Lots of Wine: September 2010

So what to do when you have the whole afternoon/evening to yourself? Clean of course! Lola's teacher, Elaine, took her to the zoo and she won't be back until 7 or so. What I really wanted to do all day = take a nap. But, the basement needed cleaned out! We had more water in it a few months ago (not as much as the big flood) and it's still messy from that. I think I have fixed the problem of the city's stormwater backing up through our floor drain, but just in case.....I decided I needed to get everything off of the floor, and what remains on the floor has to be able to tolerate water (plastic buckets, pots, coolers, etc...). Everything on the bottom row of shelving needs to be in plastic tubs, and everything above that can be boxes. No boxes within 18 inches of the floor! I learned that the hard way last time. I bought some shelving and assembled it and there is now EMPTY shelving in the basement. This means I can actually put more stuff down there, not on the floor, but up, up, and away. Productive Saturday!!!

I think I’m still recovering from Matt’s wedding last weekend. The wedding itself was wonderful, beautiful, couldn’t ask for a better evening! We were supposed to arrive on Friday around 11:45am, just in time to get to the hotel and put Lola down for a nap, and to also have enough time to shower and get ready before the rehearsal at 4pm. Well… as we are sitting in the terminal they announce the flight is delayed from a 10:30am takeoff to a 12:55pm takeoff! What? Apparently the plane had mechanical problems and was being fixed in Oklahoma City. 12:55 turned into 2pm, which eventually turned into 3pm. Those were the longest 5 hours of my life, seriously. Lola did not want to sit down for even a second, she wanted to run around the entire time. Ryan and I took turns. We were exhausted. I was upset when I realized we were going to miss the wedding rehearsal at 4pm, but I got teary when I realized we were going to miss family pictures. Matt and Sara hired the photographer to come to the hotel to take professional pictures for anyone that wanted them. We were going to get Whiteside and Bloomfield family pictures, and Ryan and I were going to get a family picture with Lola. Sadly, the only opportunities we get for these types of pictures are weddings and funerals. That made me really sad because I don’t know when we will get that opportunity again to get all the family together. We finally got on the flight, got to Midway, got our bag, and got on the train. Keep in mind that Lola still has not taken a nap! And yes, she screamed on the plane. We arrive out of breath at the hotel lobby at 5:45…just as everyone was gathering to leave for the Rehearsal Dinner (which started at 6). So everyone got to see us get off the elevator looking our very best – no shower, no makeup, sweatpants, and grumpy. It was pretty funny actually because we literally walked out of the elevator right into 50 or so of our family/close friends. They all cheered!

The rehearsal dinner was great, the food was wonderful. Lola did fairly well considering she hadn’t napped. My dad made a great speech/toast. Unfortunately we left around 9pm because we needed to get Lola to bed. I wish we could have stayed longer. Everyone was still having a good ol’ time when we left, and I heard later they stayed well past 10pm.

The wedding day was busy. While I got my hair and makeup done, Ryan and Lola wheeled around Michigan Avenue doing some shopping. She was a little antsy during pictures, even rolling around in some flowers outside (while wearing her white dress and white tights). Good thing I brought an extra pair of tights - the begonias stained them hot pink. She performed beautifully during the actual wedding, walking with Ryan down the isle while holding his hand. Thank goodness! We took her back to the hotel after the wedding to a babysitter so we could enjoy the reception. We stayed until midnight and then went back to the hotel and crashed. She didn’t even go to bed for the babysitter until 10:30 so we knew she would be overtired and wake up early on Sunday. Oh well, the joys of travelling with a child!