So its been like a week since I posted anything very substantive. I apologize for that, but admittedly this is the first real time I have had my laptop on the internet in over two weeks. I will get to the part where we are back in Buffalo and stuff, but let me break it down one time.
I left my house at the climax of the West Wing repeat last Wednesday night, about 9:43. Katie's plane was arriving just after 10 and we had decided to simply wing it from the airport. If we got tired really early we could snag a hotel or a couple of Zs on the side of the rizoad. This did not end up being necessary. I drove like a motherfucker for about 8 hours and we were just exiting the Indiana tollway about 6:00. Now, I am not too knowledgeable about Chicago traffic. Basically what I know about it can be summarized by the statement that "it sucks a nut." I drove through the city once at about 3 in the morning and there was no traffic, I was able to drive right through, besides that one time I have never been in Chicago when the traffic could not be described as some level of dead fucking stopped.
So while I thought that 6 am was a little early for rush hour to have begun, who knows when you are dealing with the Windy-ass City. We decided not to risk it and opted to continue on I-80 then take the 294 back where it met up with 90 slightly outside Chicago. I figured that once we got to that side the rush hour thing wouldnt be too much of an issue. This was the wrong decision, very very much the wrong decision. Actually, I don't know that it was the wrong decision, it may have been exactly the right decision. Nonetheless, the drive sucked. We made it a couple miles into Illinois before traffic simply ceased to function. I don't understand how this shit happens. I mean, the trucks dont help the situation and there are too many people, but if you learn how to fucking merge and shit this should not happen. Its like a 4 fucking lane highway in each direction, what do you want. Anyway, we spent a good 90 minutes getting to the actual 90. At this point I had driven way way too long and was very close to passing out. We stopped for coffee and Katie took over the wheel.
Katie drove us to Madison fairly uneventfully. That was really what we were looking for in the drive from Chicago to Madison, so we were pleased. We called my bro just before we got there and shockingly, he was awake and lively. Apparently he was moving out that day so he had plenty of time. He wasnt getting his U-Haul until that night so we decided to meet up and go out for breakfast. It was a very good time.
The shitty part is that the last two times I have seen my bro have been in a fucking Perkins and neither of them has really lasted more than an hour and a half. I havent seen the dude for any significant amount of time since Christmastime and that blows. Especially since we have more and more shit in common and stuff. I mean, he likes beer now, he seems to hang out more. He would appreciate the Turf Club and Sweeneys and Nye's etc. Not that this is anything in common with me, but he has also lost an incredible amount of weight. I mean, he has been losing weight for a while, he had when I saw him this Spring, but after an entire summer of working outside, fetilizing and such, he is incredibly tanned and most likely the skinniest Baxter. If not entirely, he is very close to my mom. We had lunch, talked about shit, school, Japanese, his friends Rachelle and Ally (sic and sic) (whom, for that matter, he is not dating, contrary to common opinion) and so on. I hope we at least get to go home for Thanksgiving or something so I can spend more than a lunch at Perkins with him.
Anyway, I was exhausted but managed to drive the rest of the way into Minneapolis. We stopped at some fabric store so we could get stuff to finish up Pete's punk rock pillow. It was a brilliant creation, a blue back with a front that had a green frog playing a guitar labeled "Bob" and the last two lines from "Celebrated Summer" cross-stitched on the front. It was really really cool and only took her like 2 days. She is an outrageously skilled cross stitcher and I think Pete thought it was cool. Hopefully the kitsch value will last the test of time. So we got home at like 4:45 and hit the sack pretty much instantly. I left messages for my rents, but we went to sleep around 5 and didnt wake up until about 8.
So I woke up then and wandered downstairs. It was really really fucking hot, since my parents don't seem to believe in air conditioning, so I wasnt able to stay asleep any longer, no matter how tired I was. I went looking for some food, failed, and instead wandered into my mom's room to say hello. She was sitting on the couch, watching Will and Grace, and I sat down to say hi. Katie was still asleep and would likely stay that way either until the morning or until I woke her up. So my mom and I exchanged our pleasantries, how was the job, how are you doing, how was the drive, how is Katie, when did you leave, when does work start, are you ready for school, so on and so on and so on. That conversation was about 20 minutes long or whatever.
