1/24/2006
I got a job teaching at Full Sail! For those of you who don't know, Full Sail is a large and well known film school in Orlando. The school is dripping in money. They are buying a few new film cameras and a couple new HD cameras JUST FOR MY CLASS! Each of those cameras cost over $100,000. I am not the head teacher, but I am the lab instructor. Which means that I will be helping with the shoots and assisting the students. The only drawback is that I have heard the students are all stuck up brats. The teacher said I will do fine as long as I can deal with that type of personality. I should have no problem, having grown up with my sister (just kidding Lindsey!). I start on the 30th, so wish me luck.
1/21/2006
Today I went to a one day meditation retreat at Peter's house with Marshal and Brittany (among others). The retreat started at 9:00 (I had to wake up early on a Saturday!) and lasted until about 5:00. It consisted of sitting and walking meditation, about 45 minutes of the former then 30 minutes of the latter. We stuck to this pattern all day, with a break for lunch. Everyone brought homemade food (I made pizza) and it was all very tasty. The most interesting part of the day was when I was doing the walking meditation barefoot and stepped in an ant hill. I was so focused on the sensations in my feet that I could feel every single ant bite!
1/19/2006
1/15/2006
1/11/2006
1/04/2006
Emily and I had a solid plan for the wedding. She was going to work lending money to cover our bills and I was going to work flipping houses and investing in real estate to pay for our wedding. Last month my parents said that they would not loan me any more money through Volusia Asset Company (for those of you who don't know - VAC is my parent's company which was set up in my sister and my name to lend money to real estate investors). That's right, it sounds ridiculous, but I was no longer able to use the services of my parents company, which I legally own. Not only did this through a kink in my business plan, but it also took away my ability to pay for our wedding.
Then my parents were generous enough to step up and say that they would help us pay for the wedding. Not pay for all of it (Emily's family also contributed generously to the wedding fund), but pay for everything that I was working to earn. This is where the real problems started. To them, money = control. This is what we were trying to avoid and the exact reason why Emily and I wanted to pay for the bulk of the wedding ourselves. First it was relatively small things like setting up appointments with vendors without consulting Emily, me or our wedding planner. Then it moved on to more important things like trying to control the guest list. Each step of the way they changed their mind about their contribution (their inability to make a decision and stick to it has been something we have battled for a long time).
Originally they wanted to give a set amount of money. Then they divided up that amount and said that we could have X for flowers, X for food, etc. Then they said that any outside contributions (for example, Emily's mom wanted to take her dress shopping) would reduce their budget.
Throughout this process we constantly reminded them that this is our wedding and it will be planned the way we want it (their gift does not come with strings attached). But they kept bring up one issue - having a Rabbi officiate the wedding. I had always said that I wanted a judge or some other non religious officiate for a number of reasons. I do not feel an attachment to the Jewish faith. Having a Rabbi officiate would not mean anything for me. Additionally, the family I am marrying into is Catholic. Everyone should feel included at the wedding. We could not have a Rabbi for the same reason we could not have a Priest - we want to include both sides of the family.
The issue of control was becoming stronger and stronger as the plans progressed. Finally, Emily and I decided to talk to them about it. The conversation went as follows:
"Thank you for contributing to our wedding fund, but please keep in mind that money does not equal control."
"Well, we feel like it does."
"We don't want your gift, if it comes with strings attached."
"Our money only comes with one string, have a Rabbi officiate or you don't get the money."
"I wish you had told us that sooner. The Rabbi would not mean anything to us, and furthermore it would alienate half of the people there. We would rather not have this wedding than have it your way."
"Then we revoke our gift."
Here's how it stands now... Emily and I are planning a new wedding. It will most likely be very small (immediate family only) and it will possibly be a destination wedding. Please keep your calendar open and we will let you know our plans when they solidify.
Then my parents were generous enough to step up and say that they would help us pay for the wedding. Not pay for all of it (Emily's family also contributed generously to the wedding fund), but pay for everything that I was working to earn. This is where the real problems started. To them, money = control. This is what we were trying to avoid and the exact reason why Emily and I wanted to pay for the bulk of the wedding ourselves. First it was relatively small things like setting up appointments with vendors without consulting Emily, me or our wedding planner. Then it moved on to more important things like trying to control the guest list. Each step of the way they changed their mind about their contribution (their inability to make a decision and stick to it has been something we have battled for a long time).
Originally they wanted to give a set amount of money. Then they divided up that amount and said that we could have X for flowers, X for food, etc. Then they said that any outside contributions (for example, Emily's mom wanted to take her dress shopping) would reduce their budget.
Throughout this process we constantly reminded them that this is our wedding and it will be planned the way we want it (their gift does not come with strings attached). But they kept bring up one issue - having a Rabbi officiate the wedding. I had always said that I wanted a judge or some other non religious officiate for a number of reasons. I do not feel an attachment to the Jewish faith. Having a Rabbi officiate would not mean anything for me. Additionally, the family I am marrying into is Catholic. Everyone should feel included at the wedding. We could not have a Rabbi for the same reason we could not have a Priest - we want to include both sides of the family.
