Laz format...it's been a while, hasn't it? Here's what's "new"...

--Drove to and from Rockford twice (Thursday and today) to pick up and drop off my little brother's girlfriend, who stayed with my bro and parents this weekend for...

--Attended the wedding of a distant cousin on Saturday...his mother is my first cousin, and she's a couple months older than my father...that's how big my dad's family is. She is the daughter of my dad's oldest sister (my dad is the youngest), who is 30 years older than my father. Hard to believe, I know, but very true. The groom (my 2nd cousin) I haven't seen since high school, and rarely at that, as he went to my high school too. But, he did know me and apparently had been reading my stuff and watching and listening to me while I was at PFW...wish he'd have emailed me or something, I never was some unreachable, full-of-myself superstar... :)

--Played softball on Friday, won in 4.5 innings with lightning flashing all around. We won 12-11, barely. But we played generally pretty well. Gina was happy because she had two hits and walked once.

--Sunday I worked, as usual, after going to church and Gina's parents' place. No big deal, really...It was really, really busy...case in point: concessions started the day with 35 boxes of hot dog buns (12 or so per box) and finished the night with two boxes left.

--Passed a fast-food restaurant in Rockford called Beef-A-Roo. I kid you not. Got to eat lunch at Fazoli's and Perkins, which is HUGE...I LOVE Fazoli's, by the way.

--Discovered that I actually have the History Channel, which has been a treasure for me this weekend. I watched the history of shrimping and the history of salt mining at my parents' house between the wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday, and I've been "catching up" on my World War II knowledge. :)

--Currently, VH1 has those 50 worst songs list on...it's pretty funny. But I wish there was something else to watch right now. I'd watch "A Beautiful Mind" but I really don't like Russell Crowe at all...

--Today, after returning from Rockford, I decided to cook a recipe I caught on "Victory Garden" on PBS...I'd never had the main ingredient (Swiss chard), but my dad said my grandpa used to grow the stuff in the yard and they'd eat it all the time. I figured if it tasted good, I could grow the stuff on my deck, because "Victory Garden" said it works really well in containers. So I went to the grocery store and bought some Swiss chard today and made the dish to see how it tastes...it was quite, quite good, although I'm gonna ease up on the pepper next time...and, bonus, it's vegetarian friendly, for those of you vegetarians out there.

--If you haven't RSVPed for my party on Saturday...well, what are you waiting for?

--That, and the general point of having my birthday this coming weekend is making for another busy week. Summer's tough on the schedule, I tell ya... :) Apparently, Gina has plans for me and her on Thursday, but I don't know what. Wednesday I work, and Tuesday and Friday are softball, as usual. I'll have to clean this place up otherwise...those of you who will be here will be marginally surprised if the last time you were here was Halloween. The place looks as though someone actually lives here! :)

--Ah well... :)