So then my mom starts talking in some fashion about the whole divorce situation. She is not being very specific and its very obvious that she is nervous or uncomfortable about something. Earlier that day my bro and I had been speculating about whether or not either mom or dad were dating anyone, and I suspected that maybe she was going to tell me that she was. We had both concluded that there was virtually no chance that dad was with someone else, but I guess that was a possiblity to. Instead she told me that she was gay.
It was an odd experience primarily because I simply had never thought of that possibility. I guess she had never really given me any reason to believe that she was and the whole heterosexual marriage and children thing sort of led me in the other direction. We talked about the thing for a while and as long as she and my dad are both okay I am genuinely happy for her. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in the closet for 40ish years. The world is obviously a very different place than it was when she decided that marriage would be an easier and safer route than being a gay woman. It was and is a little weird, but in the end I am glad she is happy.
I haven't really had the chance to talk to anyone besides Katie about the situation. I have the feeling Andy will be a little pissed that I didnt tell him in person, but the last night I saw him he was way too fucking wasted to have any serious discussion. Regardless, we have had some nice conversations with my mother, its very obvious that she is a much happier person these days. I am glad she has friends and support that she didnt have before.
We went out that night to Andy J's new place. His parents moved into a townhouse which is right behind the Culver's in the AV. Its a pretty decent looking townhome actually. There is a gigantic lofted ceiling in the living room that I like and he pretty much has the whole basement to himself, a psuedo apartment. He doesnt have a kitchen, but theres a TV, a couch, a card table, and his bedroom. Its not just any TV either, its fucking Andy J's kick ass television, which he got for a steal because his bro worked at Best Buy. Regardless, it appears to be the place where everybody chills nowadays and I can understand why. They play alot of poker, I mean a fucking lot of poker.
Sanjay was in town and so Thursday night, after Katie and I had a long discussion, we headed to Andy J's basement to see all the folks. Reuter, Kevin, Sanjay, Andy J, Andy K., Dobs, Maroney, and Nermy were all in full motherfuckin effizect. We played poker for a couple hours and caught up on old times. I was extraordinarily worried that I wouldnt be able to keep up my non smoking thing, but I did regardless of all the times I wanted one. I can smell cigarettes so much more distinctly than I ever could before and holy shit does tobacco rock. I miss my lovely cigarettes, maybe I will have a cigar around my birthday or something. I got a little drunk that first night and Katie drove me home. I was very impressed with my ability to drink without smoking, something I am now confident I have down.
Friday night was the wedding, which I have said a little about before. Katie was in charge of Sanjay, Andy Kemp, and I. I spent the afternoon helping Andy pick out a present and dealing with the ideological difficulties he encountered in the form of the Wedding Registry. We had smoked a little bit before we went to Target and Andy was not his normally sober and together self. He asked every young and beautiful woman in the store if they thought that Wedding Registries distanced people from each other and if they destroyed the bond between wedding couple and the wedding guests. Regardless, it was very funny. We ran into Mrs. Wilking and her youngest daughter in the new SuperTarget and I think they could figure that we were not the most in touch of gentlemen. After a number of ridiculous debacles we got out of there with a legitimately nice vase and a set of bowls with lids which Andy purchased only because he was pissed that Katie and I had gotten Pete and Meg two presents and didnt want to be shown up.
We arrived at the wedding, Sanjay and Andy toked up in the parking garage, and we ran into James, Moody, and Cassie. Thank God that we did, because my attempt to carry the present was a failure, I am simply too weak. James helped me out. I won't say exactly what the present was in case the happy couple hasn't opened it, but trust me, it was heavy as fucking hell and I hadn't counted on carrying it up a hill into the Union Depot place. We ran into all sorts of people after we entered the door, and thankfully there was a young woman to take the present from me. We talked to the Tara Lucinda Tate, who is looking very well, about her exciting new job in charge of one of the most prestigous debate programs in the country. We talked to Fishy, who Katie had seen recently but hadn't entered my vision since sections, and saw Erin K. who I correctly assumed would be sloppy sloppy sloppy ass drunk by the end of the evening.
