St. Louis Graduations Part 2

So Sunday John and I woke up surprisingly early, considering how busy the previous day had been. We were lazy for awhile, since the fam wasn't coming to pick us up for awhile. We went home to eat then were headed to the Cardinals game.

We won't talk much about the game. We did get Lou Brock statues (umm yay?!) but that was about the best part of the game. Actually, it was a great day for baseball. But things were bad right from the first inning. Our pitcher was horrible and we never caught up from his mistakes. Of course my one game in Busch and it sucked.

We didn't have much time between the game and John's flight, so we went home and played with the dog some. I got ready for my evening. Matt and I dropped John off at the airport-an oh so very sad time- then headed to meet our aunt and uncle.

We had appetizers and dessert at Granite City Brewery, which is a very nice place. Though we didn't have any beer-weird-so I imagine I will go back some day for that. The desserts were huge! My aunt and uncle gave me a very nice pair of earrings- to go with the necklace (high school graduation) and ring (college graduation) they had already given me. Now I have a very nice set of jewels. Yay!

I pretty much crashed when I got home. I was feeling ill, pretty sure I was getting what Evan had, so I was curled up on the couch with a fever and chills. Luckily this was the worst I ever felt.

Monday was nothing too exciting. Lounging around the house, playing with the dog, etc. I went to pick up Connor and Harrison from school and saw some of my old teachers. That evening Matt and I went out with our other aunt and cousin.

We went to a place called Little Hills Winery. We got our 3 free samples then went to sit down for a meal. We were just in time for happy hour, so we got 3 glasses of wine for pretty cheap, and a load of appetizers. Then we ordered a bottle of this spiced wine to share. So much wine! But it was really great.

Now, I wasn't expecting my 14-year-old cousin to come along on this trip, but he was there. And I almost hit him and my aunt a few times. He was smoking, right in front of us. He was really rude and anti-social. He was bored and tried to rush us into leaving. And my aunt actually poured him a glass of wine form our bottle. And bought him flavored cigars on our way home. This is the cousin who has already been to rehab. And she wonders why he's not "all better."

St. Louis Graduations Part 1

If you ever start thinking that I cannot experience any more drama, just stop yourself. Because chaos apparently follows me around. If it's just me and John life tends to run smoothly, but add in anyone else and something is bound to go wrong.

So after not really recovering from my own festivities, it was time to bail on work some more and head to St. Louis for Matt and Evan's graduations.

Friday night flight. Was delayed slightly but that was no big deal. Then, 45 minutes into the flight the turbulence started. It was on and off, but no fun at all. I am not a fan of unsmooth flights. Not really a fright issue, like the woman next to us, but more of a "it's too much like a roller coaster and I get lightheaded and nauseous" kind of problem. So I had my head buried in John's arm most of the flight. And just when I was thinking "man, we should really be starting our final decent soon, if not 15 mins ago, what the heck?" the pilot comes on. The severe weather in St. Louis called for the closing of the airport, so we were just gonna hang out up in the sky (in the bumpy clouds!) for about 25 mins, and hope something changed then. Well, we got lucky and only got stuck in the holding pattern for about 10-15 minutes and then were on our way to land. All together, only an hour late to arrive.

At which point I was sick from the ride, not eating, and having taken a pill to try to calm my nerves (on an empty stomach). So I just wanted to get food and go to bed. But we visited with the family for a bit once we got checked into the hotel.

Saturday was Matt's graduation from Mizzou (or Missou as John calls it since he cannot understand how "University of Missouri" was shortened to something involving z's), which was 2 hours away. Of course frustrations started early because Mom was running late (though not too late) and we had to make far too many pit-stops for such a short ride.


Matt (yellow) and his friend Shawn. They once played high school football together. Now they're both biologists. Aww.

We met up with Matt before he had to report. Found Grandma and Grandpa-went with them to find seats while Mom made a quick run to the store to prepare for our after part. John and I went outside to wait for Mom and another frustration began-because her quick trip to the store took forever and we were just waiting and waiting. Right up until graduation was supposed to start-we just made it in time. Somewhere in there my Father (ah!) called and I had to find him, take him to sit with the family, and go back outside to wait for Mom.

Of course, Mr. Amen was a whole other rant. I was happy he came, for Matt's sake, but really frustrated. Because I had long ago decided he wasn't worth my trouble. I was completely nuts about him being there...I believe I was ranting about the fact that he didn't deserve to meet John. Ever. But he was fine and normal and it was good that he was there.

So we went back to Matt's frat house and had a BBQ. We had a few grills going, lots of other food to eat, and it was just nice. Matt had to work at 7, so we wrapped up and prepared for home. We stopped by his bar to check it out, then were on our way.

I won't go into all the details about why, but I ended up beyond frustration with my mother for stuff that went on that day. I could not get home soon enough, though we had a 2 hour drive to make it through. John was a saint for many reasons in the fiasco that was the day. And I think I need to tell him again how grateful I am for his support.

But Hooray for Matt, the college graduate!

Ok, I am still exhausted so I will continue this later...