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A mini-reunion of some of the folks with whom I lived in Ireland took place this weekend, as Ashley, Kristin, and I descended upon Albuquerque to celebrate the wedding of Melissa and Elias. While I didn’t have a whole lot of time in New Mexico, we certainly had a good time, and it was great catching up.

My flight arrived in Albuquerque on time around 6:30 p.m. Kristin was scheduled to arrive shortly after that, and we were planning to meet and drive together to the airport. Unfortunately, her flight was significantly delayed due to weather around Houston, so I had to find alternative transportation to the hotel. Melissa’s dad ended up picking me up, which was extremely nice of him.

I called the Barcelona Suites, and asked if they had a shuttle. “No.” I then asked if he knew about how much a taxi would cost. “No, not really.” Really? How do you expect people to get to your hotel? When I checked into the hotel, it was clear why the guy was working the night shift. He was quite rude to the person who was checking in ahead of me, because she dared to question the $20 extra charge they wanted to make her pay for having four people in a room. (Apparently their website says otherwise.) About twenty minutes later, I finally was able to check in, luckily without trouble.

The hotel was quite unique.  It consisted of four outdoor “spokes” off a large central area. Friday night was karaoke night in the central area, and they certainly were playing the music at top volume. A number of people were complaining about it, actually, but they had to make sure the four people at the bar could enjoy their karaoke! 

I had a suite, which would have been nice if we had spent much time at the hotel. In fact, it would be a great place to hold a hotel room party, because the living room area of the suite had a nice little bar area, with a sink, fridge, and microwave. Otherwise, it was nothing particularly special.

After getting situated, Ashley and Jason picked me up, and we headed to a nearby sports bar. The two of them had driven in from Dallas (Dallas to Albuquerque is about a ten-hour drive.), so Jason was ready for a drink. Ashley, however, is pregnant(with their second, so Aurora is going to have a baby sister!), so obviously she stuck with cranberry juice.

We spent the next couple hours catching up and enjoying each others’ company. Unfortunately, Kristin didn’t make it to the hotel until around 10:30 p.m., so she decided to just hit the sack. We turned in around 11:30 p.m. ourselves.

Saturday morning I slept in, which was lovely. We ended up meeting for lunch at a local diner called Wecks, IIRC. They specialize in breakfast and lunch food, since they’re only open 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I had an enormous omelet filled with various pork products, with a side of hash browns, all smothered in red chili sauce. It was delicious but way too much food—Kristin had to help me finish.

After brunch we returned to the hotel so everyone could get ready for the wedding. Since I had little to prepare, (“Have I seen you at the gym? Wait, I don’t go to the gym—I’m just naturally like this!”) I spent the time watching the OSU-Wisconsin game.

The wedding was at 4:00 p.m., at Melissa’s sister Leah’s home. The backyard was beautifully transformed, and Leah’s house looked great. I understand that Leah and the mothers of the bride and groom prepared all the food (including the cake!) themselves, and it was an excellent southwestern spread. Leah also made what can only be described as dangerously good sangria. All in all, we were very well pampered.

Of course, the bride looked beautiful in her non-traditional wedding dress. The entire affair was fairly casual, and I’m lucky that Ashley had the foresight to ask about the dress code. On her advice, I went with a sports coat and slacks, and if anything, I was still a bit overdressed. The ceremony was short but sweet, with their son Elias presenting the rings. The toasts were very touching, especially the one given by Mel’s friend Kelly, who teared up multiple times. (I thought about standing up and grabbing the mic, a la Michael Scott, but decided against it…) They even had someone attending via a Skype video link, which was a great idea to help involve someone who couldn’t make the trip.

The reception went on into the wee hours, and we had a blast. After enough of the afore-mentioned sangria, I broke out my dancing skills, and worked the dance floor. Luckily I resisted the urge to climb the rope ladder into the tree house above the patio, even though it looked like so much fun.

After the reception, I pretty much immediately hit the sack, which was just as well. Ashley and Jason planned to get off to an early start for their long drive back to Dallas, so they turned in early, as did Kristin, who was just exhausted. Despite my later bedtime, I still managed to get up for the hotel’s (very mediocre) breakfast offering. (They didn’t even have bacon.) Kristin was kind enough to drop me at the airport, and now I’m on my way back to the Quad Cities, via Atlanta.

It was great to see everyone who made it. We need to plan a reunion that everyone can attend soon, though, because I miss the whole crew! And, of course, my congratulations to the bride and groom.