Photobooth Shenanigans

AKA: The wedding reception post mortem.

Note: Blogger ate my first attempt at this post, so I'm a little peeved. I had it all done and then POOF. Gone. Son of a beeswax! So, this might be briefer than the first go-round. Sorry.

After the wedding ceremony, I mingled and chatted with Jim's parents' friends during the cocktail hour. I've met them all several times over the years, but only remember a handful of their names. I suck like that. Thankfully, they're all very kind anyway, so we drank our Pinot Grigio and ate our hors d'oeuvres and had a good ol' time. Yes, folks, I was drinking white wine, which is usually very un-Bev, but it was hot, and it tasted good. Quenching. On a side note, I could eat nothing but appetizers for the rest of my life and die happy. I just love little bite-sized food, and these were particularly good!

Ok, enough about my stomach. (blush) After the cocktail hour we moved into the tent, and the band was quite good, as was the dinner and the open bar. Yay! I'll have you know, however, that I didn't over-indulge. I got my buzz on, sure, but I didn't go nuts. Danny was there, after all, and was a dancin' fool. People were actually clearing a circle around him and clapping. He was the life of the party. Hee! I have no idea from whom he got this flair for the dramatic. Heh.

In case you're wondering where my youngest son was (Mala), he was in the bride's parents' house with a sitter. Jim and I checked on him throughout the night, but it sure was nice to have a chance to party down unfettered. Also, Danny could go in there whenever he needed a break, and he did eventually go to sleep in there around 10. YAY!

So they had this really cool idea for their guest book. They had a photobooth set up, and the guests would go in and get their picture taken, then you cut them out and paste them into the guest book and write a little note. Jim and I went and did ours first thing after happy hour, so we look pretty put-together(ish) in our first attempt. Oh, and the bow tie Jim is sporting was part of his groomsman ensemble, but combined with his glasses and his hair (which always reverts back to bowl-cut territory no matter how nicely it is cut; it is straight and thick and he refuses to use hair products!)... well, he kind of looks like Bill Nye the Science Guy a little bit. Bless his heart.



Later on, we found ourselves chatting with Jim's cousin B and his wife, J for most of the night. We go way back, and they got married just a couple of months after we did, and have a son the same age as Danny. They still like to tease me about breaking a model ship at their wedding reception. What? It was this tiny little room in a yacht club with low ceilings, and they had a great band, and we were ALL cutting a rug & knocking shit down. But yes, I was the one who actually knocked a boat off the wall and broke it. Allegedly! What can I say? If you're gonna play Stayin' Alive, expect that I will be throwing an arm out ala John Travolta and plan a-fucking-ccordingly, ok?!

Later on, B started cracking jokes about doing a "wife swap" in the photobooth and making a funny page for the guest book. We all started throwing out funny captions and cracking jokes about it... but next thing you know, I'm actually IN the photobooth with Jim's cousin. OOPS. I kind of looked at him like, "Err, what did you have in mind, exactly?" So we pretended to make out for the camera. PRETENDED. No actual groping occurred! But, the pics were kind of incriminating. Whoopsie! Then Jim took J and his other cousin, D in. In retrospect, I wish we'd brought D in too, so it would have looked less awful!

We put a couple of the pics in the guest book with the caption, "Share and share alike. Keep it in the family!" D'oh!

(shading eyes with my hand) Sorry, A&A! Feel free to rip that page out of your guest book! Please.





The worst part was that on Sunday, after I got home, I got a text from my BIL saying that all of the photobooth pics would be put up online. D'OH! Thankfully, he agreed that they wouldn't be sharing that website with anyone. Egads. Embarrassment galore.

A good time was had by all, clearly! Also, we saw B&J at the brunch the next day and we're all still speaking and even planning to visit each other this summer. So, yay!

Isn't she lovely?

Everyone, please meet my new sister-in-law, Anne:


We had a great time at the wedding last weekend. Our flights went smoothly and the kids were decently-behaved, and my 6-yr-old did us proud as both the ringbearer AND the only child present. That boy can cut a rug, lemme tell ya! More on that later.

