Something Borrowed, Something Blue
So, in case any of you were curious, I'm currently in North Carolina for my cousin Elise's wedding. Have been for the past few days, actually; there just hasn't been any time to talk about it before now.*
We left eaaaarly in the morning Friday, because it does indeed take quite some time to drive through four states.
And however long that was? While traveling with both parents, an aunt, an uncle, and a grandma in a large rental van, it seemed infinitely longer.
Dad is our resident Mr. Short Fuse, constantly in a hurry, and is terminally annoyed by the company of both his mother and sister. Mom is the quiet Virgo that patiently puts up with him and his family and laughs about it later when they're not around. Uncle Don is a healthy-living marathon-running Arizona-dwelling lawyer. Aunt Judy is a somewhat flaky, overly peppy teacher of smile children. And Grandma is currently one big health problem, with a combination of a hiatal hernia, low sodium and high potassium levels causing her to constantly feel like she's about to vomit, but never actually making it there.
About five minutes out, Aunt Judy chirped up from the backseat and starting singing "The Wheels On The Bus" in a very loud overdone voice. I dove for my headphones, and therefore didn't actually hear much besides the blaring of various musics for the rest of the trip, save when Dad made me put in my DVD of the Stepford Wives remake to distract Grandma from her fear that her IHOP pancake lunch was about to revisit her.
But here's a good snapshot of activity in the van during the course of the trip at almost any given moment: Dad angrily freaking out over his mistrust of the directions Uncle Dale had given us, Don trying to talk him down, Judy making some giggly quote from a children's song or storybook, Mom sighing loudly but not saying anything, and Grandma glugging another shot from her bottle of stomach syrup.
We had lunch at an IHOP in Charleston, West Virigina, at which point I demonstrated that I am a freakin' genius by wondering out loud at how we could possibly be stopping for lunch on South Carolina while on our way to North Carolina.
Got into the hotel early in the evening, took showers, got redressed, and went to the rehearsal dinner. Really really good filet mignon, but I was a little irritated by the fact that the waitress asked me three times if I wanted a drink, but just as she was about to hand me the glass of red wine I finally caved and asked for, she decided then to ask me if I was 21. And the question caught me off-guard at that point, so I said yes.
On Saturday while the rest of the family went on a little walking tour of the city, I slept in and spent the whole day taking advantage of the hotel's Ethernet connection to catch up on all my webcomics, among other things.
Finally saw the Daily Show clip 'heard round the world on YouTube, IE "The Internet is made of tubes", along with the amusing follow-up with John Hodgeman.
Got dressed in a sparkley blue dress and went to the wedding, which was short and sweet. Dave stumbled a bit over his "I will", the sort of flub that just seems adorable when it's two young people in love. And both Mom and Judy swear that it looked like Uncle Dale was about to cry, which...I'm not sure if I buy. But I guess it's possible. In the congratulations line-up afterwards, I hugged Elise and sincerely told her "Blessed Be", which I'm sure confused the heck out of her.
The reception was also very nice...good food, good cake (not as sweet as most wedding cake, thank god), Elise's younger sister Jana gave a toast which everyone agrees stole the show in addition to making their mother cry, there was decent dance music, an amusing '70s party going on in the hall next door, some cute guys from Dave's graduating class, and I managed to get away with two glasses of champage and one of white wine before Mom cut me off.
I sat next to Jana and her cousin Bethany, who seems nice. I also met Bethany's mother, who was...interesting.
Jana & Bethany: *having a casual conversation about foods Bethany currently can and can't have*
Me: *assuming this must be for some diet* So, uh, what's this for...?
Bethany: Oh, I'm pregnant.
Me: Oh...!
Bethany's Mother: *laughs* Yes, well, it was the worst thing we thought could happen, so at least it's over now!
Me: ........uh...
Today, we went on a small walking tour of Old Salem, and then had a cook-out at the bride's family's house. I alternated between reading a book and fawning over their beautiful black cat, Shadow. And I talked to Jana some, too (she's about two years younger than me).
We ended up staying so late we went out to dinner with them as well, where I was saddened that the waiter bid us farewell after the meal with a "Ya'll come back now" without following it up with a "Y'hear". So much for the Southern experience.
So, kooky relative experiences aside, I guess the trip's been going well so far. I've been reading some library books, but now my muse's ADD is apparantly in full swing because she's trying to make me write a sequel to the fic I posted the other day. Send help!
We set off bright and early tomorrow morning to head to a condo rented in Sunset Beach for a week. Yes, a whole week. Yes, the same group of travellers in the van as described before.
At this rate I may very well need the slashfic writing, if only to save my sanity.
