Flying by

So if you discount a brief ::cough:: respite taken between year 1 and year 2 ... today would be Jeff and I's five year anniversary. He told me last night he could probably stand me for another five years ... maybe four.

At this point in a relationship there are really no surprises, so it just comes down to someone you like to spend your time with. I'm still happy to see him come home from work, happy to go out to dinner with him, love going to movies together ... and still can't wait to be his wife.

So, Emily and Jeff, a retrospective (this would be more complete if I had more pics from the beginning on my computer!)

After the ::cough:: respite, we took a trip to Block Island in July 2005. It was amazing and the beginning of Emily and Jeff, the sequel, that is MUCH better than the original. :)

At a Tom Petty concert in 2005.

On my 22st birthday in October 2005!!!

At a Patriots-Bills game in 2005.

In March 2006, I bought two tickets for Jeff and I to visit California (as a Christmas present), to see if we wanted to move there. 

While we were there, we visited Sea World.

Well, we decided to move to California in May 2006, and on the way there, we stopped for an Indians game on Memorial Day.

We also stopped in Denver, to visit my friend Sarah (and have a giant margarita apparently).

Moved in to San Diego, I told Jeff, "There's this place here, called La Jolla, it's supposed to be beautiful." It was!!!

At Ocean Beach in February 2007, when Justin came to visit.

On Valentine's Day 2007, Jeff and I being goons.

For his 24th birthday in Feb. 2007, I scheduled a trip to Arizona for Jeff's first spring training experience!

In September 2007, Jeff and I went to this awesome hotel/spa in Palm Springs. It was so relaxing.

On May 25, 2008. Moments after Jeff proposed. In NYC.

In June 2008 at my cousin's wedding on Block Island. Where it all began?

That was a lot of pics, but I don't get sick of them. I can't wait to take more in more places around the country/world with him :)

Where were you?

I'm gonna steal an idea I saw on a friend's blog today and talk a little bit about 9/11.

Where was I?

I was at home, in Rhode Island. I was going into my freshman year of college, at Northeastern, but NU didn't require us to come up until the 15th, so I was enjoying an extended summer at my mom's house.

Naturally, I didn't get up all that early in those days, and when I did, I didn't exactly flip it onto the news. But the news was on. In my early morning haze, it looked like they were concentrating on some big fire (didn't stay on it long enough to realize it was the fire at the Pentagon.) I don't remember what brought me back to the news a few minutes later, but I ended up flipping on the Today show. And I don't think I left it for the next 8 hours.

About 2 minutes after I landed on the channel, watching Katie and Matt catch me up, the second tower (the first one that went down) collapsed. I remember they didn't notice right away and I yelped, audibly, even though I was the only one home. I couldn't believe I just watched an entire building crumble.

After that I went into a little bit of panic mode, I called my mom at school. She said people were watching and she knew what was going on. I called my then-boyfriend who was already at school at Boston University. He didn't answer.

I called my best friend Andrew, who was going to school in D.C. He didn't answer. That was very stressful for me, as there was a reporter there who kept screaming because because he thought he heard a plane. Does anyone else remember that? That guy, perhaps understandably, was not keeping it together.

So I sat at home and stared, watched in silence like everyone else. Finally, my boyfriend called. I was furious they hadn't dismissed his class -- and that he hadn't called me despite the fact that he saw what was happening before he left. 

About this time was when they thought some of the terrorists were in a Boston hotel. Santino (that was his name) decided it might be a good idea to go down there and check out the commotion. I was not into that idea at all.

Finally, I got in touch with Andrew in D.C. (This would be a good time to admit I had, until that point, thought the Pentagon was in England. I have no idea why. I also thought to myself, "This is definitely Russia right? Russia is bombing the US!!" Until Santino told me, no, there are terrorists in the middle east, including this one called Bin Laden who sort of hates us. Once I realized how wrong I was, and how little I knew about basic government, I decided to become a political science minor at NU. I never wanted to be that embarrassed by my lack of knowledge again). Thankfully, Andrew was OK, not worried, per usual.