The issue of control was becoming stronger and stronger as the plans progressed. Finally, Emily and I decided to talk to them about it. The conversation went as follows:
"Thank you for contributing to our wedding fund, but please keep in mind that money does not equal control."
"Well, we feel like it does."
"We don't want your gift, if it comes with strings attached."
"Our money only comes with one string, have a Rabbi officiate or you don't get the money."
"I wish you had told us that sooner. The Rabbi would not mean anything to us, and furthermore it would alienate half of the people there. We would rather not have this wedding than have it your way."
"Then we revoke our gift."
Here's how it stands now... Emily and I are planning a new wedding. It will most likely be very small (immediate family only) and it will possibly be a destination wedding. Please keep your calendar open and we will let you know our plans when they solidify.
1/02/2006
Happy new years everyone! Here's a recap of our trip to Steamboat and New Years:
We flew into Steamboat, CO on December 24th. All of Emily's family was there, including her four sisters, some of their boyfriends (and the boyfriend's parents), her mom and step-dad, and her dad and step-mom. We all went to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. The food was great (and I love Italian food), but the service was a bit slow. Sunday we woke up, ate a leisurely breakfast and all congregated at our place (Emily and I, three of her sisters, her mom and step-dad were all staying in a very large and very beautiful townhouse). Jenny and Todd brought plenty of food, which they cooked in the mid afternoon and kept us fed all day. We opened presents and played games for the rest of the day. Fun!
The next day Emily, Sara, Rob (Sara's boyfriend) and I went skiing. Emily had never been before, so she started out in the beginner lesson. Sara took an intermediate lesson while Rob and I went straight to the top of the mountain and flung ourselves off. No joke, Rob literally flung himself off, when his ski got caught and he careened off the mountain. Another skier had to lower their pole, so he could hold on and hoist himself back up. Meanwhile, Emily did not stand on two skis until her lesson was almost over. By then she was pissed off at the boring lesson. I met up with her and helped her ski down the bunny slope (which she did very well, and on two skis). That night we went to another Italian restaurant. Again the food was great.
The next day Jenny took Emily, Sara, Rob and I snowshoeing. None of us had ever been (I think) but we all had fun. At the top of the hill, Sara, Rob and I had a very dignified snowball fight. On the way down, I stopped to do flips off a large snow drift. We went into town for dinner (after searching everywhere for Kat, but that is a different story) and ate at a wonderful noodle house. I wish they had places like that in Orlando.
We took an early flight back here, but didn't get in until 10:30 pm. Time changes and layovers suck.
New Years was spent with Katie, Tanya and their boyfriends. We first ate chili at Katie's parent's house, then went to Katie's boyfriend's (whose name I can't remember now) house. We killed time playing Cranium and talking. New Years was fairly uneventful, but we had fun.
We flew into Steamboat, CO on December 24th. All of Emily's family was there, including her four sisters, some of their boyfriends (and the boyfriend's parents), her mom and step-dad, and her dad and step-mom. We all went to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. The food was great (and I love Italian food), but the service was a bit slow. Sunday we woke up, ate a leisurely breakfast and all congregated at our place (Emily and I, three of her sisters, her mom and step-dad were all staying in a very large and very beautiful townhouse). Jenny and Todd brought plenty of food, which they cooked in the mid afternoon and kept us fed all day. We opened presents and played games for the rest of the day. Fun!
The next day Emily, Sara, Rob (Sara's boyfriend) and I went skiing. Emily had never been before, so she started out in the beginner lesson. Sara took an intermediate lesson while Rob and I went straight to the top of the mountain and flung ourselves off. No joke, Rob literally flung himself off, when his ski got caught and he careened off the mountain. Another skier had to lower their pole, so he could hold on and hoist himself back up. Meanwhile, Emily did not stand on two skis until her lesson was almost over. By then she was pissed off at the boring lesson. I met up with her and helped her ski down the bunny slope (which she did very well, and on two skis). That night we went to another Italian restaurant. Again the food was great.
The next day Jenny took Emily, Sara, Rob and I snowshoeing. None of us had ever been (I think) but we all had fun. At the top of the hill, Sara, Rob and I had a very dignified snowball fight. On the way down, I stopped to do flips off a large snow drift. We went into town for dinner (after searching everywhere for Kat, but that is a different story) and ate at a wonderful noodle house. I wish they had places like that in Orlando.
We took an early flight back here, but didn't get in until 10:30 pm. Time changes and layovers suck.
New Years was spent with Katie, Tanya and their boyfriends. We first ate chili at Katie's parent's house, then went to Katie's boyfriend's (whose name I can't remember now) house. We killed time playing Cranium and talking. New Years was fairly uneventful, but we had fun.
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