So we finally get to KC after 15-16 hours on the road and head to the Milliches. No one told me that they were hosting a blogger's convention. I walk in and see Martin, Anne Rankin, and Jon Gregory, the honorary Canadian. jon and Anne were pretty surprised to learn that I frequent their blogs. I don't think I saw Jon without a smile on his face the entire weekend. I was yet to learn how good a dancer Anne is. The Routh girls were there also, and the soon-to-be husband-of-Heather was sprawled across the couch. Nick and Veronica hit it off pretty well, while Noah did his "I'm a baby and I'm cute" thing and won the crowd over. We kicked it there for a couple of hours until it was time to head to Arrow Rock state park, site of the nuptials.
The wedding was georgeous and short. Brianne Blanchard and I were the Maid of Honor & Best Man, respectively. Mr. Millich started the ceremony, and then gave the no-look pass to Mr. Burson to actually marry the lovebirds. Heather was gorgeous, as was Brianne. The ceremony couldn't have lasted more than 10 minutes, which was perfect. The mosquitoes came to enjoy the spectacle as well. I almost fainted from the blood loss, but that was OK. My boy was happy. The "ringbear" did his part fairly well; unfortunately, the flower girl's dress was left behind, so she didn't participate (she was still a cutie though). She did get to wear her dress Sat. nite at the reception. Afterwards we had cake and champagne under the shed. By this time it had cooled off considerably and the mosquitoes had had their fill. There were probably about 35-40 people in attendance.
Going to church was an experience. The KC church is known to Nick as the "Basketball Church" - they meet in a school gymnasium. That goes along with the "Water church" (Panama City Marina, former Feast site), the "Mountain Church" (Asheville, NC), the "Anderson Church" (our local congregation), the "New Orleans Church" (Baton Rouge - we'd spent the previous week in N.O.), etc. There were 245 people present. I saw people I knew from everywhere - Charlotte, Baton Rouge, West Monroe (LA), Chicago, Arkansas, Atlanta, Murfreesboro (TN), L.A.... I also go to talk to a lot of KC people I'd met at various Feast sites. It appears that quite a few people are going to be in Jamaica for the Feast this year - possibly as many as 290. Yaaaay!!!! (Sorry to steal your word Ash-e-ly)...
After services we went over to Mrs. Scarborough's (the Matriarch) home for dinner. Over there I met some folks from Joplin, MO and various parts of Kansas. Over the course of the afternoon more and more people trickled in, since that's where the wedding reception was held also. Mrs. Violet Gunn hooked up the cake, and she made these incredible white chocolate sea shells. They looked like the genuine article, but they were exquisite! They were even painted with edible paint. Needless to say, the diet went out the window for a few days.
The reception went on until about 1 a.m. Mrs. Scarborough (who is one of the warmest people I've ever met)has a swing and jungle gym in her yard, so that's where all the kids spent their time. Nick had an absolute blast playing with so many children. Noah was passed around for most of the evening. The music was definitely put together by Daral and Tiff - there would be Bob Marley, then the Temptations, then James Brown, then Bob Marley, then John Denver (!?), then Johnny Cash, then Bob Marley... you get the picture. The funniest sight of the evening came when the newlyweds had their first dance. The song that will live in infamy as Daral and Heather's wedding song was... G-Love's "The Hustle". Mr. Millich burst out with an incredulous "THAT'S their song?" Even funnier was watching the Milliches and the Bursons dance along. That's a memory I'll be taking to my grave.
Eventually we end up back at the Milliches along with the "hip" crew - Anne, Jon G, Tiff, Jeremy, Martin, Krissy (Chrissy?)and Robert. They decided to watch the romantic comedy "Shaun of the Dead". I decided to hang out with the young'uns for a while and ended up watching the movie whilst reading and re-reading the same page of Daral's "Epistles of Paul" notes. The movie was OK, I guess; it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, and there was quite a bit of profanity early on.
Sunday, we just kinda lounged around. We eventually ended up going to the Smokehouse for some authentic KC BBQ. That was an experience! After eating ourselves into a coma, we went back to the crib and marinated for a while. Mr. Millich eventually put in this unknown movie called "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra". The plot is essentially this: Aliens from Mars crash-land, setting loose a mutant, while a mad scientist re-awakens a talking skeleton that could hold the key to world domination. And don't forget Animala, a half-woman, half-animal beatnik! (taken from Amazon .com). It's one of the funniest parodies I've ever seen. It does a terric job sending up the low-budget 50s B-movies. It was a perfect way to end the weekend.
Monday, we got up and left around 6 a.m., drove for 13 hours, and made it back to SC around 8 p.m. Nick fell in love with the St. Louis arch and took several pictures of it as we passed. My traveling buddies missed several states as they fell into catatonia for hours at a time. Of course, that meant there was no one awake to make me turn from the talk radio stations!
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