Eventually, I had to go to work. I kept waiting for them to call me off, to tell me I didn't have to come in. They didn't. It was a little Italian restaurant with a Dels counter. It was a slow night so I got to watch a good deal of TV. Around 6:30, my old boss who worked at the tuxedo shop across the plaza, who I was still friendly with, came in with his 4 year old daughter to get a lemonade. I kept trying to strike up a conversation about the day's events by giving him, "Can you believe it?" eyes. He didn't bite. I realized later, he probably didn't want to talk about it in front of his daughter.

Doesn't quite feel like seven years yet.

New look

Phew. The last work week was a bit stressful for me, given that it was six days long. (An anomaly of scheduling due to the fact that I needed Saturday off). I usually have off Thursdays, and when I do work Thursdays, I normally work 11-8.

So you can imagine my confusion when my co-worker Jon called me at 10:15 Thursday morning and said, "Are you OK?"

In my head I'm thinking, "Yeah, I'm sleeping. WhatcanIdoforyou?"

He informed me I was supposed to start at eight. Of course I was. 

Due to my boneheadedness, a two-editor shift as opposed to the normal three and a multitude of posts, we didn't stop working, even for a moment, from 10-3. Usually in my shifts I get a few moments to myself where I can run to the kitchen, make a sandwich, or ya know... go to the bathroom. I felt too bad yesterday to do anything until we were caught up. Stupid schedule!

Anyway, I did manage to get myself up on time today to make a trip to Rhode Island to get my haircut. I haven't had one since January, and things were getting kind of rough.

It doesn't make much sense for my to drive to Rhode Island to get my haircut, but I've been going to this guy forever (read: since I was a kid), and since his average clientele is 65+, he gets a kick out of doing my hair. 

I decided to get some highlights, too. I'm going to be taking engagement pics eventually and I'd like to be a little more blonder-er. It came out great, I thought.

Thoughts?

Anyway, after my haircut I stopped by to visit with my buddy Justin, to get a snack and talk politics, just because. Oh, and he finally de-birded my car. (Story for another time).

Now I'm home and containing my excitement for Meg's wedding tomorrow!!!!!!!!! I seriously can't wait. I bought a new dress. I mean, I never do that. Dress shopping gives me anxiety. I'm also currently taking over/under on how long I'll keep my shoes on at the reception.

Seriously though, having seen Meg in her dress more than once, I can say she will be an absolutely stunning bride and her wedding is going to be a downtown Boston blowout, the likes I probably won't ever see again. I'm going to try and keep it in check as best I can considering I have to work the next day ... aka, the start of football season. 

I'll report back with all the fun on Sunday :)

My company picnic is better than yours

OK, as I was leaving my company summer picnic last night, my new boss Matt asked me, "So what did you think?"

I told him, "Uhhh ... at my last job we had a pot luck for a summer picnic which we held in the conference room."

Suffice to say, this was a bit better.

As you all know, I work for quite a large company that's owned by an even larger company. This obviously has it's pros and cons, but the pros so far seem to have the edge.

I had been pretty excited about it for a few months, and was stoked it fell on one of my off days. Jeff on the other hand was ECSTATIC, he was so so excited to come. (Side note: No family or friends invited to Jeff's company picnic, so I wasn't there to enjoy his watermelon eating contest victory in person).

He was mostly excited because the powers that be at my company had rented out an entire amusement park in Connecticut to host the party. On top of that, food, rides, games, etc were all free. 

We went down a little bit early so Jeff could get the tour of "campus" by my boss. The compound my company has in Bristol is pretty impressive. While working from home is nice, I hope to get to work THERE some day -- even if it is in Connecticut. 

By 2 we were pretty hungry so we decided to head over to the park.

As we walked to the gates we were greeted with some SWAG -- free bags that a lot of people ended up using during the day. The first thing we did was grab a little bit of food -- chicken fingers and fries. Since I knew the day could be a dangerous food fest I only had one finger and a few fries and a bottle of water.

(Side note: What an amazing experience it is to be able to go to an amusement park and not have to worry about money. The only downside is that it probably promoted a little more waste than usual. I tried not to do that.)

