One of my high school friends was getting married on Saturday and Friday was the rehearsal dinner. It was busy! The invitation said seven o’clock. Then, the day before, I got a text from the bride saying we needed to be at the church at 5:45 pm. Since, I don’t get out of my classroom until at least 3:30, then I have to get the boys and get dressed, I knew time would be TIGHT! Then Thursday, our sitter for Friday canceled on us. AAHHH! I spent all of Thursday night trying to find a sitter. Did I get one on such short notice? Nope. Did I mention my friends Steph was staying with me for the wedding weekend and bringing her adorable little girl? So while I am in full panic mode about the sitter situation, my husband offered a solution. He would stay home and watch all the kiddos. (Thank you, Aaron!) Crisis over, I threw myself down on the sofa. Aaron asked me what we needed to do to get ready for our guest. You see, I have been told I go overboard on the scrubbing of the house when we have guest over. Exhausted, I looked at Aaron and said the words he had NEVER heard before.
“Nothing. It’s Steph. Let her see the mess.” J
Isn’t it wonderful to have a friend who knows you that well? That friend who has seen you at your best and your worst and loves you just the same? Yep, that’s Steph. (Yes, Justin, we are that close. It’s not just in her head!)
Okay- forward to Friday. I am still stressed. Mostly, about the time crunch trying to get everyone where they need to be and meet at the church. So stressed, that when the administrator at my school asked how my day was, I broke down. Yep, she sent me home at lunch and got a sub for my classes for the rest of the day. On my way home, Renee texted and said I really didn’t need to be at the church and just to meet her at the restaurant at 7. Steph arrived at the house, clothes were changed, hair done, and we were ready to boogie. Finally, I took a breath!
At 5:00, we hit the road. I hate driving through Atlanta………in the rain…………during rush hour. So, I anticipated there might be a delay with the traffic and left earlier in order to make it to the place on time. 5:00. 5. Did I mention it was 5? What I did not anticipate was Steph. Did I mention I LOVE Steph? Every time a car in front of us hit the brakes, Steph made a noise. At least she was nice enough to give me a variety of sounds. She gasped, groaned, yelped, and, at one point, she screamed almost causing me to have an accident. As I slammed on brake, I swear we heard one of the kid’s toys scream, “Oh, my God!” No, really. We actually heard it. I am not sure what it was suppose to be saying and haven’t found anything that sounds like what we heard. Maybe we were having a Toy Story moment.
I wasn’t sure where the restaurant was located, but I had a GPS so no problem, right? Wrong. During the gasping and yelling coming from my passenger side, I heard my GPS tell me I had 11.5 miles until I reached the exit I needed. Thank goodness! Steph and I were talking about everything: High school, Husbands, parenthood, and at one point President Lincoln’s underwear. Don’t ask. During a pause in conversation, Steph commented this sure was a long 11.5 miles. I looked at the GPS and it said we would reach our exit in …….wait for it……….11.5 miles! What?!!! Yep, GPS had frozen up. During a frantic reboot session and a call to Aaron, we finally got back on track. Stephanie had to call our bride and tell her we had gotten lost and would be a little late. Renee took it all very calmly and even mentioned they were on their way to the place. She told us just to drive carefully. We LOVE Renee!
So, back on track, we made it to the street the restaurant was on. Our GPS told us to make a u turn on a divided highway and our destination would be on the right. So we drove. We drove past where the destination flag was and no restaurant. So, we made another u- turn and did the whole thing again. This happened several more times. Where was the restaurant?!!! Turns out it was on the opposite side of the street! FINALLY!!!! We flew into the parking lot and did the walk of shame into Lucianno’s. Surprisingly, Renee said all we missed was the prayer. They hadn’t even taken drink orders yet. As punishment, Steph and I were put at two separate tables. (Ok, probably not as punishment.) Renee looked stunning, relaxed, and glowing! I was seated at a table with her parents and brother. Since I have known them for more years than I have not known them, I didn’t have to make awkward conversation. That was a plus. The negative came when the waiter dropped a whole platter of champagne glasses filled with ginger-ale onto me. While Renee assures me this was not planned, I promise to NEVER be late to another event in her honor! The dinner was good. The company was great, and, thankfully, the ride home was uneventful.
