My Life Blog

On February 24th, we had a strangely windy day which made Dallas resemble Lubbock — very dusty and hazy. As a result of the wind that day, our neighbors had their fence nearly blow down.

In the days and weeks that followed, we watched as they used mops and other such things to prop the fence up and keep it from falling. On a couple of occasions, the fence leaned over onto our property. Each time, I would push it back in their direction.

After a few weeks of frustration, I finally called the Homeowners Association and complained. The HOA let me know that a letter would be sent out this week. I’m presuming that a letter was received just yesterday, actually.

Well, tonight in Dallas we had another storm with lots of wind. As Suzanne and I were watching the wind out one of our 2nd story windows, she heard a noise. Sure enough, the fence had taken another bad turn. This time, it slammed into our garage wall, unseating a utility box. It also pinned one of our Crepe Mirtle’s to the ground — basically dealing it a potential fatal blow.

As the storm raged, I decided I could not let the fence continue to slam into our house and went out to push it back onto their side. The fence was water-logged and just slightly too heavy for me to push over myself. So with Suzanne’s help, I was able to push it back over.

A few minutes later, the wind swept it back up and over onto our side. This time, one of its segments broke loose. I went back out again and pushed the fence back onto their side and this time I delivered the broken segment to the neighbor’s front sidewalk. I also delivered a broken Crepe Mirtle branch there as well.

I was trying to send the neighbors a message. This issue has been there for 4 1/2 weeks and now our property is being damaged. That’s not okay. These neighbors have been unfriendly since day one, so I didn’t feel too bad about the passive aggressive statement. Apparently respect for property is not core to their culture; wherever they are from.

We noted that the car normally parked along the sidewalk was not there during the storm, so we knew there would be discovery sometime soon. And at 10pm, it happened. I had debated earlier in the night whether I would confront my neighbor tonight or at some other time. I couldn’t help myself, so when he returned home, I was outside within seconds.

He seemed remorseful, but lied to me saying that he had only been aware of the problem for 2 1/2 weeks. Apparently, he and his wife must not talk since on Sunday February 25th, his wife planted new flowers and both Suzanne and I saw her approach and examine the broken fence. Further, they’ve been propping the thing up for over 3 weeks now.

I’m not sure how this is going to end, but I’m sure it won’t end with us all having dinner together. Suzanne and I always strive to be good neighbors and that’s all we want in return. Unfortunately, not every set of neighbors feels the same way. We’ll see what happens next. Hopefully, they’ll fix the fence and give us some consideration for the damage they’ve done.

Suzanne has joined me in my training sessions the past five weeks and its been a blast.  Between the two of us and our trainer, there are lots of laughs, good stories, and definitely some hard work.

She should be seeing visible results anytime now.  I had regressed during a lull period over the Holidays and as I worked through a persistent cold.  Our trainer keeps heaping on the extra weight, so there is no doubt I’m progressing.  Though I worked out much more consistently years ago, for certain exercises I’m now lifting more than ever.  That’s not too bad for being 42.

If you are considering working with a personal trainer, consider doing it as a couple.  The hour flies by and its actually quality time too!

In early April, I had a friend pass through DFW airport the enough of a layover to allow us to have lunch.  Its been a while since I drove through the airport and so I hadn’t yet taken advantage of the integration of our toll tags with the airport toll system.  But as I tried it, it didn’t work for me.

So this prompted some research on my part.  As it turns out, I had an expired credit card attached to the account and the balance had run to zero and the account was unable to replenish itself.  But in my research, I discovered that I had a second toll tag attached to the account.  I had totally forgotten that a former girlfriend had obtained one while we briefly lived together.

As I continued my research, I noticed that she was using the toll tag services more than I was.  And this had been going on since 2002!!  So I wrote her an email requesting that she stop using the tag and drop it in the mail to me.  She wrote back and agreed to do so.

So now two days short of a month has gone by and still no toll tag.  To make matters slightly worse, the toll tag has been used since my original request.  So I decided to write again and ask for the tag or a clarification on whether the tag would ever be coming back.  A few hours later, the reply I received let me know that there had not been a moment’s time to drop the tag in an envelope and lay two stamps on it.  And further, her note said that the toll booth that was used only accepted toll tags.  So lame.

So I will be reporting the toll tag as stolen which I guess is technically correct now.  And with that, I’m hoping this bit of past history is in my rear-view mirror…

Autumn (the cat) and I are fast becoming good friends, but when Suzanne is around the two seemed to be invisibly tethered.  That being the case, Autumn doesn’t visit the study without an entourage when Suzanne is around. 

So as Suzanne and I were discussing our upcoming trip to Kauai while in my study, Autumn made herself at home.  We thought the photo opportunity was too cute to pass up. 

