Monday, November 30, 2009

2009.11.30 Monday

Ever feel like you should be sleeping, but can't?

Work flew by today. Got a good workout in, didnt lose too much ground from thanksgiving.

At home I took care of laundry and various tasks. Then realized I didn't have any checks left, so paying for things was going to be difficult. Managed to make a few trips around town to remedy the situation and pick up packages and stuff.

Watched a bit of MNF, but mostly I've lost hope for my fantasy teams. I went into this season too pumpd up for it. I need to remind myself how silly it is.

2009.11.29 Sunday

Watched some NFL games out at the lakehouse and played more games. We learned that it really isn't a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake, and it's even harder to remember to flip over a cake after baking.

Went over to Kelc's house to watch the steeler's game and eat some pizza/pasta. Game went into overtime, which is really exciting, especially since the steelers were down so many star players. Unfortunately, they didn't hold the ravens.

Back to my house to prepare for the upcoming, lengthy work week.

2009.11.28 Saturday

Spent most of the day relaxing. Played a bunch of old games on the computer with Kelc. Tecmo Bowl ftw. Made some Hamburger Helper for lunch.

Later went to Taco Cabana for some dinn-dinn. Went out to the lakehouse with Kirbs and Kev this time, more Catan and Hand-n-Foot.

2009.11.27 Friday

A last minute decision was made to drive out to Kelc's lakehouse to spend the night there. We watched some TV and fell asleep easily. I woke up and cooked up some bacon. We played games most of the day, ate various foods.

Later on in the evening, Karaoke with Marisa and Ray, Taylor and Habibi, Justin, Kelc and I. Started the night off strong with some One Step Closer, ended even stronger with Don't Stop Believin' and Bohemian Rhapsody.

2009.11.26 Thursday

Woke up early to begin the drive today. Picked up my sister then picked up Watson downtown; off to Chappell Hill TX for thanksgiving with the family. It's past Brenham and before Hempstead on 290.

They have a lot of land out there, raising some animals like cows, chickens, rabbits and cats.

The food was again excellent. Didn't take long before I was napping yet again.

We watched the first 3 quarters of the UT vs A&M game, then left because it was getting late. That game was actually entertaining. Most people thought it would be a blowout, but A&M held their own. Great job to both teams.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

2009.11.25 Wednesday

Mega duper tired today.

Went to gym again, this time I benched a smaller-rep set of more than I weigh. Bamf.

At home, we celebrated a pre-thanksgiving / Hasbro birthday. Just one of those years where the holiday and birthday line up. I supplied corn and baked apples, Kelc brought pumpkin cheesecake, taylor made a turkey (amazing, and also her first try), Hasbro made stuffing, Justin made mashed taters, Marisa and Ray brought green bean casserole and rolls and a cousin.

Stuffed and tired.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

2009.11.24 Tuesday

Sleeepy sleepy.

Work went by without incident. Went to the gym and did a bunch of random workouts, nice change-up.

After work I went to a bake shop and picked up flavor oils and coloring. Then went to HEB to do some grocery shopping. Spent a bit more than I normally do, had to get medicine and batteries and other randoms.

In preparation for a pre-thanksgiving dinner celebration, I baked some apples and started making candy batches. The apples turned out really well. The first batch of candy was a fail. The second batch was a win. The house smelt of mint and strawberries.

Monday, November 23, 2009

2009.11.23 Monday

What an amazing weekend. Amazing people, amazing fun, amazing food, amazing weather, and amazing timing for everything.

With all this greatness, comes not-so-greatness. Getting little sleep and then trying to go to work. Good thing this work week is only 3 days for me. Another example of great timing.

Went to East Side Cafe for Hasbro's birthday lunch. Excellent place.

At home I washed my clothes, washed sheets, did the dishes, and vacuumed the downstairs. Feels good getting stuff done. Also watched some football, played around with music, and cleaned up some of my room.

2009.11.22 Sunday

Woke up to an alarm on a Sunday. That almost never happens. Had to take Matt and Sammy to the bus station so they could make it home at a reasonable hour.

