Day 161

What a weekend. Very long and tiring, but overall pretty good. I write this on the plane on the way home from C-Town. We are less than a month away from the move, so the activities are being ramped up. So as you know, this was our two wedding weekend. My old KU roommate “The Buatch” was getting married in Chicago, and Leah’s cousins Sharon was getting married Sunday night in Cleveland. Friday night was the Buatch and Sara’s rehearsal dinner at Maggiano’s. Now the last Maggiano’s rehearsal dinner we went to was Sean’s in Cleveland. The room was triple the size of the one Friday night and had less people. I’d say the room held 70-80 people comfortably. The problem was there were 140 people attending. One bar. It seemed like the air conditioning wasn’t working, and it was 95 degrees outside with extreme humidity. Needless to say, it was a schvitz-fest. Maggiano’s food was good as usual, but it was overshadowed by the temperature of the room and the 16 speeches. The best line of the night came from my guy Todd “Fritzer” Friedman. He started his speech by saying “I haven’t known Josh as long as most of these guys, but one word comes to mind when describing him: Obnoxious schmuck.” It was a long night to say the least. You all know me, I tell the truth.

Saturday we had another open house at the condo, so we had to disappear from 12-3 with the dog. We went to lunch and ate outside with Jaimo and her dog Jackson, who is fast becoming Casey’s new boyfriend. According to our realtors, we had the most traffic we have ever had at one of our open houses, plus we had showing scheduled for Sunday and Monday. I have a good feeling about this week. I had to be downtown at the Renaissance Hotel by 5:45 for pictures. Buatch asked me to sign his Ketubah, which I was honored to do. Upon arrival, it was good to see classic Buatch. Even on his wedding day, my man kept it real to the end. My man had four or five or eight vodka/cranberry’s while waiting to take pictures. He kept his same jovial demeanor. Although seeing him swing a glass of cranberry and vodka near Sara’s white wedding dress was a cause for concern. By the time the ceremony began, he was all good. Laid back and chilled. We all had big smiles watching our goof-ball friend walk down the aisle. This is a sight I’d never thought I’d see, but was so proud to be a part of. As much as I have described Buatch over the past few months as a wild guy, he has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. He has always been a good and loyal friend to me. He is in that club with me nobody wants to be in – his mother died in a car accident just after college. We share that bond. I give him a ton of credit for being one of the people who was really good in the months following dad’s death. He always asks me how my mom is doing - he is good like that. He also is the same guy who in the picture attached is cupping his new wife’s boobs on the dance floor at his wedding. Gotta love the Buatch.

Anyways, the teasers at their wedding were the best I’ve ever had at a wedding. Mini-cheeseburgers, mini-grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, amazing fries. Add in the Asian stations with sushi, pot-stickers, and noodles. I loaded up on Grey Goose and Soda’s and all of this food. By dinner time, I was barely hungry. Overall, the wedding was beautiful. Sara looked amazing, we danced most of the night, and Buatch graced everyone with some of his patented dance moves including his new favorite – the earth worm. We didn’t get home until about 2:30 (thanks to the ramp on Ontario being closed and being detoured 15 minutes out of the way!) but it was a lot of fun.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had to be up and out of the house by 8:30 Sunday morning to fly home for Leah’ cousin Sharon’s wedding. Our day was packed. We literally flew to Cleveland and went straight to the cemetery to see my dad on Father’s day. We spent about 45 minutes there and headed back to my mom’s house. Buried corned beef sandy’s from Davis bakery, got in our wedding clothes again, and headed to Landerhaven for pictures. We arrived about 3:30 and what we witnessed was quite different from any wedding we had ever or ever will attend. Sharon is studying to be a rabbi as is her now husband Hillel. To say that the two weddings this weekend were different would be a serious understatement. They started around 4:00 with this thing called a Bedeken (I’m sure I spelled that wrong). Sharon was in a raised chair and people lined up to talk to her. Supposedly, she is as close to God as she will ever be and people should tell her anything they want God to hear. Then in another room, the men were dancing around and chanting and signing Hebrew songs. That was just the beginning. Hillel then came out and thy performed a ritual where he was supposed to lift Sharon’s veil to make sure this was the woman he was about to marry. All of that took an hour or so. Then the ceremony took place. During which Hillel was wearing what looked like a lab coat over his tux. I have never seen a groom sob the way he did during the whole thing. He had some serious love for his bride. His father, a rabbi, married them, with help from Sharon’s mom, a cantor. After the cocktail hour, came another of dancing and chanting that turned into the longest hora known to man. We are talking 45 minutes of circling, dancing, chanting, and lots of Hebrew. I thought poor Hillel was going to pass out this was going on for so long. Long story long, the rest of the evening involved listening to a band sing Hebrew songs mixed in with some oldies. Sharon sang. Hillel sang. A group of 25 or so Jews sang Hebrew harmonies. Aunt Laurel sang. It seemed like every J in the place was singing. It was crazy. The highlight had to have been watching Jessica dance around like a crazy woman and dragging Leah into it. It was classic. We left around 10:30. This morning my father in law informed me that right after we left, the prayer books were broken out and the praying began…..Whatever floats your boat I guess. Nobody saw both ends of the Jewish wedding spectrum quite like Leah and I did this weekend.

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 12
Song of the Day: “Lets Ride” by Q-Tip