A Week Late

This is a week late and I don't have much time, so this will end up being much shorter than it deserves.

We had a great time at home last weekend!

It started out a bit stressful--finding out four hours before our scheduled departure that the flight was cancelled. JM to the rescue!! He got us on another flight leaving only a few minutes later, but from a different airport. That made getting to the airport and checking in a bit tight, but we made it! THANKS Sandra!! Despite the canceled flight, we were able to still catch our originally scheduled flight for the second leg of the trip and landed as planned.

Friday night was late with lots of conversation as everyone was wanting to catch up and just be together. I fell asleep on JM's shoulder--a pleasant experience, but it unfortunately meant that I missed quite a bit of conversation.

Saturday was the day of the open house. Mom's college roommate was in town. She and her husband helped us set-up at the church--eating tables, chairs, clogging floor, food tables, and gift table. All had to find a place. Then we added candles and other decorations--mostly left-over from the wedding, so they'd get a sense of the wedding reception.

SC and JM went paintballing with a bunch of other local people. They've got a couple of private fields they regularly use for games.

I grabbed a nap in the afternoon.

The evening of the open house was MUCH fun! I was surprised by two friends that came in for the event! Suzanne (from SLIM-ESU) drove about 4 hours with her husband and daughter to be there. Amity (from SC years) drove about 3.5 hours with her husband and 3-yr old daughter to be there. I had no clue that either would be able to make it and was very pleasantly surprised that they were there! Amity and her family were even able to stay overnight, visit our church the next morning, and join us for lunch!

Of course, there were also numerous church friends, community friends, and family that also stopped in for the open house. It was so wonderful to see all these people and to experience their support--even after I've been half-way across the country for more than 6 years.

I took the excuse to wear my wedding dress again for a few minutes. I doubt I'll have another excuse to do that in my life and don't have any clue how long I can count on having the figure to do it.

We also did a short clogging demo--I'll Fly Away, Dance Above the Rainbow, and John Doherty's Reels. Having SarahS join us was great. That allowed us to do Dance Above the Rainbow with two different parts and actually look almost like it was interactive. And, of course, John Doherty's requires a trio, so we could only do it with SarahS's participation--fortunately, the three of us each normally dance a different part in the trio, so we didn't have any one trying to learn a new part at the last minute.

Sunday morning was church. Mom's college roommate with her husband and Amity and her family came to church with us, then came over for lunch. After lunch, was more conversation and catch-up. I'd only met Amity's husband once previously (before they were married). It was the first time I'd met her daughter. It was amazing how well JM and Amity's husband hit it off. Of course, I think Amity suspected as much from the moment she got our announcement--both guys go by their middle name. :)

Around mid-afternoon, everyone started parting ways. Amity and family had a drive ahead of them to get home for work the next day. SR had to get back to college for classes the next day. SR ended up with an entire retinue to return her to college--D, Mom, Mom's college roommate, JM, and me. We checked out the dorms--the new one and the ones that we'd lived in while there. There were also stops in the student center and Campbell and a general walk across campus pointing out significant locations--the highest point in Rice County, the Ultimate Frisbee field, the music and theater buildings, etc. And for supper, we stopped at the local Sonic--a new experience for JM and treat for me, with the nearest Sonic in Virginia more than 2.5 hours away.

Monday morning, we made a trip out to Grandma's. We had seen her briefly on Saturday evening, but didn't have much time to talk. On the way out, we'd stopped in town to say hi to one of my cousins who hadn't been able to make it Saturday evening. I'm impressed with my cousins that are working to make the most of their marriages, after what I would've called a "bad start."

JM and I caught our flight, as scheduled. We were expecting a 2.5 hour layover. One flight back to Dulles was scheduled to leave at the same time we were landing, but it was delay, giving us enough time to catch it and reduce our layover to only minutes. The only downside being that my checked luggage didn't catch the earlier flight. Kindly, JM picked up for me the next day.

It was very good to be back home a little earlier and feel like we had a bit of time to unwind before it was really too late.