I’m home again after taking part in the greatest wedding of all time, and like any really cool person, I’m super excited to hang out with the cats and take a shit in my own house. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, either, because The Cat was so happy to see me walk into the house last night that he hasn’t left my side, and that includes when I’m sitting on the toilet.

As for me, I’m happy to have been able to sleep in my own bed and until whatever time I wanted. The past few days have been all about setting alarms and remembering how long it takes to get somewhere in a city I don’t live in anymore. Which is not to say that none of it was worth it. It was. I’m so grateful to Stephanie and Justin for asking me to be a part of their wedding, even if my only real contribution was remembering to bring a pair of flip flops that I could grab when Stephanie was like “did you say you had flip flops?”. I’m grateful to Graham’s mom and dad for picking us up from the airport, to Graham’s aunt for giving us a place to stay, to Niki and Dustin for also giving us a place to stay, to everyone who came to see us on Friday night, and to my father for giving me a Xanax and then driving me to the airport.

I don’t have much experience with pharmaceuticals. Mostly this is because I’m kind of lazy. I don’t like making doctor’s appointments and it seems like a lot of work to get there and then explain things to the doctor. As for getting them in other, less legitimate ways, few of my friends have the type of insurance that allows cheap access to medication, and do you mean that I’d otherwise have to give someone I don’t really know money for a pill? Ugh, no thanks.

But the takeoffs we experienced in getting to Seattle, while pretty normal in airplane terms, reduced me to a trembling pile of tears, and since Graham and I were leaving St. Louis on separate flights, I decided to try to get a handle on the situation. First, I asked my dad to get me to the airport three hours before my flight. This allowed me to get checked in and through security early enough to have a couple of beers. Second, as I mentioned, I’d asked him to spare a Xanax. I’d never taken Xanax before (again, I’m too lazy to see doctors, also there’s something about a lower middle class Midwestern Catholic upbringing that makes you think you deserve a certain level of discomfort so pills are for pussies?) and I was planning on drinking, so I waited until I boarded and bit off half a pill.

You guys, Xanax is great for flying.

It was just after boarding that I realized my Kindle had died after being fully charged without wireless for only two days. Hrmmmm. I had a real life book to read, as well, but it turned out that I didn’t need it, as my seatmate was a lady doctor from West Seattle who not only loved talking, but she also talked at a murmur in our seats that were just by the engine. So, while I am normally loathe to speak to strangers (something about that discomfort I mentioned), those two beers and half a Xanax were enough to not only relax during takeoff, but also tolerate and intently concentrate on conversing with the doctor. I took the second half of the Xanax when we hit turbulence about midway through the flight and remained chilled out through baggage claim, Black Car pickup, and finally getting home to two very excited cats.

My old Kindle is dead, by the way. It won’t charge and my computer won’t even recognize that it exists, so now Amazon is shipping me a refurbished Kindle Touch sometime next week. I don’t know how pleased I’ll be with the Touch feature (can’t I just click a button the old-fashioned digital book way?), but a super discounted device that works is better than no device at all.

Signing off.

(Photobooth set handmade by the groom (I know). Photobooth photos by the superfun Photomaton. You can check out the wedding page – includes a link to the full gallery – here.)