Katydid Knits

And I think you’ll all agree with me.

So, this weekend was EdFest, preceeded by the Rush concert in PA. We drove up to see Steve and Mindy Thursday afternoon, and then went to the show. It was awesome. I’m not a huge fan – I like them and all, but the show was way more for Kris. Honestly, though – GREAT show. Lots of fun, great music. And watching Neil Peart on the drums is just mind-boggling. I’m not entirely sure he’s human.

Friday morning, Mindy and I headed off to the Mannings for a little yarn-shopping and girl-bonding time.

Mindy had a little moment with some alpaca yarn – I think we can all understand that impulse.

While we were there, the boys headed back here to our house, where J and Betsy were waiting, having flown in the night before. After I said goodbye to Mindy (who I am trying hard to convince that she needs to start a blog…), I hit the road back here. I got a hilarious text message from Kris that they had gotten a frantic phone call from the advance guard of Festers, and that we needed to pick up a tap for the keg. Apparently, the o-ring had failed in the one they had, and they had jury-rigged it to work using (I kid you not) a condom. They were not confident that it would last the entire weekend. Impressively, though, it took 22 hours of thrusting to defeat it. And yes there were the inevitable questions about it being lubricated… ribbed… slight bouquet of spermicide in the beer, etc.

So, after procuring a new tap, we hit the road around 3:30, and slogged through the inevitable traffic on the DC Beltway and I-95, arriving at the house around 8:30 Friday night. About half the crowd was there, and more arrived later in the evening. Ed (he who originated the whole thing 16 years ago) has a tradition of doing opening ceremonies, complete with the tapping of the keg and declaration of the year’s theme. Generally, it’s done Friday night, but since we were all running a little late, and his wife had taken their son to the other house to put him to bed, they decided to wait.

Saturday afternoon around 5, shortly before dinner, Ed called everyone together for the ceremonies. He welcomed us all to EdFest 17: There Will Be Beer, and mentioned a few milestones – there were three little Festers added to the ranks since last year, and we are eagerly awaiting news of the fourth, who was officially due on Saturday but hasn’t arrived just yet. And then, he mentioned something else. Something that caught both Kris and I entirely off-guard. He said it had come to his attention that one of the couples in attendance had been living in sin, in a union not officially sanctioned by EdFesters, and as it had been ten years, it was high time to rectify that situation. He called Kris up to where he was standing, and I was handed a package and told to go downstairs, open it, and wait for my cue.

When I opened it, I have to admit, I teared up. Because what was in that package? This:

A few minutes later, Karin (Ed’s lovely wife) called me back up, and I walked into a room with our friends making an aisle with ribbon streamers, “Storybook Love” playing, and my wonderful husband standing at the front of the room with Ed. Ed said some really lovely things, and then Kris and I renewed our vows in front of our friends, entirely gobsmacked at the whole thing.

See, what you don’t know is that 5 years ago, when Hyon and Drew were getting married, Ed was ordained as a minister in the Universal Life Church (yes, like Joey on Friends) and performed their wedding. Kris and I had joked years ago that since we missed out on having our friends at our wedding the first time around, we should have a renewal on our 10th, and have Ed perform the ceremony. We never really went forward with it, and just kind of dropped the idea.

However, sometimes friends take matters into their own hands. When I posted that wedding meme on our anniversary last month, Mindy saw my remark about wishing that our friends had been there, and commented to Steve that we should renew our vows with our friend there. So, the two of them hatched this plot, enlisting help from Ed and Karin, Hyon and Drew, Betsy, Kurian (who was told to pick up a cake, but keep it secret. He had no idea why.), and Amanda and Jason. Mindy made the bouquet and veil, and I am so bummed that she wasn’t there with us, but since she and I spent the previous day together, I consider her my bridesmaid-in-absentia. After the ceremony, there was champagne, and cheesecake, and brownies, and it was just amazing. Steve even videotaped it for us, although the battery in our camera died right before our vows. LOL.

What cracked me up completely about the whole thing is that the champagne and the gift-wrapped boxes (one with the flowers and veil, and one with champagne glasses for us)? They came IN OUR CAR. Steve had them with him, and it just never crossed our minds that it could have anything to do with us.

So, this is why I say that we have the best friends in the world. I am so, so lucky, and I really love you guys for doing this. In my mind, this is going to be the best EdFest ever. I don’t think it can be topped. And the one thing I regretted about my wedding day has been fixed. All because our friends rock.

ETA: And thanks to Hyon, I now have pictures, too! If I get any more from anyone else, I’ll add them to the Flickr set.

July 20th, 2008 | Tags: EdFest, Friends | Category: Uncategorized | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed