To my zero blog readers, I’ll try to get more posts, I swear.  It’s no surprise that I kind of lost interest in my blog this last year.  After posting entries since 2003 (my first journal was a home programmed database) I kind of lost my desire.  But I may make it a point to get back at it more often for my personal journal and so I have a history.

This summer was actually very exciting and would have made for some great posts.  We’ve been busy all summer.  We went to Washington Island and Door County, ran a relay from Madison to Chicago in 36 hours, went to a bunch of Brewer games (they may make the playoffs), my cousin Jeff’s wedding in Evanston (one of the best weddings I’ve ever been to), Summerfest, Irishfest, State Fair, Sheboygan County Fair, and many many other adventures.

We’ll here’s hoping to get back to my old anecdotes.

We went to the Brewers game on Friday. We skipped happy hour this week. The game stunk, the Brewers were down five after the first inning. Sheets is a bum. After the game we went to The Pub for a couple burgers. We hadn’t been there in a while and they scratched an itch I’ve had for a while.

Saturday was a gorgeous day. You can tell Fall is right around the corner. I’ve missed the last two Badgers games since I was in Canada so I wasn’t about to miss this one. I headed out to Luedke’s parents’ house to watch the game in their media room. A bunch of the guys went out there. We had a couple beers and watched the Badgers struggle to beat Citadel. I haven’t been overly impressed with their play so far this year. At least we’re not Notre Dame. After the football game we headed to Adam’s for Chappy’s bachelor party. There were about twenty guys there. Everyone played cards but I wasn’t overly interested in playing so I watched football and drank beer. We played some drinking games, at some pizza and smoked some cigars. It was a good time. Chappy’s single life is quickly melting away.

It was Good Friday this week and there is no better way to honor the day than a Brewers game. I met Luedke and Hand at Dukes to have some happy hour brew before heading to the game. We bussed it to the stadium. It was a dreaded Brewers v. Cubs game. Luedke had the tickets and they were awesome seats but we were losing the whole game and dealing with Chub fans in that environment is a form of torture. L still had a ticket left and we called J to come meet us which she did. We stayed at the game for about five innings and then went to My Office for a few.

Saturday Jocelyn and I went out to celebrate our one year anniversary. It was a perfect one year celebration with my perfect woman. We went to Devon Seafood in the new Bayshore Town Centre. It was a crisp night but only being a couple blocks away we didn’t have be outside long. The food at the Devon was outstanding! I got an amazing cioppino which is a like a thick, spicy bouillabaisse. After dinner was over I gave J a pair of diamond earrings for our anniversary. I may have shot myself in the foot and overachieved for a first anniversary present but J is worth every penny. I got the earrings at a going out of business sale and have been holding on to them for four months which is impossible for me to do, especially with something like this. I was able to wait though. She loved them and the night was perfect. We headed home, had some champagne and called it a night.

Sunday was our actual one year anniversary but since we had celebrated it the night before it was low key. Sunday was also Easter. The only thing we really did was eat our cake top that Becky had air locked and froze for us. It actually wasn’t that bad. Nothing much else happened. I made a ham so we had some sandwiches and took it easy.

I had a very pleasant spring weekend. Friday night J and I went to the Brewers game. It was so nice after work and I was really looking forward to sitting in the lot and soaking up some rays. Of course Mother Nature knows that the weekend has started so she decided to bring in a huge bank of clouds as we were driving to the game. It still wasn’t too bad but the sun would’ve made it that much better. It was first day of the spring madness games. We bought Beer Pen tickets so I received my first free t-shirt of the year. We watched the crew lose a fairly boring game. We were out of it so we left in the top of the eight so we took off early. Canal Street just opened up so now its super easy to get home and the traffic is literally zero. I called Adam on the way downtown to see if he wanted to hit My Office for a bit. He did. So I picked him up on the way and dropped him and J off and went to park the car. Luedke showed up a little later with Anna and the five of us shot darts and had a good time. A late night stop at Myk completed the evening.

