So it's finally here. I can remember months ago how I was counting down the days with my co-workers. It seemed so far away...

For every four years of service, my employer gives a six week break which they refer to as a sabbatical. It really doesn't fit into the true definition of a sabbatical, though. It is pretty much just extended time away from work to clear your head, not necessarily used for educational purposes. My friends have referred to it as my sabbatication. I guess that fits best.

But now here I am already six days into my sabbatication. Tied to it are my two weeks of regular vacation, so I am off from August 4th through October 1st. I had promised a blog from the get-go, but one thing led to another and that got pushed aside. So now I am taking the time to set it up. Here is a synopsis of what has occurred since my last day of work:

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006: I handed off all my work related tasks to my teammates, set up my Outlook OOO message, updated my voice mail, and left the office at 5:15pm.

At about 10:00pm, I headed to a local gay bar called the 313 for a few drinks with my friend Dave. We waited in line for about 15 minutes. That in itself just amazes me. A line for a gay bar in Manchester, New Hampshire. I am convinced it is a setup. I was just about to say that I would not wait in line to get into any gay bar in this city -- but I cannot. Dave and I waited our time in line, checking out the cute under 21 crowd. I was feeling quite old. Once inside, we listened to some bad Karaoke, had a few drinks, and got our groove on. We left just after midnight since Dave had to work in the morning. Thanks to three quite strong Cape Codders, I climbed into my bed when I got home and slept like a rock.

Friday, August 4th, 2006: This was a slow moving day, thanks to the alcohol consumption the night before. I met up with a good friend and co-worker, Kim, to get some groceries for a party I was having on this night. We headed to Hannaford and the New Hampshire State Liquor Store to load up on the essentials -- burgers & dogs, and an assortment of booze.

I returned home to mow the lawn and make the exterior of the house somewhat presentable for my arriving guests. Mowing was rough, again, caused by the three drinks I had the night before. I guess I am getting old. Three drinks should not impair me the next day. Anyway, I finished the lawn and managed to get a nice burn on my shoulders. Everyone needs a sunburn for sabbaticaion.

The house was as clean as it was going to get both inside and out. I cleaned myself up and the guests arrived shortly thereafter. My friends/co-workers Kim, Anita and Salman were there, along with my chorus chum, Santos, and my friend Dave who I went out with the night before. I had expected a few more people. But this ended up being the perfect size. More alcohol was consumed and everyone seemed to have a rockin' time. What a great group of friends I have!

Saturday, August 5th, 2006: My good friend and personal hair stylist, Jeff, visited on this morning to give me a trim. I needed to make myself pretty for an afternoon wedding.

I drove to Somerville, Massachusetts to pick up one of my best friends and lifelong wedding date, Mireil. We were heading to my cousin Tom's wedding at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. This was one of the top two weddings I have attended. And let me tell you, Mireil and I have been to A LOT of weddings. Everything was amazing -- beautiful flowers, the most delicious food, open bar, huge band -- just to mention a few of the highlights. They even managed to have a slide show/video just before the bride and groom entered the reception. I know with modern technology it's easy these days, but they even had a video montage which included clips from the ceremony itself. The wedding broke up around midnight and I made it home at about 1:15am.

Sunday, August 6th, 2006: After just about three hours of sleep I was headed to Columbus, Ohio via Southwest Airlines. Jeff picked me up at 5:45am. My flights were on time (had a connecting flight in Philadelphia) and I even arrived a few minutes early. I was taking a one-way trip to meet up with my friend and roommate, Peter. He's moving back to my place in Manchester and I offered to join him on the return drive.

I was picked up at the airport in Columbus by Peter's classmate, Sandy. She's cute. She picked me up in her little Geo Prism (adorned with an Ohio State emblem as a joke by Peter) and took me to Peter's church. He asked her to pick me up since he wanted to attend church for his last Sunday in Columbus. It was a somewhat somber time as I met Peter's friends from church at the social hour after the service. They all just learned that the church will most likely have to close their Lutheran Parish due to budget problems. Very sad, but still nice to meet all these people that Peter cares about. After social hour we headed to lunch with the minister and his wife. I had a yummy tuna salad and some iced green tea.

After returning home for a nap, Peter and I headed to Pyramid for the Sunday afternoon strip show. I know - LOL! From church to a strip show at a gay bar. Anyway, I managed to touch and see my two favorite male gods, Evan and John. Unfortunately we did not get to take in the whole show, but I did get my fill. Well, it was enough to hold me over through dinner.


We left Pyramid and headed to Barcelona (I think they stole Autodesk's old font for their logo) for dinner with several of Peter's friends from Columbus. It was a thank you and see you soon celebration. We ate on the patio and we all were a bit hot. It seems not to drop below 80°F in the summer. But we had fabulous meals and drinks, all while having a few good laughs over Peter at the same time.

After parting from dinner, we headed to Havana. We took in yet another strip show that included my dream dates Evan and John. We wrapped up the evening there and returned home at about 2:00am.

Monday, August 7th, 2006: Peter ran some last minute errands and packed the PT Cruiser for the journey east. After getting himself organized, we left around 5:00pm (this is noon "Peter time"). We drove east with a stop for coffee at the Angel Falls Coffee Company in Akron, Ohio. What a neat little gay hot spot. We had their "Don't Ask Don't Tell" brew, took in the sights for a bit, and headed east again.

We stopped for a late bite to eat at Perkins in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. Let me just say, the town name is quite fitting. No need to say any more.

After taking turns for a few more hours of driving, we decided to call it quits. We grabbed a room at the Comfort Inn, somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania, around 1:30am.

Tuesday, August 8th, 2006: At about 8:30am, we continued our way east. We stopped for lunch at Alexis Diner somewhere in New York. From there we continued onward to Connecticut. We were stopping to see Peter's mother in Bolton. We arrived there just before 4:00pm, shared dinner with her, and started the final leg of the trip around 7:30pm. We made it back to my place in Manchester at just about 10:00pm.

Wednesday, August 9th, 2006: Nothing eventful so far. Just doing some laundry and preparing for the next few days which will be spent with my friend Brian in Ogunquit, Maine. I have been invited to arrive anytime I want. I am headed there shortly. The next entry will have the scoop on Ogunquit.

Until then, XO