Dropped Paul off at home so he could spend time with his family.

Went to the mall to drop off some tuxes.

Went to Fowlers to watch the Steelers play, and unfortunately lose in OT.

Watched some Showtime Weeds, changed my car oil, and went to Freebirds for dinner.

Then Kelc and I went over to the suite to spend the final moments of the weekend with the happy couple and Paul. They were gifted with a nice cigar, so we enjoyed that together. Marisa still needs to work on her technique :-P

2009.11.21 Saturday - R&M Wedding

Woke up around 9. Good thing too, we wouldn't have made it in time to anything. Thank goodness for B12 too. We all woke up slowly, took showers, and generally never felt rushed. Chris and Heather, and James all met up at IHOP for a good way to start the day. When we walked in, they lady keeping track of tables said the wait would be about 40 minutes. What a buzz kill. Luckily, Chris had gotten there earlier and they called his name a minute later, so we were seated without issue. Perfect timing. We all placed our orders, caught up on the good times, and received our food. Chris led us in a prayer to bless the food and the day we were about to experience.

We headed back to the suite and started getting dressed for the ceremony. I had to show a couple things to everybody, but no major problems. Ray thought he was going to suffocate in his vest, until he figured out you can adjust how tight it is. We all sharpened up very nicely, and started getting nervous about getting to the church on time, so we half-assed the handkerchiefs and just started driving. We did the car swap at HEB and I drove the last few miles to the church.

Once there, we spent time with all the groomsmen in a room, and took some pictures. This was a little stressful because it was literally a room designed to watch the clock reach a certain time. We cracked some jokes and tried to just relax. Nex thing I know, we are making our way up to the alter.

The ceremony went mostly perfect for the first half, then near the end, all the tension was building up that something HAD to happen. A few words fumbled, a few miscues, and some audience laughter to relieve the tension. I actually felt a lot better about the audience laughing.

I walked with Damaris back to the bride's room, and celebrated the completion of the marriage with the entire wedding party. Then came picture time. I could tell some of the groomsmen were getting antsy and wanted to take off the attire.

Marisa, Ray, Damaris and I jumped in a 1940 Limo and cruised in style all the way to the reception hall. We had to do a drive-thru, and the place we picked? Golden Chick. Woo.

Once we were at the reception hall, we realized we had quite a bit of time to kill. Sat around, walked around, goofed around.

The sound guys called out Damaris' and my names, and we walked out to greet everyone. Ray and Marisa followed shortly. Dinner was fantastic, but then I started getting nervous. My toast was coming up, and I'm terrified of speaking. (Side story: I used to not be so worried about speaking or presenting in front of groups, but once I took Speech class in high school, which tells you all about what to do and what to not do in speaking, I became paranoid that I was going to mess something up, and I've never healed from that) Good thing I typed out pretty much everything I wanted to say. I could barely hear what Damaris said before me because I was so worried about blowing chunks. My turn was up and I just took a deep breath and went for it.

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for celebrating this wonderful day with Ray and Marisa, whom I refer to as "the happy couple". Ever since I started blogging a few years back, they became what I like to call "the happy couple". I'm not saying that they are perfect and everything is always happy, but more that they are happy with each other through the ups and downs and the trials and tribulations of life and their relationship with each other...and that is proof to me that they belong together.

I met Ray in 8th grade, back in the year 2000, practicing for a CPMS symphonic band competition. He was chosen at the last minute to join the top band for this competition in order to fill a gap made by another player. He had very little time to learn the music and he genuinely impressed me with his beautiful performance under the unusual and difficult circumstances.

Then we moved on to high school. Here is where I give a ton of credit to Ray for opening my ears to new styles of music. He would always point me to new artists and new songs and even gets the credit for introducing me to the now well-known band 'Tool', just as they started hitting their stride and taking things to different levels. He was also key in jump starting my interest in music composition, and culturing a love for music of all kinds. Those are things that will stay with me forever.

