Ok, so I AM going to do a countdown. This is Day 13. This weekend was spent fine-tuning some yardwork, weeding, not bailing on the wedding, and hanging new Yamaha NS-AW350B Indoor/Outdoor Speakers.. Their sound is suprisingly superior and highly impressive putting them in the ranks of any B & M or Bose outdoors, and for the price, they can't be beat. I used one of PriceGrabber.Com's online retailers for the purchase and saved over $55 bucks. Free shipping.

SECOND but really FIRST, we picked up my ring today from JA. It was awesome. I wanted to wear it right then and there so Christy let me until about halfway home when I decided I didn't want the novelty to wear off. Apparently, for girls especially, it does not wear off. Christy says she still looks down at her ring and gets butterflies.

We are finalizing the wedding program, table signs and iPod playlists for the arrivals and dinner, today.

Sunday Weather: HOT and 104 degrees.

Well, yesterday was Day 15 in the countdown. Yesterday also was the day that we went to the Clerk and got our Marriage License. I was not nervous at all. It felt so good. The lady, Joann, was so nice and actually laughed at my sense of humor. I thought Christy had a few nervous giggles, but I could be wrong, sometimes, SHE even laughs at my jokes. Don't worry, I am not going to do a day to day countdown. Just significant events.

17 Days and Counting.
My co-worker, Nancy, set this up on our creative whiteboard.
Every day, since T-minus 30 days, she has dilligently erased the past day and posted one less day. It's very cute.
This started when my mom, who never has been to keen on dates, or import events going on in my life, said to me on the phone, "Wow, 30 days left, are you getting excited?" I was like "mom? you know how many days til the wedding?" It floored me and also impressed me. Anyway, 17 days.

My cubemate Erin threw her annual Tiki Party this weekend. What a riot. I got there early, around 4:00pm, 3rd person there, and finally had to bail around 10:30 PM because too many incoherent blabberings and insults were flying out of my mouth that it was safer to leave the party and drive home than it was to stay and risk waking up the next morning with regret. There was the limbo contest, the Who-Can-Drink-The-Most-Scorpion Bowl Drinks contest, which, Erin thinks I won, because she and I shared one and no one else attempted. Met some fun new interesting people, and the bartender she hired, Adam, was a solid anchor for the night. I manned the grill most of the night but they had some other awesome food too. Thanks to Erin and Michael for the awesome evening. Christy did not attend because Saturday night was her bachelorette party. THAT is a story in itself. Here are some highlights.

This year, our creative department, including me, Erin and Kim, decorated a cow for the Cow Parade.

Weatherproofing the cow.

Moving the cow out of the office.

The final.

It was a whole lotta fun. Kim designed the look and we all contributed to putting this thing together. First we dacopaged the entire cow with newspaper print from both the Rocky and the Post. Then we used clay and cut out the icons from this year's Post-News Community campaign. Kim painted the entire cow and erin and kim painted the icons. We then varnished the cow to preserve it from the weather. Now the cows are up and down the 16th Street Mall and at the Cherry Creek Mall. If you live in Denver, you might want to take an afternoon and go graze with them.

This is Part Two of a Two-Part Series on Gluttony

Why can't I be happy with what I have?

I have a good job and I do freelance. More freelance than I need. Denver is a cool town but I long for a "better life." I want more snow, more rain, less traffic, nice people, and so I think, wow, it would be the life to live in a smaller setting with progressiveness and opportunity and lower cost of living such as Burlington, VT, or Portland, ME, or maybe even Ithaca, NY. If I move there, then I forfiet my good job for quality of life. But what is Quality of Life? A good car? a good house? A safe place to raise kids, good places to eat, attractions, culture?

What is this fascination with getting more, doing less lifestyle frame of mind?
I now have 6 pairs of shoes. OH, but I need this many shoes and I can prove it.
One pair for gardening, Two pairs for work, One pair of summer clogs, One pair of running shoes, and One pair of hip, cool everyday when you are not working shoes. See.