*Those of you keeping track of the dates on my entries, however, will realize that I apparantly did find time to finish writing, editing, and posting my Norrington/Jack fic. Just not any to write about my actual life. Now how sad is that?
We left eaaaarly in the morning Friday, because it does indeed take quite some time to drive through four states.
And however long that was? While traveling with both parents, an aunt, an uncle, and a grandma in a large rental van, it seemed infinitely longer.
Dad is our resident Mr. Short Fuse, constantly in a hurry, and is terminally annoyed by the company of both his mother and sister. Mom is the quiet Virgo that patiently puts up with him and his family and laughs about it later when they're not around. Uncle Don is a healthy-living marathon-running Arizona-dwelling lawyer. Aunt Judy is a somewhat flaky, overly peppy teacher of smile children. And Grandma is currently one big health problem, with a combination of a hiatal hernia, low sodium and high potassium levels causing her to constantly feel like she's about to vomit, but never actually making it there.
About five minutes out, Aunt Judy chirped up from the backseat and starting singing "The Wheels On The Bus" in a very loud overdone voice. I dove for my headphones, and therefore didn't actually hear much besides the blaring of various musics for the rest of the trip, save when Dad made me put in my DVD of the Stepford Wives remake to distract Grandma from her fear that her IHOP pancake lunch was about to revisit her.
But here's a good snapshot of activity in the van during the course of the trip at almost any given moment: Dad angrily freaking out over his mistrust of the directions Uncle Dale had given us, Don trying to talk him down, Judy making some giggly quote from a children's song or storybook, Mom sighing loudly but not saying anything, and Grandma glugging another shot from her bottle of stomach syrup.
We had lunch at an IHOP in Charleston, West Virigina, at which point I demonstrated that I am a freakin' genius by wondering out loud at how we could possibly be stopping for lunch on South Carolina while on our way to North Carolina.
Got into the hotel early in the evening, took showers, got redressed, and went to the rehearsal dinner. Really really good filet mignon, but I was a little irritated by the fact that the waitress asked me three times if I wanted a drink, but just as she was about to hand me the glass of red wine I finally caved and asked for, she decided then to ask me if I was 21. And the question caught me off-guard at that point, so I said yes.
On Saturday while the rest of the family went on a little walking tour of the city, I slept in and spent the whole day taking advantage of the hotel's Ethernet connection to catch up on all my webcomics, among other things.
Finally saw the Daily Show clip 'heard round the world on YouTube, IE "The Internet is made of tubes", along with the amusing follow-up with John Hodgeman.
Got dressed in a sparkley blue dress and went to the wedding, which was short and sweet. Dave stumbled a bit over his "I will", the sort of flub that just seems adorable when it's two young people in love. And both Mom and Judy swear that it looked like Uncle Dale was about to cry, which...I'm not sure if I buy. But I guess it's possible. In the congratulations line-up afterwards, I hugged Elise and sincerely told her "Blessed Be", which I'm sure confused the heck out of her.
The reception was also very nice...good food, good cake (not as sweet as most wedding cake, thank god), Elise's younger sister Jana gave a toast which everyone agrees stole the show in addition to making their mother cry, there was decent dance music, an amusing '70s party going on in the hall next door, some cute guys from Dave's graduating class, and I managed to get away with two glasses of champage and one of white wine before Mom cut me off.
I sat next to Jana and her cousin Bethany, who seems nice. I also met Bethany's mother, who was...interesting.
Jana & Bethany: *having a casual conversation about foods Bethany currently can and can't have*
Me: *assuming this must be for some diet* So, uh, what's this for...?
Bethany: Oh, I'm pregnant.
Me: Oh...!
Bethany's Mother: *laughs* Yes, well, it was the worst thing we thought could happen, so at least it's over now!
Me: ........uh...
Today, we went on a small walking tour of Old Salem, and then had a cook-out at the bride's family's house. I alternated between reading a book and fawning over their beautiful black cat, Shadow. And I talked to Jana some, too (she's about two years younger than me).
We ended up staying so late we went out to dinner with them as well, where I was saddened that the waiter bid us farewell after the meal with a "Ya'll come back now" without following it up with a "Y'hear". So much for the Southern experience.
So, kooky relative experiences aside, I guess the trip's been going well so far. I've been reading some library books, but now my muse's ADD is apparantly in full swing because she's trying to make me write a sequel to the fic I posted the other day. Send help!
We set off bright and early tomorrow morning to head to a condo rented in Sunset Beach for a week. Yes, a whole week. Yes, the same group of travellers in the van as described before.
At this rate I may very well need the slashfic writing, if only to save my sanity.
*Those of you keeping track of the dates on my entries, however, will realize that I apparantly did find time to finish writing, editing, and posting my Norrington/Jack fic. Just not any to write about my actual life. Now how sad is that?