Labor Day Weekend

The Summary

This weekend was a busy one. I went gun shopping and shooting with Amybear (her second time) and my brother. Then we went to my parents for dinner with cousins that were visiting. Sunday morning, Amybear's parent picked us for a family wedding on Long Island. The trip back Monday was fine once we had transitted out of the New York metropolitan area. Traffic was unusually light for a holiday weekend, but this may have been a function of gas prices.

The Details

Shooting with my brother and Amy was nice. My brother hasn't gone shooting since he broke his leg this Spring. He brought his rifles: a .308 Ishapore Enfield and a .32 special Winchester 1894 that was my grandfathers. He shot both, but he concentrated on getting his Enfield dialed in.

Amybear stuck to my Buckmark. She did very well although she didn't realize it at the time. The last time we went out, she shot at five yards. This time we moved back to eight. I offered her my M1 carbine, but it was too intimidating for her.

I put a few rounds through my buckmark as well, then we moved the target back to 25 yards for fun with Sunshine, my M1. I had a hard time getting it to group, then I realized it was because my scope rings were loose. Oops. A trip to the car for a torx driver later and it is grouping quite reliably. Then I dialed the scope in and had some fun.

We went home, picked up my suit for the wedding, washed the blowback out of our hair, changed clothes, and drove to my parents near Philly. We had a nice cook out and I played a bit with my cousins cute kids. Then we played games because that is what my family does when the family gets together.

Sunday was fun. Amy's parents got to see my apartment for the first time. If Amy get the job in Newark, she'll be moving into a place in my complex until we get married. Then we'll both shift to a two-bedroom.

The drive up was dull, Amy slept and I read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. When I finished it, I read Roald Dahl's advice on writing in the epilogue. It's good advice.

The wedding was good. It was my first Jewish wedding (Amy has accompanied me to several Christian ceremonies). The bride was beautiful and the ceremony was quick. The synagogue itself seemed to be set up to hold events of this type, they had a bar and a dining room with dance floor on the premises. I suppose with all the bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings it pays to be set up for a party. It was still a culture shock compared to my church and compared to the more laid back nature of my immediate family.

I got to meet most of Amy's father's side of the family, including her great aunt's and uncles. They're good folks and they seemed to approve of Amy adding a Goyim to the family. Amy's uncle Robert doesn't approve, but in the words of Great Uncle Mendi "eh, screw Robert."

Monday we headed home and the dreaded traffic we would have to face never really materialized. We almost killed some people on Long Island, but the LIE is like that. So home again home again.