It sure was different this time around, wasn’t it Red Sox Nation?

I remember watching the Sawx win it all in 2004. I was over at Cahill Manor where the tension could be cut with a knife. Duke was pacing endlessly, Ken had just yelled at our host Judith for having the audacity to verbalize her projection that the Sawx might win, and Robert was in a panic state in the other room, unable to watch, but yelling for updates because he was unable to pull away. As the final out was tallied, everyone hugged, cheered and then called or texted everyone and their brother, including me texting my brother, Jeff, who somehow has always been on the Boston bandwagon.

[Sidenote: I still don't understand how Jeff and I grew up in the same home, watching the same local sports, but he somehow drifted away from the local teams (Phillies, Eagles) and instead became fan of the Red Sox, Rockies, Patriots and Cowboys. Is this bad parenting? Was this one of those rebellious teenager actions that never was disciplined? Something went very wrong. I mean… the Cowboys! ]

This year was a totally different Red Sox World Series. There was no feeling of dread, or fear of jinxing the game. On the flip side, after the final out, there were no text messages or phone calls. It was quiet, it was expected.

Still, it was important, because it was the World Series. So I made Selena stop not putting a photo up on Facebook and come join me on the couch to watch the final half inning. Here are some of Selena’s color commentary of the 2007 Red Sox team:

• Jacoby Ellsbury: “He’s cute, oh wait, no he’s twelve [years old].”
• Mike Lowell: “He looks like Sucre from Prison Break, I’m going to call him L’il Papi”
• David Ortiz: “Look at Jo-boo, he’s huge, that’s why our kids can’t play baseball, they’ll all become fat.”
• Jonathan Papelbon: “Mmmm, Applebon, that’s like a Cinnabon Pecanbon, but made with apples, that sounds delicious. I want an Applebon.”
• Manny Rameriz: “Man Ram, that’s his name?!? Heehehehe”

Congratulations Red Sox and Red Sox Nation, it was an enjoyable ride.

Anyone who keeps up with this blog knows some of my irrational fears. So it’s no surprise that I am easily frightened by scary movies. I think the first movie really kept me awake at night was Robocop when I was nine. When the lights when out, I thought the shadows of the houseplants were the ED-209 (I had to look up what he was called) and would call in my dad.  Through the years, movies like Pet Cemetary, The Exorcist, Se7en and The Ring continued that trend. Then there came the movies that make less sense to be frightened of, like Road Trip or Funny Farm with Chevy Chase. (I hate snakes).

Horror movies and other things that scare me have taught me, scary things appear behind you in mirrors. One of the things I hate the most in my day to day routine is looking in the mirror to check that I’ve washed off all off all my face cream.

Greg tries hard not to start conversations or be in the bathroom for any reason when I am washing my face. He knows that I will look up and be freaked out that there is another person in the room that I didn’t hear come in, even if it is my husband.

On our honeymoon, Greg decided to test a new system. He needed to get something from the bathroom while I was washing my face and burst in yelling, “Boogedy! Boogedy! Boogedy!” To which, I jumped a mile into the air, flung water all over the bathroom and screamed what Greg would later claim to be the loudest sound he’s ever heard come out of me. When my heart finally started beating normally, I asked, “Why did you do that???” Greg replied, “I know you get scared when I just appear in the bathroom so I wanted to make some noise so that you would know I was coming, so I wouldn’t scare you.” After a small pause, he added, “Now that I think about it, I guess Boogedy Boogedy Boogedy is kinda what you say when you scare people, huh?”

Selena and I are back from the honeymoon, and have determined that the wedding/honeymoon week was hands down the best week ever. From Friday evening when the rehearsal began through to the following Friday when we had our final meal of the Honeymoon, there have not been a period of seven days we have been happier or found more enjoyable. We thank all the friends and family who made the trip down to the Keys to be with us for the weekend and share in the ceremony and reception. There are a lot of great memories to take away from that time. Here in no particular order are just a few:

• Catherine’s spot-on observation that “everyone loves Selena”
• Jeff’s eloquent toast
• The delicious Caribbean Jerk Chicken and shrimp, yum!
• Jason doing his Michael Flatley impression
• The hours of entertainment “Floyd” the crocodile brought to the drinking crowd.
• Beating my mom in a game of Flip Cup.
• On stage lip synching to Spamalot
• Vivian asking for the Chinese translation for “chest-bump”
• Eddie and Selena and the Galoopers doing Thriller
• Vince spotting and chasing out the wedding crashers
• The cops arriving
• The power temporarily shorting in the middle of “Billie Jean”
• The dance floor collectively singing through it
• Wayne, from afar, decorating the honeymoon suite
• The stuffed panda being a major focus on the dance floor and at the bar
• The wedding cake being too frozen to cut
• The crowd refusing to move until they saw some cake smashing
• Selena in her dress barking into the bullhorn during family photos
• Colleen strong-arming Autumn to win the bouquet
• Judy strong-arming the photographer’s assistant who was apparently too visible during the ceremony.
• Duke and JuSong having a Michael Jackson style dance-off
• Dancing for the first time with my new bride, surrounded by friends and family as fireworks lit up the night.

And that’s just the first two days at Coconut Cove. We intend to post links to pictures, as well as transcribe the toasts and add them to the wedding page, as soon as we get ourselves settled back in. Thanks again to everyone who was part of the best week ever.

As soon as I finish typing this we are throwing the last of our bags in the car and getting on the road.  We are heading as far as Jacksonville tonight (we hope) to make for an easier second leg of the trip tomorrow down the Florida coastline into the Keys.

The thoughts that went through my mind this morning as I went for coffee was the scale of this event.  As we’ve been so busy planning our end and getting our car packed I had lost sight of the reality that there are 93 other people about to do the same thing in order to be with us this weekend.  Our friends Helen and Bobby are already in Key West. My dad is packing up his car today and starting the drive. My mom and Selena’s dad are both delegating at their respective workplaces since they won’t be back for nearly a week, and another 90 or so people following suit, working their last couple of days before hoping in a car or on a plane to take a weekend getaway in the sunny Keys to be with us, to watch Selena walk down the aisle and to hear the I do’s that are nearly nine years in the making.

We are minutes away from heading out. First stop, more coffee and breakfast sandwiches, then to the cemetery to pay respects to Ms. Kang, and then onto the open road. Next stop Florida, and we’re not coming back until we are married.