Does one need two iPods? I now have two. One I got 3 years ago, saved every penny and justified it since I am a music buff and it changed my life having my entire music collection with me at all times so that when I want to listen to Jazz, I can. Or if I get a craving for Iron Maiden, I can. Or if I want to listen to old 80s or new Foo Fighters, I can. Without fumbling through 30 discs and jewel cases in your car. I deserved that iPod. But fast-forward three years and "oh, the new video iPods are out." I wait, and wait, and wait, and justify and justify to the extent of ripping and iSquinting 30 DVDs in preparation for when I get another iPod. But for what? our Honeymoon? Oh but wait, I could use it to put design comps to show clients. On a TWO.5 in Screen? come on! Anyway, I love the new one but did I really need it?

This could go on an on.

I don't like to bitch and complain....ok, yes I do, sometimes, but why is it so bad to want things?
If I work hard, make ok money, why can't I treat myself? When is enough enough? Do I have to justify everything I buy as a necessity?

Here is a story I got once while on an interview. This guy cared more about telling me abouth is new Harely, corvette and 4,000 square foot house in a gated community than he did about finding out if I was qualified for the job. I did learn a valuable lesson from him though. While spewing about his luxuries, he began comparing himself to his former partner at the job. His partner was 55, stingy as a nail, saved every penny and never treated himself or his family. Brought his PB&J every day and saved saved saved for his retirement. Then at 55 he died of a heart attack. He spent his entire working career saving for death. He did not splurge and reap the rewards of his hard work. He may have been happy but it sounded like he struggled and sacrificed too much. So the moral of this story is, treat youself as long as it does not hurt or affect others. LIVE. p.s. I didn't get the job.

Does anyone out there have their own opinions on this?
I would love to hear some ideas and feedback. Thanks.

I have consciously not posted much wedding stuff here but today we had an article in the Rocky about wedding etiquette. I think we all could use a refresher (myself included).

A few weeks ago I was talking to a good friend of mine about what motivates us to work. The issue that was stated was " Dude, I need to make more money." Now, this guy makes decent money, I know. I do not have a figure, but I know that he is not working for beans ( in my opinion ) and he also does not work for Wal+Mart at minimum wage, or a barista at Starbucks. Our discussion, which I have been giving a lot of thought to lately, started with the question of when is enough enough?

My question here does not focus on just my friend. Actually it has nothing to do with him other than he was part of the discussion. Because this is a dilemma that I have been dealing with for years internally and it quite possibly has hurt relationships and friendships, I deem it important.

We, as Americans, deserve the right to be happy. We have the freedom to make career and life choices to better our lives. We have endless opportunities to make a good living for ourselves and to provide for our families.

How much do we have to make, $$$-wise, in order to be happy? Let's say you "own" a modest 2 bedroom house. You are debt-free with the exception of a small balance on your CC, you have no car payment(s), a beautiful wife/fiance/girlfriend, and you are able to buy coffee everyday, order those occassional items from J.Crew without sweating your bank account and you don't run to the computer to check your balance in order to treat your wife/fiance/girlfriend to a nice dinner, and all the while you are maxing out your 401K, Roth IRA and saving for rainy days. This may seem like a lot, but in reality, you should be able to do this. And IF you are doing this, WHY do YOU (as an American) still need MORE?

So, in order to make more money, you need to get a "better" job, or you need to work more hours, or you need to kiss ass and get a big raise. But will that better job or raise make you enough money? If you do end up with a better job, chances are it could mean more stress. More time away from your wife/fiance/girlfriend/kids. More hours. Will this amount of $$$ be good enough? Once you have a bigger bank account, will you start spending more to make yourself feel more successful and treat yourself more? We will "need" more things, more iPods, outdoor speakers, better landscaping, nicer cars, better food, better restaurants, if we make more money? When is enough enough? I ask myself this every day.