I’m always amazed at the spots this cat can get to.  This particular shelf is three feet off the ground and there’s little room left on the ledge in front of the books.  This posed no problem for her as she assumed this position in a matter of seconds.

I think its funny that she came to rest just above the Mac OS X Panther books.

What a day! Getting married in Kauai was supposed to be without the usual stress of a big mainland wedding. However, just as I was closing up yesterday’s relaxed weblog, the weather turned South.

We figured the only thing that could really ruin our day was if we had a rare persistent rain storm. Well…sure enough about 1pm or so it started raining and it didn’t stop until probably 5pm or so.

In the midst of the rain, Suzanne had to get her hair done in town. So at around 2:45pm she set off into town over the winding mountain-side road. I lounged around reading a book while watching the CNN Katrina coverage. However, my own stress started to build around 4:15pm when Suzanne became overdue. Given the kind of road she had to travel on, I had feared an accident or something since I knew she’d want to be back in time to comfortably prepare herself for our wedding.

So when I called her, she was actually in Princeville, a nearby neighboring city. As it turned out, the local grocery marts in Hanalei did not have the kind of flowers she and the hair dresser had planned to put in her hair. So she was in Princeville buying flowers and getting them placed in her hair with the hair dresser who had followed her into that town. This ate up much of her time, but I was glad to know she was okay.

She finally returned at about 4:40pm. We were to meet our wedding coordinators at 5:30pm and had targeted at 5:20pm departure time. Just what a girl wants, just over 30 minutes to do her makeup and put on her wedding dress. I on the other hand had no trouble. But I knew this was very stressful for her.

In the end, we got there and the rain gave us just enough of a window to proceed with things. So we hurriedly gathered on the beach and got quick instructions for what to do. Unfortunately, it’ll probably look a bit rushed on the video as we were very unrehearsed and raw. Perhaps that’s the way it should be. Considering it Kauai Wedding Unplugged.

But things got going quickly. The native Hawaiian officiate, Leilani, started some chanting and blessed the sand that I was standing on and we were off and running. I wish I could tell you all the things that she said, but things were pretty much a blur. Your head starts to spin when you are having a big moment.

When we got to the repeat-after-me stuff, I did pretty well through the first few lines and then I lost. Yep, that’s what I said, I lost it. There’s was an excruciatingly long (for me) pause while I welled up with emotion and then cried the lines out. I was quite surprised and it definitely sent Suzanne on an emotional turn. But in the end, we both got through our lines and were pronounced Man and Wife. It was beautiful.

As we completed the official service, we looked up at the skies and they were quite threatening. We were just sure we were about to get more rain. So the photographer put us through a sprint of photographs. I’m fearing that they did not come out so well since we were on a dead run to get them all in. In addition, I’m worse than crash dummy about getting into posed positions. I’m sure I look so unnatural.

We closed the night in Princeville by having a nice dinner at La Cascata in the Princeville Hotel. The food was wonderful, though the service was interesting — our waiter’s name was Sequoia, so just imagine.

Since Java Kai has limited bandwidth this morning, I’ve only been able to upload a few new pics, but you should be able to see them by clicking on the collage below.

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www.flickr.com More of bill_eisenhauer’s photos

Well, you know the world is changing when you blog on your Wedding Day…and from your Honeymoon as well.

As it turns out, she, who will be my wife later today, is getting an “emergency” massage to remedy some neck pain that she’s developed in the last couple of days. Hopefully, she’ll come back cured and won’t be distracted during the festivities later in the day.

I sit here in Hanalei at a Java Kai which is more or less a Starbucks. This is the first Internet access I’ve had since leaving on Friday and so I’m catching up on a few things. I must say that this is the way to get married — on the beach in a beautiful locale. Highly recommended if you have the means.

But while all is going smooth now, it did not start out that way. On Friday, we made it to the airport just fine and filed up to board First Class. As we were about to provide our boarding pass, we were held back by a VIP. It was none other than Samuel L. Jackson! And of course, he sat in First Class right along with us. Sounds smooth enough so far, but we were delayed close to an hour on the ground while a circuit board was replaced in the cockpit. And since we had only a brief layover in Oahu, this threatened the second leg of our trip.

The flight went very smooth. I mostly read and Suzanne watched a movie and read her Harry Potter book. Along the way, we continued to observe Samuel L. with intrigue. He was traveling with a body guard and the two hardly spoke. He did dig out a script and read that for quite some time — the script looked very stereotypical as it was type-written in Courier font and bounded with brads. This is just the way I imagine scripts to be. Otherwise, he slept for a bit and listened to his iPod. I would have loved to have known what was on his Playlist.

Upon landing in Oahu, we rushed to catch our connecting flight. We were successful and we landed on time. However, our bags didn’t catch up with us for about an hour an half or so. In that time, we picked up our rental and waited at the airport. Our bags were a bit more important this trip since they were carrying wedding stuff.

