The bride was breathtaking and I have the pictures to prove it!

Yesterday my daughter's wedding day finally arrived!  I have a few photos that someone took and posted to Facebook, so I'm going to post them here.


The rehearsal on Friday night went smoothly.  A funny moment was when the parents had to go up on the altar and each light tapered candles.  So Gene and Jane (parents of the groom) and Greg (my ex) and I walk up the steps to the altar.  The priest tells Greg and me that we should be showing love and affection as we do this.  I turn to the nun who is helping with rehearsal and say, "Doesn't Father know that we're divorced??"  Later on, Father tells us to act like we know each other!  LOL!!  Too funny!


Rehearsal dinner was good!  Hot roast beef sandwiches and baked ziti with meatballs and salad.  Fresh fruit, cheese and pepperoni  and crostini as appetizers.  One of Gina's friends made a really fun cake out of Tastycake tandytakes! (if you're from the greater Philadelphia area, you'll "get" this!)   What fun!


We woke up early on Wedding Day because all the bridesmaids, the bride, the flower girl and mother of the groom had appointments to get their hair done.  My daughter, Dani, just finished hairdressing school, so she did Gina's hair.  The salon owner was kind enough to give Dani a station to work while the others were getting their hair done. I did my own hair since it's so short.  


We got back to the house for lunch and to get ready for the wedding.  I kept my cool all the while Gina was getting her makeup done and getting dressed.  Her Dad showed up around 2 pm, took one look at her in  her gown and started crying.  YES!!  He cried before I did!  Gina asked me to get a box out of the closet and bring it down, and THAT'S when I lost it!  When Gina was Christened, someone gave her a hankie, sewn into the shape of a bonnet, with a poem attached.  She was supposed to wear the bonnet at her Baptism, and then, when she was getting married, to carry it on her wedding day (ok, I'm getting all filled up just typing this!).  I saved the hankie for Gina all these years, and when she got engaged last year, I gave it to her, in the original box!  Then I forgot all about it.  So, when I got the box out of the closet, I just lost it!  So silly to be affected by something silly like that!


An amusing incident.  I bought my shoes and bag at DSW.  On Saturday morning, I showed the shoes to Jane (mother of the groom).  She informs me that she has the exact shoes in silver!  A few hours later, when Greg and Pam are at the house and I'm putting my shoes on, Pam tells me that she was going to buy those exact shoes in silver but chose another pair instead! And all of our dresses coordinated too.  I wore light blue, Jane wore dove gray and Pam wore dark blue and it was a complete coincidence!

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

 My son is escorting me down the aisle.  

The ceremony went off without a hitch.  The church is just lovely and Gina's good friend, Morgan cantored the wedding and she did a magnificent job!  Morgan has a gorgeous voice!  I guess Greg and I showed enough love and affection because Father seemed pleased with our performance at the candle lighting ceremony.  Hahaha!!!

 Here comes the bride!

 Gina with her dad, going down the aisle

 my daughter, Dani, a bridesmaid

the bridesmaids

I did get a little tickle from something.  At rehearsal, only people directly involved in the wedding ceremony were permitted to be there, so Greg's wife wasn't there.  Greg was sitting with me in the pew.  On the day of the wedding, she sat in the row behind us and he went into a bit of a panic because he didn't know whether to sit with me or sit with her.  He sat with me.  Hehehehe  I think if John was there, sitting in my pew with me, Greg would have sat with her.  But John chose not to go to the wedding (the jerk).

 saying their vows

 the deal is done, and sealed with a kiss!

lighting the Unity Candle

The reception was held at the Clarion Hotel (Greg worked there as the food and beverage director when Gina was a baby, so we got some extra special treatment.)  Open bar for 5 hours, sit down dinner, good food, drinks were flowing.  The featured drink of the bride and groom was a Lemon Drop Martini.  I think I had 6 of them!  They were yummy!!  They must have been weak ones because I never got even close to being drunk!  I felt fine all night, although I would not have gotten behind the wheel of a car.


The DJ was AWESOME!!  Her name is Jenny Z and she sometimes works at the radio station where Gina and Gene work.  Jenny mostly works at a sister station in Maryland since it's closer to her home than Wilmington, but she has a DJ business on the side.  I was very happy when Gina told me that Jenny was working her wedding!  Some of the other DJs were there as guests.  


