a trip home of sorts

Last week I flew to Minnesota for my grandfather's funeral. He had been quite sick for sometime now as he battled with cancer. In a way, it is good to know that he is no longer suffering. At the same time though, I feel like it came too soon because I had not seen him in 8 years. In fact, I hadn't been back to Minnesota for 12 years. Because of my long absence, I hadn't seen many of my relatives in those 12 years, and it was at times shocking to see every one after so many years. My cousins have all grown up (I guess I have too) and my grandma, aunt and uncle have grown older too.

That side of my family is no stranger to cancer. My grandmother and my uncle have both fought several battles with cancer each. My uncle, in fact, at times could barely speak louder than a whisper after several bouts with throat cancer. Although I didn't get to see my grandfather before he passed, I'm glad that I was able to see my grandmother and my uncle. The fact that they survived their own cancer scares is a testament to their grit and resiliency.

My brother and I left last Tuesday and flew from Portland to Fargo, North Dakota with a layover in Denver. Once we landed, we drove from Fargo to my grandma's house in Park Rapids, Minnesota with a stop in downtown Fargo at Hardee's for lunch after an unsuccessful attempt to locate the North Dakota State University bookstore where my brother was hoping to buy his kids some gifts.

Shortly after arriving, we went to the funeral home for a viewing. It was sad to see him, but he had been put together well and looked decent for a man that had struggled so much and had withered down to about 70 pounds on his 5'10" frame. Afterwards, we went back to my grandma's house where we talked, shared stories and kept an eye on the presidential election results. My brother and I eventually retired to our hotel room for some sleep before the funeral the next morning.

The funeral was nice. That side of my family isn't religious, so the service wasn't too preachy. I had always known that my grandpa was in World War II and the Korean War, but I didn't know the extent of his service. I learned a few things during the service. My brother and I joined our cousin, another cousin's husband and 2 of their kids are casket bearers both on the way to the hearse as well as to the grave. It was definitely a sad burial. I was overwhelmed with feelings of regret for not having visited in so long and not having a chance to say goodbye. After the funeral, we went to the Legion Hall where there was a meal prepared. Following lunch, we returned to my grandma's house where we shared more stories before we eventually went to dinner. Then, back to my grandma's house for more family time and perhaps too many beers and cigarettes. Another night in the hotel this time barely able to sleep as my brother snored through the night.

The next morning, we had coffee and breakfast at my grandma's house before I took my brother to Fargo for his flight home. We stopped in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for lunch at Taco John's. The weather was getting increasingly nasty. The temperature kept dropping and the wind and rain kept getting harder and harder. When I got back, we had dinner at my grandma's and sat around the table discussing the things that needed to be done to get insurance taken care of for my grandma. Eventually I retired to the couch for my last night of sleep in Minnesota.

I awoke, washed my face, said my goodbyes and headed off for Fargo once again. It was quite a boring drive with no radio reception as I drove through rural Minnesota. I was entertained only with my struggles to keep the car on the road as the wind and rain again increased and as the temperature outside quickly fell from around 54 degrees to an eventual 33 degrees at the airport. After a quick flight from Fargo to Chicago, I stepped off of the small plane onto the tarmac (outside) just in time for it to start snowing. I had a two hour layover so I grabbed some dinner at Chili's before getting on my plane for a 4+ hour flight home on which I read a lot.

oh yeah ... I have a blog

I feel like I have forgotten completely about this blog. If any one is still checking this, I'm sure that you feel that way too. I can only apologize and hope that you accept it.

So, what have I been up to all this time? Not a whole lot. I have been consumed with keeping up-to-date with my Oregon Ducks football team. I spend way too much time reading articles, blogs and message boards looking for news and new opinions on my team. It's been a crazy season already with some pretty high highs and already some very low lows. I know that most of the people reading this blog couldn't care less, but I have to be honest if I'm going to tell you what I've been doing with myself lately.

