An Annual Event - One Day Only

This past weekend Kristen and I were in Ft. Myers Beach, Fl, soaking up the rays. It was a nice change of pace from the rain and clouds we had been growing accustomed to this autumn in Chicago. The reason we chose to go to Ft. Myers was because my sister-in-law, her sister Jaime, was getting married to her now-husband, Danny Parkin.

They got married on the beach and it was a lovely ceremony, save for the rose arbor trying to fall over a few times under the tug of those sharp afternoon breezes. The reception was fun too - we had a nice dinner across the street and afterward moved into the bar area to finish off the night with karaoke, where I sang 'Jack and Diane' to my in-laws, replacing 'Jack' with 'Jim' because that is Kristen's dad's name - her mom's name already is Diane. I think they appreciated the serenade. The night before was fun because even though there was no real rehearsal, we all got together with their friends and hung out, dancing around like crazy-asses to the soothing sounds of an 80s hair cover band. The night before that, Thursday, only a select few people were in Florida yet, so we had a more subdued evening at a semi-outdoor bar on the beach - watching people act the fool and having the band play our special requests. That was pretty much the shindig, as it relates to the nuptials.

The rest of the time was spent with Kristen doing wedding-type things and me either hanging out with some of the other non-wedding-party people or by myself. I got several hours under the warm SW Florida sun, including doing crossword puzzles, swimming at the pool, and having some peaceful alone time at the beach and atop the gulf sandbars to reflect, decompress, get inspired, and wash my cares away. It was very nice. When I wasn't doing that, I was hanging out with Kristen and Jaime's cousin, the illustrious Liz Bell, and our friends Darcie and John - who currently live in Tampa so were able to make the relatively short drive down to help celebrate. I was pleased that I also got to watch my fair share of college and pro football, including Sunday, even though it was my first anniversary.

Oh yeah! That's right! Sunday was Kristen's and my 1st anniversary. The morning was a little anticlimactic since we were still hanging out with most of the wedding crowd that were mostly leaving that day. But the afternoon and evening were quite nice. We spent some time together just hanging out at the pool and then went to a nice seafood dinner at Charlie's Boat House on the Beach. We were going to take a romantic stroll on the beach after dinner, but I think Kristen was a little apprehensive of the darkness, so we both used our full bellies as an excuse to veg out on the couch and watch the end of the MLB ALCS playoff game before both of us passed out. It was a really nice time with just the two of us and I'm glad we got to spend it somewhere tropical to remind us of our great honeymoon last year in Riviera Maya, Mexico - where Jaime and Dan consequently are right now on their honeymoon... Happy Anniversary, Kris - it has been a great ride so far!

Also, if it wasn't crazy enough that the newlyweds' subsequent anniversaries are going to be a day before ours; their parents' anniversary falls on the day after ours, so we all celebrate them on consecutive days! That is pretty cool, so were are seeing about planning a group outing for next year!

And I am looking forward to many many more years to come!