My closest friend’s son got married this weekend, and Rich and I were happy to help wherever needed. Friday night, we helped set up a picnic style rehearsal dinner for her while the wedding party was at rehearsal. We picked up the hot foods and Rich was busy setting up Sterno burners for them, while I minimally decorated the tables. They had the dinner in a picnic shelter at the back of the groom’s property. It was primitive, with no electricity, so required some inventive lighting and food warming, on my girlfriend’s part. The pans that came with the Sterno, weren’t very deep, and Rich was worried the wings would burn and stick to the thin aluminim pans provided, so he layered a second aluminum pan under with small stones inside. It was a really smart way to maintain heat, but make it so the pan with the wings inside wasn’t sitting directly on the lit Sterno. I guess I’m not the only MacGyver in the family.

The church wedding was yesterday, and we chose (because of Covid and the ability to social distance) to skip the wedding and go to the reception that was being held outside under tents. It was the perfect day for a wedding, with heat in the low 70’s and a bright blue sky. The reception was held in the mother-of-the-bride’s backyard under a tent. To be honest, I wish they had rented a second tent, as the tables seated eight and were crammed together to the point that I couldn’t pull out my chair and sit down without running into the chair behind me. It was a little cramped, and luckily, only one other couple was at our table. Since we only knew the immediate family, we didn’t really know anyone else there, so befriended the other couple at our table.

The bride’s mother put a box of cookies at every place setting, as well as a bottle of hand sanitizer, which I thought was smart. Although they served dinner buffet style, there were servers to make sure people weren’t touching the serving utensils. It was a lovely reception and it was nice to see the groom so happy. My girlfriend looked great in her dress we’d bought, that matched the wedding colors exactly, navy blue and burgundy.

As we were leaving, my girlfriend made sure we took lots of cookies and a few cupcakes home with us, as she knows we’re both suckers for sugar. I made sure to bring extra cookies for her, knowing she’d take a lot with her, but would give them to others, leaving none for herself. When I talked to her today, that’s exactly what she’d done. I think she was happy to know that we’d made sure to bring extra boxes of cookies for her.

We spent the evening having hot tea and cookies, and watched a series on (I think) Netflix about an pair’s ice skater who is bi-polar. It had ten episodes and I can’t say the last few were worth watching. In the end, it was like every other movie about pair’s ice-skaters. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all…Boy and girl meet, boy or girl is wealthy and spoiled (the other is not). They skate together, one is overcoming an injury/fall, and by the end of the movie/series, they’re in love..The End. OK, there was more to it than that, but I think I saved you some time watching it. I couldn’t remember the name of the series, so asked Rich…it’s called Spinning Out.

Today is all about cooking. I like to bake bacon and put it in the freezer, so whenever Rich wants a few pieces, he can microwave them in seconds. I hate the smell bacon makes when it’s baking, so make sure I bake at least three pounds, so I don’t have to do it often. He’s a bacon fanatic….Bacon and Mountain Dew are his favorites.

Once I finished, Rich started making enchiladas. His recipe is from his best friend’s Mom. She made her tortillas from scratch, and her enchiladas were amazing. It takes all afternoon for Rich to make them, and we freeze them as well, so we have an easy meal whenever we want. He’s a good cook but even better baker. Since Covid, he’s been perfecting his white bread recipe. It’s really good and he’s come a long way from a loaf that wouldn’t raise, to one he photographs and shares on Facebook.

I’m going to put up a video of the wedding card I made. I bought the stamps at a stamp show last year, and it seems since then, the bridal stamp has been discontinued and the company I bought the sentiments from, is out of business. It’s hard to keep up with current stamps, as it seems companies aren’t keeping them in inventory very long before retiring them. Or maybe they were in their inventory for a long time before I buy them, and then they retire them. Either way, it’s a bummer that I’m showing a card that you literally can’t reproduce…Geez…

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