Two People, Every Day

Who-Cakes

2008-03-17T22:01:00.004-05:00

We originally had no plans for St. Patrick's day, and since it was Dan's first day back from vacation we decided to go to lunch. His only requirement: Irish beer. So we went to Opal Divine's Marina, and they had a pipe band playing. It was pretty fun. I realized when I saw the pipe band that I should have worn my Utilikilt, so I went home, changed, and wore it for the rest of the day.

I called Shaunna while we were there, and we decided to try to go back after work to hang out. I called/talked to like 15 people and invited them. After work we headed up there and they were completely full. No parking, a huge group of people waiting to be seated, so we called a few people, and no one was going to come out. So we bailed and went to IHOP for dinner instead. Why IHOP? One word, Who-Cakes.

In honor of the Horton Hears a Who movie, IHOP has some new menu items. I ordered the mayor's meal with Who-Cakes. Shaunna ordered the Beezelnut Splash. Check out me contemplating the Who-Cakes.

Yes those are green eggs and ham. Sam I am not. The Who-Cakes are covered in pink and blue syrups (Who-Juice?), with a bubblegum flavored lollypop stuck in the middle of the stack for, I don't know, support maybe? Also, check out the size of that ham steak. Mmm, salty.

The waiter thought it was hilarious. I came in in my kilt, and ordered the only menu item covered in pink sauce. Now that's manly.

Is it as good as it looks? You'll have to try it for yourself. It took a really long time to come, I can only assume it's because of all the Whos they had to round up and juice in order to make the syrup.

Yes, I'm holding the top Who-cake, the one completely covered in Who-Juice. It's hard to see in these pictures, but the Who-cakes are also sprinkled with little miniature candy-shell covered chocolate chips. I think these might have been Who-houses.

Am I going to eat it, will it fit in my mouth, will it fit in one bite, will I Who-it back up?

Here goes.....hey does anyone else notice that line running down the side of my face from about my glasses to the corner of my mouth? What the hell is that? I gotta start moisturizing or something. Sorry, on with the saga of the Who-cakes.

It's in there, but will it stay? And how does it taste? From the look on my face, even I can't tell! It actually wasn't bad, but the chocolate chips were kind of bitter, and were not mixing well with the syrup. Excuse me, the Who-houses were interfering with the Who-juice. I keep breaking the imagery.

They are really sweet, so unless you have a sweet tooth, or have a child you want to sugar up, you should avoid them.

Shaunna asked to see the aftermath, not pretty. It was about this point that I wondered what all of this Who-food was going to do to me. Afterall, I'd never eaten Who before, and whenever my vegan friends eat something with meat thay get ill. I wondered if I would have a similiar reaction to Whos. Only time will tell if this all ends in tears and Who-poo.

Weekly Plant Update

2008-03-16T23:20:00.002-05:00

The Aerogarden is doing well. Our anti-kitty defense system is working well, keeping the kitties at bay. It's only been a few weeks, and now all the pods have sprouted. It won't be long until we get to start harvesting!

Remember awhile back we were posting about a game we were playing called Mass Effect? Well they just released the first of some downloadable mission packs via Xbox Live, and we downlaoded and played it this weekend. It had been about a month since we'd last played it, and I had almost forgotten how sweet it is. I love that game.

Slow Saturday

2008-03-15T23:13:00.002-05:00

Jean had a tough workout plan for me today, but she changed it when I told her about work. I spent some time hanging out with Andrew, and then worked out. I should have no trouble sleeping tonight. Shaunna, Laine, and Kay spent some time shopping for the wedding, Shaunna got a great deal on some apothecary jars. They wore pink cowgirl hats and got lots of attention.

We finally got around to watching the latest Resident Evil movie, which we've had on DVD for weeks. We also played some guitar hero with 2 guitars, Fifi is good at the bass parts.

Kitty-topia

2008-03-14T23:02:00.002-05:00

My office at home is called 'Man-topia'. But lately its been the kitties favorite hang-out, as you can see, they're clearly squatting. We got them the cube a few weeks ago, and they take turns using it to hide from Bill. The only problem with the setup is the amount of hair they leave behind. It takes continual cleaning to remove it all.

Tonight was our weekly Friday night dinner, and it was Pi Day, so Laine made us a vegan Pi pie for dinner. It was good, like a shepard's pie, but no meat. We left early as I figured out that from 6am Wed to 6pm Fri I worked 54 of those hours, sleeping only the other 6. I'm pretty sleepy.

2008-03-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

So, AT&T didn't get things fixed during the night. We discovered an old T1 that they were supposed to shutdown 6 months ago. We got back up on that line at about 8pm. We're still waiting on them to fix the DS3. This has been crazy. At least tonight I got to come home and get some sleep. Since Dan is out I have to go in Friday as well.

At some point you stop missing the sleep, and its easier to just stay up. I'm getting too old for this.

The System is Down

2008-03-12T23:59:00.002-05:00

So remember that whole holding down the fort thing. Yeah, well shit hit the fan today. The network connection to our Mission Viejo office is down. We used to have a connection from there to here, and from there to Waco, an internet connection, and a backup internet connection. Fully redundant. Until ops management complained about the cost, so we removed all the redundancy, and the local internet connections. And now they're paying for it. And none of us is sleeping....

We decided to get a backup tape of the production system in Mission Viejo brought in to Austin, so we could get up and running on the cold site system if necessary. I met Garo at the airport at 11pm, and now we are restoring the tape. Now to wait for AT&T to finish up...

Work Closing

2008-03-11T22:44:00.001-05:00

So, now its public, I can talk about it. Work is closing.

Austin Business Journal

Austin Statesman

Houston Chronicle

Holding Down the Fort

2008-03-10T23:27:00.001-05:00

At work Dan is on vacation, and I'm holding things down by myself this week. Should be interesting to say the least. Today wasn't so bad, but then again it was only Monday. The weather today was weird, rainy, chilly, a complete reversal of last week. I went for a run tonight after Shaunna said that I wouldn't. It was a little chilly, but after about 1/2 mile I was warm enough to run in just my t-shirt. I passed another guy who was out running, and our routes took us by each other 3 times.

I gave Bill a bath after running, which he pretends not to like. He doesn't want to get in the tub, but once there he drinks some water and then stands there passively until we're done. Then he steps up on the edge of the tub, waiting for me to dry his upper body with a towel. Then I help him out of the tub, he shakes water everywhere and then steals his towel and runs off. After his baths he is extremely frisky and runs around prancing, growling, and tugging his towel away from me. He only calms down again once we put his collar back on.

SXSW and Old Friends

2008-03-09T23:18:00.001-05:00

SXSW is in town, and there's a whole lot of extra people around. My friend Eddie is in town all the way from Mexico City, and believe it or not he drove. Eddie and I grew up together in San Antonio. He went to NYU for film school, and since then has been working on putting together a network of contacts for making his films. I knew Eddie would work in film from the first week we met, and it's awesome to see him still following that dream. He spends his spare time working on scripts, one of which he's been revising for about 5 years now.

Anyways, he was at a screening and meet and greet that got out at about 12:30 Saturday night (or is that Sunday morning?), so we met at Opal Divine's for some late dinner (early breakfast). It had been about a year since I'd seen him, so we spent a long time catching up. He came back to house, he hadn't seen it yet, and we stayed up until about 4:30 chatting. So today I slept in most of the day, and took a nap. I think I might be getting old.... We're going to try and meet up later this week.

Out with the old...

2008-03-08T21:51:00.002-06:00

We are going to take part in the neighborhood yard sale in May. I have wanted to do a yard sale for a year now, but could not get it together. This is going to be a great one, we invited Laine and Andrew, Berta and Charlie, and Mike and Kay to join our yard. Plus the neighborhood association is doing a ton of advertising, so the turnout should be awesome.

David helped me clean out the dining room cabinets and I started cleaning out the closet in my office. It looks like I could easily make $400 bucks, and I have not even moved to the other parts of the house yet. I am also a freak, because when I know that a closet or cabinet is full of random stuff it bothers me. Just knowing that stuff is clean and organized gives me a piece of mind.

Speaking of my random quarks... David and I went to World Market today and discovered that they no longer carry our bedroom furniture. We are one dresser shy of a complete set. I have been slowly gathering the pieces and was gong to be done, but now that is never going to happen. David called all the stores in Texas, and no one has it. This is going to eat at my brain. I am the kind of person that will notice a very small detail and obsess over it until I literally snap and have to fix it. I am going to have to find something that fits, but at this point, I am not sure where to start. I will update on the crazy as it develops.

Long Drives, Bad Weather

2008-03-07T23:38:00.001-06:00

So I have not been able to keep in touch with a few of my friends. I need to get better about that, but I always seem to fall into a pattern when I get busy/stressed. I had planned to call Morgan on Tuesday, but she beat me to it and called me. Friday night was free, so we made plans to meet for dinner. Morgan and her Hubby Chris live out in Bastrop and are busy building a house. Not like they are busy instructing people who are doing the building, nope, they are literally building it themselves. Chris is an electrician, and Morgan owns a nail salon, and on the weekends they build a house. Suddenly my life does not seem as stressful.

