Oh my, where did the month go?! On April 11, I wrote a blog post commenting on the fact that our wedding day was only two months out. Excuse me for the cliché, but that seemed just like yesterday. Today is May 11 and Sidney and I are now only one month away from saying “I do” inside St. Andrew Catholic Church here in Myrtle Beach.

Let me put it this way: the next time the 11th of the month falls, we will be getting married. Crazy!!

Sidney posted this sweet message to Facebook this morning.

Reflecting on this final one month countdown has made me put it in a certain perspective. To me, it is almost as if from now until the wedding date we will be on a pre-honeymoon.

A honeymoon is a time for a new couple to celebrate, go on adventures, and feel really good about themselves. Minus the blue waters of Mexico at our adults-only all-inclusive resort, I feel the next 30 days will pack a lot of the same joyful feelings that our real honeymoon will and that our “engagement honeymoon” did.

We are now just a month away from the big date.

Our long engagement is now at its final month. For the past several weeks I have already felt giddy with excitement. Now that we have passed this major threshold, I expect this feeling to be even more magnified. How can it not? Over the coming weeks we will make final wedding arrangements, Sidney will have her bridal shower, we will meet with the priest who will marry us, my family will come to town, wedding week activities will take place, and the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner will be held.

So yes, it will definitely be a pre-honeymoon, right? Well, I don’t know what Sidney would say to that.

I am sensitive to the fact that while my excitement level goes up, Sid’s stress level will most likely rise as well. As I mentioned at the two month mark, Sidney and her mom have worked tirelessly on this wedding. I can imagine that even with all the fun things going on, they will be very much focused on the big day, pre-honeymoon be damned.

Perhaps my role in this will be to contain my excitement to some extent and help out as much as possible. With that said, I am also tasking myself with the responsibility of making sure that Sid enjoys this special time as well. I need to maintain a balance where I am not overflowing with obnoxious joy but also doing what I can to keep Sidney loose and relaxed.

The month countdown is here! What an incredibly major time in our lives. We will take each day one at a time and enjoy the ride. We are blessed. Don’t Blink.

My memory is interesting. By the age of three, I had memorized the names and order of the United States Presidents. Throughout my childhood, my parents would marvel at details I could remember from years prior. Presently, people ask me to recall how a certain event was arranged or what was served at a specific dinner because they know I am usually spot on.

But then there was the day a few months ago when my debit card pin number vanished from my mind as I was trying to make a purchase. Or the recent unfortunate incident when I got to the gym in the morning and couldn’t for the life of me recall my locker combination. Or just this past weekend when Sidney asked me the name of an instructor and I drew a complete blank.

Needless to say, my memory is sometimes very good and sometimes very bad. I would still say though that for the most part I have an above average memory. However, there is one area where my memory consistently fails me (or perhaps I fail it).

Besides my own personal cell numbers over the years, I haven’t memorized the cell number of someone else since 2004. Why 2004? That was the year I received my first cell phone. Up until that point I would dial the cell numbers of my mom and my best friend in high school from our landline frequently. I still remember those two numbers by heart and I still call my mom using hers (as opposed to pulling up her name and pressing “send”).

Since then, I haven’t logged cell phone numbers inside my brain. Why would I, right? We have contact lists programmed into our phones for a reason.

But perhaps I shouldn’t just blame the lack of 10-digit strings of numbers in my brain on technology. While the person’s name substitutes for the actual number most of the time, we all get glimpses of the physical number every now and then, especially if we are close to an actual person. For example, whenever we open up a contact in our phone their number is displayed. Also, from time to time we all have people ask us for the phone number of the people we are close to. If we don’t just share the contact via our iPhones, this causes us to actually look at and recite/write down the number.

I suppose that if my memory really was worth a darn like I said above, I probably should have memorized the numbers of my brother, sister, dad, and fiancé by now. It is a sad reality that out of these four people, the closest I get to remembering their numbers off the top of my head is the first six digits (area code plus first three numbers) of two of them.

Recently, Sidney asked me if I could take time and memorize her number. She explained that it was more for emergency purposes than anything. By writing this blog post, I know for a fact that I will have it memorized by the time this night is over. Perhaps I will try and cement the digits of some of the other people on the list as well.

