Last May, I found myself drawn in to a certain British Royal Wedding and while I started a post about the nuptials, I didn’t finish it in time to share. I was going to finish it up in honor of Harry & Meghan’s 1st anniversary as part of this year’s Spring Cleaning My Way From A to Z Challenge, but it seems just as fitting to post it this week, following the birth of their first child.

A Royal Weekend–May 18-20, 2018

Snippets.

I remember watching Lady Di and Prince Charles’ wedding during the summer of 1981 on a black and white tv at the Cottage. No VCRs to record the event. Either you watched it in the present (in the wee hours of the morning on the American side of the pond), or you saw bits and clips of it later. I don’t remember if I stayed up at 13 to watch it or got up early, but I remember the event being a big deal in my newly established teenage life. There are also memories of being outside on the dock that night (so, I guess I stayed up, rather than setting an alarm), looking up at the stars in a sky that didn’t have any artificial light and dreaming of the unknown and hopes of seeing the world for myself.

My middle name is Elizabeth. Not quite sure just where it came from (i.e., who I was named after, but usually when asked, my parents say they liked how it sounded with JoAnn. I don’t often reflect on this middle name, but when I do, Queen Elizabeth–the longest running English monarch–is often involved. Maybe it is that Queen Elizabeth has dark hair or that she has been a woman who has persevered or that my Grandma Baldwin had this cool serving tray with her beautiful image on it (which is now part of my collection), but I’ve always connected and admired Queen Elizabeth, more than many of my generation tend to do.

Last night I found myself setting the DVR to record Prince Harry and Megan Merkel’s May 19th wedding on 3 different channels at the early morning hours of 3 or 4. I thought it was wild that so many stations were using a time normally reserved for infomercials to bring this event to viewers.

I should have spent today working on sending out resumes and finding a new job, but I was drawn into life instead. I spent time with my immediate family–the dogs and Terry–and than went to my adorable youngest niece’s first birthday party on the Northside of Chicago, where the theme was unicorns. After I got home and walked and fed the dogs, I got pulled into Harry & Megan’s wedding. First, I had to decide on the version I wanted to watch. ABC and Robin Roberts won. And then I watched the lead up to the actual ceremony. Which is where I am at now. Fascinating to be able to pause the wedding festivities so that I could start a blog post.

Wouldn’t it be so cool to put the neat stuff on pause so that you could catch up on all of the busy work or house work or straighten up the clutter or deal with the drama so that when you hit play again, you were in a place where you could fully embrace the cool stuff and the adventure that was next?

Some thoughts and takeaways so far…

Beautiful weather in England! Here in Chicago, not so much. England’s weather reminds me of the weather during my only trip to England exactly 20 years ago this month.

Am I the only one who felt that Meghan Merkel’s mom seemed very much alone in a sea of people in the church, throughout the service?

How many weeks ago did Princess Kate, whoops, I mean the Duchess of Cambridge have Prince Louis? She looks amazing!

I love Queen Elizabeth’s lime green suit! Ok, I also think it is awesome that Prince Phillip was able to attend after hip surgery–and just before he turns 97.

My Ancestry Ethnicity Estimate is currently 32% Great Britain and 23% Ireland/Scotland/Wales for a total of 56% United Kingdom. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Antigua, in the Caribbean, formerly part of the British Commonwealth, and as of last year, still using an Eastern Caribbean currency that has a pic of the Queen on the bills.

I know my distant British relatives have been watching this event–just like they followed Queen Elizabeth’s 90th epic birthday celebrations in June 2016!