Oy.

I’m pretty sure that’s about all the eloquence I can muster this morning.  Lemme try again.

Oy.

Yep, that’s it.

I kind of feel like I just got home from a whirlwind weekend trip to Cleveland, OH, whose biting winds and rains gusting off Lake Erie tried their damndest to blow me right back to North Carolina the entire time we were there.

Prepared was I not for winter to hit me after a mere 9 hour drive through picturesque North Carolina and West Virginia mountains, and it was probably somewhere along that invisible border between barbecue and banjos that I realized the most obvious item to pack — aside from the dress I planned on wearing to my friend Collin’s wedding — was still tucked safely inside my not-often-opened coat closet all the way back home.

Because it’s a coat.

A coat I forgot to bring.

To Cleveland.

And apparently I’m not the brightest crayon in the box.

Although I’d like to think of myself as more naively optimistic — like, if I think hard enough that it’s going to stay summer forever, it just might happen.

Either that, or we’ll get magical orders from the military to move to Hawaii.

Tomorrow.

So.  Despite the fact that I had no coat, we didn’t let that stop us from having a fantastic time at the wedding and exploring Cleveland in all its glory.

Especially thanks to this guy:

Remember my brother?

If I’m lucky, I get to see him every few years or so.  And this year, I’m very lucky.

Not only because we got to hang with my brother, but because he humored our need to brave the weather to see a famous movie house, eat the fanciest hot dog I’ve ever eaten, and sample nearly every flavor of martini under the sun.

Those posts are coming, I promise.

But for right now, I need to finish my coffee and stand under a steaming shower for about 45 minutes in order to prepare myself for venturing off to work.  Because I’m pretty sure I have to thaw before I can once again become a functioning member of non-vacationing society.

And that’s a major bummer.

(Not thawing — that will be nice.  But becoming a functioning member of non-vacationing society?  Total buzz kill.)