Wedding Weekend: Day 2

We left early for my flight from MKE back to HOU.

In the Milwaukee Airport, I went through security and the famous Recombobulation Area, something could only be created in Wisconsin.

"Everyone is so discombobulated after the security line, so they will need to recombobulate"

During my flight, I took photos out the window of various things, mainly rivers.

Then we got to DC, and since we were flying into Reagan, I got some great shots of the National Mall.

Some passengers got off, then others got on, and we were bound for Houston. Here are where most of the river pictures are.

Squiggly, mostly dry river here. 

Then I arrived back in Houston and said hello to Bruno and got ready for work on Monday.

Wedding Weekend: Day 1

The day started in Milwaukee with Kiki hanging out with me while I woke up. I got ready for the trip over to Madison while my sister and her boyfriend did things that I can't remember right now. I think they slept in longer than me.

Fluffy and Kiki (née Kitty) chilling.

We packed and things to go to Madison, but first, we were going to go to a talk on cheese making at the Urban Ecology Center. There was another presentation right before it about brewing beer, but we wouldn't make it there in time and we were more interested in cheese. Before we left, I asked about this drawing, which was not done by my sister, but I think my sister's boyfriend's mom.

My parents' barn at sunset in the winter.

We drove to the Urban Ecology Center and went inside.

My sister is in this picture on the left.

The events we were attending were upstairs, and it took us a while to find out how to get up there.

We went upstairs and found the place where we thought the lecture was, but it turned out to be in another room. There were also lots of groups out with their foods and possibly crafts - but mostly foods. We went into the lecture room where it was standing room only. After a while near the door, I snuck over to the other side to sit by a counter by the window. Then, I cleared part of the counter off and sat on the counter. We learned that the different varieties of cheese were created by the bacteria used to create them, which usually came from the soil. After the lecture, we went out and looked at the tables and sampled some of their goods. We had tasty vegan things, tempeh, chocolate, and cheese. I ended up buying some chocolate and cheese to take back to Texas. Then we went downstairs and checked out the reptile room where we tried to watch a snake eat, but it wasn't very hungry or something.

A novel way to move between floors.

The finicky snake and it's uneaten meal.

See, I was there.

We went outside and walked around a little bit before heading out.

On the way, we saw an amusing personalized plate.

I believe that says "BCH"

My camera captured this, and I kept it.

We finally arrived in Madison and found our hotel, which was by a landfill and I learned also had several long-term residents. The smell of the landfill greeted us on the road to the place, and after we checked in, we encountered a shirtless older guy while we were going to our room.

We got ready for the wedding and I played some music for my sister, including "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu and "Get it Together" by India Arie. Maybe "Window Seat" by Erykah Badu, but I don't remember that video. Then we headed out for the VFW for the wedding reception.

We managed to find the right building and hung out in the bar for a little while. I had my third brandy old fashioned and saw a pretty cool display that used the building's vent to make it mobile.

The flag moves cuz air is blowing into the box.

We went outside too and took photos with the artifacts outside. I also danced to Beat It being played at another party.

Then we went in to the reception. See, my friend and her husband "eloped" back in May because my friend was overwhelmed by planning a wedding and a reception. They married on May 4 and had Star Wars shirts at the Madison Capitol building. I'm not terribly keen on the "May the Fourth" thing, but they are, so I know that it's a good date for them. During the reception, the guy in the middle of the photo below gave a great speech about what a marriage was - it's not the wedding, it's not the celebration, it's what they do every day and the choices they make. It was very touching.

It was a really beautiful event and I'm so happy for my friend and glad she invited me to this.

I also got to karoke Lose Yourself by Eminem, which was hard, but I managed to do it reasonably well. We left around 10 or something and prepared to leave early on Sunday.

Wedding Weekend: Day 0

Day 0 was really more like Day 1, since my flight was early in the day, and the day before, I did all my cleaning and preparing. I arrived in Milwaukee and got my suitcase around noon-time, and took a cab to my sister's house. She arrived a little bit after me, and we went out to a local place for lunch. Afterwards, she took a photo of me by a Google Maps car. The driver was afraid that we were photographing the inside, but we were not. We were, however, a little embarrassed to be caught doing something so nerdy by said driver. She said that it was common, though.

We went back to her place, and she let me in, then went back to work. I napped and observed her apartment. 

Kitty, or "Kiki" likes to make noise at people, but his noise is very, very quiet, believe it or not.

Note the elephant wicker end table.

Note the macrame owl.

Are you noting it?

Brief Fluffy interlude.

And for even more kitties, keep scrolling.

Eventually, my sister's boyfriend, A, came home, and we talked and stuff. Then we went out for oysters and drinks at the Whole Foods and a bar near the Whole Foods.

I significantly increased the number of oysters I've eaten on this trip.

And the number of brandy old fashioneds.

I had a drink with absinthe, and then we went back to J & A's place, but not before trying to get cream cheese. See, my sister had purchased bagels, but did not have cream cheese. They also would not eat CVS or Walgreens cream cheese, so we had to do without. Instead, I had salt-free, crunchy peanut butter with honey on my bagel, and it was actually very, very good. We ended the night by watching YouTube videos on the wall, and I went to bed on the cushions put on the floor.