Somewhere Over The Rainbow

This rainbow formed a full arc over the road on my way home one night this week.  I was feeling bummed and my back was hurting and then I saw this.

Pretty amazing.

A Spoon In Knife's Clothing

The knives at work are about as sharp as the padded room I used to live in.

(Look closely and you can see my reflection)

Strange Encounters At The Pharmacy

The Queen of Hearts went to the Pharmacy for me the other day to pick up my painkillers which allow my back to feel only slightly excruciating rather than EXCRUCIATING.

She came home and said "Boy, do I have a story for you". 

I immediately thought "Ooh!  Blog material!"

Because I'm just that big of a nerd.

This is the conversation that she had at the pharmacy with a man in his mid 40s:

We will call him WTF Guy.

WTF Guy: "Did you guys know that they caught Bin Laden?"

Queen of Hearts and Pharmacist: "No?! You're Kidding!"

QOH: "I didn't see it anywhere on the news or online"

 WTFG: "Yeah, they caught him, only he was disguised as the President of the United States".

Then, as if that was not weird enough:

WTFG: "Also, when Farrah Fawcett died, God said that she could have one wish and that it would come true since she had brought joy to so many people.  So she wished that all of the rapists and child molesters would be gone.  And then BOOM, Michael Jackson died".

Pharmacist: "That's not funny."

WTFG: "Maybe you just don't appreciate my sense of humor"

QOH: "It's not that we don't understand or appreciate it.  It's that it wasn't funny.  It was offensive"

WTFG: "Well, I have other less racy jokes".

QOH: "Again, it's not that it was racy.  It was offensive and made everyone in here uncomfortable."

QOH to Pharmacist: "Have a nice day".

Alrighty then.

Because He Didn't Get To Go To Texas

Texas Trip Part 6 - We're Outta Here

The morning after the wedding, some of us woke up feeling fitter than others.  There was a lot of champagne.

We packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed out to my Grandma's house since we had a couple of hours before our flight.

My Grandma had recently moved to a house very close to my Aunt Camera and Uncle Doolittle.

Plus, since we had been to Texas last she had acquired a new dog and several goats.

Yep, we're the goat people.

So we met Fiona (and her ever-present tongue) and immediately fell in love.

She has apparently been taking eyeliner tips from Arrow, who gets his straight from King Tut.

Then we met the goats that my Grandma bottle fed.

Then we checked in with Manan, my Grandma's long suffering Siamese.

Then, during a walk to my Aunt and Uncle's house, I spotted my Dad's old Studabaker pickup that he owned when I was small.  It has since made its way through the family and is now sitting on my Uncle's property.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  But I would know the color of that truck anywhere.

We call it Helen Green, because my Nanny (my Mom's Mom) went through a phase where she painted everything this color.

Here's a comparison for you.  The Studabaker now:

Me in the Studabaker circa 1985:

Our time in Texas was drawing to a close so I walked back to my Grandma's house to say goodbye.

Grandma is also coming with us to Tahoe after Christmas, so the goodbye was softened.

Then mom and I trudged off into the thick humidity to catch our flight back to California.

It was a wonderful trip.

A trip full of memories and laughter, new friends and old.

I leave you with this intelligent look from Fiona that pretty much sums up her feelings about us leaving.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.  Remember, your luggage must be under 50 pounds, allow 2 hours for security, and the peanuts are no longer free.

Texas Trip Part 5 - The One With The Wedding

Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one.

After getting settled into our cabin the night before, we woke up to the sounds and smells of breakfast on Saturday morning.

Even better than that was the amazingly cool and humidity free weather.  I think the bride and groom ordered it in specially for the wedding.

Let me give you a little family tree to help you navigate the photos and stories from the wedding.

The Mad Hatter's brother, my Uncle Doolittle (because of his many animals) and his wife, my Aunt Camera (because she takes many pictures) have three sons: The Lawyer, The Athlete, and The Groom.

The Lawyer and his wife, The Singer, have two beautiful girls, The Diva and The Lion.