We had planned to meet in Elgin, but the restaurant we had planned on going to was tiny and packed, so David and I drove the rest of the way into Bastrop and we had dinner at Nancy's. They make the best steaks, I was so full I could barely drive home. It was good seeing them, but they kept hinting that we should come out one weekend to help with the house... I am pretty sure I do not want to do that, but I am sure we will at some point.

Green Queen

2008-03-06T23:25:00.000-06:00

So I have been pretty obsessed with my garden. Some of the plants are already sprouting, and instead of attributing that to the fact that the Aero Garden gives the seeds everything they need to germinate, I think it is because I talk to the seeds. I talk to them in the morning and in the evening I sing them a little grow little seeds grow song. I am going to take another picture of the garden when it is time to take of the plastic domes from the seed tubes.

So after 5 "easy pay" payments the Dyson is officially ours! I believe I have already expressed my obsession with HSN in a previous post, but I really need to stay away. They try to suck me back in... I logged on the the website to make sure Dyson payments had all been made and they had a huge ad catered to me about the current specials. Damn advertising! I did not cave though.

We had Hot Dogs and Veggie Dogs with the Youngs tonight. I believe that Hot Dogs taste better when they spin, like at the move theaters or gas stations. That is why I got a Hot Dog spinner at Wal-mart a couple of years back. I love this thing, it makes the best dogs, and people will gather around it just to watch them spin. Plus you can turn it on low and have easy access to hot dogs all day long.... just what I need, readily accessible meat products.

Geekiness

2008-03-05T23:59:00.000-06:00

At work today one of my coworkers brought up the passing of Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax. She asked me if I had heard of the death of the guy who created D&D, Gary Gygax. I said, "actually he co-created it with Dave Arneson...I shouldn't have said that." She just laughed, but then we and another co-worker had a 45 minute conversation about D&D, what it is, etc. It turns out one of my co-workers is a closet D&D fan also. I used to play with some friends in middle and high school, and that group of friends and I will get together like once or twice a year to catch up with each other and we'll play it. It was an interesting conversation.

I had a weird realization today about both my personal and professional life. It was something that I was already aware of but it finally hit home. I have a pretty easy going nature about myself, and I try to be open and honest with others, and I share information and resources pretty equally. Because of this I tend to get taken advantage of occasionally, and I know this, but for some reason today this fact really hit home and pissed me off. I'm still pretty angry about it, though I don't know why as I already knew that this happened occasionally.

Oh, Better

2008-03-04T20:41:00.003-06:00

So I had one heck of a day. Because no one else at the office voted early, everyone (but me) got to leave at 4. I really see no reason why they had to leave at 4, but whatever. I am getting tired of going to that place every day. It is frankly boring, nothing about my day is exciting. I am ready to go through a bum faze. Bonbons and pool boys all the way!

David was in Waco today so I was driving home alone... in my Mini... so of course a woman not paying attention hit me. She was changing lanes, but did not do a head check and did not speed up so she totally nailed my driver side fender. The plastic is all scraped up, no mark on her car though. She could barely speak english and had no clue what was going on. Good fun, because I totally love being on the side of Mopac during rush hour traffic.

Monday Crunch

2008-03-03T23:59:00.000-06:00

It was a busy day today, and with the weather being so cold and rainy I was in a down mood all day and sleepy. I had lunch with Elise and her husband, spent a good portion of my day running down audit requests, and spent this evening updating a project plan in preparation for a day at the corporate office in Waco. Good times.

I finalized my training schedule for running that 5K in April last night, I think I've finally got one worked out that will work with my weight training. We'll see, I may need to adjust it if my recovery times are negatively impacted. I also worked in the Urban Dare to the schedule, so I should have plenty of energy for it.

I hope the day isn't too cold tomorrow, I will be spending a good portion of it in the car.

Urban Farmer

2008-03-02T14:39:00.006-06:00

So I have thought about getting a garden going for some time, but I do not have the outdoor space that would work without a major overhaul to the side yard. That would be the only place that Bill could not get to and that would get enough light, but the ground is uneven, and it is full of junk and yard clippings. If I put all that work into the side yard I would want a large garden with herbs, veggies and perhaps flowers. All that takes time, time I am not willing to spend right now.

The solution to my "problem" is the AeroGarden. It fits well on the counter top, and it came with the Herb Garden seed kit. I also go the cherry tomato kit! The setup of the kit was easy, and it seems very maintainable with only a little effort. All I need to do is fill the water well add nutrient tabs and trim the herbs back. The downside is that I cannot grow larger veggies like squash or pumpkins, but maybe I will clean up a small area of the side yard for that. Though the advanced kits are designed to start the plants and then you can transplant them in your garden.

I am going to have a fancy dinner night once all the herbs are established. It will allow me to showcase my Urban Farming skillz and set the table with my Fiestaware. Oh it could be fancy dress, with wine and cheeses! These are the kinda things old ladies like me get excited about. hehe

No Rain

2008-03-01T22:40:00.005-06:00

It was supposed to rain today, but, no rain. Jean came over and 'trained' me again today. I am really tired, I think she increased all of my weight today, and it felt like I got a really good chest and shoulder workout. If my recovery progresses as per usual I will start getting sore tomorrow afternoon around 3 or 4. We bought the cats a new toy, as you can see they are already using it. It shouldn't be long until they start fighting over it.

Bill got two new toys today, one for chewing and one for tugging. He has mastered the use of the deck stairs, and likes to play a new game. We have discovered that if we leave the back door open he likes to go out onto the deck, wait a few minutes for the cats to come out of the garage and my office and into the main rooms, and then he races back into the house to herd them back to their safe spots. He then repeats the whole process.

I'm starting to think about the coming work week already...what's wrong with me?

Social Butterfly

2008-02-29T23:59:00.002-06:00

I work a lot. And when I say a lot, what I mean is that every week I've worked for a good 18 months has been a 60 hour week, and at least half of those have been 80 hour weeks. So it has been a little weird over the past several weeks, as I have been spending less time working and more time with friends. I think I've gone to more lunches, happy hours, dinners, and coffee breaks with people over the last three weeks than in the previous 3 months. I'm taking this as a good sign, that I'm starting to get better at the whole work - home balance thing. We'll see if the trend continues, I hope so, it's nice to start having a social life again. Today I had lunch with Christine and her son Quinn, as well as Mike P, and some other friends. Saturday we were invited to Pauline's son's B-day party, which we won't be able to attend, which is a shame because Shaunna loves inflatable bouncy castles. Its also a shame because I'm trying to start hanging out with work friends outside of work, and this would have been the first opportunity to do so with Pauline. Instead we have grown up stuff to do, like talking to a CPA, opening an IRA, and other things involving acronyms.

Long Week, Strange Day

2008-02-28T20:40:00.002-06:00

I was home from work yesterday, I was not feeling well, but by the end of the day I was feeling a little better. I lazed around the house and in between trips to the restroom, generally relaxed. Today I payed for not being at work, ton to do and I was still not feeling 100%. Boss lady worked from home and T was having pretty bad back pain so she went home at lunch time. That made for a very quiet, uneventful end of the day. I got a lot done but I am not really caught up yet.

David and I went to target to get birthday gifts for Pauline's son, Chris. She is throwing him a birthday party on Sat., but it looks like we are going to be booked solid. David picked out a little outfit and I picked out the Elmo Giggle and Go Gas Stop. It talks... perhaps that was not for the best :P

We have a lot of birthdays coming up. I need to start thinking of stuff to get Kaitlyn. Maybe we will get her a plastic kitchen for her playhouse... Bwahahaha.

Happy Hour

2008-02-27T11:59:00.001-06:00

It was a long day, and felt like a Friday. I spent the day in and out of meetings, conference calls, hallway discussions. A bunch of us went to happy hour to commiserate and then Shaunna, Andrew, Laine, Kaitlyn, and I went to Koreana for dinner. It was mucho expensivo, but delicious. Last night After dinner, I was exhausted. I will go to bed early, and watch Star Trek.

I wish Nissan would stop calling me already. I got another call from them about the service plan for the Pathfinder, essentially just another customer service inquiry. At this point I talk to Nissan more than my own mother. This makes 6 times that I've talked to them on the phone, with at least 1o calls from them.

I'd like to have a barbeque within the next month at the house. The weather should be good, and it would be nice to invite over my friends from work to have a relaxing time out on the deck, which we just finished rebuilding the stairs on.

Bad Travel Arrangements

2008-02-26T23:59:00.001-06:00

I've really got to stop making my own travel arrangements. My trip back from California took all day. I went to the airport early and slept before my first flight, then had a two and a half hour layover in Phoenix. I finally got home at about 8pm, 10 hours after I started travelling! This trip to California was productive, the audit is almost complete. I should finish providing my control samples this week. Then I can get back to my real work!

I didn't workout at all while in California, so I need to jump back on my schedule for the end of this week. Also, here's a tip, don't do your distance run the day before you're scheduled to do weights. That almost killed me!

Ho-hum

2008-02-25T21:04:00.003-06:00

I had dinner with my dad tonight, it was strange. I say this because I am finding as I grow up that my dad is not the person I thought he was while I was young. He was home every day at 5, but I feel as though he was not really around. He was always this mystery, we would talk, and he would tell stories of his youth, but I never really knew him. I actually feared him a great deal for quite a long time, but looking back I had no reason to.