So after he was done eating, Jeff started in on me. I should say at this point, that I don't like amusement park rides that are aimed to "thrill." I don't like roller coasters, I don't like anything that goes fast or flips you upside down. I tried to reason with Jeff that I wouldn't care about waiting for him to ride rides if he wouldn't hassle me about not going on them. Well, it didn't really work. He went on the first ride by himself, begrudgingly.

(That's him in the second to top row, sitting by himself in the white long-sleeved shirt).

While he was on the ride, I tried to scan the park for a ride that didn't seem so bad. I saw one of those swinging ship rides that rocks back and forth. It seemed ok.

So we went on that next, and Jeff immediately jumped in the back (ie. worst) row. The ride started up and I freaked. I hate that feeling of "weightlessness" that so many people love. Really, I know that makes me a wimp in a lot of people's minds, but I can't help it. I was shaking, and Jeff was whispering to me, "OK. I won't make you go on any more rides."

Well. That's settled then.

So Jeff spent the next few hours riding the rides around the course while I waited for him. We had been given 6 "game tickets" each which basically meant we could play 6 games for free. Jeff decided to spend one of his on this golf game where you had to hit the green to win a prize.

Looks like good form right? Yikes. Let's just say at one point I yelled out "Didn't you play on the high school golf team?!"

Moving on, Jeff was able to convince me to go on the "Wild Rapids" ride. You know where they put you on one of those big tubes and you basically get soaked. I figured I had to do SOMETHING with him at this point, so I obliged. 

Fortunately, I didn't get THAT wet. Jeff on the other hand ... 

We played around in the park for a little while longer and Jeff won me a stuffed animal playing 'Whack-a-Mole" (Awww, my hero!) Then we found a ride I actually did like, a haunted house ride where you shot at the ghosts to gain points. Jeff beat me all three times we rode :(

We decided to head over to the dinner buffet around six. Again, I was trying to eat light, having a veggie burger, a piece of chicken and some green beans. Oh, and a glass of wine. (Did I mention the booze was free too?)

They also had games over by the food, including one game where they shot a football out of a machine, and you had to dive onto a big foam mat to catch it. Guess who wanted to play?

He caught it, thus winning us a free t-shirt. (You didn't have to play to win.)

At this point we met up with my boss to eat and chat for a while before going back into the park for more rides, games, etc. Remember how I've been saying I tried to eat well? Well, that kind of goes out the window when there's free fried dough. Yummmm....

Jeff absolutely hates when I make him take these pictures. He says his smile always seems fake and tries to get me to say something funny before we take it. I'm only posting this first one because he looks nice, and I'm trying to ignore how bad I look... 

The night wrapped up with fireworks set to some questionable musical choices and Jeff and I headed home around 10 oclock, which should have had us home around 11:30. Unfortunately, we hit about 45 minutes of "night construction" traffic which put just a little damper on the day.

We were EXHAUSTED when we got home and fell right asleep. This morning, when Jeff stopped by to give me my morning kiss before he left for work he said, "I had so much fun yesterday, babe. Good job ... literally."

Yeah, I think I'll keep it ... at least until the Christmas party.

Weekend in Review: Girl Time, Calorie fest and zzzzzzz

Friday night, I drove into the city to see my girl Meg and celebrate a mini-bachelorette party in Beantown. Before I left, I met Jeff at work for a late lunch/snack and he surprised me with a new mix-CD which was much appreciated, as I was a little over the one I had in rotation at the moment. This was one of his best CDs yet -- I'll have him send me the track list and I'll post later.

Anyway, I managed to get into the city in good time, and found a parking spot right near my old apartment, which gave me time to reminisce on the way to the T. Every time I go back to Boston, since I've left, I can't help but feel a bit of heartache -- I really loved living there. I loved how I could walk, and did walk, to everything, food, entertainment, friends. While my current living situation has its benefits (it's, well, a 2-bedroom house and costs less $500 less a month than our 2.5 rat-infested crap hole in Boston did), I was still a little bit jealous of Meg's living situation.

Well, who wouldn't? She and her fiancee (1 month!) own a condo right next to Faneuil Hall. It's brand new and marbled up ... the only thing ruining it is a f-in cat. (Side note: All my close friends own cats or are cat enthusiasts -- even the guys. What gives? Am I the only one with a grievance against furballs?) 