We had already planned to go to the game on Saturday and the weather cooperated a bit more than the night before. It was a nice sunny day and we headed for the lot at eleven. The same crew from the night before hung out in the parking lot. I got some good sun and we enjoyed a couple beers. We went into the game and got to witness a little history. The Brewers hit five home runs in one inning. That history doesn’t compete with my back-to-back foul ball catches, yea I’m still sore. A guy in front of us had gotten one of the balls. We learned later that the Brewers were attempting to collect all five balls so they traded the guy a game used bat and a ball signed by everyone, lucky dog. We enjoyed the rest of the game and headed out after the Brewers stomped the Reds. I didn’t get to eat as many hot dogs as last year. There was no real competition so I only ended up with a paltry seven. After the game we headed back downtown to Luedke’s and spent the afternoon playing dominos and watching the basketball playoffs. I was getting super tired but they motley crew wouldn’t allow me the privilege of going home to sleep. After dominos we headed to the Nomad which is a short walk from Luedke’s. We had some more beers there and got a couple of their Prix Fixes. It’s a special that really doesn’t appeal to me but I’m a sucker for a deal so I got a couple. You get a Pabst, a shot of Jamison and a cigarette for $5. It’s a steal and also a pretty hilarious combination. After a couple of those I was so tired I had to go home. Another stop at Myk to conclude a long day. The next entry will be coming from Hawaii! Mai tais for all!

The weekend has arrived that Jocelyn and I have been furiously planning for what seems like years, our wedding. Leading up to the wedding I wasn’t nervous at all. I unfortunately was sick and spent the entire week trying to get over my cold. Friday after work ended the running around and craziness started. I was able to relax for an hour at home before I had to run to get the DJ lighting from a couple establishments. There was a mix up on the lighting that I had originally ordered and I spent Thursday frantically calling around trying to find some lights. I think I found the last two sets in Milwaukee, a huge disaster narrowly averted. Rich and I hopped in the Montero and drove around Milwaukee picking the stuff up. A spring snow and rush hour traffic made for crappy driving. After we got the lights I took Rich to pick up his tux. Once we got back downtown I stopped by Luedke and DeBruin who were having a couple beers at Mo’s pub. Rich and I had one and headed back to my apartment. Once back at the apartment I got ready for the rehearsal. Jocelyn and I didn’t feel like driving so we got a ride with her mom. We were a little late but being the bride and groom we had the right. The rehearsal was actually pretty long. The pastor took his time in explaining everything very thoroughly. After the rehearsal we headed to Turner Hall for dinner and drinks. Many had the classic Friday fish fry and the food was great. Once dinner was over we stayed at the Hall and had a couple more beers. Jocelyn went home early to get her beauty rest but my job as the groom was to go out and enjoy my last night as a single man. So I went out with a couple of the Marti boys, DeBruin and Luedke. We went to the German beer hall that is right by Turner Hall. We had a couple more beers there and a five person shot on a snow ski. I was home about one and to bed at about two after I did some wedding day chores.

