Sure Signs of Spring

The other day the ice cream truck arrived in our neighborhood, his little musical ditty blaring from his sort-of creepy white truck filled with all things creamy and delicious. And I would have been the first one there, but knocking down and stepping over the other kids take a lot more time than you'd think.

Hey, don't let the pipe cleaner arms fool ya - I'll tackle your ass if there's a Firecracker pop within a five mile radius.

And besides, why have all this strength if you can't use it, right?

And of course, with every spring, we have weddings, and this spring will not disappoint. From my best friend's (which I am actually standing up in! Can you say FULL-LENGTH blue-and-white seer sucker? Now THAT'S the hotness!) to another friend's wedding (which will actually take place in my old high school), to my own sister's later in the summer (I am officiating that one..no seriously I am...like, I am the one marrying them...fine, laugh.)

I have been somewhat fortunate not to have a ton of "associates" or sort-of friends, so I have escaped the trauma of a 10-wedding summer, like some girls I know. Three in a year is the most I have had to deal with, so I am pretty lucky.

This season's wedding bonanza kicked off last night with my first ever engagement party. Well, not MINE, but my friend Anne-Marie's. It was at a country club where the wedding will be held, and it was fairly intimate. It was nice, but here's the thing - she is marrying this guy we went to high school with, but who was a year older than us, and she didn't really know when we were actually in high school. They re-met about two years ago and it's been loving bliss since, I guess.

But because of the whole high school connection, there were a lot of people from high school there. And most of the groom's friends were in my graduating class. So I show up and walk into a room filled with guy's I spent a great deal of time hanging out with (and/or kissing) in high school, but have not connected with since then. Yeah, not so easy to make conversation with sort-of strangers. What do you say? "Hey, what have you been up to the last 12 years?" Meanwhile, they all have law firm jobs, wives and three kids, and you're trying to explain you're complicated child welfare position and why something like that Ironman is important to you, all the while thinking, "Yeah, do you really care what I'm saying beyond having something to gossip about later?" And frankly, if I actually really cared, I would have kept up contact in the first place. I totally know that sounds cynical, but that was high school in a nutshell - bleak, fake and unpredictable.

Sigh.

Happy days are here again.

(On a side note, though, thanks to my sister Ellen and her love of fashion, I was kinda smokin' last night, if I do say so myself (and, as the Queen of Ponytail, I rarely do). I even threw some makeup on these old wrinkles and brushed the hair, which together with my Iron-fit bod totalled up to quite a lovely package. My daily self-deprecation aside, I can rock the hottness when called to task. And never is it more appreciated than reunion-like appearances with high school people you haven't seen in ten years.)

And the hugging thing? What is that about? Does anyone else feel slightly uncomfortable with rubbing up against people you don't really know under the guise of saying "hello?" I never liked the whole hugging thing. Yuck. And it was the guys that did it! Most of the women just stuck out their hands for a shake, which I greatly appreciated.

At the end of the night, I seemed to relax a bit, as I will be seeing these people much more in the next few months. And I am really happy for my friend, who really seems to have the real deal with her groom, after a seven-years disaster that has once left her broken and suicidal. These two are wise, insightful, dedicated and mature about this whole idea of marriage, and that is what I celebrate. I celebrate security, cooperation, reality-based planning, intelligence, humor and mutual respect.

Don't ever let anyone tell you I'm not a romantic at heart.

Viva la Spring!

P.S. The above picture was not taken last night - it was from the day of my sister's wedding last year. I thought I looked kinda smarmy, and the sentiment fit with the post.