My mother was always an irrational unstable person, and I now know that he had no idea of what actually went on in that house before he got home. He would just get home and back my mothers punishments, and only rarely dealing out ones of his own. Now that he is on his own he seems lost... He spent so many years under my mothers thumb, I do not think he knows how to deal with himself. He took his first solo vacation last weekend, and told me about 20 times how much fun he had because no one was around to tell him what to do. I am sure that in time he will get used to it all.

Also, Roy is 10 years older than my mother and is therefore older than most parents of my generation. This is strange for me because I have noticed how much he has aged in the last 5-6 years and it makes me sad. I look at my friends parents and they seems so spry, and dad, though still spry, just seems fragile somehow. He has this "old man skinny" going on and tells the same stories over and over. He also gets very emotional at the drop of a hat, he was so greatful that I had dinner with him, he started to tear up when we where saying bye. I just worry about him.

Lazy Sunday

2008-02-24T23:59:00.002-06:00

As you can probably tell from the picture, I traveled out to California for work today. We're doing the data center and facility tour for the SAS70 audit. Shaunna and I had breakfast this morning at Whole Foods, and then picked her up a new iPod at CostCo (for like $25 cheaper than elsewhere). She lost it around Xmas time, and we've been unable to find it. She dropped me off at the airport, and I spent the next 7 hours stuffed into disease incubators. The kid who kept throwing up was delightful. I was also sitting near someone who smelled like they had shit themselves, but I couldn't tell exactly who it was, that's a fun game to play.

So I got to CA and called Shaunna to let her know I arrived safe, and she had found her old iPod. We figured it would show up as soon as we got a new one, but seriously, it was only like 4 hours later! So now I get to have her old one, yay! Also, my friend Eddie will be in town for SXSW, so I'll get to hang out with him a bit. I haven't seen him in a few years, and he's my oldest friend so I'm pretty excited.

A Friend for Bill

2008-02-23T23:59:00.002-06:00

We'd been thinking about getting a second dog for awhile, so Shaunna and Laine decided to go down to the Humane Society shelter on Saturday morning. They decided to take Bill with them. Long story short the people at the shelter gave Shaunna a bunch of attitude for bringing her dog, and then were very unhelpful. I called them and left a message to arrange a meeting between Bill and one of the shelter dogs, and no one returned my call. They have been rude to us every time we go to the shelter, including when we got Bill. Bizarre.

Saturday turned into a day of running down all those things I had been putting off. Jean came over and kicked my butt, er, I mean I worked out. She also kicked Andrew's butt, and now he is going to train with me for awhile to see if he likes it. It was interesting because I hadn't seen anyone else workout this way, so I was able to get some interesting pointers on form, just from watching someone else go through the exercises. I also did laundry, getting some more personal stuff from work, cleaning up, cleaning the cat area, etc.

I hadn't mentioned it before, but a friend of mine convinced me to sign up to run in a 5K in April, so I've been training for it for about two weeks now. I've been focusing on just maintaining a running pace for lengths of time, so like 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. On Friday I took my first long run to see how I would do. I ran 1.5 miles in 15 minutes, holding a steady .5 miles/5 minute pace. I had to stop to cooldown after the 15 minutes because my calves couldn't take anymore, but I still had my breath! Not bad for not having run in like 10 years. Now I need to set my training plan and continue logging my progress. I still have 9 weeks until the 5K, but I signed up to do another one in mid-March called the Urban Dare. It's a combination race and scavenger hunt, and the total distance should be between 5 and 7 miles, but you have like 5 hours to complete it with a team mate.

Also, we had a barbeque on the deck with Andrew and Laine, it was delicious!

Money Bags

2008-02-22T22:18:00.001-06:00

So our tax return hit the bank account this morning. Mostly that money is spoken for, but we did set aside a little for "fun money". I have had my eye on the Complete Star Trek Next Gen Series on DVD. I was also wanting a new Nano to replace the one that ran away to Mexico. My portion of the fun money would not allow for both, so I got the DVDs. We also spread the love around a little, I am going to make a donation to Doctors Without Boarders, and put a little in the savings account. David got a new wireless router, and has some marathons he wants to run in, so we will pay the entrance fees and make donations.

While at Fry's we kept encountering the creepiest man. He kept lingering around the Star Trek DVDs and even peeped at Laine's boobs. David was like, "If you want the DVD set grab it" I responded "I can't there are nerds blocking the way". That was the case in most of the areas, I had to wait 10 minutes before I could have a look at the new Mac laptops.

The week was crap, but by Friday the mood had lightened.

A Bright Ray of Sunshine in an otherwise Dreary Day

2008-02-21T22:07:00.004-06:00

So Shaunna brought this little internet nugget to my attention, yes its a Gene Simmons sex tape, yes that Gene Simmons. http://valleywag.com/358401/gene-simmons-sex-tape-leaked-on-web-nsfw I went ahead and watched a piece of it, and the bright ray of sunshine is that I'm packing more than Gene Simmons, so that's gotta be a good sign. Otherwise it was a pretty humdrum day. I realized today that I am traveling to Waco tomorrow, and then out to California from Sunday through Tuesday. Eck, I hate back to back travel like that. Oh well, I should enjoy it while I can I suppose. I made a pact with a friend at work to help make sure we each eat healthier at lunch, starting next week.

Life, In Motion

2008-02-20T19:22:00.000-06:00

It seems like every time I post I have something about work to bitch about. Don't get me wrong I have a pretty nice setup at work, big office with lots of windows ect... I am just tired of the monotony of life at this point. Wake up, get ready, be at work by 8:15, check my email, work till lunch, count the minutes until I can go home. When we get home we do not do much and then it is time to repeat the process. I am just feeling a little bit blah, probably seasonal because it has been so overcast lately. I can totally see why they get so much vacation time in Germany, I could use a three week break to get my head together and frankly just do nothing. I am tired of the responsibility, when I got this job I thought it would be cheese, but I could not pass up the promotion and the pay raise and not I am regretting it.

Topsy Turvy

2008-02-19T20:58:00.003-06:00

Today was a strange day at work, I got a lot done, but there is so much more to do. I don't feel like I'm drowning in requests anymore at least. Dan was sick today, so I sent him home and told him that if he was coming in tomorrow to stay home until noon. I'll be in a four to five hour long meeting tomorrow, which pushed my trip to Waco off until Friday, so I rescheduled my Friday meetings to Thursday. It's been a dynamic week, and it's only been one day. Things are moving rapidly at work, and frankly its proving difficult to stay motivated and to adapt to the changes.

In other news Bill ate one of our remotes the other night. Not so much ate as chewed up and left pieces all over the living room. Little bastard.

Easter is coming, and that means only one thing. Cadbury Cream Eggs. Oh yeah, so delicious.

Day Off

2008-02-18T23:59:00.003-06:00

Ugh, I don't get many days off, and I was off on Monday, but it was a bust. I wasted my morning up at the office. I packed up some books and stuff I had at work and brought them home. Then I wasted my afternoon at a car dealership with a friend who was looking at a car. Had a good lunch though. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. I was sitting in my home office looking around at things, thinking that it might be nice to spend more time working from home.

Blah for another week..

2008-02-17T21:09:00.002-06:00

Today has been great! When I woke up David was already awake and had started picking up the house. This was the first time in probably years that David woke up before me. I dyed my hair a dark honey brown last night and added red/blond highlights in this morning. By the time I got my hair dry and put some clothes on Scott and Mo were here.

We had lunch at Katz's Deli, it was a lot of fun. Mo is so much fun! She and Scott will do well together, provided he is lucky enough to keep her around :P hehe, He has apparently been acting a little immature, but so did David when we first started living together. Last night they heard a loud noise and Scott made Mo stop talking so he could figure out what it was... He thought perhaps they had a ghost. Typical Scott. They brought their dog Harley with them, he and Bill got along until Bill decided he was afraid of Harley and started jumping on the furniture to get away from him.

David and I just hung around the house and watched movies this afternoon. I also put away all the DVDs that have been strewn about the house. We ran out of room for the DVDs on the shelves we built a few months ago, so we pulled out all the Anime and the TV collections and put them on the upper shelves. We now have room for about 50 new DVDs before we will have to build more shelves.

Bill's Habit

2008-02-16T23:43:00.004-06:00

The weather was horrible today, but we went out to go grocery shopping anyways. After getting groceries and grabbing lunch we went to the pet supply store and got Bill some new stuffed animal chew toys. He's up to about a $10 a week habit. We had to switch to the kevlar based ones because the regular rope / fur / cotton ones get destroyed and shredded, their poly-fill innards spread about the living room about 30 minutes after he first gets them into his mouth. The kevlar ones he rips apart slowly, tormenting them, drawing out their suffering over days and sometimes weeks. It starts with him focusing on one or two of their appendages until he seperates it from the host body. He then pulls the stuffing out of that appendage. At this point we step in and throw away his prizes. He then slows down the pace of his destruction, and slowly works the stuffed animal apart over days or weeks depending on his mood and schedule.

