Second wedding

So I just realized that I didn’t ever tell you people how the second wedding last week went. I know you all are waiting on the edge of your seats to hear, so here it is.

The second wedding was the one for one of my bestest friends, Juan. I have known Juan for many years, about 15 actually. He has been married once before and had a son with her. I wasn’t invited to that wedding, which I give Juan crap for a lot. I’m not saying I had to be invited, but since he didn’t invite anyone to that one… So this time I was very pleased when he told me the date and handed me an invitation. We talked more about it, and since it wasn’t the first marriage for him or Blasa (his now wife) they weren’t going to have groomsmen or bridesmaids or any lines at all. I teased him about how it was an accomplishment that I was invited…kind of like being nominated for an Oscar is enough for people. He got a kick out of it. So Saturday comes along and I am psyched about the wedding. I get there a little early and of course Juan is running around looking very nervous and excited. I sit down and he comes over to me and asks me to come with him. I figured he would need me to do something, but I had no idea what it was. We walk into the next room and he asks me to sign something. I asked what it was and the priest answered that it was the license. So I witnessed the marriage license. It was my first. I cried. Just kidding, I didn’t really cry.

The ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point. Juan and Blasa’s daughter stood between them the entire ceremony looking up at them and the priest. The reception was nice, I couldn’t stay long because my mom and sister were not feeling very good, so I had to drive them home.

I’m so happy for Juan and Blasa and I wish them all the best.

First wedding

Well today was the first wedding of the week that I am attending. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go to the reception. Thursday, a close friend of my sister passed away from cancer. She was about the same age as my sister and they used to be roommates. It really hit my sister hard, so I went to the wedding but didn’t stay cause my sister needed her family. The funeral is on Friday, the day before the other wedding I am supposed to go to. It is a sad time, but I am trying to celebrate my friends starting their new life together.

Getting back in shape

Well I have decided to try to get back in shape…or rather get in shape. A couple friends of mine, Ryan and Jen, are doing this crazy program for 100 push-ups. You can find the website here for more information. I just did my initial test and I was able to do 11 push-ups. I used to be able to do a lot more. It really surprised me that I couldn’t do more, but I have been rather lazy for a long time. I’ll post as I progress through the 6 week program. Hopefully by the end I’ll be able to really do 100 push-ups!

September, the month of weddings

So I am back on New Mexico for the long weekend and I stopped into my favorite spot, Dos Hermanos, for some lunch and I see my mentor there. He has been trying to marry Blasa for some time, and I didn’t know if it was ever going to happen, but it is. He came up to me when I saw him and he gave me a hug and told me “we have a date.” I was very excited at this, because I know that if he set a date, that it is almost certain to happen now. So later this month I am going to his wedding. The funny part of all this is that isn’t the only wedding I am going to here in New Mexico this month. My friend from work is from here and so is his fiancé. They are getting married the weekend before Juan. I don’t know how I’m going to pull off going to both, but I’m gonna try!

Good things happen to good people too

I will explain the title of this post in a minute, but first I want to tell you about the start of my evening.

I am in New Mexico this weekend attending the annual Erin Trujeque Memorial Golf Tournament and gala. I have been attending this event in some capacity for the past 12 years. It is a major contributor to the Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico. Now, if you are new to my blog, you may not know, but I am a childhood cancer survivor. I have benefited directly from these 2 organizations and am so happy that as a long term survivor, I can lend my support to them. Tonight was the gala event. It is held at one of the casino resorts here in Albuquerque. The evening started out very different this year than previous years. I got there and walked into the ballroom and for the first time, I didn’t recognize anyone. I was a little afraid that I wasn’t going to see some of my close friends, but as the event moved on I saw them. So I am wandering around the silent auction before dinner and I ran into several people I hadn’t seen since the event last year. It was very nice to see them and catch up. One of the main items that was being raffled off was a brand new Lexus. I am not sure of the model, champagne does that to me, but it was worth about $40k. Raffle tickets were $100 a piece, and they were only going to sell 1,000 of them. So I did my part and bought one. Standing next to the Lexus was my good friend Justin. I have known him for 16 years, and he is a survivor as well. As I was talking to him I found out that he is married and expecting. When I heard that he and his wife were expecting, my jaw dropped. Like me, he was given enough chemotherapy to destroy any chance of having kids, and the doctors told him that he was not going to be able to have them. The Lord works miracles, and he is going to be a dad. After congratulating him, I started talking to him about the car. He entered as well and we made a deal that if he won it, he would give it to me so I could drive back to Tucson. 😀 More on that later… So dinner goes well, salsbury steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Once the live auction started, with Diane’s ever popular cookies that went for $10k, I was free to roam around and find people. I found my friend Petra and her husband Jason, and talked to her for a while, just catching up. I talked to a few other people and the night was winding down, but there was still the car to give away. As they announced they were drawing for it, the room got eerily quiet. They drew a ticket and I am sitting there hoping its mine. They call out the first name…but pause on the second…they can’t make it out. Now, with the first name, which wasn’t “Scott”, I knew I was done for. But the name they called, “Justin”, peeked my anticipation. Diane walks over and screams into the microphone the last name of my good friend. I couldn’t believe it, my friend just won a car. He couldn’t believe it either, he had to be dragged up on stage to accept. After he came down I went and congratulated him and graciously let the deal we made previously slide on the technicality that we never really shook on it. 😛 It is such an amazing thing when you see someone who could really use a new car, who has survived cancer, and who’s birthday is today (ya go figure) win. I thanked God that he won it and that he is here to win it. I hope I can go to lunch or something with him before I have to leave.

