INXS in excess and other strange tales

Hi all, how are we doing out there in blogger land? Good..glad to hear it.

So yeah, once again it has been longer than intended since updating this thing but I found myself online tonight and thought that I would give it a go. The month of August has been a pretty crazy one and I've found myself more than once wondering just exactly where the days have gone. Finally the hot weather has broken but now that it has, I can't help but get the distinct feeling that summer is drawing to a close. I'm not sure if it is actually that the days are getting cooler/shorter or just the fact that the approach of the beginning of September has always signalled an ending of sorts and time to get back to business. Either way, I am definitely intending to take more vacation next summer so that I can actually enjoy it!

Lets see..what else. Well last Sunday marked Adam and my 6th wedding anniversary so that was a lot of fun. I think I spent the entire weekend wondering just exactly how it could be that 6 years have passed since the day we got married and we talked a lot about the things that we had been doing at that time six years ago. Truthfully, the days leading up to the wedding and the day of the actual wedding were mostly a blur but these are the things that I remember the most:

• Waking up the morning of the wedding *really* early and laying in bed wondering why exactly I was awake already. Of course then it hit me and I don't think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the day
• Going up to the cemetary to put flowers on my dad's grave right after waking up and wishing, more than anything, that he could have been there to share that day with me
• Sitting in the kitchen at my mom's house with my bridesmaids after getting home from the hairstylists, having sandwiches and just talking. Finally someone asked me if I shouldn't be getting dressed and I realized then and there that (holy hell) holy hell, I was getting married!!
• Getting a bee stuck in my veil as I was standing outside the doors of the church, just minutes before walking down the aisle
• Standing at the foot of the aisle with my dad's best friend who was standing in place for my dad and walking me down the aisle. As we stood and waited for the doors to be opened, he turned to me and asked me if I was ready and for a moment I panicked. But then the doors opened and I saw Adam standing at the other end of the looooong aisle and I realised that I finally was ready.
• Returning to my mom's house after the reception to change out of my wedding dress and sitting on my bed in the room that has always been mine. Looking around, I was suddenly overwhelmed with everything and my mom found me there crying and she dried my tears while helping me to brush out my hair. It made me realize that some things never change.

Hmm..apparently I remember more than I thought. Regardless, our anniversary was a wonderful day and it contained a few revelations of it's own. We went to Niagara Falls for dinner and as I was sitting and waiting for him to come back from the restroom, I noticed another couple that was sitting at a table nearby. They were a bit older, most likely in their late 40's, and as I sat there and watched them (because I'm a people watcher, like my dad) I realized that they weren't talking to each other. And the more I watched them, the more I came to understand that it didn't appear to be because they were angry at each other...they just weren't talking. They were looking around at the restaurant, reading the little placards that sit on the table, looking at the dessert menu..everything but talking to each other. And for some reason that struck me as being indescribably sad. I looked up and at that moment Adam came around the corner and smiled at me and I think I fell in love with him all over again right there. Mushy and sentimental, I know. But I also know that I never want to get to the point where we have nothing to say to each other.

But really, it was a wonderful day and not a day goes by that I don't thank the Valar or whatever powers may be that Adam is such an important part of my life. Neither of us is perfect but I like to think that together, we come that much closer and I love him with all my heart. And yes, I'll stop now..;)

You might be wondering at little at the title of my blog so I guess I should just come out and admit it. After all, admitting it is the first step in treating a problem isn't it? Okay , I'm addicted to INXS. Yes, INXS. Isn't that bizarre? And yes, as one of my esteemed co-workers has already pointed out to me, I might be a few years late with this one but that doesn't seem to matter much. But wait, here is the story. I've always been a fan of INXS, dating back to their stuff in the mid 80's when I was just discovering my own musical tastes. Michael Hutchence was probably my very first "long hair" crushes and I had followed their progress through the years even though I wasn't a HUGE fan. When I heard about Michael Hutchence's death in 1997, I was very sad because he really was a great musician and the lead of a great band but I can honestly say that I haven't really given them too much thought over the past 7 years. That is...until this summer.

As some of you might know, there is a show on television right now called Rockstar: INXS and when I first heard about this, I was immediately against the entire concept. The premise behind it is that the remaining members of INXS are searching for a new lead singer and a group of rockers compete, with one or more getting voted off each week, until there is only one of them remaining. That person will be the new lead singer of INXS. And I can say that right from the start, that just seemed wrong to me, after all..how could you replace a guy like Michael Hutchence?? But then I made the mistake of watching the show one week and now? Yeah, you guessed it, I'm hooked. HOOKED!! That may even be too tame of a word for it. How bad is it? Let's just say that the majority of my free time last weekend was spent scouring the music stores in our town in search of a particular INXS Greatest Hits CD (which I eventually found in Walmart, of all places!). And ever since then, I've been having impromptu INXS concerts in my head as I can't seem to get their songs out of the rotating playlist in my brain!!

So yeah, we are rapidly reaching the level of INXS in exess but...damn, they are *really* good!! Go JD!