Well, are you nervous?

I seriosly wish you could buy stock in the phrases you hear in life. If I could buy stock in “So are you nervous?” and its slight varients, this week I’d have been able to go ahead and buy that small island off of Australia I’ve had my eye on.

Yes, I know I’m getting married in a few days. I also realize that it’s a particularly life-altering experience. I know that I am letting go, essentially, of the right to be a selfish person. From now on, there is always someone who’s needs and cares I need to put ahead of my own. I don’t understand, though, why this would make me nervous. Folks, yes it’s a HUGE event, and I’m definatley doing alot of thinking through the whole process and making sure to take it all in. But asking me if I’m nervous only leads to one thing – me being nervous. So lets all avoid that trigger question, and we’ll be sound as a pound.

This week has been all about getting the apartment put together as much as possible before the wedding so that everything is pretty much in it’s place when we come back from our honeymoon. Which, by the way, eight days in Hawaii in a somewhat secluded resort with just me and the missess is a much needed break after the crazyness of making this big day happen. I know Holly is for sure in need of the de-stress environment of Pacific waters.

People are already going to start arriving tomorrow morning. I have a feeling this may be the craziest three days ever.

A few points for the week:

• Tigers are still on top, and rebounded quite nicely after my post to go on a nice little role. I’m glad I could inspire them with my words.
• Indianapolis experienced the horror of an interstate sniper, though the perpetrator was quickly apprehended. It was a quite, reserved 17 year-old-boy. Of course, no one in his life could believe it. I really just want someone to say in this type of situation, “Oh yeah, that kid was a flippin fruitcake, totally saw it coming!”
• The Lebanese people are truly in a screwed position. Everyone thinks they back Hezbollah, which they for the majority do NOT, and noone is willing to tell Israel to try and cool it with the civilian casualty rates. Truly horrible time for a people who just a few months back felt they were truly getting a handle on free elections and a homeland without any “occupying forces”
• Hugo Chavez will eventually go down as one of the worst leftist rulers ever. Today he blew even more of his countries huge oil profits, which he should be spending on programs for the huge amount of poor in his country, on even more pointless sabres to rattle at the US.
• I just registered for my fall MBA classes. Yikes!

Why can’t we beat the White Sox??

On Sunday, my boy D-Rock and myself went up to Detroit for the Tigers – Kansas City game. The Tigers had beaten the Royals all eleven games they played them this season…so of course, they lost on Sunday. On the way home, I was able to call in to a local sports show and brag on my boys with the ol’ English D and how they were going to take it to the Sox. The lost game one of the series last night. Am I really a jinx to the team I love?

The weekend itself was a blast. Friday night was Polka Boy, and it was everything a young man could ask for: tons of good friends, lots of good music, strong, dark beers, and a guy with a wig pretending to be Ethel Mermen. Afterwords, about twenty people headed back to hang out at Holly and me’s place, just a great time of friends and uknowns getting to know each other. Saturday night, I spent most of the day studying accounting, and then went to what was, in many ways, the final “Point” at Grace.

“The Point” is the young adults groups (20’s to early 30’s) that I’ve been apart of since I moved up here, pretty much. Well, the church is trying to figure out what to do with that age group, as many younger folks have left Grace that used to be in “The Point”, and attendance has lagged. So for now, they’ve kinda disbanded it, with a plan to unroll something completley new in the fall. While it’s sad that something I’ve loved so much and been so involved in leadership with is gone for now, I know God will have something even better in store for the community, and for Holly and myself as well.

At work, I’m officially an FSM now, having kicked tail on my certification test on Monday. Now, who wants a high-intrest bearing CD?

A few talking points as I depart:

• In the fog of war in Israel and Lebanon, we’re seeming to forget and miss the brink of civil war that’s erupting in Baghdad. Remember in the early 90’s, it was cool to say “Peace in the Middle East”. I wish that were still cool today.
• I haven’t been to the movies since Vegas and “X-Men 3″. That needs to be changed. and I think it needs to be changed by a certain boozy pirate or a man of steel.
• Why is it that connecting with old high school friends on Facebook brings with it this weird high.
• Over the weekend, I got to talk with THE Chris Carr and the fabulous Caroline Fletcher and Ansley Kniskern. You can’t beat good frienships, it’s that simple.
• I leave you with these words to live by, courtesy of Polka Boy: “In heaven, there is no beer; that’s why we drink it here. And when we’re gone from here, our friends will be drinking all our beer”

Do you wanna have some fun? JA JA JA!

Tonight marks my first venture of the summer out to an Indianapolis trademark: Polka Boy at the Biergarten. What is this, you ask? Well, Polka Boy is a local band that plays…well, Polka. The Beirgarten is a German style beer garden at Indianapolis’s historic German restaurant, the Rathskeller. German beer and good times will abound, and all about two blocks from my soon to be home. I love being a downtown guy.

