So Far, So Good

It's been one week officially without my beard, and my face isn't driving me crazy that much. I had gotten used to so much hair on my face, I had hardly noticed that I have dimples when I smile big and I have a cleft chin. Funny what you find out when you actually have face to look at. I've been reading my friend Obi's blog about weight loss, and he's impressing me quite a bit with his efforts. I know that during the past few weeks, I haven't been to the gym as much as I'd like, but we've been busy around here just the same.

It's funny because moving into a house with other people is bound to bring challenges and issues, especially when one of the people living in the house is your future wife. We both had to get used to each other's crazy idiosyncrasies, just like any couple moving in together, but we added some degree of difficulty with her mom and brother still being in the house, too. I have to say it's been truly amazing, and I get along with everyone really well. And most of the time, the house doesn't look like a dust tornado ran through it. But making sure stuff gets done sometimes is hard, because there is the assumption that someone else will do it. Not a good habit to get into, because we are all busy here with jobs, outside activities, and other stuff. Oh, and add in seven cats to the mix, and you get a full household.

Living with seven cats you'd think would be a challenge, but it's not as long as you remember a few rules, (1) know when dinner time is (2) pay attention to them as much as possible (3) clean up the litter box. Cats have different personalities, much like humans. Lucy screams at you around dinner time, but loves to be petted and eats potato chips. Daisy loves any sort of sports balls, and will chase the laser pointer as much as possible and will eat about anything. Pilot loves the bathroom, and will try to tackle your leg while you walk by. Bruts loves to sleep, but he's a bit scared of new people. Moya just loves to be on your lap, as long as Spot isn't there first. And then there's Plabo, the leader of the group who basically runs the place and we all just try not to get into the way. I used to live with pets growing up, but it's been a while since I've had to deal with being woken up early for food, having cat toys fly at you, having your shoes smell like pee, or having feline help in tying your shoes. But I love cats because deep down, they give unconditional love as long as you respect them and take care of them. Whenever I've had a crappy day at work or just feeling a bit blue, I know one of them will find me and purr while I pet them and show me that it's all OK.

With a wedding coming up in a few months, I need all the quietness that I can, and so far, so good there. It's great to be part of something that is bigger than you, even if some of the family members can't talk and shed on the furniture.

Postscript - The Trail Blazers won again last night over Utah, winning their 16th game of 17 and are now 21 and 13. It's amazing to watch this collective group come together and play well, when there isn't really a superstar amongst them. There's great players (Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw), and a collection of talented guys that fill in the gaps and provide support for everyone. When Roy was out of most of Saturday's game, Webster scored 24 points in the third quarter, and the Blazers held off Utah in the end. The attention is starting to come, with recent articles in SI and ESPN about the Trail Blazers, Paul Allen, and just how this team is winning. It's not that big of a secret, but it's hard to put the plan into place - get good solid citizen guys who are talented, and get them a leader that preaches success starts with supporting the team. It's great to see Rip City back in town, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this bunch.

It's Been A Rather Fun Start to the New Year..

Well, 2008 has gotten off to a crazy start so far. We had a small gathering of folks here for New Year's Eve, mostly Row N folks and a few other TA folks as well as some of my friends from the bank showed up. The party was an open house format, with the first few hours being family friendly and alcohol free, but then after 8 pm, we opened up the bar and let loose. I don't have any problem with family friendly events, and for the most part, the kids yesterday were very well behaved. Some of the families were a bit scared off by the 8 pm bar opening, but our invite was pretty clear that the first hours were going to be quiet but then notched up a bit. The last guest left at 2 AM which left a few hours for girl and I to clean up. We passed out about 4:30 AM or so, and slept most of the day.

But something of a big event occured earlier on Sunday, as I shaved off my goatee and am now clean shaven. This hasn't happened for at least 10 years, as I've had some form of beard on my face. It started with the movie Clerks, and the character Dante who had a goatee and I thought it looked cool. So I grew one, and have kept it until Sunday.

At first, it was itchy but I thought the facial hair was cool and I wasn't dating anyone at the time. However, my mom hated it. My mom never hated much of anything, except the beard, so I had to listen to her object through many a visit why I grew such an ugly beard. She eventually grew to like it because my friends and sister actually thought it was pretty cool. But admittedly, I was told by many of my dating prospects that the beard was a nice touch because my smile wasn't very good and it covered that up. Not exactly the nicest thing to share with someone, but since self confidence wasn't something I had much of at times in my life, I went along with it.

Then many years later, I met girl and she grew to love me but admitted on many occassions she didn't like facial hair but knew it was me so she didn't mind. But my beard was getting more filled with white and grey hairs, and at points, it felt like 200 grain sandpaper and there were points I was scratching her face pretty bad. She had never seen me without my beard, and it had been a while since I was clean shaven, so on Sunday I took the plunge.

This wasn't something I just did because she asked, but it was more of me realizing the beard was nice, but it was also a bit of a crutch to hide what I thought was a bad feature. I had even admitted to many friends for years that the goatee was a way to hide my face, and hadn't put that all together until Sunday. I have to admit that while my face is still a bit dry and not used to being without hair, it's been a nice change of pace. I can always grow it back at some point, but now that it's not there, I find myself smiling a bit more. Plus, I think I look a bit younger without all the grey hairs on my face, too. While my age isn't something I concern myself with that much, I do want to look good for girl because I want her to feel special when she's with me. Yea, even after all these years, I'm still smitten with her. Not a bad realization to start 2008..