This weekend has turned into quite the social parade for us. Friday we went out to dinner with Andrew, Laine, and Kaitlyn. Saturday was lunch with Andrew, Laine, Kaitlyn, Anna, and Mike. Sunday will be lunch with Scott and Momo.

End of a Long Week

2008-02-15T23:34:00.004-06:00

This week at work was simply hell. This is the first IDR without a second paralegal and the facility is completely unable to listen to instruction. I have had no fewer than 4 conference calls every day of the week, followed by a grand total of 182 emails, just for this issue.... and we are still not done. The finished product will be due on Tuesday.

We went to Tokyo Steakhouse for dinner, and it was so much fun! Super fruity drinks, yummy grilled food, and vegan options for Laine. Kaitlyn had a total blast, she was dancing, she did a fantastic Godzilla coloring page, and she tried a few items she does not usually like, and liked them! After dinner we went to Toy Joy and Dhaba Joy, they did not have anymore cupcakes, but we totally scored some fun stuff at Toy Joy.

All in all a fun evening, perhaps we spent a little to much, but can you put a price on a clear mind?

Happy VD

2008-02-14T20:35:00.002-06:00

This has been a crazy week at work. One of those weeks where I could use two extra arms and maybe an extra head. I can't wait for the weekend. No big plans, except maybe a fancy Saturday night dinner with my David. Maybe we will go to Houston's.

Oh, we will be doing a Friday night dinner with the Youngs. Perhaps we will go out for sushi, we did tell them we would take them out to eat with our sweet referral money. So perhaps we will go somewhere new, because the last couple of times we've gone to the same sushi place. But then again, like I told Laine the other day, "new is for chumps!"

Today my David picked me up for lunch, and we had a picnic in the back of the Pathfinder in a parking lot by my work, over-looking the highway. It was very romantic-al. He brought wine and chocolate covered strawberries.

A Mixed Bag

2008-02-13T23:59:00.000-06:00

I completed that certification this last weekend, and two interesting things happened today related to it. The first is that I have been invited to participate in the GIAC advisory board. It's a mailing and discussion list composed of GIAC cerficate holders who help make decisions about the content of the certificate program, it's direction, etc. The second, is that my scores on the exams qualify me to participate in the SANS Mentoring program. Essentially, I would function as a local mentor or TA to students pursuing one of the certifications that I hold. So I think I will go ahead and sign up for the first item, and possibly the second, though I need to do some more digging in to it. The mentoring program will take a lot more of my time, but it sounds like it would be a good way to give back to the infosec community, as well as being a good way to network with my peers.

Scared-y Cat

2008-02-12T22:10:00.003-06:00

We rebuilt the deck stairs this weekend, and Bill is scared to use them by himself. If I hold his collar, he can walk down them, but otherwise he just stands at the top and whines. He has no problem going up them by himself. I tried to put him out this morning by taking him outside to the deck, and leading him down the stairs. He followed me right back up and sat on the deck whining for the next 15 minutes. I think he eventually went back down into the yard, at least, he didn't go the bathroom on the deck today, so I think he was fine. We might put up a Bill webcam out on the deck so we can spy on him during the day.

Case of the Mondays

2008-02-11T23:58:00.000-06:00

Ugh, I'm so complete unmotivated to do anything at work. It's difficult to maintain any kind of focus with the weirdness that has descended. I still can't talk openly about it here, but I will finally be able to blab about it soon. My friend Jean that has been training me is possibly moving back to New Orleans, so I won't have anyone around to beat me up anymore. That will be sad, because I've just started seeing some physical benefits to working out.

Family and Taxes

2008-02-10T20:48:00.000-06:00

So this has been a strange weekend. David and I went to the Nissan Dealer early Sat. morning, and drove the Altima Coupe. It is super nice, but we still owe way to much on the Mini so we are going to wait. We also got the referral check on Saturday, but it was $50 less then we thought, and we filled the Pathfinder with gas. I took a nice long nap before we went over to Andrew and Laines for dinner. I lurv Frito Pie!

Today was strange, I tried to make some mini Quiches that we got from Costco... they smelled so good, but tasted so bad! We decided to get Dim Sum, and on the way Dad calls and tells me my mom is in the hospital because she had an Asthma attack. I honestly did not want to deal with it. My mom has had these attacks for years and the drama of them increases at her whim. I decided to go on with the days scheduled events. David cleaned his office and I did a few things around the house.

Dad called around 6:30 and wanted me to go up to see mom, she has called him about 15 times asking when I was going to come see her...

Let me back up a little. When my Dad decided he wanted a divorce, because my mom is a crazy unstable person that yells all the time and he was very unhappy living with her, she blamed me. Mostly because I let Dad live with us for a little while, but also because I tend to side with Dad. I also have some issues with my mom because she has done some pretty fucked up stuff to me in my life and told me some pretty major lies. We got in a huge fight a couple of weeks before thanksgiving and I have only spoken to her a couple of times since. One of the conditions of me speaking with her again is 1) she must apologize for coming to my house and yelling at me and 2) She has to tell me my biological fathers name. The person listed on my birth certificate is just some guy that she was going to marry so that she could get her green card.

... back to today... So we went over to Seton and she was all hooked up to a breathing machine and wheezing. All her signs looked good, and she should not be there more than a couple of days. She was crying and made me feel bad for not speaking to her.

While David was out getting her some ice she told me that when she gets out of the hospital we would talk, then she tells me that she is pretty sure my b-father lives in town. She goes out of her way to avoid saying his name, but tells me that she has seen a man that looks like him more than a few times while shopping at the HEB that my brother works at. She apparently pointed this man out to Paul last week and has him trying to figure out this mystery shoppers name, BUT she really thinks that it could be him because he has looked at her and a few times he walked towards her like he was going to talk to her, but then didn't.

At this point I am just upset and confused...

Busy Day

2008-02-09T23:37:00.000-06:00

No dice on the Altima Coupe today, though we're still keeping it in mind. We went and test drove it, got some tax forms at Shaunna's office, filed our taxes, and then went to Home Depot to get lumber to finish building the stairs on the deck. We get home, and I build the stairs, and then sit down in my office to study for my certification exams. I login to the website, and the exams are due at 00:00 UTC, which was in 2 hours! So I finished the first exam at lightning speed, and started the second with 20 minutes to go to the deadline. It let me finish after the deadline, apparently I only had to have started it by the deadline. Oh, and I passed them.

Living Wild

2008-02-08T22:18:00.000-06:00

So when David is away I live like a total dude... I did not clean all week and did not close doors when going to the bathroom. I drank juice strait from the carton and did not put my laundry in a hamper... I was out of clean towels and so I used a washcloth to dry myself. For dinner the other night I had grilled beef kabob and beer.

I told David on the way home from the airport that the house looks like it was inhabited by a pack of wolves all week. Andrew and Laine came over for some GH and I had to vacuum a pound of dog hair off the carpet. yummy

Andrew was kind enough to drive down to SA with me today so that I could get the Mini out of the shop. We had a nice lunch at Mama Margie's. On the way back we chatted over the long range walkie talkies and we occasionally picked up other peoples conversations, it was kinda funny. We took the Mini and Andrews Ion to Carmax for appraisals, I was not happy with my offer, but they gave Andrew a good one, so it was not a total bust.

We are going to go to the Nissan dealership tomorrow morning and drive the Altima Coupe and the 350Z. Perhaps they can work a deal, and if so we will be trading in the Mini... I will be sad, yet strangely relieved that we will not need to go to SA every other month for service.

Smack Down

2008-02-07T23:59:00.000-06:00

Sometimes in life you have one of those leveling moments, where something happens that makes you step back, reflect, and realize that the parts of life that suck apply to everyone equally. You're sailing along well, managing to build up a sense of self confidence, self assurance, and a feeling that you're doing alright at this whole living thing. Sometimes it's a horribly embarassing moment, like you're talking loudly at a club when suddenly the music turns down low and everyone can hear you. Or it's an illness, like when you have the flu and you're up all night, with stinky liquid and chunks you can't quite identify coming out of every orifice. Or it's terrible work news that you've signed NDAs about and can't post in your blog. Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. Say no more.

Ah, there's that unbearable lightness of being that transcends the human experience that all those American Lit. authors I read in college went on and on about. Or maybe it's all just Emo bullshit. More details as I am legally able to provide them.

California

2008-02-06T23:59:00.000-06:00

So I'm out here in California, and I get back to my hotel tonight, sit in the lobby and study for my certification for about an hour, and then I get a call from a Houston number that I don't recognize. It's my Uncle Paul who's also out here on business just like 50 miles north of where I am. We're going to try to get together for dinner Thursday. As we were talking I thought how random that he was out here the same time as me and thought to call. Then I realized how he knew I was out here, the crazy telephone game that is my family. I told my brothers that I was going to California. They told my mom, who told my grandparents, who told Paul.

Also, here is a picture of the pile of junk that greeted me when I arrived. All of those 20"+ monitors are in working condition btw. I think I ate bad Chinese food for lunch today, I'm not feeling well at all.

Lone lady...