First off, here's my charming little devil:

He is holding his new harmonica, one was one of his gifts from A&A for performing his very important duty.

The groomsmen


D walking the aisle. He actually was walking so seriously that he walked right on by the aisle and everybody giggled. Whoops! Once he found the path, he was right as rain!


Here comes the bride!


Jim was asked to read a poem during the service:


Last but not least, here is the only pic (that I can show in mixed company! D'oh!) of me from the whole night. I'm not nuts about it, but there it is. I hate how I'm holding my hand; it looks like I have nubs for fingers. Great - now you're all going to know about that shop class accident I had!


That's it for now. My heart's just not into blogging this morning. The reception got a little crazy and I have some funny stories to tell, but they'll have to wait. Sorry!! I am a tease. You know this about me. You love me anyway. RIGHT?!

Life In The Village

We took Gidget in for a haircut last week (Maestro, Anderson St Yarraville) and as usual with businesses in Yarraville, everyone was made to feel at home. While Gidg got the treatment, Moondoggie and Gidg's best mate decided to do each others hair. They were given a seat, stool and tray of equipment which, thank god, did not include scissors! Can you just imagine if I had to take little Miss home to her mother with a new fringe?!

If you look in the mirror you can see Kiralee laughing at their skills.

This episode reminded me of a photo I had wanted to post a few weeks ago. I took the kids for their first dental appointment (at Choice Dental , 37 Anderson St Yarraville) and was absolutely amazed and grateful for the care and thoughtfulness with which they were treated. Dr Tim knew they were first timers and took the time to show them everything, give then a turn of the equipment and generally make it a fun experience for them. Moondoggie was even asked to be his assistant when he checked Gidget and had to move the chair up and down. As you can imagine he thought it was 'awesome'.

So once again the traders in the Village have proved what gems they are and I send my thanks for making life for my kids so interesting and fun.

My Crazy Scientist

I got a chance to spend some time in Gidget's classroom the other day as part of Education week. They are doing a unit on science and spent the morning conducting experiments and dressing as scientists. It was great to see what she is up to as I rarely get to see the class in action. In prep you get to spend so much time in the room but I've realised that as she gets older I will get to spend less and lees time being a part of her life. Good and bad at the same time. It's exciting seeing her find her place in the world but a little sad that I am not the center of her universe anymore.
Thank god Moondoggie is still a mummy's boy!
(P.S. hours of hair plaiting went on the night before to ensure hair was suitably crazy - unfortunately you can't even tell in this shot)

Bruised.

So, I've been a little distracted lately. I've had a lot on my mind, good and bad, so I feel like I've just been kind of wandering around in a daze for about a month. Now, when I get in these types of zombie zones, which isn't all that often, and never lasts as long as this one has, I am so out of it that I tend to walk into stuff a lot. Since I am extremely fair-skinned, that means I look like I've been beaten like a broke-down mule right about now.

I bruise easily. I often find them on myself and don't even remember getting hurt! It's just one more little F-YOU from Mother Nature's genetic bag of tricks, I guess, but it could be worse, so I acknowledge and move on.

The other day I somehow managed to walk into the protruding license plate of my car, and I really dinged up my right knee. It's all kinds of purple and blue and now, bits of yellow. Truly, it is stunning. Like a sunset! Of course, at least it's not Summer and at least I'm not going to a rehearsal dinner & wedding this weekend. And at least I'm not wearing strappy shoes, which require bare legs. Because that would suck; I'd have to show everyone how accident-prone and clumsy I am by sporting a massive bruise that has severe track-mark-like qualities about it. (eye roll)

In keeping with our tendencies to show up at these family functions looking like something the cat dragged in (no, not Scrambles the Cat... that bastard is far too lazy to be dragging in much of anything!), my youngest son took a tumble last night and now has the starting of a black eye. YES! He has reached the age when I think helmets should be mandatory at all times. His big ol' noggin just seems to pull him around and he falls head-first into things all. the. time. I suppose having a giant head will do that for you. Srsly, it's like an orange on a toothpick! It's like Sputnik!


