vaburbia

Crate and Barrel so kindly reminded me today:

Welcome back, Theresa and Allan
Only 18 days until the big event!

In a little over two weeks from now, I’ll be married. As I typed that last sentence, my life flashed before my eyes. There is no more dating. No more getting numbers. No anything with other girls. This is permanent. It’s not like painting a room with a bold color, you can repaint it if the outcome is unsatisfactory. I happened to do this for the first time in my life two weeks ago. I’ve always liked super white walls. I think it’s nice to bring color into a room through furniture and other accessories. I digress.

I’ve been wondering how things will change. We don’t imagine that things will. I mean we already live together and have for the past year. We’ve met basically everyone, including each other’s extended families. They’re both quite big too. Over eighty-five percent of the 250ish guest list is family. I just got used to saying fiancee after being engaged for 15 months. I wonder how long it will take me to get used to saying “WIFE.” One of the few changes that I foresee is the tax benefits of being a married couple. Oh, and the financial burden of the wedding will be lifted off of us shortly. We will be able to return to our regular lives and not have to be so careful about how much we spend/save to finance this event. Best of all, Theresa will be able to relax more and not worry about wedding details. She probably won’t know what to do with herself.

I don’t know how people can go to Las Vegas often. That city definitely takes it’s toll on you. The first thing I wanted to do when I got back is take a shower. I felt like I needed to physically and mentally cleanse.

I took it easy on Thursday night because a few of us had a 9:00am tee time. Plus the round was $125 so I was not about to play all messed up. Regularly, the greens fees were like $159 but I found this website, VIPGolfServices, that offers discounted rates. On the 15th hole, Huan spotted an old guy skinny dipping in his backyard. We all had that “car wreck” curiosity but I fought the urge to gander. It’s like, “There’s not really an old naked guy over there is there?” I closed out the round with 3 pars and ended up shooting a 98. I consider that pretty good since it was my first time playing there.

I didn’t eat until after the round since I don’t like to play full. A few of us decided to make a run to In-N-Out for lunch. If you’ve had it before you know how good it is but the regular burger isn’t that big. That’s basically all I had to eat Friday. That proved to be a big mistake since I “celebrated” heavily that night. Not to mention we polished off a bottle of Macallan 12 year scotch I brought, after golf. That night we went to Pure which is in Caesars Palace. Pure is fun but be prepared to bring a lot of dough, especially if you’re going with a group of guys. The easiest way in that case is to get table service. The requirement for most places is a bottle for every 3 people. You do get treated very well if you do get a table.

Saturday night Tuan arranged for us to go to Aquaknox at the Venetian. Everything we had was pretty good. I’m pretty sure every restaurant in Vegas is good since all the executive chefs are very distinguished. After dinner we went to Tao also in the Venetian. It was pretty interesting as there were women sitting in tubs adorned in nothing but flower petals at the front hallway. Apparently, there’s a lounge area and a club area. You have to pay to get into the club area. If you’re ready to party, I wouldn’t suggest the lounge. But like every Vegas club, be ready to wait in line or get table service.

I may have excluded some(or a lot) of the details since you know, everything stays in Vegas.

Saturday morning I woke up and my throat bothered me a little. I believed it to be from smoking Friday night while out at Local 16 for happy hour. I had met up with Arvi and friends there to have a drink and hear about their adventure in New Orleans. They went for Arvi’s big 3-0. I tried to go but airfare killed my chances of going with my minuscule wallet and the pittance that occupies it.

Sunday morning made me sweat a little. My soreness in my throat had reached another level. I was a bit distraught. “This can’t be! I can’t be sick now, not this week!” I took everything that in my house that might help, Vitamin B12, C, and a multivitamin that probably covered those anyway. I even bought Airborne on a recommendation.

Monday was the same.

Tuesday morning I woke up and raised my fists in the air as if I had just won a marathon. I’m not on an antibiotic and still taking everything as a precaution. Why was this illness so alarming?

Tomorrow I will embark on the last big party of my “single” life. Several buddies and I will be making our way out to Las Vegas for my bachelor party. It has approached must faster than I expected. It used to be the midpoint between my wedding a few weeks ago and that freaked me out a little. Now that means the wedding is only a month away! I’m going to block that out of my mind this weekend. My goal is not to loose a lot of money and not to get alcohol poisoning. I think that’s a realistic goal. We will be staying at the HOTEL at Mandalay Bay. I’m quite excited to say the least. Friday morning 4 of us are playing golf at Las Vegas National. I’m looking forward to some West Coast golf again. I will definitely report back about the trip, but I’m not sure how much I can reveal.

The lady and I went to try out Obi Sushi since it’s still in the running for our rehearsal dinner site. After reading those reviews, I was apprehensive about doing it there but we went to test it out. The sushi was not that great, as the reviews said but the food was pretty good. I wouldn’t recommend it as a must visit place, but it’s ok. I think the distance from our church and ambiance will make up for that.