Cooper Pictures!

Mini Cooper Day

Hello, you must follow the most depressing day of the American year (9-11) with the coolest day of the year!!!! HAPPY MINI COOPER DAY to everyone. I suppose I will post pictures of mi Mini tomorrow! Much love, Let's Motor!

Wedding Invites

Okay, I absolutely have to clear this up before I forget to show up in two months! People, NOT ALL INVITES HAVE BEEN MAILED YET!!! The invitation has an easy rip off card that you can fill out and throw right back in the mail box. If not, call me, if you don't have my number, you probably weren't invited anyway! Sorry if this sounds a little punchy, but please let me know if you have any issues or concerns, call me directly. Thanks!

Dreams

I think I finally figured out what the difference between adults and children is. Dreams. When we stop acting in ways that are consistent with following our dreams, we are then acting mature. When a kid skips school to skateboard with his or her friends, that is a childish act. In the child’s mind however, they aspire to be a professional skateboarder like Tony Hawk.

The sad thing is that we all tell the kid that even someone like Tony Hawk wouldn’t have made it without going to school, we all know that to be bullshit. Ask everyone’s favorite dropout, Mr. Bill Gates, I think he is worth a bazillion dollars now.

I constantly look back and remember how grand my dreams once were. I guess that remembering is what makes me feel like an adult. I don’t chase my dreams any more, I might throw a passing interest at something related to them, that’s it. How do we get to this point in our lives?

I used to think that I was going to be a judge, or a lawyer, a lobbyist, or most likely a politician. I was going to leverage my power and knowledge and change the way the world works. I was going to help lead this country in a direction of prosperity and equality. I was going to make this world the best place it has ever been in history.

I am now a middle manager in a retail chain. I can’t even change the way my company does things without jumping through 800 hoops, when I get to the last hoop, I am pretty sure I will be too tired to remember why I started jumping in the first place. Please to not take this as a complaint against my job. It challenges me, it provides for my fiancé and I, it offers me opportunities to lead and develop others. I am thankful for the move they paid for and the amount of responsibility they put into my hands on a daily basis. That being said, I am still a middle manager in a retail chain.

I know that I am lazy and I can only blame myself for that. I should have taken more opportunities that were put in front of me. I slacked, hard core slacked! Instead of seeking help or tutoring, I let myself fail statistics in college. In lieu of trying it again and conquering my lifelong fear of math, I simply changed my major. It was clear to my History professors then as it is to me now that I should have been a Political Science major or maybe Business, because I am no historian!

Brings me full circle doesn’t it? I said I should have majored in business, now I manage a business worth tens of millions monthly. I have accepted that I will never be well-connected nor financed enough to be a politician. I do feel that I am smart enough be some of the above jobs I have mentioned. If I get there though, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be disappointed by who I am then. Part of what I dreamed about is not what I would do or how much I make, but rather how I would feel.

I am cynical enough to know that when I got done at the end of a hard day’s work as a judge or a lawyer, that justice was in somehow compromised in my hands. Some of the wicked would get away and some innocent lives would bear that hairshirt. I would not feel like I was saving the world but jut bartering another day of its existence. If I were a politician, beholden to those who got me there and those who want to keep me there, I would loose sight of my ambitions and forget who I am supposed to represent. I would grow tired of hearing my own words because I wouldn’t know who they belonged to.

Back again to me today, I suppose I am in pretty good shape. I can be myself most of the time at work and I provide a good living for my family. I just need to find something fulfilling to take care of the void I feel for forgetting to change the world every day.

Detroit

I went to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Dearborn Michigan this week. With the exception of Ann Arbor, you can skip the rest on your to do list of American cities to see.

I have my days...

You know there are those days when I just want to come home. I miss my family and friends. The website that has given me the most comfort during these rocky transitions has got to be THE WEATHER CHANNEL!!! Holy cow Charlottians! You know there are places on earth where it isn't 98-105 every day in July & August. In fact it was a balmy 72 last Saturday.