Part Two: The other side: Coming Thursday.

Still one of the coolest sites and background music ever!

Try Pando.
From Walter Mossburg of the Wall Street Journal:

"How many times have you wanted to email a large attachment -- like a bunch of digital photos, an album of songs, or a hefty video -- but didn't do so because it exceeded your email provider's, or the recipient's, limits on attachment size, or because it might max out the recipient's mailbox?

Here's how you use Pando. First, you download and install the small Pando program. Then, you select the files you want to send. These can be any type of files you want, or even whole folders of files. Then, still using the Pando software, you type in the addresses of the recipients, the subject, and a message. The software then does three things: it creates a Pando Package, a small special file that instructs the recipient's computer on how to fetch the files; it sends an email containing that package file, plus any text you want; and it uploads the files to a Pando server.

On the recipient's end, an email is received in his or her normal email program containing the Pando Package as a tiny attachment (one huge 94 megabyte attachment we sent required only a 22-kilobyte attachment). The recipient just opens the Pando Package attachment, and it in turn launches the Pando software, which then downloads the files or folders you sent. The first time the recipient receives a Pando email, he or she will have to download and install the Pando software. There's a link in the email to the download site."

stop using bark mulch for your entire yard.

It is July 8 and it is raining.This may sound trivial and uneventful, but it is July and it is raining. Not just, "oh, it is raining right now, but in 15 minutes it will be dry and the sun will be out." It has been raining on and off for the entire weekend. Right now, I am sitting out on our covered patio watching the rain come down in light sheets. It has been this way since at least 6:00 a.m. and it is 10:00 am right now. The birds don't seem to mind. Either do the squirrels. I just fed them both and everyone seems to be unfeathered by the consistent wetness coming down. The finches are enjoying their new feeder that we got last night from the Wild Bird Store. We also found out that the hummingbirds are not due to arrive here in the City until late July. She said somewhere around the 21st of July we should start seeing them. We have to attract them with as much color as possible. Our neighborhood is full of color, but I think she meant colorful flowers. Oh. So the hummingbird feeder is red but we need to put it closer to the colorful flowers. So I am enlisting christy to plant another few pots of flowers to help draw them in.

Smoking ban report Update: Last night we met up with erica and jeff at this new place in Stapleton, Carey's. It's an "Irish Pub". Some crazy people went outside twice to smoke, one had to bum a butt from a hispanic man working in the kitchen. Other than that, it was smoke free. We then headed over to the true test of the ban, Thin Man. Oh yes, completely smoke-free. It was so awesome. This morning when I woke up, my hair did not smell and my face did not feel like it had absorbed two packs of Marlboro Lights. Yes!

I am a little late on this news, but as of July 1st, 2006, Colorado is smoke-free. All bars and restaurants and most clubs are sans second-hand smoke. We are all so excited. Well most of us. When I say we, I mean WE NON-SMOKERS and even some of my casual only-smoke-when-we-drink friends. There was a story on the news last night about how it has affected businesses in Denver. One popular meat market hangout, Govn'rs Park, is booming with butt-free business. Another joint in Aurora is down in business by 78%. Well ma'am, I guess this is the time you start thinking about changing your business strategy. I personally am so happy to be able to go into say, St. Marks Coffeehouse, or the Thin Man for that matter, that I can't wait to go to bar after bar, concert after concert to see how the change feels. It used to be that when Christy and I wanted to go get a cup of coffee and support out local shops, we would come out of St. Marks stinking like a big butt. We tried it last night as the rain came pouring down and when we left, I was elated to find that the only smell on us was fresh chocolate cookie breathe and coffee hair. I know my buddy Jay says we should let the market decide and not our lawmakers, and he has a point on many subjects and issues that face our "diplomatic" free world today, but for this one, I have to agree with them. When second-hand smoke is becoming more and more written about in health journals for being one of the leading causes of lung cancer, I feel that it is the government's right to step in. When it affects the free rights of others, we need help. I could ramble on and on but in the end you have your own opinion. I just am happy that after spending 15 minutes in the shower, throwing on cologne and freshly Tide-washed Downy-d clothes, that when I come home from a bar or concert that I do not have to repeat the process again to just go to sleep and the piece of mind knowing that I avoided inhaling second-hand smoked 10 cigarettes unvoluntarily feels pretty damn liberating.

