Family Business

So, as you all can see I’ve been slacking in the blog department lately. In my defense, I’ve been busy getting ready to move. My wife doesn’t let me sit around on the computer while she’s packing and cleaning. And if I don’t do anything while she’s at work and I’m at home by myself, all hell breaks loose. (Well, not really, but it just makes life easier when I help out)

Enough excuses, it’s been so long that I have all kinds of things to write about. Let’s start with my family. I think I may have alluded to this in previous posts, but I don’t get along with them very well. The latest episode started with the fact that my parents are telling everyone that I didn’t want them at my wedding. Now, before we decided to go to Las Vegas, I asked my dad to perform the ceremony. I told them that the plans changed, but I never specifically said “but we still want you there”. They expressed some concerns about that at which point I said “I apologize for letting you think that I don’t want you there but I do want you there; we want you there.” After that conversation, he said that he would make the arrangements to get to Las Vegas at the appointed time. I never heard a word about it after that and none of them showed. After talking to my sister (we’ll call her T) a few weeks ago, she said that my dad “got the impression that I didn’t want them there”…… WHAT???? How he got that impression I’ll never know. But wait, there’s more: he and my J maintain that I never said that I wanted any of them there. So now it has deteriorated into a he said/she said situation. Good times.
I have another sister (We’ll call her N) that is on the outs with my dad as well. I found out from talking to her that conversations that she has had with our father also get twisted around, so that by the time they get to my mother and T, N’s made out to be the one twisting the conversation and generally just out and out lying - just like I apparently am. Oh well.

Then there’s my mother, who I have generally had a pretty good relationship with all along. The other day, she asked me where we were registered, which led to this exchange:

Me: Why?
Mom: Why do you think?
Me: I don’t know, that’s why I asked
Mom: To by you a wedding gift
Me to myself: That was two months ago!
Me: For what? That was…..(cut off by mom)
Mom: Where are you registered?
Me: I don’t remember
Mom: Are you trying to be mean? Why are you being so mean and nasty? I’ve had a bad day and I’m not dealing with this tonight. Goodbye. ~Click~
Good times!

Now I know that the only reason that she brought it up was because I mentioned it to my sister in a conversation, which pisses me off even more. (telephone, telegraph, tell-a-sister). She knows that I hate being hung up on. I have broken up with girlfriends over that. I have no intention of calling any my father or my mother. If they call me I’ll answer the phone or call them back if they leave a message, but I refuse to call him because he’s is telling everyone that I’m a liar, and I refuse to call her because I think that hanging up on someone is the ultimate in disrespect and I will not beg someone – my mother or anyone else – to talk to me after they show me that little respect. I’m sure some of you out there probably think that my refusal to tell my mother where we were registered was wrong, but if she hadn’t hung up on me, I would have explained to her that after two months with no acknowledgement that I got married, to all of a sudden ask where we were registered – because of my sister no less – is a ridiculous gesture and I would rather she save her money. Is that mean? Nasty? Belligerent? I don’t think that it is, but I welcome your input.

It Was a Great Day!

So I did it. I’m a married man….again. This is my second marriage. My first one ended officially 10 years ago and I haven’t spoken to her in almost 13 years. Moving on….
My beautiful bride and I got married at the top of the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas at the Chapel in the Clouds.


It was a gorgeous day and our friends and family were there. Bethany was as beautiful as I had ever seen her, even though she was nervous as all hell! If the hands shivering weren’t evidence enough, when it was her turn to say I do, she paused for a three count. There is video evidence of this! She will never live it down.
After the ceremony we took some pictures some of which are in this post, others will be on Snapfish in the very near future. (I’ve been so busy since we got back that I haven’t had much time for blogging or much else for that matter) After the pictures we had some time to kill before we went to dinner so my boys and I
got on some of the rides that are on top of the Stratosphere. I got permission from the wife because she got to chill with her girls while we defied death.
Then we went to the Top of the World lounge and had some drinks before we went to dinner. (Isn't she gorgeous?)
I met her friend’s parents who actually helped raise my wife for a time and they were really nice. Much nicer than her mother (who wasn’t there…’nuff said). After we got a little tipsy on the 10 dollar drinks, we headed downstairs 108 floors to the restaurant where her father set up a reception type dinner for us. The food was phenomenal and we couldn’t have asked for a better time. As I said in my toast,

the people who mattered most to us were there. (That’s not entirely true, some couldn’t make it for legit reasons and we understood those, others…..not so much) Nevertheless, everyone had a great time and that’s all we cared about.

