recycled « Robin Writes

I have to say, this is the first wedding I’ve planned mostly via texting.

And I hate texting. I mean, it has its uses, such as when you need a quick, short response—and I don’t mean “k.” Like a yes-or-no question answer, or a time confirmation. Beyond that, just pick up the phone and call me!

Yeah, yeah, it’s 2015 after all, I get that. So I’m trying to be, what’s that word? Flexible. That’s it. Right.

My son is getting married Saturday, as in tomorrow. Naturally, I assumed that, since I’d given them ideas and tips and guidance a year ago, after the engagement (and engagement party that we threw for them, since her family wasn’t going to), that everything was planned.

It was not.

The date had been set last year, and they were going to get married at our church. That fell through, for various reasons. Then they were going to the courthouse. Ick. And having a reception, maybe at a park. It was all kind of vague . . .

So two months before the wedding, I started asking questions. Like who and how many in the wedding party, where should we have the rehearsal dinner, what is her family planning for the reception; all the normal things, right?

Wrong. Her family wasn’t doing anything. I’m still not clear on that, but in a nutshell, they’re not happy. Okay, I get that. But both the bride and groom are over 21, so what can you do? They’ve been together for, oh, a year and a half, and engaged for a year. Far as I know, they want to get married and no one has moved out or on in a huff at any time during this “courtship.”

Long story short, the “kids” are broke, and then some, and I felt bad about the whole thing. No, a wedding and reception does not make a marriage, but it’s still nice to have. Nothing formal, nothing elaborate.

I started planning three weeks out.

Yes, this is the shortest time in which I’ve ever planned a wedding.

No, contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an entire year to plan a wedding. My cousin once told me that she “couldn’t” get married for a year, because “all the books said” you needed that much time. Nope.

My first wedding was planned (yes, mostly by my mom) in two months, and so was my second (by me and my husband); and both were formal church weddings with attendants, guests, reception, etc. I’ve also planned a few professionally, and we catered our older daughter’s wedding.

Er, piece of cake, right? Mostly. A few kerfluffles. Just a few.

So anyway, we have a location, decorations, a cake, food, drinks, flowers, and even a minister—that courthouse plan got scotched, although I admit finding a minister within one week of the ceremony was a bit tricky.

Hey, maybe I should write a book . . .

Sadly, I’ve not been able to get down to the farm since our work weekend, although I’m going for a short time this coming weekend. My mom’s going to be in town and wants to see the place, so we’ll drive down and back, after she takes some photos.

My husband was there this weekend, though. He got the barn cleaned up and the pit drained—oh, I didn’t mention the pit? We saw it first in the pictures, trying to imagine what it was for; someone suggested storm shelter, another claimed it would make a good wine cellar. Turns out, the guy who built the barn was planning to refurbish old school buses and was going to use the pit for draining oil, etc. Don’t think he ever did, but now it’s full of water. Or was.

He also got the sinks cleaned in the house, and the tub and shower. Yay! Had to heat water, as the water heater itself is kaput. Aside from the fact that when we first turned on the water and the thing leaked from the top—and by “leaked” I mean that it sprayed all over the lean-to which, as I also said, needed a good cleaning anyway. Still does.

So next order of business is a new water heater, and a showerhead. I’m sure those who come down to visit will appreciate both these things!

No, we still haven’t hung the new gate or built out the campsite, but we have all the materials so that’s a good start. The problem, at least during the school year, is having the time to go down in between jobs and school. ‘Cause, oh yeah, the kid got a job caddying at a local club. Which is good, but not so good for several-day adventures!

We’ve also managed to move a fair amount of “stuff.” Have to hold off on more for now, until we can do some building inside the barn, for storage. Most of our camping gear, and things that are duplicates—like tools and cookware and so forth—is already there.

However, the critical chore is breaking ground for the garden. I have seeds and seedlings that need to planted very, very soon. So, yeah, another big project. Think I’ll ask Santa for a tractor this year . . .