Wow…the Wedding is getting close.

It’s about 32 days away and counting.  I’m starting to get anxious because we’re coming down to the wire and wrapping things up.  We’re still waiting on a few invitation responses so as soon as those are in we’ll only have a few music choices to figure out.  I’ve never been really good at being the center of attention and being the groom at your own wedding puts me in the spotlight.  Fortunately I’ve got Sweets, who is going to be in the biggest spotlight.  It’s our wedding but in reality, it’s her day…so I best not spoil it.  Another thing that’s on my mind is that we’re waiting for a couple of weeks before we go on our honeymoon.  That means I’m coming back to work right after my wedding which is kind of a bummer.  I was thinking it would be nice to visit Virginia the week after the wedding, show Jean around my hometown there.  Who knows?  Whatever we decide to do we’ll be married, so I’ll be over the “center of attention” hump. =)

Speaking of being the center of attention, my birthday is coming up very shortly.  Thankfully it’s on Saturday, so I won’t have my work friends cooking up a 40th birthday cake.  I’ve took very little ribbing about turning 40 so far…most of my friends turned 40 before me so I was able to dish it out.  I don’t feel 40.  I’m actually in pretty good shape physically, with more definition that I’ve had in a long time.  My belly is still fat so I’m still working it.  I’ve been “working it” for the past 3 months and while it’s clear that I’m building muscle I don’t appear to losing bodyfat.  I burn 1000 calories each day for at least 4 days a week but I’m still pudgy.  I’ll keep at it though.  The best birthday present I could give to myself is continued committment to being physically fit.  Oh, and a Carvel ice cream roll with crunchies.

I was saddened to hear that a friend of mine lost his Grandmother.  It sounds as if he was particularly close to her and he’s got my condolences.  From reading his posts it sounds as if they were genuinely friends, apart from being blood related, which is nice.  I’ve got some relatives I love but don’t like very much, so his posting was particularly poignant.   All of myGrandparents have passed and it bothers me to think of my Parents passing away.  I’m sure they’ll be missed, just like my Grandparents but it will also mean that I’m more alone.  Yeah, I’ll have Sweets and Alex and who knows if I’ll have more children…but the people that came before occupy a place in my psyche that fill me with comfort and security because they’ve always been there and to imagine that reserve being vacant is frightening.  Anyhoo, my condolences to Dan, who lost a beloved family member.

All of my old high school friends had a reunion this past weekend and it was quite interesting.  Nostalgia has a way (for me) of sweetening past experiences that perhaps weren’t actually so sweet.  I loved seeing these people again but it’s clear to me that 20 years is a long time.  Several people that I wanted to see weren’t there but the core of the old group was there, which was nice.  John, Chris, Jeff, Dennis, Matt, Sean, Kevin, Maureen, Dave, Karen, Steve, Mark…it was great seeing them.  Some of those guys were in cub scouts with me…I’m glad they’re alive and well.  I also got to meet the wives and girlfriends, which was great.  Sean’s wife Lindsay who was very animated and engaging.  Perhaps I shouldn’t wait another 20 years to see some of these people again.  I was disappointed that I didn’t reach out to some of the people I didn’t know so well who were in attendance, but then again…they didn’t seek me out, so whatever.  Maureen and Kevin deserve kudos for putting all that work into the party.  From the tent, to the food they really did a great job, thanks Kevin and Maureen!

On the gaming front I’ve been a bit stymied.  I’ve not been devoting time to World of Warcraft simply because it’s tough for me to stay up until 11:30 now considering I’m getting up so early for work.  I just spent $20 bucks on the old Starcraft package, which sounded great until I installed it and realized how completely irrelevant it is these days.  The graphics and gameplay certainly don’t hold up in any way.  I also spent $20.00 on Resident Evil 4 for the Wii, which is ok I guess…probably worth the $20 bucks.  Controlling the character and the weapon aren’t easy…I constantly found myself looking up at the ceiling everytime I had to fire…it’s a weird combination of buttons, triggers and joysticks and it will take some time to get right.  I’m still totally digging to zombie levels in Call of Duty, World at War.  I’m also still enjoying skirmishes on Red Alert 3…quite fun.  I’ll be reinvesting in gaming once the wedding and honeymoon are over and real life descends upon me once again.

I’ve also been meaning to participate in and plug a friends gaming website called GamerDNA.com.  It’s pretty cool and I’m sure to get involved after the wedding.  Good luck guys!

Wow…I can ramble on while writing just was well as I do while talking!

F_M