Goodbye Gum, Sweet Gum

As many of you know, up until yesterday I had a pack of gum. Now, this wasn't your ordinary pack of chewy delight, it came with the name "Big e Pak" (name and grammar intentional for effective marketing) and had a total of 60 pieces of gum. I bought one before but it was so popular, I decided to get another on Sunday.

Most people might call me weird, a nerd or even (on the occasion) a jerk, but I would like to think of myself as a nice guy. For example, I generously share my wonderfully tasting gum with anyone in the newsroom who would like a piece. Mario (who prefers to be called Reuteger in blogs like these) usually saves everyone the trouble of having to ask me and simply removes the gum from my bag and casually passes it around to everyone, who in turn thank him for his generosity.

You may think it sounds a wonderful time, sharing gum and talking about life, the universe and everything but all that came to a screeching halt yesterday. Mario took the gum from my bag, as usual, and passed it around to everyone who wanted some delicious flavor.
Julie had gotten herself a piece and tossed the pack to the intern. During it's mid-air flight, the pilot of the "Big e Pak" hit some turbulence and announced they were going down and all passengers should jump from the confines of the plastic pack and take their chances free-falling to the ground. Like complient sheep all 50+ pieces of gum remaining, burst through the opening and spilled out all over the ground.
Many around the room chuckled and laughed... but they couldn't feel the pain welling up inside of me. They were so young, I didn't even get to chew on all of them and put them back for my unsuspecting coworkers.

(Spearmint August 17 - August 19, 2008)

Though our time together may have been brief, I will never forget the tragedy of my latest "Big e Pak." We had become close over the past two days, I even named it. Spearmint.
Goodbye dear Spearmint. We will miss you.

The Wedding

*I forgot to post this blog last Monday, so this is a week late referring to the weekend of August 8, 9. Thank you for your time*

I am back from the wedding. I took tons of pictures but apparently my camera is kind of crappy, so most didn't turn out. It was a very busy weekend, what with the wedding and Shannon's birthday and all.
The bachelor party was simple. Trey isn't the kind of guy who wants adult entertainers and drinks until you can't walk. He wanted a Christian party, so that's just what we threw.
It began at Speed Zone (imagine go-karts, but for adults) throw in a couples of beers and some video games and you got yourself a party. Which was great because that was exactly what we were trying to throw.
From there we went to Papasitos for fajitas and drinks. Then finally we went to Trey's sister's house for the rest. His sister was at the bachelorette party, so it was her husband and us in a 3,000 Sq Ft House. It was nice. They are obviously living the American dream: Having everything you could ever want in exchange for massive, massive debt. We drank beer and played poker for about 4hours. I'm not that experienced in Texas Hold 'Em but I managed to hold my own, even coming in second in our mini-tournament against guys who make a killing when they hit Vegas.
The next day was the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Not much to say here, lots of joking around. No one took it seriously. The bachelor and the rest of the guys went to Oklahoma to gamble, I however stayed because it was Shannon's birthday weekend. We went to a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a movie theater in Ft. Worth. Beneath the screen, performers acted out the film. It was... unique.
Then it was the wedding day. We made some last minute adjustments to the positions of groomsmen and bridesmaids on the stage, then us men went in the back and got dressed. The Groom himself, Trey, seemed pretty calm right up until the point when we had to leave. Then it hit him, that this was really happening.
The bride was feeling the same, as the wedding was delayed until she could catch her breath. It was a pretty ceremony, they both looked incredibly happy.
The reception was just as fun. 5 course meal, dancing, wine. Then came my toast. They let me know about 5 minutes until Go Time. I had to make one at the same time as the Maid of Honor. She was way too nervous to go first, so manned up and broke the ice. Surprisingly, I managed to make the wedding guests laugh. From what I hear, it was a nice toast.
Finally the night ended with Trey and his new bride Jen hopping on a Gondola instead of a car and being rowed down the canal for a nice relaxing romantic trip as man and wife.

(Here's a picture of Shannon and I at the wedding)

Last Minute Toast

My buddy Trey is getting married. When it comes to most things in life he tends to wait until the very last minute to do anything. Thankfully, his bride is the exact opposite and has had everything set in place weeks before the big day. Trey and I have known each other since we were little nerds at the age of 12; I knew without a doubt I would be part of the wedding. Being best man or not was something that remained to be seen. The decision was made and I was not chosen, which is fine. The best man is a guy who as known Trey since he was nine, dude's got three years on me.

In any case, Trey and his best man, Aaron, are very similar in waiting until the last minute. The wedding is this Sunday, August 10th. I have been trying to call Aaron for weeks to get info on the bachelor party. It wasn't until Sunday when he finally returned my call. Come to find out, he hadn't made any plans and decided to pass the bachelor party planning over to me. Great, that means I have exactly a week to plan a party I have never planned before. Sure, I've been to the drunken adventures with many of my buds the night before they go off to the slaughter. Many forgotten memories of, driving go-karts drunk, or drunken cow-tipping, or even the occasional drunken knife fight. Still doesn't mean I know what I'm doing. Yes I drive a car, that doesn't mean I know how it works. I usually play such things off as witchcraft.

Toast?

On top of planning the party Trey calls on Monday, yesterday, and asks me to be one of the four people giving a toast at the reception. Don't get me wrong, it's an honor to give a speech about my best friend. Then I realize I also don't know how to do that. Granted, I got A's in all my speeches for all my college courses, but this is different. It's not for a grade, this will have meaning and substance. Plus everyone including Trey, his wife, my girlfriend, my parents, his parents and all our mutual friends will be judging me. If I make a mistake one by one they will disown me until I'm left with that awkward cousin no one wants to talk to but invited him anyway because you'd never hear the end of it if you didn't.

or Toast?

Two items dumped on me at the last minute that I don't really have an iota of how to do. I will do my best without hesitation because this is Trey's one and only wedding... I hope. If he can manage to find a second woman that would be willing to put up with him, I will eat this blog. Don't ask me how.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.