Today's the Big Day.

The weather forecast is practically perfect. (5 degrees warmer would be completely perfect). The rehearsal went well, and the rehearsal dinner last night was a rousing success. The caterer was great, but the true hero of the night was the Groom's employer. We held the dinner in a private room at the top of the old building housing the Famous Beer Bar where my son works. It's a terrific space with a rooftop deck with a view of the mountains. The room had JUST been remodeled this week. When I dropped off plates, etc. at 2 p.m. the power tools were still on the deck. We were the first to use it. Rehearsal of course ran late, and I came screeching in from the wedding site to the rehearsal dinner site, expecting to find chaos and a caterer waiting for instructions.

My son's boss had taken care of everything. The room was perfect and spotless, the plates and silverware and napkins were set up for the buffet, the beer kegs were iced, the soft drinks and wine were ready. When I walked in, my son's boss was lighting the candles. (God bless him just for that, because in my frantic-franticness, I had forgotten the matches.) I wanted to throw my arms around him and cry, but didn't want to freak him out. He took a load of stress off me last night, and I couldn't thank him enough. It had been a frantic day, with me running to get a wire transfer for the condo closing and arranging for insurance between wedding tasks, and I'm not done yet. I still I need to run to the mall this morning to get the jewelry for the dress, but things are coming together.

Oh, and amid all this crazy, we did take a couple of hours to go to SAFF yesterday morning. We had a little time before lunch, and it was 15 minutes past the bank. Opening day was a madhouse, the place was packed by 11 a.m., and it took us 20 minutes just to find a parking place. Cousin C had a wonderful time visiting the animals and wanted to take home an angora rabbit. We petted alpacas. The sheep were disappointing after MDS&W, and she now wants to go to MDS&W with me. She bought three finished alpaca scarves as Christmas gifts, and a sweater kit for me to knit for her. I bought no yarn at all.

It was a pleasant little break from the wedding/moving madness, and I'm glad I got to check it out for a couple of hours.