A friend of Gina's made the cake.  The cake topper was the bride and groom high-5-ing each other.  My daughter, Dani spied the cake in the corner and realized the bride and groom were standing side by side on top of the cake, in what looks like a Nazi salute (Heil Hitler!)!!!  She quickly found a server and asked her to fix it!  I wonder if anyone got a "before" shot?  By the way, the cake was scrumptious!!!  Bibi did a fantastic job!

 this wedding cake was yummy!

 a close-up of the topper

she got him good!

When it came time to throw the bouquet and garter,  not sure how it happened, but the ring bearer and the flower girl were the big winners!!!  Hahaha!!!  Patrick put the garter on Leah's arm! 

the bouquet and the garter

The reception lasted until 11 pm.   We had 17 rooms booked for overnight guests.  The bar was scheduled to close at 9 pm (apparently Saturday is the slowest night of the week).  Greg slipped the general manager some dough and asked her to open the bar for the overnight guests, and they did!  We had that place filled and hopping until the wee hours of the morning!  The father of the bride got rather drunk, and I'm happy to say I never did!  He had to go to bed, which was disappointing because he was paying for my drinks!  I still did my fair share of drinking (Captain Morgan and Diet Coke) and even did 2 shots (I NEVER do shots!)!  My son bought me a Mind Eraser (kahlua, vodka and club soda), and my niece's fiance (and our wedding photographer) bought me a Dirty Girl Scout (vodka, Kahlua, Baileys and white creme de menthe)  It tasted like a thin mint!  I finally went to my room around 2:30 am. 

 these were taken with my cell phone.

Gina and me!

my favorite son-in-law and me!  

 my daughter, Dani and me!

my son, Tim and me!

Gina and Gene had the Bridal Suite for the night.  This morning she messaged me to come downstairs for breakfast.   And Gene called me Mom.  It made my day!   And on Monday, they leave for a week-long honeymoon in Aruba!

Six Word Saturday

John is here for the weekend!

Want to try your own Six Word Saturday? Go see Cate at Show My Face and link up!

OCMD Vacation Day 6

Friday, September 24, 2010
Sunny, humid, 88 degrees

We decided today was a good day to go to Sunfest!  It's Ocean City's Annual Arts and Crafts Fair on the boardwalk inlet.  We knew parking was going to be next to impossible.  Luckily, Ocean City offers a shuttle that runs continuously all day and all night, from West Ocean City to the Inlet.  Parking at the Park and Ride was free and the shuttle only costs $1.  They give you a transfer that's good all day long.  So you can leave, go home and go back again without paying any extra!  Cool deal!  I'll remember that for future trips to OC.


It was very hot and humid on this day.  It wasn't long before we were looking for someplace cool to sits down and cool off before checking out all the stuff in the Sunfest tents.  For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the place where we popped into and bought burgers and sodas.  


There was probably every kind of arts and crafts you could possibly ask for at Sunfest.  Seasonal decorations, tables, blankets, glass, earthenware... a lotta stuff!  I'm not big on buying that kind of stuff, but it was fun to look.


There was a food tent.  You could buy all kinds of foods, most of them fried (you could smell the fat frying as soon as you stepped through the entrance).  You could buy steak sandwiches, funnel cake, crab soup (well, it IS Maryland after all!  You have to have crab!), crab fluff (breaded and deep-fried crab)  I bought a single crab fluff to try it.  Glad I only bought one.  It was like fried crab-flavored bread.  I did buy a 4 oz. serving of cream of crab soup, which was pretty good!


The main reason I wanted to go to Sunfest was for the kite flying!  There is a store that sponsors this event, and it's called appropriately enough, The Kite Loft!  If you are looking for unusual kites to fly and have some money to spend, The Kite Loft is the place for you!!!  John very nearly succumbed and bought a Pterodactyl kite on sale for the low, low price of $170!  Fortunately, they didn't have more in stock, other than the display one.  Here are some of the fabulous kites they (and some other kite flyers) were flying on the beach.

Click on the pictures to see them better!

 I can't tell if the kitty is chasing the soccer ball or the mouse! 