Last night saw yours truly take in his first musical outing of the season, as I went and saw “Les Mes” at the Murat Theatre, along with Holly, our friend Kari, and her friends Vanessa and Tim. Unbelievably, considering my love of the theatre, this was my first time seeing this historic show. It was fantastic, and I can understand how it’s had the impact it has on Broadway.

The new job is coming along swimmingly, though all these on-line training sessions make me want to poke my eyeballs out. Next week I’ll be in full work swing, though, so I should appreciate all this downtime while I’ve got it.

A few thoughts on the world at large:

• Israel’s current push of a two-front war into both Gaza and Lebanon is happening frighteningly fast and with seemingly reckless abandon. I’m torn, because I feel that Israel has a right to pursue there kidnapped troops, but what price are they going to pay in terms of strife in the region that will be created because of they’re actions. I think we’re seeing only the beginning of something that could go very bad very quickly.
• The Tigers are still in first place, and have the best record in baseball. My gosh, am I actually typing that. And I’ll be seeing them LIVE on Sunday in Motown with my boy D-Rock.
• What movie am I waiting for? Four words – Snake on a Plane
• Who am I starting to put my money on in 2008? Two words – John McCain
• Why does the media insist on continuing to play up the Barbarosa story. You may or may not be familiar with the Kentucky Derby winner and his on going health issues. Frankly, I don’t care, and I think the majority of the country is with me. Horse racing is on people’s radar about as much as competitive interpretive dance.

Tis all for now, back to studying.

My eye hurts…

When I sleep at night, I wear corrective lenses. They shape my cornea, allowing me to see without lenses or glasses throughout the following day. A couple of reasons that, while this is often times great, it can sometimes be a burden:

1. Sometimes the contact doesn’t sit right above my cornea, giving me a focusing problem thoughout the morning
2. I sometimes get these weird iritants, that I can only assume are minor scratches from the hard contacts
3. They’re a pain in the ace to get out
4. If I forget to wear them even one night, I’m screwed the next day.

All this to day that, this morning is one of the irritant days, and I want to pull my right eye-ball out.

Finished up my first online quiz for Accounting last night. I can’t lie, I’m having intense doubts about my ability to do well in this class, which is translating to an extreme fear of my MBA classes starting in the fall. I’m extremely excited to start the program itself, but the actual classess, and there seemingly heavy focus in mathmatics and quantitative methods, has me very anxious. I wish I was already in Law School, that would be nice.

I put together my new desk last night that will be my place of work and letters at the new Heaton Inc. abode, co-directors Andrew M. and Holly D.B. residing. It’s dark wood, very antique looking. It makes me feel like I should be writing long journal entries by hand and composing letters to friends in Italy. Only, I don’t have any friends in Italy. Maybe friends in Alabama will work. Would you like a handwritten letter? Sign up, I’ll see about making it happen.

India was attacked in their own New York City yesterday, Mumbai (known to many westerners as “Bombay”). Baghdad has been racked with secterian violence, and is teetering on the brink of civil war now more than ever. Should I sign up for the National Gaurd or reserves? I feel like I should. I want to do my duty for country, and the feeling has stirred very intensly in me for awhile now. We’ll see.

So yeah…did ya get the memo??

When I went to work for Hylant, I was very amazed to walk into a cube that, in many ways, was not a cube. I had four walls, but one walls was in actuality a HUGE window that opened up to the lake that was in front of out building. Looking everyday at the outside world, the trees, the ducks, often went very far to keep me from thinking of myself as a cube dweller.

Today marked my entry into the world of actual cube dwellers. Not even a cube, but a mini rectangle. This is the type of sould crushing, walls closing in on me type of environment that, if I don’t be careful, could destroy my will in a manner of days. There’s a skylight above me, but it simply teases me with the thought that I might get out to the outside world. Needless to say, I was less than overjoyed as I sat my briefcase down to begin my training. Training, you ask? How did it go? Monotonous. Not bad, not great, just…monotonous. There’s going to be alot of information that I’m going to have to digest in a short amount of time. But I look forward to the challenge in it. It seems like the next few months will be one big challenge. Can Andy balance a new job, MBA classes, studying for the LSAT, a social life, AND a new wife????

Of course he can! He’s Super-Andy. Luckly, I call on my power from the lord above, lest I have to worry about shards from my destroyed planet being my downfall.

The weekend was another long one, but a good one. Saturday saw Holly and me heading to Paramount’s Kings Island theme park and water park. Hollys loves the water, I love the thrills, and I think we accomodated each other swimingly (all pun inteded). It was also my first chance to see PRENTICE since his return from the dark continent. It’s always good to reconnect with the quality people in your life. Sunday saw Holly’s newphew come up and spend the day with us. We took him to the Zoo, camping, and did I mention we stopped at Krispe Kreme. What’s it like handling a ten-year-old all day. Well…he’s ten, that’s about all I can say. All around, he’s a good kid, though.

Now I must get ready to celebrate the birthday of Boggs Bognar (not her real name, though it will be someday if my scheme works).