Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 20: Stuck On The Moon, Part 2

 Stuck On The Moon, Part 2

Just as Noah's cane poked through the curtain, I heard the pastor speaking to the congregation, directly behind it. I took in a deep breath, grabbed Noah's bicep, and squeezed a little harder than I had intended. Noah stepped back in response, and the same staff member who had directed us before whispered, “Oh, sorry! Second door on the left!”

Fifteen minutes later, after Emilia and Jake were married, the cocktail hour started. It was just sodas, as it was a dry wedding, but they were all really good. A guy named Mason, who was also partially blind, had been told by Emilia to find Noah. See, the night before, Emilia had brailed the entire wedding schedule for Noah. Mason, Noah, and I were at table 12, with a few other people. Braden, his girlfriend Lila, a guy named Tommy, and his pregnant wife Sam. Everybody at the table volunteered with a Pittsburgh-based blind sports non-profit called Invision. The bridal party entered; Emilia and Jake had their first dance, and we had dinner. All the while, Noah and I informed our table about the events of Part 1.

Lila led the charge, and after a couple of dances, the entire table had volunteered to bring us back to Sheetz to try to jump the car, since Dad thought it was a battery issue. The only people who did not offer to help were Tommy and Sam, but obviously that's fair; she's pregnant. We took some pictures with Emilia and Jake, then drove back to the Sheetz. When we got back to the Sheetz, we realized Lila's car battery was on the opposite side of mine, and the jumper cables wouldn't reach. A car was parked next to mine in the most convenient spot for the jumper cables. I got into my car, put it in neutral, and everyone pushed it backward into a disabled spot; almost as soon as that happened, the car parked in the convenient spot pulled out. We tried to jump the car using Lila's car about three times, but it didn't work. Around then, a girl named Camille came up and offered her diagnostic plug-in to see what was wrong.

The diagnostics showed mostly tech issues, and as we were freaking out, a guy in a big pickup truck came up, asked what was going on, and managed to jump-start my car. Noah and I jumped in the car and drove (very shakily, I might add) to the gas pump. The plan was to drive all the way back to Columbus, but as I filled up… I wasn’t that confident that we’d make it. I plugged in Noah’s address, and as soon as I shared my ETA with Mom and Paige, the car died again. Lila has AAA, so I called her right away. 

As we waited for the AAA guy to get there, Noah had to go to the bathroom. I guided him there, but it was a pretty easy route to where I was, so he made it back on his own. When the car initially broke down, I told Paige it had. But because the WiFi at the venue and at the lake was so bad, we couldn’t really communicate. About eight cars were parked in the row behind the gas pumps. The cars belonged to a group of teenagers. I sent Paige a 4 min voice message, and during the message the teenagers started honking their horns. Individually at first. Then, slowly but surely, all at once. At the same time, Noah came out of the bathroom, and he was very overwhelmed by the sounds. The voice message that I sent to Paige as a result was very chaotic.

When the AAA guy finally arrived, I FaceTimed Dad again, and eventually the AAA guy told us he didn't believe the car would make it back to Columbus. So he drove us to a hotel where we stayed the night, and the next day, Mom and Dad drove to Pittsburgh to pick us up with Dad's trailer. Two more things happened while we were at the hotel. Firstly, Noah and I were drinking and eating a snack that we had left, and we were laughing so hard about the situation. Then I started to choke, and I threw up. That’s right, I threw up on the moon! Secondly, the only hotel rooms available had one bed. In the middle of the night, I rolled over, and Noah’s back was to me. I forgot what was going on, so seeing the back of some random guy’s head was very horrifying!

I’m a very positive person, or at least I try to be. It feels like everywhere you turn nowadays, something horrible is going on, and the world has completely fallen apart. I’m not going to say being stuck on the moon was fun… well, that’s kinda a lie. Noah made it fun, but the event itself was obviously stressful. But with all the people who came to our aid, I was once again reminded that not everything is as bad as it seems!

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

As you may recall, on the fourth of July 2025 (Give Me Fireworks Or Give Me Death 2 Part 2: The Fan-Club), I had a similar car issue, and Dad had a car guy fix it. Ironically, that day was the day that Emilia and Jake got engaged. Mom is very negative about this guy because Dad has had him fix other cars, and within roughly a year the same issues that he fixes seem to pop up again. The Monday after the wedding was Labor Day. My cousin Austin had taken my brothers on a cross-country road trip that weekend too. Austin and Dad spent the entire Monday looking at my car. By the end of the day, Austin (at the very least) agreed with Mom, but either way, I needed a car for work the next day.

I went to my parents' house for dinner, and my parents had brought Mom’s 2005 Odyssey from the studio for me to take until Dad could fix my car. Right before dinner, Paige’s brother Brennan dropped her off. When Paige and I were ready to go home, I told her I wanted to test-drive the Odyssey before we left so I could get a feel for it. I drove to the funeral home parking lot up the street (where Shana's funeral had been held), and I tried to drive around. The parking lot was too small for me to get comfortable. I then thought back on when Papa taught me how to drive. I drove a few blocks to Whetstone High School, where Papa had taught me.

I have a ton of very specific memories tethered to this parking lot. I grew up in the area, so there are a lot of things I haven't written about. In terms of my writing, though, this parking lot is where the climax of The Greattastic Adventures 2: Fractured takes place. It is also where Lily and I went skateboarding on her last night working at my Kroger (Goodbye Lily). But the most prominent memory I have there is Papa teaching me how to drive there (Play Another Song). As I practiced driving a bigger car than I’m used to, I heard Papa’s voice in my head reminding me to stay in the moment and stay calm. With that boost and practice in this familiar space, I drove the Honda with confidence until I got my car back!

