Making Plans

Today Emily and I put down the deposit on our wedding, and we are sailing forward with all due speed. Please excuse the nautical crap, I just read a book about a guy who sailed a raft everywhere. Stuff like that kind of sinks in! We ended up deciding on Jamaica, and are staying at Tower Isle (formerly Ocho Rios, which was formerly Tower Isle...). We are having a beach wedding (I think) at 10 AM on Jan. 12. Hurray! Tomorrow is going to suck because my pa's having surgery and I just can't imagine how scared he must be. We will be heading up as soon as I'm off of work to check in and see how everyone is doing. Sorry to end on a sour note, but I'm all bushed. Okay, here's a few happy things:
-I saw my beautiful niece today and she looked a little like a pumpkin. Up until today I didn't know that we could pick our "nicknames," but now I do. Though they may try and call me JJ or uncle JJ I'm pretty sure that it won't take too much convincing for Audrey to call me my Uncle Name of choice: Uncle Butt. It makes me smile just to write it!
-A friend of mine has just reentered my life recently and I had a great conversation about the more spectral aspects of our world this afternoon. It was fun.
-I got 4 cds from the dollar store today that should have cost a lot more. I got the last two phish cds, the last Bjork, and one other that I won't say in case it embarrases Emily (the first name is a city in France, and the last is a hotel chain). I'll just say that the artists name rhymes with Flaris Bilton and leave it at that.

Here's some recent photos: 2 from turtle paw practice, the Decemberists show, the tree of life in animal kingdom, and the summer solstice.

All This and All That

Hi again! Today Emily and I went to check out our options for a destination wedding, and it sounded really cool. So far I think our favorite is Jamaica. At first I was sort of anti-Jamaica, wanting to see some ruins and stuff south of the border. But the travel guy told us how much more difficult it was to get married there (whereas Jamaica is super worry free). The resort is all inclusive and it looks like the best deal financially. Emily was super excited.
In other news, we went over to my sweet niece's house the other day for a fun cookout (we kind of crashed it), and saw my dad and meyka after they had gotten back from their retreat. The retreat sounded fun and it seemed to have done them good, which is really all you want from something like that I suppose. It was the first time I had seen Dad in forever, so that was really nice. Mitch got me some new guitar strings put on, and Audrey bit my finger. A very satisfying evening.
Some people from work and I have been just messing around and jamming in the living room on some evenings. It is really fun and collective-y, less stressful than trying to be "in a band." My chops (never that good to begin with) really deteriorated after my surgery, so it has been a long road even getting back to where I was. The nice thing is that no one is really a virtuoso, so we all just have fun with it.
Speaking of music, I have run into an old high school friend a few times in the last week or so--Justin Hanna! He is doing well and it's really a kick in the pants to see someone that takes you back so much. Those may have not been the best years of my life and I was extremely unhappy (and also a little snotty as Anna remembered the other night!), but it makes me feel good to see people and realize how far I have come just as a person.
I'm heading out to the library now to return some books and a cd I could have sworn I returned (but then found sitting on top of my computer). More later!

If anyone is out tonight come to the Blind Tiger to see the Brand New Life. They're a really great band and super fun. Plus it's free.

Mobile

Today has been a pretty busy day so far. Emily and i woke up late and went to do laundry, then she went out to lunch. it looks like my battery is dying so thats all for now!

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