 I love the whale kite!

Do you see the scuba diver, just to the left of the light pole?

Some of these photos were taken from the tram car.  Yes, we're old.  We always take a ride on the tram car!  It's a great way to see all the stores on the boardwalk without having to walk the entire length!  It's also a great way to kill 45 minutes!

We stopped into an arcade to place some pinball.  It was cool inside and we were out of the sun.

 John did pretty well!

I didn't fare as well.  What happened to my ball?

I did end up buying a hat and these stickers thingys to put on the windows beside my front door.  It makes them look like stained glass and it helps prevents people from seeing in the windows easily.  Once I get them up, I'll take pictures and post them.


John pointed out to me that I neglected to mention the Bonsai tree he purchased.  It's a Japanese juniper.  He's been taking good care of it.  so far it's lasted more than 2 weeks!  I"ll try to get a picture of it and post it.

As it got dark, we headed on home to have a dinner of left-overs. 

What's on the agenda for tomorrow?  A day at the beach on Assateague and dinner with Fran and John (and I forgot to bring my camera to dinner!   aarrgghh!!)!   

Happiness after 50

This is the story of John and how we met, quite by accident.... on the internet.

As you may know, I found myself suddenly single at the age of 49. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagine I'd be single again. Widowed maybe but not divorced! That happened to other people. Apparently I am other people.

I joined several online dating sites... match.com, yahoo personals, etc. EHarmony said I needed to be legally divorced to join. I met a few guys and found almost all of them to be married, trying to get laid by anyone who was willing. ick! There were a few I chatted with for months and month and no meeting. This went on for about a year and a half. And I'll admit I wasn't the most sane person at the time. Desperate for affection, hoping to find someone to love again, I met some real winners!

I was just resigning myself to a life of solitude and living alone when I found this site called True Beginnings aka http://www.true.com/. I can't even tell you how I found it, if it was via email or an ad on a game site or whatever. It offered 3 days free, so I figured what the hell, I'll fill in the blanks and see what happens. I put up a real picture of myself and was very honest about me. Once or twice a week, true would send me an email with 12 guys who matched my criteria. I never ever made the first move! I'm way too insecure for that!!

One day, a month or so after I joined, I get an email from a guy who lives on the other side of the county. His message basically says "Hi! Thanks for the wink!" huh???? I didn't send anyone a wink! I'm too shy for that! So I look at his profile and think that he seems harmless looking in a grandfatherly sort of way and I respond with "Well, I didn't send a wink, but hi!" We exchange info about ourselves. I'm 4th of 8 kids, he's 4th of 7 kids. He went to Catholic schools, so did I. He's a row house kid from Philly, I'm a row house kid from just outside the city.

We email back and forth for a few weeks and try to get in a private chat room to talk and we can't figure out how to do it, so he gives me his home phone number. I hem and haw for a few days and finally call him one evening. We were on the phone for more than 3 hours that night and an hour and half the next 2 times we talked! I learned a lot about him and he was quite honest about himself. (his family has verified everything he's told me in stories about their growing years, etc.) John tells me he was in the Army for 20 years, is now retired and working at a chemical company as a security guard and tutors kids in the evening in math and science. Then he told me he'd been married 4 times! I have no idea why I didn't hang up the phone right then and there! Was I that desperate? I was certainly interested! And glad of his honesty.

We decided to meet, and he comes to my job as I'm finishing work. We go to dinner and see a movie and we really hit it off! I felt so comfortable with him, from the very beginning! I'm happier now than I've been in many years. We've been together for 2 1/2 years now and plan to stay together for the rest of our lives.

I don't know if we'll ever get married. John wants to get married but I don't want to, at last not yet. My ex has to give me spousal support until Dec 2014 and I've earned every penny and if I remarry it will stop. I worked for my ex for 6 years for no pay, so that alone makes me want to wait. I also found out when I went to the Social Scurity office to change my name back to my maiden name that if I don't remarry until after I'm 60, I'll still qualify for my ex's social security and he makes a LOT more money than I do! I'll be 59 when my support runs out, so I can wait another year! I promised John I'd marry him for his 63rd birthday!

So that's our story and I'm sticking to it!