Well, it's officially been a long time since I last posted anything. Funny how you get so many thoughts and ideas during one little stretch, then the inspiration kind of dries up. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I traveled for the holidays, which just takes a lot out of you. Then I got sick thanks to the fact that those travels had me flying out of and back into the cesspool of air travel, LAX. I've never been snotted on and sneezed at so many times in my life. Why there's not some sort of reality show shot in the terminals of that airport is beyond me. Maybe a Survivor-ish type of show where teams battle to see who gets through airport security without being violated prison-style. I envision a challenge where teams must negotiate through the maze that is the Starbucks/Burger King Combo line and purchase a meal for two (including condiments) for under $25. The winner would be the team who manages to actually make their flight, sit in the seats that were actually assigned to them, and have enough room to store their carry-on baggage without having to smash any bags down to the size of a postcard.

Bonus if your plane makes it to the right airport on time and your pilots aren't asleep, drunk, or on their laptops playing Farmville (adjusting schedules my ass).

On top of traveling and being sick, I've also hit an unexciting part of the wedding planning process. We've already done all of the fun creative stuff, such as picking out invitations, figuring out color schemes, and all that fun stuff. But we're still not close enough to really be anticipating and dealing with all the last minute stressors. Right now we're in the not-so-fun part of the planning process (at least to me; to my fiancee and my ever-so-craftsy mom, this part is awesome). This part consists of shopping in countless craft stores for little gift basket knick-knacks, addressing, stamping, and licking countless envelopes, and taking care of all the mundane details that bring everything together. Back on the topic of envelopes, I hope to god there's not some government study in 10 years that shows licking envelopes causes cancer, because if there is, anyone who's ever been married is screwed. I've never licked, addressed, and stamped more envelopes in my life. From invitations to RSVP cards to Thank You cards from the showers, it just keeps going. I swear that weddings are the only reason paper companies still exist.

Now we've officially hit the 3 months to go mark, and with reaching that milestone I am happy to announce that the wedding is still on, as planned, and we only rarely thought about doing creative things to make the other person suffer for their wrongs. Sure, we've had our fair share of disagreements about the wedding, but that's to be expected. I feel like I'm much more hands on than most guys about the wedding; I have opinions, and I'm not afraid to voice them, sometimes with little to no thought about how they sound when they're coming out of my mouth. I'm sure there are times when my fiancee wishes I was like most guys, simply nodding yes and repeating "yes dear" to every suggestion she offers, but I'm not. I'm in this too, but I've learned that no matter how much time and effort you, as a man, want to invest into the wedding planning process, it's oftentimes much better to simply sit back and let her take the reigns. I'm still learning to pick my battles, but I have to say I've gotten much better recently. I've learned that trying to be a pragmatic man about a day that contains nothing but whimsy and fairy-tale to your fiancee is a fool's errand. I now know when to throw my opinion into the fray and when to sit back and accept the fact that wedding planning can sometimes be a one-woman tornado of check-lists, color schemes, and assorted odds and ends that will undoubtedly go into making an epic wedding. I think the thing that saves us is that, although my fiancee is nuts about our wedding, she does have a practical side to her (this is where everyone who knows her and is reading this will probably spit out whatever they're drinking) and I know that she is open and willing to discuss the big stuff with me. And really, as a guy, I guess that's all we're supposed to do; enjoy the ride and be there when the bride is on the fence to give her a figurative push.

The bottom line is that yes, this day represents and celebrates both of us, but as men we have to realize that this is a day woman dream about their whole lives. And while there should definitely be input from both sides and important decisions should be made as a team, supporting the bride-to-be and encouraging her to express herself maybe the best way to ensure you don't spend the whole honeymoon trying to coax her out of the locked bathroom while you try to read close captioned SportsCenter on the hotel TV across the room.