Yeah, yeah, I know... it's been forever.  Probably, nobody will come to read this one.  And I understand... I've taken too long to update this thing.  But the past few weeks have been extremely busy and I haven't been able to sit myself down to do another Blog entry.  Let's see if I can cover everything that's happened in this one...

I don't think I mentioned that I was losing my job.  Yeah, it seems that the US Postal Service decided to phase out all of the contractors they'd hired to do IT support at their HQ location (the building where I work) and bring in all USPS employees for the positions.  Ugh.  The bad news - my contract with HP would end on May 31st - TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING.  But the good new was, I was given the opportunity to apply for one of the open positions, and if accepted, I'd get a nice pay raise.  But, if any of you are goverment employees, you know the pain I had to go through when I applied.  Yep, I had to write KSA statements for the first time in my life.  Those things were a PAIN!  I actually had the opportunity to apply for 2 positions, but writing the KSA statements for my current job were so hard, I didn't have time to write the KSA statements for the second job application!  But I got through the interview process with no problems, and I was offered the job.  Had to do some hard negotiations for a good salary, but I was hired on May 29th and I am now a US Postal Service employee! 

Along with the new job, I happened to get a pre-approval letter from a nearby Dodge dealership.  Normally, I'd ignore them silly things, but (1) I've been gradually more and more interested in checking out the new Dodge Charger, and (2) D has been encouraging me to get rid of the Pathfinder.  Not that it was running badly, but I was staring down the barrel of about $2000 in more maintenance repairs, including a new clutch.  I decided to follow up with the Dodge dealership.  D and I went on a Saturday afternoon after running some errands, and they let me test drive the Charger SXT and the Chrysler 300.  I really did fall in love with how the Charger felt on the road.  While I was making my decision, the salesman showed D a Lexus ES300 she fell in love with as well...   so we worked out a deal and BOTH OF US got off that lot with new cars!  She drove off the lot with her new Lexus ES300 on Saturday....

... and Sunday we came back and I picked up my new Dodge Charger SXT!

OK, the story y'all have been waiting for - the wedding.  so, the last time I Blogged, I was about to sing the National Anthem at a Washington Nationals game (they got SPANKED by the Florida Marlins that night, by the way...) and we had just chosen a great bakery for the wedding cake.  I finally got my groomsmen in line and they all got down to the place I'd selected to get fitted for their tuxedos.  D and I finalized everything we needed to for the wedding plans.  Everything was going wonderfully... and then the Wednesday before the wedding, the A/C in our house went out.    I called a technician, but he couldn't come out until the day before the wedding.  That pissed me off, because D and I both took that day off and we'd planned to spend most of that day getting favors put together (with the help of her Maid of Honor and my sister).  Friday comes, we're putting together favors in a sauna-like climate inside our house... her mom and aunt arrived and they went off to the spa for the day, while my sister and her Maid of Honor came and helped me finish the favors... the A/C technician finally showed up at 1:45pm (mind you, the rehearsal was at 3:00pm!) and takes about 20-30 minutes fixing the outside A/C unit.  D, her mom and aunt come back home, drop some stuff off, and head to the Mansion for the rehearsal.  I quickly shower and dress, and get over there myself.  I arrive 15 minutes late... but guess what?  (1) the caterer/day-of coordinator can't come because she's preparing our food, and (2) my groomsmen are late too!  Everyone except one of my groomsmen finally shows up (he had to work) and we got through the rehearsal quickly.  We rolled out and went to a nearby church D rented out for the rehearsal dinner.  D gave me some cufflinks from Tiffany... I couldn't believe it.  I love them thangs....   ANYWAY... it was so cool seeing a lot of both our families together at the rehearsal dinner.  We went home, and she left for her bachelorette party.  I had to find another place to stay that night (we agreed not to see each other 24 hours prior to the wedding)... I was checking out cheap motels nearby, when my friend James just happened to call (he was on his way home from a gig at the Birchmere) and he offered to let me stay at his house for the night.  Great friend, he is...

So, Saturday morning... I wake up, thank James and his wife, and roll out.  I practically spent the ENTIRE day in my car... got some breakfast with my dad, D's dad, and my dad's family from Connecticut... took my dad & D's dad to pick up their tuxedos... ran some last-minute errands (like extra alcohol for the bartender at the wedding)... headed to the Mansion.  My groomsmen and I got dressed, and we went downstairs for the ceremony!  We walked out with our officiant, Pastor Morris Shearin of Isreal Baptist Church in DC.   As I stood at the altar waiting for D, I began thinking about all our time together... meeting here on Xanga, dating, meeting her friends, meeting her parents, proposing, buying the house... I just couldn't believe we were finally here.  And before I could realize I was about to miss it.... the harpist changed songs, and out came D with her father.  She had warned me beforehand how much I'd like that dress... I absolutely loved it on her.  The ceremony was amazing, without any hitches (except Pastor Shearin speaking a little slowly) and we were finally officially married!  The reception was amazing - the food was better than I expected, the overall lighting was gorgeous, everybody had a great time... we just partied that night.  To this day, D still says, "dude... our wedding was the BOMB!"... *L*  I have to agree... it really was.

The Tuesday after the wedding, D & I flew to New Orleans (with a layover in Atlanta).  We arrived in an extremely hot New Orleans, took a cab to our hotel, and settled in.  I cannot believe how gorgeous this hotel was - now I understand why she wanted to stay there so badly.  The decor was amazing, the customer service was above top-notch... I could go on and on about The W.  We went out to dinner - dammit, I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant we strolled to in the French Quarter for dinner!  They had French-fried eggplant sticks that I swear were so good, I could almost give up French Fries for them!  We strolled back to the hotel and had some drinks at the bar.  When we got back to our room, the hotel had complimentary champagne & chocolate-dipped strawberries in our room for us. 