He watches out over our yard.


What he sees.

When my dad went to visit his dad in California in about 1978, he came back bearing this awesome doll. Gene Simmons dated everyone from Barbie to the Bionic Woman. Now he stands guard over our backyard from the garage window.

Hello. So we just got back from our South Dakota Roadtrip. This weekend was my 20 Year High School Class Reunion. Go Bucks! YHS Rules! Oops.

Yes, I know, I am capitalizing quite A Bit. It's just that this weekend, I felt older. BUT, I also felt inspired and accomplished.
We skipped the Friday night festivities so that we could work on Friday and take a 4-day weekend. The two events were Saturday night and Sunday afternoon so it worked out well. You can see a list of roadtrip events here at Beehive Central. When we got into town after making great time, thanks to the Cross Country, we dropped the dogs off at my parents and visited for an hour. Then after checking into the hotel and relaxing, we hit the Saturday event at the Waterfront. I immediately was amazed at how many people I had forgotten about but was so glad to see. First and foremost, I was glad to see and missed, Mary Pokorney. She and her husband were my inspiration for leaving Yankton for better things. We got to talk for quite awhile. Then there was Dave Carda and his wife Sara. I had not really talked to her much since they met but Saturday night was perfect for that. In Fin Tuan was there, and she is one of those classmates that I knew, but don't remember ever bonding or hanging out much but that night we connected. She is a freelance designer so that, I am sure, had something to do with it. I may have bored her and also pulled one of my "here, let me help you with all my information" about the freelance subject and bludgeoned her with it, so, In Fin, if you are by chance reading this, I apologize.

Then there were the random, inspiring meetings with (in no particular order) Tanya Gilmore, Wade Lucas, Alice Putz, Dave Lyons, Jackie Furdeck, Frank Albrect and Kayleen Snook, Dan and Deb Specht and Dan Treinen. I had some cool freakin' classmates.

You know how when you go back for a reunion, you always wish that one good-looking, popular person that pissed you off, or bullied you, had turned out to be fat and unaccomplished? Well, I did not meet one of them. I was actually happy about this. Someone said to me that he was bummed because one of the hottest girls, Robin Wells, hadn't gotten fat and ugly. Nope, JH, she hadn't. Hot as ever. I don't recall ever having a long conversation with her in HS, or at a party, and she was always super nice to me, so I did not feel the need for her to become devastated. I wonder if she felt the same way? I was happy to see most people had not changed much. There was not one of those "biggest changed" or "most successful" classmates. Some guys had gotten heavier. Some girls too. Some girls looked younger and had lost weight. I imagine most classes have found this to be true as well. I actually have lost 30 pounds since HS so I felt mighty accomplished. Some guys and girls are doing really well, but some do not do much. The geeks have succeeded as one would guess. The other issue that comes up regarding reunions is that

Seeing some of these people made me feel so healthy and happy that I am live in Denver. Living in Denver does have it's benefits. My fiance cooks healthy, keeps on me about eating right, and makes a conscious effort to order somewhat healthy food and drink MOST of the time. Some of my old classmates have weathered quite a bit. Me, on the other hand, I just FEEL older but look quite young and healthy, if I do say my damn self. So upon analyzing this 20th Reunion, I am happy to say that I am looking forward to my 25 or 30th. Ole, we missed you. Dedma, you too. Over and out.

Here is a link to the not-so-good pics of the festivities.