But of course I couldn't possibly spend every single moment of my life on football, right? Right. We've also spent quite a few Mondays at North Bar winning trivia night (once against Ally ... whoops). We've also spent a few nights with my dad, step mom and sister. I joined a gym last week and have been trying to go after work since it is across the street from the office. I have been reading a lot lately too. I mostly just read on the Max to and from work, but I have been blowing through quite a few good books ... some I had previously read and some that are new to me.

a wedding in the woods

Ally and I went to Eugene several weekends ago (I know, I know ... sorry for not blogging very often) for my friend Marisa's wedding. It was at Fern Ridge Reservoir just a few miles West of Eugene. It was cool for me because I have quite a few fond memories of going to the reservoir with Marisa when I lived in Eugene. The wedding was short and to the point, just the way I like them and the only way I could have ever predicted that Marisa's wedding could ever be. After the ceremony there was barbecuing, a few kegs of delicious Ninkasi beer (the best IPA ever by the way ... just in case you haven't had it yet) and a Ween cover band. The wedding and reception was adjacent to the campsite where everyone was staying that night. Ally isn't much of a camper, but she toughed it out like a real trooper. The campground was noisy (mostly because of the wedding party though so I can't actually complain since we were part of it), and I didn't sleep too well. It was worth it though to be there for Marisa ... as well as the trip to Brails the next morning for breakfast.

Here are some pics. Unfortunately we didn't take very many, although Ally took a bunch of some guy that looked like Axl Rose at the gym.

no more link to Texas

My Dad moved back to Oregon from Texas and I'm pretty happy about that. I'll admit that I am not the best at calling or visiting my family, but they are definitely important to me. I honestly can't remember how long ago my Dad even moved to Texas, but I am pretty sure it has been several years. The reason I can't recall very well is because for much of that time my Step mom, LaNora and my sister, Adriane have been living here in Oregon after a brief relocation to Texas. With them here, my Dad visited quite often. I actually think I saw him more often while he was living there than before he moved. I guess that means that I'm not necessarily excited because now I will see him a lot more, but instead I'm excited because now I won't have to spend money and use vacation time to go to Dallas, Texas. I can't say that the Dallas/Fort Worth area is a place that I have ever had a desire to visit. I would visit Austin and probably also San Antonio, but Dallas and Houston are two places I have never really considered for a vacation. But it doesn't matter now because I no longer have any reason to go to Texas.

Last weekend he came over and helped me install a new gutter over our patio. When the patio was installed, the drain for the gutter was covered with concrete so I wanted to reinstall that gutter in order to reroute the rainwater to the opposite side and off of the patio. I also wanted to see if installing gutters was easy enough to do without hiring someone else to do it. The installation wasn't all that difficult, but the way the roof is on my house, it may or may not drain correctly. It rained a bit yesterday and I went outside to see if there was water coming out of the downspout. There was. Hopefully in a stronger downpour it still works well.

So, not only did I get some work done on the house, I got to spend a bit of time with my Dad. Maybe there will be more of this in the future ... there are definitely plenty of projects to work on.

delicious beer

Yesterday after work, we met Kathie and her husband Trevor downtown on the waterfront for the Oregon Brewers Festival. The way it works is that you buy a mug and then you buy tokens. The tokens allow you to buy either a taste of a beer for 1 token or a full beer for 4 tokens. Trevor had a bunch of tokens that he shared with me and I decided not to waste my time in lines only getting tastes. I had 4 full beers that were all strong and hoppy. They were delicious and other than the huge amount of people at the festival, it was a pretty fun time. The only problem was that since the beers were so strong and I hadn't eaten anything for a few hours, I got pretty drunk. Afterwards, Kathy, Trevor, Ally and I went to Cha Cha Cha and had some Mexican food. It helped quite a bit with the drunkenness, but it wasn't quite enough. After dinner, we said goodbye to Kathy and Trevor since they now live in Bend and we probably won't see them again for a while. I went to bed shortly after getting back home. Ally isn't much of a beer fan (other than Pabst) so she was sober and decided to go out for a friend's birthday. I have spent most of today at home doing hardly anything. It has taken me pretty much all day to get over my hangover. I haven't really had a headache or felt ill or anything, I've just been tired and I keep falling asleep for a few minutes here and there while watching TV. The beer fest was fun, but I wish it hadn't ruined my whole Saturday.

workin' for the weekend

It is almost the weekend ... woohoo!!!!

