A wonderful whirlwind

So here it is Wednesday, and my first chance to get some thoughts down on a great weekend.

First of all, I was frustrated by having to work all day on Friday, since there's no one else to get the data together I gather on a weekly basis for our beta site metrics.  I'd have far preferred a noon departure to the 5 p.m. one that I ended up with.  And the local traffic was a mess leaving the credit union after picking up some pocket money. Things in Columbus were as expected, and I could've saved myself a little anxiety by avoiding I70 through downtown.  The good news was that I was able to get back to the alternate route easily, and it took me right by City Barbecue, which is always a treat.  After that the traffic was no problem.  Oh, some telephone support from a good friend regarding motor oil came in handy along the way.  And the drive to Maryland really is about perfect for a Zeppelin marathon; I'd just started in on Coda when I got to the hotel.

It was so nice being with Teri again after nearly 3 days.  I guess I was talkative on my arrival, keeping the both of us up for a while after I got there until I'd unwound enough to fall asleep.  She got even by picking up the conversation at 8 a.m., by which point we'd been asleep for maybe 5 hours.  We snoozed for a while longer, after which the remains of the morning was a flurry, as we got breakfast, dropped Teri back off at the hotel to get ready, I got the wedding gift - which I couldn't believe she hadn't taken care of - and then got dressed myself and to the church basically just at the scheduled start time of the service, which actually began at least 15 minutes late.

This was probably the nicest secular wedding I've ever attended, with a couple of poetry/prose readings and a nice reflection on love by the presider.  I still don't know what a couple stands on when they eventually fall short, though.  I've never known anyone who didn't ultimately come face-to-face with their own failings, at which point forgiveness and grace need to come from somewhere.  I've known some pretty amazing people, but I don't know anyone who really has much of that of themselves.

The reception was a lot of fun, and included the conclusion of a reconciliation which I've been longing for and nurturing for a very long time.  That was a very heartwarming moment for me.  After napping for a while, we "oldsters" got together for some pizza, then joined the youngsters for drinks and pool at a popular local hangout.  It was a very nice time.

The drive back on Sunday got started later than I'd hoped, and we ran into some traffic along the way, but fortunately I found a later mass than I expected to cap off a wonderful weekend.