BEST My Cousins Wedding EVER

One of the great institutions of summer is "my cousins wedding". In recent memory, it seems as if though each summer one of my friends has had a "my cousins wedding" to attend. This summer, it was my turn. This past weekend, my cousin got married in Albany, NY. Generally, large scale family events such as these tend to leave me exhausted, because there are hours of polite conversation, (Yes, I do like DC. Yes, the city is horribly expensive. No, I probably will never own a home here. The weather there has been unbearable lately, how has it been here? Oh, you know someone who lives in DC.... (why is it that everyone I meet knows someone else who lives in this city?!?!) The upstate summers are very nice. Work is going well, I like it, No I'm not dating anyone just now, which is always answered with a "You'll meet "someone" - I'm under the impression that the entire nation aside from the DC metro area is crawling with "someones" just ready to meet and marry me so that I can inflict a family event on my relatives) After the dinner, the polite conversation mercifully gave way to some serious boozing thanks to the open bar. And booze we did.

Now, I had always had the impression that my family was pretty straightlaced. It turns out that this impression was due to the fact that the majority of family events I have attended up until this point in time did not feature an open bar. My personal highlight of the reception occurred while I was talking to my parents (by the bar while we were waiting for yet another vodka and club).

This random cousin (a cousin of my cousin who I can count on one hand the number of times I've talked to), runs up to me, grabs my arm like we're drunken sophomores and screams, "Kimmmmm! You HAVE to come dance!!!" as the opening bars of "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" begin she squeals, "It's MEAT LOAF!!!!!!!".

And I'm proud to say, that in this moment of sheer confusion and excitement and screaming, I did what any drunken Figel would do. I ran with her to the dance floor and proceeded to take part in the boys versus girls dance off to the entire thirteen minutes of Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. I like to think that that the painful experience of watching the Meatloaf dance off spectacle helped add to the festivities by making everyone drink a wee bit more heavily. No matter how drunk I was, I know that during those 13 magical moments, the dance floor was not a pretty scene.

After we shut down the reception (which ended around 8 pm), the party continued with some crazy family filled (which featured both old family, and new family gained that day via the wedding) after hours fun which involved pizza and more vodka. By this point, my Dad and sister had faltered and retired to their hotel rooms to get some sleep (and sober up)However, Mom* and I continued to live strong, calling an end to the evening, as the party was winding down around hour 10 of drinking.

And that was my "My Cousins Wedding"