HUGE catch-up

HI!

i feel like i've been gone forever. first, the bad news. my grampa mc died yesterday. he had lung cancer and was doing great considering for the wedding and then rapidly deteriorated after that. it was awesome to see him. and if heaven exists, he's definitely there. i didn't go to work thurs or fri. i was going to today but woke up sad and nauseous and said i needed one more day. i went to the bank already. paid my net and cable bill. and i might get fingerprints. and i have karapist tonight. now that's out of the way.

Miami was amazing and wonderful and overwhelming and stressful and sad and happy and fun and unique and absolutely memorable :) (i have pictures on the old camera from my dad and i don't think he gave me the right cables. maybe i can get the card transferred to disc. fun)

Tuesday: I left from Portland and took the train up to my dad's. fairly uneventful.

Wednesday: did final stuff, n drove us to airport. airport stuff (side note: from the very beginning it was clear that i was much more of an astute traveler than the others. this was fine but i was seriously depended on for SO MUCH stuff through out the trip from everyone. all sides of fam.) flew overnight hoping to get sleep, no sleep really happened.

Thursday: it's sunny and bright in Miami when we land and get our rental van and our tired bums go to starbucks. we check in to the hotel, one room - the other to be done later. and then my 1/2 sis and son are in ft. lauderdale. me and dad and k go up there while the rest get some rest. GPS units are now one of the banes of my existence. stay right. stay left. stay left. merge right. and plus, you never know where you are, you're listening to a robot box. there were many fights with the GPS. i at one point exclaimed that no one was to touch it, of course everyone did and i had to fix it. argh. and then my grammy and poppy had me fix theirs, too - double agh! i don't remember what we did thursday, prolly swam i and everyone else was a BIG FAN of the pool, weee! oh and then i went to the bachelorette party and might possibly have felt the most out of place, ever. i was happy when D got there, i was more happy when the eccentric psychic got there, taking the crazy away from me. we went out to thai. and then to the bar. this is the night when my extensive drinking started (note: the first night)

Friday: everyone wanted to do stuff. i wanted to sleep off the wicked combination of drinks i had. they practically stuck a starbucks in my mouth. pretty much starbucks made mad money from just me and my fam bc we discovered we are coffee snobs. we swam. every opportunity. then we had the rehearsal. i walked in my shoes. i had to walk faster. i did. then we had the rehearsal dinner. it was really nice. i drank mojitos, yum. they gave out gifts. i freaking got a real pearl necklace with real pearl earrings and matching real pearl decorated hair clip. they also had trivia and games, i won a picture that i had taken of A&D and a bottle opener with a starfish on the top. then i got back to the hotel and the aunts and mary were having a cigarette, i had one too and this is when my extensive smoking began (note: the second night) my mom wanted me and aus to stay over at her hotel as a special last night before the wedding thing. we did. it was fun.

Saturday: we all had hotel b-fast and that was nice, but then my mom went into hyper-mode. we were getting our make-up done at 10, when the place opened and my mom was so rude when we got there bc i know she was trying to do things on time. my mom went first and then i went, i like origins stuff, it's light. i got a lip liner and gloss for touch ups. then we got my grammy and were going to get our hair done. freaking out. i loved my hairdresser and my hair. she wanted to do something like cut it with bangs and stuff, i decided it was a bad idea to pay too much and get it done in some miami way and then be upset with it when i got back. aus drove us to the wedding bc we all had to be there early for pix. no one else was there. everything this weekend was late, late, late. i relaxed, did my nails. i had asked my mom in advance to help me with my dress and explained that it would take a while and she saw it. she was pissed doing it the whole time. yelling she needed her sister or mother to help out. mind you - no one else was really there and they were doing bride only and bride and groom pictures and she was still freaking out. i was trying to ignore. and crying a bit. then i was doing my sash and just walked away from my mom and gramma who were now following me - possible scene. normal people helped me out and everything was fine, i expected it, but *gawd*.

The Wedding was *beautiful*! and the cantor was hella cool. i cried a lot. everyone did. aus cried that's what really set me off and he had to read something off a paper and his little hand was shaking, that was end for me. food was good, but i missed the mc family photo that i organized bc i was in line then. it was funny - aus was like 'thanks for organizing the photo' and as i started to ask 'when r we doin.....' he realized 'oh shit - you weren't in it!' and he apologized. it's extra special now that grampa isn't here anymore. but they might doctor it professionally, if not if i can get that pic digitally and i have 3billion of me and fix it up. the band was hella good. we drank and smoked and danced. we tried to get the wedding band to do an encore, no go - even with the unison clap. then we had a hotel party - woo! smoked special cigarettes and drank and had so much fun. then it was past 4:30 in the morning and i didn't have a room key. i got a shared bed - score! "you have 2 choices, you can knock on your families door at 5am or you can stay here." good stuff.

Sunday: i got up at like 10 and went up to my fams room where everyone was getting ready for the after wedding brunch. i was sure my heavy drinking and smoking days were over. wrong: they had bellini's which is like a mimosa but with peach and mango i think and muy delicioso! it started before noon. i did take a nap til like 5. swam. i think, i tried to every free second i had. then the mc's were going to the art deco district and south beach. i wanted to go. but it was also my mom's b-day and they were going out to dinner, so i went - aus surprised us for a bit and it was nice. pomegrante mojitos are really yummy. then i got back before anyone and had a few moments to myself so i smoked more cigarettes. and was getting in the shower as they were getting back. i think that was it for the night.

Monday: we got up and went to a diner for breakfast, it reminded me of old times and then headed out to the everglades for fun and what turned out to be very valuable animal information. we did an airboat ride first. and it was awesome! she taught us about the animals and plants and we saw real alligators and we also went super fast and sideways. then we got back and learned how to catch an animal in the wild, just in case that ever happens. and they had alligators to hold and a scorpion, skunk and birds that they taught us about. awesome. there was some fighting about the GPS but then we decided to go do more animal stuff and go to the monkey jungle "where the people are caged and the animals are free" - also awesome. it was started as a research habitat and continues as that and an attraction to people. they had little baskets to put food in and then the monkeys pulled it up. and lots of animals and pretty, bright colored birds. and KING the best gorilla ever. he does fingerpainting and i was going to get one except it was $29. lots of monkeys and lots of fun! then we stopped for food and that is when i got the call that i got into grad school! YaY! so that night turned into drinking wine, gin and tonics and smoking a lot of cigarettes. gin makes me sick. it happens every time.

Tuesday: wanted to sleep. slept in til like 9 or 10. hit starbucks. went to key biscayne to the beach. beautiful, relaxing, didn't get to stay long enough, i guess quality over quantity. back to the hotel bc mel and kp were leaving from ft. lauderdale. said goodbye. napped. went to seafood restaurant and had salad and mashies. swam and sat by the pool. more wine. vodka drinks. mojitos. cream drinks. too many cigarettes.

Wednesday: less than 2 hours "sleep" - still drunk. K seriously was not getting up. we all were hurt. ate airport snacks and a "mocha" which i think was just hot chocolate, but i wanted to sleep anyway. didn't sleep too much on the plane. plane was late so missed train. got later train. tired and burnt out.

thurs - sunday i watched movies and dvd and taped shows and got net and cable back this morn. i gotta take care of fingerprints, stats - possibly on lunch on day. i love my new job. can't wait to go back tomorrow. leave your baggage at the door, i said that in training, too. good stuff. it's hot. and no constant A/C as in Miami. i can't wait to get pictures up. i just called my dad. he said there is a "door" that i should be able to open on the camera. i am going to search that. wee.