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THIS LITTLE PIGGIE WENT TO MARKET... 28 October 2006 My stomach was filled with butterflies and a few moths as well, I believe. I couldn't believe I was so nervous. I thought back to the last time I went to see Cindy and realized that I was more nervous today than I ever was going to the dentist...even when I knew I was about to have a couple of teeth filled. The closer we got, the more wildly the butterfly wings flapped. "This is ridiculous," I thought. "People do it every day." But I don't do it every day. In fact, I was a virgin. Never, in 63 years, had I been to a nail salon. Never, in 63 years, had I had a pedicure. I was about to take off my shoes and show a total stranger my ugly feet and, what is more, let her work on them. I was nervous that her disgust would show on her face. But this was a bonding thing and I was determined I was going to do female bonding, even if it meant exposing one of my ugliest body parts to the world. If nothing else it would make a good journal entry...and what were the chances that I would ever see any of the people in that nail salon again? I was the last to arrive. Already in chairs lined up against the wall were Kathy, Olivia, Nora and Lucille. Alice Nan was in a chair at the back, with Rosemary next to her and I was seated about 90 degrees from Rosemary. I wasn't really in much of a position to chat with anybody (so much for female bonding), but I was in perfect position to photograph the four women seated against the wall. And I must admit that I had a great time. Sat there in the vibrating chair, with my feet nicely hidden in a swirling bath of sudsy water, and taking pictures of the rest of them laughing and...well...bonding.
Eventually my person came up and it was time to reveal the worst--the calloused heels from being fat and walking barefoot most of the time, the ground in dirt that never seems to come clean because I'm too fat to reach my feet when I shower, the irregular shaped foot from the arthritis, the brown callous where my bent foot rubs against my Birkinstocks. Oh the embarrassment.
Fortunately, I was enjoying Nora's embarrassment at realizing that the man who was working on her feet had given her a towel so she could cover herself and prevent him from looking up her skirt at her knickers,
...and later, the facial expressions she went through when they began to rub off the bottoms of her feet. I can hardly wait to get the video of that ready! When my person finished with clipping the irregular nails and took my foot out of the water bath and examined the calluses, I was moved to look sheepish and say "sorry" to her, apologizing for the years of neglect I have given my feet which she now had to deal with. (Later I left her a huge tip, as I walked away on my newly pink feet.) When it was all over, I looked down on my freshly scrubbed feet and my newly pink toenails and actually liked the way my feet looked for the first time in my life. I had decided to go for broke and get a manicure too, though I just had the nails cut short and buffed, rather than deal with polish. But I liked the way they looked.
Alice Nan's person was the slowest so we all gathered around as she had a little flower painted on her toenail (I am flower-less). She really looked like the queen any bride should be, surrounded by her loyal ladies of the court.
The worry we all have had about Alice Nan is that in all the rush to get a bazillion things done to have the "perfect" wedding, she is losing out on the chance to have fun. She and Rosemary went home right after the manicure, for example, because there was so much to do, while the rest of us went out to lunch. The comings and goings of the rest of the day are too boring to list, but suffice to say Walt made at least four trips back and forth across Santa Barbara, three of which were to his mother's room, without seeing her on two of those trips (once she was sleeping, another time she was gone). We did get a chance to visit with her briefly, but she was very sleepy, so we didn't stay. She seems to be ready for the wedding tomorrow, but we are betting she won't stay at the reception long. The rehearsal went on far longer than anybody anticipated and we remembered that the priest, who is performing the ceremony, says he won't go to wedding rehearsals because "things get tense." I don't know that they were exactly "tense," but I, for one, was aware that it was nearly an hour past the time when we had a reservation for about 40 people for dinner.
But the rehearsal, once it finally started, seemed to go well. The rehearsal dinner was amazing, if only because I just love watching our kids interacting with their younger cousins. We remember Kayleen and Ern from when they were mere babies (more or less) and now they are bellying up to the bar with our kids and ordering beer and liquor and chatting like the grown ups that they have become. I also love the relationship between our kids and Walt's cousins.
We came home after dinner and collapsed.
It was obvious from the outset that tomorrow's wedding is going to be filled laughter, tears of joy, and lots and lots of love. And at least 70 newly manicured toes peeking out from underneath the straps of party shoes.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
The bride's jeweled toe.
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This is entry #2403
