havnfn

This sure looks like fun!

2012-02-03T12:40:00.002-05:00

The hotel we'll be staying at in Paris is close to what is apparently the largest underground train/subway hub in the world.

We'd be coming in on one of these from Disneyland Paris:

MS61 : Arrivée à la gare de Chatelet les Halles...

Then taking the Bataan Death March walk:

YouTube Video 1

another video:

YouTube Video 2

Fun, eh?

Maybe we'll get off a stop earlier and take a cab or switch to the Metro! :-)

Haven't seen this stuff for a while!

2012-01-27T09:05:00.001-05:00

Clouds. And even rain!

I'm surprised there haven't been more brush fires considering the huge lack of rain we've had for the last couple of months. Finally got a little bit overnight last night and now it's just grey and windy out. Kinda nice for a change. :-)

Campaign season...ugh

2012-01-26T08:40:00.000-05:00

Florida, having moved up its Repukelican primary to Jan. 31 is now being bombarded with ads from all the clowns running for office. Saw the picture-perfect, uber-pseudo-Christian family on a nearby street corner with their Santorum signs waving at passing cars. Saw an odd older couple on an I-4 overpass with their Newt sign. Heard Newt's radio ad today and damn near spit toothpaste all over the place at how ridiculously pompous he sounded (seriously, who the hell thought that ad up? Then again, knowing his intended target is the less intelligent and easily swayed, it will probably do very well).

Of course, on the other side, Obama has been the biggest disappointment since The Phantom Menace was released in theaters. He could have really changed things but, instead, gave us 3 more years of the Bush presidency. Gee...thanks.

And the Fed announced it's keeping interest rates at or near-zero until 2015?! Holy crap. Can't wait until "Chopper" Ben really cranks up the printing presses and chases the Euro down the toilet in the race to see who can have the highest inflation.

ugh.

Anyway...more honeymoon trip planning going on! We have prepaid our one night in Brussels, bought our TGV train ticket to Marne de Valle Chessy (Disneyland Paris), bought our Disneyland Paris tickets, booked our Disney hotel thru Expedia.co.uk (cheaper rate!), bought our Eiffel Tower lift tickets, prepaid for dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel for after we come back down from the top of the tower. Next will be the museum pass and Paris Visite pass (for using the RER and Metro while we're there). All while continuing to Priceline our hotel for the 6 nights in Paris (have 2 bookings already for those dates reserved as backups in case Priceline doesn't come through).

Cannot wait!! :-)

House Browsing

2012-01-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend while a friend of my wife's was up visiting, we spent a few hours and went looking at some model homes a few min away. Fun way to get some decorating ideas, at least, since these houses are just a bit outside of our price range. The cheapest was about $750,000...the most was $1.2 million and was right next door to Ken Griffey Jr.'s 22,000 sq. ft. compound:

There was even more to that house than the picture shows, plus the 10' wall that surrounded the whole place.

The models were all gorgeous houses but there was still quite a bit we'd have to change, floorplan-wise, to fit us or even most families. Not sure who these architects are but there's some weird stuff in some of them (a small, l-shaped closet, pools too small for the backyard, formal dining rooms way too far from the kitchen, etc.) but lots to like, too, like the 50s-era diner motif of one upstairs bonus room. heh.

Not much else going on...ready for a relaxing weekend, catch some football, enjoy some near-80 degree weather and sunshine!

3,400 year-old tree...gone

2012-01-16T13:03:00.002-05:00

Some stupid idiot is apparently the culprit behind the destruction of a 3,400 year-old Cypress tree at Big Tree Park (I used to drive by that park quite a bit when I lived up in that area). News story about it

3,400 years. Back then, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun were ruling in Egypt. That's how old that tree was!

:-(

Watch out!

2012-01-13T08:30:00.004-05:00

Why?

Cuz it's Friday the 13th!

