The Big Italian Wedding

The long-awaited destination wedding of Uncle Tootie and Aunt Hea-Hea finally arrived, and all the friends and family members (and about half of Folly Beach's food and beverage staff) packed their bags and made their way to Sorrento. Aunt Georgia and I (and Brett) stayed home on pet and plant patrol, so the details I have about the trek have been gathered from brief text messages and occasional Facetime calls from Ellen. The consensus from the Union family is that it is the nicest wedding they've ever been to. Everyone looked and did great. I hear there were a couple days of partying on either side of the wedding day. Jordan, Margie, Uncle Dave, and Lee stayed up until the wee hours of each morning, huddled around a tiny table on the patio, surrounded by bougainvillea and lemon trees. The house they stayed in had an exciting garden. I believe this is my precious foursome standing in it - note Mom's purse that seems to have been hurled into the yard in an effort to keep it out of the photo.

The following are the beautiful photos I seemingly received in real time. Dad's photo updates in particular made me feel like I was included in all the fun. I was at Ellie's house packing her Etsy orders as the photos came in and I kept running from my duties to show her my precious family. I was just SO excited for everyone. 

I never got a clear photo of Alston and Halee but those will be coming.

Meanwhile on James Island, I kept myself busy creating my first in-ground garden. I went to Alston's everyday to feed his cats, Carolyn's every couple days to water plants, Ellen's house to let in the cleaners, and Mom and Dad's house to move some cars around. Those jobs mixed with my Etsy packing efforts kept me entirely busy the whole time my family was gone. I barely had time to lament their absence. 

Marcia kept Nick and Liv for the week and then brought them back into town in time for Livvy's Kindergarten graduation, and then I took over the babysitting until Ellen and Lee came home that night. I had to entertain them for just six hours - a mere moment of their lifetimes - but I felt every minute of that six hours because I am not accustomed to the lacking mental stimulation of such undertakings. I love those kids - would take a bullet for them - but gracious watching them for an afternoon is dull. You're really trapped and cooped because leaving the house is too much trouble. So there you sit, in a slightly damp spot on the sofa, while both of them talk at you at the same time. Nick threw a tiny tantrum each time I wouldn't let him eat candy, and I couldn't get either of them to eat a real dinner. Neither of them wanted to wear anything except their underwear and Nick understandably became frustrated when he lacked the dexterity and brain-power of Liv, so then there would be more crying. I'd thought ahead and brought some really big cardboard with me and that did a great job keeping them busy for a while. 

What I did enjoy about the experience was watching Liv manipulate Nick. She is entirely in charge and when things don't go her way because of Nick, she comes up with clever but cruel ways to make him do right. "Well Nick, if you're not going to do it, I might have to take away that toy I gave you last week." Even when they played out make-believe scenarios, it was really just Liv telling Nick what to do. "You're a dog, so you barked when you saw the bad guys... bark Nick." and then Nick would bark. "But you miss your Mommy so you started to cry... you have to cry Nikki." So he would play cry. 
"Why are you walking? You're a dog, they crawl."
I think we all can see how this relationship will work until the end of time.

Other tidbits: Bubbs and I have moved into our favorite season - porch season. We have a magical, nearly year-round breeze in our yard, so we just about live on the porch all summer long. It's my all-time-favorite thing. 

Cameron, the surviving kitten from the Cameron and Barkley pair, has taken to butt-scratches and suddenly understands the benefits of the house-cat life. He has recently begun stepping inside to inspect things for an hour or so before darting back out into known safety. He loves to dine in the threshold between outside and in, and will alert you to desires for pet and scratches. Brett tells me we can't have a third cat but I frequently catch him trying to lure Cameron into the house. Mostly Cam hangs out on the porch or watches me flounder around in the new garden. He's a chatty little guy - makes both of us laugh.