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| New beginnings. What does that phrase stir in your heart? Hope, perhaps, or relief? Maybe anticipation, apprehension, or nostalgia? If you're like me, it's probably a bright, intoxicating cocktail of all of these emotions, blended with others still unidentified. It speaks of closure, of leaving behind and moving on. Yet it speaks of life, and grace, and progress.
Perhaps my circumstances bias me toward a positive outlook.
You see, my circumstances are awesome. Not to brag or anything, but seriously. I'm a married man -- have been for about eighteen days now. And the whole thing is still so wonderfully new and exciting. Heather is my wife. I probably verbalize that reality several times a day just to remind myself. It's fun, actually. And I know it's true because she signs her name (illegibly, but hey, she's still getting used to it) as "Heather Colletto". And I live with her. I live with a girl, and we share meals, and plans, and a bed together. It's awesome. And it's just the beginning or our life together. It's still me, and it's still her. We're still best friends. But we face a new beginning together, hand in hand, with God as our guiding Vision. And I'm stoked. : )
Speaking of new beginnings, Xanga and I are parting ways. Sad, I know. I may check in periodically, but don't hold your breath -- unless, of course, you just want to test your lung capacity and you promise not to hurt yourself. In that case, be my guest. Anyway, my new blog can be found at http://michaelcolletto.blogspot.com. Stay in touch!
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| I'm getting married next weekend. Is that a staggering thought for anyone else or just me? Just me? OK. That's fine. I'm just trying to figure it out, you know? It's not like our engagement has flown by, but kind of. I could've sworn we were counting down the months not too long ago and suddenly we're counting single-digit days. Haha. Wow. I think I'm getting nervous. Not anxious-fear nervous. Adrenaline-anticipation nervous. Then again, that slightly tense feeling in my stomach could be because I didn't eat breakfast this morning. Hmm. Yeah. I'm definitely hungry.
So, for those of you who've locked yourself in a darkened hole for the last three months to escape the commercial frenzy of the promoted-ever-earlier holiday season, this past Tuesday was Christmas Day. And a fine day it was. Strange though. Undeniably. Working a seven hour shift at Starbucks probably had something to do with that (note: my oh-so-awesome fiance sat at a table in the store during my entire shift so we could spend Christmas together--isn't she sweet?!). But so much is different than a year ago. Last year I was starting to think maybe I loved my friend Heather Wenzel. This year I spent Christmas Day (and much of the week) with that same Heather Wenzel who, incidentally, will be my wife in a matter of days. Seriously. It's official. We went and got a marriage license and it's a very authentic-looking government document. And she moved nearly all her stuff into my apartment and hung her clothes in my closet and everything. Besides, we wrote vows this weekend. So, yeah, this is for real. Her parents are in town, our friends are starting to arrive...
Yeah. Staggering. It really is. I'm just waiting for my mind to catch up to real-time events. In the meantime, let's get this party started! 10...9...
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| The wedding countdown continues, work is hectic for the holidays, and some things never change. For example, as in days of yore (e.g. the college years), I still have the occasional need to step back from all the pressure and do something fun for a few minutes. Some people check up on their friends on Facebook, browse YouTube, read RSS feeds, or what-have-you. Not me. (Another thing that hasn't changed? My nerdiness.)
Are you concerned about world hunger? (Who isn't?) Are you studying for the GRE? (Haha -- sucker!) Or are you just plain fascinated by words and competitive with yourself? (Yeah!) Either way, http://www.freerice.com has a little something for everybody. Check it out. Revisit daily. Become smarter. Save lives.
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| A
Tribute to the Number 24:
24: the title of a TV series on Fox, starring Kiefer Sutherland as
unbelievably awesome one-man counter-terrorist juggernaut Jack Bauer, that has
been running for six seasons...and counting. At some point during the summer
months in 2006, I had bought a used copy of season one for $15, but didn't get
around to watching it until August of that year when I came down with Lyme
disease. I watched the entire season in three days. Interestingly enough, I got
Lyme disease right around the time my friend Heather Wenzel was leaving for a
three-month internship in Slovakia.
