#329 - A Restful Sunday

The wedding last night left us both exhausted and our bodies sighed as we sank into our beds with full bellies and joyous hearts.

I was too tired to write much about the event when returned. The day was humid and threatened to rain the whole day. We only ever really saw a spattering of rain while we sat down to eat dinner.

The venue was the Burlington Golf and Country Club and neither Robyn nor I had ever attended an event there. Turned out the groom’s sister worked there as a server. The interior entrance to the clubhouse looked magnificent and as soon as we walked through the doors it was like going back in time with all the stained wooden panels, decorative ceiling and a long wood bar. Our venue was down a corridor to the left and it looked more like you’d expect for a wedding with brighter walls and ceilings. The main foyer was carpeted and held the bar and a gift table. Beyond that we entered the reception room, which was also going to serve the ceremony as well due to the possibility of rain.

It was the perfect-sized space for the ninety to one hundred guests that were expected. A circular frame dressed in flowers served as the backdrop for the ceremony. Behind that was a view of the harbour and the large bridge beyond. The whole back wall was lined with windows and glass doors offering a scenic view.

The doors were opened for guests to get some fresh air and admire the view. The view was of the Hamilton Harbour, and it is not known for its views, due to the Steel factory that sits right on the shore. None-the-less, from this vantage point it was lovely and only got better as the sunset and all the lights came on in the distance.

The bride had many friends from Serbia, her home, in attendance as well as her mom and sister who flew over for the occasion. The couple had some work friends in attendance as well. The mother of the groom invited us, Jody, who were are good friends with. In fact, we sat at her table for the evening with her husband John, her mother, her brother and his wife as well. Our table was very friendly, and we had chats with everyone at some point throughout the night.

The ceremony was short and skimped on all the parts of wedding I usually don’t like. So, I rather enjoyed this wedding more than others. There were no speeches or getting the bride and groom to kiss during the meal. We ate our dinner and enjoyed it.

The food was amazing.

We enjoyed the soup and the salad the most, even more than we liked the striploins. The soup was pear and parsnip, it tasted a little earthy and sweet. I’m not a big soup guy, but I immediately started googling right at the table to see if I could find some recipes. It would make for a great starter to a thanksgiving feast or a Christmas dinner.

The salad was mixed greens with candied almonds, goat cheese, and a red wine poached pear. On of my favorite dishes at Benihana’s restaurant is the poached pear in plum wine, so I was more than happy to be served this for a salad. The assumption at the table was that the pear was beetroot. We were all happy it was pear instead.

The flavor combination worked really well, and the light vinaigrette was just enough not to distract from the other ingredients.

The steak was served with potato puree and green beans as well as gravy. I was less impressed by the meat, but I will confess to being a steak snob. I did not go to the wedding expecting top quality meat, especially considering the prices of meat these days. It was a perfectly cooked peace of steak, and I ate the whole thing.

Coffee and tea were served next, followed by a chocolate mousse shaped into a pyramid. I’m not a big mousse fan, and I prefer a mousse cake where the bottom is cake and the top is mouse. But it was a light finish to the meal and I had no complaints.

The couple had their first dance together and it was not the romantic slow dance you would normally expect. I think they dance to I Want To Dance With Somebody, by Whitney Houston, and my memory is a bit foggy on that detail. It was an open bar after all.

The groom danced with his mother and the groom’s father danced with his new wife as her dad was not there to do it. Then the floor was opened up to anyone who wanted to dance, and Robyn and I got up to show them how it was done.

It didn’t take long to get a good sweat going.

Pizza and some sweets were laid out for a late-night buffet and after a bit of dancing I sat down and rested. Robyn joined me a little later back at our table and we dranks some fdiet cokes to cool down.

By ten pm we were ready to head out. The wedding would go on until eleven, so we didn’t feel to bad leaving what would normally be considered an early night. We said our goodbyes and left feeling like it had been a good night. The bride and groom looked to be very happy and the times we have met them before seemed like they had a long life ahead of them.

Robyn drove home since I had partaken in some adult beverages, but the nice thing was that the venue wasn’t too far from our house and we were home and in bed before ten thirty.

Robyn read for a bit while I just sat with my eyes closed for a while until it was time to start writing.

And it was wonderful to sleep in this morning. All Sundays should be sleep in days. I woke around ten thirty, disappointed that I hadn’t slept for longer. I had promised Robyn the night before that I would order us Bagel Barn for breakfast, so there is a slight possibility she nudged me so she could get her breakfast sooner rather than later.

It took an hour for our order to arrive and in that time, we watched an episode of Lioness on Paramount. The food arrived and even after the big meal we had last night, we were both ravenous. Must have been all the dancing we did the night before.

I made us some tea to go with the breakfast sandwiches, and we settled down to watch a movie on Netflix called The Last House, about a family that finds the whole world is trapped inside their houses and can’t leave. The phones, tv and internet are out as well.

We never got to finish it because kiddo #2 came into the room and scooped Robyn up.

He convinced his mother to buy Indian food for the three of us if I phoned in the order. I ate half my food and put the rest away for tomorrow. I always eat too much when it’s Indian.

Then, the kid wanted us to get some groceries because he was hungry and didn’t like the options available to him.

I stayed home and rested some more and watched YouTube videos, played chess and read my book. I helped with the groceries when they returned, and Robyn and I resumed the movie but weren’t able to finish it. Her alarm went off and she had to go to her second job for an hour.

I headed outside to read my book on the porch for a while and then headed back upstairs to for some more YouTube videos about poached pears and parsnip soup.

Robyn and the kid went for a walk after work, and I remembered I had one episode left of The Peaky Blinders to watch. It was the series finale and a lot happened in the episode. I think they made a movie afterwards, but I haven’t looked at it yet.

Robyn returned from her walk, and I still had some minutes to go with the Blinders episode, so she read her book.

And then it was eleven o’clock, time for me to go down to the cave and do some writing. I’d made a promise to myself and told Robyn that I wanted to write the next assignment over a longer period this week, starting tonight.

I’m not sure I got much done, other than some brainstorming about the plot and characters. Nothing really jumped out at me, and I must sit and think for a minute. I may do something that I used to do; ask my subconscious to give me the story I needed to write. Often it would spit something out in the middle of the night, and I would get up and write it down.

I used to enjoy that feeling that my mind was working on the story for me while I slept.

But that hasn’t happened in a while. Maybe the sleep aids have something to do with that or maybe it’s the stress from work.

But whatever comes tomorrow, I have to be down here early enough to not be exhausted so I can start the opening of the next story. I had a few ideas from the last one, but I’m not sure I want to write those stories. I feel like there is a better one waiting to be discovered if I am just a little more patient.

One of the things haven’t been doing recently is using my logbook to record the things I do as streaks. I have managed to maintain all my streaks, but I was lacking in marking it down. I got the notebook back out today and got all caught up.

I will be tracking my weight everyday as well to see if I can shed some pounds. I could use the extra energy that some weight loss would impart. Eating less sugar would be better as well. Time to make some more healthy apple bran muffins for snacks. Baby carrots are another good one as well as grapes and strawberries. I love a goof Mandarin orange as well.

Green tea was always helpful when I wanted to lose weight. I should make sure to brew some of that instead of drinking Dr. Pepper so much. That must be better for me!

And I like green tea, so it shouldn’t be such a hard switch.

It’s about twenty after twelve and I need to have a good night’s sleep to deal with all the work things that will surely happen tomorrow.

Until tomorrow.