Soooo ... North Carolina {Pictures - Even Of Me - Included}

We finally managed to leave Baltimore at about 2pm. I won't even bother going into the details of what we went through. By the time we managed to get a rental car, grab breakfast brunch, and fight traffic, I was exhausted. Thankfully, Funmie was driving. We were supposed to get there at 8:30pm, but because of the traffic, we got there at 10:03pm. While Funmie drove, I kicked Mother Nature, Sleep in her breasts as I fought tooth and nail to stay awake and keep Funmie company. It was in the last 30 minutes of the journey that I gave up as Mother Nature's breasts were just too comfy.

Funmie's attempt at looking sad while we were waiting for out rental car

Funmie at the wedding ... looking gorgeous!

While I drove back to Baltimore, however, Funmie fell asleep 30 minutes into the journey and did not wake up till we got back home --- except when we stopped to refill our gas and when she woke up every now and then to give me a thumbs up or ask if I was okay. While she slept, I secretly took a picture of her with her mouth open, gum sitting on her tongue. Not sexy at all. This picture can kill a man's libido. If she does not buy me a pair of shoes, the picture goes up! You say blackmail. I say getting what I deserve. Semantics, really.

North Carolina was totally awesome! It was Aribaba's pleasure to have me and Funmie inconvenience him for an entire weekend. How often does that happen to him? It was our first road trip, so we were everything from excited to nervous to eager. We went for Chichi's wedding. You may not know her, of course, but she and her husband, Joe were one of the couples featured in this year's Show Me Your Love Valentine Blog Event - yes, right here on Verastic! 

You may kiss your bride ... mwah!

Funmie and Chichi

I don't know who was blushing more between this husband & wife

It was through the Show Me Your Love event that I knew Chichi. Prior to her sending her picture, we had never seen or spoken to each other. When it was time for her wedding, she requested my presence, and I was honored to be there. So, of course, I had to physically go to the table with Funmie and say, "Hi, my name is Vera Ezimora." The rest is history, I guess.  The wedding was so much fun! Aribaba and I did renditions of our fathers' dances. Too bad they were not there to see how much we have emulated them. Funmie concluded for the umpteenth time that she needs an Igbo husband. My fine Igbo men, where are you???

Show them what you got, Chichi!

The Funmie & Aribaba smiling competition

Needless to say, I was so proud of myself for driving all the way from Charlotte, North Carolina to Baltimore, Maryland (seven whole hours!) that I am now considering a major career change. It's about time I applied for a managerial position at Greyhound. Or Osondu as Mr. Shoes suggested. Either way, I will be cruising a luxurious bus near you. Don't suspend all your travel plans till further notice as Mr. Shoes said he would. Instead, trust me to deliver you safely --- hopefully. 

OMG! A picture of me! ***Now hyperventilating*** Someone, please call 911

DISCLAIMER: The fact that I attended Chichi's wedding in North Carolina should not give anyone the impetus to start inviting me everywhere!!! I've just always wanted to say impetus. But my point remains. Tehehe.

In A North Carolina State Of Mind

At some point today, Funmie and I will be travelling to North Carolina. We should have been on our way last night, but as whatever would have it, we are still here ... in Baltimore.  We've run into all sorts of complications from not having round trip tickets to not having enough money to not having enough proof of residence to rent a car (apparently, a license, car title, and car registration are all not enough proof). You name it, we don suffer am.

So, yes, we are now stuck here in Baltimore - on empty stomachs, by the way - wondering what to do next. We were hoping to be two hours into our trip by now, but see me see motorcycle, we are looking at the clock ticking by. By fire, by rain, we will get to North Carolina today.

My mom has been doing her job, of course, telling me, "You and Funmie better take public transport! Because the road to North Carolina is very, very narrow! Very, very narrow! You better take public transport oh! Hmmm!" I have wondered, of course, if the road to North Carolina becomes narrow from here (Baltimore) all the way to North Carolina, or if one little part is narrow. It doesn't really matter. As for this road trip, consider it done. We must do it.

I am not known for packing light, but for this trip, I have tried to respect myself by not packing as if I'm moving into Aribaba's house. Oh, did I mention I'll be staying with Aribaba? Yeah, so I have packed only one luggage (with the exception of my bag of shoes, my laptop bag, my camera bag, and my hand bag. Not bad, huh?). I only have two pairs of shoes (unlike the other times I've traveled with about five or six pairs of shoes for only about five days).  Funmie has six pairs of shoes, and yes, we're spending only two nights. Go figure. Gotta go now. Was hoping to put a picture up, but you don't want to know under which duress I am typing this post.

He Kissed Me

Friday, April 16th 2010 was a life-changing day for me. There I was, standing, listening to him, captivated by his smile and playful personality, hanging on to every melody that his lips sang, and then it happened: suddenly, we were all alone, he stood in front of me, gazed into my eyes, his perfect white teeth exposed. He took my hands in his and our hands locked as our fingers intertwined in perfect harmony. Then, he kissed me. Passionately.

That's one version of the story. The other version is: Timaya was in Annapolis, Maryland on Friday, April 16th 2010 for a live concert. As I - like many other frantic fans - stood close to the stage, cheering him on and dancing along to his beautiful songs, he held my right hand and kissed it. But I prefer the first version of the story. 

So, I did not know that I'm such a Timaya fan. In fact, Mr. Shoes gave me his CD since last year, and until Saturday, I had not bothered to listen to it. Bracket and Timaya were in town, and I am so glad that I got to do. Bracket performed first. I thought they did a good job --- until Timaya hit the stage. He was playful, lively, silly, fun, and all around 'totally awesome!'

And he was quite naughty, too. He bopped a girls head back and forth to insinuate that she was going down on him --- and she was just an attendee (like me), but I think she enjoyed it. One girl, also an attendee, touched his chest, but Timaya, in his generosity, helped her by moving her hand to his groin. I won't bother talking about what he did on stage with another girl. I'll just say that when Timaya says [paraphrased], 'I need a girl on stage. If you're underage, please don't come. I might do something funny,' you should probably request that Mr. Timaya define funny.  Unless, of course, you're looking forward to the humor of the something funny.

But that's not important. The important thing is that I got kissed by Timaya. And it is imperative that you remember the first paragraph of this post as the true, original version of this story.  Oh, I guess I could mention that he also did dash Funmie a kiss on her hand. After the show, Funmie and I were ecstatic! We held our heads - and our right hands - high the entire night. I even promised not to wash my right hand for the rest of April. Maybe for the rest of 2010. We took pictures of the famous hands; who knows, you might see them in the kissing hall of fame one of these days. 

The famous hands. Mine is the one on the left. Not quite sure why my pinky sticks out like that.

The famous hands were passionately kissing. Fox News might call this, too, a "terrorist fist jab".

My family has a strict kiss-and-marry rule, so I should probably contact Timaya and tell him that he is now obligated  (by law and by force) to pay my dowry.   But while I'm doing that, why don't you go ahead and watch this video of Timaya kissing me. It was recorded on Funmie's Blackberry Bold 9700 (you know, the phone I have been day dreaming about!). Unfortunately, I don't have good pictures of Timaya because right after Bracket finished performing, my Nikon D40X decided to breathe its last breath. It will be dropped off at Best Buy tomorrow. I'm camera-less ... for now. Thankfully, however, I'm open to receiving the Nikon D90 as a Vera,-you-totally-deserve-this! gift *batting eye lashes*

As you watch the video, begin to pay particular attention from one minute and 30 seconds (1:30). Enjoy.  Needless to say, I love the song that is playing.

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