Hello! So I don't have a whole whole lot to say about last weekend, because most of my readers were there!! But for the one or two of you who weren't there, here's what went down. Spencer and Max and I drove up to Oregon that Thursday before the long weekend. The weather was nice for our drive, and we stopped in Trinidad (near Eureka) to let Max run around on the beach, which he did like a crazy dog.

On Friday I worked during the day but took a long lunch to hang out with Grama and Mom, and Spencer visited some of his family members. In the evening I attended Sabrina's bridal shower, which was fun. I even won a prize! I score third in the word scramble, and was awarded with a wine bottle stopper. That was extra cool because we didn't have one of those. The bridal shower After Party was very fun as well, I must say. Les, Kari, Spencer, Michelle, Wendy, Cheryl and I hung out and talked. We discussed the adventures us girls had had with our bridesmaid dresses, including being hassled by the ladies from the shop when we called in our measurements (Cheryl was told, "You are the smallest bunch of bridesmaids ever!"), finding underwear, getting the dresses altered, etc. We also discussed the body center of gravity trick-- if you stand x so far away from a wall and bend over at the waist, then pick up a chair, women can stand straight back up, but men can't. We carried on with that for a while. We all laughed a lot and it was nice to hang out with all of them.

Saturday morning Spencer and I visited the storage closet to collect some things, mostly kitchen things, and then we headed to Albany for the pre-wedding hang-out activities. Us ladies went out for lunch (we had some seriously delicious italian) and then went to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. I had my first manicure, but I wouldn't let them cut my cuticles. Isn't that a form of torture? We all chose a lovely purple color of polish to match our dresses. I had a really good time hanging out with the girls. After those activities were done, Spencer and I went to Corvallis for dinner. We tried to meet some friends, but they were out of town. We also tried to go to Squirrel's, but unfortunately, it was crowded and a ruckus, and it turned us off. We went down a block to the Dream for pizza instead. And that was yummy.

Sunday was wedding day. We had stayed Saturday night in Oregon City, and in the morning we went back to my parents' house to visit with them again, and mom made us the worst pancakes in the world (according to her). They were pretty damn good actually. Then we went back to Albany and took Sabrina's bed apart and over to her new house for her. The ladies started showing up, and the primping began. An awesome friend of Sabrina's who is a nurse-but-if-I-wasn't-a-nurse-I-would-be-a-hairstylist came and did our hair. She gave me a very cool-looking bun. Again, I enjoyed very much hanging out with everyone for the afternoon. I was nervous for the wedding ceremony. I think I was nervous because I felt a bit unprepared. We had missed the rehearsal because we weren't in town yet, the ceremony was Greek Orthodox, which I had never attended before, and I hadn't even seen the chapel where the ceremony was taking place! The service was pretty interesting, but there wasn't a whole lot to see. Our view for a significant part of it was obscured by the wedding guests. We just stood there looking pretty for the whole time with nothing to do except look pretty, but the official had to work very hard because he spoke/sang/led prayers/chanted for about 95% of the whole hour! Sabrina and Lucas, and the wedding party, all looked wonderful, of course. Here are the ladies (Michelle, Tonya, Cheryl, Megan, Sabrina, Kendra, me, Wendy):

The reception was laid back and enjoyable, and the food was delicious. It was bbq, and it all was very very good. The beer was also good (Rogue), and dessert was a HUGE selection of homemade pies, made from the people in the church congregation (I thought of you, Kim! There was like 30 different kinds!). I asked for a slice of lemon pie, and was given two slices of two different lemon pies. They were both delicious.

On Monday I took Spencer to the airport so he could go to Vancouver and turn in his thesis (YAY!!!), and then I went with my parents and grama over to Chris and Mary's new house in the Gorge. It's a great house! It was an unused cabin for a few decades, and is owned by one of Chris' friends who just started school on the east coast. He asked them to live there, and they have cleaned it up really nice. It's near Cascade Locks, and only about 15 minutes from Hood River. It's just far enough out to be nice and peaceful, but not so far that it's remote. Chris is much closer to his workplace, and the country forest setting there is super awesome. Mae is doing wonderfully, and she is much more interactive now than the last time I saw her. What a cutie.

Max and I returned home on Tuesday. The car was all packed up, so it was a slow-going ride, but we made it without things flying out of the roofrack, like I feared. I worked in the new office for the remainder of the week, which was fun. Max came with me, though we're flying under the radar a bit about him being in there, because technically he's not allowed. It's a really cool office though. When it's more completely set up, I'll take some photos for you to see. On Friday I got my hair cut (just shoulder length now!) and hung out with Megan for the evening. We had dinner and gin fizzies and got caught up, and we knitted too.

Yesterday I unpacked the boxes I had brought down, and I replaced a burned-out rear turn signal light on my car. I also did some other things that I can't remember now. Today I cleaned up the kitchen (the only thing I didn't do yesterday), knitted, and read. It was a good weekend, and tomorrow it's back to work...

If you haven't seen, I put a whole bunch of photos in my gallery the other day. I hope your holiday weekend was good too!