I'm excited because this week we had a patio installed in our backyard which means we can start enjoying the weather in the comfort of our backyard without sitting in chairs that are on lumpy and uneven ground. The same can now be said about our BBQ grill which also has always been used on uneven grass ... fire + dead grass + uneven ground = potential for disaster.

Ally and I have also begun talking about quite a few little projects around the house that we would like to start spending time and money on. If we can keep focused on goals, we should be able to start making some small changes around the house.

For now, I will leave you with this comic that made me laugh.


marriedtothesea.com

anybody out there?

The one thing I hate about having a blog is the paranoia it brings about in me that no one is reading. This feeling is only heightened by the fact that I don't ever get any comments. I feel like I am typing this stuff out for me and Ally to read and no one else. I hope that isn't true.

I've been back to work for almost a week now since my week off. The week has gone quickly, and the mini-vacation I took seemed to do exactly what I hoped it would ... help me relax. I seem to be less tense at work, and less tired when I get home from work. That's exactly what I needed.

Last Sunday, we tried to have a BBQ since the weather was nice and Shain and Deana were in town still. The problem is that we decided to start it early (2pm) in an effort to not keep Tim awake too late since he starts work around 5 in the morning and usually goes to bed around 7pm. I'm not sure if this is simply too early for most people, or if we legitimately forgot to tell people, but only 2 people showed up before 5pm, and they were both Tim's friends. Even after 5, not too many people showed up anyway.

I guess another big reason for the low turn out at the BBQ is simply that Ally and I are too busy these days to really have too many good friends. Of course we have friends, but it's not like it was in college or even when we were 25. There simply isn't time in anyone's lives these days to spend too much time just hanging out. The same goes for our friends and acquaintances too. Everyone has their own schedules and their own lives to live. It wouldn't seem so bad if I had a legitimate hobby that I spent time working on ... or if I knew how to work on projects around the house. I spend a lot of time while Ally is at work and Tim is sleeping watching TV or scouring the Internet looking for any and all new info on the Oregon Ducks football team. I can't wait for August 30th, when the Washington Huskies come to Eugene for the first game of the season.

a quick update with pics

We are back home from our short vacation to Astoria. It was quite a bit of fun. We relaxed quite a bit but we also went to see a 101 year old shipwreck, an old gun battery fortress, Seaside and Haystack Rock. I had quite a bit of fun. Click the pic below to view the photo album.

Astoria June 08

We went to Seattle after that, and celebrated Shannon's birthday and got to see their baby, Drake. He's absolutely beautiful, but you'll have to take my word for it ... for some reason we didn't take any pictures in Seattle. We also visited Slye at his new apartment in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. He's nervous about being in a new city, but his neighborhood seems absolutely awesome, so I think he'll be just fine once he gets his bearings and makes a few new friends.

Last night we went to a 4th of July party at a friend's house. There was great food, tons of fireworks and then the night was capped off with fire breathing and fire dancing. It was a lot of fun. Click the pic below to view the photo album.

