Blog Archives

You're Never Too Old To TikTok

7/31/2022

"Hail Mary" by Patti Liszkay
will be FREE on Amazon Kindle
on THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2022
https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO TIKTOK

(Sigh). So yes, I admit that I'm a TikToker (see previous post, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/whats-in-the-box-introducing-the-ailantha-vlog).
I got onto TikTok with the idea of using it as a platform to advertise my books, to which end I snagged myself a TikTok handle - @booksbypattiliszkay - then I shot and posted a couple mini-commercials, among which were these early efforts, which you can watch by tapping the arrows:

No great works of cinematography - or, I expect, even, TikTokography - and, quite frankly, they didn't exactly bring on an avalanche of book sales. Still, if my interest in TikTok as a sales tool quickly faded, I found myself wanting to give it a whirl as a story-telling medium.
And so I joined the legion of TikTok micro-storytellers and self-expressionists, numberless as the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach. I ended up making and posting about half-a-dozen minute-long vignettes, among which are this one about an experience at a book fair:

...and these piano teacher stories:

However after a while I learned that producing even a minute-long video takes time and sometimes requires a production assistant, usually my daughter Theresa.

And so I decided to take a sabbatical from posting in the TikTok verse.
These days I usually post only a couple of times a year to inform folks when my publisher Black Rose Writing,

...is doing a free Amazon Kindle giveaway of one of my books. Which they happen to be doing next week.

And so I'll back on TikTok for the next few days posting this sort of thing:

BTW, if anyone would like a free copy of "Hail Mary" you don't have to go to TikTok. Just go to Amazon this Thursday:
https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

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“What’s In The Box?” Introducing The Ailantha Vlog

7/28/2022

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"Hail Mary" will be FREE on Amazon Kindle on 8/4/2022
https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

“WHAT’S IN THE BOX?” INTRODUCING THE AILANTHA VLOG

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine, a gifted concert pianist, mentioned that he was considering starting a vlog - a video blog - on piano performance and theory that might hopefully appeal to the piano geek niche.

I cheered my friend's idea and urged him to totally go for it: "Be a vlogger, my friend!" said I.
But after talking to him a small light flicked on in my brain: What about me? Could I be a vlogger, too?
I looked into the idea. Turned out that with the right technology I, too, could be a vlogger. Or a blogger/vlogger, occasionally incorporating some video into the written script.
And so I went for it. I acquired the necessary tech that granted me the ability to put some vlog into my blog. I was ready and set to start vlogging, my only problem being that I had no idea what to vlog about.
It took me about week and a half of considering and subsequently tossing out various ideas before it finally occurred to me to stop looking for ideas and just vlog about what I usually blog about: the ordinary, trivial minutiae of daily life.
Feeling a weence unsure about how to put my video blog together, and having to face the challenges of writing, producing, directing, starring in and at the same time filming the thing by myself, I decided to turn to the Tik Tok infastructure for support. Confession: I'm on Tik Tok. I've made a number of Tik Tok micro-videos, so I know how a Tik Tok video is done. Am I allowed to call a Tik Tok video a vlog?

Nonetheless, here it is, my maiden voyage, into vlogdom. I've entitled this rough first attempt "What's in the Box?" There will be subsequent Ailantha vlogs in the future. Maybe.

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Long-Haul Trump

7/25/2022

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It would make all my dreams come true,
Just to have a review from you,
There is nothing I wouldn't do.
For a review from you...

...Left on Amazon and/or Goodreads

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

LONG-HAUL TRUMP

When Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election I, along with the majority of Americans who voted Biden into office, was jubilant. Not least among the reasons for my jubilation was the blessed relief I looked forward to of no longer being bombarded daily with Donald Trump.
For the previous five years one could not look at a newspaper, listen to the radio news, or turn on the internet without every lead story being about Donald Trump. It was Trump, Trump, Trump. The man constantly drummed up news and if ever a day went by that the spotlight was not on himself...well, he made sure that never happened, that never a day went by that he didn't grab half-a-dozen headlines. Being the President of the United States, he had that power. And he used it prodigiously. For five years he created the 24/7 news cycle in his own image, likeness, and voice.
And while his adoring disciples may have loved that their cup runneth over with Trump, I honestly don't get it. Much as I loved Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton - yes, I loved Hilary Clinton, I campaigned for her,

