So Long

I know that it's been a long
Time since I've been gone
It's easy to forget
Help me remember
--So Long, Sister Hazel

Um yeah, so I've pretty much been slacking on the blogging aspect of life, but I think I'm okay with this being fairly low on a long list of things to do. A brief rundown of the last week and a half:
-Monday July 19: After a nice long work day, we had a basketball game at 7:15, and by 7:45 I was on the floor, bloodied and bruised. An elbow to the dome (courtesy of former All-WCC point guard Jim Williamson) left me requiring multiple stitches, so I headed up to the UCLA Medical Center after the game (we lost, quite disappointing). Didn't get home until midnight, to sleep at 1 and then up at 5 the next morning...
-Tuesday and Wednesday, July 20-21: Fairly standard work days, up at 5, home around 7 (or 9:30, depending on bible study) and then back to bed around 11.
-Thursday, July 22: Work 7-5 then left extra early to drive through traffic for an hour and a half to get to Descanso Gardens for your father's wedding rehearsal. Went to the rehearsal dinner afterward, then hung out with the bros until midnight or so, at which time I received a phone call changing my call time for Friday morning to 5:30 a.m. Sweet.
-Friday, July 23: After getting home at 1 and getting to sleep at 2, I woke up at 4:30 and got set for a day of work at the beach. We were doing our show on location in Hermosa Beach, in combination with the AVP event over the weekend. Rode my bike down the strand, which was actually pretty fun, and got to work right away. Long, hard day of work (didn't get done until 6:45), but it was so much fun. Tons of people showed up, probably mostly for volleyball, but they certainly crowded our set as well, and some great guests were there as well. Mark Cuban, Emeka Okafor, some Playboy swimsuit models and, of course, our talented set of hosts--Rose, Arnold, Salley and Jason Sehorn (evidently more adept at beach volleyball than at stopping Steve Smith over the middle--nooch). I got to feel pretty important at times, standing with the talent and production staff while the general public was forced to wait behind walls and signs, and pretty humble on other occasions, fetching fruit for Chris Rose or hauling camera stands for our crew. Got done, never having been more physically exhausted in my life, and had to ride that bike back home. I made it, showered and packed my bag for Palm Springs, needing only to wait for a pair of shorts to make it out of the dryer. Sat down on the couch and flipped on the Dodgers and Padres while I waited, but made it through about three minutes of game action before passing out on that couch. Woke up at 10:45, still needing to drive to Palm Springs. Sweet. Made it out there by 2 and fell asleep pretty quick.
-Saturday, July 24: Slept for about four hours before being awoken to go play golf in the ridiculous Palm Springs heat. Had some existing burn to show for Friday's sun marathon, and that obviously helped out a lot. Shot a nice 131 on the day--my first golfing experience in about a year, and my first time keeping score (at a place other than Verdugo Hills) since circa 1993. Had a good time with my bro and your father and had a lovely lunch in the aftermath. Drove home with no air conditioning--pretty much an ideal situation for Palm Springs in late July--and actually managed to get a little sleep for once.
-Sunday, July 25: Up pretty early to shower and shave and get ready for another drive, though thankfully I would be riding in a Jag this time instead of revving up the 'Turn once again. Jason and I drove down to San Clemente to see Mike B preach, which made for a great time. Sat with Bob and Cathie, then headed up to the beach house for a wonderful lunch before we had to head back. Their recently-completed casa is an amazing place, spa on the back deck, pull-out, rotating HD-TV, huge comfortable couches, the works. Wish I could have stayed longer--like three months--but important things were beckoning. Got up to yf's in time to get tuxedoed out and head over to Descanso for the pre-wedding festivities (read: sitting around and sweating). Eventually it was a nice ceremony, good to see family (and wonderful to see happy Dad), and then a nice reception in Old Town to follow. Another late night, home around 12:30 and to bed after 1.
That gets us back to the beginning of this week, which has also been a pretty busy one, but hey, it's the life I'm choosing. No worries. Movies 1 & 2 on the list still have to wait. I'm done.