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Well it’s five and a half months until the wedding day and what’s left to do:

• Pay the deposit on the photographer
• Find a caterer and all the other fun stuff associated with that
• Have Heather’s dress altered
• Order “save the date” cards
• Order invitations
• Book our honeymoon
• Get measured for tuxedoes
• Find an aficionado
• Book the DJ
• Meet with my Great Aunt to finalize the flower/cake situation
• Book a place for the rehearsal dinner

I’m sure there’s a ton of other things that I’ve forgotten, but as you can see we’ve still got a lot on our plate.

For a couple of weeks now I’ve notice that the purple car has been leaking antifreeze. I’ve kept my eye on it, topped it off when needed, and overall its just not been a problem. Then this week rolled around and the next thing I know, I’ve got antifreeze gushing out from underneath this car all the time. Since I’ve gone through a whole bottle of antifreeze this week alone, and it’s just Wednesday, I decided to take it in.

The diagnosis: my water pump is leaking out its weep hole.

While I don’t know much about cars, I do know that leaking out of your weep hole can’t be good. I quickly checked the price of the repairs with another garage in Franklin and when it came back OK, I told the guy to go ahead and fix the purple people eater*.

Luckily I still had 200 bones stashed in my wallet from the money the insurance company gave me from getting smashed into by that lady.  Also being the thrifty shopper I am, I found a coupon online for 10% off of the repairs.

In total I only had to go $150 back into debt today and I’ve no longer got a problem with leaks from my weep hole.

*Fun Fact: The car I drive is purple in case you didn’t know.

I received an invitation in the mail the other day to participate in an online survey from J.D. Power and Associates because I Heather and I recently purchased a new Saturn. Normally I throw things like that away unless there’s a chance that I’ll win $10,000 (I’ve taken the Chili’s survey more times than I can count) or if they’re giving away a free gift. The gift for taking this survey was a $15 gift card to Amazon.com.

Thirty minutes later, with one survey completed, a $15 electronic gift coupon was delivered straight to my email. Now all I had to do is pick something out, type in the code from my gift coupon, and my product would be delivered straight to my door from Amazon.com.

While this process sounded simple enough, a terrible problem had presented itself. Amazon.com simply sells way too many things. I didn’t know where to begin. At first I thought I’d buy a book, but I’m not finished reading the one that I’ve got. Then I thought I’d buy a movie, but ultimately, I don’t think I want a movie. As I continued to browse further and further into Amazon.com I saw tons of nice things that I’d like, cost a little more that $15. I just don’t have the extra money to spend right now, nor do I want to. This is supposed to be a $15 gift, free and clear.

So what do I do?

I’ve been asking myself that a lot and I think I’ve decided to just hold on to my gift card until I get a little closer to finishing my book. I guess I’ve decided that even though I work for a book distribution company and can get 41% off of any book and despite the fact that the book I order from Amazon.com will probably come out our my employer’s warehouse, I think that I would feel most satisfied by buying a book with my Amazon.com gift card instead of any thing else.

A list of what some buddies and I talked about last night while drinking beer:

1. Life insurance
2. Roth IRAs
3. 401ks
4. Credit cards
5. Interest rates
6. Mortgages

Wow, I don’t know when this stuff started being interesting to us. We’re getting old.

I realized today while I was running that my allergy medicine really dries me out. I also realized that being dried out while running on hot days is a bad idea. Needless to say, it wasn’t a run I’m very proud about.

Only five more weeks from yesterday until the half-marathon. I’ve still got quite a bit of training ahead of me. Also, I’m going to try my best to drop ten pounds in that five weeks. I think I’ll be able to do it as long as I can stay away from those chocolate milk shakes from Sonic. Damn you Sonic milk shakes and your deliciousness! Damn you!

In the past I’ve cussed a number of things; animals standing in the road, inanimate objects (couches, various chairs and dresses that I’ve stubbed my toe on, cars that have broken down, etc), people (some of which have and have not resulted in fist fights), and this list goes on and on. Today however instead of just cussing an item from that list like I normally do, I’m actually adding an “Insurance Policy” to that list. I honestly believe that this is the first time that I’ve actually cussed a legal document/contract of any kind. It’s kind of a big deal.

Now I don’t want you to go around feeling sorry for this insurance policy. It had it coming. If it didn’t want to be cussed, it wouldn’t have been so out of order. Since I had my little talk with it, you’ll be glad to know that it’s now in order and I doubt that it will ever get out of place again.

It’s bad enough that Heather and I have rhinoceroses that live above us, but now it seems that they’re taunting us. The rhinos, a fat guy and an iceberg of a woman (skinny on top, huge on bottom), have a way of following us around the house. We sit in the living room, they stomp around in their living room. We walk down the hall, they thunder down their hall. We go into the bathroom, they BOOM BOOM BOOM into their bathroom.

I sometimes imagine that they really are doing the exact same thing we’re doing, only really really loudly. It’s kind of creepy. Also, it’s wierd that they’re always home whenever we are, no matter what time, day or night. Heather has even gone so far as to throw things at our celling. They’re that loud.

If you know someone who has really been in the mood to shoot some rhinoceroses, I know where two are. Just come by any time when you know I’ll be home. They’ll be there.

I ran 6 miles today. My knees hurt.

I’m planning on going for 7 this weekend.

Blah!

For some time now I’ve felt that people often refer to me as “that pale guy”. Also I worry that I frighten small children who mistakenly think I’m a ghost. I can understand the mix up and why people might think that I’m a borderline vampire. It’s because while I try to be an active guy, I somehow don’t get the opportunity to spend much time in the sun.

Kati told me while we were running one day that she just goes to the tanning bed once a week. She said this prevents her from both being “burnt toast” and considered an albino. After hearing this I thought to myself, “That’s actually a really good idea”.

So if the next time you see me and I don’t look so sickly, you’ll know why.

Last night I was so mad at Gonzaga for losing to Indiana. Then this morning I was marking the wins and losses on my brackets when I realized that I had actually picked Indiana to win. WhoooooHoooooo!

Go Kansas!