Cheryl & Chris's Wedding Blog
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Ah, a grey Saturday morning, watching some TdF. The Tour has just exploded (our favorite announcer says "Literally Exploded" which never fails to make us laugh). Tyler Hamilton dropped out with back problems. As Chris says, now he has nothing to do but think about his dog, the pain in the back, and not finishing the Tour. The guy who was best young rider last year is out. The guy who came in 5th overall last year dropped out. Iban Mayo who was a big contender is being pushed up the mountain because his team manager wouldn't let him drop out. This is the drama we tour junkies live for.
And here at home, today Chris has a crit around the Pittsburgh stadiums, and tomorrow is a really tough National Race Calendar race that he's in. So it will be a tough weekend for him. I've also started trying to find places that rent tuxes and are nationwide. So far...Afterhours formal wear is looking like our best option, but last night I saw something that Men's Wearhouse also rents tuxes. So that's a possibility too. Chris has asked if I have a preference for tuxes, and my answer is....whatever makes you feel like you look good sweetie! But it is time to start looking into it.
I'm off to watch some more Tour, it's a fascinating kind of day.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Since we're getting mushy here, this will let me weave all sorts of my favorite topics into one post. I didn't get serious about Cheryl till a year later. My Mom demonstrated some fierce loyalty to my Dad while he was dying. That sort of example got me thinking about what I wanted from life later down the road. To mangle C.S Lewis, if you think of life as a wonderful hotel, you're bound to be disappointed. But, if you think of it as a prison, well, you'll find some things here and there to appreciate about it. I pretty much decided that whatever came my way, I certainly wanted Cheryl there. And that if it came down to it, well, she'd be every bit as loyal as one could hope for.
And, speaking of loyalty, I've never quite understood dogs' loyalty to humans. I've chalked it up to one of God's mysteries. Tyler Hamilton's dog had to be put down, continuing his long string of bad luck at crucial moments. He's wearing his dog's tag for the remainder of the Tour. It's an extremely classy move. Having lost Fred for a few hours, I can only begin to imagine. And, as I mentioned earlier, Cheryl was in fact the best person imaginable during the long evening.
Wow, it's hard to believe, but it was about this time 3 years ago when Chris and I met. He doesn't remember the first evening that we met. He was sitting at the far end of the table with some friends, and there was a big group of us having dinner at Max & Erma's. I thought he was kind of cute, but at that point didn't figure anything would happen. The next day we all got together and watched the TdF at Emma & Henry's house. Er, actually by "we all", what I really mean is Chris and a bunch of us girls. For some reason that day and the ensuing Tour parties at Emma & Henry's were mostly women, a phenomenon I must say I haven't seen since then.
Anyhow, we all ended up emailing each other during the course of the Tour. Eventually Chris and I started emailed each other about other stuff that we had in common. Early on, we didn't really see each other much, other than to meet at bike races. It wasn't until November that we actually started hanging out and then dating.
And that, kids, is how the Tour eventually made a marriage. So in addition to the sheer joy of watching the drama and personalities of the Tour de France, we have that added little warm glow of knowing this is how we met.
