Time of my Life

It's late and I'm tired but I have to tell the world about one thing before I turn in and then begin another 10 hour day tomorrow...

As of sunset tonight I've been married for one year. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since I placed a little ring on a very pretty girl's finger in front of all those people and then began calling her my wife (with her complete permission may I remind you).

It's funny that not a single person (that attended the wedding or not) really remembered our anniversary. I think we would be much more offended if we ourselves didn't have such a hard time believing that it really has been 365 days.

But before all of you go and get all hurt because I said that you didn't remember I just want you all to know that we're not blaming a single one of you. I'm not calling you out as being bad friends. Quite the contrary. You're all great friends and I thank you for all the congratulations and kind words you've provided (recently and those in the past).

I have the best wife in the whole world and I will never forget it.

Before I turn in I must talk about one last thing: The departure of Jeremy B (I think I just came up with a great name for a scream-o band). Our good friend (who may have been only an acquaintance in the distant past but has become one of the best people I know in recent years) is leaving on a jet plane tomorrow to New York City and he don't know when he will be back again. We missed his going away party and I felt like such a huge jerk because I know if I were to have a going away party he would not have missed it.

So Jeremy, I know you will say it's all fine and good but I want you to know that I am sorry and I hope that the little CD we gave you will provide at least a few moments of pleasure sometime in the near future. I wish you the best on your journey and I couldn't pick a better place for you and your girl to be in together. Hopefully we will get to see each other again sometime relatively soon. You're an amazing person and have only brought joy to the lives of my wife and I. You will be missed.

With that I turn in to bed with a heart full of joy because sometimes I can't believe what a beautiful place this world can be.

It's late and I'm tired but I have to tell the world about one thing before I turn in and then begin another 10 hour day tomorrow...

As of sunset tonight I've been married for one year. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since I placed a little ring on a very pretty girl's finger in front of all those people and then began calling her my wife (with her complete permission may I remind you).

It's funny that not a single person (that attended the wedding or not) really remembered our anniversary. I think we would be much more offended if we ourselves didn't have such a hard time believing that it really has been 365 days.

But before all of you go and get all hurt because I said that you didn't remember I just want you all to know that we're not blaming a single one of you. I'm not calling you out as being bad friends. Quite the contrary. You're all great friends and I thank you for all the congratulations and kind words you've provided (recently and those in the past).

I have the best wife in the whole world and I will never forget it.

Before I turn in I must talk about one last thing: The departure of Jeremy B (I think I just came up with a great name for a scream-o band). Our good friend (who may have been only an acquaintance in the distant past but has become one of the best people I know in recent years) is leaving on a jet plane tomorrow to New York City and he don't know when he will be back again. We missed his going away party and I felt like such a huge jerk because I know if I were to have a going away party he would not have missed it.

So Jeremy, I know you will say it's all fine and good but I want you to know that I am sorry and I hope that the little CD we gave you will provide at least a few moments of pleasure sometime in the near future. I wish you the best on your journey and I couldn't pick a better place for you and your girl to be in together. Hopefully we will get to see each other again sometime relatively soon. You're an amazing person and have only brought joy to the lives of my wife and I. You will be missed.

With that I turn in to bed with a heart full of joy because sometimes I can't believe what a beautiful place this world can be.

Even though I was extremely tired when I went to bed last night I guess my brain wasn't ready for the weekend to be over. We stayed up until 4 or 5 playing games like, "Do we have clean dress socks for tomorrow? If so, do they match? If they don't match where do you think the matching sock is?", "Is that a centipede on the wall or just our imagination?", "I wonder what the name of that barking dog is and what kind of tricks he can do", and my favorite "Our feet are too hot, no cold, no hot, no, really hot. So hot they make our neck hurt and we have to roll over."