With our bags packed away in the rental car, we made our way to the north side of the island which was about a one hour drive. We ate dinner at Bubba’s Burgers and then walked across the street to get the key to our rental house. We were to punch in a code and access our key using the after-hours drop box. Unfortunately, the key was not in there!! Thankfully, our cell phones had service this trip and we quickly summoned somebody using the emergency number. We got the key and successfully found our place.

So on Saturday, our first full day, we shopped for a while in Hanalei since we had to be there to finalize our marriage certificate. Later in the afternoon we went to Tunnels beach for a couple of hours before calling it a day.

On Sunday, we went to Queen’s Bath and Hideaways Beach. Entry into each requires a bit of a hike, so that was a bit challenging for us — well, more challenging than walking down a beach, I guess. Queen’s Bath was amazing this year. Last year, it was inaccessible due to high tide. This year we were able to get in and really enjoy it. As extras this year, we saw several turtles and a large school of dolphins swim by.

And that brings us to today. We had thought we were going to get married on Tunnels Beach, however our wedding consultant urged us to scout another location. So we checked out one of her suggestions today and we are getting married there instead. It figures to be beautiful and hopefully I’ll have pictures later in the week.

I am adding pictures to my Flickr account and some random ones are pictured below:

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I know anyone who stumbles across this post will be stunned and amazed. After donating 4+ months of fees to Typepad with not a single post, here I am with my biggest post ever.

After 10+ years of being divorced, I’ve found someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. Suffice it to say that I took my sweet time trying to find “the one”, but I think I’ve finally done so.

Suzanne and I met last May through Match.com. I initiated the relationship by sending her an email while I was visiting Finland. To be my delight, she replied at length to my initial email. And I must say that that was a major turn-on to me. I love it when a woman takes the time and has the ability to express herself. To me, that’s a sign of good communication skills and a sincerity about the process of finding someone.

So through my week-long visit, we exchanged many emails — one night we exchanged several while I sat in my hotel room. Heck, I paid the 10 euros connection fee just for the privilege of being connected so as to receive her emails. And as the intrigue progressed, I finally asked her to leave me a voice mail message so that I could hear her voice. Though it was a strange request, she did so and I can say that I first heard her voice as I was in the Helsinki airport.

I could go on, but you probably want to know how I made the proposal. So I’ll get to the good stuff.

First, at our age (me 40, she 38), there’s less surprise in such things. We’re both established in life and so we talked readily about getting married. So my proposal was no surprise. However, the way that I did it was.

Alas, I didn’t want to be one of those slugs that proposed poorly. I didn’t want to drop to one knee at Chili’s or even at nice club. I wanted it to be memorable and intimate. And I wanted that part to be a suprise. So she basically knew when it would happen, just not how. And further, she knew when I acquired the ring and suffered as I put the details together.

So finally, Saturday April 2nd came around and it was a perfect day. It was probably 72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Suzanne arrived at my house — yes, I made her drive to my house for her proposal! But it made sense, since we were only going to Las Colinas. She lives 23 miles away from me, so logistics overrode romance in this one regard.

As we set out for our destination, she still didn’t know what we were doing. I had earlier in the week told her that it would be an outside event, so dress comfortably. During the week, her and her friends had many guesses as to what I was up to, but none guessed it right. I threw ample red herrings out — even suggested that she wear her hair so that it would look good after having worn a helmet. Needless to say, I had great fun with this to the bitter end.

Eventually we got to the Omni Hotel where we were to meet a Gondola and a Gondolier. If you aren’t familiar with such terms, just imagine the boats that taxi people through Venice. Unfortunately, our Gondola was motorized, but still very fun.

In the first portion of the cruise, we enjoyed a catered meal from Trevi’s (Italian food). We had non-alcoholic champaigne, salad, and dessert to go with our entrees. The Gondolier intermittently sang Italian love songs and some contemporary songs while we steered through the narrow portions of the canal. Suzanne and I really enjoyed the meal and eventually settled under a blanket and started enjoying the rest of the cruise.

As we did so, the Gondolier mentioned to us that he needed to get a bottle of water, so he was going to hold the boat in place. As it turns out this is when he slyly through a message in a bottle into the canal. As he maneuvered the boat away, we circled back around and could see the bottle bobbing in the distance. He pointed the bottle out and said how he hated to see litter in such a pretty canal. So he asked if I would retrieve it. So he maneuvered us to the bottle and I fetched it out of the water. As I pulled it from the water, it was obvious that it was a bottle carrying a message.