*evil maniacal laughter*

Oh, btw, down to one of my lowest weights since my post-college days. woo hoo!! And we'll be starting to run and work our way up to the 10 mile run this fall at Disney! That's gonna be fun.

EDIT: OMG!!

At lunch, taking a co-worker to the bank, on the way back a black cat crossed the street in front of us! WTF?!? AHHH!!! *And*, Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" was playing on 105.9 at the same time! We were like..."holy crap!"

BTW, that's the 2nd time in my life I've had a black cat walk in front of me on a Friday the 13th!

Next up on the planning calendar...PARIS!

2012-01-12T13:28:00.001-05:00

Part of the stocking stuffers I gave my wife for Christmas (ha...my wife...I love saying that!) were a pocket translator and a guide to restaurants, shopping, museums, etc. in Paris. I'd *really* like to get some software to re-learn French and help her learn a few basics. Those four years of French in high school were many, many years ago and largely forgotten at this point.

Think we've narrowed down the hotel list and we do have some "backup" reservations for a couple of nice boutique hotels in case we don't find something in the next few weeks. Still have to nail down where we're staying in Brussels that first night and how we're doing Disneyland Paris, too!

OH! And we've been taking dancing lessons, too! Had our 5th last night. We've learned the basics for the Rumba (which we used for special first dance at the reception. We've also learned basics of: Salsa, Cha-Cha, Hustle, Waltz, and Swing. It's a blast!!

And, lastly, not-so Brighthouse still sucks because I can't stream ESPN3.com since we don't have a cable TV package through them (and won't...don't need that crap) but, dangit! Them and Time Warner are the only internet providers in the country to not offer ESPN3.com to their customers. ugh. I looked into switching but no luck. ATT U-verse and Comcast do not provide service in our area and CenturyLink was only a whopping 4mbps...no thanks!

How did I miss this? (plus a few more wedding pics)

2011-12-28T12:41:00.000-05:00

$2 six-inch subs at Subway this month?! And that includes one of my faves: Meatball Marinara (the other being the Cold Cut Combo). How did I miss this?

Got one of each just now...making up a bit. heh.

Glad college football is over, for me anyway. The Cards lost to N.C. State in the Belk (hunh?) Bowl last night. Pretty sloppy game, bad officiating, bad play calls, weird clock management. But, not bad for starting 10 freshman. Only losing one star, Dexter Heyman, so next year should be better.

Now it's basketball time! Rough week for us...#12 Georgetown tonight and then #3 UK on Saturday...at Rupp! Just might be drinking some sorrows away New Year's Eve night! lol

Oh, here are a few more of our favorite pics from the wedding:

The Happy Couple!

2011-12-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post something really quick...really slammed busy at work and haven't had time at home yet (gee, wonder why???) to post much but here's my favorite picture of us after the wedding (we'd had a very small, very short-lived food fight between us and the table with her best friends - the bridesmaids...this was taken right after one of the volleys!):

Ugh. I hate it when that happens

2011-11-23T08:27:00.001-05:00

Ever eat something (cereal, sausage, or something else) and the back of the roof of your mouth starts hurting? Like the food is making it raw and it hurts to keep chewing and swallowing?

That's happened two days in a row with me and my breakfast sausages (sugar free ones!). Don't know why. Been eating them for a few months now and never had a problem. They're too good to not keeping eating, though. :-)

Gonna be busy tonight! Starting to bake my apple pie that I haven't made since I moved down here. My fiancee is getting the ingredients today. We're deep-frying a turkey with a neighbor and we're fixing a ham, too. We're going to have *17* people in our house tomorrow night! Us, her friend from Naples and her family, my Dad and Stepmom, and our neighbor across the street (she's from the U.K.) and her two sons. Lotta cooking going on!

After all that tomorrow, then we're off to see the new Muppet movie! Can't wait! :-)

Crazy Weekend

2011-11-14T12:57:00.001-05:00

Started the weekend off with a night up at the Irish pub with my fiancee, her brother, and our neighbor across the street. Was about 3am by the time we walked back to the house. Woke up still buzzing the next morning. We were debating skipping the Orlando Calling show that day and just hanging out at home but we ended up heading to the stadium about 2pm hoping to catch some of Lucero (who ended up not showing up...bummer).