The day of reckoning. I woke up about eight and got my stuff together, checking and double checking. At nine I headed to Kenosha to pick up the rest of the DJ equipment. On the way I stopped at McDonald’s for a wedding day sausage egg McMuffin and a breakfast burrito. I got back to Milwaukee just after eleven. As soon as I got back to the apartment everyone started showing up. Todd and Greg showed up followed by Marti and my two brothers. Everyone just sat around, drank a few beers, got ready and waited for 1:30 to roll around. We got to the church on time and accounted for. The groom and his men hung out in the basement and watched the Brewer game on my laptop. The only thing that caused a hint of stress was my mom and dad showing up late and my dad wasn’t dressed because he left his tux with my brother in Milwaukee. When he finally got his stuff together we snapped a couple pre-wedding pictures and it was almost time to get it on. Three rolled around and it was go time. I still wasn’t too nervous but when the door opened and I took my spot in front of the church the emotions started to build up. Everyone marched out and I must’ve looked like a deer in the headlights as they came down the aisle. Then Jocelyn’s music started and as soon as I saw the white of her dress I got extreme nervousness and experienced an emotional flood. She looked absolutely beautiful, stunning. As she came down the aisle I have to admit I didn’t soak it up as much as I should’ve because I was concentrating on keeping my composure and not breaking down. The handoff between Jocelyn’s dad and I was the toughest part of the wedding. She was on the verge of breaking down, he was on the verge of breaking down and I had just spent the last two minutes trying not to break down. So I had a couple facial twitches and contortions but I was able to receive my bride without blubbering like a baby. The rest of the wedding went by smoothly considering I could feel my legs chattering and smacking the insides of my pants. My voice did crack a bit for the vows and I had another facial twitch but I was able to recite my lines without messing up. Jocelyn did her line flawlessly as well and before we knew it we were husband and wife and the wedding was over. I was officially married to Mrs. Jocelyn Rau. The wedding went great considering the worries I had over the music on the iPod and my emotions getting the best of me. After the wedding we had the receiving line. I got a little emotional with some people but that was to be expected. So after a hundred hugs and kisses it was picture time. A snap here, a snap there and we were done with that. Jocelyn and I had gotten a carriage to take us to the art museum. It was a nice sunny day but it was cold. A carriage ride is extremely slow and we were getting passed by people walking to the Badger hockey game. The carriage ride was very nice, as was the champagne, but by the time we got to the art museum we had had enough. We let the carriage go. There was an event going on at the art museum and the security guards were being assholes to everyone so we only got a couple pictures there. It was windy and cold so we did the snap snap and off we went. J and I got a ride with our photographer and thawed out on the way to Lakefront. Once at Lakefront it was time to get this party started! I had some beers and apps and did the rounds. Roman from work was manning the playlist that I created so I had to give him a brief on the night and make sure everything was ok. We had our grand march and sat down for dinner. After a speech by me, Rich, and a prayer by father Mike it was time to eat. I dug into the delicious food and we drank some champagne and reveled in the moment. It was a great dinner. After dinner Sr. Marcia had to leave and she said some very nice words to me which actually made me shed some tears. Almost tear a free day but leave it to a tiny nun to bring the water works. We then did the tosses and parent dances as well as our first dance. We had a schedule made up and we were about an hour behind which was great party planning on our part. The rest of the night was spent dancing away. I was a mad man on the dance floor and then playlist was the best, since it was my own. Some chugged beers and shots of Jager kept the night going. Everyone was having a great time and I didn’t want the night to end. But at midnight we had to shut things down. A couple slow songs and Varsity to honor the Badgers’ Men’s Hockey National Championship and the party was over. It was an amazing time. After we cleaned up the DJ gear and got it packed up we hopped in a car and went to hotel Metro. We had some more shots and appletinis and laughed with friends. Once the lights came on the night was officially over. We said goodbye to everyone and check into the Pfister next door. J was starving so she ordered a pizza which she ate while still wearing her wedding dress. Some more champagne with the pizza and it was time to call it a night. Another watershed moment in life is over. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Everything went off without a hitch and it was so much fun. I had a perfect day and now I have a perfect bride, my lovely, beautiful, Jocelyn.

The party didn’t stop on Saturday night though. The Brewers were in town and a bunch of friends and family came to the game to tailgate. My cousin Craig really hooked me up with sixteen free tickets. I was a little leery about asking for that many because I thought that some of the people that said yes to coming to the game the night before would actually be “partied out” and not show up on Sunday. But everyone and more showed up. We had a group of about 25. We grilled out and enjoyed the spring weather. Craig also did another cool thing and got J and I’s name on the scoreboard congratulating us on our nuptials. Jocelyn actually missed it because she was on her way to talk to her dad and sisters but I saw it. I stood up for my accolades and totally forgot to take a picture of it, the only regret of the weekend. I got see it though and it was very nice. I went up to one of the luxury boxes to meet with my East coast buddy Wertz before he flew back to New York. After that I headed down to watch the rest of the game. The crew lost but oh well, it was my weekend not theirs. After the game we headed back downtown. Adam and Stacey joined J and I for a dinnertime grill out in Juneau Park. We ate some brats and drank a couple more beers before wrapping up the weekend.

WHAT A WEEKEND! It was perfect and I know it will always be one of the best times in my life. I thank Jocelyn’s family, my family and all my friends for helping me make these wonderful memories. Also thanks to my love Jocelyn for making me the luckiest man alive! I love you!

I went over to Luedke’s to watch the final four games on Saturday. We hung around and had some beers. After the first game was over we went to Cans for a couple drinks. Luedke and Anna left so I hung out with Hand and went to BBCs for a couple drinks. They have my favorite beer, Hoegaarden, on tap. It’s the first time I’ve seen it on tap anywhere outside of the east coast. I had a couple of those and hiked it home. I stopped at Mykano’s to some late night grub.