Do you remember cell phone numbers? Maybe you are like me and consider it an outdated practice. Maybe you have a little more pride and employ an operator in your head. Whatever your opinion, I think I can admit that Sidney does have a very valid point. There will be situations where we won’t always be able to rely on our personal phones to recall numbers. Don’t Blink.

From time to time over the past couple years, I had seen this idea pitched in magazines and newspapers. I thought it was silly and waved it off as far-fetched. However, after seeing the idea featured more just in the last week, including an in-depth article on it yesterday, I thought I would weigh in.

Pushed by the research of experts, some companies are starting to consider “nap rooms” for their offices. In the middle of the day, employees could enter these nap rooms and take a snooze before returning to work. In my opinion, it is a ridiculous idea.

I know the idea of retreating to a comfy nap room in the middle of the day after a night of little sleep and a Monday morning of stress sounds nice. I know research shows that rested minds work best. But just the perception of sleeping at work turns me off.

I believe that if we have nap rooms at the workplace, we might as well have cartoons on the office TV and Batman wallpaper lining the conference room. Kids who go to preschool take naps in the middle of the day. Those who work for a living and consider themselves professionals do not. To me, adults taking naps at the workplace seems incredibly immature.

We all have days at the office where we feel tired. We might close our eyes for a split second and think how nice it would be to fall asleep for a few minutes. But hopefully at that point we snap out of it and overcome our fatigue. Part of being a professional is showing discipline. Naturally our bodies become tired but that is no reason to hold nap time at the office. We owe it to ourselves and our employers to focus and get things done.

The major selling point of the nap room idea is supposedly it will increase work productivity. I would have to argue this. When waking up from a nap, many of us feel cranky and hungry. Could you imagine how these feelings could possibly be even more intense in the office? If waking up on your own couch at home on the weekend doesn’t satisfy you, waking up in an office setting with four hours of work ahead efinitely won’t either.

I feel the nap room idea is a way for us to not take responsibility for our actions. If we find ourselves consistently tired at work, shouldn’t we make adjustments off the clock? Such as going to bed earlier, perhaps? I know there are many people out there who have babies or have extenuating circumstances that deprives them of sleep. However, a large number of people who cite fatigue issues at work do so because of their own lifestyle choices.

Look, I can’t argue with the fact that some of the most innovative and successful companies are starting to introduce nap rooms. I know empires such as Google and the Huffington Post now have them. But I think this idea has “FAD” written all over it. I love it that companies are introducing gyms and relaxed dress codes to make employees healthier and happier. However, I draw the line at nap rooms. Nothing is worse than “sleeping on the job.” Don’t Blink.

With John Kasich dropping out of the 2016 presidential race today, there is now a likely Republican nominee for President of the United States.

Okay, let me catch my breath.

It was an insane primary season for the Republican Party. It was just this past August when 16 candidates declared themselves as a viable choice for the nomination, all with high optimism and strong opinions. From that point on, it was an absolute slugfest. The storylines, the debates, the interviews, and the social media all made this high stakes competition an absolute spectacle. It was better than must-see-TV, it was a real life drama centered on the right to run for the most powerful position on the planet. Of course, there was no shortage of twists and turns.

I admit it, I couldn’t keep my eye off it. I watched a lot of CNN, followed all the candidates on Twitter, and even started reading political blogs such as FiveThirtyEight. The race was just so gripping, so intense, so personal. The craziest part? It just seemed to get better and better.

The reality show elements definitely added a lot of juice to this one. You had eliminations, you had drama, you had manipulation, and, most importantly, you had characters.

It is an understatement to say that no character stood out more than Donald J. Trump. Heck, just look at this blog. It takes a lot for me to write once about a person, let alone FOUR times. However, during the primary season I wrote about how I thought he was intelligent, how I thought he was fascinating, how I thought he was a poor sport, and how I thought he had doomed his campaign. Say what you want about those first three topics, one thing is clear about the fourth one: I was dead wrong.

What this man did was pretty spectacular.

But so were a lot of other people. Trump was discredited before he even entered the race and was written off numerous times during it. Love him or hate him, Trump has defined the meaning of resiliency and showed us what it looks like to be a competitor.

To be completely honest, I am a little exhausted from the primary season. It wasn’t for the faint of heart. We are now staring directly at the undoubtedly most bitter and outrageous presidential election we most likely will ever see. That is why I said above that I need to catch my breath. As someone who isn’t that interested in politics, I have definitely gotten my fill over the last several months. Now it looks like I need to prepare myself for something that will be even more extreme.

