Saturday, August 25, 2007

Old Style Me, ASAP?


Rachelle and I went to my cousin's wedding outside of Chicago last week. Nice Catholic wedding, nice location, etc., but the mass itself made me feel just a little uncomfortable. Having not been to mass (other than weddings and funerals) for quite some time, I don't really know if it was way out of the ordinary or if the standard wedding mass now involves a lot of very conservative political preaching. On the one hand, it takes a little bit of the pressure off knowing my marriage is doomed to fail because:

a) We weren't married in a Catholic church (although the chapel at Treasure Island was very nice); and

b) There isn't a "third person" in my marriage (I had always heard that having extra people in the marriage was a problem, but it turns out the priest was talking about "Jesus", not the "Pool-boy/Cocktail Waitress"-type extra person)

On the other hand, I now have extra incentive to make my marriage work just to spite Father Fronek. At least we were in good company. It looked like the highest concentration of sinners was on the groom's side of the church. If I'm going to burn in hell for eternity, at least the rest of my family will be there with me. And it looks as if they might serve Old Style there, too.

The Chicago portion of our trip was a lot of fun, too. We met Rachelle's cousin for dinner our first night in town and she took us to Tavern at the Park, a new restaurant right next to Millennium Park. If you're in Chicago and are looking for the most decadent, evil, rich desert, hit the Tavern. We had a fondue of melted white-chocolate and crumbled up Oreo's that we dipped crispy-treats, pretzel-sticks, marshmallows and fruit into. I dug it and I don't eat much desert. If you're not as much into the whole "desert" thing, hit the bar for a variety of martinis. Trust me on the martinis.

We also did a lot of the touristy things the second day. This picture was taken from the ladies room of the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock building. My bathroom had a view of a urinal. Rachelle gets this. Another example of how life ain't fair. Anyway, you can either pay $9/person to visit the observatory, or you can go to the lounge for free. Easy choice. I still spent $20+ at the lounge, but we got a better view and a couple good drinks. And Rachelle got a bitchin' view from the bathroom. One word of advice: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE MULTIPLE CHILDREN, STAY FAR, FAR, FAR AWAY FROM NAVY PIER. We hit the Pier with my dad and his wife. Big mistake. Took us 30 minutes to make it to the parking garage because ALL THE FRIGGIN' FAMILIES WERE DROPPING THEIR KIDS OFF AND IT TOOK FRIGGIN' FOREVER. Enough ranting about the Pier. Just a suggestion to avoid it.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Back From Hiatus

I've been really busy since I started my new job and haven't had much time to update my blog, but something happened at breakfast this weekend that made me really feel like writing something. Rachelle and I were leaving Annie's Breakfast & Steaks (there for the breakfasts, not the steaks) and a guy stopped me and said, "I know this is going to sound weird, but I've read your blog". I was personally happy that somebody other than me and (occasionally) Rachelle actually reads the thing. I don't think Rachelle was quite as "happy". More like "embarassed". Anyway, if you were at Annie's this Saturday morning and are reading this; Thanks!

On to what's been happening since I took the new gig back in June. I've been on the road a little more than I was with MOO, but it's all California travel, which is really nice. I don't really miss all the Oklahoma/Texas travel. Not at all. Anyway, Rachelle and I hit the river for a little kayaking on Sunday. The American River is one reason I don't see myself re-locating to San Diego anytime soon. That and the $800k house prices. We paddled on up to the warning wire strung across the water. It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but it says, "FOLSOM PRISON - NO TRESPASSING". Sweet! And that's about as close to prison as I ever want to get.