Mr.Christian, 7 over 5, And The Last of the Palomba's

So, where do I start?

Thursday night I found myself lucky enough to be able to pay a visit to an old friend who I hadn't seen in entirely too long. It was a brief, but very good night. It was...refreshing...at a time I was in great need of being refreshed.

Friday we met with our accountant who continues to give us good news I for one was already well aware of. The old man is running out of ways to use the old excuses, so of course he's going to spend some time creating all new ones.

Friday afternoon I shot over to my cousin Stephen's wedding. I didn't spend nearly enough time with that side of the family growing up, which is a damn shame because they are the ones Tim and I are most like. I think we would have learned a lot, not just about life, but about ourselves if we had spent more time with them.

I walked into church just a few minutes before the wedding was supposed to start and was greeted by my Uncle Stan who I've always been fond of. He was always just a nicer guy then my father, but at the same time through my experience with Tim I see how the relationship between Stan and my father has developed. It's like watching Tim and myself forty years down the road...if of course we get that far.

I got to see my Aunts and my Uncle Junior, which is always fun. They're the ones I got along with best growing up, they're the only ones who actually act like Tim and I are a part of the family even though we're never around. Everyone was disappointed Tim didn't show up, and I had to continually make excuses for him, but what's new about that?

It's odd how I interact with that part of the family. My cousin's Raymond and Kimberly were there. I always call them Raymond and Kimberly, never Ray and Kim and they always call me Christian, never Chris. We lack that familiarity in general.

All in all it was really good to see everyone, really good. Which was odd.

It also brought up a curious conversation between my father and I. My brothers Matty, Thomas, and Tim along with my cousin Stephen are the only other male Palomba's in my generation. Thomas never had kids and is coming up on 50. Tim and I still have time, but every day the chances of us having kids (or the likelihood of it being a good idea) grows smaller and smaller. Matty Jr. had one son and two daughters as far as I can recall. But just like we've lost track of Matty we've lost track of them as well. We really don't know anything about that kid. Not where he went to high school (shit I think he might be in college now), or if he's even kept the Palomba name. So right now Stephen is the best chance for carrying on the Palomba name, which seems sort of right since he's such a nice guy.

I left the wedding before dessert, I couldn't eat any of that stuff anyway, and headed over to Garwood to meet up with the guys who had just watched one of Gonzo's bands play. It was the first time I'd really been out in awhile. By the time I got to sleep Saturday it was something like 6 A.M. And I only slept a few hours. I woke up, had a quick breakfast, worked out a bit, then went back to sleep. I woke up again watched some TV, read a little, and worked out again. I met up with Sean, Jere and Jere's brother Kevin to play some cards. The first game took less than a half hour and I was down $20. The second game took much longer, but in the end I was down another $20. I offered to cut cards with Jere for $60 and he took me up on it. I figured it would either put me up $20 or down $100 for the night. Either way it didn't make much difference. I gave him courtesy and he cut first coming up with a 7, that gave me a slight edge, but I pulled a god damn 5 much to my chagrin.

Later on I stopped in at Stiletto's and was bored out of my mind in a room full of gorgeous naked women. I swear, their must be something wrong with me. I didn't get to sleep till 7 A.M. and was up for work an hour later. I took a nap around 5 P.M. and woke up long enough to make some pasta and work out again.

Tomorrow the summer season starts in earnest and I need to be up in Pomona by 8 A.M. so I'm heading off to bed to get as close to a full night's sleep as possible. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, lots of good nothings on the horizon, lots of change, lots of everything.

Who knows which way the wind will blow...who knows.