Also in high school, our common friendships converged into a group that we refer to as "The Krew". Crazy as it may sound, before long, the 'Krew' was most easily compared to the classic power rangers. (For all those who know the different types of power rangers, I am just referring to the first version of rangers released to the US). Matt, with his intellect, was the blue ranger. Chase, with his smooth talking, was the black ranger. Ray, with his stunning looks, was the pink ranger. Chris, with his noble and fearless leading ability, was the red ranger. Paul was the outsider, but also a welcome addition; he clearly fit the green ranger's role. Me, with my crazy antics and unrefined combat abilities, was the yellow ranger. If you have been keeping track so far, Ray is the pink ranger and I am the yellow. For those that may be unfamiliar with the group, these are strangely enough, the two female power rangers. I guess this helped define the brotherhood, or should I say sisterhood, that Ray and I now have. I wouldn't replace it for anything.

So with the historical stuff being shared with everyone here, I'd like to raise a toast to Ray and Marisa for having an amazing wedding on this most beautiful day in November. Maybe one day the Krew will be fortunate enough to defeat Rita Repulsa or Lord Zed and maintain happiness on earth. One thing is for sure though, the "happy couple" is now happily married and will charge into the future making many new and everlasting memories together. I love you guys. Cheers.


So glad once that was over, still had thoughts racing in my head and still couldn't really hear what everybody else was saying. Next up, partay! The dance floor stayed rockin the entire night, lots of mixing old and new. Amazing how alcohol gives you the ability to dance.

And in a flash, we were seeing the happy (married) couple off to the limo.

I took a group home with me and we listened to some tunes and passed out before long.

What an amazing day. Surreal.

Friday, November 20, 2009

2009.11.20 Friday

I'm still having a hard time waking up these days. Work is just cruising for a bruising.

The weather was pretty sub-par today. Rainy and just all-around not something you'd want to be in. Lunch was at a brown-bag meeting today; skipped out on the gym. I had some healthy choice tuscan style chicken microwave meal. Something about these microwave meal's noodles is starting to hit some funky taste buds. The chicken and sauce was just fine.

Before I knew it, the work day was over and the weekend was upon me. Went home to pack up my things and went off to the Wedding Rehearsal. I think this is when it really started to hit me that one of my best friends is getting married. The happy couple, soon to be forever together. The rehearsal dinner was at Rudy's BBQ, an excellent choice. Can't get enough new potatoes. The happy couple gave out personalized beer glasses as thanks for being with them through this whole process. Ray's dad, Ray, also gave a speech thanking everybody for coming and had a few good words to say about the happy couple. Very nice.

Some of the guys grouped up, and we considered going to a gentleman's club, but ended up just dropping by HEB and then off to the honeymoon suite. Drank some amazing wine, and spent the night with the groom.

All Ray could say... nanobots.

2009.11.19 Thursday

Work day. And poop.

Time is beginning to start to crunch for the wedding. It's weird that I feel like that even though it's not my wedding. Guess I'm nervous about the toast and ceremony and everything. Really though, what should I be nervous about? Mostly nothing.

Ran errands after work. Hair cut, pick up tux, home to socialize and pick up mail.

Ray and Paul came into town. Haven't seen Paul in such a long time. Lives all the way up in Pennsylvania. We chilled and discussed various things, listened to some vinyls, reminisced.

2009.11.18 Wednesday

Today I feel like I can relax a little before the wedding stuff picks up.

Work came and went. It's weird that the system we use to track time just completely messed up my time card. They have been doing lots of changes to the system, but they didn't consider that maybe possibly someway it could be the computer's fault. Going to have a delayed paycheck now.

After work, Hasbro and I started moving the junk around upstairs to set up a jam area. The plan is to eventually get a drum set in there too somehow. JEw Hasbro and I went to guitar center, mostly for Hasbro, but I started looking at guitars. I may have to splurge in the near future on my x-mas present here.

Set up the system and had a jam session. My ears are sufficiently obliterated for the night.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2009.11.17 Tuesday

Funny how sometimes things are so messed up at work, and you would think the obvious answer would be how things are normally done. Well, that's usually not how it is. Lots of gudge in this business, and people are reluctant to let go of it.

