Moxi's Wedding: Day One

Tuesday/Wednesday... These days sort of blur together for me. I ended Tuesday in bed at 12:30am but struggled with sleeping. When my alarm went off at 3:45, it felt like I had just taken a nap, but up I got to dress and head toward the airport.

5:45am my flight was delayed and I arrived tardy to Houston, barely missing my flight to Baltimore. "You must be from Austin," the woman at the counter said.

Almost FIVE hours later I took plane number two to Baltimore. What did I do during those five hours in a airplane with only two and a half hours of sleep the night before? I lamented. I yearned for my bed and my pets. And eventually I forked over the 7.95 for internet fees, got a Starbucks Carmel Frappichino and got online. I worked on the wedding ceremony. I checked Facebook five hundred times. I caught up on blogs. Then I walked around the continental wing of the airport and window shopped in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, some tax free fake jewelry place and finally bought myself some chapstick at the bookstore. I listened to the same news stories FOUR times since the Airport News Channel plays the same thing over and over and over.

DYK...
that one of the teens suspected in the high school girl disappearance a couple of years ago in the Caribbean or wherever was caught on tape hiring "models" aka prostitutes in Amsterdam or somewhere?
that Obama's kids might get a guest appearance on Sister, Sister and people are still talking about Michelle's dress from last Tuesday?
that a preacher in Texas is asking his congregation members to have sex with their spouse 7 days in a row (it was in his sermon and yes, this breaking news made people laugh every single time)?
that the Congo wasn't mentioned even ONCE?

And you know what else? I enjoyed myself! I did. I reminesced and wrote my homily. I people-watched. I talked to my mom on the phone. But mostly I was just quiet, and for some reason... awake.

When I did finally arrive in Baltimore, I unzipped my bag, pulled out my coat, scarf and gloves and bundled up. Moxi's fiance Kevin picked me up and we headed home where we met Moxi, her mom, Renu, her father Ajit and a host of aunts and an uncle.

It was mehendi night for the bride (think henna)
so her mom and the aunts got their hands done while Moxi and I went to get the first portion of our mani and pedicures (sans polish). We came home and ate delicious Indian food (don't ask me what), and then I got my mehendi...

After I was finished came the hard part... waiting for it to dry. Fortunately for me, Moxi received her bridal henna after me so i had PLENTY of time to wait.
Briday mehendi takes FOUR HOURS. I kid you not. We did not get done watching Moxi get drawn on until 1am. So while we waited I took pictures of my hands (carefully!). The dark mehendi is the dye when it first goes on. After it begins flaking off, you can see the real color coming through underneath. This morning when I woke up it was even darker.



They say that the darker the color is, the more in love someone is with you. The scientific explanation is that the higher your body heat and temperature, the darker the color. So palms are usually darker. This morning I woke up and my mehendi was pretty dark. So I guess I'm either someone is in love with me or I'm scottish and have pasty white skin that brown can't help but show up on.

Here Moxi and I are post paint! (but before the henna has to be scraped off!)