Tonight was a really good night.

Oh, and we raised $467k for the Childrens Cancer Fund of New Mexico.

Death of a legend

I was trolling through CNN.com today and saw that a comedic legend had died on Sunday, article is here. George Carlin has died. I am a fan of his comedy, it is gritty, straight forward, and no apologies offered after. He pushed the boundries of censorship on the radio with his famous “Seven Dirty Words” routine. He was a genious and his social commentary almost always hit the bullseye. While he was offensive to most, including me sometimes, he was always funny in hindsight. I will definitely miss his unique comedic style.

16 years

This week was a monumental week for me. On Monday, I celebrated being alive for 16 years. You might be wondering about that number, but my math isn’t wrong. On June 9, 1992 I was diagnosed with Leukemia.

Most people might not want to celebrate something as horrible as this, in fact some people might be thinking I am really morbid in my celebration, but I’m not crazy. 16 years ago this week my life was forever changed. I look back on it, and I remember thinking that nothing worse could have happened to me. But now I look at my life and realize that nothing better could have happened to me. Here is just a few reasons why I think this way:

• I have friends that I would have never had before
• I have a better understanding of the mortality of mankind
• I realized that death isn’t horrible for the deceased
• Life is too short
• I have a cause

I still find myself slipping back into worrying about the small stuff, but eventually I remember that this is my 3rd shot at life and I need to take advantage of that. I am living the life I feel I should be living. I am still scared, but really, what’s the worst that could happen? What could be more scary than facing death? I’ll tell you…women…just kidding…no really…

Awesome birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. Because it was on a Tuesday, it wasn’t the best time to go out and party, but I made a go at it anyways. We started the evening at Fio Rito’s Italian Restaurant for dinner. There were 7 of us total, so it was very nice and intimate. Billy & Rita were there, as well as Randy, Eric, Melissa, and Carrie. We were at dinner for a good hour and a half, which is just fine by me as I was having some really good conversation. I had the chicken parmigiana…mmmmm…it was really good. I also had a bottle of wine, but the name of it escapes me right now. After dinner a few of the group had to go work, and one individual who shall remain nameless had to leave to go play WoW. I knew that person was going to leave early, and they were missed the rest of the night. After dinner, we decided to go to Championship, which is really Sam Hughes Place. We were there until they started moving tables around to make room for a dance floor. There were a lot of college students coming in the later it got, and the hotter they all looked the more drinks I had.

All in all it was an awesome evening. I spent it with good friends, had good food, had good drinks, and most important had good conversation.

Tech support that everyone can do

I saw this and spurt hot coffee out of my nose.

Home brewing

Eric and I have talked for a while now about home brewing some of our own brew. Both of us enjoy beer, and have progressed rather well into our World Beer Tours. Yesterday we finally met at the home brew store and bought ourselves the Delux kit and the ingredients for a Heff. Because we were so into opening all the packages, we didn’t end up having enough time to actually brew the wort, so he came over this morning and we did it. It actually is not that hard, and doesn’t smell bad at all, which I am thankful for. It was a good time and we enjoyed some store brew while watching the wort boil. Here are a few pics of the event. Just FYI, Eric wasn’t the only one doing anything, he just didn’t operate my camera when I was stirring. Plus he had to go get a new hydrometer half way through the operation.

Steeping the grains

The wort

Stir stir stir

Spill over

Wait