We woke up this morning and I found myself squealing, "It's leave-for-the-wedding day!" Honestly it felt like Christmas morning.
Steve and I walked to the plaza near our house for a last-minute trip to Staples. Then we allowed ourselves about 45 minutes sipping coffee outside at a nearby coffee shop before walking back home. Again the temperatures defied the calendar - we were sweating in 87-degree air.
The day flew by. We did the last round of everything. And then we did the final things. And then we finished the last-minute things. And then we STILL had things to do! I have re-written my list 3 times in 2 weeks onto clean sheets of paper (mostly because I kept adding things faster than I was crossing them off).
We packed. And we packed. And we joked that we are practically moving to NY. And still we packed. And then we started the checking of the packing. I walked back into my closet twice and added clothes to Steve's suitcase, which still had room. I checked my list, checked the bathroom, checked the closet, checked my jewelry box, and checked my list.
Throughout the day, my groom was patiently and persistently stopping every 5 minutes to burn and print another CD favor. He has been painstaking about the entire process and I love and admire him for it.
We left at 6 p.m. and made one more last-minute stop at a mall north of Columbus. We found out our errand would require us waiting an hour on our merchandise, so we enjoyed a relaxing dinner and a little window shopping before we got on the road for my mom's.
Arriving here at 9:30, it started to feel like this Wedding Week is officially underway. And we weren't here 10 minutes before we got a wonderful, beautiful wedding gift surprise from Mom and DougH! We walked into their gazebo to find a huge pile, covered with a blanket, with our recent nicknames for each other (Gride and Broom) on it.
What was under the blanket? Indulge me for a moment while I tell you the back story.
My grandfather, a finish carpenter and gifted tradesman, had somewhat specialized in his lifetime at building Adirondack chairs (or, as we like to call them, Out-Around-Back chairs). When he died, our family had 6 - my mom has 2, my uncle has 2 and my little sister gave a good home to the remaining set from Grandpa's garage.
When Mom was cleaning out Grandpa's paperwork, she found a Bill of Materials for Grandpa's Adirondack chairs, so she had a set of chairs specially made for Steve and me by her cousin, Keith, a skilled carpenter in his own right. They are redwood, and boy are they handsome!
Mom said it was like that paperwork was planted for her to find. And when we sat in the chairs, it really felt like we were getting a hug and some wedding congratulations straight from Grandpa himself. I can't think of a more fitting or meaningful gift from our family.
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