Baseball season is here and opening day was Monday. This wasn’t as crazy as the last couple opening days have been. I left work at noon and took the bus to the stadium. This was the first time in a couple years I didn’t meet up with the Random Lake guys from Booze-Inn. Instead I met a couple of the Falls guys there. I hung out with them for a bit and then met Luedke at Lef’s Lucky town tailgate party. I had some food there and a couple beers. After that we headed into the game. The game was sold out and the Brewers won. When the game was over we were going to go to Lef’s but it was packed so we ended up at a Mexican restaurant next door. Anna met us there and we hung out for a while. Anna drove us back downtown. I went to My Office for a night cap and headed home. Stay tuned to a very special post next week as I get to give you all the play by play of my wedding, scary.

My boy Chad Marti hooked me up with a ticket to the Monday night Packers v. Vikings game. I took Monday off for the festivities. I hitched a ride with some old Falls cronies, Ryan Pyrek and Darrin Miller. We drove up to Falls and went the rest of the way with Ryan’s dad in the family mini van. We made really good time on the way up and parked in our normal parking spot to the west of the stadium. The Marti males had all been up North hunting so they met us at the game all scraggily and Daniel Boone looking. The tailgate was fun as usual but you could tell that it was missing the woman’s touch. We had chips, beer and a subway sub, all which were delicious. We were missing some key amenities that a woman would remember such as a table and silverware. So we used the cooler for a table and cut the sub with the same knife that hours earlier had gutted a deer, that’s manly. No matter, the sub tasted great. My portable Milwaukee boom box that I brought for tunes was a big hit and we managed to make some friends because of it. Some revelers on the other side of the parking liked the tunes and invited us to join them. We ventured to their tailgate and had some chicken wings and other grilled and fatty foods. Finally it was time to go into the game. Lambeau is always an amazing experience win or lose. Unfortunately my last couple trips there have been losses. It was another close game for the hapless Packers but they lost it in the end. I brought my camera along and I was able to get some great pictures during the game. I love my new camera. After the game we piled in the van for the long ride back. We spent the night at my brother’s house in Sheboygan and then drove the rest of the way in the morning. Not the result that I had hoped from the trip but I still love the world’s greatest team, the Packers.

Can you believe it, this week is my first Badger game of the year. We have been so busy with weddings and other events that we haven’t had the chance to make it to Madison this year. This weekend the Badgers played Purdue for their homecoming match-up. Luedke being the great friend that he is hooked me up with a ticket. We left Milwaukee early in the morning on Saturday and made it to Madison before ten. The weather on the way was pretty crappy. It rained for a majority of the drive but once we got into Mad-town the rain stopped and then it was just cold and windy. We parked by the Kohl center and had a couple beers while we waited for everyone else to get into town. Todd, Steph, and Ham showed up about an hour later so we packed up the tailgate and retreated to a more hospitable climate. Is there really a better climate than Buck’s tavern on Regent? We spent the rest of the pre-game there. When it came time for the game some of the group, including Jocelyn, went to the KK while the rest of us with tickets went to the game. The game was fun and the Badgers’ D really stepped it up. They scored two defensive touchdowns in route to a Badger victory. After the game we headed to Brats to meet up with everyone else and enjoy some of the lovely State St. atmosphere. I ran into some of the Evans Scholars so I talked to them a bit. The rest of the night was spent bouncing around from Mondays to the Pub, to Mondays to the Pub. At the end of the night Jocelyn got a call from her cousin Ethan. We went up to Bullfeathers to meet him and a couple of his buddies. Once there we ordered a drink but the day officially caught up with me and I wanted to call it a night. We finished our drink and then headed to Ian’s to get some pizza. After our late night munchies we cabbed it back to the hotel and concluded our homecoming weekend.

This weekend was low key for me. Friday we stayed in and watched a couple movies. Nothing exciting, but relaxing.

