Where was I?

Yes. Unable to pull myself together and wondering how I would be able to get through a wedding with a smile on my face.
I picked Michael up Saturday morning and we headed over to Salt Spring Island. I love the BC Ferries. Not really. It's not a short jaunt to get to SSI, but I won't bore you with the logistics. Okay, maybe I will, but later.
Neither of us had been there before. In fact, the only Gulf Island I've ever been on is Lasqueti, so the whole "electricity" and "paved roads" thing really blew my mind. At one point the speed limit was 80 km/hr and I was like, "Holy shit. That just blew my mind". Drove around Ganges a bit, and then checked into the B&B to clean up before the wedding.
It was a beautiful day, Salt Spring is a gorgeous island and as I was futzing about in our room I looked out the window and thought, "That looks an awful lot like JupiterGirl". And it was! She was lamenting about how hot her dress was, but she looked radiant. Such a beautiful dress. She looked absolutely natural and beautiful and beautific on her wedding day. Salt Spring Boy looked great as well, in his flashy Perry Ellis suit (even if the cuffs of his pants were still pinned up). I was totally amazed at how calm they were, especially when the resident golden retriever, fresh from a romp in the water, came trotting by and threatening to shake himself dry on JupiterGirl's dress. At one point JupiterGirl noticed that I am reading "The Time Traveller's Wife" and said what a great book it was and we discussed it a bit and then another couple started discussing it and I'm like, "Yeah, it's a super great book. But, um, you have to go get married now and shouldn't you be worried about something?". But no, JupiterGirl was zen and so was Salt Spring Boy and island life is a good life to lead. Especially when you get to go 80 kilometres an hour!
We showed up for the wedding and it was an intimate affair of around 35 people at SSB's parents' place. The garden was lovely, with a little bridge over the creek which naturally lent itself to many shots of many couples (in reviewing the photos I realize I have my frickin' Ironman Timex on, which is dead sexy and looks really good with my dress).
I've been to a lot of weddings in my day and they've all seemed the same. I'm not a big stickler on tradition and in a lot of cases it has appeared to me that the wedding wasn't even that enjoyable an event, but it's supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life. This wedding was fantastic. It was relaxed and casual in a naturous environment. The food was fantastic. There were no stupid, rambling, drunken speeches. You could sit where you wanted. There was a fire twirler. Yep, not even making that up. JupiterGirl got changed into some jeans and Salt Spring Boy had rigged up a laptop with music to some speakers so people danced and drank wine and I got to see the stars because it's so dark because there's no light pollution. The people were fantastic, everyone had a great sense of humour and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. And there were cupcakes.
It was a perfect wedding and I feel privileged to have been invited and to share such a spectacular night with such a wonderful couple. Sniff.
Drank a ridiculous amount of wine. Sat on Michael's lap and we played the "Tipping Game", whereby he continually pretends that he he's going to tip me onto my head. It's a fun game. Have 9 glasses of wine and try it some time.
The B&B we stayed at put on a great spread for breakfast. Michael managed to pat every animal that ventured his way and ended up sneezing a lot due to allergies. We bid our farewells and then headed back into Ganges to check the area out a bit better. I was pretty hungover, but I do hold that if you do the crime you gotta do the time. No, we didn't hike the local mountain, but we did wander about the town, bump into JupiterGirl's father and step mother, browse used books, sit on a rocky outcrop in the harbour and look at starfish and watch seaplanes come and go, and then go to the Treehouse Cafe upon JGirl's recommendation where we had some really good eats and contemplated moving to SSI.
Too soon it was time to go. We tried to catch a direct ferry from Long Harbour but, because I was too stupid to make a reservation, we couldn't get on. So we drove to Fulford which worked well because I bought the most rad hat which I have been wearing all weekend, plus a hemp purse and Michael, bored with my materialistic endeavours, had some coffee that smelled like jet fuel from a distance, and bought me a cookie.
The ferry from Fulford brought us to Victoria at which point we had half an hour to pull a u-turn and try to get on another ferry to Tswassen. With thirty years of BC Ferries experience under my belt I said, "No fucking way are we going to make this ferry. If we make this ferry I will buy you dinner, because-" glancing at my watch, "it's scheduled to leave in 26 minutes". We made it. I introduced him to the concept of sleeping in your car on deck, because the ferry was packed and I had accidentally grabbed seats near a contingent of Japanese or Korean gentleman who were drinking whiskey and eating Pringles. And they didn't seem to want to share.
Eventually, we landed back in North Van and I bought Michael pizza and we watched "Seraphim Falls" which was really good. Then I slept at his place and we went for a big run today. I ran 19 miles (30 kilometres): gasp.
Michael ran a full marathon!!!!! He is currently my (super) hero and I can't believe he ran 42 kilometres today. I bailed at the 30k mark, walked into a convenience store and bought all things liquid. The man at the till took one look at my salt-covered face and my overall look of exhaustion and let me polish off half a bottle of Gatorade before I had to settle my bill. Holy shit, my friends. We ran over the Iron Workers, Burrard and Lionsgate, and half way around the goddamn Stanley Park Seawall. I was out for 3 hours 8 minutes and Michael continued on for another fifty-odd minutes.
Anyways. Long, rambling story short: what a fantastic weekend. I am so pleased to have been able to spend such intimate time with JGirl and SSB. I wish them a long, happy and joy-filled to life together and I hope to see them often(er) in the future!
And, perhaps feeding off the positive weekend vibes, Michael and I had a really great (long) weekend together as well. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such fantastic people. It was one of the best weekends that I have had in a long, long time.
Much love to JupiterGirl and Salt Spring Boy: thank you for inviting us to share such a cherished moment with you guys.