Travel craziness!



Last weekend was Kelly's wedding, so it was off to Chicago! To see more pictures from the wedding go to this website.

Wednesday I woke up really early to catch my flight, and it was non stop from there. Wednesday night was the bachelorette party. Amber (maid of honor), Kelly (bride) and I started out at the signature room in the John Hancock building for martinis. From there we ate at a delicious italian restaurant and then we started bar hopping. Due to the Cubs game there was little action in the part of town we were in, so bouncers were enticing us to enter their bars with free drinks. So we would go get a free drink, get a drink bought for us (in some of the bars) and then move to the next bar. The next thing I knew it was 2 am! We took a very long taxi ride back to the hotel and crashed.

Thursday morning I woke up feeling less than stellar. I realized that I am entirely too old to be acting like I'm 21 again (hell I was old when I was 21, now I'm just a dinosaur.) My liver has suffered enough abuse in my short life, I have reached the point where I should be nice to it. So, Thursday I laid low most of the day. All of this traveling has started taking its toll and I felt absolutely exhausted.

Friday we were back on the run again. It was spa day! We were treated to manicures and pedicures...which I am ashamed to admit, I have never had before. I had acrylics on my nails once, but I had never gotten a pedicure before Friday. I guess I didn't realize that they grind off the bottom of your feet, I mean it makes sense, but I didn't think about it. So I spent the rest of the day slipping in my sandals, because all of my calluses were gone. Then it was time for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. At the rehearsal I warned the groomsmen that I was paired with, that it was entirely possible that I might fall over in my shoes, and if I should start to fall, he should do his best to not let me fall on my butt. This was a solid plan, except that to get down the aisle to the altar, the bridesmaids were walking by themselves. I think we practiced that walk at least a dozen times and I was the only one with the perfect pacing. Yay marching band! Yes, being a nerd comes in handy sometimes. Friday night was mostly a blur and before I knew it...it was Saturday!

I was up bright and early to get to the salon to make my hair look pretty. My hair looked ok...but it did not look nearly as good as when my cousin does it. I seriously should have flown her out to Chicago just to do my updo. Then I drove to the church because Kelly was shaking too much to be trusted behind the steering wheel. After much prep work we were ready to go down the aisle. Everything was beautiful and all the bridesmaids made it down the aisle without tripping (this actually was quite a feat because the other 3 bridesmaids are used to wearing combat boots)! A lesson I learned at the church, if you are going to be partaking in a Lutheran service, let your bridesmaids sit down. We stood in front of the entire damn church (without air conditioning) for an hour! All of the bridesmaids were checking the back of each other's dresses after the ceremony because we were afraid that we had Swass in our dresses!

The reception was beautiful, complete with a string trio on the patio during cocktail hour. The food was delicious and then it was time to dance! Because I was a bridesmaid, whether I wanted to or not, it was my obligation to have my butt on the dance floor having a good time. I started out dancing mostly with the little kids...and they are fun! They don't care if you can't dance and they just want to have a good time too. Then my walking partner decided he was going to attempt to teach me to swing dance. I had the step down no problem, but he got frustrated when I couldn't turn appropriately...so he gave up...back to dancing with the little kids. Then this very arrogant pilot came up and decided that he was going to monopolize my time for the rest of the evening. Which was mostly fine because I had someone to dance with (of course no slow dances...just the fast ones...like toxic and hey ya), but also not so fine because I was trying to figure out how I was going to ditch him at the end of the night (I'm not that kind of girl!). So the evening was getting ready to wrap up and I still hadn't bid the guy adieu. Then as I'm contemplating what to do I look over and my friend Kelly is face down on the ground! Yes, the bride had fallen on some liquid on the dance floor and 2 guys had carried her out in the hall. Because I was the only bridesmaid left I went running after her. After a ton of drama she turned out to need 11 stitches in her lip. It really could have been much worse. And for all of you that think I don't deal well with the sight of blood, I'll have you know that I am growing! I sat right with her and didn't freak out at all! And as for my dance partner, he ended up picking up another chick at the bar and they left together. All in all an eventful evening.

After an hour of sleep (I'm not kidding) I headed for OHare where I proceeded to pass out for 2 hours in the Red Carpet room. I managed to board the plane, but I don't remember taking off and I barely remember landing.

A half a day at home and then it was off to Clearwater for work. One day flying, one day meeting one day flying back...and I have a cold. And I am kind of miserable. Which was very evident when I was in line at the supermarket today. I didn't even want to go grocery shopping, but I didn't have any OJ, or really anything else in my apartment, so I was forced to. So back to shopping, I'm waiting in the checkout with my throat on fire and this woman in front of me is holding up the whole line while the cashier finds out whether red beans are covered under WIC (or whatever sort of federal assistance that I pay for, that she was attempting to use). That wasn't what bugged me. If people really need the help, then they should get it. However, after we go through the fiasco of food stamps, she has the audacity to buy a pack of cigarettes. I just wanted to kick her in the shins, take her infant and scream at her that she should give up that filthy damn habit and spend that money on her kid. I swear people really piss me off.

So now I am home for 4 days...then it's off again. With the program that I work on ending, there is quite a bit of travel coming up. And I have 3 weeks to recoup before the next wedding...whoo!

That is all!