (being a gourmet cook you'd think I would have used gas, but alas, I'm a true 21st century chica, lol) and managed to maim myself with a tape measure. Yeah. Someone should have told me that unfurling 27 feet of metal tape was a hazard. That bastard came flying back into the metal holder thing and almost took off my pointer and middle finger and slapped my chin!

We made a quick stop at Subway, and seriously, the girl who works there must ride the shortbus. Here's the short version of our conversation.

Her: What would you like?
Me: Oven roasted chicken on Italian Herb and Cheese.
Her one minute later: And what did you want on this bread?
Me: Oven roasted chicken breast.
Her thirty seconds later: And what kind of cheese?
Me: American.
Her: And what meat did you want?
Me: OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN BREAST.
Her: OK. (She then slaps ROAST effing BEEF onto the bread.)

Rather than stroke out, I just let it go. We came home, watched Hell's Kitchen (omg! Is Gordon Ramsay hot or is Gordon Ramsay hot? Oh, and the other day I read a review that said "...Gordon Ramsay is the R. Lee Ermey of cooking." LMFAO) Sara, Tom, and Alison came over for to relieve us of some cake, champagne, wine, cookies, and flowers. Oh, and Tom had just returned from a Mason meeting. Yeah. Those Masons. Apparently our wedding reception was a Mason recruiting session?!?!

So anyways. It's like 0122 and I've finished reconciling the finances and we are solidly in the black. SQUEE!!! We're also surrounded by piles and piles of wedding gifts that I have absolutely no idea what to do with. I suppose I should pile them into containers for moving into the house. Or I could just veg out on the couch for, like, half an hour and then slip into bed. Yep. That sounds good. I'm off to find a stupid infomercial. Maybe I'll get lucky and find that one for the Tater Mitts....