BEAUTY AND AWE TO BEHOLD
Laughter of happiness as she begins her vows;
Beaming with tears in her eyes as her father escorts her to the altar:
Her father nudged by the minister to kiss his daughter;
The best man dropping the ring;
Kathy's calmness when I drive her to the Wine Country Inn after getting her hair done;
Nicole lacing the back of her wedding dress;
Robert and Chris dressed to the max in their tuxedos;
Beautiful, colorful, large bouquets at the altar;
A wholesome, friendly minister;
Golden August evening lighting;
Tim's charismatic smile surrounding Kathy with his love.

So many images, so many memories—so much to experience; the hand stenciled aisle runner; the green and foliage of the winery courtyard, the depth of the barrel room where an amazing dinner was served, photos on display of Kathy and Tim's parents and grandparents in silver frames accented with silk burgundy flowers; beautiful red roses from Tim to Kathy on Wednesday, sparkly wineglasses hand painted with orchids, roses, lilies, tulips and grapes, each design a special meaning to Tim and Kathy.

There was mischief too! More than I know about I am sure. Friday night, after the rehearsal dinner on our lawn, Tim took a dip in the pool. Not by choice. The mission by those in the know was to make sure his pockets were empty before throwing him in, no wallet and no cell phone. The cell phone was taken under pretense it was needed to replace a dead one. I do not know how his wallet was removed. His brother Jason was the mastermind behind Tim's soaking and, once Tim realized this, he didn't waste any time pulling Jason into the pool as well.

At dinner, after the wedding, Tim's best man, AJ, stood up to make a toast. He prefaced it with a special request. He asked all of Tim's old girlfriends to return apartment keys he had given them over the years. One young lady approached the head table and laid a key in front of Tim. "How could any girl be so bold?" A second young lady followed. "What in the world is going on?" Then a third, a fourth, in fact just about every lady in the room came up to the table with a key! As a finale, each of the bridesmaids got up and walked around to the front of the table and placed a key in front of Tim. The barrel room rocked with laughter. AJ beamed.

All in all, the excitement of the wedding came to an end much too quickly. Amidst the myriad of sensations and visions, a lot was dreamlike. Some of the details were blurry until photos from Jean, Marjorie and my Mom began to appear to fill in misty images lingering just beneath the surface of my consciousness. Now I know and understand why I take so many pictures. I did not take any cameras to the ceremony. Thank goodness for all those who did. Some wonderful images were captured.

View Photos (in Flickr)

I know I am speaking as the mother of the bride when I write this. Kathy was an amazing and beautiful bride. She beamed, she swirled, she danced, she smiled, she laughed, her gown sparkled and flowed, she was a joy to behold. Biased too am I about our new son. Tim was charming, handsome, dashing and also fun to watch. Kathy and Tim looked so good together, at the altar, walking down the aisle, dancing, hugging their guests, posing for photographs, smiling, laughing and smiling.

There was, of course, so much more to this wedding than the day of the wedding. There was all that led up to the wedding—months of preparation. Robert and I especially found the days just before filled with wedding related activity be it minimal compared to all Kathy, as her own wedding planner, and Tim did months and weeks before. The four of us plus help from Nicole, my mother, my aunt Nancy, other family members and friends found each approaching day in the week leading up to August 30th filled with exciting wedding related activity.

There were finishing touches on the 150 hand painted wine glasses, assembling of programs for the ceremony, adding a decorated cord to the aisle runner, sewing a purse from beaded fabric to match Kathy's wedding dress, “to do” lists for the bridal party and others, assembling and organizing placards, Thursday dinner downtown Napa at Buckhorns with out of town family and friends, picking up tuxes, flower bouquets created from our flower garden for the rehearsal dinner held in our backyard—so many behind the scene considerations and touches, just a portion of all that was done, all of which created the fabric to make Kathy and Tim's wedding beautiful and an awe to behold.