...and I wish to this day it had been she who'd entered the White House in 2017, so sue me, sue me, what can you do me? - still, I wouldn't have been able to stand having either Obama or Clinton all up in my face and ears and brain all the time. Not so with the followers of the Gospel according to Donald. Seems they couldn't get enough.
But anyway, after Joe Biden took office, and especially after the national shock over the
January 6 invasion of the United States Capitol by Trump supporters ,

...Donald Trump went slithering back to Mar-a-Lago and was mostly gone from the spotlight. Our country was finally cured of the cerebral inflammation that was symptomatic of the Trump presidency.
Or so we thought.
Like a bacterial infection that is not properly treated with full medicinal force and knocked out the first time around, Donald Trump came back, thanks to the majority of Republicans in the Senate who refused to vote to convict him of inciting insurrection after he did just that on January 6.
And so now Donald Trump is back and once again all up in our eyes and brains,

...not to mention talking about running for President in 2024,

...and holding monster night rallies with stage fireworks and high-tech video loop-de-loops.

And then there are the January 6 Congressional hearings that are really all about Donald Trump,

...even if though it's his former lackys, enablers, and the schlubs who attacked the Capitol at his behest who are now taking the heat.
Might as well face it, our country is suffering from a bad bout of long-haul Trump along with all the residual side effects and we're a mighty sick nation at the moment. And, alas, only We the People hold the cure. If we want it.

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Corona Mia! Here I Go Again; Or, "Paxlovid Rebound"

7/22/2022

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If You Enjoyed The Books,
A Review Left On Amazon And/Or Goodreads Would Be So Appreciated!

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

CORONA MIA! HERE I GO AGAIN; OR, "PAXLOVID REBOUND"

It's back. My COVID is back.
One week ago I was over it, testing negative, and feeling fine. Now I'm positive again and feeling not so fine. Not exactly terrible; but definitely not fine. Maybe somewhere between terrible and fine. Though at this point, providentially, closer to fine than terrible.

I'm apparently suffering from a not-well-understood phenomenon that's been dubbed "Paxlovid Rebound" and refers to documented cases of the COVID-infected who take the anti-viral drug Paxlovid for five days and are cured,

...only to have the COVID come bouncing back a few days later. Supposedly this peculiarity only affects folks such as myself who attempt to take the Paxlovid shortcut, and not those who let their COVID run its course honestly.
Anyway, here's a recap, in brief, of my COVID/Paxlovid saga thus far:
After five (miserable) days on Paxlovid (see post from 7/17/2022, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/my-corona-or-was-the-cure-worse-than-the-disease-or-paxlovid-mouth), I was miraculously symptom-free and tested COVID negative. That was Thursday, July 14, a week from yesterday. I breezed through the next few days, though on Sunday, July 17, I started feeling a hint of a sinus twinge. By Monday I felt a weence worse, so I took another test, which came up negatory. On Tuesday I felt considerably worse and by Wednesday morning I had a throbby sinus headache with my nose a running river.
And so, with copious…um…sample material available, I took another COVID test.

Definitely positron.
I emailed my doctor, told her my tale and, with stiff (and chafed from blowing my nose) upper lip, asked her if I should take another round of Paxlovid. Thankfully, she said no. Apparently Paxlovid works on the first round of COVID but not on the rebound it effectuates.
And that's about it. Today, two days later, the nasal river has dried to a creek, the headache throb is more of a ping, with an occasional pop-up cough. I'm up and around and doing all the things. That is to say, all the things you can do indoors, though in pre-COVID contagion times I'd have been running to Krogers, getting together with my Panera Posse, and teaching piano lessons even when sniffling more and feeling considerably worse than I do today.
But that was a different time. For now I'll just stay home for another week or so and serve my time until my nose stops running, my head stops pinging, and the little line grants me my release.

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Farewell To The Fair

7/20/2022

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"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

FAREWELL TO THE FAIR

If there's anyone who loves the Ohio State Fair, it's me.
In fact, Tom and I have been always been the most stalwart of Fairophiles,

...and rarely missed a State Fair for all the years we lived in Columbus, even those years when we were dragging around a passle of babies, toddlers and little kids and, back in those pre-restroom changing station days, changing diapers on the grass.
But then the pandemic came along and closed down the Fair in 2020. And again in 2021.
But now it's 2022 and the Ohio State Fair is back on again!
"Should we go?" I asked my mate.
"Heck, yeah, we should go!" was his reply.
We figured we'd go next week, on a weekday, a day or two after the Fair opened. I was looking forward to it.
But as of yesterday, we're not going to the State Fair this year. Chances are we'll never go to the Fair again.
Because yesterday I saw this:

The above article, posted by the Columbus NPR news network, stated that, "As of last month Ohio law allows people to be armed without a permit. Ohio State Fair Assistant General Manager Alicia Shoults said that means gun owners can both carry concealed weapons and openly carry at the fair."
Could Ohio lawmakers have sent an engraved invitation to crazy homicidal shooters everywhere to come one, come all, to our State Fair? Could they hang a banner over the Fair entrance that reads, "Welcome Unhinged AR-15-toting Mass Murderers"?
They might as well. But get this: There will still be Ohio Highway Patrol officers manning the entrances and requiring all Fairgoers to pass through metal detectors. But what for? Why bother having police and metal detectors when any wild-eyed dude openly carrying an assault rifle or two with ammunition bandoliers crisscrossed over his chest and rocking a Glock on one hip and a SIG Sauer on the other must be waived through in compliance with State law?
So what are the metal detectors there to detect? Knives? Machetes? Knitting needles? Bobby pins?
The thing is, Fairgoers can openly or secretly schlepp their guns all over the outdoor Fair grounds. They are not, however, permitted to bring their weapons inside any of the buildings on the grounds, such as the exhibit or commercial buildings. Does this make sense? Is it any less dangerous to bring a gun to a crowded outdoor venue than to a crowded indoor venue?
Which begs another question: If the powers that be can ban guns on part of the Fair grounds - the indoor part - why can't they ban guns on the outdoor part of the Fair grounds as well? And how does this rule apply to the spaces, such as some of the animal shelters and covered entertainment and food areas that aren't strictly outdoors or indoors?
Whatever. My Fair-going days are over and I'm heart-broken.

Reference
https://www.wksu.org/community/2022-07-18/ohioans-can-carry-guns-at-first-full-ohio-state-fair-in-three-years

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My Corona; Or, Was The Cure Worse Than The Disease?; Or, Paxlovid Mouth

7/17/2022

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Enjoyed The Books?
Please Leave A Review On Amazon And/Or GoodReads!

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

MY CORONA; OR, WAS THE CURE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE?; OR, PAXLOVID MOUTH

In the days leading up to Tommy and Emily's Sunday, July 3 wedding (see previous post) I prayed that I wouldn't come down with COVID before the wedding day. At the end of each day I'd think, "Made it through Wednesday, four more days; made it through Thursday, three more days; made it through Friday, two more days..." etc.
My prayers were answered and I sailed on up to and right through the wedding day with nary a twinge of any sort.
However my prayers obviously expired soon after the wedding date, and on the following Tuesday evening, July 5, I felt the slightest scratch in my throat. By Wednesday I had a
not-terrible headache along with my not-terrible sore throat. By Thursday night along with those symptoms I was also coughing up a storm and by Friday afternoon my coughing storm had morphed into a coughing hurricane.
I took The Test and a dark line appeared under the "T" before the solution finished swimming across the little window.

Late Friday afternoon I called my doctor, not to tell her that I had COVID, but because I wanted some cough syrup, and not some welter-weight, over-the-counter stuff; I wanted my doctor to prescribe me some no-nonsense, big guns, send-in-the-marines-and-knock-this-cough-on-its-elbow cough syrup.
And she did. But, along with the cough syrup, she also importuned me to take a round of Paxlovid, the so-called "COVID pill." Her concern was my age and the fact that long-haul COVID symptoms can come calling weeks after the initial onset of symptoms; but Paxlovid, along with tamping down the immediate COVID symptoms, also tended to knock out the long-haul COVID.
So I said yes to the Paxlovid.
My doctor warned me that Paxlovid was not in plentiful supply at the moment. She knew it could be picked from Riverside Hospital, which was on the other side of the city, two freeways over from where I live. However, she suggested that if I wanted to call around to the pharmacies in my part of town she'd phone in my prescription to any pharmacy I could find that had some Paxlovid on hand.
Happily, our local Meijer's had some Paxlovid in stock, and so my mate was spared having to take on the Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic to drive to the hospital across town to procure me my Paxlovid.
Now, the Paxlovid dosage works thus: Each dose is a group of three pills. One takes the three-pill dose twice a day, morning and evening, for five days.