We walked around a bit then took our seats waiting for The Avett Brothers but Kid Cudi had apparently just started and listened to him. Wasn't bad...a couple of songs I was really getting into. Had never heard of him before either :-)

The Avett Brothers were delayed so we wandered to another stage and caught several songs (incl her favorite of his - "Closet") from Pete Yorn:

Then we went back for The Avett Brothers and caught about the last half of of their set. Man! Were they on fire! I'd never seen them on-stage and they put on one helluva performance! Would love to see them at a smaller venue like House of Blues!

Caught a few songs from Dr. Dog (another great performance) then watching one of the greatest guitarists of all-time in the form of Jack White (playing on-stage with The Raconteurs).

The final act was The Killers. I have to admit I mostly only know their stuff off their Sawdust album from 2007 but of the first 8 songs they played, we only knew one. There were quite a few people streaming out at that point (guess we weren't the only ones that hadn't heard of those songs). We left, too, as we didn't want to end up in a line of people waiting for a cab (which ended up being a fiasco as we'd called the biggest company up for one and 30 min. later nothing so we called again. Another 20 min. and nothing so we just started walking and eventually flagged one down a few blocks from the stadium)

We get back home and talk w/our neighbor from the across the street who was staying at our place that night (along with her sons). Why was that? Well, right after we'd parked and were walking to the stadium, she'd called and said she was at our place as she and her husband were fighting and he was keeping her from leaving the house (there's a long back-story to all this but suffice to say there'd been problems...oh, and they're from the U.K. so he'd been back in England taking care of their company's business and had flown in on Sat. morning w/o telling her which made her wonder wtf he was up to....he'd been apparently having an affair w/an employee as our neighbor surmised from some work emails she'd come across...lovely, eh?)

So, anyway, a bit more drama was starting yesterday morning but things calmed down and her husband spent a bit of time w/their boys before he flew back to England yesterday afternoon.

Never a dull moment at our place, that's for sure!

Company staying w/us all next week thru Thanksgiving plus my Dad and Stepmom will be here the Wed. night before Thanksgiving and celebrating here then going back to the beach and then back here for the wedding.

Waiting to hear back from the photographer for a "walk through" of the hotel grounds before the wedding day itself.

Um, what else? Oh, my daughter will be going for her driver's permit probably this week (gee...I can't wait to let her loose on the road! ha!)

Oh well...lunch is over...time to get back to work....

Almost a half century

2011-10-17T15:58:00.002-04:00

"Almost a half century"

Ayup...those were the words spoken quite loudly by the "town crier" at the Columbia Harbor House restaurant in the Magic Kingdom yesterday, announcing to all within hearing distance of my ticking off another year of having lived on this green and blue rock! lol

My fiancee had surprised me with a behind-the-scenes tour at DisneyWorld. It was the Keys to the Kingdom tour which was really cool, culminating in getting to go underground of the Magic Kingdom (the theme park is actually built up like 14' above ground level...can't dig down in FL as you hit water so the main level is actually the "underground" service ways, or "utilidors" below the actual theme park). Got to see some other behind-the-scenes stuff and learned some trivia and rode a few rides :-)

Had a great time!

Been a birthday bonanza lately. My granddaughter turned a big 1 on Saturday and we had my fiancee's son's party at a Lego Store on Saturday, too. I think Christmas will seem like a slowdown after the last 6 weeks (5 of our 6 birthdays - plus my granddaughter's - are all in Sept/Oct!)

Just relaxing at home tonight but dinner w/friends tomorrow night (in the driving wind/rain headed this way), food tasting at the hotel for the wedding reception Wed. night, cake for my soon-to-be step-son on Thur., Halloween party at Magic Kingdom on Friday night, and I think some more dining out on Saturday with friends! Good thing I'm on this diet, eh? ha!