2008-02-05T20:52:00.000-06:00

So I am solo and not really taking advantage of it. To tired to party, so I was going to go shopping after work, but realized on my way to Randall's that the fridge was full of shit that needed to be thrown out. I decided to go shopping tomorrow night. I came home and cleaned out the fridge and gather the other trash from around the house. Six bags and a full trashcan at the curb and I am done. The fridge is empty save for a few sauces and some beer. I even gave Bill the last of his food, and will need to get more while I am at the store tomorrow.

I am going to clean up the DVD closet tomorrow night and arrange all the books in my office...Party! I am also going to clean the closet in my office so that we can move some of the extra crap out of David's office. At this point you cannot even walk into that room!

Two more days of work until a 3 day weekend! w00t!

Almost Forgot

2008-02-04T23:52:00.000-06:00

I flew to Orange County, CA today, and almost forgot to post in the blog. So, I probably shouldn't have booked my flight for the day after the superbowl to go through Phoenix, because every flight was delayed. My flight from Austin to Phoenix was delayed because it was coming from Phoenix. And my flight from Phoenix to OC was delayed. My 5 hour trip turned in to 9 hours. I just got settled here in my hotel a few minutes ago. A couple of airport observations for you:

1. If the bag is as big as you, weighs more than 40lbs, or has to be forced for 5 minutes into the overhead bin, check that f***er! We all want to wait 15 extra minutes for your stupid a$$.

2. When its time to get off the airplane, don't fuck around with your bag, or your hair, or gathering $hit you left out on your seat, get off the f***ing plane! If you're not going to get off the plane quickly, get the hell out of the aisle!

3. That's about it.

Super Bowl Sunday

2008-02-03T21:53:00.000-06:00

So in honor of this great American "holiday" David and I have made a conscious effort to NOT watch the Super Bowl. We did pick up some Wing Stop for dinner though, very yummy :) We have been watching movies, (Beer Fest, Down periscope, Hot Fuzz and Harry Potter GOF) and playing a new game I found, Travian. I am hooked on this game, I have a Gaul village and a battle plan. I have David hooked and I think Laine is well on her way... I hope so anyway, because she is part of my battle plan.

David will be in California all next week, and so I will be home alone. This usually means that I will work late in the evenings and forget to feed myself. I got a text message from T on Friday night giving me the heads up that we have a new IDR in. So I will have more than enough work to keep me busy. I also have some foreign films from Netflix that I have been putting off watching because they are not really David's cup of tea.

I requested next Friday off, but with the new IDR I am not sure if it will happen. If it does I have a project (super secret) that I hope to get done before I have to get David from the airport. I will post about it on Friday, with pictures!

Our Trip to San Antonio

2008-02-02T21:53:00.000-06:00

So we went down to San Antonio today to drop the Mini off for maintenance and to see my family. We ran into insane traffic on the way. "How insane?" I hear you ask. We left the house at 7:15 and didn't get to San Antonio until 10:15. We spent most of that time stopped in the highway in Kyle, TX because of a SWAT standoff with a man who was on I-35 with a gun. Traffic was being diverted around it, through Kyle, and back to the highway.

We dropped the Mini off for maintenance, and then had breakfast w/ my brothers at a local taco place, Mama Margie's. I showed them the Nissan, and we went to the movies to see Meet the Spartans. It was suitably funny, though a bit idiotic at times, but it's not like you don't already know that going in to it. My youngest brother Ricky has shaved his head except for a mohawk, which was laying down. As we walk into the theatre, the usher taking tickets says to him, "I hope you're not here to see Hannah Montana, because I will have lost all respect for you." It was awesome!

When we got back to my Mom's house, Ricky put down some Hannah Montana cards that the usher had given him as part of the joke, and Mom's dog Shorty picked them up and carried them around. As you can see in the pics, he has an adorable underbite, and should have been named Baron von Underbite.

Brand Loyal

2008-02-01T22:30:00.000-06:00

David and I tend to be pretty brand loyal people. The new car came with XM radio installed and activated (though I have no clue for how long), but we have been Sirius subscribers for over 2 years now. We know all the stations and listen to Howard Stern every morning on our way to work. This week we gave XM a fighting chance... I just do not like the programing, or the sneaky way they insert ads into the music channels. Tonight we picked up a Sirius receiver for the Pathfinder, because we already have the service we get a 50% discount on the second unit. David installed the cables all nice and it fits perfect in this little cubby in the dash. w00t

We have to drive down to the Mini dealer in SA tomorrow morning. We are leaving super early so we can get it in before the Saturday madness. I hope we can talk David's brothers into going to see Meet the Spartans while we are in town. It looks stupid, but I like stupid movies. ^_^

Th-hers-day, for the ladies

2008-01-31T23:30:00.000-06:00

Shaunna and I went to Target tonight, and she left me by myself to pay. I get self conscious sometimes about what the items I'm purchasing say about me. Tonight it was a gift bag, tooth paste, mouthwash, and a box of douche. That about sums up the week.

Next week I'm traveling for work, which sucks because since no one is around I will end up working like 14 hour days. Traveling for business is weird, because you've been to a lot of places, but seen and done almost nothing in those places.

Lost...Makes Fifi sad :(

2008-01-30T20:29:00.000-06:00

So, I have been searching for a month for my "Jama Lama Lime" aka, my lime green Nano. I have searched all over, and David called SA to make sure I did not leave it. No luck. So if anyone finds a green Nano filled with kick-ass music, it is mine and I am offering a reward.

On a completely different note, I am totally stoked that Trading Spaces is coming back with PAGE!!! I loved that show before they gave her the boot, then it sucks and I stopped watching. Perhaps Laine and Andrew will apply to be on the show with us? That would rock!

Speaking of stuff I love making a comeback... NKOTB is gearing up to announce a reunion! Thats right children of the 90's it is time to break out the day-glow shirts and Blossom hats. I told David that if they do a concert I am going, not matter where they do it. He said he would not be going, but thats cool, I will just take Laine.

Bleck

2008-01-29T23:59:00.000-06:00

I got a call from a rather sheepish finance guy from the dealership. They had forgotten to take our down-payment, so we went in after work and paid it. Ever have one of those days where you are being pulled in a hundred directions at once? That was today for me, I had a lunch appointment, I helped a friend with a website, I took like 5 personal calls, and dealt with constant political and technical crap at work. I think tomorrow will be the same, we're attempting a major upgrade during the day.

The new car is nice, still haven't decided on its name yet. We're driving it this week instead of the Cooper since it needs maintenance. We're going to San Antonio on Saturday to have it worked on, and I suppose I could bring my mom's computer back. I've had it since like Thanksgiving because it was crawling with viruses and spyware and needed a thorough cleansing. So I fixed it in a few days and in true slacker fashion it has been sitting under my desk since then.

She's got no power captain...

2008-01-28T22:04:00.000-06:00

So we have a light bulb blow out every day. Tonight we had to stop at home depot and we bought 12 bulbs 4 different styles. We still have to get 5 more bulbs that can only be obtained from a specialty lighting store. I am going to call Morgan and see if Chris has time to come over and fix the issue... I think that we need more power coming into the house. I am also thinking about solar panels. The back of our roof gets sun 85% of the day, so it would be a great place for them. With the new car payment that will be a couple of years down the road.

The maids did not lock our front door AGAIN today. The last time I called and was polite, but firm that this must not happen again. I forwarded their end of day, how did we do email and he is going to give them a piece of his mind and cancel our service. Now I am going to need to get another service... I have no clue where to start.

There will be boredom

2008-01-27T22:10:00.000-06:00

We went to see There Will Be Blood today, and it was really, really boring. The entire movie was exposition. Daniel Day Lewis was great in it, but good acting and the occasional good dialog does not a movie make. After that we came home and I worked out with Jean, and had my first exercise induced headache. It's like an intense migraine that hits you really fast, there's no build-up or anything. Not pleasant. We spent the rest of the day hanging around and preparing for the week. Next week I will be traveling for work, so this week I have to make sure and get all my chores done around the house, and finish up some projects at work. I've been trying to deploy the latest version of our helpdesk software for like 9 months, but every time I get close to deploying it gets its priority bumped lower on my list. It should finally happen this week. Now we're watching Star Wars on HBO, not the good original version, but the versions the George Lucas jacked up with his botched special effects inserts.

Shaunna Hidden Talent #472 - Negotiation

2008-01-26T23:03:00.000-06:00

We've been talking about getting a second car for a while, and the recent difficulties with the Mini got us talking again. So we spent Saturday test driving. We went to the Nissan dealership and test drove a Pathfinder. During the test drive Shaunna asked the salesman if they were easy to flip, he told her no, and said she was welcome to try, but asked that we wait until we weren't on the highway overpass since he was pretty sure the roll cage wouldn't protect us from a roll and a 75 foot drop. He was pretty cool. He also showed us an Armada, but A) it's huge, 2) it starts at like $35,000, and c) if I wanted 10 miles per gallon I'd get a crappy Hummer. We told him that we wanted to go test drive the Toyota SUVs as a comparison, and he let us take the Pathfinder over to do a side by side. Shaunna got car sick while driving the Forerunner, and their salesman had 5 rings on. We decided that we liked the Pathfinder best, but decided to drive it to Andrew and Laine's for a second opinion. They liked it to, so we went back to the Nissan dealership. We decided to let them run numbers for us, and Shaunna's hidden talent #472 came into play, negotiation.

