All this, and laundry too

What a busy weekend! We packed so much in and in normal fashion, we didn't actually get to do everything we had planned. The two big events over the weekend were the Lewis Black show we saw at Austin Music Hall on Friday night and Jamie and Nisha's wedding on Saturday night. Both were a lot of fun but they were two completely different experiences. To say the least. 

Lewis Black was hilarious, as always. We try and see him every time he is in town. He made fun of our two-party system and said anyone who believes that either Democrats or Republicans can make any difference is less sane than the time he was high on acid and thought that his refrigerator turned into a wolf and ran into the woods. He also joked a lot about golf and how anyone who plays golf is an asshole because the game is so impossible. He knows, of course, since he plays as often as possible. We laughed until we had headaches. 

I started the post with a picture of Nisha, Jamie, and me at the end of the night. I think Nisha was making a funny face because of the music.  Nisha was a beautiful bride and it was a very interesting wedding. Certainly not a "cookie cutter" kind of ceremony. The couple practices Buddhism so it was a true Buddhist ceremony complete with chanting and everything. Matt and I decided that we would not be good in that religion because we don't have the lung capacity. They chanted for about 10 minutes in the beginning and then the bride came in and they chanted more. And then more. I was impressed that they had memorized all that--I guess that is easy when you do it twice a day, every day--but still. The vows that they wrote were beautiful. Jamie spoke of fighting injustice together and Matt decided that Jamie is secretly a Super Hero.

Later during the reception it was nice to catch up with some old friends. Stringer and Amy were there and they happen to be moving to our town next week. Stringer (for those of you that know him) will be teaching 8th grade science and coaching football at the middle school in my town starting next week. Amy also works in a school teaching first and second grade. We also saw Paul and Susan, Jamie's wonderful Aunt and Uncle. I spent many Sundays in college hanging out on their couch watching football and eating Susan's great home cooking. We also saw my ex-boyfriend's parents. They were very cordial and we spoke to them for a while. Apparently Austin now has 3 daughters, the youngest is 3 months old and the oldest is 7. It's hard to believe he has a child in grade school. It doesn't seem like it's possible that so much time has passed since college when I was with him.

We had a great time and it was so nice to be there for Jamie's special day. 

This is a picture of the cake topper. I just had to take that because I wasn't sure I could describe it with any accuracy.
Jamie and Nisha cutting the cake. They cut a huge piece but didn't do any smearing, which was nice. After this Nisha changed into a simple white reception dress. It was perfect for the moment.

Other things we did this weekend:

• Avery had Gymboree on Saturday morning. We are really getting tired of the heat in the building at Gymboree. I think we are going to enroll Avery in a dance class starting in September. She needs more structure and learning than she is getting from Gymboree. I know that it served its purpose when we started going but now it is just an expensive place for her to run around and get her energy out. The new teacher doesn't have any command skills and none of the kids even pay attention when she talks so Avery is getting no educational value from the classes. 
  
• After Gymboree she went to Kendel's birthday party. Kendel is her "best" friend and it is so cute to watch them play together. They go to the same pre-school/daycare every day and they love to see each other on the weekends also. She had a back-yard party with hot dogs and a slip-n-slide. All the kids had a great time and Avery was ready for a long nap when it was over. While she napped I ran around getting errands done that I would normally spend twice as much time doing but with so much going on this weekend I had to rush.
  
• 2 baby showers for friends that are both having twins-a boy and a girl. One was Saturday afternoon at Zilker park. We decided after stepping outside and dying of heat that we needed to miss that one. Our plan was to go on the way to the wedding but we didn't think that we should show up to the wedding dripping in sweat so we decided against going. The other one was Sunday morning--indoors at a restaurant--so I didn't have to worry about melting.
• Dad challenged me to a banana pudding Throw Down on Friday night. The judging was supposed to be Sunday but he postponed until next week. I think he needed more time to perfect his recipe but blamed it on a medical procedure he is having tomorrow. I made a practice batch and had our neighbors over after dinner. I am totally going to smoke him in this Throw Down. Poor guy doesn't stand a chance.

That was it. I am tired just thinking about it. Looking forward to a relaxing week.