The ceremony was nice and very very quick. It was cute and romantic without being over the top. I think me and Andy were the only ones who caught it, but we both started to giggle when part of the vows was "To play with each other." The bridesmaid's dressers were classy, the whole trend of the same fabric and colors in different dress styles. That worked especially well given Claire's (Meg's sister) clothing constraints. Meg's dress was very pretty and I really like her hair, especially since I am not traditionally given to updos. The physical space of the Union Depot place was very good for a wedding as well. It was a little hot, but I was wearing a shirt and tie and it is a Minnesota August. There were large vaulted ceilings and good lighting and a very pretty bar. I already spoke about the food, but it rocked. There was a tasty dessert which was similar to a apple and cheese filled baklava, lots of the flaky phylo layers, you know what I mean.
Andy, Sanjay, and I drank alot of booze. I mean, we drank alot of booze. There was beer from the moment the ceremony ended to the moment dinner started. I had a beer with me during dinner, but we drank wine as well. We were at the table which I prefer to call the "people who can tolerate Andy Kemp" table and of course had to act like it. Hannah and Kaya were at the table with us, so at least I got to spend some time with the big K. I never see the dude, but holy fuck has he grown. I cannot even explain how much older he is now nor can I explain how much he looks like his dad. Fuck, he is a little AJ, which is slightly scary, but also kinda cool. Everyone at our table had to act like they were at the table they were at however, including badly hitting on a waitress and drinking wine out of coffee cups. What the fuck people, there were wine glasses on the table, why don't you use them. They just seem to have disappeared or something. Fucking minors, buck up and get a wine glass. If it was later and we had been drinking for three hours, that is one thing, but we couldnt have had more than a couple drinks each.
Regardless, we went on to drink up to those expectations, though I never got quite drunk enough to dance. I did get to see Cort and Carol dance to Digital Underground, so at least that was good. Dobs was getting down by the end of the evening, about the time that Andy started to buy shots of Crown Royal for everyone. That also solidified my drunkenness and luckily the bar closed shortly afterwards. We said goodbye to everyone and eventually made our way back to the parking garage for another round of puffing out of a mickey-frickin Coke can. I forget to mention that no one had a piece on them, and since I quit smoking papers were not available. So we hit it up with Hannah and AJ and Katie endured the long and extraordinarily difficult process of driving us home. Andy was loud and obnoxious (surprise) and Sanjay had an extensive argument with his mother about whether or not we had a sober driver and whether or not he himself had been drinking.
We eventually did make it down to Andy J's house, where we hung around for a minute before going home. I was able to sleep all day so I woke up with only a moderate hang over. We sat around the house and had a tasty dinner on Saturday night, an old fashioned Minnesota family barbecue. Some homemade bratwurst (not homemade in my home, but homemade by the butcher my parents bought it from), sweet corn on the cob, and baked beans. Yummy yum yum. I hadn't had brats all summer, partially because I dont have a que, partially because they aren't as big out here, and partially because there weren't homies to que it up with.
We actually had lunch with my mother that day as well. We went to Culver's and rolled Butterburer style. Their turtle sundaes are mighty tasty, even if they don't match up to those served at the Tasty Treat down the street from my house. It was good. Even though we didnt spend as much time with my dad as I would have liked, I guess it was reasonable that there was more time with my mom this time around. Saturday night we went to Fishy's place, saw his daugher Lexy again, and played some poker. We also admired Fishy's DVD collection and watched both Jackass and Old School. I forgot how fucking hilarious Will Farrell can be.
We left Fishy's place late and I dropped Andy and Sanjay off at B-Dubs before taking Katie home to sleep. She had drank a good deal of wine and needed some rest. I left as she fell asleep and went back to Andy's. We played poker and Mario Golf Toadstool Tour (a fantastic fucking game and the inspiration for my plan to get a GameCube) till the sunset. Andy managed to get himself fucking wasted in the 45 minutes I was gone, but we still had a good time. I was scared Andy and Kevin were about to kill each other, but that kinda shit happens.
Alright, that is way more than enough updating. I will check y'iz'all on the flizzle.
Peace,
MB-K
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