4th of July 08

in Astoria

It's been so hot in Portland lately. The weather changed drastically seemingly overnight, and the temperatures started flirting with the idea of reaching 100 degrees. It was the perfect time for Ally and I to escape to Astoria. We stopped off at a baby shower in Vancouver on the way here and arrived at our hotel around 5pm. We relaxed in the room for a while and then headed downtown where we had some delicious Italian food at Fulio's and then had a few drinks at a local dive bar called The Chart. This morning we have been relaxing and watching TV in the room. We are heading out soon to grab some lunch and then to go do some touristy stuff. Below are 2 pictures I just took from the balcony of our hotel room. The hotel is on a pier, and our room hovers over the Columbia River.

delicious

So we finally ate at Apizza Scholls. I was worried that it couldn't in any way live up to all of the hype. It did. This is one place that has earned its reputation. The pizzas were huge, the slices were cut big, the crust was slightly charred and crispy while still chewy inside. The choices for toppings were intriguing, and all of the toppings were extremely fresh and flavorful. We ordered two pizzas to split between Eric, Krystin, Ally and myself. One pizza was sausage and peppers while the other was half margherita with capicola and half cheese with truffle oil and sea salt. I'd have to say that my favorite was the margherita with capicola. The capicola was perfectly cured with just the right amount of flavor. The sausage was some of the best I've had with a ton of flavor; not too greasy yet not too dried out. The peppers were soft and had a perfect, not overpowering tang of vinegar. The truffle oil was interesting, I had never had it before, and added a distinct smoky flavor to the cheese pizza. All in all,the pizza was easily some of the best I've had. I hesitate to dub it "the best" since I've had a lot of pizza from here to NYC and many places in between. I also think that at times I expect different things from pizza, and at times I may prefer deep dish to this more east coast style of pizza ... not too often though. I will definitely return to Apizza Scholls in the future. This may be a place I start bringing friends from out of town. Especially our friend Kristy from New Haven, Connecticut ... the birthplace of the real apizza. She can be the final judge of its authenticity.

a few days of sun

The weather has finally been cooperating. When I say cooperating, I guess what I mean is that the weather has finally started to resemble actual June weather. So far this "summer", Portland has had terrible weather. It has rained a lot ... even for Portland. Not only has it been raining, but it has been fairly cold too. The high temperatures were hovering in the mid to upper 40s for quite some time. It has felt more like February than June.

Finally this weekend we got a break from the dreary, dismal conditions. The sun came out, the clouds went away and the temperatures rose to the mid 70s. It was near perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. It allowed for some time to be spent outdoors.

This past weekend, we spent quite a bit of time with Krystin and Eric. They're both great. Ally and I appreciate their company and their personalities so much. We have a ton of fun hanging out with them, even when it is just a relaxing day in their back yard listening to music, drinking, barbecuing and relaxing in the hot tub ... which is exactly how we spent all day Sunday. What was even better was that Michelle and Jamie joined us during our relaxing day outside.

You always wonder how your different groups of friends will mesh. There is sometimes a fear that they will not get along for any amount of reasons. Any such fear has been put to rest when it comes to the idea of combining Krystin, Eric, Jamie and Michelle. They seemed to get along swimmingly (no pun intended, 6 people can't exactly swim in a hot tub).

Today's weather isn't quite as nice, there is a pretty decent amount of cloud cover, but the temperature hasn't dropped too much so maybe summer is indeed on its way. I'm excited because tonight we are meeting Krystin and Eric for dinner at Apizza Scholls. I have heard nothing but good things about this place, and have wanted to try it ever since I saw it on No Reservations. I'll let you know later how it is.

getting excited about musicfest nw

It might not be SXSW in Austin, but Portland's own MusicFest NW is starting to seem legit. Last year's festival was pretty impressive, with some pretty well known bands. They have only announced a few bands for this year's festival so far, but I'm already getting excited. Mogwai will be playing. They always blow me away when I see them live. They are are quite possibly the loudest band ever, but I always leave completely happy having almost certain hearing loss. On top of that, Polvo is playing. I was really into Polvo in high school, but they broke up way before I ever got a chance to see them live. These two bands are a good start to what should be a great festival. I can't wait.

photos

Ally's birthday

Ally b-day 08

Las Vegas

Vegas - April 08

neglect

My poor neglected blog. I haven't written anything in here for such a long time. I hope no one has forgotten about me.