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 19: Stuck On The Moon, Part 1

 Stuck On The Moon, Part 1

This 2-parter is dedicated to a classmate’s mom (Sheila Tuttle), who passed away during the events of the end-credit scene in part 2. While I didn’t know her that well anymore, she had a pretty big impact on my early life, and she will be dearly missed.

In the installment Friends Of Noah, I introduced you to another blind athlete named Emilia, and her fiancé Jake, from Pittsburgh. Sometime between Paige and me getting back from the honeymoon and my birthday, Noah invited me to Emilia and Jake's wedding as his plus one. Paige wanted to come with us on the road trip because she has some family in Pittsburgh (dad’s side), so she would hang out with them during the wedding. Unfortunately (or fortunately, in the long run), Paige had a family reunion (mom’s side) that same weekend, so she chose to go to that instead… This was a dry wedding. Noah added a six-pack of beer to his Kroger order for the trip so we could have a couple of drinks before the ceremony (bride-sanctioned, of course). Noah and I aren't very timely people, and because it was such a long drive, we planned for me to arrive at his house (nicknamed Roger) at 10:00 a.m., go to Kroger immediately after, and then hit the road (the wedding started at 3:30).

On Saturday September 5th 2026, I dropped Paige off at her parents’ house at 7:15, I returned home by 7:30, posted Bad Days 2, showered, arrived at my parents’ house to get my suit coat at 9:45, arrived at Noah's right at 10:00, went to Kroger to pick up the order at 10:15, went to the bathroom, and headed out at 10:30. We made a pit stop in Cambridge Ohio, and our ETA was then at 2:00 pm. From there, everything was pretty uneventful until we got to Steubenville, Ohio. I took a couple of wrong turns before crossing into West Virginia, which pushed our ETA to about 2:15; still not bad. Once we were finally in Pennsylvania, we discussed stopping for food and changing into our suits. The plan was: get food, keep driving while we eat, and then change into our suits at a gas station. After talking about it we decided to stop at Chick-fil-A. I added that to my route, and it said that it only added 5 minutes. It wasn't until we were almost upon it that I realized, for some reason, Apple Maps had decided to take us to the Chick-fil-A at the Pittsburgh Airport. 

I pulled over and did a little more searching, and we eventually decided the best place to go would be a Sheetz Gas station, so we could change and get food there. Also, it was 10 minutes from their venue, so if I filled up there, we would basically go home on a full tank. I parked the car, we got our suits, and walked to the bathroom, taking up both stalls. I finished before Noah, and a guy walked in and took my stall. As if on cue, Queen’s You’re My Best Friend started playing, and Noah and I began singing it at each other. It wasn't until later, when I thought back on it, that I realized how weird it probably was for the guy in the stall. My wedding shoes were still in the car, and we put our regular clothes into Noah's backpack. We went to order food, and I told Noah to wait there while I got in my car, got my shoes on, and got gas. I put my key in the ignition, and it would not turn over. Even though it was still in park, it acted like it was in neutral, and it rolled over a curb. The bumper on my car is really crappy, and I've had issues with it since that kid ran the red and hit me in Bad Days 1, so when the car ran over the curb, the bumper started to pop off. I told Noah, We managed to push my car back over the curb and pop the hood.  By this point it was 3:10, and Noah let Emilia know what was going on, while I FaceTimed Dad. Dad asked me if someone could hold my phone while I tried to turn it on so he could see what was going on with the engine. I found two ladies in the parking lot and asked for their help. Dad thought that my battery was corroded, and he asked how we were doing on time. I explained that the ceremony started in 10 minutes, and the ladies offered to drive Noah and me there.

The ladies were 2 sisters named Tricia and Tracy. As we ate and finished getting ready, we told them what was going on, and they commented that this was a very Wedding Crashers situation. On the drive, Tricia said, “If anyone asks you where the car is, tell them you are at the Sheetz in Moon Township.”

“Wait,” I said, “So you're telling me that we got stuck on the moon?”

Everybody laughed, and we continued our drive to the venue. The venue was called The Fez, and Noah and I walked in at 3:37. “So much for being on time,” Noah laughed. We walked in, and the whiteboard read “The Wedding of Whitney and Jeff.” I was clearly confused, and one of the event staff asked us what wedding we were going to. As soon as we said "Emilia and Jake," they directed us down a hallway and told us that it was the first door on the left. 

Directly behind that door was a curtain with images of trees on it. I had opened the door, and Noah had let go of my elbow to walk through. Just as Noah's cane poked through the curtain, I heard the pastor speaking to the congregation, directly behind it. Wedding Crashers indeed, I thought.

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 18: Mitchmas (29), Part 3: Elizabeth’s B-day

  Mitchmas (29), Part 3: Elizabeth’s B-day

On Thursday, September 3rd 2026, after my coworker Elizabeth had left for the day, our other coworkers, Kaylee and Emily, and a couple others, decorated Elizabeth's classroom for her 37th birthday. We had accidentally gotten 50th birthday branded stuff and so we decided to commit to the bit. Immediately after we had finished I went down to the studio to get my car checked out (it would not be enough as you will see in the following installment), and then I went to Kroger to get a cake.

Paige and my refrigerator is not big enough for the cake and the rest of our necessities, so I drove to Emily's apartment. When I got there I said hi to all three of Emily's kids, two of whom I had met before. Before I left, the youngest one, who I had never met before, gave me a kiss on the cheek which was really cute! The next day, Elizabeth's birthday, after work I recorded Bad Days 2, and then drove to Emily's girlfriend, Kira’s house. Emily, Kaylee, Kira and I hung out for about 30 minutes, before it was time for us to drive to Smash Park (which I hilariously thought was a rage room). The day before I had asked Emily for the address for Smash Park before I asked for her address. I ended up being 15 minutes late because I drove to Emily's apartment instead of Smash Park, because it was the last address in our text thread.