So I chatted with Meg and Troy a bit about their upcoming nuptials (in style at the Sheraton in Boston), before Kara and Katie got there and it was time to party! While this b-party was going to be tame in a lot of ways, we couldn't help but sneak in one mandatory humiliation: making Meg wear a fakey veil.

Made by Katie (and her mom.)

She was THRILLED. (No we didn't make her wear the blusher.)

 

So after pushing Meg out the door, we headed over to Finale where we had reservations. They were very accommodating to us (see Meg, the veil works!) We ordered a round of fancy drinks (erg, $12 for a mixed drink?), two appetizers (truffle mac and cheese and roasted vegetable quesadillas -- yum) and three desserts (molten chocolate cake, creme brulee and tiramasu) but they threw in an extra Boston Cream pie for our occasion. Desserts were yum! and we waddled out of the restaurant down the street to the Rattlesnake where they had a Sublime CD on and we mellowed out.

For the most part, we weren't approached by guys, but there were a group that came up to us when we first walked in -- they seemed jovial until Katie told one of the guys that his ring looked like a thimble, to which he responded "Dis cost me like $200 bucks!" and stormed off. Oh well ;)

We decided to liven things up a bit with some shots (Red Headed Sl-ts), which Meg was wary of.

Before and ...

... after. Note Meg's happy look ;)

After a while we left the Rattlesnake (putting our bar tab on Troy's credit card... hehe) and headed over to Vox where we found a darkened table and let loose some girl talk, which I think all of us had been severely lacking recently. (I know I have!!) By the time we got out, my feet could no longer take the shoes I was wearing and we hailed a cab. We went back to Meg's condo for more girl talk before we retired to our sleeping quarters.

However, I couldn't sleep at all (street noise, uncomfortable pull-out, cat? who knows), and I stared at the ceiling until the morning when Troy offered to drive me to my car and I took off home at about 7 a.m.

About 5 minutes from my house, considering a stop at D&D, I realized I had forgotten my debit card at Rattlesnake, and spent the next few minutes cursing myself. I had to work at 10 a.m., and was hoping I could sneak into the apartment, cuddle up with my guy, and grab a catnap before I started. I was successful, but beyond tired when I woke up to start working at 10. Longest. Shift. Ever.

I left Jeff to his own devices to pick out a movie to rent and to my horror he chose Cape Fear, which is good in theory (Scorcese movie, DeNiro stars) but I told him right upfront, "You will hate this movie."

He did. We did. We didn't finish, and went to bed early because I was EXHAUSTED and had to work AGAIN this morning at 10 a.m. I did not want to wake up. Fortunately it has been slow so I've been able to catch up on some Olympics watching (badminton anyone?). We'll head to the gym tonight (a MUST considering the amount of crappy food I ate this weekend.)

A pic of the girls (from left): Kara, me, Meg and Katie ... the latter two my beautiful bridesmaids!

Weekend in Review: Hard-core fans ruining my life

Well, this weekend in review will be kind of boring, considering I worked all weekend. Saturday, I worked 10-6, officially, but was called back on for an 'emergency' involving the live blogging on the Hall of Fame ceremony. The online fates of literally tens of Redskins fans hung in the balance. Thankfully, I was there to add the requisite pictures of Art Monk and his likeness in bronze to the tool. 

Unfortunately, this sort of wreaked havoc on my Saturday night ... I had just returned with some ice cream and two movies for my darling, when I was called back on. I told Jeff to pop in a movie -- he fell asleep 1/2 hour in. Between posts, I was able to catch most of the movie -- Lars and the Real Girl -- and I really loved it. Not knowing much about the movie going in, other than it was about a man who has a blow-up doll as a girlfriend and that Ryan Gosling supposedly got rave reviews -- I thought it was really fantastic. Despite that one-line synopsis I gave you, it's not a movie about a pervert and sex isn't even a topic, really, in the movie. It's a really touching film. Two Werchadlos up.

