Have you ever looked back and realized that you’d set out on the path you seem to have been meant to take years ago, but meandered off?

Because in the spring of 2002, I set out and completed a fairly ambitious trip I called Carpetbagger.

I was writing and photographing. I had plans. I mean, duh. I should be doing that now instead of going off on a path to become a social worker. I mean, being a social worker is a great thing to do, but there’s this photography thing.

I gotta go see about a career.

Bob & Dana, April 2, 2005

Josh & Leanne, March 19, 2005

I’ve attended two weddings in the past four weeks, pics above. At both weddings I had the following panic: “My cell phone is in my bag. My cell phone is on. Nathan has my cell phone and I can’t find him or get him to turn it off. Holy crap, my ring tone is the theme from The Exorcist. I’m in a church. If it rings, the bride will KILL me and I’ll go straight to hell.”

Luckily, the cell phone didn’t ring. Somebody up there loves me, or I’m such a great source of entertainment that I can’t die yet.

I’m betting it’s the latter.

Here’s what I wrote about the trip to Leanne’s wedding:

Nathan and I couldn’t attend wenchcon on account of me being a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding the following weekend in Atlanta and work needing me to come in on March 15, meaning we couldn’t just spend the entire week in Atlanta.

Anyrate. We left at An Hour Too Early to be Spoken Of (4:00 AM). Our suitcase was 5 lbs overweight when we got to the ticket counter.

“So what do we do?”

“You can either pay $25 or take five pounds out of your suitcase.”

The meticulously packed suitcase with the heavy stuff on the bottom. “We’ll just pay the $25.”

Boarding passes were gotten, we aren’t selected for the Special Security (as Nathan is basically every time he flies). We fly into NY/La Guardia by 6:50 AM on a tiny connection plane. We check in again to get our seat assignments. Ten minutes later, we’re called up to the desk. o_O They’ve overbooked the flight and offer us either a $200 voucher or an upgrade to first class on the next flight that leaves at 10 AM (as opposed to the current 8 AM flight). Now, we want to take it.

They ask if we have any time constraints.

“We have a wedding rehearsal at 4PM.”

“We’ll get you to Atlanta by 12:43 PM.”

“Okay, but if the plane runs late and we don’t get there on time for the rehearsal, I’m calling the bride and handing the phone to you.”

“We’ll get you there. Did you want a voucher or upgrade?”

“Upgrade please!” Neither of us has flown first class and vouchers tend to be a pain in the ass with all the blackout dates.
(more…)

This space intentionally left blank.

(Until I figure out what to say. ‘Cause I’m boring. Yup. Boring.)

Right now I’m watching my husband and Veck’s boyfriend play Punisher on Xbox. This has to be one of the most fantastically violent video games I have ever seen. Way beyond the scope of Grand Theft Auto in any of its incarnations. So far we’ve seen a guy tossed into a woodchipper, a guy eaten alive by pirhanas, a guy burned alive in a crematory oven, the list goes on and on. We think the game’ll be pulled off the shelves very soon.

I’m also working on Corporal Flapjack’s Website for Chris and Sarah’s wedding gift. One of them, anyway, since I keep forgetting to GET them a gift. Yeah, I suck. Here’s the Corporal meeting Nathan. I’m trying to decide just how to do the site. Embedding Gallery…actually, I think I just figured it out. I can edit the sidebar of the html wrap in Gallery to show the php of a weblog we can use. Sweet! Yay for late night rambling. Anyrate, the Corporal’s site will be cool. Sarah and Chris have chronicled the journeys of Corporal Flapjack since his emancipation from the tundras of Cananada.

Life’s suddenly picked up a lot of speed. I have classes in Durham on Wednesdays now, so I spent the whole day there. Work just bumped up to 20 hours a week. Fencing three days a week. Then there’s this whole comic strip thing that a positive response I certainly didn’t expect. It’s certainly a fun project, re-learning how to draw, then learning the tools and techniques of coloring in Photoshop.

We also got a shitload of snow (two feet!). Revere, where Rena lives, got THIRTY SIX INCHES. For those of you who are math impaired (me) that’s three feet. THREE FEET. Veck’s nose would just be above that amount of snow…okay, she isn’t that short. But still. THREE FEET!

Okay, my ass has fallen asleep. The boys have commandeered the couch for their Xbox playing and the floor is hard even through the pillow.

So, my flight was supposed to arrive at 10:20pm in SLC on Thursday the 6th.

Instead, my flight arrived at 12:35pm on Friday the 7th. Why? Because my first flight, the one right out of Manchester, was delayed for 4.5 hours because they couldn’t get the plane STARTED. We spent 3 of those hours on the plane as they went through four external starters (finally borrowing the fourth from Delta and starting the airplane) and 3 de-icings. The third took awhile because the de-icer-man had wandered off to another assignment and we had to wait for him to get back.