I took my first three-pill dose of Paxlovid on Friday evening. When I woke up Saturday morning my COVID symptoms were gone. Completely. No sore throat, no headache, no cough. I didn't need my weapons-grade cough syrup anymore. On the one hand, it was a miraculous cure; on the other hand, I found that my defunct COVID symptoms had been replaced by a new symptom: a most horrid, disgusting taste in my mouth.
it was a heavy, terribly bitter taste with undertones of metal and overtones of vomit. I had the impression that the taste originated on the roof of my mouth, but far back, above the tunnel to the esophagus. It wasn't that food tasted any differently than ever, until it it mixed with the horrible taste, then it tasted horrible, too. And when the horrible-tasting food landed in my stomach, my stomach felt horrible as well until the food came back up. You get the picture.
I turned to the internet for some enlightenment. I learned that what I was suffering from was a phenomenon known as "Paxlovid Mouth." Apparently only about 6% of Paxlovid users are smote with Paxlovid Mouth. Apparently I drew one of the unlucky numbers.
Though the bitter, metally, vomitty taste was in my mouth all the time, it was the worst for the first few hours after a dose but would wane to a low point just before it was time for the next dose. Thus I was able to figure out a strategy for keeping some food down: When I woke up in the morning and the taste from the previous evening's dose was at low ebb, I would eat some dry toast and take my Paxlovid a little while afterwards. Then I wouldn't eat all day - I couldn't eat all day - until the evening, by which time the wretched taste was again at low tide and at which time I'd have my second meal of the day, a cup of beef bullion and crackers. Then I'd take my second round of Paxlovid and brace myself for a long night of Paxlovid Mouth-induced insomnia until morning came and I could down some more toast.
And so it went for five days. I didn't starve, but by Tuesday morning I'd lost five pounds.

But at the same time I had no COVID symptoms.
I took my last dose of Paxlovid on Wednesday morning, July 13. By the next day my Paxlovid mouth was gone and I was officially COVID-free.

By Saturday I'd managed to pack on almost two pounds.

I've already related this saga to a number of people - having COVID is like your birthday, you get lots of phone calls and good wishes - and a couple of people have asked me what was worse, having COVID or taking Paxlovid?
That's a tough question. The coughing was certainly no picnic. Neither was the Paxlovid. In the end I couldn't answer the question because, the Paxlovid having K.O'd the COVID pronto, I have no way of knowing how bad the COVID might have gotten without the dreadful Paxlovid treatment.
Some questions are better left unanswered, anyway.

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Tommy And Emily's Wedding, Part Four: Happy, Beautiful Night

7/15/2022

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Books By Patti Liszkay
Available On Amazon

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

TOMMY AND EMILY'S WEDDING, PART FOUR: HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

...Continued from yesterday:
After the marriage ceremony the air was full of good wishes and gemütlichkeit,

..and the guests headed over to the Swan Lake reception hall for hors d'oeuvres.

After a few more family pictures,

...the rest of us followed.

At the front of the hall was a stylized sculpture of two swans.

I wondered whether the creators of this venue chose the name Swan Lake because they knew that swans choose their partners for life,

...or whether they just liked the name.
There was a "telephone" on which the guests could leave good wishes for Emily and Tommy.

The reception hall opened to a veranda that overlooked the lake,

...and on which there was a photo "booth."

Soon the bride and groom made their grand entrance and had their first dance to "Leather and Lace" by Stevie Nicks.

Then Emily's parents gave a welcome speech to the guests with a toast to the newlyweds,

...followed by my welcome speech and toast, during which shared that I was so happy that I couldn't really think and feared that I might have been lobotomized by happiness.
That really was how I felt at the moment, though I did manage to get a few words out.
Dinner was vegetarian cuisine from which there were several choices to choose.
i had the vegetable strudel, which was outstanding.

The other options were eggplant involtini,

...and pasta with vegetables.

Both those dishes were declared likewise delicious by the guests.

After dinner there were lovely, heartfelt speeches by Emily's sister and brother,

...and Tommy's childhood friend, Tom.

Next the newlyweds cut the cake.

Then we spent the rest of the evening dancing,

...and otherwise enjoying the beautiful evening.
Tommy with his best buds from grade school.

Towards the end of the evening Emily and her dad danced to Mariah Carey's 'You'll Always Be My Baby."

Tommy and I also danced to our song, the theme from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." (There's a story behind it).

It seemed to me that this happy, beautiful night flew by in an instant, then suddenly Tommy and Emily were dancing their last dance of the evening.

The celebration ended with sparklers on the veranda,

...as a send-off to a bright future.

