Should I not burn out too many braincells, I shall return next Monday [ possibly Tuesday ].

Apparently I am required to show up for my daughter's wedding on Saturday and I'm tasked with gathering up a few things before then.

I've spit shined my shoes, polished the brass, tightened the stays in my corset so my bib and tucker will fit and even got the whiskers trimmed to regulation length.

I had written a scintillating speech full of witty repartee and heart warming stories of her childhood, but daughter and missus have decided that it had to be reformatted to fit timings and so my speech has more black lines through it than a redacted CIA memo to Congress and fits on a post-it note.

Should be a good party though, military on both sides of the divide, so daughter and son-in-law [ both Captains ] have all the mil-trappings, crossed swords and, of course, bagpipes and Haggis!! CO of the soon-to-be son-in-law's regiment and my No. 1 son are leading the Sword Party and there will be a well stocked 'mess tent ' and some contraband for the vets...

I may be able to lurk a bit tomorrow on the site, but from the Routine Orders printout I've been handed I will be on extended ops for at least 72 hours or more after that..

How'd I get so damn old??

Have fun.
Give our best to the bride and groom.Don't cry TOO much.Remember you're not losing a daughter,you're gaining a son-in-law.
Give us the details when you are safely back.
DON'T PISS IN THE PUNCH BOWL!!!!

Live it up!

We look forward to the details, and can't wait till you get back! Have loads of fun, and congrats on the new addition to the family!

Where's Weatherman??
I need some expert help.. daughter is getting frantic that the rains will drown out her wedding day.. I would hate to be stuck with 20 pounds of soggy haggis and a weeping bride... nothing worse than ladies in stilettos sinking into ooze and the bottoms of ballgowns sucking up mud like wicks..

Need an expert intel on how to deflect the precipitation and save things.. Good Padre is calling in markers from the Man upstairs, but any other help will be appreciated.. clock is ticking.. "I-DO" hour is 1600 hours local, Saturday...

Lizzie can you slaughter a pig to the General,, just in case??

*dies laughing* Good to hear from you, Rocketeer! I shall see what I can't do!

Quick update:

Wedding prezzies are piling up on the couch and none are broken [ I shook them all and nothing 'tinkles' like broken glass ] so score one for me.
Got 20 pounds of Haggis safely stowed in the fridge and cooking instructions on a post-it note on the door [ just boil the suckers on ' low heat' for umpteen hours and, following the ritual slaughter, eat washed down with single malt or drambuie ]

And have the bus gassed, and paperwork in hand [ in triplicate - Good Padre has some pull in high places ] and ready to head to the Base in the morning to spring the youngest son from Boot Camp so he can play the Pipes at his sister's wedding - still, I have to return him on Sunday morning in more or less the same condition I pick him up in.

Have re-edited my speech and have to pass it by the censors later today at the wedding rehearsal..Now fits on a postage stamp, but I think it has to be downsized to a Twitter Txt..what can you say in 140 'characters'?...

Should any of the photos turn out in focus I'll PM some of you as to where the inevitable 'puter links will be [ Facebook, Website, Army News, etc.. ]

Story on the Good Padre from last year is still making the rounds FFS!.. Saw it on the website for the US Hospital in Germany, Fort Bliss and two US Ships online 'newsletters' .. so I expect the Rocketeer family escapades will be a legendary download archived in the Smithsonian online museum well into the next century...

I know I would love to see some pics of the fun event! I bet your daughter will be looking gorgouse! I am sure the Good Padre will be lookin snazy, too! If you are all military I am sure that it will be a very nice wedding if all are in Dress Uniform.

Though there will be men [ and women ] in uniform this is a Scots/Irish wedding so full-on Celtic Mode..tartan everywhere...

lots of Pipes and Drums and Haggis and Whisky and [ oh my aching bank account ] an Open Bar [ taxis and medivac standing by ]

...dancing til Reveille and then hangovers to Last Post...

At my age, I don't expect to be 'last man standing ' but you may feel the rumble down the fault lines south of the border...

oof to walk the dog..

Have a grand time and do a reel for me . The best too you and all and don't put too bad a showin'.

All the best Rocketeer to you and yours,

Sober again.. weather held off, day and wedding was beautiful and I'm feeling a right old softie crying in my beer.

I have/will send a link by PM to a select few of you to view some preliminary photties.. Please respect PERSEC and keep the link for yourself only and ignore the guy in the kilt looking right soppy and grinning like a mental patient.

Thanks, gang,

for the kind words and the ' restraint' in commenting on my aged physog and
'outre' attire. Tradition has its price....Good time was had by all and I've dropped the newlyweds off at the airport for their honeymoon on the 'auld sod' of Erie, hubby's ancestral homeland..

though, Good Padre claims her side of the family is connected to the Guinness beer fortunes through blood and marriage [ and I have a connection to them though drinking ]

Thanks for sharing your good fortune with us Rocketeer.Now if only that Guiness inheritance was a reality.Hhmm,I'm thirsty