nagi_schwarz (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nagi_schwarz) wrote2013-11-03 05:12 pm
nagi_schwarz) wrote2013-11-03 05:12 pm
Day 1094: Celebrations!
This week was really important, mostly because my bestie from college, BenTen, got married. This was a momentous occasion for several reasons. (1) She always swore she would never get married. (2) She swore she was finally going to get a girlfriend (she married a man). (3) Her wedding was on Halloween.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were one big celebration all rolled together - bridal shower (the first I ever hosted), bachelorette party (sushi, haunted house, cheesecake), and wedding (pretty dresses, bouquets, watching two people being so unbelievable in love). It was the sort of celebration I don't really ever remember my parents having, maybe because I was too young to appreciate them. I saw friends I hadn't seen in at least a year, maybe longer. There were hugs and smiles, stories exchanged, long delves into reminiscence. It felt like I'd been dropped back into the frenetic warmth of college, where we were all energy and irreverence, holding hands and screaming in the haunted house, laughing too loudly at all the wrong things over sushi, trading smiles and glances and falling into the grooves of familiarity worn by time, shared memories, and shared emotions.
There were late nights and games of fetch with the puppy, who got more attention and cuddles on demand than she knew what to do with. There was a gentle weaving of people from all different walks of life - parents, children, spouses, near-strangers turned comrades-in-arms as we fled from a man with a chainsaw. For all that I was the team secretary, the social coordinator and keeper of schedules in college, BenTen was always our heart, the soul around whom we all rallied. She brought us together and kept us together, and we all loved her fiercely. And on Thursday, we celebrated her. Don't get me wrong, I am friends with the man who is now her husband. I've known him almost as long as I've known her. I was there the first night he kissed her. I was awake when she knocked on my door and came and sat in the shadows and confessed that maybe she was a little bit in love. I stood by her when they fell apart, and I listened to late-night musings about how whenever she was around him, she went a little bit crazy. But I was at the wedding for her. I huddled close for pictures, helped her sort out the carrying of the train, and with my other friends I reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, and she deserved to live the day stress-free.
It was good to see old friends. After the wedding we went back to Curry's place and hung out, talked, and handed out candy to kids who knocked on their door, cooed at the ones in cute costumes. On Saturday, we went shooting with Alison (who is literally a champion marksman) and we had food, and we had fun times.
I love my friends from college. I am so happy for BenTen and her man, being all married and in love.
Tomorrow is mine and Cody's anniversary. Two years. He'll get home late from classes, like he always does, but we got invited to a Thursday night showing of the new Thor movie, so besides going out for good food we'll count that as part of our date. The first year was tough. This last year feels like it's flown past. One day I'm going to wake up and my kids will be in college, and I'll wonder where it all went.
...Is it terrible of me, to be so glad that for us, there's no "till death do us part"? The marriage ceremony was so beautiful, and I thought it was lovely how the ceremony was written in part by the bride and groom, who are both wonderful writers and poets in their own respective rights.
...Also, Ivy started pupping kindergarten on Saturday. So far her only classmate is a three-month-old German Shepherd puppy who is adorable but not sure how to deal with her, seeing as how he has not had many doggie play dates. Thanks to some advice from the trainer, we have ceased, for the most part, with the elaborate system of baby gates, and so far we have had no accidents. The trainer gave each of us a boat-load of treats to use for training purposes, so we are working on a new command with Ivy (come). She knows Sit, and Down (though she doesn't always listen to that one) and she is improving at fetch (go get it). We're working on walking. The trainer - his name is Devin, and he looks like Christian Kane, and it's kinda weird - showed me a new way to leash Ivy to keep her walking beside me, but the truth is she's too big and strong for me. Still, I am hoping this training will make her a more well-behaved dog for when we have to take her places or we have company over.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were one big celebration all rolled together - bridal shower (the first I ever hosted), bachelorette party (sushi, haunted house, cheesecake), and wedding (pretty dresses, bouquets, watching two people being so unbelievable in love). It was the sort of celebration I don't really ever remember my parents having, maybe because I was too young to appreciate them. I saw friends I hadn't seen in at least a year, maybe longer. There were hugs and smiles, stories exchanged, long delves into reminiscence. It felt like I'd been dropped back into the frenetic warmth of college, where we were all energy and irreverence, holding hands and screaming in the haunted house, laughing too loudly at all the wrong things over sushi, trading smiles and glances and falling into the grooves of familiarity worn by time, shared memories, and shared emotions.
There were late nights and games of fetch with the puppy, who got more attention and cuddles on demand than she knew what to do with. There was a gentle weaving of people from all different walks of life - parents, children, spouses, near-strangers turned comrades-in-arms as we fled from a man with a chainsaw. For all that I was the team secretary, the social coordinator and keeper of schedules in college, BenTen was always our heart, the soul around whom we all rallied. She brought us together and kept us together, and we all loved her fiercely. And on Thursday, we celebrated her. Don't get me wrong, I am friends with the man who is now her husband. I've known him almost as long as I've known her. I was there the first night he kissed her. I was awake when she knocked on my door and came and sat in the shadows and confessed that maybe she was a little bit in love. I stood by her when they fell apart, and I listened to late-night musings about how whenever she was around him, she went a little bit crazy. But I was at the wedding for her. I huddled close for pictures, helped her sort out the carrying of the train, and with my other friends I reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, and she deserved to live the day stress-free.
It was good to see old friends. After the wedding we went back to Curry's place and hung out, talked, and handed out candy to kids who knocked on their door, cooed at the ones in cute costumes. On Saturday, we went shooting with Alison (who is literally a champion marksman) and we had food, and we had fun times.
I love my friends from college. I am so happy for BenTen and her man, being all married and in love.
Tomorrow is mine and Cody's anniversary. Two years. He'll get home late from classes, like he always does, but we got invited to a Thursday night showing of the new Thor movie, so besides going out for good food we'll count that as part of our date. The first year was tough. This last year feels like it's flown past. One day I'm going to wake up and my kids will be in college, and I'll wonder where it all went.
...Is it terrible of me, to be so glad that for us, there's no "till death do us part"? The marriage ceremony was so beautiful, and I thought it was lovely how the ceremony was written in part by the bride and groom, who are both wonderful writers and poets in their own respective rights.
...Also, Ivy started pupping kindergarten on Saturday. So far her only classmate is a three-month-old German Shepherd puppy who is adorable but not sure how to deal with her, seeing as how he has not had many doggie play dates. Thanks to some advice from the trainer, we have ceased, for the most part, with the elaborate system of baby gates, and so far we have had no accidents. The trainer gave each of us a boat-load of treats to use for training purposes, so we are working on a new command with Ivy (come). She knows Sit, and Down (though she doesn't always listen to that one) and she is improving at fetch (go get it). We're working on walking. The trainer - his name is Devin, and he looks like Christian Kane, and it's kinda weird - showed me a new way to leash Ivy to keep her walking beside me, but the truth is she's too big and strong for me. Still, I am hoping this training will make her a more well-behaved dog for when we have to take her places or we have company over.