10 Things I Think I Think (ala Peter King) - "I'm Back" Edition

Note: I usually do "10 Things" in the Baseball Challenge or one of the other fantasy sports threads but since the participants are so interspersed in so many different leagues (plus the occasional guest readers), I figured I should start a new thread.

1 - I'm back! As many of you know, on August 19th, I had another milestone in my life by getting married to, as some of you may call her, Mrs. Douche Bigelow, Mrs. Douchebag or Mrs. DB, for short. I've been off of work since the Thursday before my wedding (August 17th), went on my honeymoon the following Tuesday (August 22nd), and got back this past Sunday (September 3rd). I haven't been on a computer until I got back to work this morning. A big "Hi", "Hello" and "How are you?" to all my friends here on the GBB!

2 - The events leading up to the wedding were pretty hectic, as some of you can imagine. Picking up family from the airport, hosting various dinners, taking care of loose ends... it never stopped. All this and I'm exhausted because that entire week, I slept sporadically (3 hours per night, I'm estimating). After the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner that Friday, I decided to be alone to clear my head, because I still had vows to write. All week, I only had the final sentence of my vows and I had to find a good beginning and middle. Luckily, the words poured out!

3 - Saturday comes and I'm all about nervous excitement - saying little prayers here and there - "I hope my fiancee is doing OK", "I pray my vendors are on time and doing their job", "I hope everyone can find the chapel"... You know, the little things. ), and holding my wife's hand during her vows. What the pastor said, I can't quite remember but I'm sure it was good. I'll have to watch the DVD.

5 - After the ceremony, our limo took us around Chicago with our photographer taking pictures at various spots. I still haven't seen them but hopefully they're good. By this point, I was practically drenched from sweat so I was glad to have some time to rest and shower up before the party began.

6 - The reception begins and the whole thing was a blast. I couldn't imagine having more fun at a wedding - added bonus that it was mine! It was exactly what we've been calling it - a party. In addition to the standard reception traditions, we had some personal touches - (i) per Taiwanese custom, my wife changed into several outfits throughout dinner, (ii) individual table toasts, (iii) first dance (cha cha cha - we took lessons) to "Sway" by Michael Buble, etc... We only had about 70 people for the reception but a good 60 stayed until closing time - just dancing, talking. It was so much fun. Our last dance was "That's All" by Michael Buble - easily my favorite love song.

7 - And on to our honeymoon. We went to sunny Portugal for 10 nights/11 days. We just had a blast. On our first three days, we had a driver take us around northern Portugal (Porto, Douro Valley, etc...) and showing us the sights. Fernando, our driver, was great - a really nice guy, knowledgable and had a great view on life. If any of you are looking to going to Portugal, you should definitely have him show you around (and he's inexpensive, no less).

8 - After that, my wife and I did the driving thing ourselves. We drove from North Portugal to central Portugal, stopping in various cities (Obidos, Sintra, Cascais, Lisbon) and staying in 4 hotels in all. The packing and unpacking was a bit tiring, but all in all, a great experience. The food in Portugal was great - fresh fish, great meats, awesome and inexpensive wines - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. We had our best two meals EVER in the same restaurant (we went two nights in a row). Have you ever had 90 minutes when you were completely and utterly satisfied gastronomically? Wow.

9 - By the end of our trip though, we were ready to go home. We were supposed to get home by this past Saturday, but luck was against us. The following events happened all in the same day - (i) the travel agent had us 4 hours too early in the airport (5:30 am wakeup call), (ii) the airline lost my wife's reservation (luckily, we had 4 hours to straighten it out ), (iii) had a bumpy, delayed trip to Newark, (iv) due to the delay, we missed our connecting flight and had to stay overnight in Newark, (v) went to the wrong hotel at first because the airline failed to tell us there was a difference between a Sheraton and a Four Points by Sheraton, plus other mishaps... Luckily, we took turns being grumpy so we never got mad at each other. We made it safely back on Sunday.

10 - And now I'm back. It's kind of weird being back at work but I guess I had to go back sometime. Back to the grind, but back to my GBB friends as well. I did miss you guys and I hope all is well. Pics are to come...

And Extra Thoughts for my Fantasy Sports buds...

11 - I haven't looked at my teams since I initially left before my wedding but you guys know fantasy sports had to come up sometime during the trip. The Friday before we got back, we were taking a train to Lisbon and I believe the conversation went like this:

DB: So, the Wednesday after we get back, I have a fantasy football draft.

Mrs. DB: What does that mean?

DB: I have a live draft around 6 pm. I'm drafting my team for my fantasy football league.

Mrs. DB: Does that mean you'll be on the computer?

DB: Yep. (Translation: For about an hour and a half, I'll be completely focused on drafting the best team possible. The world will be invisible to me. Pretty loaded "Yep." )

12 - When I was in the Sheraton this past Saturday night, I turned to ESPN for the first time in two weeks. Knowing that I just auto-drafted in the Points football league, I was wondering if there were any news. First thing I see on the ticker - "Dominick Davis out for the year." My thought - "Sucks to be the guy who drafted him in the Points League. I bet it's me."

