I am having one of those days where my head feels like it’s packed with something it should not be packed with—rice pudding, perhaps—and I would very much like to unroll a sleeping mat in my office and take a nap, but I’m hoping the decongestant (the good kind, like you can make meth with) and caffeine I’ve ingested will kick in soon. But I didn’t come here to whine about that (well, not more than I just did), I came to report on all the activities I packed into this past weekend. I kicked off the festivities by attending a friend’s wedding Friday evening. It was held at a mansion not too far from my office that I’ve whizzed by on the freeway many times but never knew was there. The ceremony was outdoors, and the weather cooperated nicely (though being a delicate flower, I wished it had been just a tad cooler—I was very thankful I got a seat in the shade). My friend looked super happy throughout the event, the food was very tasty (impressive at a sit down dinner for so many people), and I enjoyed my time at the single ladies table (Mr. Karen was not able to join me). I never got my camera out so unfortunately don’t have any pictures, not even of scenery or architectural details. That’s odd for me. I did snap a self-portrait after I got home and my powder and lipstick had both disappeared.

Saturday morning I pulled out of my driveway at 8:05, only five minutes behind schedule, to head to Chicagoland for Mr. Karen’s family reunion. He’d gotten a ride with his sister Faye (and her husband and dog) the day before. I made great time—didn’t get slowed down hardly at all by the various construction zones on the way—and if I’d gone straight to the reunion site, I would have been the first one to arrive from our side of the family (instead I went to Dale & Joan’s house and drove over from there after helping with a few last minute details). There were a lot of folks there this year; if I’d had a good grasp of how extended the definition of “family” was going to be this time, I would have pushed to get my mom an invitation, since I had to drive pretty much right by her house on my way there. I bet she would have talked to more people than I managed to. One of my favorite parts of the day was hanging out in the parking lot late in the day after it had started to cool off a bit; I know that probably doesn’t sound like it’d be a highlight, but it was, since those of us who migrated out there were kindred spirits and we just had fun being together, which I suppose is what a reunion is about. Because Dale and Joan’s house was full up with guests who’d arrived before we did, Mr. Karen and I checked into a hotel for the night, the very hotel where we’d had our wedding reception nearly 25 years ago. Even though they’ve updated the place and added on an indoor water park, a lot of it still looked very familiar. Sunday morning we stopped off and had breakfast (well, brunch) with my mom before making our way home. Construction and traffic weren’t quite as cooperative as they’d been for me on Saturday, but there was only one really bad spot and we ended up having time for a sit down dinner instead of needing to eat in the car. Though maybe we should have just pushed on to get home earlier, since it took longer than I’d hoped to get the house cooled down enough to sleep, which probably isn’t helping my fuzzy headedness today. Ah well, these things happen.