So much has happened since I last posted. A trip to Vegas, birthday parties, a trip to Eugene, drinking, hot tubs, more kickball, etc.

I will try to get a few photo albums up here soon, and I will try my hardest to post more frequently too. That is, if anyone is still reading.

Ally has a week off from school coming up, so I decided to take that week off from work too. We will be heading to Astoria for two nights for some relaxation. The hotel we are staying at, Cannery Pier Hotel, seems really great. They ave an old 1930's limo that they chauffeur you around in, free bike rentals, a wine and lox social hour every day, and a perfect location right on the Columbia River with views of the Astoria-Megler bridge and a short walk, bike ride or trolley ride to downtown on the boardwalk. Other than just relaxing, maybe we'll go check out the house from Goonies and maybe also go to Fort Stevens State Park and check out the bunkers, battery and the wreck of the Peter Iredale.

After that, Shain and Deana will be in Portland for a few daysas part of their extensive road trip.

Ally and I are also trying to get a road trip planned for September with Jamie and Michelle.

pics finally

Here are the photos from our drunken night of debauchery the other weekend. I have left out any and all photos of testicles and penises.

Crazy times

Ally and I are leaving for Vegas on Friday and are looking forward to some time away from home, work, school, cold weather, etc. It will also be nice to see Deana, Shain and some other friends (wink, wink).

Congrats to Shannon and Adam on the birth of their son. I have seen pics and can verify that he is adorable.

In the same vein, a belated congrats to Jeff and Jen (whom I don't think read this blog) on the birth of their daughter last month. She also is adorable.

My friends have set a pretty high standard. When I have kids I guess they have to be cute too.

fun weekend ... but ouch!

This weekend pretty much ruled. I haven't had so much fun in a very, very long time.

On Saturday, Portland was blessed with amazing weather. The temperature was close to 80 degrees, the sky was blue, and there was a gentle breeze. Ally had school, so I was at home watching TV when Lauren and Michelle called and told me that I should meet them at Laurelhurst Park. I hopped on the bus and took a quick ride down to the park. There were quite a few people out enjoying the weather, and it felt great to sit in the shade by the pond and just relax outside.

After a while, we decided that we wanted to go to a bar with a patio and have a few beers. It was getting close to the time that Ally would be out of school and Jaime would be off of work and we knew they would join us soon. Michelle's ID was with Jamie at his work, so we walked from the park to Lloyd Center (probably about 3 miles) with a brief stop on the way at Staccato Gelato.

Once at the mall, Michelle grabbed her ID and told Jamie to meet us when he was done with work at the Rose and Thistle Pub. He was worried about not having shorts, so on the walk to the pub we stopped at Goodwill and bought him some bright orange, 80s style, short shorts that we were sure he wouldn't wear but would get a good laugh at.

We were on our third drinks by the time Jamie, Ally and Ally's friend Erin met up with us. We all ordered food and more drinks. My Scotch Egg was outstanding! After we had finished our food, Tyrel showed up and ordered food, so we all split a pitcher of beer to bide the time until he finished eating.

Once he was done, we headed back home for drinking and debauchery. This is where things got crazy.

I rode from the pub in Tyrel's car, and after a quick stop to get beer we pull up in front of the house to see Ally, Erin, Michelle and Lauren all standing around laughing at Jamie who was proudly wearing only his short shorts, shoes and a headband. He was doing stretches and yelling "Spring Break '88!" at the top of his voice.

We moved into the garage and started playing a drinking game. We all got more and more drunk, and the more crazy we became. I won't go into too much detail but I'll just say that there was yelling, beer showers and nudity. We even went across the street to the playground in the park and played a game called "Groundies" which is sort of like "Marco Polo" except it involves a playground play structure instead of a pool. It was a lot of fun for quite some time, but sort of lost its charm when Lauren fell off of the play structure from the second story. She was fine, but it was definitely a bit scary.

