Well, she did. It just happens to be my brother's daughter, Jenny, that tied the knot. I'm not holding my breath that my daughter will follow on that path any time soon. I'd turn blue and fall over if I did. We had a GREAT time in Texas and Randy and Cake proved to be tremendous hosts as they put on a party for the ages. Jenny and Alex had a great time at their wedding and start off their lives as husband and wife in Thailand, where they flew off to the day after their big day.
Darla and I flew in on Friday, arriving about 11:20 AM after a 6 AM flight out of Sacramento. Randy picked us up and we were checked into the Worthington by a little after noon. Strangely, Randy was busy that afternoon and Dad and Shirley were off on an outing to Fort Worth. Darla and I ended up having lunch together at the Cabo Grande Restaurant across the street from the hotel. We finished lunch and ended up taking a walk around the stores and shops in the area. We got back to the hotel about 2 PM and were unpacking when Dad came by and we visited for a few minutes. We made plans to go to the wedding rehearsal at 3:30. From there, we met for drinks at Dad's room at 6 PM.
The rehearsal dinner was fun and they had it as Joe T. Garcia's, a Forth Worth institution that was absolutely packed with people. It took Dad and I about twenty minutes to find parking. The dinner was beef and chicken fajitas with all the fixings and pitchers of margaritas.
Saturday, we were up about 8 o'clock and had breakfast with Dad and Shirley at a little diner across the street from the hotel. From there we drove out to see Billy Bob's, the 6500 square foot honky tonk that features four dance floors and seven separate bars. They also have a bull riding pen that beats Gilley's, only because their ring features professional bull riders and real bulls. From there, we wandered the streets of Fort Worth in and around the Stockyards in Fort Worth. We had lunch at Riskey's Barbecue after Darla spent a small fortune of black cowboy boots with silver inlays and a western blouse. The area was filled with restaurants, bars and shops and included a cowboy museum, daily cattle drives and the unrelenting smell of animal feces.
The wedding itself was first class with good drink, good food, good company and a great time was had by all. Jenny asked me to do a blessing before they were pronounced husband and wife and I was happy to bring our Lord and Saviour into the discussion. I had a great time with family and friends and I could tell that Alex and Jenny were having the times of their lives, as they should have been. The venue was a three story restaurant and bar, the Reata and Randy had reserved the top two floors for the wedding. It was an outdoor venue and the weather was tremendous, with highs in the 70's and high sixties throughout the night.
Alex and Jenny stayed until almost midnight and then caught a limousine from the venue to the airport hotel. When they got there, Alex realized that his bag was missing and Randy had to run up to Alex's hotel room at the Worthington and grab his bag. He drove the forty minutes to the airport and realized that the bag seemed too light. It turns out it was one of Alex's grooms man's bag and he had to turn around and drive back to Fort Worth and then to the airport. he didn't get to bed until almost 4 AM. He was so tired that he dropped the grooms man's bag at the front desk and went to bed.
Randy and Cake hosted a breakfast on Sunday and the groomsman whose bag was at the front desk ended up showing up in his suit and tie from the night before and looking like he'd been up all night partying. Randy had an "egg guy" and they had an omelet station set up along with breads, fruit, potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. It was a nice touch for the guests who had traveled to the Dallas area and were able to meet up, have breakfast and visit with each other before all heading off to our own lives.
Randy asked me to drive Jenny's Chevy Cruz back to Dallas and when I collected the vehicle from the valet, it was on fumes from a gas perspective. I followed dad to the closest gas station, gassed up and then we drove on to dad and Shirley's hotel in Allen, Tx. We went over to Jesse and Lori's house in Richardson and had dinner of left over fajitas from the rehearsal dinner, before saying our goodbyes to everyone and heading to the airport.
We got into Sacramento at 11:30 and there was a huge crowd at the tram shuttle to baggage claim. one of the trains was shut down and people were crowding to one side of the train station. Then people started pouring through to the exit only side of the station and forcing their way on. It was basic pack mentality and I had a good laugh when the controller stopped opening the exit doors because there was no one traveling to the gates from ticketing. The other train finally got back on line and we got out of there about midnight. We arrived home about 12:30 and slipped into the spa to try and relax. Today was a little tough because we were tired. The 1 AM bed time was 3 AM in Dallas.
So, now, the wedding is over and next week on Sunday I leave for Detroit and the Leadership conference with my company. Darla leaves for Kansas City on Monday and her Management conference. The only good that will come from that is that we are both busy that week. I get back on Saturday and Darla gets back on Thursday.
Saturday David and I will work at Habitat for Humanity building a house for the underprivileged. This is a community outreach put together by one of my management trainees. It is a good use of our time and resources at Burns and Wilcox and the right way to give back to the community. There will be eleven employees from my office as well as a few spouses and children involved.
I will try to update this next week before I leave, but we are going to a dinner on Saturday night in Linden where Darla's high school girl's basketball team will be inducted into the high school hall of fame. They won three state championships in softball, but are being inducted for winning the state championship in basketball. We will drive to Linden for the 6:30 dinner and then home that night.
Well, that is the news to the moment. congratulations to Jenny and Alex and nice job, Randy and Cake. Be well. Ciao.
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