In all seriousness, this is all still a work in progress. I have to help Amanda with her transition. I remember when the 2nd and 3rd months rolled by and some of the new wore off and lonliness set in. That is when I went about the task of making friends. Jenny was an absolute god-send when it came to getting my butt out of the apartment. Amanda is getting to know my small but very valuable group of friends that I/we have made. We hang out at the Miller's house about every Sunday and watch movies, eat, shoot the junk, and mostly play with their 6 month old. I think it is neat that we have friends that in the short time that we have known them are wanting to come to our wedding and be apart of our special day.

So wedding planning and counseling are abound this weekend. I think this is where I get my "Wife Instruction Manual." Correct me if I am wrong, but in a 4 hour class they are going to teach me everything I need to know about how to be a good husband. I cannot believe more people don't take this class, there would certainly be much less divorce.*

Since the cruise things have been back to the status quo. We have gone out a few times and danced, drank, and were merry. Amanda continues her job hunt, she has decided to expand outside the educational field. Please wish /pray her luck.

*okay, so did anyone pick up on the sarcasm, that is paraphrased on how important the letter made this class sound to the future of our marraige.

Cruise Wrap Up

All said and done, we had a fabulous time! Thank you to Aunt Claire for this fabulous wedding present. I highly suggest this cruise to anyone, maybe a 7 day version without St. John, but it was fun. I cannot wait to go on another one.

Cruise Day Ten

Waking up at 5:30am to disembark started the day off on a wonderful note. We had our luggage sent down the night before and they were to call us by color to get off the ship. This was to ensure a nice orderly departure. My cold had gotten worse as Amandas seemed to improve as the day wore on. We got off the boat, loaded the 700lbs of luggage into the van and headed back to Aunt Claire's house. We ate some lunch, said our goodbyes, to the airport we go.

We had some time and got through security quickly. Ate a little dinner and got some Tylenol Cold. My sinus' were so stopped up that I knew what was coming on the plane. I was right. The relief I felt as we got to cruising altitude was reversed 10 fold as we came down. My ears had long popped and I just wanted to stick a pen in my ear and pop my ear drumbs to relieve the pressure. So glad to be home though, oh, damn.... I forgot.

We boarded the orange line at about 9:45pm. Transferred to the Red line at the same time that lalapalooza was letting out. So there is Amand and I, me sick with sinus crap, each holding 70lbs of bags, with thousands of stoners asking if we had any pot. This days was just getting better. Amanda fought hard on the train first and scored us some seats. She kicked ass! it was crowded all the way up to Loyola, I guess all the students went to the show that day.

In bed at 1:00am. Never to take the train from home to Midway again!

(Note: We traveled by boat, car, plane, and train in one day!)

Cruise Day Nine

So, Amanda and I are coming down with colds. We didn't really do much. I suppose the highlight of this day was swing and salsa dacing on the ship. We took some lessons from the dancers on board. This day was very much overkill, we weren't hungry, we weren't entertainable... well, we thought.

The best show was last. There was a juggler/comedian who has us laughing up a storm. He juggled a kid, all kinds of things, and was just plain funny. After the show, all that could be said was "Get me off this boat!"

Cruise Day Eight

So we wake up in time to watch us dock up in Boston. We ate a little breakfast before going through the most absurd security line. They had everyone go to the back of the ship to have their passport checked before they could go ashore. The Homeland Security looked at it for a hot second and a memeber of the ship's crew would put a smile on your sea pass card. If I were planning on entering illegally on a cruise ship, I think I might bring a sharpie and foil this entire check up.

We took a neat little tour of Boston and Cambridge. We saw the Old North Church, the freedom trail, and where John Kerry lives. The highlight for me was walking on Harvard's campus. I thought I would feel something really cool, instead I felt dumb and inadequate. I then looked back on my wasted potential as I passed MIT's campus, okay, so that was really dramatic. My favorite part of cambridge was seeing the offices of Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe a.k.a. the home of Click & Clack from NPR's Car Talk. We went shopping a little and had lunch (on Carmax's dime) at Cheer's!

We had our second formal dinner night so I put on my suit. Food was great. This was also the night that the Beatle Maniacs performed on the ship. They were incredible. I have never been a big Beatles fan (I think it has something to do with David's love for them, same thing with the Tarheels, only, I like the Beatles now!) but seeing this cover band live was so much fun. They came out as 60's Beatles, then Sgt. Peppers, then as late 70's. Much fun was had.