On Sunday, Ally and I woke up pretty hungover. After sitting around complaining for quite a while, we decided to get some breakfast and go to the mall so Ally could get a few things for our trip to Las Vegas. Shortly after returning home Lauren and Michelle came over with Danny, their friend John, a ball and some beer. We went across the street and played kickball and drank beers for a few hours. I was still tired from the night before, and my knee was starting to hurt from running in kickball (am I really this old?) so I called it an early night.

I woke up this morning with every muscle in my legs hurting. It hurts to walk and my knee feels terrible. I have no regrets though. I had so much fun this weekend, the pain is worth it!

Pictures will follow, once I determine which ones won't make me lose friends.

it's Spring ... isn't it?

It snowed yesterday. It's almost April and it snowed in downtown Portland ... a lot. It was really weird, and cold.

Slye came up last night from Eugene to see his friend's band play. I went with him downtown to Kelly's Olympian and had a few beers and hung out. There was some problem with the sound at the venue, and the band didn't start until after I left so I have no idea what they are like.

I didn't drink that much last night, but I woke up this morning with a raging headache. I took Ally to school and then came home with the idea of napping on the couch. I turned on the TV and got caught up watching The Universe. It was too interesting to fall asleep to. Eventually Slye came over and we went to get breakfast/lunch. We went to a Pho restaurant and had some salad rolls and pho. It was so incredibly delicious, and my headache/hangover disappeared almost immediately. After we ate, we went to Jim and Patty's coffee shop (the original owners of Coffee People) and had the best Cafe Americanos that I have ever had.

Now I'm back on my couch relaxing. It's been a pretty decent day so far.

delicious hangover cure

arms of jello

I hadn't been to the gym in a few weeks so last night I decided to get off my lazy ass and work out. Usually I just use the Elliptical machine for 45 minutes, but last night I decided to use it for only 30 minutes and then I did some crunches and used some of the resistance machines to work my arms and chest. I've never really had much upper body strength, and today it is painfully obvious. It was hard to wash my hair this morning. My arms didn't want to be lifted up even a little bit. I'm such a wuss.

much better

I'm feeling much better now. My fever passed and I am left with very few symptoms from my sickness. Usually I am stuffed up and have a bad cough for a week or so after a fever, but this time isn't too bad.

The fever broke in time for me to go see Gogol Bordello. This is the second time in less than a year I've seen them, and to be honest I would see them many more times in a year if possible. If you've never seen them before, make sure you do next time they are in your town. They won't disappoint. Their music contains so many influences, fans of almost any type of music should be able to enjoy their shows. They have so much energy on stage, and they are such great performers. They make me wonder why I spend money to see bands that simply stand around in one place and play their instruments. Most of the time there are around 10 people on stage, and they are all constantly running around playing their instruments and getting the crowd involved. There are little to no pauses between songs, and they play sets that are around an hour long, wait about 3 minutes while the crowd urges an encore and then they return to play an encore that is almost another hour long. After the shows, the singer DJs an after party at a nearby bar (that I haven't been able to stay up late enough for yet). I have no doubt that they are the hardest working band around.

a terrible start

I woke up the day after my birthday and threw up in the sink. I had clearly had too much to drink. I spent almost the entire day on the couch too hungover to move. It wasn't until probably 3pm or so that I finally got off the couch and went with Ally and Slye to get some food.

The next day I went to work and the whole time my head felt like a balloon. I was dizzy and starting to feel a fever coming on. I left work early and went home to lay on the couch.

I woke up yesterday thinking that I was feeling much better. I took a shower to get ready for work and instantly starting feeling feverish again. I laid on the couch and pretty much stayed there the whole day, drifting in and out of sleep. I felt cold, but was sweating profusely.

This morning I felt a bit better than yesterday and decided to come to work. I am at my desk right now, but my head still feels a bit weird and I'm still a bit sweaty. I wish this fever would just go away. I hate feeling this way.

