What's Next

Oh boy.

Seriously. I am the exact opposite of Peter from Office Space right now. Every day of my life is better than the day that came before it. Every day you see me or talk to me is the best day of my life. Life is so, so very good!

I have been giggling like a school girl for almost three solid days now. I love everybody! This is pretty much an exact replication of how I reacted on Monday after hanging up the phone upon receiving my offer:

Not Gonna Cry
Jerry Maguire at MOVIECLIPS.com

YEEEAAAH BUDDY.

What's Next?

Well, tomorrow is my first day of work. God I really can't wait. CAN'T WAIT. I am going to dominate so hard.

I immediately canceled my move-out notice, and I will sign a new lease tomorrow. I know I may need to move at some point, but honestly, I can't emphasize enough how much I don't want to worry about that right now. Baby steps. One thing at a time. I like this apartment a lot, and the commute isn't going to be that much longer than when I rode the Metro. At worst, if the commute sucks, I'll deal with it for a while, and then look at some other living arrangements then.

I can finally book my flight for Boston next month now that I know from what city I'll be flying. A bunch of us have tickets to the State/BC game -- a true battle of who could care less, to quote Ben Folds. But nonetheless, it'll be an awesome trip with both DC and Raleigh friends heading up there. Plus, I have a cousin who lives nearby! Gotta go get down in Beantown.

While I plan on waiting and getting settled at the job before I do anything, I will absolutely begin my search for a band to join with MUCH excitement. I'd like to see how the first few weeks at work go, but I will be crafting my Craigslist ad before too long! Hell, I may just post the blog post I wrote about it over the summer.

The biggest challenge will be holding onto my fitness and eating habits while working all day every day now. I'll just have to wake up early enough to walk Allie and run or hit the gym before I leave. I just so much prefer to work out in the morning than in the afternoon. I love the feeling of an awesome workout, but I like to get it out of the way and feel the energy rush throughout the day. Like today, I ran four miles this morning, and I've felt awesome all day. Although there are certainly extenuating circumstances for that as well! LET'S GO.

I'm going to have to work hard to maintain my food discipline, too. I'll need to bring my lunch a minimum of three days a week. Since hitting 185, I've lost hardly any weight at all. Some of that is due to fun trips to Raleigh and Charlotte, to be sure. But I've also noticed my pants getting looser and looser in the interim. So it's not all that I'm not losing weight. I could just be toning and tightening up. I mean, geez. My new 34"-waist jeans that I was so excited about just a month ago were LOOSE on me last week, despite holding steady at around 185. What in the world!

I'll need to get my old dog walker back on retainer, too. There are going to be nights where I don't get back until later than Allie is used to. But she really seems to like the woman who's walked her in the past, and she's not too unreasonably priced, so it seems worth it. She'll come walk Allie for 30 minutes or so and feed her for me. Not bad at all.

So the blog. Obviously, I won't be able to devote time during the day to writing anymore. Honestly, I cannot believe I've managed to keep up with posting three times a week since early June with very, very few exceptions. I have no intention of stopping now either. I've gotten into a rhythm, and I really enjoy writing for whomever decides to stop by and read. What I plan to do now is write my posts the night before and just post the link during the day. I'm sure the new blog routine will take some getting used to, but it'll work out just fine.

Weekend Roundup

You may have read about my less-than-awesome drive last week. Turns out I completely busted BOTH wheels on the passenger side of the car. The car place ordered one wheel because they didn't know both were wrecked. The back wheel was wrecked on the inside, which they didn't know until they took the wheel off. To which I'm compelled to ask, "Why didn't you do that before ordering parts?" But I digress.

They called me on Friday to say it would be done by closing. Then they called 20 minutes later to tell me about the second wheel. The second wheel was supposed to arrive on Monday. It did not. The guy at wherever they were getting it from somehow failed at putting the wheel on the UPS truck, and it didn't arrive until Tuesday afternoon.

Anyway, the rest isn't that important. Both wheels eventually arrived. Both tires eventually arrived. And everything was put on the car. A good time was had by all.

I finally got home last night around midnight. What a week.

Oh and Kirk and Liz's wedding!

Wow what an awesome wedding. Incredibly beautiful and unique location. Excellent food and dancing at the reception. Old friends I hadn't seen in forever. The unbelievable experience of seeing my old friend Paul dance. I've never seen someone control a dance floor like he did Saturday night. It was really something to see.