A few random pics...

2011-10-03T12:45:00.000-04:00

First up, the results of our Saturday trip to Lowe's. A new landscape bed with some mums. What was there before was horrible...the scrawny azalea's that the home builder put in as part of the standard landscaping package along with faded out mulch (you can see a bit of what it looked like on the left edge of the last photo below). We bought a bunch of mums, the potting soil, the top soil, the edging bricks and rubberized mulch so we don't have to replace it every year (and dug out a few wheelbarrows full of sand to make room!)

Up next shows about halfway through the cake tasting a couple of weeks ago. hehe.

And, last but not least, from our 11 year-old's birthday party a couple of weeks ago, here's one of the neighbor kids fishing with helium balloons. This was my fiancee's Dad's idea (he's a very avid fisherman) and this was hilarious!! Made a few neighbors curious when they'd see balloons floating away up in the air and then coming back down!! LOL!!

Here it comes!

2011-09-30T08:30:00.002-04:00

Fall, that is!

Check out this forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 83. North wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 81. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 60. North northeast wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 84. North northeast wind around 10 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

OH YEAH!! And what timing! Tomorrow is Oct. 1 and the cooler weather is here right on cue! heh heh.

At least that's some good news...got an email from the local USDA office that Conditional Commitments are being issued only thru the end of business today. My mortgage refinance app is nowhere near being ready to be submitted yet...*sigh*...oh well...maybe the rates will fall back to 3.75% again here soon...4% is still better than what I have now, though!

Not much on tap this weekend. Running my daughter here and there for her student council activities but, otherwise, just going to be outside playing with the kids, shooting hoops or playing dodgeball with the neighbors, grilling out, and just enjoying this weather!!

Another one gone and another one gone....

2011-09-22T08:27:00.000-04:00

Two more items checked off the list!

We now have a DJ (and an emcee) for the reception and we also picked out the wedding cake last night!

We've really been having things just fall right together so well. The hardest part was picking the venue but I really knew which one of the four I wanted (the guy we dealt with was just really great and easy to work with compared to the other three places). I just had to talk my fiancee into spending just a little bit more for the more unique setting.

Meeting with the DJ Tue. night was a breeze...can tell he's been doing it for a long time (and the owner for even longer) and my fiancee just might be picking up a bookkeeping job out of that meeting and the owner said he'd introduce her at a networking meeting of other wedding vendors! suh-WEET!

Last night we had a cake tasting at 7:30 and were running late (met up with an old boss and good friend of mine who was in town for a trade show) but we got there and she was just wrapping up from a previous tasting so it worked out well. We're going to end up with a three-layer cake: lowest layer is white cake (with a hint of coconut) and custard filling, middle layer is red velvet with cream cheese filling, and our top layer will be lemon cake with a raspberry filling...omg it was so good tasting all that!! lol

Also starting to plan a (delayed) honeymoon now. We were going to go on a (FREE!) week-long cruise courtesy of her mom but her mom can't take off work again so quickly after the wedding (she has to be present...something to do with a deal she'd worked out w/her timeshare) but now we're planning on a trip to Europe! Woo hoo!

As of now, planning on flying into Brussels and then taking a train to Hasselt. I spent a lot of time there in the past on business and just wanted to show her around a bit. It's a nice little town with great restaurants (or used to be...can't imagine it's anything but as good). Spend a night in Brussels and enjoy some food and beer in the Grand Place. Then we Eurostar it to London for two nights and then on to Paris for the rest (a night at Disneyland Paris - hehe...have to do that!) and the rest in Paris, itself! Gonna rock!

Lions (and Tigers and bears)

2011-09-13T12:25:00.001-04:00

Sunday, I drove down to Tampa with my fiancee's Dad and brother. They're all originally from Detroit and, of course, are big Lions fans (and Tigers and Red Wings). Ended up with great seats at less than face value off an Ebay auction. We were worried about rain since that storm Nate was spinning around in the curve of Mexico and was feeding clouds and moisture up this way but he must have moved on as it was hot and dry all day. Barely a cloud. We sweat our buts off but saw a good game and the Lions won!