In fact, my health prevented me from traveling out to see her before she left.
We were just friends. When we met up again in early December, things changed.
She moved to NJ, got her own apartment, and I introduced her to season one of
24 (incidentally, she also watched the entire season in three days). Oh, and I
fell in love with her. So when I got seasons two, three, and four of 24 for my
birthday, I started using 24 as an excuse to get together. Eventually (finally,
Heather might say), I came forward with my feelings and we watched seasons
three and four of 24 while holding hands. : )
24: my age as of Monday, December 10, 2007. That's right, I'm in my
mid-twenties. And in all seriousness, it was one of the best birthday weekends
ever. On Saturday night, Heather and I met her sister and brother-in-law, Angie
and Jamin, in Philadelphia
for a little birthday fun (Angie's birthday is the day after mine). We had
planned to go bowling at Lucky Strike, but ended up eating (and drinking) at
Monk's -- a fantastic, unassuming little restaurant that serves Belgian food
and over 300 different beers. I had this incredible duck salad. On Sunday
night, my parents had Heather and me over to their house for a birthday dinner
with my brother and my grandparents. There was a fire in the fireplace, there
were gifts, and, once again, the food was fabulous. Monday morning, Heather
came over to my apartment and made me breakfast -- monkey bread! -- before
driving out to NJ to take a final exam. She then drove from NJ back to West Chester to meet me on my lunch break. When I came
home from work, she surprised me with a romantic candlelit dinner (which was
awesome, by the way). We ate and played Scrabble and just hung out, enjoying
each other's company. She made me feel really special. And she gave me awesome
cufflinks. And she's gorgeous. And I love her.
24: the number of days until I marry Heather Wenzel!!!
To say "I'm excited" would be a gross understatement (observe how I used three exclamation points --- I never use more than one exclamation point). It would also leave out all the other oh-so-wonderfully
mushy emotions involved. And the "Oh-my-gosh-where-did-time-go-and-what-am-I-forgetting-to-do-before-the-wedding?"
thoughts. (By the way, if any of you have the answer to either of those
questions please let me know.) So close! : ) Also...
24: the number of hours in a day, the atomic number of
chromium, the number of Carats representing 100% pure gold, the number of
points on a backgammon board, the number of bits a computer requires to
generate truecolor images, the standard number of frames per second in motion
picture film, the number of cycles in the Chinese solar year, the number of
letters in both the classical and modern Greek alphabet... Ah, 24.
Where doth thy glory end? | | |
| Alright, so my Xanga doesn't know the first thing about me anymore. For all it knows, I'm still four months from my wedding day listening to Josh Ritter's Live at the Record Exchange.
Well, the times have changed. Entire months have come and gone. Thanksgiving in this Thursday, December is less than two weeks away, and my wedding will be upon me in just 47 days. And, silly Xanga, I'm no longer listening to a live Josh Ritter album --- I'm replaying in my mind the live Josh Ritter concert Heather and I attended two weeks ago at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Best concert ever. No joke. (I'm sorry, Wilco.)
I live in my own apartment now, in West Chester, PA. I'm a pretty big fan. Even better? In a matter of weeks I will be getting a roommate whom I shall call "wife". Very odd. Very exciting. Very imminent.
Various life stresses crescendoed recently and, honestly, it doesn't appear things will completely return to manageable levels for some time yet. My body is thanking me kindly with none-too-subtle signs of fatigue and sickness. Bleh.
I've discovered that sometimes people disagree. Sometimes doing "the right thing" isn't black and white. Sometimes finding the peace of God brings down the wrath of man. And sometimes best efforts don't seem to make a difference. I don't say these things to rain on your Thanksgiving parade; I say them because they're thoughts I've had recently. Life is hard. It's beautiful. It's a gift. I love it. But it isn't easy. Very little about it should be taken for granted.
Well, I need to get back to transcribing an interview. Longest. Process. Ever. In other news, I'm really excited for the next few days. It's wonderful to have time to spend with my new family, my soon-to-be wife, and some old friends.
Catch you later. Seriously, Xanga, try to keep up with me this time...
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