Sunday morning I didn't have to work until 3 p.m., so Jeff and I went out to lunch and then took a walk to a flower stand up the road. That is literally the only thing we can walk to together in a reasonable distance. It's kinda depressing sometimes, especially considering how things were in Boston. They're building a mini-plaza a mile up the road to go along with this mansion-development. It has a bank already, but I am praying for a cafe, or a deli, or a bookstore, or SOMETHING. Somewhere I can go and resurrect my daily routine of some lunch and the sports section. (In San Diego, my coworkers would make fun of me for my lunch-time routine. A local fastish-food place -- Panera, Chipolte, Daphnes -- and the U-T Sports Section and the NC Times Sports section. It was my 'unwind' time and sometimes they'd ask, "Is it ok if we go with you to lunch today, we know you like to be alone.") So here's hoping.

Then it was work... and work... and work. I got off at 12:45 a.m. Yay. 

Jeff made me another mix, and popped this song, 'Returning to the Fold' from The Thermals on it. I've listened to it non-stop. For all I know, this song was popular 6 months ago, but since I don't listen to the radio, I wouldn't know. The video is cheesy but I love the song.

TGIF

Welcome to my Friday, now otherwise known as "Sunday." Tomorrow, Saturday, is Monday. Keeping up?

Anyway, on the last day of my weekend, I had naught to do, so I woke up late and recreated my dinner from the night before. Inspired by my date twin and diet buddy, Sabrina, I made a zucchini and mozzarella wheat bread sandwich, with some spicy mustard on my George Forman. With some whole wheat pretzels on the side, my sources tell me this is a healthy meal. 

Here it is pictured last night with a glass of wine -- which I downed to drown my sorrows about my fair Manny being traded to the worst fan base in sports. Whatever. I drank another one and watched two movies (Be Kind Rewind and Lost in Translation) with my babe. BKR was "Eh... OK" and I've seen LIT before ... with Jeff... and he gave up on it 25 minutes in because he was bored. Then ScarJo becomes a hottie, Jeff figures himself an intellectual, and suddenly we're watching it again. Whatever, still good.

Anyway, back today. After my sandwich, I loafed (ha!) for a while before heading off to the gym. I did 30 minutes on the elip and 30 on the bike, partly because I had a sense my dinner would not be health conscious. I was right.

Jeff called me to tell me his company picnic (where family was NOT invited -- lame) was ending and people were heading down to a TexMex place to get margaritas. I was off before he said "mar --" I have a weakness. 

When I got there, I saw Jeff at a picnic table surrounded by middle-aged women. And let me tell you a secret about my fiance -- the middle aged women LOVE him. I don't know what it is. For some reason he's uber-outgoing around them and they lap it up. So when I got there, everyone was raving at Jeff's job planning the picnic (Yeah, Jeff is on the Thermo-Scientific party planning committee -- he has a ribbon and everything. Yes, a ribbon. Hanging in his cubicle. I'm pretty sure this provides him no authority at all). 

Anyway, Jeff was responsible for both the music, the trivia contest and the watermelon eating contest -- which he won. He told me this gleefully on the phone, and I was prepared to hang my head in embarrassment for him but then he dropped the bomb that he won a $50 AmEx giftcards for eating 12 slices in 60 seconds. If I had known this, we would have gone into heavy training, but Jeff told me he won by nearly a double margin ... I'm so proud.

So I got to hang with his bosses, one of whom dropped that she hung out with Colin Powell for 20 minutes before and knows the president of the Miami Dolphins (I can has tickets?) then Jeff and I headed off to get some eats. Jeff wanted to hang out more and not go home because it was the last day of my weekend, but we were stumped because Central Mass isn't really a hub. So ... we went to see Dark Knight again. I don't usually do that but I don't regret it -- it was awesome again and I'm prepared to say it: I think it's one of my top 15 of all time. And Heath Ledger is really, really amazing.

You know who else is amazing?

Watermelon eating really tuckers him out. :)

Things that are making it hard for me to work

1. Jeff home today. Love having him home from work. It gets lonely and boring here all day alone during the day and he has a nice face. What can I say?

2. Episodes of 30 Rock on DVD. Could be the funniest show ever? Still sits under Seinfeld, Extras, The Office (British) in my book, but is pretty damn good. (By the way, have you downloaded those Ricky Gervais podcasts yet? What are you waiting for???)

