(no subject)
Yesterday was pretty great. Two of my friends, Kristin and Steve, got married in Madison, and with my limited finances I asked my friend Ethan if he was interested being my travel buddy so I could get a bit of help on gas. We'd been trying to figure out when and where to get together and catch up since I got home, so it seemed like a good opportunity. Then, the day before the wedding, my friend Tracy found out she could also attend, too, so she grabbed a ride as well! Three kind of hippy crafty geology-interested people in a car for three hours = WIN. Seriously, I don't think there were any stretches of non-conversation that lasted more than three minutes the entire trip there and back, and my voice was going scratchy because we were talking so much.
We got to Madison about 12:00, and since the wedding didn't start until 4:30, we had lots of time to hang out a bit and do the touristy thing, and Madison is a very good place to do a tourist thing. Walking down Dayton? Street right next to the capitol, we were able to cheer on the Walker protesters who are *still* marching on the capitol (don't let the rumors get to you - seriously, this is like the most polite protest I've ever seen or heard of. The protesters were standing out front of the capitol building singing hymns, for crying out loud! With an accordion accompanying them. It was kind of awesome) and camping on capitol hill, and there were four big wooden sheets right under one of the sculptures across the street from the front doors filled with personal messages from some of the people who had joined the protest over the months. I have pictures and I will post them probably before the end of the day.
Then we headed to the Wisconsin Historical Museum and spent a good chunk of the afternoon there, possibly annoying the other patrons a bit because we were jabbering so much about the nifty history stuff. I've probably been to the Wisconsin Historical Museum at least three or four times in my life, but it never, ever gets old. Wisconsin has so much cool stuff in its history, and I never get tired of seeing and reading about it.
Then it was time for the wedding at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Despite clouds and rain in the morning and probably on the tail end of the reception dinner and dance, it did not rain, and the gardens were beautiful. Really going to have to go back there and check them out more throughly one of these days. Anyway, I got all dressed up and tossed on a little eye makeup for effect (and yes, there will be pictures eventually, but I kinda forgot my camera so I'm going to have to wait until I can mooch them off of my friends) and we went to find our seats. Ceremony was short and very warm-hearted with one of the nieces reciting a poem she wrote for the bride and groom, one of the aunts or grandmothers sang "You Raise Me Up", and Dustin did a very nice, heart-felt job with the whole ceremony (he was playing the part of the priest).
Then there was the reception dinner and I got to sit and talk with a bunch of my Point/Plover/Milwaukee friends for *two hours* and MANDY WAS THERE and it was awesome and we took lots more pictures. Dinner was probably fantastic, but I had no appetite so I mostly just had potatoes and a bun. Then the whole sucky part of the evening - lack of appetite unfortunately turned into some pretty significant nausea about an hour before we were planning on leaving, so I had to bail on my friends (boo) to go outside and try and see if fresh air and moving around helped any. It did, but the queasiness was persistent, and it was bad enough that I was seriously worried that the trip back home was going to be miserable. Ethan and Tracey stuck around long enough for cake - because damned if i was going to ruin the party for them if I didn't have to - and joined me outside at around 8ish, which is when we were planning on leaving to head back to Point and Marshfield.
Five minutes on the road? I was fine. What the hell, body? That was sooooooo not on. I wonder if it was just a combination of the press of bodies and the various scents and smells of food and perfume and cologne that got to me, but whatever, we all had a good time right up until I got queasy, then I hope they both had a good time up until only just before we were initially planning on leaving, so it's not like the night was a bust or anything - just the opposite, actually - I just wish I could've stuck around and enjoyed that last hour rather than walking in circles around the parking lot trying not to puke. Ugh, stupid body.
Anyway, conversation in the car back home was just as back and forth as it was on the way down, and we pulled into Stevens Point around 10 or 10:30ish to drop off Tracy, and I had Ethan back home by 11. Wild partiers we are not, though I imagine we all would've stayed longer at the wedding had the Mystery Illness not made a nuisance of itself. I was bummed, man! I hadn't seen Mandy in *forever*, and I hadn't seen Val and Melissa in almost as long and I was so excited to have the chance to catch up with them. I guess the two hour we *were* able to catch up a bit was better than nothing, though. And I totally got as much talking and jabber as I could've possibly hoped with Ethan and Tracy, so that was good.