I hate going to car dealerships, because I always feel like I'm being screwed, even if the deal seems good I still feel dirty. Shaunna is in her element, she's wheelin' and dealin'. So she and the sales guy keep going back and forth on numbers, and I get a call from Andrew. They liked the Pathfinder so much that they decide to bring in the Saturn Vue to trade it in for one. So I tell Shaunna and go to the vending machine to get some Hot Fries and a Dr. Pepper. When I come back the sales guy is back and has a new number. Shaunna turns to me and asks if that number looks good. I'm midway to mouth with some Hot Fries. I reply, "Sorry, what did I miss? Am I undermining your negotiations?"

The sales guy almost died trying to keep himself from laughing. He goes back one more time to ask his manager a question. When he gets back, Shaunna tells him that we showed the car to a friend and that he's on his way in to buy. The sales guy's mouth drops open and he says, "wait a minute, you took the car I gave you to test drive, and sold it to your friend? Do you want a job?"

So that's basically how we ended up with a 2008 Pathfinder. Now I just need to name it. So far we have come up with... Tom Cruise, or The Falcon...but I am open to suggestions.

Both go to the same place... That's what she said!

2008-01-25T21:54:00.000-06:00

So today was hell at work, actually this whole week has been hell. T is out of town, and the weather has been bad. I have had some large project hard deadlines, and clients that just did not want to send me the needed documents. I had a few restless nights this week thinking about what I needed to do the next day. I even got up at 5am this morning because I could not stop my brain... I was thinking overtime ^-^ I sent out seven large filings today alone, big shout-out to Stacy for being my go-to copy making gal.

Tonight was our turn to host Friday night dinner, so we took the Young's out for sushi and gelato. I am so stuffed, but it was just what I needed after such a long week. We roamed around Borders after and I picked up some new books and a couple of picture frames.

The boys are playing guitar hero, and Andrew is really rocking out! I am kinda upset that I am still struggling to get through the easy songs, I need more practice. Some great quotes have happened tonight.. a short list:

"This cake has something in it...Is it Grand Marnier liqueur?...Yeah I think it is in the ganache!" - Bonk & Andrew discussing the desert.

"You gotta jerk it up.... JERK IT!" - Me telling Andrew how to use "Star Power"

"Are you saying Andrew is the Queen of BJs?" -Laine commenting on an obscene gesture I was making

"Well... if you get some cash and buy a second guitar, I can play at the same time." - Kaitlyn telling me what to buy when I get some cash

Mini Pooper

2008-01-25T00:21:00.000-06:00

So we drive a Mini Cooper S convertible. Its a good car, fun to drive, great performance, good gas mileage, nice options, etc. The downside is the expense, like $450 run flat tires, and the fact that the nearest service center is in San Antonio. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the service center has been less than helpful, they keep trying to get me to come down during the week, which means I have to take off an entire day from work. We think that recent maintenance may have caused an alignment problem that caused us to have to pay to replace one of those $450 run flat tires. Oh, and alignment is not something inspected during service intervals, and is not covered under the maintenance plan. You shouldn't have to drop $700 every 4 months for a car that's supposedly under a complete service plan.

Today Shaunna was talking to a co-worker about it, and accidentally referred to the car as a mini pooper instead of cooper. A little slip of the tongue, but now I think that's how we'll refer to it whenever we're having these kinds of issues. Right now we're really considering trading this thing in for something we can get serviced locally.

Family Vacation

2008-01-23T19:37:00.000-06:00

So over the Christmas holidays David's mother and I started talking about planning a family vacation. It would be about 11-25 people, and so we though Disney would be a good choice. I then brought up the Disney Cruises, and we polled the boys (all over 18, but they act 10 so they are dubbed "the boys") the cruise got a unanimous vote. I have been looking at the prices and Disney is on the high end of the scale, and because the group would not have very many children I am now looking into regular cruises.

I have never been on a cruise ship, and I am worried that the prices I am getting will be at the bottom of the ship... These websites are really not very informative. I am going to need to start asking around for advice.

I have never been on a big family vacation because my family growing up was just 4 people. I cannot imagine going on a trip with so many people! I think it is going to be fun, even if it sucks because it is something new for me.

Time

2008-01-22T23:40:00.000-06:00

Time has been a precious commodity for me lately. Work is always hectic, but it's been ridiculous lately. I went to a SANS certification course back in October, and my cert attempt is now getting close to expiration. So now I'm crunched for time to study. Last week I had worked 40 hours by Tuesday morning! We're entering our audit season, we're short staffed due to ridiculous cost cutting measures, and we have a decent backlog of project work. I need like 5 solid days of no interruptions, no additional tasks, no hand holding, no re-explaining to someone how to do their job over and over (they don't even work in my area), no priority changes, no political crap, and, did I mention no interruptions?

Forget having a personal life, I can barely find time to sleep.

Our house, the Best Buy...

2008-01-21T21:53:00.000-06:00

So our house reflects our love for all things electronic. It is practically like a Best Buy.... When we are alone I like it because we always have something to do, but sometimes people will come over and comment on our stuff, and it shames me. It is yuppy consumerism at it's best.

We have so many DVDs that we will need a new closet for them soon, yes I typed closet... We have a Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 2 Nintendo DSs, a PS2, 2 surround sound systems, a DVD player, Flat Screen LCD TV, and a Flat Screen Plasma TV, MacBook, Ipod Shuffle, Ipod Nano, Digital Camera, Portable Photo Printer, Scanner/Printer combo, Compact Laptop, at least 60 games for all the gaming systems, Iphone, Motorola Razor. Sirius Satellite Radio, 2 Desktop Computers, Dell PDA, Compaq PDA... That is all we can think of and does not include the stuff David totes around for work.

Oh and we totally kick it low-tech... We have so many books I keep some in large bins in the closet of my office.

So really what I am saying is, (1) Please Don't burgle our house, (2) I need to have my debit/credit cards taken away and (3) David needs to put me on an allowance and not let me go to Best Buy, Target or Wal-Mart without supervision.

Guitar Hero

2008-01-20T19:49:00.000-06:00

We picked up Guitar Hero today, and I have to admit I was wrong about it. Its pretty fun. It takes some time to work out the controls, and I have it set on easy. I'm going to play through on one difficulty and then another. I played for about an hour and I'm 25 songs through (there's 40). My biggest problem so far is my inability to hit the fourth button with my pinky. Stupid, weak pinky. I also discovered the importance of playing from the pelvis. I stopped playing so we could have dinner and so I could rest by wrist, its killing me. Stupid fake guitar wrist injuries.

German Food Extravaganza

2008-01-19T23:12:00.000-06:00

Tonight Shaunna made a German Food Extravaganza! We had a pork roast with jager sauce, spetzle noodles, and though not technically German food, vegan tomato gravy and biscuits (for Laine). It was delicious, and followed up with a rousing game of Mario Party on the Wii (also, not German).

Bill got new toys today, so we threw away his old ones. We swapped his possum and a cat with no legs for a new cat and a raccoon. Also we replaced an old tug toy with a new one of the same type. He's too smart for his own good, we have to swap out his toys regularly to keep him interested.

Gang War...

2008-01-18T23:33:00.000-06:00

So it was Laines turn to cook Friday night dinner, and she made a super yummy tofu with cashews and bell peppers. After we played Mario Party 8. The first round we decided that Andrew was being "unfriendly" in his game play, so during round 2 the goal was "Andrew must not win". I won, but not by much... Andrew was a very close second.

When we got home Bill was watching the Fresh Prince. He also loves Sponge Bob. Silly dog.

Tomorrow I am going to make Spetzle and Pork Roast with Jager Suace. The colder weather always inspires me to cook German :P

Butt Kickin

2008-01-17T21:36:00.000-06:00

Lets face it, I'm a computer geek. I'm built like a computer geek. But working a desk job tends to build a soft, round middle. So in an effort to stay healthy and get less roundish, I started working out with a personal trainer a few months ago. I've been doing a high weight, low rep, slow speed work out that emphasizes perfect form. I work out about once a week, and so far its been going well. I can now beat Shaunna at arm wrestling. I need to start running a few times a week though, because working out once a week is enough to build good muscle, but not enough to help me burn off much fat.

The Pros:
I think I look a little better in my clothing. My pants aren't as tight, my arms aren't as bony, and my chest sticks out further than my belly used to.

I feel really good after a workout. It's great for my stress levels.

Increased confidence. Being physically stronger is an interesting change for me. I've never been a weakling, but I'm stronger than I've ever been, and its an interesting experience being able to lift heavier things, do chin ups and push ups, etc.

The Cons:
Exhaustion. After a work out I am completely exhausted. The purpose of each workout is to reach the point of muscle failure. So even though a workout takes 20-40 minutes, at the end I can barely lift my arms, or stand up without assistance.

Soreness. I'll be sore starting one or two days after my workout, and stay sore for up to 4 days.

Abs. Because of my scar tissue and surgeries, I don't think my abs will get much better looking than they do now. It's a little disappointing, but I've learned to live with it.

I just finished working out tonight and I can barely lift my arms to type. I guess now that I'm over the initial 'hump', I need to think about what my next fitness goals should be.