Jeff + 30 Rock + Brett Favre Day 164 = Slooooow day of work :)

Weekend in Review: Pats, poker and my tomato

In my probable last weekend of freedom for a while (football season is starting, meaning I'll have to work weekends), Jeff and I tried to make the most of it.

But first -- Jeff decided on Saturday he would go meet a few friends for a basketball game. Despite me PLEADING with him to eat something and bring some water, he ignored me. He's very stubborn when he's annoyed (traffic). When I came back to pick him up, he was redder than I've ever seen him. Good thing I had just bought a cold bottle of water for him (he drank it in 30 seconds) and a sandwich. But he spent the rest of the day in various stages of moaning, laying down, napping. When will he learn the universal truth: I am always right.

Sunday was much better. We decided we would check out Pats training camp in Foxboro. We went down at 8 a.m. for practice, which is open to the public and totally free (= perfect). It was fun watching the team practice, even if they weren't really hitting each other. 

Sports Nerdz.

Oh hi, Tom Brady. Remember me? (Video is still up on that -- fast forward to the 4:25 mark and you can hear my pre-teen voice squeak out a question. The most exciting and nerve-wracking few hours of my life.) 

We got a little bit lost on the way back from camp, which gave me a perfect excuse to take a detour to Tiffany. I've been wanting to check out what the matching wedding band is for my ring (i.e. how much $$ I will have to put away to get it). Well, I found it, and it's beautiful, and way over my budget, but I'm hoping I can save the cash to buy it. (I feel like people look to wedding bands as a place to save money, but I'm wearing it the rest of my life, I want it to be something I really love).

After lunch at the Cheesecake factory, Jeff and I headed home to clean for the arrival of my other two favorite guys in the world, Justin and Andrew, for poker night. It was the first time I'd played since our weekly ritual in  San Diego, and it was a good time. Justin ended up out $20 on a $5 game, he's a glutton for punishment. I ended up head's up with Andrew, who took me down when I drastically misplayed the final hand. The boys stayed over and Andrew froze us all out by turning down the AC. All in all -- good times with my favorite people.

Poker Sharks.

Sorry I had to knock you out baby.

Where, oh where did all these chips go?

Orange ones worth $1?

Getting ready for poker night with my three favorite guys.

Here's one.

Oh, and necessary poker rations. 

His answer.

Memba when I asked if Jeff was excited as me for our negative one year anniversary (as Sabrina so eloquently put it.) Well, when he got home I rushed him back out the door (I was hungry!) and as I walked to the car, I imitated my walk down the aisle. He told me to, "Just get in the car." Whatever, he's a guy right?

Then he told me to open the glove compartment... 

(It says, Woman: "It says here that today's hottest trend is lugging around an oversized vintage bag." Man: "Then I must really be in style." The "We will get there" is Jeff.)

You can read this, except for the part I've blurred (hey, some stuff is just for us.)

So of course I immediately teared up a little and asked him, "How long have you been planning this, like a month?"

After Red Robin (all jokes until the food comes, then its nom-nom time), then a trip to Borders (me: Wedding Magazines, him: music section), and of course ice cream, we headed home where I tried to get him to Photobooth with me. This is seriously the best pic we got:

Some others:

And back when I first tried to get him to Photobooth back in the day...

So, yeah, I'd say he is pretty excited to marry me. :)

Today's the day

That job I've been doing for the past two month: it launches today.

If you go to the ESPN.com - NFL page you will see this icon. For my Pats fans friends, don't fret: it may seem like there's been little coverage given to the AFC East, but that's simply because the AFC East blogger doesn't start until Monday. The rest of the divisional blogs are up and running.

Oh, and if you see a mistake, lemme know alright? We (me and two other guys) have to edit up to 100 posts a day, which is a lot. And sometimes we miss things.

By the way: does my job rock? Yeah, I think it does.

Weekend in Review: Dark Knight, Meg's wedding goodness and adventures on the Mohawk

Phew. What a weekend. I think Jeff, Katie and I packed as much into a 48 hour period as humanly possible.

First was the drive... to New York in preparation for the weekend. Despite the fact that I KNEW I would have to get up early for Meg's shower I decided that we would drive straight to the Albany movie theater and see the Black Knight. Forty-five minutes early for the 11:30 showing... we would be in good shape right?

