Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot going on in my life, most of which I couldn't write about here. The hardest things, the difficult parts, well... I don't think I'll ever write about them here. But I do want to share a few things if only to bring my friends who read this blog up to date.

The most important thing is that Nathalie and I have decided to get married. We've been engaged for over a year, but decided a few weeks ago that we would get married before the end of the summer. It will be a small wedding with parents, sibilings, and their families. We'll be having a civil ceremony, followed by a reception where we'll enjoy wedding (cup)cakes, champagne, tea, coffee, and each others company.

The wedding is about a month away (August 19th), and although it will be small and simple, there is still a surprising number of things that need to get done. Rings, invitation, etc, etc. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will share one piece of advice that has served us well in keeping things on track. Our test for how well our planning is going is, "Are we both looking forward to our wedding day?". If not, or if we are only looking forward to it being over, then we've done something wrong. The planning process has, for whatever reason, veered off track. Not looking forward to getting married is a sure sign that you've stopping listening to yourselves and what you want, and have been making your decisions based on what others want or expect. Once you realize this, its not too tough to make a course correction and bring things back in line.

I have other big news to share, but I need to wait for a self-imposed embargo to be lifted before I can post any details here. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do so in a day or so.