Went to the gym and did lots of random workouts to change it up a bit. Afterwards, work was celebrating a tailgate day, so lots of teams brought food and raised money for charity. Yum. I had a queso that hit the exact spicy note that I like. Only sampled it about 5 times.

Went to a meeting today. Pretty much fell asleep for it. It was mostly a pep-talk about changing how the business works.

At home, I finished up some electronic tracking. Hopefully that materializes into a song.

Still working on my toast...

Monday, November 16, 2009

2009.11.16 Monday

Woke up with a headache. Not a great way to start off the work week.

Lots of crazy things going on this week. Lots to prepare for. Work might have to get some back-burner time.

Went to music lessons at night. Learned a fair amount and answered some questions of mine. I wish I could just cram my brain with this information and just instantly be able to use it. Unfortunately I'm still pretty slow at doing the computations in my head.

Saw some of the MNF game. Score at halftime was 0-0. Sounds like an exciting game right?

2009.11.15 Sunday

Today was pretty much an NFL day, and a catch-up-on-rest day. Took naps and ate food while watching NFL. I can't really ask for much more than that.

Played some Hand N Foot, then went home and went to bed.

Pretty simplistic day.

2009.11.14 Saturday

So excited about tonight. House of Torrrrrrrrrrment.

Watched the UT game and ate Firehouse subs for lunch.

Spent some of the day preparing dinner of baked chicken and chicken flavored noodles. Cleaned my own chicken and guessed a marinade.

Kelc, her mom and I took Sunny to a new home. Good luck rooster.

Mark and Nadia showed up. Off to Highland Mall to one of the scariest houses in Texas. So pumped.

...

That was a lot of fun. I really want to do this in Feb/Mar whenever they open again.

Another crazy night...

2009.11.13 Friday

What a crappy day.

Woke up feeling groggy after getting plenty of sleep. Drove over to the dentist to get 3 cavities taken care of. I really don't like the idea of having my mouth open for more than a few seconds at a time. Not only that, but they shot me up with a bunch of local anesthetic and I couldn't really feel my face anymore. Technically, I don't think these were cavities just yet, more of a preventative measure. The location of these 'soft spots' was pretty inconvenient, so I understand the desire to take care of them now.

Paid for my stuff, went out to my car, put it in reverse, and BAM I hit a car. How did this happen you might ask? Well I had looked back in both directions, and in the rear view mirror. I was turning out to the right at first, but remembered I needed to stop by the bank, so started pulling out to the left. As soon as I switched to looking over my left shoulder and was halfway out of the parking spot, a van decided to stop in the road behind me. From the angle I was leaving the spot and how the van pulled up I couldn't see it over my left shoulder. My rear bumper took most of the damage, chipped paint and bent plastic. The van I hit... just had my paint on it, which was easily wiped off. However, the people in the van were pretty pissy and started blaming me for hitting them after I was clearly backing out of the spot for a while. Insurance also came to the conclusion that I was at fault, which is typical of parking lot instances such as this. The problem I have with this is that I was going so slow, and I was already so far out of the spot that I don't know why they would just stop right behind me.

Went to Guitar Center with Hasbro and Kelc. Found something I want. Cheered me up a bit.

Went to Zen for early dinner. Also cheered me up some.

Ray and Marisa came over to hang out. Things got pretty wild. Listened to some Tubular Bells on vinyl.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

2009.11.12 Thursday

Twitch twitch.
The left ear has a twitch.
Do to deserve this?
Was I a bitch?
Twitch twitch.

Going insane.
This twitch is a pain.
Can't wait for lunch.
Am I sane?
Going insane.

Etoufee day has it's ups and downs.

At least the work week is over. Kelc came into town so the fun can now begin. We took Habibi over to her house and played cards and games with the family, then went home really late and crashed.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

2009.11.11 Wednesday

Well this hump day is different. All my meetings were either canceled or moved to another day.

I also have a dentist appointment, ugh.

Left work early to get to the dentist, felt pretty good that I was getting this taken care of.

