Day 1494

Friday, February 17, 2017

I managed to sleep a little on my flight to JFK.  In the morning, I boarded my flight to Raleigh and arrived around 9:15.  I got my rental at Alamo and drove south to Whispering Pines.  The weather was great, sunny and mild and not cold at all.  I used Waze to get there and had no problem finding Jill's, even though I had to take many isolated winding roads to get there.  I arrived before noon. There's a party tonight at 6 but most of the prep work is done.  Mom and I chatted in the living room and after lunch I took a nice long three-hour nap before finding Alex and Hayden home from school. They were excited about the weekend.  I hung out in both their rooms and walked around the neighborhood with them.  They have a great baseball field in their back yard.  It's that big.  Hayden reminds me of myself as a kid.  He has lots of energy and he's really funny.  He's much more social than I am, which is a good thing.

The kids hung out by the front door, waiting for guests to arrive.

Alex and Hayden in Party mode, waiting for guests

Leo and Louanne were the first to arrive after six.  Leo, Dad, and two of Tom's friends played golf in the morning, Pinehurst No. 6 (Pinehurst has 9 courses).  No. 2 is the most famous course, where they've played the U.S. Open.  Dad and Sue arrived a little later (having trouble finding Jill's house because the development's so new it's not on many GPS systems).  Lori and John, Jill's friends from Reno, arrived a little later.  I hadn't seen them in years.  It was great to catch up with them.  Tom's family was there.  His sister seems a little down.  His two daughters Jordan and Shannon were there, and Colin's husband Colin, who's really fun and nice.  Sadly, Shannon and Colin's dog passed away just a few days ago after eating a rope.  Crazy.

By 8, everyone was at Jill's and the party was in full swing.  It was great seeing everyone.

Me and the bride, Jill

Mom

Getting ready for the party

I stayed up until 11 or so, then shut things down in a hurry.  I was hardly functioning that last hour. On to the wedding tomorrow.