When I arrived at Smash Park, I was greeted by Elizabeth, her two kids, and her boyfriend Joel. Afterwards we found a table and ordered our dinner. Everyone laughed when I got ready to order because I had to order off the kids menu. Seriously, it needs to be the kids AND the ‘tism menu! Anyway, the workers saw the cake that we brought in and gave her a second dessert so we sang happy birthday twice. 

The second time, with the cake I brought we put a 50 candle on the cake. “ WHATS WITH ALL THE 50s?” She exclaimed. 

“Oh,” I said, “50 years ago was when the vampire bit you!” Yeah I’m fully convinced Elizabeth is a vampire, but that’s another story. 

After dinner we went to the arcade. Everybody got those Photo Booth strips with Elizabeth individually. After we played the arcade games we went outside and played a couple of different games. I played ping pong with Elizabeth and I was really really bad at it. Then I played that ring toss game with the little metal rings on the strings with the hooks on the wall. I, of course, broke the string by accident.

This Mitchmas 3 parter has functioned a little differently than previous years. There is one reason that will not be important until next year, but presently, I wrote them like this for a separate reason. As I’ve mentioned before for obvious reasons, Covid-19, had lasting ramifications outside of the actual pandemic. The biggest impact on my life was that my “sisters” and I got stuck in this weird limbo between our childhood and our adulthood. And almost as soon as life unpaused,  August got pregnant Arden and Marshall got engaged/married and I started dating Paige. In other words, because of the speed at which everything happened, it felt like three years of character development happened in basically the course of six months (if you count, Arden and Marshall’s engagement and private elopement as a singular event) and that put a lot of strain on our friend group. 

While everything with the Andersons has leveled out (and honestly things are better with them than they ever have been), my confidence growing up was tethered to my relationship with them. We're still tight, but we're now able to have our own lives. And because we are not around each other  as much as we used to be, for the last few years I have not been able to unlock my full confidence unless I'm around the Anderson women, Paige, Noah, recently Elena, and my family. 

Another thing that was a little stunted by Covid was my mission to make friends. I met Noah at the end of 2019 and while Noah is one of my best friends in the entire world now, at the time the intention was for him to be a starting point. Not that I wouldn't pursue our friendship to the fullest, but I would use our friendship as a template for making friends post Arden’s initial move to Colorado. When Covid hit Noah and I (and yes, we have talked about this) got comfortable in our friendship. Which isn’t a bad thing; again I love Noah. But I have still wanted a friend group (and ideally more than one) so that my confidence can be more consistent across the board. What I’m saying is that as we celebrated Elizabeth’s birthday, I thought about how thankful I am for this group and all the people that make my life greattastic! 

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 17: Mitchmas (29), Part 2: A Quick Trip To Orlando

 Mitchmas (29), Part 2: A Quick Trip To Orlando

Key: In this installment, Paige B is my cousin Paige and Austin B is her husband.

My grandma on my dad’s side turned 80 on July 27th. The following week my parents, Grandma, and my grandpa Joe went to Belize. Pop-pop’s 80th birthday was on August 24. All things being equal, my family decided to take a quick trip down to Orlando to celebrate his birthday.

I got home on Friday August 21st at 4:20, and as soon as I walked in, I realized Paige had gotten a haircut. We left the apartment at 4:45, and 20 minutes later we were at Kobolt. We flew on Breeze, which is the replacement budget airline after Spirit went under. It was about the same expense. We got to Eva and Zach’s at close to midnight that night, and after we hung out with them and I cleaned my finger (I was still recovering from the events of Bad Days 2), we went to bed. 

The next day, we spent the morning setting up Eva’s house for Pop-pop’s party. Eva, Mom, Dad, Paige, and I set up these little paper flowers and other decorations. Zach, Ryan, and Luke got food and photos, while Josh did lawn work, and then we all hung the photos up. 

Around 3:45, Pop-pop and Sara arrived, and the party started at 4:00. The people who I knew at the party were some of Dad‘s cousins, Martin and Pam and Martin’s parents, my Aunt Alicia, Uncle Paul, Alexander, Austin, Paige and Austin B, their kids, Bentley and Piper, and one of Pop-pop’s old friends, Deb, who visited Columbus with Pop-pop shortly after Ryan was born. Everyone else (excluding Sara‘s children and grandchildren), was from about 3 different friend groups Pop-pop is part of, and most of them had never met each other

People started leaving around 6:30, shortly after Paige B took the kids home to bed. The only people left were Eva & Zach, my parents and brothers, Pop-pop, Sara, Aunt Alicia, Uncle Paul, Austin, and obviously Paige. Everyone went into the pool for a late-night swim. 

As we swam, Pop-pop put his mouth on the end of his pool noodle and shot water out of the other end at Dad. This started an all-out brawl. As I got out of the pool, because the water was too much for my finger, I looked at my family. I think we tend to have a lot of fun when we are together, but it was amazing to see my 80-year-old grandpa playing with my dad and my siblings and having the time of his life.

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 16.5: Visitors At Work

 Visitors At Work

On Thursday, August 20th, 2026, after I picked Paige up from work, Mom called me. She was checking on how we were doing with packing for a trip we were going on the next day. In the middle of that phone call, Arden called me. For obvious reasons, I ignored the phone call, but then I forgot to call her afterward because I had to finish packing.

