Friday, October 4 2019

Dear Journal,

Good morning everyone! This morning I’m coming to you from my parents’ house in Geneva Illinois. Outside there are clear skies, and there’s a cozy chill in the air that’s crept its way indoors. I’ve got my favorite zip up on, a hot cup of coffee, and it’s time to write.

Yesterday morning was a highly coordinated family packing scenario. I woke up about forty-five minutes ahead of everyone else - just enough time to drink coffee, shake the sleep off, and write a journal entry. I went upstairs and got Rodney out of his room. We made some scrambled eggs, and shortly after Marissa joined us at the table. We used the last few moments of breakfast to make a packing list, then the packing & grooming frenzy began. Along with packing ourselves, we had to pack Rodney, the dogs, and a lunch to eat on the way. I jumped on the opportunity to evacuate all of our leftovers out of the fridge and into a cooler. There’s nothing worse than coming home to spoiled food in your fridge, right? It was a true victory lap of everything we’ve eaten that week. We had sliced honey crisp apples, saucijzenbroodjes, roasted red potatoes, a slice of deep dish pizza, and a fist full of paw patrol fruit snacks.

We all hit the road at 11:30 AM on the dot. Our first stop was Target. I needed a plain white dress shirt, and Marissa wanted to get Rodney some special train toys to make this weekend a little more special for Rodney.

We dropped the dogs off at the kennel around 1. Ollie, as usual, was pretty fine about it, but Zig Zig surprised us with a little last minute ambivalence. She tried to hide in Marissa’s lap, which really broke our heart. Zig Zig has always been so head strong and quick to throw herself into new experiences, and it was likewise heart-warming and heart-breaking to see her wear her mixed feelings on her sleeve. Last night as I was falling asleep, I thought about the dogs, and I wondered if Zig Zig was also lying awake thinking about us too.

We made it to my parents’ house at 3, giving us a nice comfortable hour to unpack, get dressed, and even sneak in a pre-rehearsal beer. Rodney shocked us all with… um… a pretty explosive surprise that was the result of drinking too much apple juice in the car. As Marissa and I were tended to him, I remarked that as far as diaper changes go, this was the quadruple bypass equivalent - and I stand by that. Marissa had the intensity of a trauma surgeon, and I may as well have been a nurse dabbing her forehead with one of those little operating room sponges.

After the biohazards were contained, we drove behind my parents to College church for the rehearsal, which was quite literally a drive down memory lane. Marissa and I had a lot of fun slowly remembering the landmarks around downtown Wheaton and campus. We had a good laugh pointing out all of our old make-out spots.

After getting to the church, Rodney saw Alice across the chapel and yelled her name. The two grabbed each other’s hands, and at last the partners in crime were reunited. During the rehearsal, Jeremy and I watched the younglings. Rodney shared his crayons, and Alice shared her graham crackers. Rodney was also particularly chatty during the rehearsal. Every five minutes or so, he would interrupt the pastor with an exuberant GOOD JOB MAMA, accompanied by Rodney’s trademark thumbs up, of course.

After the rehearsal, we made our way to the Oster house for dinner. The food was delicious - that was about all I remembered from the fog of trying to get Rodney to eat while also making sure he didn’t break anything. I trust you’ll keep this between just the two of us, reader - but we had a close call with a dinner napkin and a candle stick. But all is well that ends well.

This morning, I’m having my fill of coffee, and I might sneak a bite of this vanilla cake that’s sitting on the counter in front of me. In a few minutes, I’ll get Marissa and Rodney up. Marissa has bridesmaid things to do, but as far as Rodney and I are concerned, we’re going to go out to breakfast with grandpa.

It’s a great day to get married, isn’t it? Remember to pack extra diapers, watch the apple juice intake, and if all goes well, let’s have a wedding!