Wedding Bells In Chicago

wow. what a trip.

first, and most importantly, the wedding was beautiful. it was at the hotel allegro, which is old and elegant, with some nice modern touches. missy looked like a china doll walking down the aisle, and i understood quite well the thoughts that were going through jay's head watching her walk toward him. the boy actually cried ... which i might have done myself at my wedding if i hadn't been so busy sweating my ass off.

the ceremony was perfect, and the dinner afterwards -- including a sweet toast from my wife the matron of honor -- was terrific. hell, they even had good wine, which would have made even a bad dinner better.

i had been really worried before the trip about travelling with Hannah. not that i thought she'd be fussy or anything ... but i wasn't crazy about the idea of putting her on a plane at 5 weeks old. she was an F'ing champ. seriously. she slept pretty much most of the way, on both legs of the trip, nursed at takeoff and descent to help with any ear pressure issues, and was a perfect angel. i'm very proud of myself, too, because i pulled off the diaper change of the century. picture me in one of those tiny lavatories, Hannah on my lap with her head at my knees, and all my changing supplies lined up on the sink. as i pulled her legs back to clean her off, i was directly in her line of fire had she chosen to pull the trigger. thankfully, she held back.

i think the only stressful part of travelling was at the airport in oakland as we were leaving. i won't go into the whole story, but suffice it to say that i told one TSA officer to "shut up" and insulted the supervising police officer before we were through.

i don't have any pictures at the moment ... the ones on our camera aren't that great ... but i might post some later tonight or tomorrow. you've GOT to see Hannah in the dress she wore for the wedding. what a hottie.