What a terrible way to start a new year of my life.

best. comic. ever.

Garfield minus Garfield

holiday weekend

I had a 3 day weekend because of President's day.

I wish I could say that I took full advantage of it and had an eventful weekend full of exciting things to blog about, but I don't.

That's not to say that I didn't have fun at all, or that I merely sat around all weekend. I did get out of the house and managed to have a little fun, just not as much fun as I probably could have if the weather had been a little warmer. The sun was out and it was beautiful, but there was a constant cold wind blowing that made most outdoor activities not very appealing.

Ally and I went to a tattoo convention in Vancouver, WA on Saturday night. It was pretty small, but it was interesting. There are definitely some really good tattoos and artists out there. Unfortunately there are way more bad ones. We entered into a few competitions, but failed to win a trophy. The tattoos that won were legitimately amazing, so it doesn't feel too bad having lost.

Sunday night we went out with Eric and Krystin to an amazing Japanese restaurant called Ichidai. I had pretty much written sushi off after a few less than desirable experiences, but after this, Japanese will be a viable option from now on. Ally hates seafood, and even she had some sushi and sashimi. I was proud of her for trying new things.

Monday was beautiful outside, so Tim and I went for a walk in order to get out of the stuffy house for a while. It was nice. Like I said, the cold wind was present, but we walked at a quick enough pace that I actually worked up a little sweat. That might just be because I am out of shape though.

finally finished

My half-sleeve tattoo is finally finished, and it looks amazing! Well actually, right now it is dry and peeling so it doesn't look too great, but the finished product is great. I couldn't have asked for a more talented, awesome and overall great guy to have spent so many hours with. That's not even mentioning the fact that he was poking me with needles the whole time. Tim Jordan is a great tattoo artist. He does such amazing work, with such an amazing style all his own. Most of the time he was working on this, he had me laughing so hard I would forget that it hurt. If you are thinking about getting a tattoo, go see Tim at Optic Nerve Arts here in Portland.

Last but not least, here it is ...

new toy

Ally and I splurged yesterday and bought a 40 inch Samsung LCD TV. Ally had today off, so she went and traded our DVR box for an HD DVR. Meanwhile, I'm here at work watching the clock, waiting until I can get home and watch some HDTV. I guess it's not that big of a deal to wait. Work is over in 40 minutes, and there's never good shows on during the day anyway.

update

Well, our laptop is finally fixed. I found a guy through Craigslist who worked relatively inexpensively. He worked out of his house, so I was a bit paranoid about leaving my computer there with him. He let me see his driver's license and write down the number, so that eased the paranoia a bit. He finished the work by the next day, and he gave me a bunch of pointers and cleaned up quite a few things that I hadn't requested, all for the originally quoted price.

So now, finally, we have a computer at home where I can write blogs and upload photos as much as I want.

The big news, that I'm sure you all know, is that Ally started school a few weeks ago. It was perfect because right about the time she made the decision to go to school, the Paul Mitchell school opened up in Portland. She is in only the 3rd group of students at this location. Her class size is still small, which means more personalized instruction, and the amazing facilities at her school are still new. I know that she is excited for this opportunity and for the future that it will provide for her. I am happy that she has found her calling and is going for it.

Things at work are going well. Since being promoted, I have been very proactive and productive in instigating change in the department. There were a lot of procedures that were archaic and needed to be modernized. I have been busy finding new ways to increase productivity while increasing work flow. Unfortunately, one of my employees put in their 2 week notice last week, so that may slow us down a bit. Hopefully it will prove to only be a minor setback and we can quickly fill her spot in the department and get training done quickly. One thing is for certain ... it will definitely postpone any vacation plans I was hoping to make.

X-mas sweater party

X-mas sweater party

Finally, here are the pictures from our x-mas party. Everyone looked so great in their sweaters. I can't believe Michelle's sweater was the same as mine with the colors reversed.