the night before--multi-tasking

Kaiya is getting married tomorrow. And I have never seen such a calm bride. All summer, despite the hiccups, she'd say everything was going well with a big smile. As of last weekend, she wasn't even sure what flowers she'd have and she was very breezy about the plan in case it rains (the forecast isn't so good, and she's getting married in a treehouse). But tonight, she's starting to crack. Just a teensy bit.

It's 11:52 p.m. I've been coaching Highcon on his best-man speech over the phone all day. Now High Contrast is totally the type to freak out. Royally. He will leave things to the last possible hour, and then squander 55 minutes of that hour hysterically pacing and complaining about how he has no time left and so much pressure. And then in those last five minutes, he will come up with something brilliant and shrug it off as no big deal when he's patted on the back about it. That's just how he rolls. But it's one hell of a rollercoaster if you're along for the ride.

Currently, he is transposing the speech he'd written out, word for word, into outline form so that he doesn't get up there in front of the guests and read from a paper. No, wait--he just accidentally saved over all that word-for-word so now he HAS to write the outline. While he's working, I checked my gmail-chat and see that Kaiya's online. It's a little late for someone who needs her rest for the big day, so I wish her luck and ask how everything is going.

Apparently the dress the mother of her husband-to-be hand made for her doesn't fit quite right. So she's freaking out, saying she had a plan B for everything, but not the dress. And bemoaning the tragedy that it would be if she had to walk down the aisle in anything other than THE dress.

I try and try to calm her down, but after awhile I realize she needs this freak-out release because she's been so very placid this whole time. I'm positive that the dress will fit tomorrow; that Lee's mom wasn't going to have spent all these months making it just to have it not go down the aisle to meet her son.

11:58 a.m: I am simultaneously reassuring Highcon that his speech is both appropriately funny and touching, and that he should watch how many times he uses "You know" instead of "um" (but that's a much better word than "um" anyway), and at the same time gmail-chatting to Kaiya that there is no way in hell she won't have a dress to wear tomorrow for the ceremony.

12:02 a.m.: Kaiya has apparently checked out. I hope she gets some sleep tonight. Highcon is going strong, on his third speech rehearsal. It sounds good. He is still worried about it.

12:36 a.m.: I'm worried about having to get up at the bootycrack of dawn tomorrow to catch a train to southwest suburbia to get my car to drive to northwest suburbia. Yet I continue to talk with Highcon.

1:02 a.m.: Reminiscing about high school with Highcon, how we procrastinated on our Cry, The Beloved Country papers in Essay Writing. Both of us stayed home "sick" to work on them, but spent the entire day on the phone talking about nonsense like '70s Hindi Disco songs and what Strawberry Shortcake albums his sister and I both had. We didn't turn in our papers until two weeks after the deadline (senioritis) and I was so angry because he nonchalantly slipped it into Mrs. Dabrowski's pile while I handed it to her sheepisly in person. But I was vindicated because Mrs. Dabrowski wasn't stupid and we both got the same amount of points knocked off. We're wondering how the heck we passed after pulling that kind of crap and where we found the gall to try a stunt like that in the first place.

1:20 a.m.: REALLY thinking I'm not going to be freshfaced tomorrow. Highcon and I are discussing Obama/Biden and who McCain might choose as Vice President runningmate. Highcon cannot figure out how to set the alarm at his parents' house. I just remembered I forgot to put away the leftovers from dinner.

1:44 a.m.: Can't. Break. Away. From. This. Conversation. It's always been this way with this kid.

1:48 a.m.: Talking about how one of our nicknames for Kaiya is not going to apply anymore, as she's going to change her last name. Sad. What's sadder is that I'm going to be SO TIRED. Perhaps we can get a ride with Ri and C tomorrow? Yes, I really hope so. Because otherwise I am screwed. Highcon is starting to fall asleep. I'm finally able to hang up.

All this counseling, and I'm wired instead of tired. And all the while, H has been sleeping like a baby.