Part Deux de New York

I promised to recount our visit to Rochester, NY, for my nephew Nicholas' wedding to Alison Schmitt. This is primarily for me to document things that have occurred in the recent past, as the storage sites in my brain are rapidly decreasing in number.

We'll start on the morning after our 3:30 a.m (Wed., 7/23) arrival at Rochester. Of course, we slept into the afternoon. Nick and Alison had a little gift basket in our hotel room....so nowwwwwww, isn't it? i didn't do a damn thing for the folks from outta town who attended my Wedding Numero Uno.

Late Wed p.m., Nick phoned and offered to dine with us at a bistro just across the parking lot from the hotel. It was not a college hangout, but was of the ilk that catered to youth. Lotsa tv's turned to sports and other stuff, huge bar, and the roar of lotsa folks chatting. We ate a lovely meal and toasted a few times to the groom. His bride arrived later, and we toasted her as well. Steven and I drank a bottle of wine toasting.

Our childhood friend and quasi-sistah, Kathleen, arrived on wheels from Wilkes-Barre that evening. We all decided it would be more comfortable to move across the parking lot in a different direction to the Residence Inn, which unlike the Courtyard Marriott, offered breakfast and dinnertime hot snaxxx. So David (aka Vern) scored us two rooms and we moved there asap. (Another reason I wanted to move was the non-compliant guest in the room next to ours who smoked like a chimney.) Steven took off with Nick and Alison, and I have no idea where they went.

Next day, Thurs, 7/24, my sister en familia arrived from Ithaca (about 100 miles southeast). The plan was that we would do a family dinner in Niagara Falls, Ontario, to relive the visit to NF that we did jointly 18 years prior. At the event in 1990, my sistah and I sang with the band playing by the pool (uninvited, there was no karaoke back then)at the hotel where we stayed. Song was "The Happy Wanderer", a German beergarden ditty.

Things have changed quite a bit among the attractions, hotels, etc., but the Canadian Falls remain brilliant. We dined at a posh restaurant overlooking the Falls (spitting distance) on which colored lights gaze at night. Dinner was good, but verrrry expensive. When we'd been to the same place 18 years prior, it was a seafood joint that had mediocre overpriced food and a great view. This time it had very good pricey food and a still-great view.

After dinner, we meandered to the outlook before heading back. Nick, his brothers Peter and Mike, and Steven headed out into the wild night to engage in traditional bachelor party activities. I won't repeat their antics here for fear of the NF, Ont., police reading this and issuing warrants for any or all of them. Suffice it to say, they each looked like crap the next day, all day, thru the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. They had a hotel room in NF, but probably didn't use it til morning thru early afternoon.

When they returned to Rochester, it was for the rehearsal at Alison and Nick's church. I can't recall the church's name, but it was a contemporary structure in a very nice middle class neighborhood with lotsa trees. Afterward, we headed down to the shores of Lake Ontario for a post-rehearsal dinner hosted by my sister and her husband, Mike.

The festivities were held in a Coast Guard Auxillary Bldg sitting aside one of the canals that serves the Port of Rochester. One of Alison's relatives had a power boat, and many of the younger kids in her family enjoyed several rides. Nick is in the auxillary and i think Alison's family is active in it as well.

Jo Anne (Jay), my sister, fed us Cajun chicken, rice, veggies, and shrimp kabobs. The chicken and fixin's were catered by a local restaurant. Her husband Mike and Alison's father (his name is no longer in my brain) cooked them on a couple onsite grills. Jay did a wonderful job of planning and executing the reception.

After the rehearsal dinner, we retreated to the comfort of our hotel.

The wedding was at 2:30 pm on Saturday, 7/26. As expected, it was simple and lovely. I was one of 3 lay readers....I read a responsorial Psalm. Damn near fell on my way to and from the lectern, cuz I was wearing these black velvet, open-toe stilletos that matched the sparkly black dress that my sister had bought for me to wear. Totally inappropriate for a plump old broad like me.

The music at the wedding ceremony was outstanding. Both Alison and her brother are seasoned musicians and vocalists. Her brother sang a hearty baritone rendition of Ave' Maria.

