If You're Wondering....

That's the title to an Eisley song. I choose it because (1) I'm about to do a very, very quick update on what's going on in my life, in case you were wondering, and (2) because I met Eisley yesterday.

YESTERDAY: Christy and I got to briefly talk with Eisley as they signed autographs after their concert. (We skipped out on the main act, Mute Math.) Christy told them about how I quoted them on my blog post about our wedding, which naturally elicited a lot of "awww". Also, to get a sense of what troopers those folks in Eisley are, read this post and contemplate the fact that they STILL started on time and played a great, energetic, confident show. Also, Chauntelle, my favorite member of Eisley, sings the bridge to "I Could Be There For You."

THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY: We got our new cat....finally! Marley is unreasonably cute, and she knows 3 modes of existence: Sleep, Cuddle, and Attack! Unfortunately, those modes don't always coincide with OUR modes. We've spent the past two nights "sleeping" in the same room with Marley to help her adjust to the new home. She doesn't yet differentiate between fingers and attack-able chew toys. Or between sleeping owners and conscious owners. But what she lacks in self-control and social understanding, she more than makes up for in sheer cuteness and sweetness. She's adjusted pretty quick...never seemed to have a moment where she was scared of her new surroundings or these new people.

THE WEEK BEFORE LAST: I was in the thriving metropolis of Beckely, WV (population: miners) for some training to learn about mining in order to do a better job enforcing the Mine Safety and Health Act. It was really, really interesting. And West Virginia, as far as I can tell, is one big mountain. And it was BEAUTIFUL. All these shades of red, green, orange, and yellow. Here in drought-plagued Georgia, we aren't getting much in the way of pretty colors in our thirsty trees.

THE SUBSEQUENT WEEKEND: Christy and I attended her brother's wedding in Kansas City. Her brother, Kevin, is an intensely cool guy and his now-wife, Chelsea, is truly a sweetheart. But all this didn't stop Christy from still seeing her college-graduate, Microsoft-employee brother as the high-schooler she knew when she left for college. "He's too young! Okay, I know he's not REALLY too young.....but he's too young!" was the weekend's constant refrain. During the rehearsal, when they said "you may kiss the bride" she wanted to separate them like a chaperone. This was the ultimate "D.I.Y. wedding". It took place in the bride's parents' house. (It was a small wedding, but it was still a house that was big enough to accommodate a small wedding, if you catch my drift.) The bride's mother catered with food from Costco. There was no DJ or band.....just 3 mix CDs created by the bride and groom. (A mix of the multi-generational favorites like "Love Shack", oldies that I've never heard of, and stuff that proves Chelsea and Kevin are a young, hip couple - Shins, Old 97s, Spamalot, etc.) It was great seeing the family and friends, including Christy's sister Melissa (who was also our bridesmaid and who will always be "Little One" to Christy, despite the fact that she's taller than Christy now...at age 15) and Chelsea's sister Ellie (sp?) (typical conversation between me and Ellie consists of: [awkward silence] "hi" "hi".....you wouldn't believe it from that description, but we actually got along great). A fun time was had by all.

And now, Ben looks into the future......

THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 26: Christy and I both have training in the D.C. area. Anybody gonna be there? We'd love to hang out. Also, my birthday will be that week.

(Blogger doesn't recognize the word "chaperone" or my wife's name. Just thought I'd tell you that.)