Incommudicado Post 2 (Gina's wedding)

(Continued from my last post)
(I'm using asterisks for paragraph spacing again, not sure why spacing continues to flip out)
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This is my friend Lora who is from Kentucky, and who has, annoyingly for those of us who love her, been in Kentucky for a month. That's great for her and for those in Kentucky, but those of us in NH, not so much. Just before she left, she finished (other than the buttons and sewing on one sleeve) the sweater she was test knitting for me, Mya's Jacket. We went button shopping at Jo-Ann's Fabrics in Hooksett and found the perfect button, but they only had 6 and the sweater calls for 8. I looked later at the Jo-Ann's in Concord, but they didn't have them either. I got a call from Lora after she got to Kentucky that she'd found them in a Jo-Ann's in Louisville. That knitterly tenacity thing is hilarious. Lora left about a month ago (I've been caring for her betta/siamese fighting fish Zeke), and she's due home tomorrow if all goes well. YAY!!

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About a month ago, I also finished the scarf I started during the Relay for Life. It was a quick and easy project, and good for travel. I took it with me to Maine for the July 4th festivities, and worked on it there. I like the diagonal effect, with the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn. I may have to play with that again.

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For the 4th of July weekend, we went to Maine. I'm not sure why because it was in that spell where it was raining every single day for like a month. I was so concerned about the weather, although our tent usually handles rain pretty well, that I went out and blew $50 on heavy duty tarps at Lowe's the night before. We were supposed to leave at 7:00 a.m. that morning and I got a call from Mom that my grandmother's road was washed out in three places. Now, gram's road is a two mile dirt road in the middle of freaking nowhere. Her farm is a 300 acre piece on the shore line of a small lake/pond (about a mile wide). The road routinely washes out in one place during heavy rains, but not usually in three places. The only problem with this is that there's no other way to get there. And of course, she was scheduled for surgery that morning, in addition to the various family members showing up for the 4th. They did manage to get her out, the surgery was relatively painless and she's doing a lot better.

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However, where we normally camp down by the lake was so swamped that when we took the bikes down (I wasn't bringing the Sante Fe down there just to get it stuck in the mud) the ground was so wet and muddy you could barely pedal through it. So we ended up camping at Gram's up above on the hill. I had decided to forgo the whole cooking out part of the cook out. Every year, we get about 100 lbs of lobster, and every year, it seems like if I'm there I get sucked into cooking most of it with my mom, because people are not paying attention, or doing what needs to be done so people can eat on a timely basis, and my type A goes into overdrive and takes over and gets it done. Which drives me nuts, stresses me out, and is not fun. Plus, I have to buy all the cookout stuff, haul it to Maine, and it's a pain in the ass. So this year, I decided we would utilize the going out to eat method of camping out. Shawn and I bought some snacks, and then we went out to eat for all our meals. And it cost us just about the same as it does to buy all the crap for the cookout. And I didn't have to cook it, or be aggravated, or clean it up, and I still got to visit with family. I was informed that I had a bad attitude, but since when is that news?

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I wish I'd used the camera more, but it was raining a lot, and it's new and I didn't want to risk it. We went on a paddle boat ride at the lake (my mother bought a paddle boat last summer) with my youngest nephew Noah. That kid is hilarious. We were informed that his brother, Wren, was a sack of potatoes and knives. I said what? and Noah said, he's painful, and he doesn't do anything. You can tell they don't really get along. Later when the thunderstorm hit, and most of us moved back up to the house, Wren decided that he needed to make a potion to induce super powers in humans, so we had numerous small children asking for organic materials including a cup so they could use urine in the potion. I have no idea where they get this stuff. Then they wanted to use the stove to boil it, but my brother in law headed that off by saying they would need to use a wood fire or it wouldn't be organic, and that they'd have to wait until he'd cleaned out the fire pit at home. The last I heard, that fire pit had still not been cleaned out.

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On our way home from Maine, I got a call from my friend Gina. She and her husband wanted to renew their vows on the Windham Bike trail and wanted to know if I could do it that day. I couldn't, but we scheduled it for the next night. I'm still a Justice of the Peace from my prior life, and I've done a few weddings now. I hadn't done a renewal of vows, so I rewrote my wedding ceremony during my lunch at work the next day. When I got there, Jackie was there as Gina's maid of honor, and Ian's friend couldn't come at the last minute, so Shawn got impressed into service as Ian's best man. We had to bike 2-3 miles to get to the spot where Gina wanted to have it, which was hilarious to watch Gina try to balance a vase with her bouquet in her bike basket. Jackie had her roller blades and skated with us while we rode. I think they really liked the ceremony and I was so pleased to be included. Gina was so sweet and gave me framed pictures of the wedding, and a gift certificate, which was so nice of her, but I was just happy to do it for her.

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On the ride back while doing my nature girl thing, I saw some indian ghost pipes which I have not seen in a hundred years. Okay, probably like 20, but same thing. I wish I'd gotten a better picture, but we can't have everything.

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The next weekend, we had the nephews down to visit. I had promised them that they could come down in July and this was the only time I could it. I wish I'd been thinking and took pictures. Mostly the only reason they wanted to visit me was to play Spore. I, being in arrested development, have the game, and the last time they came to visit me they got hooked on it. So this time, there was apparently negotiations and some coin flipping and discussion of terms to determine who got to play first and what the time limits would be. Last time, I had set a kitchen timer and given them 20 minute terms.

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We did take them to Mel's Funway park and played mini golf. At the end they were getting pretty bored with it, and we were just trying to get through the 18 holes, so it really became more like mini golf hockey as Shawn was trying to help them get the ball in the hole. We rode on the go carts which was really fun, and then Noah and Shawn did the batting cages because Wren hates baseball. This was what I was told when I asked him if he wanted to do it. I also took them swimming at the pool at our complex. They are great kids, but it was a long, long weekend.


Stay tuned for Incommudicado Post 3.