Roundup

2008-01-17T09:12:00.000-06:00

I installed the iPhone update yesterday, its basically the same as before. One cool new feature is that it can triangulate your position and show you where you are on Google Maps. It's not super accurate, it gets down to a multi-block radius, but any more accurate and I think I would start getting paranoid. This is a late post because I worked last night until about 1, and at that point I was kind of sleepy. My friend that had her baby is back in the hospital. She pushed herself too hard, got a fever, and was readmitted Tuesday. The baby is home now, and she should be out again soon. Our Chinese bootleg dvd debacle has come to an end, Shaunna got a refund yesterday. We had a cold front come through last night, and since its so cold our dog Bill has been left inside for the day. I'm anxious because we usually kennel him if he has to stay inside, but we're letting him roam free range today. When we first got him and let him do this he tore up our brand new rug. Hopefully there will be no carnage when I go home at lunch.

My Shame...

2008-01-15T21:13:00.000-06:00

So last night Bonk reveled one of my shames... I am VERY gullible. I tend to take people at face value until it is proved to be otherwise. I have purchased a few items from TV because I am an easy sell. I watched an infomercial about a wood stripping /staining kit that still has me thinking that I could use it and it will work... It has been at least 8 years since I watched it! If something looks like it will work and you are going to give me an "amazing" price, I will be very tempted to buy. I have a treadmill and a Dyson because of this. I do love them both, though I have not used the treadmill in a while... but stuff like the amazon situation and a few ebay listings have burned me in the past.

I would just like to believe that the world has good people in it. Honest people that would not use the lack of face to face contact to screw an unsuspecting buyer.

Chinese Bootleg?

2008-01-14T21:36:00.000-06:00

So Shaunna bought the Star Trek Next Generation TV Series on DVD via an Amazon reseller as a surprise (she's awesome btw). It arrived today, and it was not exactly as advertised. So the reseller had pictures of the series packaging where each season is in a seperate box, etc. This was one long, tall box, one Shaunna had not seen before. Upon closer examination, the box was shrink wrapped very tightly, like maybe with the cheap blow-dryer shrink wrap, and the box has no UPCs. The box also states that it is region coded 1 and 2, for sale in US and Caada only. Yes I typed Caada. The box is covered in typos. She emailed the reseller, with a WTF email, and he replied apologetically, saying his post was linking to the wrong pics, etc, etc. He offered that we should open the shrink wrap, inspect the dvds, and if we were satisfied, he would give us a 50% refund for the bait and switch.

So we opened the box, which reeks of cheap cigarette smoke, and found all the discs inserted into cd protector sleeve sheets folded over on one another. Each disk has a printed label, that must have been done on a cheap inkjet or laserjet printer, with the ink slightly fading as if sun damaged. And for the coup-de-grace, the wording on the discs is mixed english and chinese, and there is some kind of serial number that has been buffed off with a dremel tool at the center of each disc. Needless to say they're going back in the mail tomorrow.

Better Late than Never

2008-01-14T13:23:00.000-06:00

Bill Gates Retirement Video, care of Youtube, featuring Bono, Jay Z, Al Gore, etc....

New year, new stuff...

2008-01-13T21:47:00.000-06:00

So I have a few things I want to accomplish this year. More like personal goals then resolutions. I set some for last year and for the most part achieved them all.

2007 Goals:
- Finish my paralegal program: I got my UTSA diploma thing in the mail yesterday! It is very nice, gold trim and all.
- Talk David into getting a Mini Cooper: We got a Cooper S convertible last February, and I love it!
- Get a pay raise: I actually got 2 last year.
- Pay off debt: We payed some off, but acquired new debt in it's place. Really this was my only failure for the year.

2008 Goals:
- Pay off all the credit lines and close all but 2 of them. This should take about 6 months to accomplish if we really buckle down. Really I just want the Best Buy card open and with a balance that can be paid off in less than a month at any given time. I also want to get the BOA card paid off and closed so that we can get a card that can acquire us flyer miles.
- I want to go on a big trip this year. London maybe, or perhaps Oktoberfest in Munich.
- Get David his new truck.
- Get the wedding plans squared away

This is really all I got, I am sure I will be adding to this list as the year progresses.

Relaxing Saturday

2008-01-12T23:06:00.000-06:00

I worked this morning, it was our monthly maintenance day. An upgrade I was doing went badly, so some of maintenance will have to be done tomorrow. For some reason the winter has been really mild so far this year. We drove out to Elgin today with the top down on the Mini Cooper, just enjoying the beautiful weather. We went to a barbeque at an old friend's house, and had really good pork ribs that Shaunna's dad made a barbeque rub for. After that some of the party attendees played guitar and sang. We left at about 6 or so. We went to Golden Wok for dinner, which works out great because we split a main dish and then each get dim sum, so it's not super expensive and we both get exactly what we want. Now we're back at home, playing Mass Effect again. Hopefully tomorrow will be as good as today,

BTW - I went to visit my friend in the hospital Friday, and she had already been released! Good news.

Friday night spice...

2008-01-11T23:10:00.001-06:00

So in an effort to save a little cash, and yet have a social evening, we alternate "Friday night dinners" with L&A. This was our first week. I decided to do the easy route and stir fry Asian veggies and serve with brown rice noodles. I hit whole foods after work and pickup up tofu, the veggies, egg rolls and spring rolls. I think it turned out well... I over did the veggies, but I though it was still yummy.

K-kiddo has been dressing up when she goes out lately, tonight she wore a pick outfit with black boots. Super cute!

I'm da boom king...

2008-01-10T19:12:00.001-06:00

If you have not seen Flight of the Conchords, you need to check out the show! I like the show as a whole, but I also like fast forwarding to the "music videos"...

This is my favorite:

David's Favorite:

and finally... The Magical Bling Bling!

A More or Less Random Assortment

2008-01-09T22:21:00.000-06:00

So I heard yesterday that they moved my friend out of the ICU and she might be feeling up to having some visitors later in the week. I don't know what her current condition is, but moving to a regular recovery ward must be a good sign.

I've been paying Mass Effect lately, and finally used something I learned in my computer science classes. You'd think I would have used something from them sooner given my job, but not really. There is a classic mathematics problem that is used as a teaching example for programming, the Towers of Hanoi. A version of this problem shows up in a mini-game during one of the missions in Mass Effect. All that money for college finally paid off in about 30 minutes of time savings in a recreational video game. Awesome. At least the money didn't go to waste.

Been looking into graduate school again this week, I'm still undecided on the whole issue. Speaking of education, I have about a month left on my current certification attempt, GIAC Certified Incident Handler. The team I put together at the conference won the hacking capture-the-flag game, so I think I can do well on the exams if I can find the time to study.

Finally, my brother sent me a link to this youtube video today, the Letterman Show farewell to Bill Gates. Let's take a moment to remember all the frustrations that Microsoft products have caused us over the years, and give Bill a silent thanks for being a part of making it all happen.

I talk and no one listens...

2008-01-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

So I am the only paralegal in my office now, and it looks like that is the way it is going to stay... barring a mad rush of work that stays steady for more than a few months. Any who, it seems that there is potential for the office to go completely telecommute. I am looking forward to this for so many reasons, mostly because I love my PJs and would wear nothing else 24/7 if it would be socially acceptable. One of the major bars to this would be the logistics of our current legal database system and the VPN/gottomypc restraints.

I spoke about this situation with T today while we were at lunch, and thought I would lend my opinion. Every time I opened my mouth she either cut me off or shut my ideas down. I wanted to offer David's knowledge , free of charge of course, because he knows a TON about VPN, but I did not even get the opportunity. We have an IT guy, but sometimes I see the choices he makes and they seem costly and outdated. I have tried to help in the past, but I just get ignored... Like I could not possibly know what I am talking about. It is frustrating, but then again this is not the only time I feel this way.

I will watch the news or weather and then comment on it when I get to work, and I get knocked down or interrupted before I can finish speaking. I am also starting to take issue with having little stuff pointed out to me when fixing the issue would have been quicker. I have a lot on my plate and honestly some things just do not rate very high on my priority list, and never will. I am also tired of hearing the Jam v Jelly complaints, if you say it does not matter then stop fucking bringing it up, especially when it makes someone (not me) feel bad because it is just another thing she has done "wrong". If I am not allowed to talk about how work that is directly involved in billable items is not being done correctly I do not think she should be able to bitch about the jam.

Wow, I was more worked up about that then I thought...guess that is because this seems to be the only place I get a word in edgewise. Oh well, I am going to go play Xbox.

Hospital

2008-01-07T22:18:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine was pregnant this holiday season, and she wasn't feeling well the week of New Year's, so on the 2nd she went into the hospital and they were running some tests when her water broke. She had an emergency c-section and gave birth to a boy. He's about six weeks early, but doing fine. I was born about 6 weeks premature, and I turned out ok, so I think he will be in good shape. He's doing really well, eating, breathing without oxygen, and ready to come off his IV. She however is not doing too well. She's been in the ICU since the birth. Her kidneys and liver were all messed up. I got a chance to see her today, and talked with her dad and mother-in-law about her situation. Evidently she has a condition that's known as a 'fatty liver' pregnancy. See Wikipedia.