After dinner, we changed (wink) and met up with some friends and went to a club inside the Bellagio. My buddy Craig picked up the tab for that little excursion which he did not have to do, but I can not thank him enough. Bethany and I bid them farewell and went back to our hotel and went to bed. We had every intention of getting up early and meeting my friend Jay and his wife for breakfast, but that didn’t happen. We didn’t get back from the Bellagio until about 3:30 in the AM.
When we finally did get up, we explored the strip a little and then got new tattoos. This was the most painful thing I have ever put myself through and I had three others prior to this one. I’m guessing it’s because it’s right in the middle of my back, but I digress. We hung out in Vegas that night and went to Freemont street, the Old Strip if you will, where Binion’s and the Golden Nugget are. If you go to Vegas, Freemont Street is definitely a place you need to visit. Part of it is covered and at night, they have great light shows and you can walk around with drinks and the hotels have bars on the street so you can just walk up and buy a drink and keep walking. Awesome time, I can’t wait to go back. We left on Saturday afternoon and came back to Mass only to turn around and get on a boat to Bermuda! I’ll be back with pictures and details of that little adventure!

Wedding Bells!!!

Well, many of you have heard me refer to my fiancé on several occasions. In my previous post, I mentioned that my dad is not coming to my wedding in Las Vegas. The fact is that none of my family is coming to my wedding. My parents never expressed any interest. One of my sisters did, but ran into some financial distress just before she was about to book her trip. My other sister is going through some problems right now and I haven’t spoken to her much at all lately.

Nevertheless, I am actually getting married this Thursday at 4:00. We are leaving tomorrow morning bright and early and will spend the day with our friends that are actually going to make the trip. We will be coming back on Saturday and then taking a cruise to Bermuda on Sunday for a week. There will most likely be little chance for me to post anything while I’m gone, so don’t be alarmed at the lack of activity here or comments on any of your blogs. I shall return a happily married man with lots of material I’m sure.

Because I said I would

I was so looking forward to this weekend. No commitments, no pressing errands to run, I was going to be able to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. Then she called. My sister called to remind me that I needed to pick up our father at the airport this weekend at 9:00 since she was going to be out of town. This was primarily her responsibility, since he stays with her when he comes up here.
Just so you get the idea of how much this irked me, I work 3-11 Monday through Friday and my commute is about 40 minutes. Unless I am just totally exhausted, I can never go home and go straight to bed. I have to force myself to go to bed by 1:30. On Fridays, my fiancé and I tend to hang out and have a couple of drinks since we don’t get to spend much time together during the week and that could be a 2:30 or 3:00. Throw in the fact that my Dad and I don’t get along, and never have, that makes getting up at 8:00 on a Saturday a chore that I really just don’t want to do. But of course I did it because I said I would.

My mother says that we don’t get along because we are so much alike. I think it’s because in the ways most important to him, we are nothing alike. My dad is a minister and has been for 27 plus years. Everything in his life revolves around the church. My fiancé and I are getting married in Las Vegas…(more on that later)…and he’s not coming because he doesn’t like Las Vegas and ‘the lifestyle that it promotes’. That’s just the most recent event that fuels our contentious relationship. Needless to say, getting up early on Saturday was not my idea of getting my weekend off to a good start. It was all good though, I got him to my sister’s apartment with no cross words or bloodshed.

So, how was every one else’s weekend?

Bewilderment Abounds

A while back my friends and I were sitting around talking and after several hours and drinks; the conversation deteriorated into who we all thought was hot. Mind you, there weren’t just guys there, wives and girlfriends were there as well. Cutting to the chase, all of the guys talked about women that either bore some resemblance to the women they married, or at least shared several similar features with their wives. The women on the other hand, picked guys that bore no resemblance whatsoever to their husbands. None. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Zero. For example, my friend T’s wife is in love with LL Cool J. T is a fat, bald white guy. In the interest of full disclosure my fiancé chimed in with Junior Seau and she once dated a member of the New England Patriots. (That’s another story that I will share soon) And I look nothing like any of them. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

I'm the kind of guy who.....