Saturday I woke up and made some waffles with my new waffle iron that I got from Amazon.com for $7. The waffles I made turned out great and making waffles is a lot easier than pancakes. I had some extras waffles left over and froze them so I can have toasted waffles later. After breakfast we watched the Badgers destroy Indiana. It was a great game and it was enjoyable to see the Badgers steamroll a team. After that Jocelyn’s dad and her sister came up from Illinois. Jocelyn and her dad were doing half of the Milwaukee marathon. We watched TV until dinner time and then but we really couldn’t determine where we wanted to go eat at night. We ended up going to Edwardo’s. My meal was pretty bad. I had some pasta with sausage and the sausage tasted rancid. It was very disappointing. After dinner we just went back to our apartment and watched some TV and Saturday Night Live and called it a night.

Sunday I had to wake up at 6:30 to take Jocelyn and her dad to Grafton where the starting line of the marathon was. It was kind of a downer taking them to the start because this was the day that I was supposed to run the marathon but my dumb hamstring prevented that. Oh well. They had a great day to do the marathon. I dropped them off and picked them up about three hours later at the halfway point. After that we went back to the apartment, got cleaned up and went to Rock Bottom for lunch. Jocelyn’s dad headed home after that and we spent the rest of the day watching the tube.

Monday after work I brewed a batch of beer. The Packers played on Monday night and lost again! 0-4, sigh.

The leg is getting better but I still have a long way to go. The bruising is absolutely disgusting. I have a bruise from my butt to my knee covering the rear 180 degrees of my leg. I can at least walk in a quazi normal fashion. But the leg wasn’t going to keep me from going to the Brewers game. The D’backs were in town so I got tickets from Craig for all three games. On Monday Jocelyn and I went early and I got to see my first batting practice. We talked to Craig for a bit before the game and got caught up on everything and I told him my back to back foul balls story. The game was a victory for the Brewers.

Tuesday’s game was a normal Brewers experience. Jocelyn and I tailgated pre-game and then watched the Brewers win. It was actually the best of the three games because the Brewers won and Craig got three hits, perfect.

Wednesday was a day game and I decided to take a half day. I hadn’t been to a day game during the week for a couple years so this was a good reason to go. Jocelyn was going to go but couldn’t get off work so I called Wians and Luedke. It was a perfect afternoon to catch some baseball and some rays. The game was pretty boring and the Brewers lost but the weather and time off made up for it.

Friday was yet another Brewers game. I didn’t even know I had tickets to until the night before. This night was a carbon copy of Tuesday except we sat in the beer pen and grilled marinated flank steak and potatoes.

Saturday was Evraets’s reception for his Mexican wedding in February. I was an integral part of making this reception fun because I volunteered to be the DJ. I have been working on my playlist for the last two weeks so that was set and ready to go. Early on Saturday I had to drive to Kenosha to pick up all the equipment that I needed to play some pumping music. So after I got the speakers and lights I headed back to Milwaukee to get ready. After we got ready we headed to Port Washington to set everything up. I set everything up and learned how to work the lights and the mixer. After that we went to meet up with the wedding party at a little supper club to have dinner before the reception. The entire wedding party wore their same outfits that they wore in Mexico so everyone was pretty overdressed for a Random Lake supper club. After dinner we went back to the hall and started things off. My list started with some 60s and then progressed in years as the night went on. The lights were going and the music was blasting. Throughout the night there was a good amount of people on the dance floor. I did learn that the job of a wedding DJ isn’t that easy. The crowd was very tough because they were mostly bar going beer drinkers so they camped by the bar all night and you couldn’t move them from the free tappers for anything. I also learned that there are a couple people who think that they know the magic song to get everyone dancing and whooping and hollering and they won’t leave you alone until you play the song. I also learned that every time you play the song they have to hear they are usually the only ones dancing. Also with the ability to create playlists on your laptop the job of the wedding DJ is much easier because you don’t have to switch CDs and can pretty much set it and forget it. Finally people love slow songs. Put on anything that people can dance cheek to cheek and the floor will fill up. The whole experience was a very very fun one. I think everyone had a good time and I got to experience something new. There were a lot of shots of tequila and some pretty sauced up people so I know at least they had fun. After some heavy hitting house requests I played the final slow songs and shut it down about 1. Everyone helped me break down the equipment and we headed home. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday we headed up to the Brady St. Artesian Festival. There were a bunch of tents with crafts and food. We ate some cheese and checked out the beaded jewelry. Nothing beats the people watching of Brady St.