Wednesday, we went to Court of Two Sisters for brunch - excellent brunch - strolled Bourbon Street (I had an official Bourbon Street Hurricane ) and then went down to the Waterfront to catch a riverboat cruise.  We got to see one of the levees that broke when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.  We had dinner that evening at a great Italian restaurant in the French Quarter, and then went to Cafe Du Monde for coffee & beignets... AWESOME!  We picked up some beignet mix and a can of coffee to take home... went back to the hotel and chilled for the night.

Thursday, we got up and had breakfast and waited for time to get onto the cruise ship (that's right folks... our New Orleans adventure was not over.... we were setting sail on a 4-day Carnival cruise to Cozumel, Mexico!).  We were sitting around watching TV so long, we even had lunch.  Finally, we took a cab to the dock and boarded the cruise ship.  Because of the cabin upgrade we selected, we did the VIP boarding, which took all of 15 minutes!  They took us into a little room, checked us in, gave us our onboard ID cards, walked us onboard, and we were in our cabin suite within about 15 minutes! I could not believe it. So... we chilled in the room for a couple of hours, and then roamed to the main outside deck where they were giving a mandatory safety briefing before we set sail. It took FOREVER for them to get this thing going... but it took only 10 minutes to complete. Once it was done, we were ROLLIN'! Denise and I roamed up to the top outside deck, got a couple of drinks, and laid out. Then, we got some dinner from the casual dining buffet, ordered a small cake & champagne for ourselves for Friday, and chilled in our room. Our Hall Steward found out late that it was our honeymoon, so she folded some bath towels into little swans and laid out some rose petals on the bed. It was really cool... 

Friday, we got up early (well, 7am.... late for us, since I normally get up at 4am for work, and she normally gets up at 5am) and went to breakfast at the casual buffet. We roamed the ship, checking out everything we possibly could. We drank... ate... shopped... watched movies in our cabin... we got our cake & champagne and ate that... we got dressed up and went to the formal Captain's dinner, checked out the Karaoke bar and the nightclub on the ship, then turned in early.

Saturday, the ship docked in Cozumel at 8:00am. We got breakfast, got off the ship, checked in with our shore excursion manager, did some duty-free shopping at the dock, then headed out to Playa Mia. It's one of many water resorts there where they have all these different water activities. Denise snorkeled and parasailed by herself, and we ate ourselves silly. Just before we left, we booked a waverunner for a few minutes and hit the water together. I was driving that thing like a champion until I took one bad turn and we fell into the water. We were able to swim back to the wave runner but I couldn't pull myself onto it. An attendant came up on another wave runner and helped us get back on. We still had BIG FUN...  We got back to the ship, rested (I had a migraine at this point), roamed the ship a little bit, tried to participate in the Newlywed Game but I made us late (I was ironing a shirt)... but boy am I glad I made us late, cuz all the husbands danced in nothing but their boxer shorts at the end of the game... *ROFL* and one husband was a retired Baptist minister...we all died laughing... after that, we went back to our cabin and turned in.

Sunday, we got up, had breakfast, found a group of folks having Praise & Worship in one room and sang with them, hooked up with some other folks who were having a small worship service and heard a great sermon... had lunch... roamed the ship some more... watched movies in our cabin... went to a comedy show but we couldn't stay for the whole thing because the room was too cold. We went back to our cabin, packed, and turned in around midnight.

Monday, we got up, had breakfast in the formal dining room, watched Open Season in our cabin while waiting to get off the ship. FYI - for any of you going on a Carnival cruise anytime soon... if they give you the option to choose SELF-ASSIST DEBARKATION or GENERAL DEBARKATION... choose SELF-ASSIST. For the SELF-ASSIST DEBARKATION, you have to carry all your luggage off all the way... but you get off first, and they do it floor by floor. After that's finished, GENERAL DEBARKATION begins, and it's just a general cattle call for anybody left onboard. All in all, it took about an hour to get off, but it was still a pain. We got onto our first flight (New Orleans to Atlanta), which was OK... not too rough. We had dinner at Friday's at the Atlanta airport, then got on the flight from Atlanta to BWI... WORST FLIGHT I'VE EVER BEEN ON (turbulence-wise). We landed in BWI about 8:15pm, drove to D's friend's house in Severn to pick up the cat, drove home, unpacked a little bit, and turned in.

So now we're back home, settling into the house again... which is a MESS from all the stuff we had to bring home from the wedding... plus, the gifts we unwrappred, and our luggage.  I'm happy to say that as of today, we've completely unpacked, gotten the wedding gifts sorted, almost completely cleaned up the living room, D finished painting the master bedroom and we picked up some dressers from Ikea for the master bedroom, and we've been just chillin' and enjoying married life!

And here I sit... staring down the barrel of a VERY BIG DECISION.  I just found out that if I act on this quickly, my new employer will pay for me to go back to college to get my degree.  I mean.... f'n WOW.  Not assist me (as in, I pay first, then file with them for reimbursement).... nah... I submit a request for the money for tuition & books, they pay the college for me... and I do my thing.  Now... just gotta choose a school... and get myself psyched up to do this.  My last 2 college experiences weren't so good... so I'm a little apprehensive at trying again.  Can I really do this?  Is God pointing me down that road?  Did He position me where I am at thsi very moment for this?  Would I fail again?  A lot of questions to ponder.  I'm currently reviewing a couple of online programs - specifically University of MD University College and http://wgu.edu... their online programs for Bachelor's degrees in my field are very good.

So pray for me as I make this decision...