Reception was at 6 at the local Country Club....a sit down dinner with choice of entree following a free cocktail and hors d'oeuvres hour. They had a dj/karaoke in lieu of a live band. Needless to say, we made fools of ourselves singing and dancing til 12:30 a.m., when the dj ended the party with Frank Sinatra and all of us crooning New York, New York. Steven and his cousin Peter (my sister's youngest) rapped a version of Baby Got Back. My sister and her kids sang Crazy Little Thing Called Love. My niece Natalie soloed on Can't Help Falling in Love. Nat asked the dj to play a CD of Serbian gypsy music, to which the family danced a "kola". It was a great time. My sister feigned wonder during my wild dancing about how quickly I had "recovered" from my bout valley fever. I told her i wasn't recovered, but I had decided that i'd rather have a good time and die, then not party at all.

Next morning (Sunday), we went to a park on Lake Ontario after breakfast at a greasy spoon that Alison's family frequents. I was sooooooooooooooooooooo tired. I have not danced that much for over 25 years. After the park, we drove back to Jay's house in Ithaca. We stopped along the NY Thruway for a light repast at a Sbarro (pizza). Also stopped at a gas station somewhere on the east side of Cayuga Lake for some huge tasty muffins.

Stayed in Ithaca Sunday night and Monday night. I crashed as soon as we got there (8 p.m.....the partying caught up with me). Over the next few days, Jay and Mike hauled us around to various points of interest. We went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. All Vern had on his plate was lettuce and tomato. It was a buffet of mystery dishes, and he's not a very adventurous eater. Jay asked them to bring him some tandoori (spicy) roast chicken, which, thankfully, he ate.

Mike drove us back to Rochester on Tuesday afternoon for our connecting flight to JFK en route to PHX. It was not nearly as draining as the TO: ROC flight. Still, we learned that flying JETBLUE thru JFK suxxxx big time. Our flight from ROC was on time, but we circled over the tri-state area for awhile due to heavy traffic. Everything was cool with our next flight to PHX until we got in line on the runway. There we sat for a couple hours waiting on airport staff to clear a disabled plane from a runway. While we were waiting, i had to use the potty. Steven had moved from the center seat next to me to an aisle seat in front of me. As I passed his seat, he grumbled at me "I hate you for scheduling these flights." Thank you very much, my son.

The plane eventually took off, and despite a head wind, we flew at almost 600 mph to make it to PHX about 1/2 late at 11 pm. Steven's friend Alan picked us up and deposited us back at the condo where he lives. We, then, drove back to TUS, arriving around 2 a.m. Another exhausting trip.

Vern had to work the next day, but i stayed home to rest. I have no idea how he made it thru the day. Sometimes i think the man sleeps with his eyes open.

Anyway, that's the end of our story. Nick and Ali left the following Friday for a 2-week honeymoon in Germany. Someone in her family gave them a week at a German resort as a gift, and then they planned to stay with some of her kin in Germany.

They as well as we have since settled down to our normal routines.

Catching up on other non-events in my life, V and I drove to San Diego a few weeks ago for my biannual endocrinology appointment. Results of blood tests were unsurprising. My blood glucose is maintaining an average of 134, which is a bit higher than normal (doctor's words), but not noteworthy.

I had a chest x-ray as well to check on the valley fever. The radiologist reported the nodule in my right lung to be 1.1 cm x 0.9 cm, which is where it was back in June as I recovered from the valley fever. I need to follow up w/ the pulmonary specialist in TUS about whether or not a CT scan is necessary.

It was very warm and breezy in San Diego, and we enjoyed one night at our favorite haunt, the Pacific Terrace Hotel. We had a terrace room. Left the sliding door screen open all night (locked of course)so we could listen to the surf. Verrrry relaxing. I wish i was rich and could do this more often.

Speaking of rich, I'm $8K poorer thanks to the economy tanking. My gov't 401K dwindled with every fall of a bank or mortgage lender etc. Steven managed to get his mortgage completed by 9/30. Ended up not costing him a dime to buy his house!

Time for a nap-ki for me. V is already in la-la land.
Adios, mi amigos y amigas.
Vaya con Dios.
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