Sorry I’ve been MIA for a couple of weeks! Both weddings in September were a huge success and I survived all the Mother-of-the-Groom and Mother-of-the-Bride planning and festivities.
I promise there will be something about not smoking in this blog, but if you guys could just indulge me for a few minutes, I’d really like to show you a few photos of the two weddings. I appreciate your patience with me being the proud Mothership!
This first picture is me with all my “babies”! From left to right: Whitney (41), Max (33), me (old lady; age unknown), Spencer (30), Hayley (34), Oliver (36). And to all you young mothers and fathers here on EX, this, yes, THIS is why you want to quit. Because your “babies” need you to still be around when they are grown-ups and have children of their own. Do you really want to miss being a grandma or grandpa?
This is the official family picture after Max & Jennifer’s wedding. From left to right: Peter (Hayley’s fiancé, now hubby after last weekend), Hayley, Whitney (with three of their four children), me (still an old lady), Max, his bride Jennifer (they’ve been together for SIXTEEN YEARS, since they were just teenagers. We are so close after all these years that I sometimes forget that she’s not one of my birth daughters.), Spencer, his wife Evelyn, Oliver. The kids in front are Claire (8), John (10), Graham (12) and then, at the far right, Oliver’s daughter, Vivienne (Vivi, age 6). Missing are Whitney’s husband, Ben, and their oldest daughter, Addie (13). Addie wasn’t feeling well, so Ben took her home.
Below, Max and Jennifer after their wedding.
Okey doke, that was the FIRST wedding in September. Now, on to the second wedding in September, in which I was Mother-of-the-Bride (which I already knew was much more expensive and complicated! But, to be honest, it’s also much more fun when the bride is your daughter.)
It was a smaller-ish wedding, with only 90 guests. It was held in Glen Lake, Michigan at the Homestead Resort on the edge of Lake Michigan. This specific locale information is for @Michwoman (Laura!) and my other EX friends in Michigan because they will know how beautiful the entire Sleeping Bear dunes and Leelanau Peninsula is! Michigan is my home state; I lived there from age 12 until age A-Lot-Older. (Crap, I just realized that I have to count my decades in Ann Arbor on TWO hands!).
Anyway, I will post a bunch of photos of Hayley and Peter’s wedding (because I’m sure you folks are all getting tired of seeing pics of people you don’t know) without a lot of explanation. Suffice it to say that it was an amazing wedding and I am so happy to have helped Hayley and Peter plan it. But the very BEST THING about her wedding was when Hayley told me that she wanted me to come stay with her in her room at the Lodge on the night before the wedding. The fact that she told me that she wanted to snuggle and talk with her Momma on the last night before she became a wife meant THE WORLD to me.
So, in no particular order, here are a few pics from Hayley & Peter’s wedding. I know I’m sharing WAY too much on EX about these two weddings, but I’m hoping my dear EX friends will understand...
And I said there’d be something about smoking in this blog, didn’t I? Well, I had tripped and fallen during the night before the wedding when I was setting up the centerpieces. I smashed up my right wrist AGAIN (remember when I broke that same wrist about four years ago? Mascara applied with a left hand ain’t pretty!). It got kind of hard to hide how much it hurt during the reception. So I slipped outside to just take a breather and to ice my wrist with a baggie full of ice during the festivities. And what did I happen upon? Four guests who had taken time out to go outside and smoke. I am not one of those EXers who still loves the smell of second-hand smoke, so I got as far away as possible from them, but I overheard their conversation. Here are some of the things they said: “I hope they don’t cut the cake while I’m out here”, “Do you think there’s anyplace around here that I can get cigs this late at night?”, “I’m so glad there are other people here that smoke”, etc. It made me remember the days when my addiction to smoking made life choices FOR me: How many cigarettes did I have left? When is the next time that I’d be in a place where I could smoke? Do I have enough time to go outside Security, smoke a few, and then get back though Security to my next gate? If I buy a pack, will I have enough cash to give Oliver for his lunch money tomorrow? This list goes on and on and on...
I cringe when I think about how I let my nicotine addiction make my choices for me.
And I love that I found EX and GOT MY LIFE BACK.
To you smokers who are brand new here on EX or have stumbled into the site by accident: You CAN quit. Nicotine is a strong addiction; some studies say as strong as heroin. But look at all of us who have broken free from that damn addiction! Now listen to this carefully and believe it: YOUR ADDICTION TO NICOTINE IS NO STRONGER OR MORE DIFFICULT TO BEAT THAT OUR ADDICTIONS WERE. If we have found a way out of this addiction, SO CAN YOU. There is nothing special about us. We have no magic formula that you don’t have. We were not stronger or more dedicated than you are. So, please stay here on EX. Start to blog so we can get to know who you are. Ask questions. Make friends here on EX. And know how a strong support system can make all the difference. WE can be your support system.
xxxooo, Sky
