Nineteen: Stand here

It's been a very full few days over here. Sunday we spent at the mall getting last-minute items for the wedding, including a new suit for me. We found a good one relatively quickly and settled on a decent shirt to go with it. I decided I would go no-tie and Chucks instead of dress shoes, hoping it would have kind of a casual summer feel. Mel got some shoes too, and we bought a card and a gift for Baby aubrey. We had steaks for dinner. Tuesday, Mel and I were back in the city. She was called into her office and I decided to go into mine as it felt like a good opportunity rather than to sit at home and wait for Mel to come home late, since I would be driving her in the morning anyway (let her go on her own and leave the car at the GO station? I'd have anxiety about not being able to leave the house!) For me it was an okay day, quiet and productive, teeing things up for having the rest of the week off. For Mel it was... yet another chapter in the book of negative experiences she's had with work, largely stemming from things she had told her boss she would do when she got home, and then were done by said boss in the interim.

It's a whole thing.

We stopped for dinner at Jack Astor's on the way home, just a nice meal of some wings and fries, got in late, had our drama, then cooled off with some Drag Race.

The next day was David and Annie's wedding. It was a bit hectic getting ready in the morning and we found ourselves a bit behind the 8-ball at times, but it worked out in the end. We had agreed to ferry Mel's friend Katy over, which involved going all the way to Lansdowne and then doubling back to the airport for the wedding, which was at the Vue (where Joe and Viki had gotten married some 5 years ago.) It was a hectic ride but it was nice to have Katy along for a stretch, she's always fun, and she enjoyed my 00s Radio playlist that Mel had requested. I know my people.

The wedding was great, a really small, intimate ceremony, mostly David's family and a few friends. Beautiful sunny afternoon for the outdoor ceremony, which ended before some clouds started rolling in, a good cocktail hour with quality appetizers (and plenty to go around) and a really terrific main course of ravioli and then prime rib. We got to meet Baby Aubrey in person, which was delightful (she liked my shirt and grabbed for it, and even smiled for me.) We had great seatmates in the form of Kyle and Hans, whom we had not properly met but got to know well over the course of the night. It was not going to be any kind of all-night dance fest with this crew, but once the family had largely filtered out we friends, many of whom we had just met. It devolved quickly into a karaoke night using the house PA (which was actually audible on the outside speakers, which... I'm pretty sure there was another function going on downstairs? Oops?)

That was a blast, as we all passed the mic around singing our karaoke faves (mostly 90s jams) with various levels of ability. But hey it's karaoke, you only get real points for effort. I was passed the mic for "Wannabe" and so my hammy side came out as I took the lead but randomly had others interject lines throughout, sometimes with very little rhyme or reason -- keeping the rap at the end for myself. I also busted out my Barry Gibb falsetto for "Staying Alive." Mel did Journey of course, and then duetted with Kyle and others on "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" which I sadly missed because I was in the restroom. Boo to that. We got the bartenders involved as we saw them snickering at us, so they led us in "Sweet Caroline." Many shots were consumed. One of the girls who could really sing, Carlene, did Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back To Me" at Kyle's insistence, despite not really knowing it, and was great but the song kind of goes on and on so she tapped out. Someone said I should do another rap (moi?) so I flipped it to Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" which Spotify callously did not have the lyrics for, so I did it off the top of my head and I would say I got an 88%. The night ended with a full rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody," which has been ending parties as long as I have been going to parties.

We had decided to stay in a hotel rather than drive home, and no regrets on that spot although we had a little difficulty settling in as Mel was having some wellness issues, but in the end, we got a decent night's sleep and left right on time for checkout. We had both booked the day off (and I booked tomorrow off too because hey, I've got to have a vacay sometime) but Mel had a call to get home to at 1:30. We just made it, picking up some McD's for lunch-breakfast as we got home. Mel has been napping for much of the afternoon and I napped with her for a bit (unusual for me) before waking up, treating myself to a coffee, and now writing this.

That about catches you up. No big existential dread content for today. I feel good. Well, I feel like I'm 35, a married suburban husband with questions about his career and dreams but I don't feel too bad about it. Damn, I almost got out of here without it.

Keep on rockin

-Scotto