Emily & Grant - Week Eleven

The husband returned from his baja reunion (Mark & Cigi's wedding) on Sunday night.  Both of our plants were closed Monday, so we spent the day shopping for his outfit for our next trip.  The day before, I'd realized my oversight in not asking about dress code for this wedding.  For most of our friends and family, a collared shirt (even a flannel one) with jeans would do.  However, this was the bridesmaid I'd had to talk out of a formal dress for my wedding.  I didn't figure jeans would cut it this time.

Since this was the only wedding we were attending together, I wanted the husband looking good.  I'm a big fan of the man's butt in a pair of jeans but his slacks were work-oriented (read:  not sexy).  Since his recent job change had him needing slacks anyway, off we went to find some good ones.

Shopping for the husband is always an exercise in patience.  He's prone to misconception about the most flattering styles for him, usually wanting to pick the ones with the most room without falling off.  It takes several trials and many statements that yes, those butt-hugging pants really do look great on him, before he'll finally come around and agree with me.  But we finally found two pairs that we both liked.  Plus, they were on sale.  Then we had to find him new shoes, too

All that shopping paid off!

After our shopping extravaganza, we ran 4 x 1600s together.  He's still coming back from an injury, so running with his slow wife is not as painful as it used to be.  Or, at least, is painful in new and different ways.

The Democrats were in town that week which was extremely irritating.  Their presence basically shut down all of downtown to any people that weren't involved with the convention.  Isn't that just like the liberals to come into a city and make it so no one can work?  Although, honestly I can't stand either candidate this year.  Mittens wants me back in the kitchen and to make my body public property and Bama wants me to have the same standard of living as someone that works at McDonald's.  South Park made an episode about this shit...

We always say we're going to pack early so we're not scrambling the night of to get our stuff packed.  You can probably guess about how well that usually works...especially when I decide to work late and run the mountain the night before our trip (which is not a good idea...I couldn't even see my feet!).  Once again, I was packing for my trip at midnight on Thursday.  It was a little less hectic this time, since we'd both already chosen our wedding outfits.  However, somewhere in the chaos, I managed to forget one important thing...

We flew into Minneapolis on Friday.  Our flight was really turbulent.  I heard the flight attendant asking passengers what drink they'd like to wear.  It was about the time we were getting ready to go to bed that I realized I'd forgotten to either a) pack the invitation or b) at least glance at the time the thing starts.  Oops.  Since it took a few hours to get there, it was kind of an important detail to overlook.  Fortunately, the bride was able to get back to me, even though I was being "that guest."

Emily Arriving at the Ceremony

Emily & Grant's wedding was at the Buffalo Ridge Resort in Gary, South Dakota at 4:00 PM.  The ceremony was outside but they did provide chairs.  And bubbles.  They probably shouldn't have given me bubbles...  The flower girl was their golden retriever, Holly.  The minister was quirky (immediately after the ceremony, he asked them "So, how's married life?").  The "now pronounce you husband and wife" aspect was pretty short and the wind blew Emily veil pretty much everywhere.  And after the ceremony, I probably spent at least five minutes playing with the bubbles in the field.

The Wedding

At the reception, we ganged up with a girl we knew from college and Emily's high school friend and headed off to the resort bar.  There was no alcohol at the reception, so the husband and I bought a bottle of wine and the girls double-fisted mixed drinks to bring back to our table.  The dinner was tacos (not what you expect but good), there were cupcakes (I liked the cookie monster one), and s'mores.  Other than the first and parent dances, there was no dance.  The fact that wedding was so small gave us a chance to actually talk to the bride at the end of the night, which is not something you expect, even when you come from quite far away.

Emily & Grant's Unity Painting at the Reception
(the plan was to do it at the ceremony but paint, wind & wedding dresses don't mix...)
{pun intended}

The next morning, I got up at five and literally ran to Minnesota...and then some.  I did a twenty mile long run, most of it on dirt.  I probably saw less cars than the number of miles.  And the dirt road is a lot nicer to my body than asphalt normally is.  My run finished up about ten and then we went to the gift opening (after getting un-smelly).  The present of note was the card with the wrong groom's name written and crossed out.  That one made a circuit of the room.  I misspelled and crossed out words but at least I got the right names in there.