Meetings, babies and wedding gowns

Greetings everyone! I tell you, I had a hard time coming up with a title for this post. The one I chose sucks, but at least it's indicative of what I'll be talking about. Now, without further ado...

I have just returned from a company meeting that was held at a local establishment here in Phoenix. I've been to many of this type of meeting in Chicago, but this one was a little different because I barely knew anybody there. Thankfully, everybody seemed really nice and I had a great time. Unfortunately, there's a good chance that I'll never see 99% of those people ever again. Oh well, I guess that's just how it goes!

Friday afternoon I will be on a plane, heading back to the Windy City. I'm pretty excited to be back, even if it will be an abbreviated stay. I'll be coming home every weekend between now and when I return for good, so hopefully I'll get to see all of you guys at some point during that time.

In other news, my good friend Tim's wife, Sarah, gave birth to their first child on May 30th. Emma was a healthy 9 pounds and 12 ounces, and she's doing just fine I hear. The lovely couple also recently moved to a home up in Woodstock. Congratulations, you two—I'm sure you'll make wonderful parents! (I know, I know... I "gotta see the baby!"... don't worry, I will!)

Speaking of children, my friend Dan and his wife Andrea are due next month, while my friend Jennifer and her husband Todd will be having a baby later this summer. I can't wait to meet all these little people once they've entered the world!

On a completely unrelated subject, I have to confess that I love the "on your side" column in the newspaper. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's the column where people write in with problems and the newspaper helps resolve them. (Usually, they get resolved right away because the offending parties don't want to risk getting slammed in a highly-circulated newspaper.) Anyway, I think I just enjoy reading how poor some of these companies/organizations/people treat people, whether they be customers or something else. I don't know why I enjoy it... I mean, I don't enjoy that people have to put up with all this bullshit, because Lord knows I hate that when it happens to me. I think I'm just intrigued by how far some of these offending parties think they can go. In any event, I forwarded this story to Stacey today. It's about a woman who ordered a $7000 wedding dress in October of last year and was supposed to have it by May 1 (the wedding is July 8), but of course that didn't happen. It's pretty sad customer service, the way it was handled. So go and read that, and some of the other columns if you have time. It's great to read them after you've had a bad day, because it makes you feel like you aren't alone—and usually your problem isn't nearly as bad as these peoples'!

Okay, that's about all I've got for now. I need to go pack and get ready for bed. Thanks for allowing me to usurp another small chunk of your life—please come back later for some more!

-Mark

P.S. Spending 7 grand on a wedding dress is insane!