I have to say that one of the best parts of my day is watching people and traffic through the front windows of our office. In fact, one of my favorite all-too regular occurrences is watching folks park along the opposite side of the street, right next to the “No Parking Any Time” sign. It makes me laugh every time.

We are t-minus two days from my departure for the lakes and counting down.

For those not in the know, I’m heading up to the Boundary Waters on Thursday. It’s the first of what I hope will someday be many trips to the allegedly wonderful area in Minnesota’s North Woods. In fact, if the scenery is as beautiful as I’ve been told, I may just set up my tent and stay there for good – coming back to the Twin Cities in August for my wedding, of course.

If you’re reading the news you find on this site, chances are you know that the Jordan Independent is more than just a printed newspaper that is sent to subscribers every Thursday. In fact, we’re always trying to make sure that the people of Jordan can get their news as soon as possible – whether that’s in our print edition or using this site to post updates of sporting events in progress and writing about meetings as soon as they are done.

Well, now we’re trying something different – we’re bringing you the news as it happens.

I can’t be the only one who gets excited when a new catalogue comes in the mail, can I? We received one today at the office of the Jordan Independent – it’s an office supply catalogue specific to shipping needs (of which our office has none). I’m still excited to look through it and find all sorts of things I don’t and won’t ever need, but that would still be cool to consider buying just for fun.

I did the same thing at home the other day with a William Sonoma catalogue – specifically, I was intrigued by a personalized branding iron.

I’m not a huge fan of the NBA, although I would consider myself a big fan of NBA playoff basketball. The regular season, with so many games, just gets so long. And one player can routinely win a game for his team. But the playoffs are more like a chess match with each team given up to seven games to figure out how to beat the guys on the other side of the floor.

I am back in my hometown of Platteville, Wis., today to watch my sister and her future husband graduate from college. That’s all well and good, but what I’m really excited about is a competition my mom outlined for my sisters and I.

We were each (along with our significant others) given $10 and told to go out into Platteville’s citywide garage sale to find the best bargain that we could. The couple with the winning treasure will get some sort of prize (she didn’t say what).

I’m totally going to dominate this competition.

I’m getting married in August. It’s only three months away. Still, I can’t wait.

When I first got engaged to Molly, the advice I heard most often from friends and family alike was to nod and smile. My friends who were already married or who were engaged themselves all told me that the wedding day is a much bigger deal to Molly than it will ever be to me, so I should be ready to agree with her, to help when needed, and to (most importantly) stay out of Molly’s way when I’m not needed.

I went to the Super Auctions coin-operated equipment auction in Milwaukee over the weekend, and I am happy to report that I didn’t come away empty handed. I bought a CD jukebox for my dad to give as a gift.

I’ve been to the auction several times now, and my family or guests that came with us have purchased some pretty big items –five jukeboxes, three dart boards, one arcade game, and three pinball machines total, that I can remember.

I've been goofing around on Facebook for a few months, making "friends" (who are really already my friends, or else they're randomly long-lost acquaintances) and such.

It's a time waster, for the most part.

But I was feeling a bit down today (finances can be a struggle), and when I took a break to go to Facebook, I got the pick-me-up I needed.

I was going to start putting together my warm-weather playlist, but I guess I jumped the gun. Today’s colder and dreary weather has me feeling glum. It’s certainly not the kind of weather that calls for open car windows and rocking tunes.