(The Diva is in the back, The Lion is in the front)

The Athlete and his wife, The Paralegal, have one little boy, The Littlest One.

The Littlest One was a little shy at first, but we soon became fast friends.

The girls started the morning with antics like "Look cousin Meghan as we climb a tree and give everyone a heart attack!".

The Littlest One stayed closer to Earth, but no less in my camera's line of fire.

Some of us spent the morning taking in the local wildlife

While others pretended they were lions

And we all enjoyed feeding some feral kitties.

After breakfast, the Queen of Hearts and I walked around the site to take some pictures and help set up for the wedding.  The wedding was held at this adorable little hideout on the river.  Everyone at the wedding stayed in these luxury cabins and we all got to spend lots of time together.  The ceremony itself was going to be held right by the river.

While the Grown-ups set up for the ceremony, the kids enjoyed the freedom that came with having the place to ourselves.

Before we knew it, the time had come to get changed for the ceremony.

Everyone came back in their spiffiest clothes.

And as the ceremony started, I couldn't help but think about how our family has grown and changed.

For example, take this photo from around 1992

(Top row standing: My Uncle Doolitle, My Aunt Camera, My Grandma, The Groom, The Athlete.

Sitting: The Mad Hatter, Me, The Queen of Hearts, My Great Aunt Hantie holding my 2nd cousin M, and my Great Uncle Mac.

Very front: Oliver the dog, The Lawyer)

And when the Groom came down in his Armani suit, all I could think about was this kid:

(Me and The Groom 1989)

Or maybe this kid.

(Me and The Groom, around 1987)

But now he's married and I'm forced to see him as a grown up.

But still, when I see these people:

(From left: The Laywer, The Singer, Uncle Doolittle, The Lion, the Groom, The Bride, The Athlete holding The Littlest One, The Diva, The Paralegal, and Aunt Camera)

I also see these people.

(From Left: Uncle Doolittle, The lawyer, Me, The Queen of Hearts, Aunt Camera, The Athlete and The Groom is behind him.)

After the ceremony, as the hot Texas sun set over the river, the pavilion where the reception was held was full of dancing and laughter.

Then, as the children began to fall asleep, the adults, still sticky from dancing, wandered back to their cabins, all the while humming the chorus of an ABBA song.

What a beautiful and magical day it was.

Texas Trip Part 4 - Humidity Sucks

Day four of our trip to Texas began with me sleeping in very late.  I didn't get back to the M Spot until about 2 am and I figured I earned the extra rest.  At some point the night before I had agreed to meet Mel and her girlfriend S at Taco Taco for breakfast.

Are you sensing a theme to my meals during the trip?

Anyway, we decided to meet at the M Spot at 11:45 am because then our meal still qualified as breakfast.  R had a Grad-school paper to finish and couldn't join us so we decided to make it a girl's morning.

The breakfast at Taco Taco was amazing and we all waddled out of there an hour later promising to never eat again.

Then we headed back to the M Spot for a little chatting.  Well, a little chatting turned into a lot of chatting and even more picture taking.

On a side note: Mel went to New Mexico on summer vacation with my family and the M family about 10 years ago, so she fits right in.  She and G get along especially well since they both enjoy antiquing.

We did a little reminiscing about the aforementioned New Mexico Trip

We got to know S better (LOVE her!)

We all did a lot of hugging

Which Mitzi is not a fan of so she stayed under the table and gave us the stink eye.

Finally, we hung out with Slick, the gecko who I mentioned several posts ago.  He is 17.  No one is sure how long these guys normally live.

Slick doesn't seem at all bothered.

Then before we knew it, the time had come to pack up and leave for the wedding.  Goodbyes are never any fun.  This time it was a little easier since the M family will be coming up Tahoe with us after Christmas.  I keep pounding it into Mel's head that she must come too.  She keeps whining about money and something called "responsibilities".  Whatever.

So we left the M Spot in our zippy red convertible, headed for New Braunsfels for the wedding.

We got in too late to take any good photos and headed to bed pretty quickly (but not before giving my Grandma a spin in the convertible).

The next day was the wedding, and it was so much fun!!