Welcome to The Wedding Party

It has been a rollercoaster past couple of weeks. I was laid off, got my first short story publication offer, and my adorable baby sister got married to a wonderful guy this past Friday. I’ve learned that my friends have my back, my crazy family is extremely supportive, and (most importantly) I never ever want to have a wedding.

That’s not to say marriage is off the table, just that I don’t want to go through a year of angst, crazy prices, and extreme drama for just one day.

Not that my sister’s wedding wasn’t fun. It totally was. I was happy to be there for her and help her as much as I could.

But if I ever get married, I plan on doing it in a T-shirt and jeans in front of the Justice of the Peace. No fuss, no frills, and minimal drama.

But there may be cake...

I then hope that my sigfig and I travel around to our friends and family to have celebratory parties. None of this overpriced venues for “wedding” nonsense.

Though I admit that my sister and brother-in-law’s choice of chapel and reception were on point. They decided to have the wedding in the chapel in Greenfield Village (a historical park created by Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI). The reception was in the large dinning area next door. We had the run of the area with some outside seating and great photo opportunities.

My family came together for my sister too. Everyone did something to help out.

My aunts did all of the flowers and decorations. My uncle put together a corn hole set for people to sign at the reception. My dad led the prayer. A family friend did our makeup. And our photographer was another old family friend (she was also there as a guest).

By the end of everything, I was dead tired and couldn’t feel my feet anymore. I’m still somewhat in need of time to recover.

Weddings are a lot. There’s a lot of people to talk to, food to eat, and numerous things can go wrong. Emotions are at an all time high and focus needs to be on the bride and groom. There will be drama (I know I’ve mentioned it quite a bit in this post so far) and people might get their feelings hurt (hopefully not too badly).

My sister’s wedding was beautiful, fun, and chaotic.

I still don’t want to have one.

However, a number of people said I was the funniest person that had to make a speech that night. Plus I got a couple of zingers in while the bride and groom thanked everyone. My sister nearly killed me, but ended up laughing her butt off after the shock my innuendo passed.

I had to make a speech, because I was a “person of honor”. I kept it short, simple and to the point. I only included a couple of inside family jokes. A good chunk of my brother-in-law’s family had no idea I was the older sibling until I mentioned it in the speech. It made for a good laugh.

As far as I know, everyone had fun. Though a couple of people did get lost and ended up at the wrong wedding,  it thankfully everyone made it to the reception. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the day (except maybe have broken in my shoes better).

Until next week.

“I can’t believe we’re finally here. Today, my adorable baby sister, Cecil B. DeMille, married one of the most wonderful guys I have ever met. Lenz, you make my sister very happy and that makes me very happy. I first met Lenz at Buschgardens Hallowscream event. It’s probably the best way to meet your future brother-in-law because you get to see how he reacts to your sister jumping on him when a guy in a mask yells ‘BOO!’ Wine and Jell-O shots may have also been involved.

“So guys, I wish you all the best and I hope you have many more adventures.”

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Welcome to Losing a Beloved Pet

My dog, Gertrude, died on Tuesday. On some level I'm still processing that she's gone. I just saw her while vising my mom in Michigan for the holidays. On another level, I knew that it was very likely to be the last time I saw her.

Gertrude was nearly 14 years old. We had had her since she was a tiny puppy who could barely jump onto the couch. She grew until she was nearly 3 times the size that we had thought she would be (75 lbs versus 35 lbs). I especially loved her awkward puppy phase where she was nothing but legs and ears.

She was my first Facebook profile picture and the first time someone tried to make fun of my blog, they specifically referenced how they "didn't want to hear about my dog" (I blocked them). She was a constant companion during high school and always happy to see me when I came home for a visit after I moved away. She was a Boarder Collie German Shepard mix and could fit in my dad's hand when she was a puppy. She was sort of friends with our cat, Karma. In the last years of her life, she got to play with her adopted sister Millie.

I'm glad she had a good long life.

She wasn't my first dog or even my first pet. My sister and I raised hermit crabs for a long time before we finally got our first dog. He was an equally wonderful dog who would never have allowed anything bad to happen to the family. It was tough when he died and we waited a while before adopting Gertrude.

Pets are wonderful family members, and yes they are family. It's nearly impossible not to love a dog or cat or hamster or any of the other furry critters that come into our lives. I'll even give people who raise reptiles as pets credit. The amount of pictures of cute pet snakes on Pinterest alone can have me falling into a black hole of saying "aww" for an hour or two.

There are many days I wish I had a pet with me. I'd love to come home to an excited pooch happy to see me. But it's just not possible right now. Pets are a huge responsibility and I couldn't commit to having one with my current lifestyle. Plus I'm super allergic to most pets that aren't dogs.

Instead I raise plants.

Plants aren't animals, though, and they are hard to cuddle with (especially my temperamental cactus). Also, when a plant dies, I don't feel quite as bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm still sad when I accidentally kill one of my plants, but I've taken steps to only look after really hardy plants that are really hard to kill.

My emotional attachment to a pet is a lot higher than to a plant. I am still adverse to watching any emotionally driven movie or horror movie with a dog in it. It's an almost automatic hard stop if a dog, cat, or horse dies. I've heard a number of authors state that they avoid killing a pet (especially a dog) because it will generate enough hate mail to fill their entire house.

A pet's passing is something that hits us right in our basic emotions. I cried for a few hours while I tried to process that Gertrude was gone. Other people also understood how I felt. Everyone who has heard of Gert's passing has been very nice and sending me their condolences.

I wasn't the only person in my sphere of friends to have lost a furry family member. From what I was able to gather, these beloved pets were also older and had lived good long lives. They were loved and cherished until the end.

I'm going to miss Gertrude. She was awesome.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really hit you in the feels) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.