weekends update

So during another absence in writing I've had two amazing weekends out of town...with one actually being a relaxing and desperately needed extended weekend. The usual updates are to follow with tonite coming double feature style. Some extra words to come as well...

Two weeks ago I took Thursday and Friday off from work to head home for my best friend's wedding. An event I'd been looking forward since the day I found out they'd be getting married...it definitely lived up to every expectation and even provided some funny things to think about. What really struck me was how nice it was to be home, albeit a shambled, cold, and messy version of home as my parents are in the midst of an expansion.

Trips home tend to confound simply because they provide what is an alternate sense of what life back in Ann Arbor would be like. I say this because most every trip home is for a certain, specific occasion, one that many of my nearest and dearest friends are also heading back to a2 for as well. As such we all make sure we gather to kick it and spend quality time with each other [even if a good handful of us just hung out in California the weekend before]. But in the end, few of us are actually living in Ann Arbor...and so living there must be a different experience. These glimpses of an alternate reality or of an Ann Arbor that could be are truly tempting enough to at the very least give one pause about his Western existence and stay on the left coast.

Combine the great company with the absolute beauty of Ann Arbor during fall...when the leaves change to the most amazing, vibrant, and autumn-like colors imaginable [on top of the desire to be away from work], it makes for a place that is hard not to miss and yearn for desperately. It was enough to convince me of the need to return home for Turkey Day...and I'm really looking forward to seeing the improvements on the house which are already amazing.

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As for the reason for the trip home, the wedding was amazing. It was great to actually get to spend so much time with my best friend, something I have done since summers during college when we were both back home, living with the 'rents. It's nice that as much as we grow and change in ways as individuals...we're still the same and still able to just go about being our stupid selves as if we never missed a beat. It's what defines lifelong friends and is all the difference in the world.

The bride, another close friend of mine, was radiant all weekend long and a blast to be around as she is at all times. Chris and Alexa are truly two of my favorite people in the world and it's easy to see just how right they are for one another and personally it's amazing to really see, knowing both of them well, how happy they are together and how happy they make each other.

The ceremony was great, the reception was a blast...and I did my best to not embarrass myself [or Chris] when I was prompted to speak at the reception after being told such niceties were not necessary. Getting to be a part of their day and also getting to see all of our close and great friends and family there too was really special. Definitely not an event that will be forgotten.

Highlights from the wedding weekend...

• the Chris Taylor bachelor party experience
• hearing Nelly, just like the old golfing days [i'm still kinda in shock about this one]
  
• Dora the Explorer
• almost seriously injuring Chris whilst pushing him around the parking lot at high speed in a shopping cart
• getting kicked out of the coin shop
• getting scolded [i was not scolded as i was still not listening]
• friday nite dinner like when we were kids
• Cafe Felix, part 1
• Groomsmen unite!
• the wedding itself
• hearing Nick song
• Bill throwing the ring into the Bible
• providing Michigan updates
• impromptu speaking
• hearing Alexa sing
• the Greenhills fotos
• Cafe Felix, part 2
• trying to do some dancing
• The Fleetwood - outside at 2 am in 35 degree weather...but it was tasty
• the continuation of the "a man doesn't cut his burger in half" argument
• sleeping on an air mattress in my now twice the size it used to be room
• the expanding home
• texts to and from the LA visitors
• getting to see and catch up with so many old friends and teachers
• getting to meet some new people
  
• the amazing fall colors
• simply being home

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As for this past weekend, another couple of days in the City as usual for me. But this weekend was a little special...it was milo's first road trip [and he handled it fantastically] and there was a Greenhills alumni reunion Saturday nite which was a ton of fun. It's amazing how well connected so many of us Greenhills stay over the years...we meet up and are able to just enjoy each others' company. It was definitely a special experience for me and I think the shared experience so many of us had, even tho we may be of slightly different ages, allows us to come together for such events and feel a sense of comfort among one another.

The weekend more generally was accidentally epic...it was not as planned but it was as big as could be in many ways. In talking with one friend who was also back home for the weekend, he sounded as tho he were ready for another tame weekend...while another friend was looking forward to some quality time out and about...in the end their roles reversed but a good time was generally had by all. You definitely cannot plan for such epicness to come about...sometimes things just align right and the ludicrous amount of fun is had...

• milo's first road trip up to the Yay
• the Marina
• the bartender - it was just unfair and stupid
• moving on to Gravity without it even being said...the pattern
• Ed getting some T.I. put on right away!
  
• street corner breakin' on some random cardboard box
• breaking the pattern
• another discussion about Stacks
• the brilliance of combining KFC and Taco Bell
• "are you an ambidextruos masterbater?"
• pictures at Comet Club
• "do you work for nbc?"
  
• Tequila!
• Ed's green volvo
• rolling to Cybelle's late nite style and the funny dood sitting outside who was into the tunes
• not hungover
• watching the Michigan game...as painful as it was
• Los' poison oak...ew
  
• halftime at Safeway [a lil fried chicken]
• Beer Pong/Beirut and backing up all the talk
• Al, Henry, Deefs, Henry's fotos, and me all in milo...barely
• sloped parking and milo fitting
• the stupid good food at the reunion
• catching up and talking with a bunch of Greenhills peeps
• giving Mr. Zellers a ride
• awesome parking spots
  
• a few drinks at the White Horse with Mr. Zellers
• Henry's work being much better than any of the other stuff at the show
• souling out for a bit
• the giant group hug
• Beer Pong/Beirut til the wee hours of the morning and Greek domination
• "retirement"
  
• trying to pick up a Smart Car on our way home...and the funny old asian dood who spoke no English but tried to help
• heading home at like 5 in the a.m.
• not hungover [again]
• a little time at du Soleil [the pecan sticky bun...mmm]
• the shame [this is a lowlight...and i apologize to all who had to put up with my antics Saturday nite...i'd been drinkin' =/]
  
• Thai House Express
• an afternoon with Los
  
• first rides in milo for: Peter, Al, Henry, Laura, and Los
• a good drive home
• quality time with quality people

Anywho...i'mr eady to throw my laptop out the window at this point as it frustrates me to no end...i should have been done with all this like an hour ago...g'nite world...ugh i don't wanna work manana.