Pretty good seats, eh?

Saw part of a Tigers game, too, where Inge hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. The Tigers are having a great year and are close to topping the Yankees for the best record.

Now, you're thinking..."Bears?". Those are from Chicago. Well, not this one...this one was in the movie The Great Outdoors. Saw that at Target for $5 last night and had to get it. Hadn't seen that in a looong time. The kids were laughing their butts off at it! See, Hollywood? You don't need stupid-ass computer graphic dogs and overly-contrived dialog to be entertaining! This movie's still good!

As for the wedding, looking into the DJ now. Have some emails/calls out and waiting on replies. I know who I'd like to use but not sure how much he'd be...hopefully find out soon!

Yes it's back! Back again!

2011-09-02T14:17:00.000-04:00

FOOTBALL!!

NFL kicks off next week (as long as Obama finishes his spiel about jobs...yeah...where were you like 2 years ago?? Maybe he's finally figuring out that sucking up to extremist right-wing corporate whores isn't in his, or the country's best interest).

ANYWAY....FOOTBALL!!

Got my new NFL Preview issue of SI and last night UofL started off the NCAA season with its win over Murray St. A game, in which, a young Will Stein threw 2 TDs and no INTs! He's the son of a guy I went to high school with back a fair number of years ago! :-)

It's time like this I miss having ESPN at home. I couldn't head up to the Irish restaurant to watch it there since I was starting work on the wedding website. Got the domain name and hosting site all setup but no content yet.

Oh yeah...I had to get a new laptop. The newer old one just died...overheated or something. Managed to get the data copied off to the home theater PC but needed a new laptop so I got one at Staples (pretty good deal for a huge 17.3" screen) and they came out with a $50 coupon 2 days later that I got applied to the purchase so that made it an even better deal! woo hoo!

The wedding invitations are all out and the RSVP cards are working their way back. Invitations cost us $24.98 for 2 boxes of 40 (clearance at Joann's and printed off at home) and we're getting calls back that they look great and much better than others some are getting for other weddings that were professionally printed! ha!

And the weather has cooled off a tad today. Feels great out for the first time since, oh, May.

Ok...enough for one entry...gotta run!

Her reaction? "What the F***?!"

2011-08-20T13:40:00.001-04:00

Pulled off yet another huge surprise on my GF!!

Told her I had a 4pm meeting and wouldn't be able to call or email for a while (and her friend had told her she'd be busy until about 5 or so). Plus, my GF was busy with back-to-school stuff at the elementary school (meet the teacher, etc.)

I tried killing some time after I picked her friend up at the airport but still got to the house about the time I'm normally getting off of work. We pulled up at the house next door, she got out and stayed behind for a couple of minutes. I went inside and yelled "I'm home!". Told her I talked my way into leaving a half hour early since I have work to do this weekend (which that I do). Just then, the doorbell rings. I asked her to go see who it was, that I had to use the restroom.

So, she goes and opens the door (and my daughter and her daughter are there, too, trying to figure out who rang the doorbell since no one was there now!). I open the bedroom door to the patio and her friend comes in. I grab the camcorder and turn it on and head for the living room. My GF looks at me weird and says "what are you doing? Are you up to something?"

Just then, her friend screams out from behind her and she whips around and looks shocked! I point the camcorder at her just in time to catch "What the fuck?!" and then the realization and the hugs and smiles and....

It was awesome!! LOL!!!

They're out at David's Bridal now trying on wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses (for her friend obviously...lol) and I'm hanging w/the kids.

Life is good!

damn...I'm getting good at surprises!

2011-08-12T12:58:00.002-04:00

Soooooo....(hot off my surprise proposal last month), I got some roundtrip airfare booked! I've got a huge surprise early birthday present planned for my gf! OMG this is going to be so awesome!!