Wrong.

We walked over to the ticket taker and saw there was one looooong line and one shorter one. I *hoped* the long one was for the 11:00 showing and the other for the 11:30, that we were going to. Wrong again. Immediately irritated, I was regretting the decision to see the movie (I didn't want to see a movie I had been waiting for months to see in the front row.) The other challenge was ducking around movie goers who had seen the movie and were pulling a Seinfeld on me: revealing key plot points while exiting the theater. Blast! Months of avoiding spoilers semi-ruined! (Nothing too major.)

My initial disappointment lifted -- despite the long line and one showing, the movie theater actually had multiple theaters open and we got fantastic seats.

***Dark Knight Spoilers Begin Here***

Wow. FINALLY a movie that lived up to its great expectations. The opening sequence was the most disjointed of the movie (What was Cillian Murphy doing there exactly?), but it just got better from there on.

Despite the hype, I still wasn't sure how well Heath Ledger would play the Joker. After his first scene in the basement with the mobsters I found myself thinking, "I can't wait for his next scene." It was that good. I was blown away. Credit great writing and fantastic makeup and costume, but lay the brunt of it on Ledger. He found a way to make the Joker more than a ... joke, and turned him into a complex villain (Top 5 of all time?). As his scenes progressed, my amazement turned into sadness. We won't ever get to see this genius again. 

Let's not forget the job Aaron Eckhart did as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Did anyone else think he was amazing? I particularly loved the scene where he is interrogating one of the Joker's team, flipping the coin over and over again. 

Keeping on the acting theme, I didn't think Christian Bale pulled it off quite like "Batman Begins." The husky Batman voice got a little ridiculous at some points, Katie pointed out she couldn't really understand him. And I prefer Katie Holmes to Maggie Gylenhall. Otherwise, the acting was A+.

But oy! was this movie creepy, led by Ledger's frightening Joker. 

Things that surprised me:

• I didn't expect them to kill off Rachel. And I love plot twists I don't see coming. Just the way they worked that scene. You know what ... Maggie did do a pretty good job, especially there. I expected Batman to show up to save the day, and he didn't. Fantastic writing.
• I didn't expect that Two Face's plot line would both begin and end here. I thought it would be akin to the end of "Batman Begins" where they cliffhung (?) the Joker plotline. I would have liked to set that happen, but oh well.

It felt like the movie could end eight times. It was long, but I found myself thinking "I know this is long, but we've waited three years and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth."

Final Grade: A

****End of Spoilers***

So from the movie we drove to Jeff's parents house (unoccupied for the weekend). Between starting some laundry and scavenging for snacks, I didn't get to bed until 4. And by "get to bed" I mean "slept for two hours." Terrible.

We woke up and parted with Jeff, as Katie and I were off to Meg's wedding shower! Being the only non-family members was a little awkward at first, but Meg's family is so nice (not that I'm surprised.) Meg showed up to her shower looking brilliant as usual. When I first met Meg (as my freshman year college roommate) she had a blue hoodie, some jeans and sneaks. Now, she is always dressed like a movie star. I am so happy for her.

Note to self: stop talking while people are taking pictures of you.

Later we went over to Meg's mom's house. Did I mention Meg grew up on a farm? Complete with a creek, hay barns, hills for hiking and an apple orchard. Amazing. Too bad it started pouring rain and we didn't get to explore that much.

Later we headed over to Meg's aunt house for more party, food and present opening. Oh, and me and Katie as the only two adults in the pool. We rock.

After we bid adieu to Meg we headed back to Albany to meet up with Jeff and his friend Mike (groomsman) to watch some MMA fights (yeah, not my first choice.)

The next morning was the big finale: tubing with Jeff's sister, her boyfriend Rob and his niece Angel. I think these pictures tell the story. (Katie and Jeff did the majority of the tubing. I told the group, "I don't mind when Jeff acts like he's 16 again, as long as he is at the end of a long rope, 20 feet away.)

Katie and Jeff on the verge of a major wipeout.

Me and a 10-year-old: having fun at 2 miles per hour.

I'm going to send this pic to "Gay Watersports Monthly."

I love that he finds so much joy in such little things :)