Return of the Feb Five!

So this weekend found me in New Hampshire at the wedding of my good friend Ben from the Middlebury days. It was a great weekend. It started out with a bachelor party on Thursday that consisted of Thai food and my first ever Red Sox game at Fenway. Not a bad way to start a weekend. Other than just being in Fenway, the game was a good one. There were a couple home runs, 3 diving catches, a late tie that was overcome by great relief pitching, stolen bases, etc. Schilling started the game, which was cool because how often do you get to see a future Hall of Famer pitch? We were sitting in center field and had a great view of the line that the pitches were taking. It got crazy when Okajima came up to pitch. His signature pitch, whatever it's called, was fun to watch in person. Even from behind him, I couldn't see where it was going to end up.

Friday we did the rehearsal and dinner thing and then met up with some of the early arrivals in Manchester, NH. The best part of the night was when we got back to the hotel and the night wound down into sitting around our room with 8 or so of my old friends just talking into the night. It was a lot like how our nights would end in college. I missed it.

The big day started with a big breakfast, some more hanging out and greeting of old friends and then bowling. Bowling? Yes, bowling. We hit the lanes and threw rocks! I got some inspirado from the great 80's station playing at the bowling alley. So, I'm at a bowling alley singing Cindy Lauper, drinking Dr. Pepper, throwing strikes (as far as you know), and playing Galaga in between frames. Throw in some parachute pants and it could have been 1985.

We headed back to the inn and after some trial and error figured out how to put on our tuxes. The ceremony was nice. Short and to the point. This was good considering I needed a Kleenex badly by the end. I'm man enough to TELL myself that I don't need a tissue for the ceremony, but not man enough not to actually need one. What can I say, I'm a romantic and Ben's a good vow writer (actually, he's a good all around writer, I'm secretly waiting until he gives up the world of computers and starts his career as a novelist). The reception was also a lot of fun. How could it not be. Some of my best friends and favorite people in the world were there. Some of whom I hadn't seen in a while. The wedding also marked the first time since graduation that the five of us febs were together. It was a special day all around. Every once in a while I would step back and smile, realizing that I know some really great people. People I don't get to see nearly as much as I should, so I stopped my deep thinking and just jumped back up on the dance floor and made like it was 1996 at 2AM in McCullough. The only thing missing was falling asleep afterwards on a couch watching Aladdin.

Next weekend The Program's wedding festivities continue with Clint's bachelor party in Montreal. Uh-oh....

Soundtrack: Bill Evans - Moonbeams