Happy Happy Joy

Ah, yes. Yesterday was one of those days when a lot happened. So I've split it up into two posts. Read the one before, if you haven't already, or else this will make no sense at all. Even less than normal, in fact.

After a few moments spent hyperventilating after the match, it was then on to Leamington. I like Leamington (or Royal Leamington Spa to give it the full name) very much. We stopped in a hotel called The Angel, and had a quick drink in a pub called The Sausage. There are probably not too many towns on the planet where you can say that.

Then to the reception in the evening. Fay is someone I worked with until she went off to work for another company several years ago. We did some great things in the team we were in - things I'm still proud of now. And although the team has now essentially split up, we still kept in touch.

Any evening when an attractive young woman calls out to you, "Wow, you're looking absolutely amazing!" has a lot of potential, in my book. However, Katie was at my side, and the person doing the shouting was the bride. So scratch that thought right away. (Plus, she told me she and her now-husband now read this. Erm. Hello.) She hadn't seen me for about 18 months, so I guess I must have been carrying a fair amount of extra avoirdupois back then. I mean, I'm domestic-animal size now, back then I must have been able to shift the planet out of orbit.

Fay has been waiting best part of ten years to get married. So she was excited. No, that's not the right word. Think "Monica-out-of-friends-getting-married-excited." Nope. That's not enough, either. Think "bouncing-around-like-Tigger-in-a-wedding-frock."

Oh, bugger it. Words won't do. Try this:

I should make a point here. In this photo, Fay is not standing in a hole. Neither are the two chaps particularly tall. She really is that size. We used to refer to her as the Bonsai.

In fact, there can't be very many weddings where stepladders are amongst the presents:

This came from one of us, her ex-colleagues. Nothing like a subtle sense of humour, is there?

It was a great evening. In fact, it was one of those you look back on and reflect, "Wasn't that a great evening?" There was a whole bunch of us there from the old team. We talked, we laughed, we danced, we drank. Fay and Dave were deliriously happy. And it was contagious.