Rehearsal Squared

Hey All- I might be one of the worst ever at blogging, I apologize for the delays in updates...


Hope this latest update finds everyone doing well.


It's been a crazy month since my bachelor party in the middle of June.









Two weeks after my bachelor party, I travelled to Tampa, Fla., for our annual CoSIDA convention. CoSIDA stands for College Sports Information Directors of America. It was a great trip, I learned that although I'm sure that Florida is a great state, it is a state in which one should not visit between the months of May and September. The humidity down there was crazy. It was a lot of fun, got to catch up with a bunch of SID buddies and learned quite a bit too. One of the highlights of the trip was when Dick Vital spoke to our organization. He received an award from our organization and I actually had the opportunity to get my picture taken with him. Billy Packer, who for some reason keeps getting asked to come back to CBS to do the Final Four, also received an award, he told some good stories, but he couldn't get out of there quick enough which annoyed me a bit. UPDATED July 14, 9:02 am... After receiving an email from fellow SID Josh Deer, I have found out that Billy Packer has been released by CBS.

I returned home at 3:30 in the morning on the 3rd of July after being stuck in Detroit Airport due to thunderstorms. Lisa and I did not have any major plans for the weekend and we just played it low-key. I got up on the third, did laundry, we went and had brunch and ran some errands than that night we went out to the campground to hang out with Lisa's brother Ryan and his wife and some of their family and friends. It was a good time, I even got to play some cribbage (and won a game) so it was fun.

The fourth was rather low-key as well. Some of the highlights included watching City Slickers along with the Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest. Lisa was a little grossed out about the idea of eating somewhere around 63 Hotdogs in 10 or so minutes (and truthfully as was I), but none the less it was entertaining. That afternoon we laid low, I mowed the yard and Lisa weeded our flowerbed before having our friends Nathan and Kalli over. We played bocce ball (Nathan and I dominated) and then went to Blue Bricks for supper before coming home and having a fire and then going to Nathans to watch the fireworks. Saturday we went back to Gaylord and took Lisa's parents to the Drive-In (in Winthrop, great place for a meal) for their anniversary and then went back to their house and played a game of Rummy. Sunday included a trip to church and doing odds and ends around our house.

There was a bit of unfortunate news over the weekend of the fourth as Lisa's great-aunt passed away. So, we were back in Gaylord for the wake and funeral before returning to Mankato Tuesday afternoon.

It was a rather quick week for me at work, as I basically worked half a day Monday, a fourth of a day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and Thursday and had Friday off so Lisa and I could travel to Sioux Falls for a wedding of my close personal friend Shane Drahota. I was a groomsman in his wedding (and thus, that's where the picture at the opening of this post was taken) and Shane will be a groomsman in our wedding. It was a great time, we had an opportunity to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while and we danced the night away... I used to have no rhythm, now i have a minimal amount, but don't try telling me I'm a bad dancer, because I can bust a move like my boy Justin Timberlake.

When we got to the rehearsal Friday Shane looked at me and said, "This is you in two weeks." It then dawned on me on how close our wedding really was, so I dubbed the weekend "Rehearsal, Rehearsal" or Rehearsal Squared. It was a great weekend and it made me even more excited to marry Lisa in less than two weeks.