The next morning, I texted her to say I was sorry I missed the call, and she said it was okay. She also told me her parents, Rich and Barbara, were in town and trying to get a wedding gift for Paige and me, to us. Our flight was at 6:15, so we had to be at the airport by 5:00. With that in mind, I told them I probably couldn’t get it that day. 

At 12:20, I got a message from one of the front desk ladies. I got switched out of my classroom and went up to the lobby. As I walked into the lobby, I saw Rich and Barbara walking towards the entrance. The last time I saw them was last Thanksgiving (False Safety or Right Where We Left Off (Refresher). And while it took me a week to actually open the present, it was really nice to see them (even if it was just for two minutes) 

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 16: Mitchmas (29), Part 1: The Stuff Of Legend

 Mitchmas (29), Part 1: The Stuff Of Legend  

At the end of my meeting with Elana on July 21st, she started asking me about my birthday plans. I was planning on going on a peddle wagon downtown, and initially I had been planning on inviting Elana. Since she had told me she was pregnant 20 minutes before this and she wouldn’t be able to drink, I knew she wouldn’t have fun. Noah always comes to my family birthday dinner, but this year he was out of town. Since I wanted to reconnect with Elana’s boyfriend, Leo, anyway, to fill the void left by Noah, I invited Elana and Leo to dinner.

As you may recall last year, I got a venti-sized version of my Starbucks drink and immediately spilled it in the New Story parking lot. On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, after I picked Paige up from work, she walked over to Giant Eagle and bought me a canned Starbucks coffee so that the same thing wouldn’t happen again. 

The next day, I called Mom after work to talk about dinner for that night, and then I ordered the free birthday coffee from Starbucks. I got home at 4:00, put the coffee in the fridge, and then, at about 5:45, Paige and I got in the car. We drove to Barnes & Noble as we did last year. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I have been listening to audiobooks because if I’m not reading something that I’ve written, I feel like I’m being lazy. I’m going to Barnes & Noble constantly to fill up my physical book collection. I only got 1 book this year. It’s called The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. It’s the first book in a duology, and it’s about a journalist who interviews a convicted killer who was released from prison because he is about to die of old age anyway. After the duology, there is a robust spinoff series following a pretty major supporting character, which I also really enjoyed (though after doing research for this installment, I realized I have not finished the entire series). 

After we got the book, we drove right across the parking lot to a restaurant called Bravo. Paige and I arrived first, then Elana and Leo, followed by my brothers, and finally, Mom and Dad. After dinner, we went to my parents' house for cake and some gifts. 

As I’ve said before, since 2021 (Season 4), I have written a version of this installment every year (except for 2022). It’s always about my family going out to dinner with Noah. As Paige, Elana, Leo, and I walked out of my parents' house, Elana turned to me. “Are you writing about this?” She asked 

“Of course,” I exclaimed.

“WOW, so I get to be Noah this time!” She smiled. 

“Yeah, I guess,” I laughed. 

“It’s just kinda crazy. I’ve been listening to you talk about this dinner for years,” Elana explained, “and now that I’m here, I feel like I’m the stuff of legend!” 

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 15: Shane‘s Bachelor Party

 Shane’s Bachelor Party

One night in October of 2021, I was on a cart shift at Kroger. My partner on this cart shift was Shane (this was before he became my roommate). None of our shifts had lined up since I got the restraining order on my crazy ex, Ishana, so I was catching him up on my time in court and the verdict. I had met Shane the previous August, when Ishana was actively stalking me, and on Shane and my second shift working together, she showed up at Kroger. All this to say, my relationship drama dominated Shane and my early conversations. As I finished the story and was able to step away from this traumatic situation, a thought occurred to me. “Shane,” I asked, “are you in a relationship?” Shane immediately smiled and said, “Yes! I’m dating a girl named Jessica…” He paused, brought up his ring finger, pointed at it, and continued, “and soon she’s going to be more than just my girlfriend.” 

On Saturday, August 15th, 2026, I dropped Paige off with my cousins (they had invited us to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day), and I drove to a place called Put Hut. 

I got to Put Hut at 6:30 and walked in after I found parking. Put Hut (from what I can tell) had two major features. Firstly, it had a full putt-putt course. Secondly and more interestingly, the center of the building was dedicated to… well, it was like if a bowling alley and Topgolf had a baby. It had all these “ bowling lanes,” and you would hit the golf ball down the lane, and there were different Topgolf-esque games you could play.  I met all of the groom's party, which included Shane’s best man (Jesse), 2 of Shane’s other groomsmen (Matthew- who I believe is Jessica's brother-in-law- and a friend of Shane’s named Henry, though the relationships could be swapped). I was also reintroduced to Jessica’s brother Nick, who I met when Shane and Jessica got engaged (he will be officiating the wedding). We played a few rounds of the bowling Topgolf fusion game before we decided to go to Dave & Buster’s for dinner and to play some more games. 

After dinner, we played in the arcade for like 4 hours. The whole time I couldn’t stop staring at Shane. See, Shane and Jessica got engaged back in 2022 (Proposal On Gleason Road). Since then, there have been a handful of false starts with planning the wedding. I have always loved weddings, even before my own. Ever since Shane told me he was planning on proposing to Jessica back in October of 2021, and even more so since I helped them actually get engaged, I have been really looking forward to their wedding. I spent the night of Shane’s bachelor party in awe and excitement that the wedding is finally happening! 

Have a Greattastic day and be safe,

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 14: Bad Days 2

 Bad Days 2

Before we get into this installment, I need to tell you about my bad habit of biting my nails. I’ve been wanting to stop, and Paige REALLY wants me to, but I still haven't been able to kick the habit.

