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1. All that personal space you wanted on the bus/elevator/sidewalk? One cough, and people scurry like mice.

2. If your loved one is considering buying one of those expensive “Ocean Sound” simulators to help them sleep, just let them put their head on your chest. Also works for “Storm Sound” and “Cement Truck In Full Mix” simulators.

3. Who can get enough of illnesses with a silent “p”?

4. SARS jokes galore for April Fool’s.

5. It’s like the honour student version of a cold. Extra points for take home antibiotics!

6. If you swallow a goldfish in a college prank, that fish could well live happily in your lung for a year.

7. You can stand outside in the rain in bare feet with no coat or hat on, shivering, and when some old woman goes to yell at you as they walk by, you can yell: “NO, I WON’T! I ALREADY HAVE IT! SO THERE!”

8. People who come to hand you assignments at work tell you kindly that you should be home in bed.

9. You drink enough tea and juice to become the living embodiment of 1/3 of a continental breakfast.

10. You get fodder for a list that will probably make your mother wring her hands involuntarily while struggling to laugh.

Well, I finally forced myself to see a doctor yesterday, and lo and behold… I have pneumonia.

That would explain the ocean waves in my lungs and the death rattle in my throat, not to mention the fever and exhaustion I was experiencing all last week (and still!)

It’s a little frustrating, since my life marches on regardless, but at least I’ve got the drugs I need to settle it out. I’ll do my best to take it easy when I can. I might take a couple days off later in the week… we’ll see.

Anyway, still kind of lame at this blogging thing right now.

(And for those of you who just said, “It ain’t just right now!”, heh.)

I wasn’t going to do a love list today.

I’ve said that before.

Many times.

I’m like a broken record, really, or Girls Gone Wild! ads on late night television (with less skin and more sullen malevolence), or the lingual patterns of teenagers (”Rilly? No way. OMG. Rilly? No way. OMG. Rilly?”)

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Thing is, I’ve hacking like a 90 year-old smoker with a kitten trapped in their lung. This makes me feel… crabby.

Which I’ve also been before. And admitted to before.

I think I used to devote entire hours to being crabby from ages 13-17, most often when I thought my mother could be in my proximity, because a) she’d love me no matter what and b) MOMS ARE SO ANNOYING! GOSH!

(I CAN’T WAIT TO BE ANNOYING TO CHILDREN!!! INSTEAD OF JUST THE OPPOSITE SEX!!! AND PEOPLE WHO HATE OVERPUNCTUATION!!!)

But none of that really matters, does it?

“Just do the damn list, Meg… your backstory is so emo we bought it a striped shirt and eyeliner.”

Well.

Okay then.

THINGS I LOVE RIGHT NOW

Orange juice from Happy Planet
Oat bars
Numi tea
Crisp white shirts
My doctor, if he gives me the GOOD cough stuff
The way penguins walk
Weekends, thank heavens
Dreaming of California
Illy coffee
The hottest hot sauce that clears up your nose
Fake fencing swords
My new sister-in-law, Carey xoxox
Having a sister! What the frick?!? That’s awesome!
Wide open windows
New lipgloss
Possibilities
Boys in glasses
Showing my mom how to use YouTube to watch Christopher Walken dance
Honey and lemon in hot water
The fact that it snowed today, but there is no evidence remaining of the same
Funny voice mails that make my day
Being stuck with my dad while traveling… he makes me laugh
Coconut lotion
Genoa salami
Fresh cherries
Watching my parents dance at my brother’s wedding FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER
People who are comfy in their skin
Strappy shoes with a tan
People who know how to be witty and warm at the same time
Wooden bracelets
Lemon-Mint Ricolas
That the area under my nose is no longer a sinus-inflicted red, flaky Hitleresque painstache
Debates that keep my mind from closing in on itself
My roommate, who is home from California
Eric, our lovely friend she left behind
All the sassy surfer girl bangles and earrings she brought me home (I love big earrings)
My fireplace
Bounce sheets
Lip balm that smells orangey or vanilla-y
Edible babies

As usual, feel free to leave your own love list in the comments, or put one up at your blog. Love makes things better, I swear, even if it’s just for a few minutes until the next bomb drops.

I know, I know. I should suck it up and write.

But I’m so ACHY. And whiny.

Fever still up, coughing on the scene, and chills like you would not believe (even in fleece pants, with the fireplace UP.)

I can’t. blog. coherently.

But it’s coming, I promise.

Fever is now down to 101 F. Not bad.

