Look, I've been busy...

The first semester of this year has been absolutely packed with activity. Every single weekend, Cas and I have had at least one thing to do. Most weekends, we've had two or three.

When we returned from Duluth, we had to celebrate both of our birthdays with both of our families on different occasions. 

Jeanne did something very thoughtful for Cas, at my recommendation. When we. Had our wedding reception, we ordered two cakes. A wedding cake, and a grooms cake. The driver for the bakery was in a car crash, so we got a different grooms cake then we had ordered. I told Jeannie of the story, and thought it may be a nice thing for him to have as a birthday cake. Well, you only need to tell her something like that one time. We had a wonderful birthday cake:

It was entirely too rich, and way too delicious. These are not exactly the worse problems to have.

At this very moment, I cannot remember exactly what has occupied all of the hours and minutes and seconds of our time, but we have been very busy.

Have you ever been so busy that you don't know why you are busy? That's where we have been for the past few weeks.

I think it might just be the challenge of back to school coinciding with both of our birthdays. Incidentally, Cas got me a semester of continuing education Spanish classes. It was a lovely, thoughtful gift; I sense some Latin American travel in the offing. I got him tickets to see John Cleese and Eric Idle together at the Majestic theater in December. That should be amazing.

We have finally settled down a little, it would seem. Tonight, Cas and I are going to spend one of the gift certificates we received as a gift when we got married. It is to a restaurant called Neighborhood Services, and that place is pretty fancy. I have been there once before, and the food was amazing. I May try to sneak a nap into my afternoon first, as I was up late working on in the newspaper. I am not sure if I will have time, though. I am supposed to go out at about two pm and meet with mom so we can get our toenails painted. We've invited my old friend Reema to come with us. I hope I can stay awake all afternoon. I was up pretty late.

The first newspaper of the school year went off to the printer at about 2:30 am, so now I am able to focus my energy on having a good time for the remainder of the weekend. Not a moment too soon.

It's probably time to get a shower, and tidy up the house a little bit. It's amazing how junk for tends to accumulate when you don't have time to put it where it goes.

Here comes the bride

What a really nice wedding. I was happy for Becky and glad she got just the wedding she wanted. Since she and Casey met at seminary school and are both ministers, the ceremony included communion. They both offered up the bread and wine as their first married act. Pretty unique, if you ask me. 

The whole thing was clearly joyful. They are a very happy couple, and everyone there seemed thrilled for both of them. 

We had a great time at the wedding and the reception. All of my cousins from dad's side of the family were present, along with nearly every aunt or uncle I have. Uncle Jim was absent, and my brother Jeff was the only cousin who didn't make the trek. 

Cas seemed a little better off this time around, too. He was a little more comfortable identifying who was who and which of my cousins belonged to what branch of the family tree. It was a good weekend getaway. 

We're at the Minneapolis airport now, waiting for our flight back to Dallas. When we get back to the house (probably at around 11 pm), I have to update my school website and get some serious work knocked out relatively quickly. Cas has a long day tomorrow- it's his parent night. It's also the first night of our Spanish class together. He's skipping the first night of class for his job. I promised I would share my notes, so I had better be on my best behavior. 

This lake really is superior

Last night, Cas and I landed, took a shuttle to the car rental place and headed north. It was pretty easy, and the rental place ran out of little cars, so we got a free upgrade. 

On the way, we stopped to eat, and Cas tried his first ever cheese curds. 

This morning, we woke up in Duluth and tried to get together with our family members in town. When it was clear to me that they were sleeping later than Cas and I had slept, we started walking toward a coffee shop for breakfast. 

When we were a block away, Danny texted saying they were headed to a place only a few blocks past our intended destination. We kept walking and met up with everyone for breakfast. 

After a really nice meal complete with an acoustic guitar playing hippie, we discussed things we could do with our day. Cas and I ended up on a harbor cruise with Danny, Annie and Uncle Mike (Jane's husband). Dad, Laurie and a bunch of other people went for a walk. 

The harbor cruise was pretty cool, and we went under the great lift-up bridge that evidently appears in all Duluth-related souvenirs. 

We're splitting a sandwich, now, and heading to a wedding in a little bit. 

Good times? You betcha. 

All the way to Duluth

We're two weeks into the schoolbyear., and I don't want to strangle any of the children yet. That's a good sign. My 42nd birthday came in the middle of last week, too, and I had a perfectly lovely day at work. It was a little too much focus on me, though. Laura came in during first period with a cupcake and a card, then she made my students sing for me. She also filmed them singing. And put it on the damn internet. She claims to love embarrassing me. I suppose that would be pretty fun- for everyone involved except me... 

I had spent my morning in a meeting where the woman in charge of accounting read PowerPoint slides to a room full of college educated adults. That was a treat. I hope I speak for all of us in the room when I say this: We can read; you don't have to read to us. 

After the dull meeting that made the rest of my morning just a few minutes off, a cupcake was about perfect. I saved it for lunch, though. I also had the option of a pack of Twizzlers Cas had snuck into my purse that morning. After lunch, I got word that there was a delivery in the office. He also sent me Edible Arrangements. I had a box of chocolate covered fruit with a Mylar birthday balloon  attached to it. Way to stay low-key... 

Cas and I both went to our respective gyms after work, then we got cleaned up and went out for some dinner at Whistle Britches. We got there, looked over the menu and ordered a drink. The waitress asked to see our IDs. I was being carded on the 21at anniversary of my 21st birthday. Not too shabby. Cas was being carded, as well, and he has a few years on me...

It's been a good few weeks. I'm staying on track with my work and Cas seems to be way more ahead of the game than any other moment since I've met him. 

We're headed to Duluth right now on a Spirit Airlines flight. They appear to be the Greyhound bus of the sky. The fares art super cheap, and everything costs extra. Want to bring carry-on luggage? Extra. Want a beverage? Extra. You're allowed a personal item. Unpacked for the weekend in mine. 

My cousin Becky is getting married tomorrow in Duluth, and it's a three day weekend. We figured it was a good trip to take and close out the summer.