She had a seizure yesterday, which is apparently common when the liver is out of whack. She was on magnesium sulfate (I think) to prevent seizures today, and it was adding to her disorientation. Some friends and I went to the hospital to try and see her. As she has been very weak, and not resting well, we weren't going to get to see her, but she heard us chatting with her family in the hall and she asked to see us. Considering what she's been through she was in good spirits. She joked with us a little bit, and we chatted for about 15 minutes. She hasn't been able to see the baby yet, but they were going to try and take her up to the neo-natal unit this afternoon if she was still doing well. She's only allowed out of bed three times a day right now. I was talking to her Dad about it, and he's optimistic that if her liver levels continue to improve that she may be out of the ICU in a few days, and able to take visitors. I'm still worried about her, but it sounds like she has turned the corner and is starting to slowly get better. I'm glad we got to see her, I hope it helped cheer her up to know that we're all thinking of her.

The whole situation is making me reflect a little bit on my life and the people in it. The old truisms come to mind, that you take things for granted, that you don't realize how important some people and things are until something bad happens to them. That we spend a lot of time on trivial pursuits, time that could be better spent.

Mass Effect

2008-01-06T22:48:00.000-06:00

So for Xmas I got the Xbox 360 game, Mass Effect. It's the latest Bioware produced RPG, and its set in space. It has a richly developed back-story, etc, etc, but one of the neatest features is the ability to make your avatar look as close to you as possible. Shaunna and I have been playing all day, and I present to you, Fifi Shephard.

Check out our bitchin' scars

The new 'A' Team

The character's class is Vanguard, think Jean Grey with a shotgun. I do all the combat, and Shaunna does all the dialog. We're playing through as a renegade, so we choose all the dialog that let's you do fun stuff like mouth off to superior officers and punch dudes out cold. Also, we are trying to sleep with as many people as possible. So far we've been with the asari consort on the Citadel. Next up, our Lt., Kaiden Alenko. Right now I have to go kill Marina Sirtis, er I mean Matriarch Benezia.

Lolita La La

2008-01-05T22:11:00.000-06:00

So today was very strange. I had the most bazaar dream about being hunted by Rednecks in Las Vegas and I wanted to wake up but could not do it.... I ended up waking around 12:30. Dragged David around town in search of Fiesta coffee mugs. David took down the Christmas lights and hung up the new house numbers, they look great!

Jean and I went to see Juno at the Arbor tonight, I loved it. This was my second time to see it, and I am pretty sure I will go at least one more time before it is out of the theaters. When I got out of the movie some ass-hat had parked his huge ass truck so close to my car that I had to put the top down and crawl over the seats to get it. If I was not driving a convertible, I wouldn't have been able to get into the car. I was not able to put my hand in the gap between my mirror and the truck! When I was pulling out I spit on his door handle, yep a huge un-lady-like snot filled ball of vengeance. Take that you dick head motherfucker, just be glad I did not have pen and paper in my car, or better yet a key that has teeth on it!!!!!

Anyway, I am going to build a website for the company that Jean and Scott have built. If this thing takes off I could be working for them. That would be totally cool, because I would be working from home and there would be a little travel. We shall see.

Friday Night Dinner

2008-01-04T23:19:00.000-06:00

So Friday nights we get together with our friends Andrew, Laine, and their daughter Kaitlyn for Friday Night Dinner. We alternate cooking nights, and this week Laine made us a delicious vegan feast. This week's theme was breakfast. We had tomato gravy and biscuits, scrambled tofu (eggs), orange juice, and smoothies.

After dinner Andrew got caught up on some work items (he works as a programmer from home), Shaunna and Laine did some arts and crafts, and I took a nap. I worked out last night, and after I work out I have a big appetite. I ate double the amount pictured here, and then slept it off. Then we played Trivial Pursuit Totally 80's. We're all really bad at the game, we should really get the 90's version instead. Laine won.

The Main Events!

2008-01-03T22:01:00.000-06:00

So, since Bonk introduced the animals yesterday, I thought tonight I would introduce us. So we are David and Shaunna, AKA Bonk and Fifi. We have been dating for 8 years and living together for almost as long. We got engaged in Russell Square park in London during our 2004 backpacking trip. There are plans for a 2009 wedding in the works...

Bonk has been working at the same company for almost 8 years and has worked his way up to IT Operations Vice President. That means that he works a whole lot and gets to boss people around, but when he gets home he feels all crappy about it. He is a UT Austin Alumni. He has sweet cup-n-cakes and also does a very mean car club dance.

I am a Paralegal who had dreams of being a Ad Exec, but cannot seem to follow through with stuff. Fifi often speaks of herself in the third person, and likes to make faces at people she does not know. After a long hard day at the office Fifi likes to come home and watch TV while mindlessly surfing the internet for new and exciting porn!

Basically we are just two normal people with a couple of strange habits. We will randomly start dancing for no reason without music. I will often carry Bonk around on my back... like piggyback style. We try very hard to scare the living crap out of each other and then we talk about it later... "Remember that time in California when I hid behind the bed and you screamed like a little girl?"

Introductions

2008-01-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd use this post to introduce you to some of the cast of characters that may or may not appear throughout our blog. First up, is the wily and elusive, Gatsby kitty. Gatsby is a bit of a loner, only accepting attention on her terms. If you call for her she will meow a reply. This picture was taken in her preferred hiding spot, the window in my office.

This grey and white kitty is Seraphim. She is Gatsby's sister, but they are very different. Sera is demure and lady like, while Gatsby is a bit of a tom-boy. Sera prefers to laze-about in her cat bed, or on a cozy lap. She is currently in the process of training our dog Bill to groom her. She's kind of lazy.

Last, but not least of our menagerie is Bill. Bill came to us 6 months ago, and since then has settled in quite comfortably, as you can see in the picture. He spends most of his free time trying the get the cats to play with him, which never works out in his favor. If he's not doing that then you can usually catch him chewing up one of his toys, or eating peanut butter filled kong. He loves ladies, and licking people. He especially likes meeting other dogs and deer on our walks.

Happy New Year! WooHoo!

2008-01-01T19:48:00.000-06:00

We stayed out way, way late and David did not get up until 1:00 this afternoon! I decided to make an early morning trip to Whole Foods. It was almost empty, actually today was strangely quiet. David was eager to spend a gift card that he got for Christmas, so we went to Best Buy. We got a few new DVDs and Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. I picked up the first season of The Tudors, we are 3 episodes in and David is hooked.

Scott & Susan gave us a wine fridge! I need to find a better place for it (at the moment it is on the floor beside the microwave). I will have to do something special for them.

Tomorrow is the first day back to work for me, I am glad that it will be a short week. Perhaps most people will still be out and all will be quiet? Double it! Oh well, we must all trek on.

new years eve

2007-12-31T22:18:00.000-06:00

we're celebrating new years at our friend sally's, and while playing scene it we were visited by the new year fairy!

The long short of it...

2007-12-30T19:23:00.000-06:00

So we have decided on a date for the wedding, I know it seems that this keeps popping up but never happening.... well it seems to be shit or get off the pot time. We either have the big wedding or just throw something small and invite the key people. Somehow I do not think the small thing will go over well, way to many people would be offended by not being invited. Plus if I am going to have a bunch of people I am not sure I know/like around I would want to have all the super fun wonderful people around too. Also, I have this big-white-dress dream that I just cannot shake.

I bought a couple of magazines to get some ideas, and I have a few places I want to go check out for the location. I need to assemble my troops and get to work!

Anyway, David and I decided to get out of the house today... The usual fun Sunday stuff; a trip to Barnes & Nobles, sample tasting at Costco, sushi lunch at Kona Grill, followed by Gelato from a great new chocolate place in the Domain. Now I am exhausted and this cruddy sick stuff I have been dealing with for a couple of days has returned full force!

This was taken with David's iPhone @ lunch. someone needs a shave and a haircut... perhaps I will cut David's hair tonight. The Mohawk always looks good!

Christmas Casa

2007-12-29T19:51:00.000-06:00

Hmm, well the pic is not so great, but his is our house all decked out for Christmas. We hung lights along the edges of the roof, put up candy cane lights around the planters, and hung a blinky snowflake above the entryway. You can't see it in the picture, but the Chinese man statue is wearing a Santa hat.

Tomorrow we're supposed to take down all the decorations, but I don't feel well, and I'm gonna try and talk Shaunna out of it. Wish me luck.

Last Friday Night of the Year...

2007-12-28T21:14:00.000-06:00

So I received a Panini Press from David for Christmas. Mind you it was not something on my list, but I have been wanting one for a while. Tonight was my first opportunity to use it...

First I used the press to grill a chicken breast, while I sautéed some veggies. I then grilled whole grain bread with sunflower seeds, provolone cheese, Dijon mustard, the veggies, and sliced chicken. Side items are sea salt and pepper chips, carrots, and cherub tomatoes. It turned out very yummy. David did have a need for extra mustard, but otherwise it was perfect!

After dinner I finished sewing the front half of Laine's new dress, pictures to come... and then I talked David into watching Stardust with me. I like the nightlife, I like to boogie!