The Way Weekends Should Be, Mostly, Part 1

Warning. Prepare for a sapfest, or avoid this post like the plague. With that said...

Yes the blogs have been sparse. But I'm kind of bored of apologizing. If I manage to spend less time in front of the computer and more time communicating somehow with someone I feel is quite special, then more power to me I figure.

I guess a good way to start the description of how the weekend went would be quite possibly the cutest thing anyone has ever done for me. Now as gross couples though, if someone was close to us they'd probably place us near the top. Not in the tongue down each other's throat all the time way, but in the talking in a lovey dovey voice constantly showering each other with praise kind of way. Thus many things about our relationship are in that cutesy wutesy kind of category. When her cell phone rings and it's me, it shows up as "Boyfriend" and I sign my e-mails to her the same way, while she of course signs hers with Girlfriend. I guess it's been a long time since I've used that terminology, so I don't mind overusing it. So yeah, fast forward to Friday morning as I enter LAX. I'd just had a really crappy flight from Denver having connected there from San Antonio, during which I'd managed to find a very back row window seat which didn't recline at all and placed me next to a very oversized man. I also managed to get back there just in time to see the last baggage compartment space disappearing, so I got to put my large duffle bag under the seat in front of me. This of course took up any leg room I actually had, and meant I had to put my feet on it, placing my knees somewhere near my chest. Needless to say it was a very long flight. Even so I was quite excited, as I knew that my girlfriend had arrived in my hometown the night before, and would be waiting for me at the airport. So this is where I decide to try to be clever. I figure knowing the airport well I'd know where she'd be waiting, so I'd take another route down an elevator and double back around her to surprise her. Well my plan goes perfectly and I arrive in baggage claim where I expect she'll be waiting, but see no one familiar. I call her cell and she picks up, and I ask her where she is, and upon hearing she's in the baggage claim I look around bewildered. Finally my eyes catch upon long dark hair, a jean jacket and skirt, and heels placing her at a height above what I'd been scanning for. I then put my plan of having her close her eyes into action so I can sneak up behind her, but little did I know. Upon hearing me say that she immediately turns around and starts scanning, and within seconds our eyes meet. I really don't know how to explain the feeling that came next. It had only been less than a month, but it felt like so much longer. The smile that came to our faces upon recognition was instantaneous and genuine. She came running over and I tried to somehow formulate complete sentences while simply downright staring. I'm really not sure whether I'd just forgotten how incredible she looked normally or for some reason she was at a whole nother level that day, but I really couldn't stop looking at her for most of that first day. Even when I was driving I kept wanting to focus on her rather than the road. So anyway, while trying to execute my little plan I foiled hers, and managed to completely screw up what would have been pretty much the cutest thing anyone had ever done for me. Well it was still really cute even with poor execution on my part, but it just goes to show how little it takes. She'd stayed up most of the night prior unable to sleep even after a 15 hour plane ride, and had decided to make me a sign to hold while waiting for me to arrive. Thus had I done what I should have, and come down the normal escalator into the baggage claim where she had been waiting for the previous half hour, what I would have seen is a beautiful young woman blushing, and holding up a sign with hearts and swirls surrounding large block letters spelling out one word: "BOYFRIEND." Had things actually played out that way, I probably would have melted on the spot. Instead I felt eternally guilty, but was sure to tell her how incredibly cute I thought it was.

So yeah, eventually we end up leaving LAX. Actually we had to wait like a half hour for the shuttle back to her hotel, but I was barely paying attention, instead staring at my girlfriend and pinching myself to make sure I was awake. In a way it seemed for a while once I returned here to Randolph like I'd been in a six week dream, and this was confirmation that she really does exist, and I really am this lucky. After checking out we made our way across the street to the car rental place, where we decided to take the first step in making this a cooler than cool weekend. We rented a pretty nifty new strawberry red Mustang convertible, and immediately started cruising with the top down as we headed down the 405. This was actually my first time ever in a convertible, and not only was I in one, but I was driving it through my hometown on an absolutely gorgeous day, with the best companionship I could possibly ask for. Many a time did I just glance over at her and when she asked what I was thinking I'd just say something along the lines of not being able to believe that so many of my dreams were coming true.