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Tommy And Emily's Wedding, Part Three: Wonderful, Wonderful Day

7/13/2022

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Books By Patti Liszkay
Available On Amazon

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

TOMMY AND EMILY'S WEDDING, PART THREE: WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL DAY

...Continued from yesterday:
The following day, Sunday, July 3, was Emily and Tommy's wedding day at the Swan Lake Event Center.
The Swan Lake reception hall is flanked on either side by long wings, one for use by the bridesmaids, the other for the groomsmen.

When we arrived a couple of hours before the wedding the ladies' wing was a hive of activity with the girls busy getting their hair, nails, and make-up done, steaming out last-minute wrinkles,

...and bustling around helping each other get ready for the wedding.

Meanwhile over in the groom's wing the guys were playing soccer and ping-pong.

Still, the mood in and around the wings was happy and fairly chill, even.

And there was food and drinks available.

As the time for the wedding approached, the meadow where the ceremony would take place was set up with chairs.

The path down to the meadow.

Emily's mom and friends set up a beautiful gold ring sculpture in front of which the ceremony would take place.

Soon before the ceremony Emily and Tommy and their Wedding Cabinet (see previous post) gathered for pictures.

Emily and her parents, Lisa and Bruce.

The rest of us strolled the beautiful grounds.

By a little after 5:30 pm all the guests had arrived and the wedding procession began.

Tommy and Emily had decided to have co-ed attendants, with Emily's people on one side,

...and Tommy's on the other,

...which I thought was a good idea and made sense.
The officiant, Tim, presided over a beautiful ceremony,

...which included, instead of a unity candle, a unity sapling, to which Emily and Tommy each added soil from the backyards of the homes in which they grew up and ashes from their beloved dogs who had crossed over the rainbow bridge. They've subsequently planted the tree at Audubon Park in Columbus.

They exchanged the vows that they'd written to each other.

Then came the "I do's,"

...a kiss,

...and a brand-new married couple,

...happily joined the world.

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Tommy And Emily's Wedding, Part Two: Partying At Adobe Agave

7/11/2022

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Books By Patti Liszkay
Available On Amazon

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

TOMMY AND EMILY'S WEDDING, PART TWO: PARTYING AT ADOBE AGAVE

...Continued from yesterday:
The following day, Saturday, July 2, was the day of the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.
For the dinner venue I discovered in the Columbus suburb of Worthington a charming Mexican restaurant called Adobe Agave.,

...that had a nice-sized party room,

...and yummy food that we'd stopped by to sample on a previous occasion.

Prior to the rehearsal Claire, Miguel, Tom and I went to Adobe Agave to decorate the room with fiesta flags,

...which we hung with the help of the awesome - and awesomely friendly - manager Gilberto.

From the restaurant we headed over to Swan Lake where we met up with the rest of the wedding party - whom Emily and Tommy referred to as their Wedding Cabinet - for the rehearsal.

After the rehearsal the Wedding Cabinet and their guests made their way to the Adobe Agave to begin the pre-wedding festivities,

...which started off with drinks and baskets of light, crispy taco chips accompanied by delicious salsa and guacamole and a queso dip to die for.

Tommy and Emily made "I.D. badges" for the members of their Wedding Cabinet with each person's title.

For dinner I selected six entrees that the guests could choose from, among them fiesta vegetables,

...chicken or veggie tacos,

...served with all the fixings,

...and San Pancho Birra beef bowl.

There were also cheese quesadillas and tacos al pastor. Everything was pronounced over-the-top delicious and efficiently served up,

...thanks to the super, super-hard-working, and friendly kitchen and restaurant staff,

...and our superwoman of a wait server, Isabel

After dinner it was time for the evening's entertainment: a slide show put together by Emily's parents of photos of Emily and Tommy from babyhood through the years with commentary provided by Emily's parents and Tom and I.

It was much fun.

After the slide show it was time for dessert, delicious churros.

The rest of the night was for enjoying the company,

...and being happy.

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Tommy And Emily's Wedding, Part One: Joyful Prelude

7/9/2022

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Books By Patti Liszkay
Available On Amazon

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
Available on Amazon.

TOMMY AND EMILY'S WEDDING, PART ONE: JOYFUL PRELUDE

Last Sunday, July 3, my son Tommy and his fiancée Emily were married,

...at Swan Lake Event Center,

...in Powell, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.
It was a joyful event, as wedding celebrations tend to be. But for us the celebration began with a joyful prelude starting the week before in the wee hours of Saturday, June 25 when my daughter, son-in-law, and grand daughters arrived from Los Angeles.