10 on Tuesday

1. Let's start with the picture(s), shall we? I didn't have one I liked from today, and I couldn't pick just one from Wisconsin, so here's a collection of the non-wedding portions of our trip. Click on the following links for full size versions of each photo... (starting in the center and then moving L-R, top to bottom) 1. Soy, 2. Sunny, singing, 3. Cooking, 4. The Drive: part 1, 5. Rain Drops, 6. The Drive: part 3, 7. Trout Pond, 8. Pete, on a plane, 9. Toby, 10. Barn Quilt 3 (and cow), 11. Fields of Gold, 12. The Drive: part 4, 13. Holly Dolly

2. Things I'm currently excited about: sleeping in my own bed again, not driving anywhere for a while, not having to do training walks in the near future.

3. Things I'm currently NOT excited about: the amount of stuff I've been putting off until this past weekend was behind me, returning to my furry alarm clocks, having to cook for ourselves again.

4. Let's catch up...it was 4th of July when I was last posting regularly, and a lot has happened since then! I spent the following weekend doing back to back 16 mile training walks. The next weekend my friends Pat and Becky were in town from DC, and we spent a lot of time catching up and a little time out enjoying the weather on George's Island. And then it was the 3 Day, on which you can read my thoughts here. Needless to say, I survived, and headed out three days later to Wisconsin for our Wisconsin Wedding Weekend Wackiness. Let's give that it's own number, shall we?

5. Wisconsin Wedding Weekend Wackiness...that involved flying to Madison on Wed and spending Wed night, Thursday, and Friday morning in Fort Atkinson with Pete's family before driving to Milwaukee for a wedding (Pete's friend from high school) Friday night. Wedding fun, then a little sleep, then on the road by 7:45 Saturday morning to drive "up North" to River Falls, WI - about 6 hours including pit stops. We got there and found a number of friends in the hotel lobby and did some very very quick catching up before we had to grab lunch and get changed for the wedding. More wedding fun, and then Sunday morning we were up early (we are incapable of sleeping in) and spent as much time as possible with our out of town friends before we all had to head our separate ways. We dropped Mails at the Minneapolis/St Paul airport and then headed back "down South" (haha, I'm making up my own WI slang now!) to Fort Atkinson. We got to Pete's parents around 8:30 and grabbed some dinner (brats, of course!) while I transferred photos and did a quick sort to show them, and then it was bedtime. Monday we headed back to the Madison airport around 11:30, had lunch, had two uneventful and on time flights, and made it home around 8:45. In one word: whirlwind. In two: too short.

6. I won't go into highlights from the weddings, but I will share this funny story. At the second reception, for our friends Whit and Ed (the Johnsons!), Whit's father and mother got up to give a toast. I'm a crier, but this speech could easily have made a non-crier cry. Ed's friend and groomsman Kendal was sitting next to me and hadn't heard something Whit's dad said - he asked me what it was and I said "I didn't hear it, I was busy crying!" Kendal was surprised, and I explained that I'm an easy crier - I cry at Friendly's commercials - but weddings really get me. He thought that was funny. And then Ed got up to give his toast. About half way through, Kendal looked over at me said "gosh, you weren't kidding were you?!" and offered me a handkerchief because there were tears streaming down my cheeks. Yeah, I wasn't kidding. But Ed's toast was incredibly cry worthy. I mean, he thanked Whitney's parents for her. Come on!

7. The crying, towards the end of the weekend, was exacerbated by tiredness. Pete flipped on to Mighty Ducks before we left for the airport Monday morning, and yeah...I cried at Mighty Ducks. This should, in no way, demean the toasts by Whit's parents or Ed. I wasn't so tired then, that was honest tears. Mighty Ducks, I hope, was tired tears. July was a very busy month, and the 3 Day alone was exhausting and emotional, and then to head straight out for our whirlwind Wisconsin Wedding Weekend Wackiness which had me even more exhausted by the end of it.... tired only begins to describe it.

8. I mentioned the long list of things I've been putting off until "after the wedding weekend". Training for the 3 Day sucked me dry of energy this year, and I knew I wouldn't have time to recover from that before our vacation. I had hoped that our vacation, despite the two weddings, would be full of naps and relaxing whenever weddings weren't involved, but that wasn't the case. But this weekend...this weekend I won't be setting alarm (and possibly over feeding the cats Friday night as I think that's the only way to shut off the furry alarms...shh, don't tell Pete!), and I'll be staying in my PJs as long as I'd like, and maybe I'll even nap in the afternoons...and then next weekend perhaps I'll start on that "work on after vacation" list I've got in my head.

9. Now that I'm not walking anymore, and after flying, driving, and sleeping in beds that aren't my own for a few nights, my body is crying out for yoga. Lots and lots of yoga. Perhaps I need to hit this up next Monday.

10. The cats have been very happy to have us home, and Barley has been following Pete around the house and settling on top of him whenever he's stationary for more than a few minutes. It's rather adorable. In fact, Barley's already in bed with Pete, and I'm off to join them!