I returned to work for the 2026-27 school year on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026, and in the two weeks between that and Nicole’s wedding, not much happened because Paige and I spent most of those two weeks recovering from our summer-long honeymoon. In other words, I was ready for school to start. Another reason is that New Story started a mentorship program. The idea is that veteran staff members mentor incoming staff. I am a mentor, and I was looking forward to that new role. 

In the two weeks before the kiddos showed up, we were told that this year we are having some teachers from Kenya come into the school. With those teachers, we became fully staffed. Unfortunately, there was an issue, and now they will be starting sporadically throughout the first month and a half of school. The classroom I support was assigned a teacher from Kenya, so it was my and my coworker Lexi’s responsibility to get the classroom set up for the start-of-year open house. 

On the day of the open house, Thursday, August 13th, Lexi and I were a little behind because we didn’t have the help we usually get from a teacher in the room. A ton of people came together to help us get ready, and during that time the principal came in and told me our teacher would be starting the following Tuesday (the 18th), and that she would be fully trained the week after. In the meantime, I would be running the classroom! I was honored that my boss trusted me enough to give me this temporary promotion, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little anxious about it. 

Shortly after my boss told me the news, my wedding ring started bothering me; it just felt really tight. Now, at this point, Paige and I had been married for only 3 months, and most of that was our honeymoon, so my anxiety was relatively low. Therefore, I assumed my sudden aversion to the ring was due to sensory overload as a result of anxiety… boy was I wrong.

That night, I struggled to get my ring off my finger before bed, and I only managed it because I used some soap; I also noticed the tip of my finger was a bit swollen. I woke up at 1:00 a.m. in excruciating pain, and the only way I was able to get back to sleep was by using my thighs to apply pressure to my hand. When I woke the next morning, I couldn’t fit the ring back on even with soap. When I got to work, my coworkers, Joel and Elizabeth, gave me ibuprofen and told me to see the nurse. The nurse then told me that my finger was infected. 

I scheduled an appointment for 4:10 at the CVS Minute Clinic by the school. They were running behind, so I finally got in around 4:30. I had a lot of recording to do (I had fallen a bit behind with the honeymoon content), so I ordered my prescription (an antibiotic and an ointment) to a Walgreens in my area. When I walked in at 5:30, I went right to the pharmacy and they said that they didn’t have the prescription!

I called the CVS, and they said they were closed (which I knew they weren’t). I drove all the way back up there, and when I explained the situation to the cashier, he told me, “You need to make another appointment!”

I knew that wasn't a thing, so I started arguing with the cashier. When the cashier wouldn't budge, I caved and scheduled another appointment. After 20 more minutes of waiting, I realized I wasn't going to make it to Walgreens before they closed, so I went to the CVS pharmacy and explained the situation. 

“You didn't have to make another appointment,” the pharmacist said.

“That's what I said,” I growled, as the ibuprofen Joel had given me had completely worn off at this point. The pharmacist called the Doctor, and I waited the 20 minutes before she was done with her current patient so we could get the prescriptions sent to this Pharmacy. After we had figured it out, I got more ibuprofen and waited for the prescription to get filled.

3 hours later, I was still waiting! At that time, Paige had gotten off work and walked to Luke and Josh’s house. When Josh finally drove Paige home, she called me and asked what was going on. At her prompting, I went to the pharmacy again. The pharmacist said,  “So your antibiotic is here, but we're waiting on the ointment.”

“When is the ointment going to be ready?” I asked hesitantly.

“Monday afternoon,” she said matter-of-factly. 

“Can I have the antibiotic,” I said through gritted teeth, “And then come back for the ointment?”

“Sure!” She said, smiling.

I was very frustrated because they hadn't called me up, but at least I knew I was on the road to recovery… Or so I thought. The next day was Shane's bachelor party (which is worthy of an installment in and of itself), and while it was fun, my finger was bugging me the entire time. The day after that, it looked way too disgusting for me to describe to you. I went to Paige's parents' house to pick up some stuff, and my sister-in-law Yvanna was there. She's a PA. When she saw my finger, she told me to keep an eye on it, and if the inflammation moved any further down my finger, then I would “need to get it lanced.” 

On Monday, August 17th, 2026, I was recording Summer Long Honeymoon, Part 4: Nicole’s Wedding. After recording the paragraph about the bridal party entering the reception, I stood up to get a drink of water and hit my hand really hard on the side of my desk, and I could see that there was some internal bleeding. I FaceTimed Yvanna, and she confirmed that it needed to be lanced. I called Mom, and she said to meet at their house so she could come with me, as Paige was at work. 

I won't describe this procedure. It was incredibly gross to see and even more painful! I was given a different antibiotic and a wrap that I had to wear from this point through Mitchmas (29) Part 1: The Stuff Of Legend, Visitors At Work, and Mitchmas (29) Part 2: A Quick Trip To Orlando. And the kicker was that the only pharmacy open was that same CVS that I had been stuck at the beginning of this ordeal! 

As we drove to the CVS, I thought back to the events of Bad Days 1. As a refresher, in the fall of 2024, within a 30-hour period, a guy ran a red light and hit me; I popped my tire; independently of the car crash, I got pink eye; had to Lyft to the minute clinic, and my phone died while I was waiting for the prescription to get filled, so I couldn’t Lyft back home. At the end of that event, I couldn’t help but laugh at how stupidly horrible it had been. While this situation was a lot more straightforward, it was way more painful. And yet, I still couldn’t help but laugh. Life’s too short to not find comedy in painful moments. 

