Emily's Wedding Weekend!

The real reason for the Cousin Camp weekend all goes back to my dear friend Emily's wedding, which she was amazing enough to invite myself, B, my brother and sister-in-law, and my Mom to. Once we had that much of the family in town, we knew we had to make it a weekend!

The weekend got started for me when I really switched gears. I didn't have to fly for this wedding (a first!) so it really snuck up on me. Up through Thursday night (when we had every bite of our traditional Christmas dinner) it was all monkeys all the time. Starting Friday, it was a real change up!

Friday got started with a wonderful airport pickup of my dear from Carolyn, and then a great bridesmaids lunch in honor of Em. Friday night we had a quick rehearsal and then headed right to the rehearsal dinner as snow began to fall. It kept falling through the appetizer hour and right on into the dinner. By the time we left, it was slush-city and I was so glad B was driving! We headed home early to get off the roads.

Saturday was a weird day for me. I woke up feeling anxious and things just kept going wrong. I wasn't feeling well, my curlers broke when I didn't have time to go get new ones, and then the crying started.

I had no idea how hard going to the first wedding after Dad's death would be. I was a little upset at the rehearsal dinner, remembering Dad's toast, but then the morning of the wedding it just hit me. B came in the bathroom and just held me as I dissolved into tears again and again as I tried to get ready.

Are you picturing this? Me with barely-warm curlers on my head that keep falling out as I sob harder and B tries desperately to get me to smile. I finally get him to make me a drink to help me calm down. It was mixed with an entire can of a coke, so this was no stiff drink, but I just needed something to calm me down.

So I calmed down and stopped crying long enough to get my makeup on (there's no crying after eyeliner, friends!) and get my hair up (which ended up looking fine, no thanks to you curlers!). We ate something and B dropped me off at the church where I felt amazingly better. I think being with the girls and focusing on Emily was enough to distract me from my own issues.

We took pics, enjoyed some snacks, and before we knew it it was time for the ceremony.

Ah, the ceremony. It was lovely and wonderful and everything I'd hoped for for a dear friend. And as I was focusing on the joy of the ceremony and Chris' happy face (I LOVE that being a bridesmaid puts you in the perfect position to see someone adore your friend!), I started to feel really hot. Unbelievably hot. It started in my (broken) toes and worked its way up to the top of my head. So I'm fanning myself with my program and working my knees to move the blood around and then, the cold starts. It starts at my head and starts working its way down my legs, which begin pouring sweat and getting to shake.

At this point, I look at the girl in front of me, my dear friend Carolyn, and say "I'm going to faint." She grabs my elbow and I turn to see the door on stage right and i make my way over there, an act my brother later noted that I completed without ever lifting a foot. Hello super shuffle! I collapse on the steps (out of sight, I hope!) and a doctor and B appear, rushing to my side.

The doctor says my pulse is thready and I need to lay down. I tell him my mostly medical family is likely right behind him. He asked me what area of medicine they were in and I told him "Ortho, peds, & OBGYN." "Well," he says, "They're about as helpful as I will be--I'm an ophthalmologist."

Amazing how your bar for a "pretty good day" goes from putting your hair up despite some complications to getting through a ceremony without throwing up in the piano.

After my little incident ("I just hate the bride having all the attention"), I felt much better. Fine during photos, fine at the reception, and fine after. Who knows what made it happen, but B and I agreed that we can certainly call it "a day."