Filed under: daily digs
I’ve accepted the truth that it’s part of who I am to plan things - and to create detailed, organized schedules. There are times when I can go with the flow, and when I don’t need to have everything spelled out. But when it comes to trips - specifically ones that involve cramming a lot into a short amount of time - my planning antenna goes up, and my mental schedule doesn’t clear from my mind until I’m on the flight back to Seattle.
Last weekend, I was back in Sacramento from Thursday through Monday for Suzanne’s wedding. I arrived Thursday night, with the intention of being available on Friday to help Suzanne out with any last-minute details. She ended up not needing me, so I had all Friday free until the rehearsal. Although I had taken the day off, I decided to get in a few hours of work - which would mean that I could work less hours on Monday. .
On a whim, I called up Kit who was taking one of his furlough days. He came by and hung out for an hour until I met up with my mom (another last-minute thing) for a mani while she got a pedi. We weren’t going to have lunch together, but she changed her mind, saying that she rarely has lunch with me. :) I intended to call up Eden and Auntie Mimmy after lunch to see if they wanted to hang out. While waiting in line at Rubio’s, I heard a small voice behind me say, “Hello.” I turned - it was Eden! She and my aunt were finishing up lunch when we walked in. After lunch, my aunt had somewhere to go, my mom went back to work, and I got a few hours with Eden. It was a spur-of-the-moment fun afternoon with my fellow green fanatic. I loved being able to spend one-on-one time, even though we weren’t doing a whole lot. We shopped at Party City, and then attempted to find Rite Aid and Auntie Konder’s house. Eden was so patient, watching her older (but not so much wiser) cousin get lost in her own hometown. Unfortunately, time passed too quickly and I had to say goodbye - but not without finally meeting her hamster Neon and saying hi to my uncle.
Later that night after a fun (and sweaty) dress rehearsal and stomach-stuffing buffet dinner with Suzanne, Sichan, and all their friends and family, I offered to help Sam[antha] finish up the bouquets for the wedding the next day. I had always enjoyed talking to Sam - plus I was finally getting a chance to work with flowers. I called up Tommy to see if he wanted to join us - and he was free! Sam was already so tired from being up since the crack of dawn that day, so I felt bad that her day was far from being over. Who knew tying bouquets could be so fun. We were almost delirious from being tired, laughing about weird shapes (like alien heads) that didn’t exist in the flowers.
By the end of my first full day in Sac, I had hung out with people I had hoped to hang out with - without even making plans with them. Amazing. Now, a caveat. While I was able to operate like that during the last trip, my trips back home usually occur during holidays. And during holidays, everyone is back - but everyone has a gazillion obligations, so a completely unplanned visit isn’t always possible.
The wedding day was crazy hectic, starting with hair and makeup appointments, the traditional Chinese “humiliate the groom and make him pay us money to get in the house to see the bride” event, followed by the tea ceremony, and an extensive lunch in the backyard of Suzanne’s mom’s house. By the time we got to the chapel, the bridesmaids were pretty much just hanging out. We made sure Suzanne had whatever she needed, whether that meant tracking down people or fielding questions.
We had also been told the night before that we would be dancing down the aisle to “Beat It” for the recessional, and that we’d be waltzing after the couple’s first dance during the reception. At first, the wedding party froze at the news that we’d be donning sunglasses and sparkly gloves (guys only), and busting Michael Jackson moves down the aisle. But as one couple after the other began getting into it, the mindset changed from “How can we not make a fool of ourselves?” to “They’re choreographing something - we have to do something cool, too!” As for the waltz, you wouldn’t expect that doing a simple box step would be harder than getting funky down the aisle - but it was. I couldn’t stop laughing as I looked around me at the other couples, staring down at their feet, each couple glued to one spot on the dance floor. The groomsman I was paired up with suggested that we ditch the waltz and be the “black sheep” of the wedding party - so we just did the typical slow dance. We even attempted a spin that ended poorly - with him wrapped up in *my* arms as if I were going to dip *him*. Hmm…did I mention that we didn’t get much advanced notice? But it was another reminder to me - I don’t need to be in control of everything. It’s OK to mess up, and it’s OK to not know what I’m doing. I had tons of fun, and that’s all that mattered.
The day started out very hectic, with a lot of people and commotion, but by the end of the night, the happy couple looked like they were actually having fun and enjoying the company of all their loved ones. It had been a beautiful ceremony that clearly reflected their personalities and their devotion for each other. Success!
The rest of the weekend, I threw Na a shower, saw my grandparents, celebrated my dad’s birthday, hung out with Na and Dorc while telecommuting, and had the obligatory In-N-Out lunch and Rite Aid ice cream with them, Auntie Mimmy, and the girls. I came back tired - but not frazzled - and feeling satisfied that the wedding went well, that I spent time with friends and family, and that I successfully stretched my “planning personality” and proved to myself that taking things as they come is not so bad after all.
