I've been thinking about blogging all day, but when it comes down to it, I'm suddenly having a hard time thinking of what to write.

. . .

OK, let's start off with a story I forgot to tell last time around. A week ago this past Friday, Angie and I met up with Mom, Dad, Kirsten, Tom, and Ross for dinner at Skeeter Barnes. After we had finished eating, we were just sitting around visiting (specifically, everyone was getting on my case for my apparent inability to match my shoes and socks), when I suddenly feel a pair of arms wrapped around me. I looked up, and it turned out that the arms belonged to some strange old lady. The text of our conversation went as follows, more or less. Keep in mind that I, with ice in my veins, kept a straight face and remained cordial throughout the encounter.

Nate: Hi.
Old Lady: You're Greg, aren't you?
Nate: Uh, no ma'am, I'm sure not. I'm actually Nate.
Old Lady: Are you sure you're not Greg? You look exactly like him. You saw me staring at you throughout your whole dinner, didn't you? (She rubs the top of my head.)
Nate: I'm afraid not, although it's perfectly understandable. I, uh, look like a lot of guys.
Old Lady: Well, you certainly look like Greg. He is my granddaughter's...

She paused, and sort of looked at Angie. I'm thinking "Great, the guy is her granddaughter's reviled ex, and now I'm going to get my butt reamed in front of Angie for defiling some girl I've never even met." Thankfully, that was not to be the case.

Old Lady: ...friend. He stood in as godfather at her son's baptism.
Nate: Oh, well that's cool. Greg sounds like a good guy. I'll take it as a compliment that I look like him.
Old Lady: Well, it was nice to meet you, anyway. I'm Jane, by the way. You take care.
Nate: Jane, I'm Nate. It was nice to meet you, too. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

And so it went. As Jane and I were visiting, my family and Angie were just looking on with varying degrees of amusement. Tom and Ross could hardly contain themselves and disappeared so that they could go stand at a distance and laugh. Mom, Dad, Kirsten, and Angie just sat there and watched the whole thing, laughing softly without saying a word. I guess it was pretty funny, although now everyone has taken to calling me Greg.

Questions do remain, however. Does Greg truly exist, and does he look like me? Could he be my long lost twin? Dad and Mom maintain that I don't have a twin, but I dunno....

Or, maybe Greg doesn't exist at all. Maybe Calamity Jane thought I was hot and was just looking for an excuse to invade my intimate zone and put her arms around me. That really seems a lot more feasible. After all, my natural pheromones and animal magnetism are like a beacon burning in the darkness or a voice calling out in the wilderness. I just didn't realize that they were so strong as to make a Natiac out of a lady approaching 80 years old.

That, my friends, is the Power of Nate.

. . .

Or Greg.

I stayed pretty busy this past weekend. On Friday night Angie and I ate at Lazlo's. It was good, but eating healthy food at a place like that can be downright depressing. I ordered the Tilapia with fresh vegetables, which was really good, but it just looked like a real sparse meal sitting on the plate. Especially when it was brought out next to the incredible plate of shrimp and fries (with honey mustard dipping sauce) that Angie ordered. I couldn't help but feel sad.

I don't know why, though. I've been eating more than I should, lately, and the scale has been reading closer to 165 again, as opposed to the 160 I was down to a week or two ago. I've been eating everything on my plate when I go to restaurants, lately, which probably isn't helping anything. Usually I'll eat half of what's brought out and then box the other half. I've just felt so dang hungry whenever I eat, these days. I've been lifting more again, so at least I'm adding some muscle.

On Saturday morning, Angie and I worked as volunteers for the Lincoln Track Club at the State Farm 10K race.We had a pretty simple job making sure that runners properly removed their tags at the end. You do what you can, I guess. Next time, I'm going to bring a clip board so that I can look important.

Later that afternoon, we went shopping out at South Pointe. I didn't really buy much, other than a couple t-shirts. One of them was a pretty funny one, which came from Hollister. I don't really like to buy much from that place other than their tees, which are pretty comfortable. This particular visit was kind of a traumatic one for Angie and myself. When I went to try on shirts, I couldn't figure out if I was in a dressing room or not. The dressing area consisted of a bunch of curtained compartments with only a mirror and some hooks. No benches. I tried everything on as quickly as I could and got out of there for fear of being busted in the wrong place. Later on, I'd also learn that the gal working the checkout register made a less than favorable impression on Angie. Next time I'll know not to drag her in there with me.

After that, we picked up some drinks from Juice Stop and went to Pioneer's Park for a little while. It was a gorgeous day, and I was glad to go as I hadn't been there since January 1. Now that Daylight Savings has ended and warmer weather is on its way, I'm looking forward to resuming my evening walks and watching everything turn green. My walks in the park always afford me a good opportunity for reflection and meditation, as well as a chance to clear my head and just slow down. I'm also looking forward to bringing Angie with me and showing her around.

On Sunday evening, I met up with Angie, Amy, Joel, Aubrie, and their friends Jason and Cathy at Applebees. Once again I ate way more than I intended, including four pieces of beer batter fish and all of my fries. Good stuff. I'd go on to eat a couple bites of Angie's pasta and half of Aubrie's grilled cheese sandwich. (Relax, I wasn't stealing food from a baby. She just wasn't hungry for the sandwich.)

I'm hoping this week goes by fast. Today went by quickly enough; I was plenty busy at work, and I also had a dental checkup this morning. That went splendidly, I'm happy to report. No cavities, although I need to be more gentle when I brush. Tomorrow a bunch of us are going to Omaha to watch the Nebraska-Creighton baseball game. It should be a lot of fun. Wednesday will mark the last regular Lenten service, as this Sunday is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.

I can't believe Easter is nearly here. I feel like the entire winter just flew by, but I guess that's the way it goes when you're having a good time. :)

No pictures tonight. I had some I had hoped to post, but I forgot to forward them to my home email account. Anyway, my stupid, old, piece-of-crap computer has been acting a little weird so I thought I should start backing up my music to my email account in case I need to reformat my hard drive. Tedious and inefficient, I know, but it's my only option as I don't have a CD burner, nor will Windows 98 read my JumpDrive.

I need to get up early to go to the gym tomorrow morning, so I'm going to call it a night. Here's a haiku to lull you to sleep:

I like swords a lot.
Kill Bill has a bunch of them.
Good films feature swords.