What happened: Yep. It was me.

Wow.... sounds like a great time!

You just can't get out of that role of chauffering people around in Chicago, huh?? :p

My heartiest congratulations to you and your bride.

Congrats my friend. I know that Mrs. DS ( I refuse to call her Mrs. Douche or Mrs. Douchbag) has made a good catch and I'm sure that you did also. Best of luck to the both of you.


Don Cardi

CONGRATS, DOUCHEBAG!!

Sounds like a GREAT time despite the minor hiccups. How'd you enjoy Newark?? Can't wait to see the pics - and in 9 months, perhaps Mini Douchebag pics!

"Yep. It was me." -- For once it's not ME!

Again Congrats and all the best for your Future together

DS,

Congrats on your wedding bliss. So very happy for you and your Mrs. Can't wait to see your pic's. Welcome back

Things I Think Regarding What CS Thinks:

- I missed you!

- <--- This is what I looked like the entire time I was reading what you'd written. I'm so happy for you!

- I love how organized your post is - you even have subsections, which completely satisfies the OCD freak in me.

- Can't wait to see pictures. I hope y'all took one in front of Wrigley!

- Speaking of baseball, has your wife convinced you to become a Cardinals fan yet? :p And, even though I unofficially dropped out, can we expect her to join BBC next year?

- My sincere congrats to Mr. and Mrs. CS. She's found herself quite a gentleman, and I'm certain she's a lovely lady.

DB, welcome back!

So these are all things you think happened? Like you're not sure? Maybe it was all a dream... Either way, it all sounds very happy and lovely, and I'm truly so happy for you and the new Mrs DB! Poor thing, she had no idea what that "yep" meant. :p

Congratulations, and I wish you both all the best in the years to come. And we're all glad to have you back, that's for sure.

DS - That sounds wonderful! So glad that you and the Mrs. had the right attitude about your wedding. So many couples stress out about the "big day" that they lose sight of the fact that it's a CELEBRATION that you're supposed to ENJOY!! And honeymooning in Portugal sounds like bliss, too.

Looking forward to some photos of the happy couple. Congratulations and welcome back!!

congrats on the wedding, DB, and I hope your lack of commitment to your Yahoo Baseball team keeps your team from passing by mine

P.S. You and your Michael Buble ... isn't that what we were choking on while you were driving us in your truck? Oh wait, no, that was the exhaust fumes! :p (err, or was that LDV and me -- okay, okay, just me then -- singing in the back seat? Either way! )

That was SINGING??? (I thought DB's truck had a noisy exhaust).

Hey now!! I was about to win American Idol... but then William Hung beat me out :rolleyes:

You got beat out by a Will Hung guy??

At least you didn't mean (or at least say) "off" :p

'night!

DS,

My sincerest congratulations, from the heart. Can't wait to see some pictures!

Cent' anni!

Signor V.

--------------------
"Orson fall down?"

That was just great, DB.

My heartiest and most sincere congratulations to you and the Mrs.

But gee.....a night in Newark? There's a bunch of us (me included, naturally) who live just a short distance away.

AAMOF I can watch the planes coming in from my bedroom window all night.

I wish you would've gotten in touch with one of us while you were here.....

Congratulations DS! Please post some pictures.

Yeah, just what he wants to do on his honeymoon........see you!
:p



Don Cardi

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

SC - Thanks SC. I'm thinking of starting a limo service...

DC - I can always count on you to not call me DoucheBag. Thanks!

JG - Thanks, brother. Mini-douchebags are a looooongggg ways off. BTW, William Hung called. He wants his voice back. :p

De Niro - Thanks!

Mig - Such a sweet lady! I hope all is going well.

Gina - Thanks Gina! An OCD freak, you??? Nooooooooo. Nope, not a Cardinals fan yet. If you ever need help in statistics... :p

Zia - Thanks Zia! We were watching a lot of tennis while we were in Portugal (my wife is a huge tennis fan). Is it just me or does every Russian woman have long legs and is skinny with long blonde hair with a last name ending in "-ova"? BTW, you... did... not... just... read... this... (cue scary music)

SB - Another sweet lady and an always appreciated guest poster in the fantasy sports threads. Thanks!

TM - Thanks TM! I had to let you win sometime. :p

SV and Afs - Thanks! Pictures are to come. Everyone sends them to my wife and not to me. I'm starting to get a complex.

Plaw - Thanks! Actually, I thought of calling one of you guys but unfortunately, I didn't bring my phone with me on the trip and didn't have any of your numbers. It would have been great seeing you. Then you can tell my wife your "King of the Castle" theory. You sure put your theory to good use during the Points Based football league draft. :p

I'm really pleased for you DB. It sounds like you had a fantastic time and congratulations on the wedding.