Well, that feeling quickly faded when they criticized me. First off, I've been doing a helluva better job with flossing. 99% of the population doesnt care about that crap and here I am doing the right thing. THEN, they tell me my teeth are relatively clean, but my gums bleed too much. STOP STABBING ME and maybe I'll stop bleeding. And anyways, if my teeth are clean, and i dont have gingivitis, who cares? My gums are just more sensitive and softer than others. PEOPLE CAN BE DIFFERENT. Oh and then they tell me I need to come in again to take care of 3 cavities. That's right, THREE. Well I asked them to show me the problem areas on the xrays, and they are just preliminary weak spots, no cavitation at all. I think they are just trying to take my money, or hating on me for not coming in often enough. Jerk faces.

Went to bed with the ability to still spit blood from my 'routine cleaning'. Mouth soreness blows.

I did manage to distract myself by working on music, and I made some fantastic stuff, although still in the preliminary stages.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

2009.11.10 Tuesday

Nuh uh. Waking up is not something that should be forced this much. Bleh.

Today was a day of meetings that I normally don't attend, and a training session that I've been waiting all year to make up. Don't worry, I was only at work from 7a to 8p.

I'm kind of surprised that no one said anything about me having a vampire kitty on facebook/yesterday's blog. The most significant thing I'd like to point out is that MY KITTY DOESN'T SPARKLE. No glitter was used in the making of vamp-kitty.

Made some tortellini, hot dog, and chips for my late dinner. Then played around with some music stuff, and went to bed.

Monday, November 9, 2009

2009.11.09 Monday

Woke up reasonably easily today. Seems to be common among Mondays.

Work was a can of worms that I didn't want to open. It all boils down to people making decisions for the masses without disclosure or confirmation from those masses to begin with. What a horrible decision. Now some people are unable to do their jobs because others had a power trip.

Went home, sat around. Left for my Music Lessons. Turns out my teacher is pretty awesome and chill. We went over some of the building blocks to music theory.

Watched small chunks of the Steelers game on MNF. Couldn't totally get into it, but there were some nice plays from both teams in the second half.

Then zzzz.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

2009.11.08 Sunday

Woke up pretty early. Well, 'early' is relative. I only slept about 4-5 hours and wasnt able to go back to sleep.

Cooked some bacon...yum. Two days in a row. Luckily I remembered with about 15 minutes to spare that I needed to update my fantasy teams. In one league I have a 2-loss streak and in 6th out of 6 places. In the other, I have a 3-loss streak and in 6th out of 8 places. Not my year.

Watched some football and random tv shows while installing programs for windows 7. So far, Win7 seems like it is more compatible with the programs I use than vista, except for one thing, my mp3 player's software. Well, turns out win7 natively supports my mp3 player without the need for manufacturer software, pretty sleek!

Overall, a pretty relaxed day. Don't think I went outside but maybe once or twice. Weather kinda sucked anyways.

2009.11.07 Saturday

Woke up to some crowing. Started around 5:30a. Bleh.

Watched the UT vs UCF game, and cooked some bacon. Played around outside some.

Went back to my house while Kelc, Linds and Kev went around town to go take pictures. I hope they turn out well; I'm pretty excited to see what comes out of them.

Ray and Marisa came over with Scooter, we left to go play some bowling. I was doing pretty well but then choked a few frames and lost my chances at breaking 100. Pretty disappointing.

Went back to the house and started consuming a beer that Ray had bought, La Fin Du Monde, or 'the end of the world'. It's a pretty awesome beer in my opinion. I like the flavor, I like how strong and potent it is. One cup also did me in. We listened to some vinyls and went for a neighborhood adventure in the middle of the night. Standing next to a train is one of the coolest things. The immense earth-shaking power and speed is awe-inspiring. Oh and its kind of loud.

Listened to some more vinyls and wrapped up the night. People were pretty exhausted and it was rather late.

Friday, November 6, 2009

2009.11.06 Friday

Wrapping up the week. *major yawn*

Went to the gym and did some chest/tricep/abs/legs/deltoids. Good stuff. Results are coming through and I think I like it.