The captain said 10 minutes. It took 30.

We arrive at O’Hare 4.5 hours late and we’ve all missed our connections (it’s now 11:30 pm O’Hare time). They put us up in the Regency Hyatt, a wonderful hotel.

But without my luggage. I was so hungry, I was contemplating gnawing my own arm off. Instead, the hotel had a menu for a takeout place that delivered food until 5am (it was now 2am). They brought me fries and a roast beef sandwich, both of which were the best I’d ever eaten. Not that I really tasted them.

First flight out of O’Hare to SLC is at 10 am. I pay $3 for a bottle of Diet Mtn Dew at the hotel. Then I take my dry face (never found that moisturizer) back to O’Hare on the shuttle.

Uneventful flight. Arrive in SLC at 12:35 SLC time. Nathan is there to pick me up. Yeay! We head down to fetch my luggage.

They say it was last scanned at O’Hare.

…

And that it’s still at O’Hare.

…

Nathan suggests checking the baggage carousel anyway. There’s my bag!

We head to the hotel. Hotel has lost half my reservation because despite having Nathan call last night and tell them I’d be in today, they’d cancelled my reservation for not showing up the night before. I re-arrange a standard room. We find rivka. We head out to the government center. We find the marriage license place.

Nathan reaches into his pocket.

Pulls out an empty wallet. Money. Random cards. Bits of paper.

No license.

Nathan has lost his driver’s license. We zoom up to his parents house where a search commences. Nathan’s brother Zack nearly falls headfirst out of the van door trying to get the Shih tzu out of the van. No license. Nathan calls the marriage license office. They need a photo ID with proof o f birth. Nathan has a food handler’s permit and his birth certificate. Nathan finally starts to breathe again on the drive back and the moment he does, the person in the right lane decides to change lanes without checking their blind spot, sending Nathan’s car shifting left and into someone else’s blind spot and there was nearly a Very Big Accident. *Note, he did not have his driver’s license. He swore. I was proud.

There wasn’t. We went back. They took his ID. We got the license. In the meantime, my sister called at least five times from her layover in Las Vegas to tell me mundane information such as: My flight number changed. They’re boarding us 10 minutes late. We’re still arriving on time…etc.

We drop of rivka at the hotel. We take a nap. My sister arrives and calls asking for a mofoing ride to the hotel.

My sister swears a lot.

We find her in “EFFING COLD UTAH” outside the airport load/unload.

I still haven’t eaten at that point. My arm is again in danger of being gnawed off. We go to dinner at this place called The Pie. It was Damn Good. Arm is saved once again. Back at the hotel, Nathan, me, Aubrey and rivka play chrononauts (Seriously Cool Game). My Murderous Headache appears. I go to bed. Sarah arrives. My sister and I are sharing a bed (we haven’t done that since we were six and ten and I ended up popping her one in the lip). Sarah nicely pressed the clothes since we couldn’t get them pressed by the hotel because of my late-ass flight. As Sarah irons, we all talk. Sarah tells us that Aubrey and I fall asleep at Exactly The Same Time.

Leaving her alone to iron.

Next morning. I’m roused to get ready for breakfast at IHOP.

mmmmmmmmmm. I. Love. IHOP.

That said. We have breakfast. Get back to hotel. Go back and forth between hotel and Nathan’s house. Nathan forgets shoes and socks and belt. Nathan is lucky his head is attached to his body by his neck or he’d have lost it by now.

We go and get married!

*dies*

Exerpt:

HANDS CEREMONY
Nathan and Jamie please face each other and hold hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that you are to one another.

These are the hands of your best friend, young and vibrant with love that are holding yours on your wedding day as you pledge to love and cherish each other today, tomorrow, and always.

These are the hands that will work with yours as you build your future, as you build your dreams, as you laugh and cry through life together.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, console from grief, and hold you tight, giving strength and courage during struggles in difficult times.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe tears of joy, and of sorrow, from your eyes

These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurt, supporting and encouraging them from their first breath.

These are the hands that will help you hold your family as one.

These are the hands that will love you and cherish you through the years, and like no other, will comfort you with even the lightest touch.

May these four hand always hold one another as you build your life together. Give them strength to hold on during the storms of life. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in love. Help these hands to keep building a relationship brimming in caring, trust, and love. May these hands be your strength, your shield, your shelter, and your guide.

…

Addendum:

Nathan finds his license in a random pile of random papers on his bathroom counter on Sunday night.

Don’t ask.

…

weekend wedding pics

I’m married now.

Party time. :o)

And I’m 25 today.

My sister says I’m an old hag now.