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So, the wedding. Was. Fabulous. The vows they said were great, the ceremony (which Jen compiled/wrote) was awesome, and the reception was a blast. The food was wonderful, everyone looked great, and there was a karaoke band. And an open bar. More fun facts:

• The bridesmaids/groomsmen walked down the aisle at the end of the ceremony straight to the bar for their first drink.
• I karaoked “Take it Easy” by the Eagles.
• The cake topper was an action figure of Jonathan Papelbon (from the Red Sox) and a red-headed Phoenix girl action figure.
• Two little boys (6ish?) karaoked “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Mary had a Little Lamb.” A crowd gathered at the stage to sing and dance and cheer them on. Othewise they ran around without shirts on.  I don’t know why.
• All the bridesmaids wore stompers. They kept me warm all night. (see pics)
• One of the bridesmaids quickly ironed her dress in nothing but her stompers.
• It took 2-3 people to help Jen use the bathroom once in her dress.

Today the weather was crazy. Sleet, hail, snow, sun, rain, wind, snow that stuck for awhile. Repeat all day. There were black clouds and purple clouds, puffy whites and wispy greys. At times the white balance was off and all the whites were yellowy. The sky just couldn’t make up its mind. In March – it is spring, right?

Conversely, February was beautiful. Like May – t-shirt weather, gorgeous blue skies, warm spring breezes. So not normal.

What about our effect on the environment aren’t we understanding here?

George took a tumble down the porch stairs (2 steps) and injured his right hind leg – kinda in the inside crease where his hip meets his body. This happened maybe a week, week and a half ago. At the same time, perhaps partly because of it, George also started having urinary problems. Therefore, not only was he having trouble walking – he tottered about and fell alot – he was also having trouble peeing – it came out as a trickle rather than a stream, and it smelled funny.

We were really worried – he was peeing in the house a lot, almost every time he got up – because he couldn’t pee but a little bit every time. He also couldn’t walk more than a couple of steps without falling, and then he’d drag himself as far as he could or bark until someone came to get him. On top of that, he’d fall when he was peeing and pee (or poo) on himself. He seemed okay except that his pride was hurt – no serious pain or sickness, but he was a mess, we were a mess, and nobody was happy. It was a rough couple of days.

Our solution was to keep him off his feet – for an old man dog he’s pretty active, always wanting to be where the people are, checking that all of us are still doing what we were last time he checked, and generally shadowing people when they’re walking around. To do this we resorted to drugging him with the pain meds the vet gave us in December. That basically knocked him out for like 3 days; he’d get up to use the bathroom and then go back to crashing on the couch.

We ordered some urinary tract infection medication for George after a trip to the vet to determine the peeing problem, and we’re using a sling on his back legs to give him some stability when he’s going out to use the bathroom. We also decided to get a more permanent fix for his back legs – a doggie wheelchair from Eddie’s Wheels. Its expensive, yes, but its so worth it for George to be back outside on walks, getting exercise and generally being mobile and independent again.

For right now, George is doing much better today. Those few days of forced rest really seem to improve his mobility – he’s walking much better…he’s only fallen twice today – and he’s holding himself up for longer amounts of time. We’re so happy he’s getting better.

We are at T minus zero days until Jen’s wedding. I’m sitting here in downtown Portland with absolutely beautiful hair by Nicole at Fada Salon. Pictures of the wedding to follow in the aftermath. Its just after 8am. At 10:30 my face is getting done and pictures to follow. Then wedding at 5pm. And then the real fun starts – the reception.

Actually, from the rehearsal dinner, the wedding sounds like its going to be very fun too. Not stuffy and boring and formal. I’m excited – I’m walking in to the ba Ba BAH! song from Kill Bill. How cool, right?!

More after the event…I have to go be pretty!

Ooog. Bachelorette party + St. Patrick’s Day = Too much alcohol.

Saturday was my friend’s (Jen) bachelorette party. We dressed up in ridiculous costumes…i.e. I wore bright orange fishnet stockings, a bright blue short skirt with a slit all the way up, a shorter orange-flowered sarong underneath, orange arm socks, a pale orange tanktop made out of that towel material, an orange lace-up vest, and a bright blue shawl with very colorful patterns on it. Tara wore a dragon costume (with a tail), two others had wigs and devil horns (one purple with white, one red with red), Suz wore a lobster hat, Ellen was all furry, and Jen’s sister wore a really revealing Alice in Wonderland costume. We got stared at. A LOT. But it was so fun…we went out drinking for several hours and then came home to a house party and potluck cooked by the boys. Also very fun and delicious. Waaaay delicious.

Monday, of course, was St. Patty’s Day. Everyone’s Irish on St. Patty’s Day, so we had Irish Car Bombs and Jameson Whiskey shots and plenty of them. The Irish aren’t light drinkers, you know. We also watched Boondock Saints and then Gangs of New York. But I drank far too much and slept far too little for work on Tuesday. I was pretty miserable until lunch. I’ve learned my lesson for now…

Yesterday we went to Mt. Hood Community College to watch one of my family members* swim at a regional competition. Sami had to qualify to make it to this event where kids from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana gathered to swim for a chance at the national competition in Florida. She swam two backstroke events, a butterfly event, and freestyle swam the last leg of the relay team.

Sami was really nervous but swam very well, shaving time off of two of her events! And in some events she was swimming against girls 3-5 years older than her and keeping with them! I was so proud of her.

*Sami is my godparents’ granddaughter, so I am about a decade younger than her parents – my godparents’ child/her husband – and about a decade older than her. They live in Billings, Montana.

Update: I emailed the Oregon House Rabbit Society to find out where to take the bunnies for possible further adoption.

Somebody let (no less than) 2 clearly domesticated bunnies loose in the neighborhood. Again. *#$%ers. This time they include a brown lop-eared one and a white albino with tall ears. My roommate, Fidiot, was able to walk up and hold the brown one, but the last time we took 2 bunnies to the humane society they euthanised them, so we decided to just leave them outside. The weather is wet and chilly but nothing a giant ball of fluff can’t live through, and plenty of plants are sprouting for food.

I’m into gardening; its a recently acquired hobby in the last few years. I love puttering around outside on a nice, sunny weekend, pulling weeds and working the earth with my dirty hoe. *snicker* Anyway, I’ve brought my new-found love of plants indoors – I’ve started growing some vegetables since I don’t have a backyard suitable for such endeavors. The seeds have sprouted and are just barely breaking the soil…they seem happy thus far on their kitchen windowsill perch.

Since I don’t like vegetables really, I’ve decided to only do a few…3 types of peppers and scallion and Walla Walla sweet onions. I don’t eat these – yuck! – but they make for good flavor in chili, meats, and hamburger. Jasmine, my newbie, mentioned they’re going to smell, which I hadn’t thought of, but I’m still excited. Hopefully my coworkers will enjoy the extras!