Well, I decided that I should probably finish writing about my first wedding trip of the month before I left for my second, and before I entirely forgot what events transpired…but considering that it is late and I am tired and still have to pack and haven’t yet eaten food today and have dinner waiting…I shall try to make this somewhat brief. (Hey! I said try, people!) If nothing else, I promise that the writing will be shoddy and artless.
So, dear friends, when we last spoke, I was eating chicken soup and passing out like a rock. The next morning my body decided to operate under the assumption that it now had permission to make me feel miserable, so I woke up feeling less than stellar. Honestly…not a LOT less…the virus that attacked, though lingering (I’m still a quart low), seems not to be all that vicious, but I still felt unpleasant on a very grey day. Which was why I took great pleasure in the fact that I could pretty much curl up on the couch, drink tea and watch TV for as long as I wanted to…and there was a Mythbusters marathon on–score! Around midday, my mom and I went and ran a few important errands–such as acquiring a stash of Scharffenberger chocolate for me to take 
back to PA with me–then returned to the house where we ate lunch and I promptly passed out again.
Sadly, I slept a bit longer than I should have and made sweet, darling Heather doubt that I loved her when the birthday gathering she had postponed especially for me began at 5pm and I was no where to be seen and failing to answer my phone. BUT I did wake up at 5:30, call her in fervent apology and hurry mom out the door and to her house…I think we were an hour late at most.
I had been a little concerned, after my inability to socialize at Shawnie’s wedding, that perhaps it was just ME. I mean, I hardly leave the house other than to go to school, and I don’t really interact with my fellow students there unless I absolutely have to, for the most part…I mostly only see Briggs, and a couple times a week spend time with Anna’s family. I was wondering if maybe it was just that I was so out of practice that I couldn’t comfortably socialize with a group of people larger than two or three.
I. Had. An. Awesome. Time. Some of my bestest, oldest friends were there–a few people I wished I could have seen were annoyingly out of the state or the country, but being the magnanimous person I am, I forgive them–but some 
of the guests were people I had met only once, or spent just a little time with…not people I had a deep level of emotional intimacy with. And I had fun. Having rolled off the sofa and headed straight over, I was wearing a baggy hoodie, no make-up and loose-fitting jeans, and a number of the other girls had obviously put time into their appearances, but I still somehow didn’t feel so horribly dowdy and unattractive that I needed to hide in a corner. I ate food…like, in front of other people. That’s pretty much maximum Ra comfort level.
I won’t go into all the details of the evening…there’s honestly not that much to 
tell. We just hung out and talked and laughed and all those things that a group of friends does.
I do want to mention that I might just have the awesomest friends ever (I AM talking about the people who couldn’t be there, too) and my trip would have sucked a whole lot more if I hadn’t gotten the emotional balm of spending time with you guys.
And also that I’m glad that I’m not one of those people who has to stubbornly go against their parents’ ideals on principal, because my mom is constantly impressed by how great they all are too, and if I were a different kind of person, that would mean I couldn’t be friends with you anymore.
I got a ride home around 9 and got my piles of stuff re-compiled for my departure the next day. At some stupid early hour, like 8am, Heather came and picked me up to drag me downtown, as her mom wanted to see me while I
was in town, so we stopped in and said hi…then we went over to Erin’s house and I met her adorably awesome Cavalier King Charles spaniel and Siamese kitties before we all headed downtown to get coffee. While we were at my favorite Starbucks/Barnes and Noble, Heather picked up the next book in the series I’m reading for me. (Thank you! I’m almost done with it and I love it.) The three of us returned to my mom’s house and sipped at our various beverages and chatted with my mom until it was time for almost-tearful good-byes.
After hugs and promises to call upon a safe landing, mom and I departed early enough to allow for any bad traffic…of which there was, of course none, 
ensuring I got to the airport with lots and lots of time to wait for my…two-hour-delayed flight. *shrug* I got homework done.
Anyway, I got home, got pretty much caught up on homework (I’m getting there, people!) and tomorrow, Briggs and I are taking a lovely drive through pretty fall foliage down to the town of Bryn Athyn to photograph his cousin Todd’s wedding. In my free time I will, once again be doing homework.
returning to my mom’s house until after the wedding on Saturday.
about a half-hour trip). We chatted more about the wedding and I mentioned how impressed I was with her level-headedness regarding headaches and bumps in the road, and shared amusement with her at the fact that her MoH was being more of a crazy bridezilla in the situation than she was. We stopped at the dollar store to pick up some last minute items, like wrapping paper and gift bags for a few wedding party gifts, and goofed and chatted while we wandered the aisles.
maybe I didn’t say that last one out loud, but the vile premonition was burbling inside me regardless.
deep breaths and tried to tell myself that I really could talk to these people without my head exploding and I was NOT going to cry. Of course, right about then, the groom and his men showed up and began bringing alcohol down to the pool area. I tried to remain unobtrusive, but apparently black pants, shoes, hoodie and hair somehow failed to camouflage me against the pale grey rocks of the pool patio, and Brennian, the man of the hour came over to drop a few distracted words of welcome and a warning that my smoking was frowned upon.
absolutely broke.
I think that a couple of the other brides’ maids were just…well, would never get me. And I didn’t get to know all of the grooms’ men, so maybe some of them were huge a-holes. BUT…people were very nice…I was just terrified of them. So my discomfort was only increased by the knowledge that they probably thought I was an aloof snob that thought I was too good to talk to them or something.
The food was decent (catered from a local deli), but I was tired, cold, emotionally spent and stuck there until my mom and the friends she came up with were ready to leave. After dinner, toasts and the official dances, I ran off to get my hoodie, then wandered back and forth between the reception and the house for a little while before I finally did what I should have done in the first place — made myself a cup of tea, grabbed my book, a blanket and an 
oatmeal cookie and curled up in a chair on the patio and enjoyed myself for the first time that evening. Unfortunately, just as my tea was cool enough to drink, mom let me know that we were leaving.
