In something of a minor miracle, I’m actually managing to plan something three months in advance — rather amazing, considering I’m usually lucky if I plan something three hours in advance.

I received notice a few weeks ago that my friends Marc and Laura are going to be getting married this year, on Saturday, the 11th of September (apparently, when making reservations Laura was asked why they chose that particular date, and it was all she could do not to blurt out, “Because we’re a couple of SICK TWISTED FUCKS!!” — I do love my friends…). Seeing as how I’d actually like to be there for this event, if for no other reason to see whether the earth cracks open and swallows them both whole for daring to upset the order of nature in such a way, it seemed like it would be a good time to look into planning a vacation.

Plus, there are a couple of other important dates in that general area — specifically, my friend Erika’s birthday is the 12th, and my dad’s birthday is the 15th.

So, I’ve requested and been approved for a week off of work (paid, even, hooray for vacation time!). I don’t have actual airline tickets yet, since this is rent week, but that will come as soon as possible (gotta take advantage of the cheap airfares, after all). The current (rough, but probably close to accurate) plan is as follows:

Friday, Sept. 10th: swap shifts at work to work 10am-6pm or so. Get off work, head straight to the airport, and catch a 9-ish flight up to Anchorage. Get picked up (I hope) by either family or friends, crash out somewhere for the night.

Saturday, Sept. 11th: see my friends get hitched. Harass Marc for ordering a kilt to wear at his wedding, but then chickening out and not wearing it properly (at least, that’s what Laura has told me the current plan is…).

Sunday, Sept. 12th: celebrate Erika’s birthday. Take her out somewhere, get her nicely toasty, try to take advantage of her, and get shot down in flames (all in fun, though).

Monday, Sept. 13th / Tuesday, Sept. 14th: bum around, see friends and family.

Wednesday, Sept. 15th: celebrate dad’s birthday. No drunken debauchery this time, though. That’s just icky.

Thursday, Sept. 16th - Saturday, Sept. 18th: bum around, see friends and family.

Sunday, Sept. 19th: fly back home and return to the day-to-day drudgery of normal, non-vacation life.

I am so looking forward to this. I haven’t had a real vacation in years — generally, my other visits have been rather hasty, fit-it-in-over-a-weekend deals with a lot of running around, but very little actual relaxing involved. This should be far, far better.

iTunes: “Let It All Come Out” by Giblin, John/Simple Minds from the album Street Fighting Years (1989, 4:56).

[See also: Preparations | Upcoming events | Mid-trip notes (updated) | Vacation time | Incommunicado ]

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