Two Weekends and a Sick Day, Part Two

Last weekend, a good friend of mine got married. After his first date with her, he called me up in the middle of the night to let me know that he was going to marry her. That was about two years ago. Lo and behold, he did just that on Sunday.

I was at the bachelor party on Friday night, where the groom was injured by a fairly nasty fall and the best man got a black eye. I merely got tackled by the groom, but otherwise made it through unscathed. This particular bachelor party ended about 1 a.m., but I would have gotten worried had it gone on much longer.

The oddity of the evening was capped by the groom's asking me to be a groomsman. I had previous plans that I couldn't break, so I missed the rehearsal dinner. Now, I've never been a groomsman before, but this was an especially casual wedding, so there was no tuxedo rental involved or anything like that. The bride and groom decided to have the wedding in their back yard, which turned into something like the mosquito coast during the ceremony; there were so many mosquitoes buzzing around that I kept seeing groups of them flying around my eyes. As a groomsman, I couldn't exactly swat them, though there were a few occasions where brushing them away from my face was, though uncouth, the only thing to do. They'd sprayed the yard before the ceremony, but I think the spray just made the mosquitoes angry.

After the ceremony the groomsmen escorted the bridesmaids out of the improvised chapel, and — wouldn't you know it — my escort took a dive, stepping into a small hole in the yard that was covered by the white fru-fru runner. She didn't fall, prompting a friend to say, "Not only are you a competent groomsman, you're a damned hero."

Indeed.

I was also unaware that the groom has a younger sister who ought to be a supermodel. Another friend said she was "twice my height," and that's true. The sister, however, informed me that she "played me" at the rehearsal dinner I missed. I asked her if she'd done a competent job. She assured me that she had.

In between all the wedding events, my parents and I cooked dinner for some family friends. That occupied most of the day and night on Saturday. Wound up being a relaxing and pleasant evening.

And that pretty much catches you all up to date.

Now, if I can only get rid of this stupid cold.