Trying to hold on to some concentration...

We left after work on Thursday for Chicago and got in around 11:20p, had a beer with Mike and Liz Espinoza and then fell into a very deep sleep in their basement. On Saturday, the plan was that Mike and Nate would go stand in line at Wrigley to get good bleacher seats (we had tickets, but they're general admission so it's worth waiting to get a good spot). In the meantime, Liz would take care of some business and I would go to breakfast with Sarah (Justin was working). However, Sarah called Saturday morning sick with a stomach bug. So I happily waited in line in the gorgeous weather, watched batting practice, and actually stayed engaged with the game (it really makes a difference when I'm close enough to any sport that the players are clearly animated instead of specks). Here is a photo of Nate, my diastema, and me (seriously, I ain't seen suck a gap since that one model--what was her name?--and I was thinking the other day, Would she get a modeling job in the Extreme Makeover era? I couldn't decide.)



Right after the game, we took the L back to Mike and Liz's house, then hopped in our rental Mazda 6 (which provided Nate with endless driving fun)and set off for the rehearsal dinner in historic downtown Naperville. The dinner was delicious and it was so exciting to see Anna. Although she and I only spent a few hours together when she lived in Minneapolis I found her vivaciousness totally enchanting and feel much closer than our acquaintance probably justifies. I met her sister, Mary, who is the way coolest. I get the impression she helped a LOT with the planning since Anna and Scott live in D.C. Complete and utter charm clearly runs in the family since I would totally look Mary up to entice her to hang out when I'm in the Chicago area in the future.

Overall the rehearsal dinner was a little awkward. Nate was not in small talk mode and I was not feeling charismatic enough to overcome the fact that I was the 'and guest' part of our connection to the couple. The looks I got from the Oles upon introduction clearly showed that the last time they saw Nate he and Kelly were together and I was an object of novelty and youth. I'm so completely old (ass)hat that I found this both amusing, but my amusement wasn't really shareable since they didn't say anything. The other funny thing about the rehearsal dinner was the clear deliniation between Scott's friends who all grew up on the east coast and were super posh, and the Oles, who were clearly midwestern. For example, the east coasters wore their suits all evening. They are clearly comfortable in suits, wear 'em to work every day, and have nice ones. The Ole men mostly removed coats, like, "Dude, we WORE it here, that's totally good enough." I agree. After the dinner Nate and I spent a little time chatting with people at the bar next door, but most of them went home and eventually ended up in a corner with beers chatting our ownselves up.

We drove back to casa d'espinoza and waited for Adam and Trisha to arrive. They arrived around 12:20p and slept downstairs with us. We got up in the a.m. and donned our wedding get-ups (Trisha was showing off a sweet bandage under her nylons where she scalded the crap out of herself in the morning on her drive to work). We set forth to find somewhere to kill time before the ceremony and feed ourselves at the same time. We headed up to Aurora/Wheaton/Naperville where the wedding was and by some stroke of luck, drove by a billboard for Walter Payton's Roundhouse which bore a flag stating it was one of Esquire magazines best bars of 2008. When I suggested this to Trisha over the phone she passed it on to Adam whose reaction was ecstatic. Apparently he and Cantus once stayed in the hotel nearby and he was familiar with the place. It did turn out to be great--they have a blonde chocolate beer that has a more intense chocolate taste than any dark choco beer I've ever had--totally stunned me! (p.s. Trisha was telling me that she had a comparable beer mixed into a MALT when they visited Oregon once. Sign me up!)

The wedding happened at 2 at Anna's childhood church.

We went to the hotel afterward to check in. Trisha and I took a nap while Adam and Nate watched basketball. The reception didn't start until 6 and it was in a gorgeous house at an equestrian center. Cocktail hour was in the house and a combination of Oles and hired hands played in a string quartet while we drank whiskey and chatted much more easily with all assembled than we had the night before. For dinner, we were ushered through a windowed hallway lined with candles in hurricane glasses of varying sizes. The reception hall was a square and the walls were all windows. The colors of were Tiffany's aqua and white--tres fresca! The ceiling was wood and hung all about with wires that had 2 or three lights like candles glowing through frosted glass on. The speeches, all three, Glen's (Anna's Dad), Jeff's (Scott's best man), and Mary's(Anna's sister) were fantastic: funny, touching, but never uncomfortable or schlocky. The acquintances I amassed and Nate deepened include Jonathan Smith and Amanda Smith (nee Johnson) who live within sight of the new Yankees stadium. Jonathan strikes me as someone you would get along with quite immediately and he has a band...don't remember the name of it, but if you get a chance you should go to a concert and say hi. Or maybe you already know him/them?

Yesterday Nate and I set off around 10 and made it back in time for his softball practice. I walked Aoife (Ben and Jamie's wheaton terrier) around Lake Nokomis and then returned to my unit plan. Yeah, the unit plan basically explains why I've been such a crackpot at communication this week. In fact, instead of writing a blog at work I should be making little lesson plans, but I ain't. I'm puttin' you first even if it is to tell you that I probably won't be able to phone before Thursday. In the words of Kris & Jen, "Don't be mad." I didn't realize this dang thing was due this week until last week's class and I have NO idea how I'm gonna finish it. I spent part of our drive down ('til it got dark) and most of our ride back working on it and it is still a wee fledgling and looking sort of mangled as if someone is using tongs to birth it. Only this week's class, a bunch more work to get ready for next week's class, and then that is it for classes that I have to take before student teaching. Just don't let me forget to take the Praxis II, okay?

So I guess here I go to get back to it. Forgive me for not proofreading this. And here is a parting picture of Adam, Trisha, Mary, and Nate.