The Mid-Summer Blitz

Wow! I hadn't realized it had been so long since I last posted, so it's time to fix that! Over the last two months there has actually been an awful lot that's happened, so I will do my best to catch all of you up on things.

First and foremost, I got to spend nearly four days with both my Mom and brother over Mother's Day weekend in May. This was such a good opportunity to catch up with both of them--especially my brother, who I had seen only once in three years. He's still as crazy as ever, and the entire family had a great time with them in NC. I was very thankful for that. If anyone would like to see pictures, let me know and I can direct you to my mother's site, where she takes a veritable plethora of high-quality digital photographs of nearly every possible occasion. She really is very good at it, though.

Next, Kelly and I moved in the new apartment on May 14! As much we liked the thriving metropolis of Mebane (insert sarcasm here), it is a huge plus to be back in a bigger town. Kel was a little sad that all of her classmates were parting ways (and frankly, so was I--they're terrific people), but the good side of that is that we're a lot closer to our other friends now. These consist in part of Kevin, Jan, Dirk, Allie, Lori, Becca, and sometimes Cliff--when he's not beating all of us at disc golf. I mention them all because they were all at the wedding, so perhaps you remember them! If not, deduct two points. Anyway, in terms of moving back, I can now play softball/basketball and actually come home in between work time and game time! This is much better than trying to make conversation with an all-Hispanic cleaning crew. I really suck at fake-international-sign-language.

Our new place is also very nice...with the latest promotion and the anticipation that poor Kelly will actually make money someday, we upgraded to a two-bedroom with a study, so we finally have a little room to spare. Not much, mind you, but a little. It also gives me a place to go for Time Out if I've been bad. Those aren't fun days.

The very next weekend, with boxes still everywhere and an apartment smelling like Chinese food (the Asian couple next to us loves to cook, and the ventilation system does its part to spread the wealth), Kel and I split ways and headed to separate weddings--each quite important for us! She went to her grad school roommate Megan's wedding, and I headed down to Georgia to Josh's! I was a Best Man for the very first time there, and it was not only an amazing honor but a very fun weekend overall. I got to play a free round of golf at Atlanta National Golf Club (which, in turn, I charitably responded by donating many beautiful golf balls to the woods surrounding the course). We attended a terrific rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. We shared dreams and secrets, and laughed like high school girls. (No, wait--that was the Wedding Story on TLC last night. I'm sorry.) The wedding went off brilliantly, and my good friend of many years is now married and preparing to move to Wyoming. I just hope he's ready for my Mom coming after him. :)

After spending much of Memorial Day weekend to complete setting up the apartment (which looks great!), Kelly and I headed out the following weekend for a week-long vacation in Charleston! Due to the vacation days required by our wedding in March, this was basically slotted to be the only other vacation of the year. But it was a good one. We were able to join up with a full ten of our college (UGA) friends to rent out a beach house, and it was truly a fun experience. No rain the entire week, no cases of bad sunburn (an achievement for any programmer), all kinds of games, and just a very welcome time for relaxation. There is nothing better in the world than sleeping in and hearing the sounds of the ocean when you wake up. Well...maybe sleeping in, hearing the sounds of the ocean, and then mix in the power-on sound of my iMac. Ah, true bliss. I'll have to go for that one next time.

That trip ended just over two weeks ago, and since then I've just been trying to catch up with work and things around the house. My fifty-six hobbies are all going well, and Kelly still smiles when I walk in the door so I don't think she's secretly plotting to kill me yet. Yay! I hope all of you are doing well, and I will promise to post something fun soon. The world is just full of source material. :)