Don’t want to write a post about something special when my nose is running down my face, though.

Love to all. Back soon.

I am too tired to write anything coherent.

And much sicker than I was when I left.

Both of things combine into a DON’T BLOG flashing red sign.

So I won’t.

I will share these point form items:

Got home safely
Feel like crud
Love my fireplace
Love my washing machine
Vancouver colder than it was when I left, which cab driver blamed on me
Wanted takeout, was too indecisive
Wifi should be more widely available
Home? GOOD!

I’ll write a proper post and put up more pictures and videos tomorrow. For now, I shall go die.

Well, they did it:

But before I even tell you about that, here’s where the wedding was held:

THE SNOW CASTLE!

That’s right — a big ol’ building made out of ice and snow.

Here’s the doorway in that my mom RAILED her head on (on the way out, too… you think she’d have figured out how to duck through the 5′ doorways by then):

Once you go inside, you notice the fabulous ice windows of varying sizes (my favourite part):

And of course, the Snow King:

Here’s the open entryway:

Here’s the view from the roof:

The Snow King has his own flag, of course:

Actually, I should show you what the REAL Snow King looks like:

(He insisted that only mutual photos are allowed.)

When Sean and Carey asked him if they could get married there, he didn’t just say yes, he built them a special Snow Chapel (from various vantage points)…

The front:

The back viewing arch:

The front roof:

And the flowers:

It was actually quite lovely. There’s no other way to say it. Cold, but lovely. And not that cold, since there was a warm air vent blowing in once we got inside the little chapel.

Now that you’ve seen the venue, here are the people.

The wee Scottish pastor who did the ceremony…

The gorgeous bride, Carey, making her entrance (she remembered to duck)…

My brother, Sean, awaiting his bride..

Those wacky kids doing their vows…

My mom and my brother:

Meg and Sean (pre-hitching):

Meg and Mom:

Meg and Dad:

Now I have to go gussy up for the reception, but I’ll post more pictures and tell tales later.

But I’ll end the post the same way the ceremony did:

Stay warm!

Well, we made it here last night, but my site was down, so I couldn’t tell you.

(It was probably just too cold. I know how it feels.)

We got in at 9ish, and finally left the rehearsal dinner at 11:45ish.

LONG DAY. Then I watched Letterman with my parents and conked out.

It snowed allllll night. -21 C right now, -30 windchill.

Now my brother and my dad are getting gussied (under the watchful eye of Cody the photog), my mom is working on the flowers, and I’m filling you in on life in general before we head out to the SNOW CASTLE for the ceremony.

Total clothing on my body:

Underwear (yes, you needed to know that…)
Silk long underwear throughout
T-shirt #1
T-shirt #2
T-shirt #3
Sweater
Socks #1
Smartwools
Jeans
Down jacket
Scarf #1
Scarf #2
Gloves #1
Gloves #2

Yes. Always be prepared.

And oh… just as a side note… did I mention the SNOW CASTLE was on a FROZEN LAKE?!?!

Yeah.

Good times.

Pictures to come, after Sean and Carey make it official.

Woo! We’re in Edmonton now, where I lived from 1979 to 1985, and 1993 to 1995.

Here’s what we’ve seen so far:

Yep, the airport.

The airport from which we will depart for Yellowknife in… oh… three hours?

But before I even GET to any discussion of heading Yellowknife-ward, I have to tell you about our flight from Calgary to Edmonton.

I’ll do it point form:

Run hysterically through Calgary airport to catch flight to Yellowknife (supposedly being held)
Miss flight by 6 minutes
Get rebooked 2 hours later to head to Yellowknife from another city
Get on plane to Edmonton
Enter from tarmac like POTUS
Prop plane
Back row
Frantic giggling at lack of amenities and odd engine sounds
Turbulence
Hard candies
More turbulence
Landing in Edmonton

Yes. Hard candies. Apparently, that’s what passes for an in-flight snack around here:

I’ve now had a slice of pizza (first food all day), but (to prove I can do it… well, no, it was an accident…) I didn’t even have coffee until 2!

Here’s to traveling on Easter weekend, non?

I’m not the biggest fan of flying today.

Not because I fear it at all… nope, I love the actual experience and sensation.

No, it has more to do with two previously burst eardrums and a sinus infection.

And my medicine is in my checked luggage.

Sigh.

But…

1. Do you enjoy air travel?

2. What are your must haves for a flight (iPod, magazines, etc.)?

3. Who are your favourite people to travel with?

4. Where do you wish you were flying today?