Come on, Orlando! Stay up!

2011-08-08T17:42:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that nothing in this town (except for WalMart) is open past 10pm. The Super Target stays open to 11, though, but *nothing* else! No Walgreens, no Publix (both of which are right around the corner from the house). So, those late night cravings usually go unsatisfied. ugh!

At least Winter Garden is pretty cool. Their summer movie festival is great (and cheap!). A couple Fridays ago they showed the 1925 silent version of Phantom of the Opera and they had a (very) small orchestra playing their own music (which incorporated some from the Broadway play) and they're thinking of making a DVD out of it. The audience even participated by making crowd noises ("murmur murmur murmur murmur...") and screaming at the appropriate times. The older girls had a blast!

Signed the contract with the hotel today for the ceremony and the reception and will be mailing off the paperwork to the photographer! Nothing back yet from Disney for the menu request for our night-before welcoming party but I'm sure I'll hear back soon. Love this stuff!!

Working on a Sunday (and some BIG BIG news)

2011-07-31T14:12:00.002-04:00

Nothing beats working from home on a Sunday except for, well, anything else!

Behind schedule on this next release so I'm working from home to help get caught up.

It's making me take a break from planning my....WEDDING!

That's right! I'm getting married! I proposed to my girlfriend 4 weeks ago today! totally surprised the heck out of her. I actually had to ask her 3 times as she kept saying, "what? Are you joking? Is this for real?" LMAO!

She's resigned herself to the fact that we were just together and an actual wedding ceremony just wasn't going to happen. But, I felt it was right. Had been thinking about it for a while and decided it was time! When we got home, her oldest daughter saw the big engagement ring on her finger and thought we'd already gotten married and she was ticked that we did it without her there! lol. Had to explain how engagements work. :-)

so, yeah...I'm getting married at the end of the year! We have the venue picked out, possibly a photographer (meeting w/one tomorrow evening) and now to work on the cake, the DJ, her dress (she pretty much has that picked out) and the decor. fun fun fun!!!

Yummmy

2011-07-11T13:21:00.001-04:00

Free 7-Eleven Slurpee today! woo hoo!

Granted it's not a real big cup but it's still plenty enough to cause a brain freeze! lol!

It was beautiful!!

2011-06-14T13:18:00.000-04:00

I'm back home now from the trip up for the wedding. All I have, for now, are a couple of cell phone pics I took right after the ceremony when we were all posing for pictures.

The ceremony was perfect. Couldn't have gone any better really. But we were running all over town the day before and the morning of the wedding. I burned up over half a tank of gas driving all over to get this and that, including the cake, shoes for my other daughter to match her maid of honor dress, tanning bed for the bride (ugh...lol), picking up the cake and taking it to the church, fixing my Dad's computer (every trip up there's always that to do!), trying to see family/friends along the way.

But I'd do it all over again a million times!

The girls looked nothing short of beautiful!!

I missed my youngest giving her toast to the happy couple, though, as I was upstairs changing the baby and getting another jar of food but made it down in time to see them cutting the cake, the garter/bouquet toss, the first dance and then my dance with her. All just as I'd hoped it would turn out.

Giving her away...

2011-06-11T07:34:00.001-04:00

My daughter, that is.

Today is the day I walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding!

Was SO busy yesterday running all over town with her (and my gorgeous granddaughter!) and helping decorate for the reception, going thru the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, helping get pictures of the couple for a slideshow and all kinds of stuff!

So happy for her!!

Bummed....

2011-05-18T12:26:00.001-04:00

My gf's brother flew out in January and was only supposed to stay for 2 weeks. Well, he just flew back yesterday and it kinda sucks. Got used to having him there and we did try really hard to talk him into staying and finding a job here. Still might happen but not until later this summer.