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 13: #FreeArden

 Season 10 Blog 13: #FreeArden

If you recall, The Kid Khronicles #4- Failures In Van Life, happened approximately a month after Paige and my wedding and Nicole's wedding was about a month after that. In that month, Arden and I, (and Paige as much as her schedule allowed), hung out a lot. We spent a lot of time at Metro Parks, and she and Marshall actually came to the Red White & Boom party. But the craziest thing that happened, happened within her first 2 weeks. On Monday, June 15th, as Paige and I drove to go out to dinner for our 1 month wedding anniversary, Kid and Arden spent one last night hanging out. The next day (Tuesday, June 16th), Kid officially left for her big road trip. While I am planning on catching you up with Kid later, she spent the majority of her first month on the road staying with August and Emerald.

Feeling sad that Kid was now heading to Colorado (oh, how the tables have turned), Arden texted me and asked if I wanted to meet her at the Park of Roses. I said yes and I drove to meet her. Arden and I spent a lot of time there hanging out, and we got dinner with Paige one of the nights that week. 

During this time, Arden told me about some of the weird occurrences that were happening with the person who owned the Airbnb she was staying at. 

Now I am not here to expose this woman as what was going on, in and of itself, was not important to the story. Within the first few days, Arden got a weird sense of foreboding whenever she was there. Despite having this Columbus job, on the weekends Arden would return home to Cincinnati. On Thursday, June 25th, (which for continuity was the day before the last day of summer school), Arden and I were hanging out once again. In the three nights since she had been back in town, that feeling of foreboding had intensified. While still protecting this woman's and Arden’s privacy, basically she was invading some of Arden's boundaries. 

“I don't want to make her feel bad by just leaving,” Arden said trying to be kind, “But I just…” 

“Don't feel comfortable,” I interrupted. “And I don't feel comfortable for you.”

“What should I do?” She asked.

“You should move out right now!” I said.

“What if there's a confrontation!” she exclaimed.

“Well, then, I'll go with you!” I said.

Unfortunately for Arden, as we headed to our cars to go get her stuff I started chanting “#freearden,” which only exacerbated her anxiety. We drove to this Airbnb, and when we arrived, Arden told me to wait outside and she walked in. I don't know what we were expecting. We definitely weren't planning on getting into a fist fight with this woman, but we assumed that she would at least yell at Arden. Almost as soon as Arden walked into the house, Arden walked back outside and began laughing.

“Mitchell,” she said, “She's asleep!” 

I covered my mouth because I knew if I started laughing, I would have woken this lady up. I couldn't help but think the climax of this made it somehow better. Like the way we amped it up so much in our heads that the idea that she could be asleep didn't even cross our minds. And I thought that was hilarious! 

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 12: Congratulations Elena

 Congratulations Elena

“And I’d say that's about it,” I said to Elena when I finished the story 2 hours after we met up. “The next morning I woke up early, and you had texted me.” 

“That's awesome,” Elana said, “ sounds like you had an amazing summer!”

“So,” I asked, changing the subject, “I feel like I've been talking about me this whole time! Seriously, how have you been?” 

“Well,” she said, “I told you this summer has been interesting.”

“Yeah?” I replied. 

“I’m pregnant,” she said. And I immediately remembered the decaf coffee, and I clocked how she had reacted when I told her about Marshall messing with me about Arden being pregnant and when I told her about Sabrina‘s actual pregnancy. When I had mentioned each, she had tensed up a bit (apparently because she was thinking about her own). 

“Oh my gosh!” I said, “Congratulations!” 

“Thank you,” she replied. 

“I do have to ask…” I said, “I thought you and Anthony broke up?”

When I reconnected with Elena at Thread of Hope in October of 2025, she told me that she had been dating a guy named Anthony for the last few years. When we met up for coffee a couple days after Paige and I got back from our New York trip, I expressed wanting to meet him and maybe go on a double date. When I invited Elena and Anthony to go out when I got my SBT, two months later, however, Elena informed me that they had broken up. 

“No, you're right,” She confirmed.

For Paige and my wedding, we hired a local catering company. A former classmate of Elena and mine, named Leo, apparently works for them and worked the wedding. This was something I was completely oblivious to, but there was a lot going on on my wedding day. Elena and Jenna left St. Tim’s as soon as Paige and I were married, and so they were some of the first people to arrive at Koblot. Everything was already ready, so Leo was waiting around when Elena walked in. They caught up and exchanged numbers before the majority of guests arrived. I continued to express my congratulations to Elena and once again asked to set up a double date. As we left Crimson Cup and headed to our cars, Elena asked one last question.

“So,” she said, “Arden is still in town?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“So what have you guys got up to this summer? I'm sure there's been a lot,” she said. I laughed and caught her up: 

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 11: Summer Long Honeymoon, Part 4: Nicole's Wedding

 Summer Long Honeymoon, Part 4: Nicole's Wedding

As I mentioned in the Season 9 installment, Michelle, Paige’s best friend and Maid of Honor, Nicole, got engaged to her boyfriend, Carson, about a month after Paige and I did. While Paige was initially in the bridal party, she made the executive decision to drop out for her own mental health because of the stress of our wedding. However, Paige was still treated as a bridesmaid at every point except for the actual ceremony. 

Nicole had watched our cat, Charlie, for a little bit of the time that Paige and I were in Florida with my family last year. When we returned, we saw that Nicole had left our invite for her wedding. While it was addressed to “The soon-to-be Mitchell & Paige Ulibarri,” Nicole told us Paige’s entire family was invited. While none of them were able to make it, my brother Ryan was invited the day after Paige and my wedding. 

