Humpday

Back from the northeast with a whirlwind trip to Boston to attend the wedding of our good friends Chris & Pam LeDuc. It was a great time for Amy & me to see friends and bond with Tess without some of the responsibilities of home which were ably covered by GJ & Pappy. Much appreciated!

Another wedding is on tap this weekend as our friend Dave Jenkins ties the knot. This time the wedding is local so travel won't be an issue. Aunt Mel and Uncle Dude are also coming up to attend with us -- should be a grand time. Nana and Granddaddy have graciously agreed to take not just the three Rutledge monsters, but a Crumpton too as Corinne will be making the trip up to NC with her mom & dad. We're hoping for good weather so the kids can be sent outside to run off their energy and grandparents can take turns holding the baby! (Right now the forecast looks like 80 & potential thunderstorms -- gulp!)

Aside from the family front, I will be in Las Vegas next week for a conference with work. Those who know me well know that of all the places in the country not a good fit for me, Las Vegas tops the list. The first two days I'm there are great as I am all about seeing the people that I work with all year long via phone & email. But by Day 3, the incessant ringing of the slot machines, eating the same food over and over, and the general gaudiness and tackiness of Sin City begin to wear on me. Luckily this year a couple of my friends & co-workers from Raleigh are going out too so that should help make the trip enjoyable. Plus there's the whole notion of five nights of uninterrupted sleep......now that I think about it, Vegas isn't sounding as bad as I thought.

So today I mailed in my absentee ballot as the North Carolina primary is next week. More thoughts on that later, but I admit my spirits are down with the latest emergence of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. His insistence on taking the spotlight and throwing Barack Obama under the bus is frustrating to me as an Obama supporter, especially considering the fact that Obama took the high road in his Philadelphia speech responding to the controversy. But despite that frustration the Obama bumper sticker is still on the Accord, and I didn't even give a second thought about going to see Bill Clinton as he visited Apex less than 5 miles from my house this morning. Enough already, it's time to move on.

Cheers!