At the last wedding, in February, it was my oldest who walked into the side of a building at school and got a gigantic goose egg on his forehead, which then proceeded to drain down his face and pool into double-black eyes and a swollen nose just as the big day arrived. I assure you, his nose and the area between his eyes are not normally that wiiiiiiiiide.

So, we're officially ready to rock n' roll at the wedding festivities this weekend! I am looking forward to the mani/pedi I'm getting tomorrow with one of my SILs and my MIL. Think it would be terribly rude if I wore my iPod? Yeah, probably. All I know is that I'm in NO MOOD FOR BS of any kind. If anyone so much as looks at me funny I will go Ninja Bev on they asses! There's a full moon on Sunday, and I'm already feeling a little loonier than usual, and full moons also seem to pull crazies to me like they're on tracks! Oh, also? I have been getting less than 5 hours of sleep per night for well over a week now, so I'm about ready to punch somebody in the face. Doesn't matter who, but I do have some ideas for who's top on my wish list!

It's not all woe is me, don't get me wrong. I don't have to work today, and yesterday my Boss gave me most of the day off out of the blue! So, I went had had sushi and pinot with Laurie and had just a really pleasant afternoon. Like the old days, before I became the Depresso-Bev 2000. Hee! I will say, I am often thankful that I am naturally a pretty happy gal. I have never suffered from depression or even bad moods that last for longer than a day or two. I think I was born with extra serotonin or something because my moods just kind of naturally float near the surface. I'm lucky that way, and I am grateful for it.

However, I will still inflict pain on someone if I don't get some GD sleep, and soon!!

Have a nice weekend, everyone! I'll post pics of the wedding when I get back, if I don't end up in jail for assault, that is. I'm just repeating the mantra I've had in my head forever now, which I boosted from some gawd-awful Eddie Murphy movie from long ago: KEEP IT TOGETHER... KEEP IT TOGETHER...KEEP IT TOGETHER! :)

Scrambled butt cuts

Scrambles the Cat is my soul pussy.


HA! I love it. He's not sad, he's just chillaxin'. Kickin' it, old skool.

Anywho. How is everyone on this fine morning? I'm doing fine and dandy, thanks for asking. My work peeps came through with a huge bouquet of flowers this morning, which brings my tally up to 6 so far, and means that my home now smells amazing but also looks like a funeral parlor. It's cool, I appreciate them all! I wish I wasn't going out of town for 3, almost 4 days, because coming home to a house full of decaying plant matter is not so bueno, but oh well.

Speaking of that, I think I've got everything done that needs doing before leaving on a jet plane tomorrow eve. I tried on my new dress last night and got two thumbs up from both The Jim and my 6 yr. old son, but that might've just been because they wanted to get back to their raging Wii bowling game. Speaking of that, the big kid's haircut isn't as bad as I first thought it was. It's a little too crew-cut-ish, but he still looks cute. My youngest, however, is sporting a bowl cut entirely too reminiscent of Peter Tork from The Monkees. I don't mind, though. He can rock the bowl cut! It's still better than a butt cut.

By the way -- when I just did a Google image search for "butt cut," guess what the first image was?! Yes, it's our very own Cary as a wee lad. HAHAHA!!!!!! WTF? How fraking funny is THAT?

Oh, and speaking of bad hair. On the phone with my sister last night we got to talking about my From the Vault posts, and how I have my next one all lined up already. We started reminiscing about some of the horrible Sears portraits of the two of us from our childhoods, and she has declared several of those verboten, which bums me out because they're HI-larious. In one, we're both sporting the classic 80's short hair 'do with permed tops, AKA the show poodle 'do. Oh, and ruffled shirts. In another pic, she is wearing a string tie, and has long, straight center-parted hippy hair; I have overly-short, uneven bangs and a cold sore. HAWT. But, I can't show them to you, because I promised not to... so you'll have to use your imaginations. I know you can do it.

That's it for now. Enjoy your day, everyone!

Sunshine Cleaning

A group of us get together on a regular basis at the SUN Theatre to see a movie. Kell has just sent through a suggestion for our next one and it looks fantastic. It is by the makers of Little Miss Sunshine. Check it out. The very last scene made me giggle...