I gave the bottle to Suzanne and she opened it and read my prepared words. I had felt like the way we met was a message in a bottle of sorts. A message that traveled a long way across a pond. And since we plan to get married on a beach in Kauai, it seemed even more appropriate to factor in water into the proposal.

After she read my message, I fell to one knee, said a few words, and though she was shedding tears, I got the idea that the answer was “yes”. She accepted my ring and loved its hand-engraved setting.

After the cruise, we spent the new few hours at the Nana Grille Bar which is at the top of the Wyndham Hotel. This is a bar that we went to early on in our courting where we shared a lot about ourselves. It seemed an appropriate place to return to. We closed the night in a nice suite in the Wyndham Hotel as well.

We didn’t go overboard with too many pictures, but you can see a handful here.

I knew this day would come and I wondered where I’d be in life. Its been 10 years now.

In December of ‘85 at barely 21 years of age, I got married. At that point, I didn’t know myself, much less anyone else. And yet, getting married was what you were supposed to do and so that’s what I did.

Unfortunately, I had little life experience as an adult and wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to be and really who I wanted to be with. In the years since, I’ve heard this same story told with dozens of other voices. So apparently, its happened to most of us.

So after almost 9 years of marriage, I chose to leave on the eve of my 30th birthday. I left unopened presents on the table as I walked out. It sounds brutal and heartless, but it had gone on long enough and I used the introspective strength born of a milestone birthday to make it happen.

Since then, I’ve lived my 30s somewhat like they were my 20s. The sedentary lifestyle of staying home on weekend nights has been replaced with adventurous fun-filled outings with friends and dates. I’ve met wonderful friends who have showed me how to live and have inspired me to be what I want to be — not what someone else wants me to be. I’ve traveled. I’ve loved. I’ve been dumped and in recent years e-dumped. I’ve been promoted and I’ve been laid-off — three times!

I could go on, but what I wonder most about is how will the decade of my 40s go? Since I lived my 20s and 30s out of order, will I do the same thing yet again with my 40s? Or will I finally get it right and live appropriately for my age? Geez…if I think about that, that almost sounds boring.

So maybe the trick is to not think about your age or your decade and just live it one day at a time. But sometimes it helps to reflect on how you arrived at each day. And so today, I’m celebrating a really great decision that I made 10 years ago today.

In case you’re curious, the ex-wife married someone years ago that she met off of Matchmaker.com. She apparently is living happily-ever-after in Kentucky or Tennessee or someplace of that ilk. So though the circumstances weren’t initially favorable for her 10 years ago, it turned out to be the best decision for her as well.

So here’s to being 40, happy, and healthy…with emphasis on the happy and healthy part.

I love hypotheticals. If they are sick and twisted…even better. This one is better in the PM hours after a beer or two.

So first of all, I need answers to two questions:

1. Who is your best same-sex friend?
2. Who do you lust after, but know you could never have sexually?

Presumably, the answer to (1) and (2) are different, but I’ll leave your sexual preference to you.

So the hypothetical is: what if your friend (1) could morph into the object of your lust (2)? And let’s just say that along with the morphing process comes full rights and privileges for you to act out your lustful thoughts. Would you?

Now before you answer, realize that your friend will assume the identity of your lust partner, but will actually be that person during the “act”. And further, they will remember everything the two of you do. Would you?

If you want to trick up the hypothetical even more, you can match all the objects of your lust up with friends that you think you’d most be able to do this with. Or, you can consider what “things” you might and might not do.

If you have decided that you could do this, let your friend know…you should always stay in “touch” with your friends.

Is anyone else ready for the Holidays to be over?

I’m thankful for the time off, but this time of year just drives me crazy. And I guess it has something to do with being single and having an unsettled personal life.

While everyone is excitedly buying gifts for their significant others, I’m shopping mostly for me. I had to deny the B&N people as they offered to wrap some books that I recently bought. I told them these weren’t gifts, they were for me!

So anyway, my stay in the hotel has thankfully ended, but not without an evening full of movies that made me feel even more alone. In total, I watched all or part of “Titanic”, “Two Weeks Notice”, and “Message In A Bottle”. I finally had to turn off MIAB as it was just a bit too melancholy even for me. But in TWN, I enjoyed the song trailer as the movie rolled its credits.

I’ve always identified with the Counting Crows, but hadn’t heard the song “Big Yellow Taxi.” To the unfamiliar, here’s a link to the lyrics:

Big Yellow Taxi

Anyway, it got me thinking how many times I’ve figuratively done the same thing. Way too many times, I think. I count at least two ex-girlfriends who I paved over in hopes that there was something else better out there. And in one case, I know I made a pretty big mistake. She was marriage material and we were good together, but timing wasn’t on our side. Funny, I ran into one of her friends the other day. According to her friend, she’s happily married to the guy she dated after me.

Anyway, its already been a long December, but there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.

It better be…