And High On Summer Time

Some bullet points for your Tuesday afternoon:

• I thoroughly enjoy coaching the little league team.  Wish I didn't have to drive all the way down to Spanish Fork twice a week for it, but they're good kids and they like to play the game, so it's worth it.  We're 2-0 heading into this week's games and pretty stoked about it.  Came back from a 4 run, last inning deficit to win our first game, and put up a lot of runs to win the second game in a rout.  All the kids have fun, and seem to be improving, so it makes for a fun time.  And it gives me an excuse to be on a baseball field 2-3 times a week.
• While I'm on baseball, and I'm going to be for a while, so you might want to skip down if you don't care about baseball, I despise Will Ohman.  He's a pitcher for the White Sox, and I'm not sure why they keep giving him the ball.  I was watching a game, and we were up by 2 I think in the seventh inning.  They bring in Ohman, and I turn the game off.  The Wife asked me why, and I told her, "If Ohman is in, we're going to lose the game.  It always happens."  Sure enough, we lost that game.  Is he really the last left handed pitcher left in the free world?  I'll take just about anyone else over him.  Oh, and he decided to give up four more runs today in a tied ball game.  I loathe this man.
• On the upside, Adam Dunn remembered to be Adam Dunn this year.  All of his numbers are above career averages and it makes sense that he's getting paid $14 million this year.  Last year, $1.4 million would still have been grossly overpaying him.
• This weekend also kicks off the summer travel season for The Wife and me.  We make a trip to Idaho Falls this weekend to visit her family.  Next weekend, it's a roadtrip down to California to see the area and figure out where we want to relocate.  The weekend after that it's a trip to Denver, mostly to celebrate our birthday, but also to catch a Rockies game, the lone stadium west of Texas that I have not been to.  I'm excited for all this, but it does make us a bit nomadic.  I'm meeting with my Elder's Quorum president tonight, and I don't know how to tell him "we'll be in the ward boundaries for the next two months, but only show up to church three more times."  In our defense, they haven't read our records in after over a month, so I don't think they've made plans around us being there.
• Selling a car is harder than buying a car.  I guess when you're the one giving up the cash, there are more people ready to receive than vice versa.  We listed The Wife's old car earlier this week, as we've already bought her new car (a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee) and now have three cars for two drivers.  So far, haven't had any inquiries.  Figure we'll see what turns out during the next week and a half, and then adjust the price accordingly.
• Been watching a lot of "Friends" recently. The Wife loves it and owns the collector's box set of the series, so we've been watching a couple episode a night before bed.  One, that show is pretty funny. Two, they emasculated Chandler the moment he and Monica became an item.  Three, I still don't like Phoebe as a character, but realize she's necessary because her story line is never dramatic, so it always provides the necessary levity to keep the show from becoming a soap opera. Four, I hate that theme song now, and the fact that I know that is was done by The Rembrandts.  Five, I love the Monica "I know!" almost as much as just about anything Joey says.
• It's finally starting to get warm, and I love it.

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The Final Countdown

2 Days to go.

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Snap Back to Reality

Yes, I realize that there wasn't a post noting the activities of Christmas or New Years' Eve, or Valentine's Day.  Fully aware.  Why hasn't there been ones for that?  Well, things for me have become quite busy.  Between wedding/honeymoon planning, work ramping up, Kaplan starting tomorrow night and all the road trips to square everything up in Florida and Idaho, I don't think I'll have a lot of free time between now and April.

But I do have a moment or two now to give you some quick hits/updates.  No, this will not be a smooth flowing tapestry, but a bullet list of things that have happened, are happening or will happen.  Everyone braced?  Good.

• Turns out, you need to know a lot of stuff to be a legitimate med school candidate.  I know this because I've spent the past two months relearning two years worth of physics, chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, genetics, biochem and physiology.  Believe me when I tell you that I had forgotten far more than I cared to remember.  I have two more classes to go.  I'm practically counting down the hours.  I spend more time prepping for that class than actually teaching it.  The teaching is fun, but the prep is brutal.  Won't miss that one bit.
• Wedding is in 24 days.  It's coming up real quick.  Thankfully, everything is, more or less, all set to go.  Have to pick up a couple other items to make the receptions look good, and make sure my suit gets properly altered, but beyond that, it's make sure we're there on time.  We can do that. It's getting pretty exciting.
• The honeymoon is all locked down.  Flights are booked, reservations made, and by next week, groceries will be ordered.  They have this service where you can have the room pre-stocked with whatever you want before you get there.  Something are more expensive than what they are in the states, but that's to be expected, and the items are generally worth it.  $10 for a watermelon?  I would never do that home, but to have one already delivered to my room before I get there, it's worth it.
• I applied to six business schools this year.  Five said yes.  UCLA said no, but that wasn't a surprise given that they are top ten, and my work experience isn't the best.  Now I'm in the process of deciding between BYU and USC.  I'm leaning pretty heavily towards USC, as they give me more and better opportunities for the long-term.  The short-term for them will likely be a little rougher than BYU, but nothing impossible.  Oh, and it's much warmer there.  Year round warm there.  Big, big fan.  Almost as big a fan as The Betrothed.  If we do go there, she'll be able to find a job because there a number of hospitals in the area.  Turns out, there are a lot of people in LA, and they like to make babies.  Shouldn't be hard for her to find a place where she can help out.
• Baseball season it ramping up again.  Pitchers and catchers have already reported and we're a week or so away from spring training ball.  Regular season is just over a month out.  Very excited.  Yes, I will be defending my three time title during my annual "Rick Russell know more about baseball than I do" tournament.  Haven't decided if I'm going to tweak things from last year or not.  I liked the simplicity, but it didn't leave a lot of variance.  Sad part about all this, not even I am willing to pick the White Sox to make the the playoffs, much less win their division.  It's going to be a dark year on the South Side.
• I do really like "Fringe".  This season has been great, and seems to be pushing to finish even stronger. I would tell you that you must watch it, but if you tried to start now, you'd be more confused than a 2 year old with a lemon wedge. But if you have the time to start from the beginning, I highly recommend it.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, given the large gap of time that I didn't post anything, but that's what I've got for now.  Enjoy.

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