Then when it finally came time to rise I couldn't do it so I hit the snooze button for an hour and then had to rush to the bus stop, forgetting the lunch I slapped together, just in time to have to wait for 30 minutes because the new bus driver can't figure out how to navigate the tight streets full of construction downtown. Wow, that was a long sentence. My fifth grade teacher is rolling over in her grave. Because the bus was late I missed the first two trains to work and had to wait another 15 minutes so I didn't get to work until 8:00am. That means I have to stay until 6:30pm. Dang it's going to be a long day.

After getting ice cream with one friend's toddler, going to another's baby shower and then capping off the baby-fest with yet another friends child's first birthday Nicole can't contain her desire to have children.

Almost every day for the last two weeks she's asked me if I want to have a baby. Last night she said that she must have a child before turning 29. It's fast approaching and I don't feel like I'm grown up enough. I guess by the time we have a baby I will be. After all, we could be 16, pregnant and living with our parents.

I just can't believe the biological drive in women to have children. It's so strong sometimes it makes them a little crazy.

Here's to babies!

I really do curse my horrible immune system. I blame my premature birth for my stunted height, abnormally long toes and terrible immune system. It's only September and I've managed to get myself sick. I really got upset today when I tried to smell if my coffee creamer had gone bad but couldn't. Then I figured, "Well, if it's bad it'll taste like crap." Of course upon my first sip I can't taste anything at all. So, my lactose intolerant self could be drinking a rancid cup of coffee without even knowing it.

Aye, colds suck.

I've been so out of it all morning. I don't know what my problem is other than that I don't feel very well. I went to bed at like 8pm! To prove to myself how not with it I really was I got on the wrong train and went to aurora. Sucks...

Crap, it's cold and I forgot my jacket. I do however have a sweet new bag Nicole got me. The onset of fall really bums me out. I'm never ready for it when it comes. It's here and I find myself thinking the sun will soon rise before me like it did in July when the darkness is really only going to get longer. Oh well. That's life this far north of the equator. The Equator... Sounds like a rad wrestling name. When I start my pro wrestling career that's what I'll be.

Things are getting easier.

I was real stressed about money a few weeks back and I felt like I was never going to get out of the "charging things to my credit card" hole. We manged to rack up at least a grand in credit debt since June but things are finally starting to turn around. I was really losing hope when I was working 50+ hours a week and still putting groceries on the card.

LA still seems like a dream and it's only a year away... That freaks me out. One year to pay some debt, save a ton of money and sort things out enough in my head to pick up a leave.

If I don't do it I will resent myself forever.

This is the most painful part of fall... It's 6:25, the sun is going down and a big storm is moving in blotting out what little light from the sun is remaining. I can never seem to get used to the long nights of winter. I suppose this isn't Alaska and I'm sure if I ran into someone who grew up there they'd have a good time telling me what a pussy I am.

I'm going to try and focus on other things.

I played with some charcoal the other night and I sketched Nicole while she slept. I had a really good time doing it and Nicole was real impressed with my little drawing. Her praise made me feel good. Perhaps tonight I will try my hand at it again.

My first two charcoal drawings are below. Tell me your thoughts and criticisms, and please be honest, they will only make me a better artist.

My whole life I've had cats eliminating the need to ever set mouse traps. Well, now I've only got a couple barkless dogs who would probably be more scared of a mouse than the mouse of them. A couple weeks ago I witnessed a mouse climb out from under the kitchen cabinets, run over to the dog bowl and steal a piece of food. After having my wife freak me out about the hantavirus I decided it was time to set traps.

This morning I awoke to find a little gray mouse with his little mouse head stuck in the trap. I was happy to see that the traps worked but then upon closer inspection I found that the other two traps had been cleaned of all food but had not trapped a mouse. Oh well. The little mouse was so cute I don't know if I could have dealt with the death of more than one of them at a time.

For the second time in the last two months and making a total of somwthing like 10 times in my life I've been mistaken for another person. Tonight I had a random hippy walk up to our table and offer me his hand. I shook it anyway but it turns out I look just like his comedian friend drew. I guess I just have one of those faces.