On the road again

In what shall hopefully prove to be a giant step forward in wedding planning Sarah and I are heading to the Raleigh/Durham area in North Carolina to scope out wedding venues. The staggering truth seems to be that many places, even decent places, are barely within what we want to spend. It truly is out of control. I would blame these venues, but obviously people pay what they ask or the places would go out of business. So people, shame on you! That is unless you have money saved or family willing to pay. Why pay so much for one day? These people who cannot afford a huge wedding, yet have one anyway are giving themselves a wedding gift that will last a lifetime: debt! I would really like to have Dave Ramsey accompany people who spend out of their league on weddings. I believe it would be high comedy. I know it is only my opinion, but this is my blog. Ha!
One of the ladies put it best when she described the trip as a "fact-finding mission." I seriously doubt we will drive home on Sunday with a place and date set. If we do, hey, that would be the coolest. However, if we don't it is no big deal. The purpose is to head up, see what is available, and get an idea of what we are looking at. Let's face it, the internet can make any place look like an ideal wedding venue and in reality it is a dump. I am sure some places we have booked tours with are out of our price range, but one, they don't know that, and two, it is fun to look. When we get home on Sunday we can look at all the material and make an informed decision. The nice thing is that when we have a place and date set everything else will make sense. The rest will be tedious, but they shouldn't be hard.
Ok, that is enough of wedding update. This is the beginning of year two for me in Birmingham and eventhough I am a big college football fan, I normally don't get into it until late August. College football season is about a month away, but when you live in SEC Country the calendar year is divided into two sporting categories: football season and waiting for football season. Day 2 of the SEC Football Media Days just ended and while that doesn't hold much water for me since I don't really care passionately for any SEC team, it has given me an excuse to get into football season a month earlier than normal. My team is obviously USC (2 year's worth of graduate tuition gives me the right to be one, so if you are going to hate on me since I am a Trojan fan that is fine, but know that I am not a bandwaggoner, I am an alumni, so that tuition money gives me a legitimate reason to be a fan). However, since everyone around here is all abuzz about football season I can be too. I know that I am not excited about the same teams as they are, but I don't care.
I am aware that I have bought into the "college football is king" mentality. However, when I think about it though, I believe I have always been that it is just that I have never lived in an area that thinks that way. It goes without saying that I am not as diehard as some fans in the area, but it sure does make for a fun place to live. Some Alabama and Auburn fans seem to live and die with their teams' performance each week and while that may seem like overkill it is a great environment to be a part of. Yes, I know that last sentence ended in a preposition and it is not grammatically proper so save it! It beats the west coast attitude which is ambivalent towards sports. As a teacher, I know that is the way it should be, but it sure is not as fun.
My anticipation all boils down to this: I need to see some USC Football to wipe away that Rose Bowl. The team only lost two game in three years, I know. The team won two national titles (1/2 one of those years, I know, so save it LSU fans and don't get so bent out of shape), I know. But I wanted more. I wanted my school to make history. This makes me one of those annoying fans who has a team that is successful yet I still want more. I don't care. If you don't understand it is because you haven't experienced your team winning a title. It is like heroin. Once it gets in your system you need that title fix as much as possible. I will not live and die with each game like the aforementioned fans in Alabama, but winning is by far more desireable than losing (that goes without saying).
Man, am I jacked. The wedding planning (which is surprisingly cooler than anticipated), school starting back, and college football season starting is all happening at the same time...life is grand!