-Loves his fiancé with all his heart.
-Doesn’t tell her as much as he should.
-Likes to go out with friends and have a good time.
-Thinks that spending time with them at home can be just as much fun.
-Made a career change for the money and found that I liked it as much as the previous one.
-Thinks country artists as a whole are more talented than singers/songwriters of any other genre.
-Can’t wait to read the response to that line. J
-Thinks rap was great in the late ’80s to mid 90s and can barely stand to listen to most of it now.
-Thinks music in general was better in the 80’s and 90’s.
-Thinks thunderstorms are cool.
-Works out every day.
-Drinks Tequila without salt or lime.
-Doesn’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘hate crime’.
-Believes that you should never settle.
-Believes that my cell phone is for my convenience, not yours.
-Thinks that gray hair is sexy.
-Thinks that skirts can never be too short and jeans can never be too tight. (I know, I know)
-Will watch a movie I love over and over again.
-Will read a book I love over and over again.
-Believes that pedophiles should be executed.
-Hates to be hung up on.
-Believes in eating healthy, but thinks vegetables taste nasty.
-Thinks that everyone should serve at least 1 year in military service.
-Likes to watch sunrises and sunsets.
-Likes to walk in the rain.
-Would rather treat myself with good Italian food than cookies and ice cream
-Thinks that some of the best movies ever made were ‘chick flicks’.
-Knows the value of a great friend.
-Thinks there are few things more relaxing than listening to jazz in the dark with a cigar and a glass of expensive whiskey.
-Thinks there are few things more stressful than leaving for work an hour early and getting to work a half an hour late.
-Likes autumn in New England.
-Hates winter in New England.
-LOVES summer in Texas.
-Likes to play video games.
-Loves to ride roller coasters.
-Promptly responds when tagged.
-Thinks this was a great tag.

Now you've all been tagged. I'm sure a lot of you have already been tagged by Kate, but if you haven't, now you've been tagged by me!
Leave a comment and let me know either way. I'm looking forward to reading these.

Aspirations and Detours

When I was a kid I always wanted to be a writer. Before I settled on my dream of becoming a police officer, I wanted to be a journalist. Teachers had always told me that I had a talent for writing and I enjoyed doing it. I was also a voracious reader. I read everything I could get my hands on up until I finished high school. I still read and still thought about writing, but finding the time was always a challenge. Also by that point I knew I wanted to be in Law Enforcement in some form or another. Once I came to the realization that college wasn't an option right after high school, I decided to go into the military and pursue my goal to be a cop. At 17 you can pretty much be talked into anything and I was. Even though my recruiter told me that there were many LE jobs open, I signed a document saying that they could pretty much place me in any job they saw fit. I was not a happy person pretty much through my entire enlistment.

Eventually, I achieved my goal of becoming a cop. I worked as a housing cop for a few years and eventually got on another small department where I stayed for a few years. Once my law enforcement career was in full swing, I decided that I wanted to be a detective. My efforts to do that were met with some...resistance from the powers that be. Circumstances converged to send me in another direction when my old partner from when I was in housing called me. He had gotten into the technical field during the height of the economic boom in the mid-late nineties. He called me one day to tell me he had just landed his first six-figure salary job. I just happened to get that call after a blowout with my chief and made the decision to change careers. (Just in time for the economic slowdown - Timing is everything isn't it?)

Nevertheless, I am well into my tech career now and loving it. I'm learning how to build websites and write HTML code and all sorts of fun things. A friend of mine sent me a link to this posting on Random Squeegee one day and my foray into the blogsphere was launched.

Another friend of mine and I had been talking about starting a sports website because whenever we would watch sports whether it was with each other or separately, whatever comments we made would invariably be said by the commentators within seconds; often verbatim. That will probably start off as a blog in the very near future as well, so stay tuned sports fans!

It seems that the old cliché about 'coming full circle' applies here. Let's see where this goes....