Our original idea was to get up at 7:45, eat breakfast, leave at nine, get home, dress for and go to Leigh and Robbie's wedding, and then pick up the "kids" at the vet.

But James didn't think that was enough time. Okay, 6:45, but if we got to Atlanta early enough, say between 10 and 10:30 ,we could probably pick up the animals and take them home. Tucker could spend a nice hour on the deck as we left.

I woke up sick (the kind of sick you take Pepto-Bismol for). For crying out loud! Enough! James helped me pack, then I managed to help him get the stuff out to the car. And I did get some breakfast, but not much, a bowl of oatmeal, a bowl of cereal, and two dry pieces of toast with milk; the rest of the time I was in the bathroom. So we did not leave at eight, but after nine, and I had to stop at Ingles in Cleveland, too. Luckily after that, I was so exhausted (I didn't sleep well, which may have triggered this along with the stress on Thursday) I fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were approaching I-285.

The next hour was a bit of a circus. Another bathroom visit, in which more Pepto Bismol was swallowed. I couldn't find the usual kilt pin for James' kilt, nor the pin for my dress. I put my time turner on instead, and James had an alternative pin> I helped James straighten the seams of his socks, put big bows and a wedding card on the gift we bought for Leigh and Robbie, and did a dozen other things. James finally got his tie done satisfactorily and we fled the house at 12:10 and arrived at the synagogue before the three-quarter hour.

There was a little reception with cookies (including round cookies like the almond bars my mom made at Christmas) and champagne. They had yarmulkes for the men and little doilies (just as I remembered as a Catholic teenager after the hat rule in church became voluntarily; you had to have something on your head, but it could be a mantilla or the smaller "doily" that went on your head—they'd loan you one if you didn't have one) for the married ladies, and we milled around with friends who'd just, hours earlier, had been in Helen with us, except all of them were dressed to the nines. Juanita had a very Forties-looking purple hat that had been discovered while we were there.

The rabbi explained the different stages of the ceremony before anything began. This is a very easygoing congregation: at one point some of us were gathered in one room, as Leigh came out in her very Forties brief veil and a beautiful long gown that outlined her figure beautifully, to give and receive blessings from her friends, and then we went into the other room, where Robbie and others were gathered at tables where salutes were being read to him. The rabbi told us this portion would take a little while, and then the men would come into the bride's room escorting the groom, "making a great deal of noise." They did, too, loudly humming "The Imperial March" from Star Wars. :-) Next the marriage contract, a beautifully calligraphed document in Aramaic and English, was signed by the witnesses, and then the bride and groom. And then finally we were let into the sanctuary and witnessed the traditional wedding ceremony with the tent and the broken glass at the end. It was all quite beautiful (and funny, too, as the rabbi would make us do it over if we didn't chorus "Mazel Tov!" loudly enough).

Finally there was a reception with finger foods. We sat with an old college friend of Leigh's named Bob (who reminded me a great deal of Rupert Holmes) and his little girl, and another couple and several women. They had the usual wedding reception milestones: the first dance, bride dances with dad, groom dances with mom (that almost got put off because Mom was nowhere to be found), cutting the cake, etc. It was a great time, but we had to leave before they did "Havah Nagelah."

It was chilly enough (I don't have a dressy jacket, just a shawl) that we came back to the house, changed, and then drove out to Dunwoody to ransom the fids. Snowy gave us a look of surprise, then bit me smartly as I put him back in his carry box, and spent the rest of the ride, including the stop at Kroger, making love to the mirror in the box and trying to attack my thumb any time it appeared. Tucker was so happy to be let out of his cage that he pressed his nose to the floor trailing whatever animals had been in the waiting room and didn't notice we were there until James called him for the fourth time. "Oh, it's YOU!" He is always surprised when we come back for him! He once again sat on my right thigh on the way home, except when we stopped at Kroger, when he whined for two minutes, then sat down disconsolately in the driver's seat to wait for James.

We're now watching a special on The Easter 'Rising on PBS. This was proceeded by an affecting animated short from PBS's "Story Corps" called "John and Joe," the memories of a retired fireman whose two sons, one also a fireman and one a police detective, were lost on September 11. A little masterpiece.

Mazel Tov once again to Leigh and Robbie Hilliard!

Labels: ceremonies, food, friends, health, pets, television

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