On Sunday, July 19th, 2026, Ryan, Paige, and I, checked into our hotel at 2:30, which was about 20 minutes before the last shuttle was scheduled to leave for the venue. At 3:10, the shuttle dropped us off at the venue, Glass On Enchanted Acres. When we walked into the building, we were immediately greeted by Paige's high school friend Sophia's boyfriend, Riley. Since the rest of the friend group were bridesmaids, Riley stuck with Paige, Ryan, and I when we filed out for the outdoor ceremony. As we moved to our seats, I looked around at the beautiful sculptures and landscape surrounding us. I wish I could describe to you in detail what it looked like, but honestly I was way too overstimulated to actually process it. Once we found our seats, and as we were waiting for the ceremony to start, Riley told us that he was planning on proposing to Sophia the next week, and Paige and I lost our minds. 

At 3:30, the bridal party processed down the aisle, and when everyone else was ready, we all turned around, preparing to see Nicole. To everyone's surprise (especially Carson's), Nicole had pre-recorded a message to him. Once “Recording Nicole” had finished professing her love (and emotionally wrecking all of us), actual Nicole made her appearance. After they were officially married 10 minutes later, we returned inside to start the cocktail hour. At about 5:30, the bridal party entered the reception, and after dinner, the speeches, and the cake cutting, Nicole and Carson had their first dance. They danced to Tale As Old As Time, and one of the event staff members poured dry ice on the ground so that they danced in the fog, which was chef's kiss.

The dance floor opened immediately after, and let me tell ya, I put my heart and soul into that dance floor. Over dinner, Paige had told me that she had heard from her cousins and social media, “The first wedding after your own is always top tier.” When she told me that, having only experienced the ceremony, I didn't disagree with her. I've always loved weddings, and while our wedding was the best day ever, we were still hosting the party. It was still a job. Not having that pressure, at the reception I completely let loose. I don't remember everything I did. I know I tied my tie around my forehead cuz I've seen that on TV and I've always wanted to try it. And the whole night, Nicole and I were just screaming at each other, “WE DID IT!” Referring to the fact that we were both now married to our respective best friends. 

At the end of the night, Paige and Ryan were both crashing, and so we got on a shuttle about 30 minutes before the reception ended. On the ride back, Paige laid her head on my shoulder, and I looked out the window into the night with a smile. Nicole and Carson had figured out the plans for their wedding over the course of last summer. Paige and my wedding did not start to take shape until after Dad had the 30th anniversary of Kobolt party. That was in December. Paige and I planned our wedding in 6 months (a little less than that if you consider Christmas). As Paige’s Maid of Honor (and a fellow 2026 bride), Nicole had a huge supporting role in pulling off that feat.  

Obviously, I was always aware that Nicole and Carson were getting married next, but it was something that was hard to conceptualize since our wedding had been all-consuming for us (as it should have been). Being able to celebrate someone who was there for us throughout the entire planning process and has been a part of our relationship since the beginning, as she started her “Greattasticly Ever After,” was something that Paige and I were so proud to be a part of, and we can’t wait to see what's next for them!

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 10.5: The Shadowbox

 The Shadowbox

In all my writings, the most confusing person for me to write is my coworker Elizabeth. There are coworkers that I have been friends with that I haven’t written about explicitly in my writings because I couldn’t find a place to fit them (though most of them appeared in the wedding reception installments). But Elizabeth is my workplace bestie, like Lily, Clo, and Savanna before her. I met her in early Season 7, but we didn’t really become friends until the installment October-December. While she has appeared in a handful of installments, she wasn’t written in the way I would write, say, Clo, until a few installments ago.Her first appearance was in The Scroll Of Proposal. As you might recall, I took Paige on a scavenger hunt using scrolls (harkening back to when I asked Paige to be my girlfriend), leading back to our apartment where my engagement speech was written on a giant scroll. Elizabeth had written the clues on the mini scrolls and my speech on the big one because my handwriting is not good enough for such an important event. 

What I don’t think I said in The Scroll Of Proposal installment was the coolest part of the actual Scroll Of Proposal itself. See, my plan was, after I financially recovered from buying these scrolls, I was planning on buying a shadow box so we could display the Scroll of Proposal (and store the smaller ones). With wedding planning stress hitting so hard last fall, however, buying a shadow box was not high on my priority list. 

“Hey,” Elizabeth asked me one day in November of 2025, “Did you get a shadow box yet?” 

“No,” I replied, “I've been a little too stressed.”

“Good,” she said, “my sister makes custom ones, and I’m going to see her next summer. If you talk to Paige about what you want and give me the scrolls back, I can bring them with me on my trip, and we can get one made for you. It can be a wedding gift!” 

On Friday, July 17th, 2026, Elizabeth and I met up at a coffee shop and bar called Barrel and Bloom. While as of my meeting with Elena, she was on the trip to see her sister; I was intensely looking forward to receiving the shadow box!

To Be Continued…

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 10: Summer Long Honeymoon, Part 3: Paige I Like The View

Summer Long Honeymoon, Part 3:

Paige I Like The View

Day 4: 

On July 11th, Paige and I got up around 9:00 and hung out in the room until about noon. Having exhausted everything to do at the resort during the first three days of our honeymoon, we decided to explore historic Park City and the surrounding areas for the second half. At about 12:10, we walked down to the nearest bus stop and headed down to what the locals call “Old Town.” From the “Old Town” bus stop, we rode the Main Street trolley up to, as the name would suggest, Main Street (though we would learn later it’s actually easier to walk there from the station). Upon our arrival, we immediately realized why it was called “Old Town.” While there were modern businesses (7-11, Lululemon, a Marriott, etc.), the street is set up kinda like the street in a spaghetti western (an old cowboy movie).

First we stopped at a small shop called Park City Desserts & Coffee. After that, we explored a few other shops until we found the Park City Museum. The museum documented everything from the city’s founding, the great fire of 1898, the Winter Olympics of ‘02, all the way up to the present day. The most interesting part of this museum was that the bottom floor was the actual jail that was used around the time the city was founded. 

