You are currently browsing the archives for June, 2006.
Since you’ve patiently waited for a post, I’ll give you two tonight. Today marked the inaguration of the Weight Room. JDB picked up the 1850 with the help of Whorehay and his Truck on Thursday night. Two nights of assembly were rewarded with two nights of drinking and the Weight Room was open for business bright and early Monday morning.
Just so you know what you’re looking at in the photos: The 1850 – boasting 20 various exercises and 200 lbs of weight – sits boldly in the far corner of the Weight Room. Whorehay’s Fancy Adjustable Bench and Dial-a-Weights (I’m not really sure of the trademark name, but I am sure you’ve seen them on a late night comercial full of glistening skin and sparkling abs) round out the area. A big blue Exercise Ball rolls around in the corner. Fifty-two SI Cover Athletes offer smiles of support as they hang from the ceiling.
We actually worked out in here this morning. We focused on chest and biceps and I am sure I will focus on whining like a baby tomorrow when I am all sore.
…Please don’t go away. We’ve finally had the first serious rain here at Camp Willow Creek in the last two weeks or so. I can’t even remember. Maybe longer. It’s good because I’m still wrapping my brain around the concept that grass is a plant (many in fact) and as such it requires water. Sometimes I try to remember which happened more recently – rain or plant-watering. That alone should be enough to signal me to unravel a hose, but its never that easy.
Sometimes we actually go out and do other things. Don’t forget to check out skurtz.com every now and again also.
Last weekend the Sox were in town and we managed to get 4 tickets without a lot of drama. We invited Tom & Nicole to come along and we all had a great time.
We had a lot of beer and the Sox won. I think that’s pretty much the whole story. Well, some other highlights were getting there on time, Youkilis knocking one out on the first at-bat of the game, Papi sending one home also and seats right over 3rd base that were among the first in Turner Field to find shade on a hot Atlanta afternoon.
Jason had an early work day today and was home around noon. He told me he planned to take a nap, go pick up the ring around 1:30pm and then head over to where I work to meet me for lunch before his hair appointment at 4pm.
Over lunch, he told me that he actually went directly to the jewelry store. He was planning on buying the unmounted setting he had seen on Sunday and having them reset the stone this afternoon so he could surprise me with it. When he got to the store he looked all over for the setting and eventually learned that it had been sold the day before.
Back at work I showed Laura that I was now official with a ring and all that and she was unable to contain herself. Within an hour, she told most of the office about the engagement.
Back at work today after the unexpected weekend I learned that the announcing part is stranger than I had thought – maybe because I hadn’t ever thought about it.
I told Laura. She was really happy. She said it was because we hung out with her and Kirk on Friday night and witnessed how happy they are married.
When Kathy came back from the field, I told her. She instantly offered to help with anything she could – from ideas to helping me find a dress to whatever. She was really excited.
This is kinda fun.
On the way home I called Nancy. To put this in phone call into perspective, you need to know that Nancy and I talk all the time – over AIM and text messages and email. But we use actual phones for communication maybe once or twice a year, if that. So I called Nancy. It was important for me to hear her reaction and I also thought it would be cheesy to ask her to be my Maid of Honor via something that looked like this:
secretly skurtz (8:37:34 PM): will U B my MOH???!!?!?!?!!?!!!?!?!?!?!!1111
And in following Jason’s lead of not actually “asking,” I just kinda told her I always thought she would be the one standing next to me in that situation, so I hoped she didn’t have other plans. What a sentimentalist.
Last night, after a long day debating speaker wire guage in Home Depot and installing outdoor speakers in the hot sun, Jason proposed. “I guess I should call your dad,” he calculated upon my acceptence. I agreed. “But not until the morning.”
We spent the rest of the evening starting the planning process. Jason wants to have the wedding in Colorado at his friend Eric’s restaurant. Eric has been a good friend to Jason since high school and Jason wanted to include him in the wedding in a significant way. We talked about a tentative date for next August, to give us plenty of time to plan.
Then this morning he made the call. Mom answered. “Is Tom there?” Jason asks. Mom gets Dad on the phone and Jason announces, “I have a question for ya!” I am listening from across the room and at this point I’m sure Dad is thinking we’re looking for more free speaker installation advise. Then Jason announces, “I want to marry your daughter!”
“That’s not a question,” I yell.
They talk for a few seconds and then Dad tells Jason he’s putting Mom back on the phone. Jason reacts as if the phone has suddenly burst into flames and throws it at me yelling, “Oh no. You have to talk to her.”
While I make an attempt to talk to Mom, she is on the other end of the line sobbing what I hope are tears of joy. I tell her that she’s gotta work on her Happy Routine and we decide its best for Dad to get back on the phone.
“You’ve made a good chioce,” he tells me.
This afternoon we took my Godmother’s ring to be sized. It will be ready on Tuesday. Jason also looked at some of the unmounted settings and found one that caught his eye. After the trip to the jeweler, we celebrated at Bahama Breeze with some frozen tropical treats. The waiter even brought us two Bahamaritas “on the house” that he said were made by mistake – Our First Engagment Presents!
The first camping excursion of ’06 gets off to a wet and scary start. It rains most of the day on Friday and continues to do so through most of the ride north. It slows enough to display a pretty sunset, but that only emphasizes the fact that we are going to get to the camp ground after dark.
Not only do we get to Lake Blue Ridge campground after dark, but after they hung the “Closed Forever – Go Away” sign also. Confused, we drive around in circles in the day use parking area and then decide to go back and try reading the sign again – in case we misunderstood. No changes. In fact, the sign poster had affixed the sign to a large metal barricade to heighten its drama and effectiveness.
With a sense of impending doom and gloom, I pull out my Cherokee National Forest map and search for the next pink triangle of hope. Morganton Point. For a moment, the scene resembles a real-life action flick with a map and an unknown treasure and a sense of excitement. Then Ben pulls out his GPS and calls me on his cell phone and we drive a few miles to the next campground.
