Here I Am

I can't believe I went over a week without blogging! But now I've got a cold, so I've taken the day off and have no excuse not to blog. Last week was busy with getting back to teaching, and then I was gone all weekend at a friend's wedding near Idaho.

Oh, my goodness, what an outbreak of the love plague, or whatever it is, there has been around here! Cupid is on the loose! My friend Chris got engaged the middle of December, then another girl I know got engaged a little earlier, then my friends Jeremy and Rachel started courting, and then I went to weddings on Dec. 3, 31 and Jan. 7. And another friend got married on the 6th, but I wasn't able to make it. Something is in the air! So far it's skipping over me, though.

On Friday, my parents and a friend and I made the six-hour drive to Eastern Washington to a little town on the border of Washington and Idaho. I'd never been over there before, so it was interesting to see the "other side." It's pretty different from Western Washington. We made it in time for a rehearsal for me. I sang "The Prayer" with another singer. On Friday night we had the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and then a bridesmaid time back at the house where we all stayed. Do you think we got to bed before midnight? Noooo...zzzzzzzzzz. It was fun, though. Ruth is a dear friend, and we share many happy memories.

On Saturday morning, we got up pretty early to go to a beauty school to get up-do's. I never like those places. Most of the students looked like high school drop-outs with serious self-esteem issues, while the two guy students creeped me out with their multiple tattoos and piercings. I got a nice girl, though, who did a decent job curling my hair into a million curls and then putting it up in an elegant do. It was only $12.50, so it was worth any pain and suffering and obnoxious music.

Okay, I'll skip ahead to the wedding. Everything went pretty smoothly. I was a little uptight beforehand because I had several jobs. I accompanied a violinist for a couple songs for the moms and then the candlelighters. We were both bridesmaids, so as soon as we were done, we zipped back to the back of the chapel to get in line. I was first in line, so I scurried back, grabbed my bouquet, slipped my arm into the groomsman's, and marched on down the aisle. After I sang for the unity candle, I relaxed and enjoyed the ceremony more. It was a lovely, simple ceremony, and the bride and groom were properly radiant. We had to go to another building for the reception. The bride and groom traveled over to it an old Model A! Pretty cool. I knew hardly anybody at the reception, but still had fun chatting, eating, and uh, enjoying the entertainment. :-) (Don't you dare say anything, JM! Except to Rachel.) I ended up taking the reins for the busy matron-of-honor, who was tending to her baby. I mean as far as helping the bride and looking after luggage.

Afterwards, we bridesmaids went back to the house. On the way, we decided to zip into Albertson's for a pizza. Of course we were still dressed up and figured we'd get a little attention. We had to laugh, though, when we saw a whole bunch of prom girls inside! Not that we looked anything like their half-dressed, teenage selves, but it was kind of funny to see a store full of formally dressed girls buzzing around. Then we grabbed a chick flick and zipped back to the house to eat leftovers, talk, and watch the movie. I was so tired on Sunday. Probably why my sore throat developed into a full-blown cold.

So there's my exciting update.