Got home and cooked up mac and cheese for dinner. Then Travis and I headed to meet Kelc and Linds at the Cedar Park vs Leander final season game. Both teams are going to the playoffs and I wish them both good luck. Cedar Park pulled through and won the game, so they will get a better seed. Number 12, Hogan, was a pretty amazing, he could break through and run far, but he never passed.

After the game, the awesome parking spot I had let us beat a lot of the traffic. I only had to drive my car down a sidewalk to get to and from that spot. Went to Sonic for some grub. Then I went over to Kelc's to watch some of Gran Turino and get some sleep.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

2009.11.05 Thursday

Woke up fresh and early today to take Hasbro to the airport. He's heading off to the big apple. Sounds like crazy fun; I hope everything goes well and he gets to do all the things on his list.

What do I get to do instead of going to NYC? Go to work. Yesss. It's clear who the winner is here.

Work was mostly bland. For lunch I went out with some coworkers to celebrate Scott's birthday. It's a shame that he was let go.

Went home, mostly quiet around there. Cleaned up a little in the kitchen area, took care of maverick, and did my laundry. Dinner was pretty large, ate some broccoli, popcorn chicken, orange juice, sparkling water, popcorn, pb&j sandwich, pretzels, and a pickle. I think I still need to increase my caloric intake.

Watched some tv and played around with the computer. Seems to be a continuing trend.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

2009.11.04 Wednesday

Meetings, meetings, oh and some more meetings. Must be a Wednesday.

Lunch consisted of leftover pizza and some nuts. NUTS. Nuts all up in my grill. Mixed nuts to be exact. Nuts from all over the world, all up in my grill.

I stayed at work late because my kickball game was at 18:30. Well, it should have been at 18:30. We didn't have enough players to play our very last season game, so we just played a exhibition game for fun. Chad game over from Kiss-Myanthia to increase our numbers, ended up being a pretty awesome player. Later the rest of our team showed up (minus a few that knew they couldn't make anything tonight). So the playoffs were underway, we only had 8 people and just lost (by default) our last season game. Since a normal team would have about 10 players playing on the field, we had a big handicap to overcome. We also were playing the #1 team who has been undefeated for a few seasons now... so yeah. Final score, 3-9 so not a complete domination.

Went out to Doc's afterwards. Wasn't really planning on that since I've been exhausted most of the week, but this is the last opportunity to get the drink specials, and who knows if I'll see some of these people ever again. Sad but we made the most of it.

Went home, ate some protein and carbs, showered and then was quickly comatose in bed.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

2009.11.03 Tuesday

Today should be interesting. Got a meeting set up that I don't know what will happen. Preparing for the unknown is a fun journey.

Went to the gym and ripped up some more muscles. Feels good to work out, but I'm sure I'll regret it later.

After work I made some pizza and sat around some. Went skateboarding while the pizza was cooking. Sure does get dark early now. :-(

After a while, decided to drive over to GV and make a delivery and pick up some mail. Talked with my mom and dad some, caught up on whats going on over there. Then went to Walmart and HEB for needed items. It's really hard to just jump in to healthy cooking without worrying about what you might NOT have at home to cook with.

Got home, showered, slept. My body is going to be sore tomorrow.

Monday, November 2, 2009

2009.11.02 Monday

Daylight Savings throws everything off balance. I don't like it. Why can't we have a time system that is consistent? Studies show that traffic and work-related accidents increase right around the time change. PLUS, it doesn't even make sense to do it anymore. Our lives are so dependent on electricity that having daylight makes no difference.

Today at work was kinda poopy. Lots of stuff happening with the project I'm working on.

Went home and goofed around, then went to Pluckers with JeW to watch some of MNF. The game seemed to last forever.

I lost on fantasy football, but somehow made the gap in score rather small. Maybe next year I'll get somewhere. I still think fantasy is pretty weird.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

2009.11.01 Sunday

Yawn. Turtle joined the warm bed last night. Scratched my legs a couple times.

Went to Qdoba for lunch, watched NFL most of the day. Also watched the showtime series Weeds for most of the day.

Went to Braum's for some dinner/dessert, then the long boring drive home.