I've got nothing else. I'm so incredibly giddy right now. Tomorrow's drive in the morning rush will be the best drive in the history of mankind. I can't wait!

Next time we speak, I will no longer be unemployed. GREAT SUCCESS.

LET'S GO!

-BG

It is your birthday.

Well, it's actually my birthday. I turned 29 today. Today is the first birthday I've actively dreaded. I suppose that won't end any time soon now.

I actually really enjoyed 23-26. Those were good birthdays and years, really. Turning 23 was fine because it was still early 20s. And I was able to justify 24-27 as mid-20s.

My 28th birthday made me a little uneasy because it was uncomfortably close to 30, and it is most decidedly late-20s. You can't spin 28. And you for damn sure can't spin 29. I'm now one away.

As the joke goes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you've got a great career ahead of you. You have, like, four years until you're 30.

How in the world did this happen? Fuckin' a, man. I graduated high school 11 years ago. I started college 11 years ago in August. I graduated from undergrad SEVEN years ago this year. What the shit.

This won't be a sad-bastard post though. I'm not sad, really. I haven't been this happy in just about as long as I can remember. It's been a tough few months up until this point. There were some issues that needed exorcising. The issues were there for years based on things I did and needed to do in untenable situations. I've written about some of these things over the past couple of weeks, and maybe I'll write about more of them more specifically later on.

But right now? I'm 29 fucking years old man. I'm in a better place mentally than I've been for quite some time. Physically, I'm looking and feeling better than I have in years. I'm not all the way back, but I'm getting there. Progress. I has it. I have a little less hair than I'd like, but hey. What can you do? I didn't win the hair genes jackpot. It happens.

I have my health. I have an amazing family. I get along spectacularly well with my parents and brother and sister. I have uncles, aunts and cousins that, no matter how long we've been apart, when we get back together it's like we never left at all. I have friends that would drop everything for me if I needed it, as I would for them. I have the best dog in the history of dogkind.

The Yankees are playing well. The N.C. State basketball irrational hope and optimism express is ramping up again, as it does so often. I just feel good. You know?

I love where I live. There really is nothing like living in the DC area. It's amazing. Plus, there are SO many job opportunities around.

It could be so much worse. I have so much to be thankful for, and I feel so incredibly lucky. Thank you to every one who ever comes to this page and reads my thoughts, however random and unimportant they may be. This is fun for me. I like to write. Sometimes I can be funny, though probably not nearly as often as I think. But I'm having fun writing again.

I got to spend last night with two of my closest friends from the old college newspaper. When you work at a college newspaper, you are in the trenches with these people. You become family. Because everyone hates the college paper. It's always terrible writing, and you can't get shit done because people look down on you as "just a student." Shit's tougher than it looks, man. So these guys are family.

And then tonight, I'm going out with my best friend and his girlfriend. This guy man. We've known each other for 17 years now. We have been through some shit. It goes beyond friend with him. He's a brother to me. So we'll probably go through some more shit tonight. Like you do. Debauchery. Party of three.

So you know what? Yeah. I'm 29. I feel good. I'm looking better. I'm approaching the best shape I've ever been in. I'm healthy, safe and happy. I've shaken off the doldrums that plagued me for the past several years. Life is good, man!

Today felt like a good day to look back at how things have gone and where I have them going. It's a real benefit to having a birthday almost exactly halfway through the year. Plus, with turning 29 and with all the changes that have been going on lately, I have felt even more nostalgic than the usual "a lot." Thanks again for reading.

I'm heading back up north tomorrow, so I'll be back writing on Monday!

As for today, happy birthday to me! LET'S GO!

-BG

Dogs Welcoming Home Soliders

OK, this is seriously the best thing I've ever seen in my life. A page with several videos of soldiers getting home and being greeted by their dogs after MONTHS away overseas. Best. Ever.

And then there's a video at the bottom of solider dads surprising their kids at school. Unbelievable. It's getting a little dusty in here I think.

Here's the link. It's awesome.

Thank you to all the soldiers who have ever, in any way, served our country and made it safe for us to live the lives we choose to live. We get to make that choice because of what you do. So thank you and Happy Veterans Day!

Allie -- The Doofy Dog

Anne took Allie to Umstead Park today. Not a whole lot of people around, so she let her off the leash to roam the trails with her. Here are three videos that resulted from the trip. Very excellent.

Allie at Umstead I


Allie at Umstead II


Allie at Umstead III