My gf's just doing her regular routine at home today and it's just too quiet in the house. Funny...I only met him twice before and didn't know him at all but now it sucks that he's gone. Out of the 11 months we've lived in the house, for 9 of them someone's been living with us! heh. And I don't mind...totally have the Florida state of mind! :-)

Been enjoying this cool spell (at least no humidity) but it's about to end after tomorrow and it's 90s as far as the forecast can see. Wish we had the pool!

Almost summer....

2011-05-09T12:33:00.002-04:00

I think we've had our last cool evening/morning for the next 5-6 months. Supposed to be 90s all week and we probably won't be looking back. I do hope the rainy season starts up soon. We're something like a foot under average and grass everywhere looks as brown as it did in winter. Back up in Ky, they've gotten 17" of rain since April and we've had maybe 1". My Dad tried bringing some down with him when he drove down a few days ago to his condo on the beach but we only got about 10-15 min. worth of a downpour and that was it.

So, yeah, we went to the beach on Saturday (no Derby party again this year) but we did watch the Derby in his room (I picked the winner! Woo hoo!! Although, picking Animal Kingdom wasn't that big of a stretch considering we live about 15min. away from Disney's version of it! lol). Heading back to the beach next Sunday and my GF's mom will be with us, too, since she flies into town in a few days. Been trying to talk her brother into moving here. He's been staying w/us for almost 4 months (from an originally-planned 2-week trip). We'll see how that pans out....

Had a good Mother's Day for my GF. Her flowers arrived on Fri (since I knew we'd be going all kinds of places over the weekend and didn't want to miss the delivery). And I gave in to her wish to go see a "chick flick" and we saw Something Borrowed last evening. It was better than I expected. I don't think I even cringed once!

I think we're finally finished with home improvement projects. Whew! Spent almost half of what the pool was going to cost but we love the house even more now. Esp. the french doors from the kitchen breakfast area to the back porch. Considering a solar hot water heater but the quotes so far have been more than I expected. Might settle for some added insulation up in the attic for now.

Only about a month away from my oldest daughter's wedding! Got the bridesmaid dress for my youngest and it came in over the weekend so we'll have to take her down there and get it altered. Finally going to get to walk my baby girl down the aisle soon!

EDIT: *Stimpy voice* - "Joy!"...Stephen King announces new Dark Tower volume!

As he calls it: Dark Tower 4.5. Can't wait!

Vacation Sights

2011-04-14T12:22:00.001-04:00

My mind has finally (well, 99% anyway) fully gotten back into reality here at home and work but we had a BLAST down on the Riviera Maya. Already looking forward to next spring break in Nuevo Vallarta (or possibly Aruba, airfare is cheaper...heh).

Enjoy the sights...

LOL at this sign...don't molest the crocodiles! heh heh

Ahhhh...that was such an awesome trip! Wish I could've talked my daughter into going there with us but she wanted to see her mom and the baby and her grandfather has been in the hospital so she was glad to see him. Next year, though...we are all going...vegging at the pool and beach. Just hope the other locations have pool bars, too. Nothing like swimming up at hora feliz and getting a Mai Tai (or two or three)!

Warning! Cuteness Overload!

2011-04-14T12:20:00.000-04:00

First, vacation pics up next but...first...the latest and greatest of my little granddaughter! (turns 6 months on Friday!)

Warning: The following pics may result in a cuteness overload.

Spring Break is almost here!

2011-03-24T15:57:00.003-04:00

And Cancun is where we'll be! (well, Playa del Carmen to be exact). Staying in an AWESOME top-notch resort that my gf's mom has a timeshare in. We'll be in a 2BR unit separate from her mom and we'll have a pool on the balcony/patio right outside our master BR! canNOT wait!! Work's been really busy the last few weeks and stressing out at home over lining up estimates for a pool and home improvement projects. We've decided to wait for winter for the pool and focus on the little projects first since some of them involve construction on the back of the house and we don't want to mess up the pavers, pool, and/or enclosure.