Donald Trump vs. Hilary Clinton is going to be brutal. We are looking at six months of pure mania. I am excited to see them debate each other and I am interested to see their revised social media strategies but I don’t know if I am ready for the day-to-day grind. But I guess it is one of those things where it doesn’t matter if you are ready or not, it is going to come regardless.

I am not a Democrat nor Republican so I will monitor this race without a dog in the fight. However, I know I will be drawn in and will most likely have a preference come November. Pace yourself, it is going to be a long, bumpy, and CRAZY ride. Don’t Blink.

Note: This evening, Sidney once again takes over Don’t Blink. As you will see, she also takes over one of Brent’s weekly blogging traditions.

After having a month long hiatus away from guest blogging for Brent, I think it’s time that I get back to it. This month, I decided to rip out a page from my husband-to-be’s playbook, and write a rundown post. Now he just calls his posts “The Thursday Rundown”, but my post is more uniquely known as “Sid’s Sunday Subject Smorgasbord” (Okay…I know…this title is really corny…but cut me some slack. I taught my kids all about alliteration this week and I’m having a hard time getting away from it!). Also, Brent normally writes about five topics but I am going to opt with just four; he doesn’t pay me enough to do an extra one. So here we go…ladies and gents..I present to you my four subject rundown!

Tooth Pulling Extraordinaire! – So I had not originally had this idea for one of my rundown subjects, but the idea literally just fell into my lap, or more truthfully came to me via FaceTime call. My niece, Russell, “FaceTimed” me in the middle of writing this blog. She is on the way home from a weekend spent with her cousins, and she called me from the car on her Daddy’s cell phone. When I answered the call she politely requested that I meet her at her house when she gets home. The reason? She needs me to pull out her tooth. My niece is a quick-witted little firecracker, much akin to her ever-so-lovely aunt. Anyway…she is six and at that prime age of Tooth Fairy excitement. Now why did she call and demand my presence, and not ask one of her parents to do the job? Well, that’s because I accidentally pulled out her first tooth. A year or so ago, she had her first wiggly tooth. She wanted me to wiggle it, and when I did, she jerked her head back and the tooth was left in my hand. OOPS!! Ever since, I’ve been entrusted with high-honor of pulling her teeth. Not the biggest claim to fame, but hey…those are memories with my niece that ONLY I will ever have! (On a side-note…Brent witnessed me pull out Russell’s tooth once. He instantaneously turned as white as a ghost. Needless to say, I think I will continue to reign as the Tooth Pulling Extraordinaire for our kids too).

It was a fast trip…mission accomplished!

Mac vs PC – All through college, I dubbed myself solely an Apple product person. I used a MacBook and had an iPhone. The wireless router in my house was an AirPort router. I even used AppleTV on a daily basis. I still love Apple products and to this day still use all of these products on the daily. But I have slowly started to develop a love-hate relationship with my MacBook. At school, I have a district issued PC laptop. I use this piece of technology for LITERALLY every aspect of my school day. As you can guess, I have become very familiar with all things PC. And I’m still MacBook literate, but DAMN! Sometimes it takes me forever to complete a remedial task on my Mac that would’ve taken me two seconds a couple years ago. So it makes me wonder. You know how people from other countries move to the United States to adopt the English language, and slowly lose the ability to speak or read their native language? Could this be what’s happened to me and my Mac? What do you all think? Am I losing my Mac-Ability?

GO NOODLE! – Last week in school, the upper elementary grades were taking the SC READY Test, a state issued end of the year assessment. Primary grades (i.e. Kindergarten, first grade, second grade) do not take this test. However, when the test is being administered there are strict rules. The school is under lock-down procedure. No visitors. No movement in the hallways. No outdoor recess. No Special area classes. As you can guess, when you have 25 little kids trapped in the classroom all day, they start to get stir crazy. So to help get the wiggles out (and give myself a chuckle) I let my kids GoNoodle for approximately 30 minutes a day. GoNoodle is a cool website that has lots of activities that involve moving, dancing, and singing. It even has stress relief activities and yoga!! It’s ideal for indoor recess or brain breaks, because it lets the kids exert come energy in a constructive and safe way. My kids are obsessed with the MooseTube songs and dances. And I have to admit…watching them do these silly activities gives me a deep-belly laugh. And sometimes in the stress of a school day, a good laugh is just what I need to turn a bad day into a good one. If you have a bunch of kids to wrangle, or even one or two, check it out. It’s FREEEEE!!!!