PEDDLE THEE FAIR PLAY
The "Annual Peddlers Fair Family Yard Sale" early August was geared more to arcade play than it was to peddling. At least that was the case for Chris, Scott, David and Gary. As soon as the goods were brought out and the booth set up, Dorothy and Kim seated at the cashier, the games began. With Chris' dedicated 3000 arcade game CPU and the control board he built, a makeshift arcade was positioned on the side porch. The gaming crowd commandeered Grandma's little table from her kitchen to use as a "cabinet."

Since it was outside on the side porch, the sun soon interrupted play as it glared off the screen. Not to be deterred, the gamesome foursome took their makeshift entertainment apart and set it up again in the shade of the front porch. The sun soon caught up with them, so again, the whole contraption had to be dismantled and carted, this time, to the dining room.

Every year Chris notes how sitting all day on the porch while passerbys stop to shop is gruesome, the day is long, there is little to do, besides set up and break down, except take cash and bag purchases. He was pleased to have a new distraction. Pleased too is how he blew David, Scott and Gary away. They now want a homemade arcade of their own.

I have to agree about Peddlers Fair day being too long. I too have devised ways to entertain. One year I did face and body painting on kids. Another year Nicky and Melissa helped me shop for little toys to make surprise rolls to sell. I have other ideas yet to be unfolded. I can draw charcoal portraits, or take photos of people standing behind or beside a cardboard cutout then send their pictures via email. Wouldn't it have been fun to have had an Arnold Schwarzenegger cutout this year? I can set up a "fishing pond" for kids to hook prizes behind a fishy decorated blue sheet. I can create flower bouquets or dig up plants from our garden to sell.

This year, however, I actually enjoyed Peddlers Fair and I didn't even set up anything special. I am not sure why. Maybe because the break between our annual family reunion end of July and the fair gave me a chance to get a lot of rest. Or maybe because Robert and I decided to be in charge of providing lunch for the yard sale crowd which gave me purpose. I felt so good I even helped Kim put things away at the end of the day. I never do that. I am always too tired from having endured a long, do nothing day. The obvious bonus to helping put everything away was eating our traditional pizza earlier than usual and being able to get home before our 11:00 bedtime. Can I remember this for next year?

Although I didn't make any money (I'm sure I'm the only one who did not) I did take lots of pictures (a richness in itself) to enhance this most unusual Peddlers Fair day.

VIEW PHOTOS

WHAT'S NEW WITH CHRIS

In the last few months, Chris’ life has changed. He has cut back his hours at Warm Floors (his choice) to pursue other interests, like building arcade game cabinets, expanding the customer base at his web hosting company and providing computer skills to wineries. The hours he does work at Warm Floors are now on-call hours and off premise, so he spends a great deal more time at home these days.This is great for his new prime interest: refurbishing arcades.

Chris’ interest in arcades began last June when he and Dean, who he works with at Full System, got hooked after joining online chats and researching them on the Internet. Soon after, the two of them went to an auction in San Jose and came home with four arcade game cabinets. Then, as a serious sign of their interest, in September Chris and Dean purchased a 1997 Ford Ranger XL with a lift so they can haul their arcade cabinets everywhere.

Chris spends a lot of time hunting down parts, games and cabinets on the Internet. To share his newfound joy, he invited family over for a arcade-theme birthday party in October—having four arcades newly refurbished and set up for play. His vision is to build and sell cabinets to family, friends and to the whole world if he can. He tells me I can even get in on the action by creating all the art for his customized cabinets.

These days what with pushing arcades games into empty corners plus computers from his company popping up on once empty desks, tables and floors Chris’ large house is beginning to look like it's not big enough. That is not all that is taking up more room. He now has a roommate who recently moved in with all her own stuff. Patricia also has a car to park in the garage, that is, if the garage-stored arcade games can be pushed far enough out of the way. Given his disintegrating space, Chris is now looking at getting a new, bigger office with an attached warehouse.

With all this going on in Chris’ life, we are sure wondering, what's next?