Its been a couple months since I updated, but I'm bored and not ready to go to bed yet.  Today was my birthday.  I wasn't all that exciting.  I did more of a celebration yesterday.  My mom came down and we went shopping for shoes.  I bought a nice pair and then I went out to dinner with Karen.  Karen got me a nice red dress shirt and tie.  She thinks I look good in red.  She also got me a Johnny Cash CD.  So that was cool.

Anyways, what else is going on in my life?  Karen and I have set a date for our wedding.  The big day is October 14, 2006.  We have a reception and ceremony site all picked out and reserved.  Its pretty exciting to plan all this stuff.  We have no clue what we are doing, but hopefully everything will turn out just dandy.  I guess the celebration isn't nearly as important as the end result.  As long as I get to spend the rest of my life with Karen, I will be a very happy man.  Wow, its kind of weird to say it like that, but I know that I'm with the one that will make me happy.  She is such an amazing girl.  I just hope that she is able to put up with me.  My biggest fear is letting her down.

I've been playing my guitar a lot lately.  I play a little of everything.  I think music is my hidden passion that most people don't know about.  I love to play and sing.  Karen gets a little annoyed because I probably don't sound as good to her as I sound in my head.  I probably should plan on keeping my day job.  Or should I say my night job since that is when I actually work.  Its funny (and probably a little gay), but I've been playing a lot of Juice Newton tunes lately.  For those that don't know who Juice Newton is, think of that Shaggy song, "You're My Angel."  Its the underlying song that he rips off.  Its actually a pretty song called "Angel of the Morning."  So maybe she wasn't quite as popular as I'd like to believe in the '80's but some of her songs have a pretty catchy beat that is fun to play on the guitar.  My taste in music is pretty funny.  I like everything from Hank Williams to Neil Young to 50 Cent and everything in between.  I like old country, southern rock, classic rock, punk, alternative, rap, old school rap and hip hop, and pretty much anything else.  It all kind of depends on my mood.  My expertise is definitely classic country though.  Especially '60's, '70's and '80's. 

I was looking at a magazine about motorcycles the other day called "The Robb Report," and it really made me miss riding my bike.  This past summer was kind of a waste as far as riding is concerned.  My bike was down for the count for all but the first month of the summer.  I really need to get it back together and ready to go for this summer.  It would save me a lot of gas mileage.  It gets twice the miles/gallon as my Mustang gets.  It would also bring the fun factor up a notch or two.  Not that I don't enjoy driving my 'stang. 

I really need to start updating more often I guess.  I'm just kind of talking about a little of everything.  So what does everybody think the outcome of the Fiesta Bowl will be.  I'm thinking Ohio State definitely has the edge.  Not just because I'm a proud alumni member, but because I don't think Notre Dame will be able to overcome our dominating defense.  Everybody knows that defense wins championships.  That and ND doesn't have much of a defense themselves.  Not that OSU has a spectacular offense, but I think that we will be able to do enough to win the game.  You've got to also factor in the Tressel Effect.  Jim just has a way of winning the big game.  He excels in Michigan games and the Fiesta Bowl.  It sucks that I probably won't be able to watch the game this year, unless we can figure out how to rig our tv in my office to get local channels.  We get satellite tv, but no local channels or ESPN.  How chinzy is that? 

Final thought, well not really a thought.  My new AIM screenname is BigBadJohnCFI.  Spread the good word.

Well I need to get going.  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Life is getting a little boring, maybe even a little mundane.  I'm getting tired of the same old thing, day in and day out.  I feel like all I do is work and sleep during the week.  Then on weekends I try to catch up on all the stuff that I didn't have time for during the week.  I'm thinking I need something to express my creative side.  I've been thinking about this for a while and I really have a couple of options for doing this, in no particular order they are as follows:

1.  Play guitar in a band.  One of my fellow coworkers has had bands in the past and he is currently trying to put together a little country/rock band to play at some local bars.  I've been playing my guitar quite a bit the past year, and think I could probably learn to play a little rythm guitar.  I think this would be a lot of fun, however, it would probably take up most of my free time on the weekends.  So I'm not so sure this would be a good option.

2.  Become a journalist.   I know this sounds a little out there, especially for people who know my major and how little it has to do with writing.  And while I don't claim to be an especially great writer, I do think I could put together a few legible sentences.  My idea is to gain a regular column for a pilot magazine, in which I write articles about my experiences and lessons I've learned as a flight instructor.  This idea really appeals to me and I'm considering trying to write a few sample articles and sending them to a few different publications.

3.  Create a website of some sort.  I'm not sure what content I would include on this website, but I'm sure it would be great.  Maybe I could put pictures that I have taken and maybe little witty anecdotes from daily life.  Yeah, that would probably suck, but I guess the idea is to have a creative outlet so maybe that would work. 

4.  Starting my own business.  Not sure what business I would start, nor do I have any idea of how to do this, but maybe something like a dog walking service would be cool.  I could market it to the high-end dog owner, like people that live in Upper Arlington.  You know the type that don't have time to do menial things like walk their dog.  I'm not sure how profitable this would be, but I would be sure to have fun doing it.

5.  Maybe its just time to move on to a new job.  I'm not sure what job.  Maybe more schooling is what I need to get out of this rut, but I'm not sure what I would go to school for.  I've considered education, but I could see myself getting back into a similar rut with that type of career. 

Well anyways, those are the things I'm kicking around in my feeble brain.  I really do feel like I either need to move on, or at least change something in my life so I have time to explore some of these more creative outlets. 

Well enough of that, on a side note before I sign off, Karen and I have decided on a tentative date.  We are thinking that September 9, 2006 would be ideal for the both of us.  It would be late enough in the summer that it wouldn't be scorching hot, but still nice weather for the most part.  We still haven't decided on a location for either the ceremony or the reception.  We are hoping to investigate a few places this week.  I'll let you know what we figure out.

Ok, that is definitely enough for one post.  I think I've definitely rambled on long enough.  So if the good Lord's a-willin' and the creeks don't rise, I'll see ya 'fore long.