First and foremost, congratulations to Jacob and Emilie Sizemore. I wish you the best of luck, cause it’s obvious you already have the love.
As I was reading the list of blogs I check out and I came to Kevin Barnett’s blog. He was there in the ‘Bu and had posted about it. I started reading and then the The Blues Brothers came on AMC. I got to thinking of how much he likes that movie and thought it was a good time to weigh in with my thoughts and share the events with both of my readers.
First off, I thought it was a great trip. Then again, I wasn’t on the schedule that some of the others were. The flight out there went as flights go. A little tedious but otherwise pretty smooth. I bought a new MP3 player and a very nice set of earbuds before the trip. This allowed me to pretty much just daze out and read the Sports Illustratred I bought. I landed and the girlie was waiting on me at the airport. We went to the Avis counter and expected to pick up my pimpin Grand Am. However I was told that they were out of them. Then they surprised me. They offered me a Chevy Trailblazer or a PT Cruiser. I just don’t roll in a minivan. Well, not since I had a choice in the matter. So the Trailblazer it is. It rode surprisingly smooth. Cruised up the PCH and met the girlie’s parents in the ‘Bu.
Did the “meeting the family” barrage. At one point in time, and i don’t remember for what, I acknowledged that my girlfriend was right about something. To which she responded something along the lines of her purported consistency of accuracy. I quickly retorted a line that will always stand out as one of my mom’s favorites. “Sun shines on a dog’s ass some days.” Her uncle chuckled and she just shot me a quick look. She told me that her uncle was a very religious man and she asked me to watch my mouth around him. I made my dispute that “ass” isn’t a bad word. Eventually I shrugged it off. Later that day we went to grab some dinner with her fam and I made the comment to her “I sure could use a beer.” She replied “Well get one.” This confused me. “So I can drink around your uncle, I just can’t ‘cuss’?”. “Yeah.” “Wow, that’s fucked up.” Conversation concluded with a glare.
Spent most of the next day going to get tuxes and whatnot. Running errands. That evening we had the rehersal dinner at BJ’s Brew House. It was very relaxed and laid back. Stark contrast from the rest of the activities. Tasty pizza (that’s what they do). I didn’t try any of the beer except the homemade root beer. It had a pretty good flavor, similar to barq’s but honestly, it was a little flat. We left directly from the rehersal dinner to the bachelor party in a limo. I am leaving no incriminating evidence here for the authories or the ladies. Let’s just say there is a lot of desert out there.
Early Saturday morning came time to get ready for the wedding. Hobbling my ankle a couple weeks ago landed me on light escort duty, so after general ushering, I hung out around the side of the chapel with the groom waiting on the other groomsmen to finish their duties. Incidentally, I have to remember to buy insoles next time I rent tux shoes. I kept shifting my weight back and forth the whole service. It was a breathtaking chapel, the wedding party in front of the massive stained glass window. I’m sure it made for great photos, though I imagine the people will be a little dark due to the back lighting. I’ll leave those shots to the professionals. Incidentally, I’m told that is the largest stained glass window in the western hemisphere. The service was beautiful and succinct. Just the way I like it.
Then we went to Sherwood Country Club for the reception. It was something out of a movie. Very fancy. I felt a little underdressed, and I was in a tux. Just one of those places I knew I didn’t belong. None-the-less, it was a sight to see, both the institution and the couple at hand. The spread was impressive. They had the usual dances. The DJ had one of the best announcer voices I had ever heard. I just kept waiting to hear “Let’s get ready to rumble!”.
The piece de resistance was Jacob singing with his barber shop quartet to Emilie. I was very impressed.
The rest of the trip went pretty easy. Not much to mention, except that it would behoove a gas company to put a station closer to the rental car places. They would make a killing.
It was great seeing old friends I hadn’t seen in years such as Kevin and best friends Alec and Crystal with their lovely daughter Ava, I see pretty often. And of course the man of the hour, Jacob. Congrats again, and thanks for a great time.
Erin (the girlfriend) posted a kodak album of some pics of the wedding.
