#3 Mr. and Mrs. Battjes

#3
There is now a new Mr. and Mrs. Battjes. I partook in Dan and Mags wedding and funfilled weekend. It started with us boys getting tuxes and grabbing a lunch followed by a rehearsal at the church where I was threatened by the two youngsters who sat in front of us; they told me they could tackle their dad and so they could tackle me too. They also pointed out that out of the 5 guys there I was #1 on their death list. I did manage to survive it though and headed off to the rehearsal dinner put on by dan's parents at the rooster tail. We ate well, drank plenty, watched a video of pictures showing the coming up of young dan and maggie to the point we are at now. Mags sister Mollie (sp) put that on; great choice of songs by the way. We ended that night with a bonfire sort of circle telling stories about the two main attractions of the night (D&M). The following day was the wedding which was beautiful. Like any other day I had a tux on with a little gel in the hair; no big deal. After the 40 minute wedding we spent the next 3 hours taking pictures outside the church (maybe a little exageration). Then the wedding party headed away in a trolley with a cooler filled of champagne and beer. (The trolley driver or bus driver's name was Otto for all you simpson fans) The reception put on by the Katchmark's was at the DYC and just great. Scenery, food, and the music which was a full band that played mostly motown. There was plenty of dancing; I personally felt like I had jumped in a pool of sweat, no seriously drenched. When it all faded off and everyone had their late night coney dogs some of us headed to a bar to close off the night. Following morning was a brunch at the K's. I decided to walk to their house since I didn't feel it would be safe to drive and on arriving at the house spent a good portion of my time there in the lazy boy with the feet up. It was a fantastic weekend which I will always remember and if not I'll have this blog to help me.

#2 Retirement

#2
At the close of May I had my last day of work with Dyson. And....so it begins.
After producing a cd with Andy in Houston and saying farewell to the friends down there I left the city on a wednesday afternoon and drove 18 straight hours through the night to my first destination; Chicago. In Chicago I got to spend quality time with Pete, Mike and the Gotfredson family, Pete's "friend" Rebecca and her friends :) I managed to get my visa from the Indian consulate while I was there as well; a little productivity made me feel better about the lazy days and bar filled evenings. We also got to see a little bit of the blues fest in Chicago; pretty cool.
I meandered my way home for the next 4 days stopping in different cities to see friends along the way. Age and I barbequed up a gourmet meal. Mike, Bracken and I had deep talks as we polished off a drink at the Firehouse, followed by my full day with toaster doing everything and anything; come on his name is toaster. Then a night in East Lansing with Adam Houdini; aka Borat and Carrie with special guest appearance by Cole-man-do himself.
I finally made it home on Thursday after stopping to see the way to kind to me relatives, Jim (thanks for the storage), Amy (thanks for the haircut) and Lish (thanks for the sandwich). Walking in to loving arms I said my hello's and headed to dinner with Mr. Hess; aka The Footer, and off to the bars to see my high school teachers; aka my friends too. This was also the beginning of the Dan/Mags wedding weekend.