A couple of extremely busy weeks

Okay, so maybe you would believe it and I’m lame, but for me it was like having a real life.

Friday the 20th was my sister’s wedding rehearsal.  It was the typical rehearsal.  We ran through the ceremony and then went out to eat.  The dinner was at the restaurant at Nashoba Valley Ski resort.  Lisa and Ken had their first date there so it seemed like the right place to go.

Here’s the bride to be and groom to be chowing on some appetizers.

During October there is a Halloween spook house run at Nashoba called Witch’s Woods and Ken works there.  The first time we went to see him he was in full costume and make-up and my sister-in-law Mary referred to him as “Scary Ken.”  Here we have a photo that comes closer to an out-of-costume Scary Ken than any I’ve seen.

Lisa and Ken were kind enough to surprise my parents with a wedding anniversary cake.  Their wedding was one week before my folks’ 40th anniversary so everyone celebrated that too.

I also spent a few minutes being a camera geek.  This is my first attempt at astrophotography.  The wall facing the ski slope was all floor to ceiling windows.  I took this one just before the salad course.

Finally we have this bit of dorkishness.  A dinner plate’s eye view of the candle lit table.

After dinner I went back to my swanky room at the Westford Regency.  My first order of business for Saturday morning was to dash off to the Barnes & Noble in Burlington to pick up two copies of Harry Potter Book 7.  One for me and one for my sister.  Lisa was foolish enough to plan her wedding on the same day as the final Harry Potter book’s release.  My job was to make sure she had a copy before leaving for the honeymoon.  The next picture is my hotel room.  Can you spot a certain book?

The second item on the pre-wedding agenda was some serious miniature golf with the groom and the groomsmen.  The Regency is right down the road from Kimball Farms.  If you aren’t familiar with Kimball’s let me just say it is the best ice cream on the planet Earth.  They have a few attractions, a driving range, a par 3 course (I think), mini golf and bumper boats, as well as a smattering of farm animals.  Really though, it’s all about the ice cream.  The groom wanted to play some mini golf… so we played some mini golf.  (even though it did seriously eat into my Harry Potter reading time)

Then we went to the church and did that whole wedding thing.  It was a good ceremony.  My sister was so happy I thought she was going to burst. 

The reception was a great time.  Lisa and Ken made a number of special little additions to the normal wedding agenda and everything went off without a hitch.  All the little details came out just right.

The Bride and Groom

The Bride and Groom again.

The cake

Ken proposed to Lisa on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.  Click the link for a wikipedia article and read about the padlocks.  That’ll explain what all the padlocks in this picture symbalized. Every couple at the reception was given a lock.  We all wrote our names on it along with a message and then locked it onto the ring on the unbelievably heavy granite post.

Of course one of my favorite parts of the wedding was having my girlfriend Jen there.  >insert huge smile here<  She looked smashing.

And finally (from the wedding at least) Jen and I dressed to kill.  Once again, a tux is the only look that works for me.

Sunday Jen and I were supposed to go to my friend Marissa’s cookout but we got lost on the way (google maps let me down for the first time) and were so tired from the wedding that we just said the hell with it and went to dinner and then home to the Harry Potter book. 

Monday and Tuesday were spent in similar fashion.  Harry Potter and sleep.  Wednesday the Geyers of Wisconsin came home.  I picked them up at the airport, Mike, Tammy, and Cecilia (who is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen) and I got totally lost trying to find the car.  Why did we get lost?  Because I am a schmuck.

Thursday the Geyers came to my place to eat clam chowder and show off the baby to my parents.  Cecilia was a total hit. 

After dinner some of us went to the Radisson hotel in Chelmsford for a bit of a special occasion.  Mike and I were in a bunch of bands together when we were in high school.  The first, longest lasting, and the best had the unfortunate name of Tempest Fero.  Believe me, that made sense at the time.  I don’t remember how, but it did… just go with it.  The last time all four guys were in the same room was at Jeff the drummer’s wedding in 1992. 

I had recently seen Jeff and Jim the keyboard player separately and they had both asked how Mike was doing.  I told them that he was coming home for a week and we all decided to get together.  Jim had a gig at the hotel lounge and we decided to go see him play.  All four members of Tempest Fero were in the same room at the same time.  Also, there were a few other bands that we were all in and out of around the same time, and Larry and Mike the guitar players also went to the hotel lounge.  I was a little nervous that it might be a sign of the apocalypse, but it didn’t rain frogs or anything.  It was really cool meeting up with everyone.

Friday evening the Geyers, me and Jen, Larry and Nawal, and Maria and Roman all went out to dinner at The Border Cafe in Burlington.  It was just as cool an expirience as it always is.  Most important though is Larry may have finally gotten some one at the restaurant to cough up the recipe for Pollo con Jamon… the entre that most of our group always always always ordered prior to being pulled off the menu.

The next stop was the Showcase Cinema in Lowell.  Maria and Roman left for the night but I picked up Kelli on the way to the theater.  The film?  The Simpsons.  I won’t give anything away except to say it was friggin hysterical, and “can he swing from a web?  no he can’t he’s a pig.” 

Okay, one for the road.  “Thank you boob lady!”

Here’s a couple of pictures of Mike hanging with the gang.

Sunday Jen and I stayed at her place for the morning and did some more reading.  She burned through the last couple of hundred pages at an incredible rate and finished long before I did.  She’s even awesome when she reads!

I only had about 20 pages left to go when it was time to go get Mike at his hotel.  From there it was down south to Fenway Park to see The Police. 

The band was fantastic.  I wasn’t much of a Police fan in the 80’s, but over the years they sort of grew on me.  I knew all three of them were excellent musicians. I always thought of Stewart Copeland as a drum god, and Sting is a great singer and possibly an even better bass player.  I also always considered Andy Summers as a great guitarist, but more as a rythm guitarist.  Turns out he is a lead playing mad man.  The whole set was like an Andy Summers coming out party.  He was ripping up the joint all night.  The show lasted for about two hours and the band was smoking the whole night.  I just heard they are coming back again next year and I hope to go again.

Here are the obligatory camera phone pics.

And that brings us to today.  When everything came back to normal.  Including the 90 minute commute, caused in a small part by the accident you can almost see in this picture.  (yeah, it’s hard to avoid debris in the road, and aim and shoot with a camera phone at the same time)

After all that, Jen and I have made plans for this weekend too.  The plan is: Do Absolutely Nothing.

I can’t wait!