cast of charactors:
Pete =BIL
Sue = my sister
Peter III/Rabbit = nephew
Nino = brother of me, uncle of the bride
Jen - friend of the bride - in charge of makeup for bride - Helga's personal seamstress
Helga - the wedding dress
Wicket - niece's teddy bear





Thursday - Kim (niece) and Jessica (psuedo-niece/friend of the bride)arrive In Rochester. Kim from Philly - Jessica from California (flying out after having spent the day MOVING! What a friend! ) Pete feeds them Sushi - while Sue and I are at home with Chicken Cashew Salad. (Warning - in typical fashion this is probably going to be more of a menu with occasional comments then a true literary attempt). Nice visit with Kim and Jessica that evening - and they emptied the dishwasher! I love those girls! The tux corrections did not come into Pappillion in Geneva - they are calling their company to find out why the correct items weren't on the truck. The Groom's vest is silver - Kimmie leaves a message regarding this as she had ordered antique gold by preference - but "anything except silver" The young ladies bed down on the living room couches.

Friday - Heard from Rabbit - he was on Cape at the Big House - picking up Momma and Grumps. Heard from Hiroki and his folks - they had flown into Philly - about an 18 hour flight - then Sakai cooked Hiroki and Hiroshi a meal, and did the Dishes!!!!! I suspect Kim is happy that Hiroshi is the cook of their pair. We have Crab and Scallop cakes for dinner with a salad. The girls empty the dishwasher again. Did I mention I love them? I filled my day with shopping for Gramma, Shopping for the family - two trips to the local nursery for various cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds, squash etc and create a 'Harvest Display' on the deck. The young ladies (still Kim and Jessica at this point) help empty the car from the various shopping expeditions . Jessica appoints herself 'Personal Assistant' to more or less everyone and makes lists for all, crossing items off as they are completed, adding tasks as they develop.   we hear the tale of mak-rak-oon (have no idea of spelling) and Hiroki's threats to unstuff Wicket. Tux corrections HAVE arrived - they got picked up on one of the Geneva trips - Pappillion calls - seems Hiroki called and changed the vest order to silver. Hmmmmmmmmm....
Beef goes into the pot for tomorrow's dinner. Kim and Jessica still camping in the living room. I believe this is the night Scampers (our 24 lb tuxedo 'panther' decides to play tag with the two elderly orange barn cats turned housecats - across Sue's head.

Saturday - rain. wet. rain.   we brunch on seafood quiche and various leftovers. Render Bacon for Sunday's chowder. Girls eat the bacon - I stash the grease in the fridge and warn my sister and mother later that it is NOT to be thrown out. (Just being cautious )
Peter, Grumps and Momma arrive. Rabbit checks in with Gramma Tierney but decides he will probably sleep up at Bear Haven
Hiroki, Hiroshi and Sakai arrive. They get checked in at hotel and come up to the house.
Alberto and Jen arrive. Jen will be joining the hen party in the living room - Alberto is checked in down at the Budget Hotel.
John, Jim, Kay and Anya arrive at their hotel late,late - after several phone calls to get directions. We don't see them this evening. Dinner is beef stew with fresh muffins, salad and (eventually) rice. next time I will know. Check with various peoples if rice will be required with chowder. It will not.
Eventually the Baba's head back to the hotel - the chopsticks for the wedding favours get picked up and when I crash the young ladies and "Maid of Honour" Peter III are stuffing wedding favours. Sometime in there we met Helga - the wedding dress. She is quite imposing. The hen party in the living room continues -comforters, pillows and sheets all over the couches, but Peter is upstairs. Mom and Dad/Momma and Grumps are up in Kim's room.

Sunday - the female contingent goes to church. Pete is ?somewhere? Dad drowses to gospel music on the TV - I assemble chowder, decide to add an additional pot of seafood chowder to the planned corn chowder, shop for more salad makings (the younger ladies are BREAKFASTING on salad. But they empty the dishwasher for me - did I mention that? When Mom Pola doesn't beat them to it. ) Make rye bread, bake pillsbury biscuits. assemble massive salad with the help of the young ladies. The other two young couples arrive from hotel, Pat Hanen arrives, and we eat.    Janet Richards has arrived from the cape and visits a bit before heading back to her hotel. the day goes on -Pat, Hiroki and Kim head to the Esperanza for their counseling session and when they get back Sakai and the ladies whisk Kim into the bedroom where it take an hour to get her into the beautiful kimono the Baba's have given her - which she will wwear for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Hiroki, his father and Rabbit try on their tuxes. Only minor difficulties - Thank goodness! (Pete and I had three items between us that had to be exchanged) We are 45 minutes late for the original rehearsal - 15 minutes late for the revised rehearsal time. We get to St. Luke's and do the rehearsal thing. "Locals" warn "visitors" that yes, Pat *does* mean it when she says she will make the congragation repeat themselves if their responses are not full voiced. Miricale of Miracles --- Pete Kim and I *do* fit in the aisle (St. Luke's is a tiny, tiny church) so I will be walking her down with her father. Paul Enos (neighbor) is standing in for Angelica (photographer) during rehearsal and rehearsal dinner - clicking away with the camara. Those attending the rehearsal comprise almost half the guest list - so we're pretty sure things will go well Monday.    Rehearsal done we head off to the Valley inn for the rehearsal/birthday dinner. Lots of chit-chat, food, drink,talk, picture taking - an enormous bouquet of balloons that keep getting moved around - and Nino arrives from Georgia! While we are waiting for dinners to arrive after we order Pete and Kim do their father daughter dance. Nino is overcome by the thought that the Braves had lost their ballgame that day (that's his story at least!) Mom Pola misses it so Kim and Pete do a reprise and Nino manages not to need a hankie this time through. Meals arrived - broiled scallops were pretty popular, as were prime ribs, I did see hot roast beef sandwich go by, and several shrimp cocktails. Party eventually breaks up - Nino takes mom, dad and me back to Bear Haven where Dad leaves his leftover spaghettin in the back seat of the rental car. Cats are all sulking becaue their routine has been disturbed.

The Wedding Tale will continue ----