Anyway, aside from the annoying nausea thing, the whole day was a blast and I am so glad I got to go see Kristin and Steve start their lives together!
We got to Madison about 12:00, and since the wedding didn't start until 4:30, we had lots of time to hang out a bit and do the touristy thing, and Madison is a very good place to do a tourist thing. Walking down Dayton? Street right next to the capitol, we were able to cheer on the Walker protesters who are *still* marching on the capitol (don't let the rumors get to you - seriously, this is like the most polite protest I've ever seen or heard of. The protesters were standing out front of the capitol building singing hymns, for crying out loud! With an accordion accompanying them. It was kind of awesome) and camping on capitol hill, and there were four big wooden sheets right under one of the sculptures across the street from the front doors filled with personal messages from some of the people who had joined the protest over the months. I have pictures and I will post them probably before the end of the day.
Then we headed to the Wisconsin Historical Museum and spent a good chunk of the afternoon there, possibly annoying the other patrons a bit because we were jabbering so much about the nifty history stuff. I've probably been to the Wisconsin Historical Museum at least three or four times in my life, but it never, ever gets old. Wisconsin has so much cool stuff in its history, and I never get tired of seeing and reading about it.
Then it was time for the wedding at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Despite clouds and rain in the morning and probably on the tail end of the reception dinner and dance, it did not rain, and the gardens were beautiful. Really going to have to go back there and check them out more throughly one of these days. Anyway, I got all dressed up and tossed on a little eye makeup for effect (and yes, there will be pictures eventually, but I kinda forgot my camera so I'm going to have to wait until I can mooch them off of my friends) and we went to find our seats. Ceremony was short and very warm-hearted with one of the nieces reciting a poem she wrote for the bride and groom, one of the aunts or grandmothers sang "You Raise Me Up", and Dustin did a very nice, heart-felt job with the whole ceremony (he was playing the part of the priest).
Then there was the reception dinner and I got to sit and talk with a bunch of my Point/Plover/Milwaukee friends for *two hours* and MANDY WAS THERE and it was awesome and we took lots more pictures. Dinner was probably fantastic, but I had no appetite so I mostly just had potatoes and a bun. Then the whole sucky part of the evening - lack of appetite unfortunately turned into some pretty significant nausea about an hour before we were planning on leaving, so I had to bail on my friends (boo) to go outside and try and see if fresh air and moving around helped any. It did, but the queasiness was persistent, and it was bad enough that I was seriously worried that the trip back home was going to be miserable. Ethan and Tracey stuck around long enough for cake - because damned if i was going to ruin the party for them if I didn't have to - and joined me outside at around 8ish, which is when we were planning on leaving to head back to Point and Marshfield.
Five minutes on the road? I was fine. What the hell, body? That was sooooooo not on. I wonder if it was just a combination of the press of bodies and the various scents and smells of food and perfume and cologne that got to me, but whatever, we all had a good time right up until I got queasy, then I hope they both had a good time up until only just before we were initially planning on leaving, so it's not like the night was a bust or anything - just the opposite, actually - I just wish I could've stuck around and enjoyed that last hour rather than walking in circles around the parking lot trying not to puke. Ugh, stupid body.
Anyway, conversation in the car back home was just as back and forth as it was on the way down, and we pulled into Stevens Point around 10 or 10:30ish to drop off Tracy, and I had Ethan back home by 11. Wild partiers we are not, though I imagine we all would've stayed longer at the wedding had the Mystery Illness not made a nuisance of itself. I was bummed, man! I hadn't seen Mandy in *forever*, and I hadn't seen Val and Melissa in almost as long and I was so excited to have the chance to catch up with them. I guess the two hour we *were* able to catch up a bit was better than nothing, though. And I totally got as much talking and jabber as I could've possibly hoped with Ethan and Tracy, so that was good.
Anyway, aside from the annoying nausea thing, the whole day was a blast and I am so glad I got to go see Kristin and Steve start their lives together!