Moving Day – A couple Thursdays back, Brent mentioned that I was writing the post for that following Sunday, but then…low and behold…Brent wrote last Sunday..not me! Now because all of you LOVE my writing, I know you were disappointed, and surely spent most of the day grieving my absence. But have no fear…an explanation is here!! (Clearly, I spend too much time with children. I need more adult friends.) Anyway…the reason for neglecting my blogging duty was because Brent moved into my house! I know right?! Exciting times! Because Brent’s lease ended at his apartment, I decided to take him in rather than have him fend for himself as a homeless bum on the Myrtle Beach streets. This arrangement is based on VERY STRICT STIPULATIONS. For the time being, Brent and I share an address but that’s as far as the sharing goes. We have separate sleeping quarters, separate closets, separate bathrooms, and we even have separate baskets to collect our mail. So essentially, Brent and I are living like roommates. It is nice to have my best friend under the same roof, but we both thought it was important that we not jump right in to acting like a married couple (because obviously we aren’t married yet). To some, it might seem ridiculous, but for us, and thousands of others in the same situation, it works. So until next month (ahhhhh!!!) Brent is more like my roomie than my hubby, and I’m okay with that.

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Well guys, that’s all I have for you this Sunday evening. It is a rainy one here in SC, so hopefully I can convince my new ROOMMATE (hehehehe) to watch a good movie with me on the couch! The next time I blog for you guys, summer break will be in full swing and I will be days away from getting married! Crazy how fast time flies…but as always…DON’T BLINK!

Good evening to you all. Thanks for coming back to read another Thursday Rundown. Here we go with this week’s five topics…

Two Years in Myrtle Beach – Two years ago on this date, I rolled into Myrtle Beach to start a new stage in my life. I have loved my time here and have enjoyed many blessings, the biggest one of course meeting my soon-to-be-wife. Myrtle Beach is a great place with countless ice cream shops and fabulous weather so it goes without saying that I get along just fine down here. I do miss my family but technology helps to fill that void and having my new family (Sidney’s family) makes things easier as well.

The Chanticleer Final Issue – I always say that the best recognition I can receive doing my job is recognition that comes from the students. Our student newspaper, The Chanticleer, released its final issue of the academic year yesterday. It was pretty cool that the editor gave me a shout out but I got really excited when I saw my life motto used in the “Top 5” feature. It was the best issue ever…well maybe except for this one.

Student recognition is the best recognition.

New M&M Flavor – I always include new candy I see at the checkout aisle on my Thursday Rundown posts. This past Sunday I saw new Chili Nut M&M’s. To be honest, I am not 100% certain what a chili nut is, but I am guessing it is just a spicy peanut. Now I love original peanut M&M’s and I also love spicy peanuts but I don’t know if I am digging a chili nut flavor of M&M’s. To me, spice just doesn’t go well with chocolate. However, I will try a pack eventually.

I held a bag of the new Chili Nut M&M’s on Sunday night.

NBA Playoffs – Last weekend I finally started to watch the NBA Playoffs. On Friday night I watched the Cleveland vs. Detroit game. On Saturday, I sat down with my future father-in-law and watched a doubleheader…Charlotte vs. Miami and Dallas vs. Oklahoma City. Heck, we event started to watch the late night game (Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland). On Sunday we watched as Steph Curry re-injured himself in Golden State’s win over Houston. I would love to see the Golden State Warriors vs. Charlotte Hornets in the NBA Finals. Although the injuries have tarnished the playoffs thus far, I still enjoy watching the postseason just because of the storylines that develop and the increased effort that is exerted.

Wedding Update #29 – We are just 44 days away from the big date. Sidney’s bridal shower invites went out in the mail this week. Items are disappearing from our registry. My mom bought her dress. It is all very exciting and hopefully other big developments will transpire between now and when I give my big Wedding Update #30 next week.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I send my best wishes for a great weekend. Now, if you will excuse me, I got to get in front of a TV so I can see who is picked #1 in the 2016 NFL Draft. Don’t Blink.