Moving Back Home Again. . .Again

So, I'm moving. More to the point, we (my soon to be wife and Super Dog Reno) are moving back to the town where I grew up, Franklin, Indiana. It should come as no surprise that I am confronting this fact with a bag of mixed feelings. Add into the mix that we are buying a house, a first for the both of us, and you've got a "life-changing" moment.

(Alright abandoned this post awhile ago, so update.)

Since I started writing this particular post I have: bought a house, gotten married, cruised the Baltic Sea, moved and I think that is about it.

Check please?

The last month or so has been a whirlwind and is finally starting to slow down. As I write this I am stalling on installing a water softener for my new house. So, I will probably stop and start this post many, many times.

I have given up on the water softener. A plumber am not I.

So, first things first. I have this thing on my left finger and it has only recently stopped bugging me. I am now married. Perhaps more unbelievable than that is the girl that I tricked into marrying me. She is amazing and many more superlative words that I don't have time to go into right now. There is at least one moment every day when I look at her and think to myself, "You are a lucky bastard, don't screw this up." I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally deserve it. (Ashley wants me to be less self-deprecating, so there you go honey.)

The wedding itself was amazing. After months of planning (of which I had minimal to do with it) everything came off exactly as we wanted it to be. We had fun and it seemed that everyone else did as well. It is such a surreal experience, but one that I won't ever forget.

We then went on our honeymoon, which also involved a lot of planning (this time I helped). We decided to do something a little different, a cruise of the Baltic Sea. We set sail from Dover, England and stopped in Copenhagen, Berlin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Talinn and St. Petersburg. A couple of observations. Stockholm is a very beautiful city. This is mainly because the entire city is made up of very small islands, also called a archipelago. Home to the Nobel Prize, this city was my favorite. Second, being on a cruise ship makes you feel very white, unless you aren't white, in which case I don't know what it makes you feel. The staff of our ship was friendly, competent and mostly from the Philippines. I felt like I was on a plantation. Probably because our every need was catered to and that being on a cruise ship makes you feel like you are at that vacation resort in "Dirty Dancing." The main reason is how poorly the staff can be treated by rich, old snobs, who think the slightest inconvenience gives them license to treat people like shit. Overall, the cruise was great. St. Petersburg was amazing. I never thought that I would ever get to see Russia and seeing it really crystallized a lot of reading that I have done about the history of the country, which has always fascinated me.

Next phase, finding a place to live. Up until about a week ago, Ashley and I were living (in sin) in Broad Ripple, the bar district of Indianapolis. We both loved it there, but knew that we couldn't live there forever. This became a reality when Ashley's job would take her far south of Indianapolis. So, we knew we had to move somewhere that was between our two points of work. It just so happened that place was my old hometown, Franklin. It was weird to think that I would be coming home, again. This would mark the second time that I have moved back to Franklin. It is funny that while it doesn't rank as a place I miss or want to be, when it came down to options on the south side of Indy, I would much rather live in Franklin than a lot of other places. That same comfort and familiarity of the small town that drove me away at times is the same thing that drew me back. Add into this buying a new house and, whoa! So far things are good. I can see now why my friends who own houses are always busy, we have a ton of things we want to do with this place.

My life is changing and it is pretty exciting. More changes to come in the next couple of years I am sure. I can see that as you get older and you accumulate more important events, possessions and people in your life you look to something to protect all of that, be it God, money or other less desirable means. Our new house is on a golf course, maybe I can rely on golf. . .or start going to church, either way its nice to have things you want to protect.

Summer Living

Saw this sign while I was riding my bike. Though it was pretty funny. . .you know. . .because dogs can't read.

Summer is here and you know what that means, writing on my blog because I have nothing better to do. I am officially on summer vacation and it feels pretty good. Especially now that Indiana has adopted DST. Good God man, it is 8:48 pm and still light outside. Ben Franklin is a genius. I think he invented DST or at least thought it was a really good idea.

So I am back to write the first of what might be many blog entries. . .or it could be another month before you hear from me. Although I have the summer off, it is going to be a humdinger. I am getting married this summer to a girl who is everything I ever wanted. She is my best friend and is really good looking, so I can't think of anyone else to spend my life with. We are also going on a great honeymoon in Europe AND we are probably going to buy a house. All of these events put together equal a summer of flux and change and I am not nervous at all. I am damn excited people. Things are happening and I couldn't be more excited. Life seems to be a series of dull days marked by exciting events and I am getting ready to go through some exciting stuff. Hopefully I will post and let you know about some of it.

There were tow or three things that I was really itching to blog about, but I can't seem to remember what they were. I've had several epiphanies while driving around, but can't seem to remember any of them. I need to start jotting down notes, my mind isn't working correctly. I hate that feeling, knowing you had something meaningful to say, but just can't remember it. It's like when you go to the record store (do record stores even exist anymore) and you can't remember any albums that you want to buy. You know there are some that you've wanted for awhile, but you can't remember dick. Speaking of music, go buy a CD by "The Jayhawks" right now. God, they were a good band.