Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

For those of you just joining:  We’re driving to and from Chicago for my cousin’s wedding.  No, my other cousin.  Also, there will be no weather in this narrative.  The weather was fine, with only a few embarrassed clouds.  For the purposes of our driving descriptions, you ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

For those of you just joining:  We’re driving to Chicago for my cousin’s wedding.  No, my other cousin.  Also, there will be no weather in this narrative.  The weather was fine, with only a few embarrassed clouds.  For the purposes of our driving descriptions, you should ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

For those of you just joining:  We’re driving to Chicago for my cousin’s wedding.  No, my other cousin.  Also, there will be no weather in this narrative.  The weather was fine, with only a few embarrassed clouds.  For the purposes of our driving descriptions, you should ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

For those of you just joining: We’re driving to Chicago for my cousin’s wedding. No, my other cousin. Also, there will be no weather in this narrative. The weather was fine, with only a few embarrassed clouds. For the purposes of our driving descriptions, you should feel ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

First off, I’d like to apologize for that earthquake on Tuesday.  SOBUMD and I had been cooped up with the kids in a hotel room for several days, and there are things you just can’t do with all the kids around.  Once we got home, she looked at me and said those three words I ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

Operation Wedding:  1200 Miles in 5 Days
My cousin’s getting married in Chicago.  Game on.

So there I was, Crackberry on and no way to charge it.  I fired off one note to a well-placed, well-trusted peep and hoped for the best.  No calls for you today, Grommit!

We found the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

Operation Wedding:  1200 Miles in 5 Days
My cousin’s getting married in Chicago.  Game on.

We left the hotel before most of the revelers were awake - Number One Son being inclined to rise at 0630, time zones notwithstanding.  “Hey, Dad, come look at the sunrise!”  Oh god.  ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

Operation Wedding:  1200 Miles in 5 Days
My cousin’s getting married in Chicago.  Game on.

Now, there are some things you should know before we get to the church.  Things like, the side bets my family makes about the insurance premiums and structural integrity of the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

Operation Wedding:  1200 Miles in 5 Days
My cousin’s getting married in Chicago.  Game on.  
In what I can only hope, for your sake, is the very remote chance that you ever stop for lunch in Sturgis, Michigan, be sure to stop at Dan’s Family Restaurant.  If you’re over 80, I ( Read more... )

Originally published at Big Ugly Man Doll. Please leave any comments there.

Operation Wedding:  1200 Miles in 5 Days
My cousin’s getting married in Chicago.  Game on.

So there we were, exiting the Waffle House in Frederick, Md.  Thus fortified, and for some of us thus horrified, we moved people and things into the rain and into the cars, and then ( Read more... )