The Word According to Jillsy

This weekend we were in Youngstown for another wedding of one of my lovely cousins. Things were very similar to last time -- same family, mostly same bridesmaids, same reception hall, same food, same drinks -- you get the picture. However, some things were VERY different, well, at least for me.

Being pregnant changes a lot of things, and I am beginning to see that (at least for myself) it changes weddings. For one thing, I enjoy the food a lot more. I probably could have eaten about 30 meatballs, but I restrained myself as to not draw too much attention. I also ate some cookies which I have NEVER done. And, of course the biggie -- no drinks. So, I didn't really "feel" the music like I normally do, but I got to watch everyone else "feel" the music (and my husband). However, there were some bonuses like hanging out with my little cousins (which I will get to later) and documenting all of the shot taking and drunkeness.

But before the dancing and carousing even begins at a wedding, there is always a ceremony. Jillsy was supposed to do a reading, so she had to get there early, I suppose to scout out her location. I didn't even know that she was doing a reading until about 20 minutes before the wedding. I put my bet on the "Love is patient, love is kind" one, but she told us it was the reading from Genesis. I was not intimately familiar with this reading, but I pretty much knew the gist of it ... you know Adam and Eve and ribs and all of that.

So, the time came when Jillsy had to go up and do her reading. At first she almost took the program up, instead of the reading, but she managed to leave with the right one. Everyone's attention was on the cute little lady in the polka-dotted dress.

Now, I am not one hundred percent sure, but I think that people sort of space out during readings. Everyone except the Priest and maybe some random few here and there. Now, I must admit that I was kind of spacing out through the middle of the reading. As the reading came to a close, Jillsy looked up (for the first time) and said this:

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. This is the Word of the Lord."

To be quite honest, the first image that popped in my head was Chris Farley talking to Paul McCartney on Saturday Night Live. Then, I thought, maybe the Beatles got that line from the Bible? I turned to my brother and we both gave each other a look as if to say, "She wouldn't just add a line, would she? Nooooooo."

If I would have been paying more attention I would have heard my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister and brother) lauging to themselves and saying, "More like the Word according to John Lennon!"

It wasn't until after the cermony when we all congregated outside of the church where I heard my dad say, "Jill you can't mess with the Gospel like that!" I had forgotten about the Beatles incident and thought that maybe she had written something on the Book or something, but then I realized that he was talking about the Chris Farley line.

"I just wanted to add my message," Jillsy said. Then of course the teasing enused. "You should of just said, "I am the Walrus. Kookookachoo." From Robby, there was anger. I think Robby was very scared that she was going to be struck down by a lightning bolt. When the Priest walked by he shushed everyone.

Needless to say everyone forgot about it (well, sort of. I think it will be a while before she does anymore impromptu readings at weddings). And, on to the reception we went.

Now, back to the most important things that I learned from my 9 and 11 year old cousins. Because everyone else was in the bar, I decided to hang with them. After filling their bar requests (a Coke and a Sprite with lots of straws), I settled down into my seat and proceeded to listen to their "Tips for Dancing."

Tip # 1: Always drink lots of pop.
Tip # 2: Never dance to lame songs.
Tip # 3: Always cut across the dance floor.
Tip # 4: Always request "Footloose" (okay, I added that one).

For more photos, please check out this.