I went home this past weekend for a family wedding. My niece Nicole - daughter of my brother Vince and sister-inlaw Michelle - got married and held a reception at Brookfield Country Club. It was a great time. Here's how the weekend went...

I flew in on Saturday morning and arrived in Buffalo just before 11:00 am. Charlie was there waiting; it seems he had been told 10:00 and had been there for an hour. I don't know how this happened. I was clear that i was getting in about 11ish. Whatever.

Anyways we shoot the shit as he drives me over to Lynn's where I stayed. I guess he had recently purchased a house and was re-habbing it. It was right by Lynn's house. The house was completed gutted on the inside. Ths only thing that was in place was the studs. It was kinda small of the inside, but it should come out real nice. The backyard was real big. That was definately a big plus for the house.

Well Lynn and everybody was home when I arrived. Supposedly, they had just got back from a funeral. We hung around for awhile. I read the Buffalo News. I always do that. There is almost like nothing better - family banter at the Carrow kitchen table.

I had been bumming, so the wedding was at 2:00. I grabbed a quick shower and got dressed for the cermonly. Not a tie or anything; sort of like a dress-down day at work. Myself, Lynn, Tiffany and Judy. We got to the church - Sacred Heart on Abbott - about 2:15. On the way over I read a little bit about Scott Peterson in San Quentin.

The ceremony was nice. There were about 40 people there. It was a nice ceremony; the pastor was especially nice and had seemed to take a special liking in them as a couple. After the cermony we greeted them and left. Back to Lynn's to chill. We left for the reception at about 5:15 pm.

The reception was at Brookfield Country Club in Clarence. It was really nice; it's too bad that it was darker by the time we arrived. Like late-dusk. I had heard it's really beautiful. The hall was decorated with a good amount of candles. White candles. It was a great atomosphere. They had their dj - DJ SLIM - playing the saxaphone. it was cool. Of course you recognized a lot the faces...a good time.

I sat at a table with Danny, Jill, Amy and her date Chuck. Supposedly, Jacob had gotten strep throat and couldn't attend. Amy's date Chuck had come it his place. Danny and Jill are always a treat of course; I always get a kick out a Danny, if anyone understands good humor its him. We talked about the wedding; his 'officiating' of it; shit like that. Banter. Graber family banter.

Before dinner, Nicole and Travis did this fabaulous couple dance. Nicole is a professional dancer, or as close as you can get. She really knew what she was doing. They had a routine and everything. A real treat. Everybody got a big kick out of it.

The dinner was absolutely fantastic. It was I believe filet mignon, with some sort of chicken-something. Both were excellent. The dessert was this cake that was just soooooo good. A strawberry number of some sort. Very good. I couldn't say more for the food.

After dinner, we all sort of mingled. Just a real good time. I relaxed casually and hung out with everyone. I got a chance to hang with Joel Giambra for a few. That was cool. I also made a point to talk to Travis a bit. They were from Wisconsin. Have a deep family there. His grandfather had helped found the Packers, went on to be a Congressman. Sort of like Jack Kemp. He seemed like a nice guy. They also seemed very happy together. You could just tell. They and their friends seemed like arts people. Everyone had a good time. I danced a bit and made a fool of myself a bit. The one drink I had was a vodka-tea.

We got home and crashed. The fall back hour really came in handy.

Sunday we got up, had coffee and then went to the Nite Capp for breakfast. I guess Butchy Minnick had recently remodeled and the place was popular. Anyways, myself, Lynn, Nig and Judy went. Good food. The only problem is that it took forever. Like waaaayyy tooo long. I think we waited about 45 minutes for our food. Either way, no hurry, but come on.

Afern we got to Lynn's, we relaxed a bit and then I jumped in Nig's little tracker and drove downtown to see Bobby. With the election coming up, and him being so busy, he's been working Sunday's. I met him in his new offices at The Leg. Since I used to work there too, it brought back some memories. It was the first time I had been in their offices since they moved them. They are now in Old County Hall on four.

We just hung out for a couple of hours; standard fare when I chill with Bob. I took a bunch of copies of the literature he did this past cycle. I plan on reading them on the plane. It was cool to chill. Just like old times.

After that I drove back home. Hung out a bit. Packed. Printed out my ticket. Tried to make some envelopes for Lynn (failed - what did I expect from MS Publisher?). Lynn and Nig dropped me off at the airport about 5:50 pm. Getting through security took me about 10 minutes.

Overall it was an excellent visit. I didn't get to catch up with Hummnel. It was cool to get to see pretty much everyone in the family.