We made a quick stop by the Del Amo mall and downed some yummyness at the food court before having to zip home and try on my tux, which apparently was causing some sort of crisis on the homefront as people continued to think of worst case scenarios the day before the wedding. Eventually we make it on over to the church where the rehearsal was to be held. Thus continued the barrage of introductions, as she tried her best to keep all my uncles aunts and cousins straight. She actually did very well in that respect throughout the weekend, it was a whole lot to try to keep together while running on empty due to lack of sleep. This was my first experience as a groomsman, so it was interesting to see how the whole process worked. Saw some folks I hadn't seen in at least a few years, and given that they'd only seen me "pre-military" I got a lot of comments, mostly positive about the changes. I'd of course been working hard all month to get back into pre ASBC condition, and was quite satisfied with the results. The whole ceremony wasn't too complicated, so within an hour or so we were on our way over to the Cheesecake Factory for the dinner. Prior to that though, we took the liberty of racing over to the Portofino, the well placed hotel right on the ocean in Redondo Beach. My father's company has one of the apartments rented out over there, so we were to have one room of the two bedroom apartment while my brother and his girlfriend stayed in the other for Friday and Saturday night. We of course wanted the better one, so we were sure to get there as soon as possible. Lucky for us we did, because one of the rooms was significantly "cooler" that the other. It was the back room, and thus further from the door, and had it's own bathroom within rather than having one across the hall. It also was on the corner, so it had two large windows on two walls that looked over both the yacht club and marina around the hotel and the breakwater and ocean beyond. This was quite nifty, as there were seals a plenty throughout our visit, and the sunrise in the morning was a neat thing to wake up to. Unfortunately we managed to miss all the sunsets that took place while we were there, so she wasn't able to see what a beautiful sunset in the west over the ocean looked like. We also never made it up to SB due to the shortened time frame, so we have a number of things on our list of stuff to do the next time we're in the area. Granted I don't think we'd ever run out of things to do together, there is a pretty long list stacked up of things I'd love to do when/if someone special was involved.

After staking our claim at the hotel we headed to the Cheesecake Factory, where our party had taken over a large room on the upper story. Here there were many more introductions, and I was able to chat it up with various relatives. One highlight included meeting the groom's grandfather, who was a Navigator in WWII who participated in some of the first bombing runs over Berlin. Amazing stuff, we read about that kind of thing in history books all the time, but he's the first Nav I've met from that era. We also took a picture with my entire family and our respective significant others, which I thought was quite cute. The most common guidance I received in regards to my new significant other was that "I snagged a good one" and I should "hang on to this one" and that people "highly approved." This is of course all wonderful, and my usual response was something along the lines of having no clue how I managed to swing such a thing, and that I considered myself amazingly lucky. The food was average given the normal fare at that restaurant is outstanding, and given the set menu we weren't able to deviate. Eventually we took our leave and returned to the hotel, where we eventually finally crashed. Throughout the weekend though there were moments were I found myself in disbelief that I was actually in that position at that moment. I remember coming out of the bedroom after emptying my pockets having just arrived back at the hotel and looking across the living room, where I saw her standing on the balcony with her hand on the railing, looking out over the expanse of water. It seriously looked like some sort of painting, and I immediately ran for my camera. Of course the picture with the flash was destroyed and without was darkness, so I wasn't able to capture it. But I remember when I walked up to her and gave her a hug that I really felt at peace at that moment in time.

Eventually we get up the next morning, and she discovers that the dress she'd planned to wear didn't actually fit due to some sort of sizing error. This was of course a crisis and after various plans were considered it was decided she'd take the Mustang to the mall to do her thing and get her hair and makeup done and whatnot, while my brother and I got ready and headed over to the church early to perform usher duties and whatnot. I was sad that a few hours of the very small number we'd have to spend together that weekend would be spent apart, but it worked out. It had been a while since I'd been all decked out, and was actually only the second time I'd worn a tux in my life, the first being my Junior prom (asked the gf at the time to the senior prom and she said no, so I didn't go after several other later rejections). I must say when I actually take the time to worry about the way I look, I don't look to shabby. Or so I'm told, really. So we cruise on over to the church and end up beating the groom and the rest of the groomsmen there by like an hour due to some sort of limo conspiracy of some sort. Then there's a minor fiasco as the bride is out in front of the church taking pictures as the limo pulls up, which forces my brother and I to become human roadblocks while the bride dashes off to safety. The near-miss is the only hiccup of the day however other than me potentially blocking the videographers shot with the back of my head at one point. About a half hour before the ceremony my girlfriend arrived, and I remember walking over to the stairway that led down to the parking lot, and watching her as she reached the bottom step and began to climb. I really liked her dress, with is something I pretty much never say in general. Everything about her looked exceptional, and I was forced to stare. The first several sentences she said to me were lost in my brain somewhere between the "wow" and the "oh my goodness" although I think it was something about something not being what she wanted or something. I sure as heck wasn't complaining, and I tried to convey the fact that she looked incredible. A very smooth flowing ceremony followed, and I must say hearing the infamous organ piece as my father walked my sister down the aisle was quite moving in person, something I hadn't experienced previously while standing up front. Also neat was getting to escort my girlfriend down the aisle as one of the last into the church, and one of the first to leave. There were various parts of the ceremony where something was said or read that made me glance towards the second row where she was seated, and a huge smile was always waiting for me. I literally smile whenever I think about being locked in her gaze. Following the ceremony and umpteen million more pictures we got the heck out of dodge and plowed up the hill to Palos Verdes and Los Verdes Country Club where the reception was located.

And I figure I'm about halfway through the timeline of the weekend. I'm temporarily bored of writing and you're temporarily bored of reading (and holding back your gag reflex) so that works out perfectly.

Some Thing Aren't Meant to be Easy

Back in San Antonio. Whirlwind weekend. Very tired. Details tomorrow.