After the museum, we went to the 7-11 as they had free slushies. Then we went to an art gallery and decided to head back to the condo. We planned on watching the sunset, but I wanted to go for a quick swim and maybe go to the steam room. Paige walked me down so I didn’t have to take a key card. Right when you leave the building to get to the pool, there is a vestibule made of glass. I was behind Paige, and I looked down at my phone to check the time because she had asked me for it cuz we were trying to plan around the sunset. Just as I looked down, Paige opened and held the glass door. She kept talking to me, and I saw her through the window… and I walked face first into it (only hurting my pride a little bit). 

Day 5: 

When we were still in “Old Town” on the 11th, we saw signs advertising a pop-up market called “Park Silly Sunday Market.” On July 12th after Mass, Paige and I ate breakfast, packed up our stuff, and by 2:00 pm we were back on the bus heading down to Old Town. On the bus we met three men, Billy, Jeff, and Connor, who were in their mid 50s or thereabouts. They were childhood friends who had grown up in Utah, but ended up married in different parts of Colorado. This was a “boy’s weekend.” We explained that we were on our honeymoon, and they said they would buy us coffee (how could we refuse)? They took us to a place called Atticus Coffee and Tea right inside of the bounds of “Park Silly.” As the name suggests, it is a To Kill a Mockingbird-themed coffee shop. For those who do not remember your middle school English classes, Atticus is the father of the main character in To Kill A Mockingbird. While I haven’t been to too many pop culture-themed restaurants (only one other comes to mind), as we got our frozen coffees, I couldn’t help but think there need to be more shops like this. 

We thanked our new friends and walked out to the market. Atticus marks the lower end of Main Street, and the market went down the street from there. We walked around the market for about 10 minutes before we both had to go to the bathroom. The closest one we could think of was at the museum, so we walked back up there. When I had finished, I went up to the front desk and asked them for more suggestions on things to do. 

After I got loose plans for the next day and a map, Paige and I walked back down to the market. Calling it a market does not do it justice. It was more like a mini art festival. There were shops that made caricatures, metal and wood work, specialty clothing, upcycled jewelry; one shop made gourmet licorice (which I didn’t even know was a thing)… there was a lot of stuff. There was a DJ by the food and drink area. He had been setting up right after we got our coffee, and when we got back from the museum, he was in the middle of his set. Just by sheer coincidence, the playlist was basically our wedding playlist!

Day 6: 

We did not do as much as I initially thought we would on Monday, July 13. At the suggestion of the museum employees, we headed to Olympic Park. This was obviously where the 2002 Olympics were and where I assumed the 2034 games will be. The museum employees did not give me a huge rundown of what it is. It is firstly a ski museum, secondly a future Olympian training course, and finally an amusement park. We went to the museum, watched a couple of kids use the ski jump, but we mostly just scoped out the park so we knew what to do for the next day… 

Day 7:  

On Tuesday, July 14, around noon, we returned to Olympic Park. After having done some research, we decided to do a couple of things, starting with the Alpine slide. We rode a ski lift up a mountain (which, by the way, did in fact have the year 2034 painted on some grass for the ski jump). The Alpine slide is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a metal slide that runs down the mountain. It has these little one-person trolley cars that you ride down the side in. If you pushed the lever on the trolley car down, you went fast, and if you pulled back, you slowed down. 

As we waited in line for the slide, we heard one of the employees say, “man… it’s going to be like this all week!”  I didn’t have time to process what he was talking about before it was my turn. It took me a second to get used to the controls, especially when the slide had a turn, but once I did, it was really fun to fly down this mountain as fast as possible! Paige finished maybe 30 seconds after I did, and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do next. Unfortunately for us, there was a thunderstorm. On our way back to the condo, Paige pointed out what the employee had said, and I realized he was talking about the weather. 

When we got home, we decided to go to Old Town to get some food. It was still raining a little bit, and Paige and I came to the conclusion that we definitely chose the right time to come to Park City! 

Day 8:  

As you may recall, when Cousin Simple played our wedding and brought Paige and I up on stage for the last song (Primadonna), they changed the lyrics from  “said your name was, “Maddie,” Maddie, I like the view,” to “said your name was, “Paige,” Paige, I like the view.” On Wednesday, July 15, our two-month wedding anniversary and our last day on the honeymoon, Paige and I woke up at 5:40 (much to Paige’s chagrin). We got dressed, got on the elevator, and went to the first-floor balcony to watch the 6:05 sunrise. 

We sat and watched the sun slowly crest a mountain. As it rose, I got a big grin on my face, looked at Paige, and said, “Paige.”

“Yes?” She asked.

“I like the view,” I said with a chuckle. 

She immediately rolled her eyes, but she still smiled. Because she was so sleepy and we were out of coffee pods, I went down to Atticus, then got back to the condo; we cleaned and got ready for check-out at 11. 

After we checked out, we went back to Old Town because our flight was at 5:30, so we had a little bit of time to kill. We got lunch at Davanza's Pizza.  As we sat and ate, we talked about how the two weeks before the wedding (basically from my haircut to Paige walking down the aisle) went by really slowly and the two months since we got married went by incredibly fast. 

“I’m kind of glad our honeymoon‘s over,” I said. 

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Like,” I explained, “I’ve had a lot of fun, but since everything‘s been so fast since the wedding… When we wake up tomorrow, we will be back to our normal life, except the fact that you’re my wife won’t change. Like, I know time goes by fast, but I think… I hope that time will go back to its normal tempo tomorrow because I can’t wait to enjoy every second of regular life with you!” 

To Be Continued…