(not)Wedding

Well, yesterday was interesting to say the least.
Gak had off yesterday because we were supposed to go to my friend Alan's wedding that afternoon. I played lazy bum all morning and didn't do much other than play around on the computer and crochet a little. Around 1:30 or 2:00 we start getting ready. Well, Gak gets ready and I fiddle with yarn for a while longer. We end up leaving the house right about 3:30 since the wedding is at 4:30 and about 30-40 minutes away depending on traffic lights.
Mind you, I haven't had a warm fuzzy feeling about this girl since I met her several years ago now when Al first started dating her. And I didn't like her kids either. (That's saying something, if I don't like someones kids... that takes a lot.) Well, almost 3 years ago now Al got her pregnant. None of us were happy with him about it, and despite the fact that he's wanted kids for a long time, wasn't sure this was the best idea ever either. But they stayed together and he has a 2-year-old little girl now. (Mind you, thanks to my overly stupid travel schedule, his work schedule and her... I have yet to meet the little girl, much to my, and Al's, dismay.)
They'd been talking marriage since just after the baby was born. They finally set a date about a year ago. Most of us kept saying, yeah, ok, whatever. Well, this spring we all got our invitations, so we figured he was actually going to go through with it. Mind you, I've tried very hard, with little success, to be supportive of his decision. I mean, I truly hoped they would prove me wrong. I want Al to be happy. I want him to have a family and enjoy them. I just didn't see that in this situation.
Yesterday was supposed to be the wedding.
Yes, supposed to be.
Gak and I were about 10 blocks from home when my phone rings. It's Kat. Gak answers it and the next thing I hear is "WHAT?!?!?! You're kidding me!!"
Uh.... please enlighten the driver here....
Well, to make a long, loud story shorter, words were said and Al called it off Friday night or Saturday morning. I believe what the final straw was is when she called his mom a bitch. Now, don't get me wrong, Al's mom is a lot of things, but she's not a bitch. She's a little flaky and weird, but not in a mean or evil-spirited way. She's just a little odd. I can deal with that, we all are.
So, instead of having a wedding, we had a party at my ex-boyfriend's house. (He was best man after all... they've known each other since the 3rd grade.) That in and of itself was a little weird. I mean, I hadn't been to the house since I had picked up the last of my stuff. It went amazingly well. There were several potentially weird conflicts that could have happened. I mean, John and I didn't exactly end things on a happy note. One of my other 'friends' from that group is the only one who responded when I sent out a note asking where I stood with everyone after that and basically ripped me a new one. Andy showed up as did Andy's brother (who was in the wedding party too). Kat was there of course. Andy's brother has real issues with Kat, and some days we're not too sure how Andy will be. But everyone had a good time. We ended up walking down the street to the bar and restaurant and enjoyed ourselves for a bit. Then half the people, including us, went home and the other half piled into the van and went to Alan's parents, where they were having a party of sorts.
It wasn't all fun and games though. There were some tense moments shortly after when the wedding was supposed to happen. Her Step-dad has a notoriously short temper. She had actually thought Al was kidding when he called it off and called him at 4:30 to see where the heck he was and yell at him for being late. (I wasn't there yet, but apparently you could hear him from across the street as he told her the whys and wherefores of the deal... and she called back again wondering why he was late... I mean, there's holding out hope and then there's ridiculous!)
So yes, yesterday was quite interesting. Not quite what I had figured on happening, but I'm glad I went. Alan seems comfortable with his decision, just worried about getting custody of his daughter. He wants custody, he's wanted children too long and he loves his daughter too much to walk away from her. I think that's one of the only things that is hurting him right now, is what's going to happen with his daughter. We all told him to get his butt down to the courthouse before the courts open Monday morning and file for full custody. First in usually has a better chance of swaying the judge. We're all behind him 150% in his wanting his daughter. We're all behind him 150% whatever he decides. It's been rough for him and the hard part is just starting. We will see though. I just hope this means I may get to see my friend a little more often. (According to him, we didn't see much of him because he just wasn't allowed out of the house. I won't go into what I think about someone who does that to their other half...)
Well, I'm off to go hunt some things in Norrath. Peace to all and may even the oddest situations turn out for the best.