So, yeah, a week of NO phones, NO laptop, NO work....just sun, pool, beach, food, and drink! Ahhhhh.....

And when we get back, the construction begins almost right away (3 closets getting custom organizing cabinets/shelves/etc., dining nook windows turning into french doors, pendant lighting over the kitchen counter, crown molding, some screen doors, maybe a pocket door installation...whew! So glad I've done a ton of credit repair/rebuilding since last year...loving this no-to-low interest financing...hehe)

Be good now, ya hear?

How about some Todd Snider - Beer Run
Link to video

See ya sometime soon, Mom

2011-02-24T12:56:00.000-05:00

My Mom has been down visiting for the last 3 weeks and she's currently somewhere over Georgia, flying back home. Was a great trip and was so sad to see her off this morning. The kids were sad and very quiet in the car on the way to school. My GF said it's quiet and a little empty around the house this morning. We were joking about kidnapping her and making her stay longer! lol

We took her down to Disney's Polynesian Resort last night to do some gift shopping and to watch the fireworks from the little beach there. Was a perfect evening. She loved it!

My gf's brother is still here for another week or so and they and the kids might be driving east after school to watch the shuttle Discovery launch at 4:50pm. I'll be watching from the parking lot at work...booo!

Oh, gawd, how I've missed you!!

2011-02-14T10:23:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe it's been weeks since I've been able to have you. But last night you came back into my life and will be here to stay. Never again shall the two of us part.

Oh, CHEESE....welcome back!! *chomp*!!

I'm finally into the next phase of this diet and I can again eat CHEESE! Glorious CHEESE!

Fixed about a 10oz burger last night smothered in deli fresh swiss cheese and some mushrooms sauteed in butter. Holy crap that was good! I don't care if I gained a lb or so, I'll lose that right back off this week (and probably a bit more). SOO worth it! :-)

Space, Sports and Arts

2011-02-07T08:50:00.001-05:00

Went back to the Kennedy Space Center w/my GF's brother on Saturday. The shuttle Discovery had been rolled out to the launch pad on Monday night and we thought we'd head out there to get a look at it. But, the rotating structure was wrapped around it so all we could see was the tip of the external tank. So, we got lucky by calling guest relations and swapping our Cape Canaveral tour for the Discover KSC tour and to get within 5000ft of the shuttle. Couldn't see Discovery, itself, but got a GREAT view of the boosters and the external tank. Got a couple of great pics that I'll have to get uploaded.

Got home in time to clean up a bit and change and headed out to another great dinner at Ragland Road at Downtown Disney (a friend was in town so me, my GF, my Mom and my GF's brother all went down). Was SO hard trying to not cheat on the diet but we did a little. Had a tiny bit of the cream sauce that came w/the chicken (we had it on the side) and had buttered asparagus as the side item (no butter is allowed on this phase) but I still lost almost a pound that day! ha! I'm just under 3.8 lbs from goal and have lost about 22 lbs so far. Yay me!

Got home and checked sports news and UofL had beaten DePaul (not by a lot but it's a win) and, considering we've had 3 guys out most of the season and another out for a week, including the squeaker loss to #13 Georgetown, I think the Cards are having a great year!

The next day we decided to risk a chance of rain and drive up to Mt. Dora for the annual arts festival. It's one of the big reasons my Mom wanted to come down this month so she and I and my daughter went up there and it was pretty cool. My daughter is big into photography (wants to go to NYU for it) and really loves B&W photography. She talked a bit w/one photographer...that was cool to see...hehe. :) Saw some cool modern art that would look great on some walls at the house and some decorative plates that I knew my GF would love to have sitting on some stands on a counter in the kitchen. Walked around the downtown area and there are quite a few restaurants and shops I can't wait to bring the family up to try out and walk through...even a couple of tea rooms.

EDIT: Oh, and one of the stores was a Segway store. They do three different types of Segway tours (two around Mt Dora, one down in Lakeland). My daughter got to ride one around the store and she took to it right away. I've done the Segway tour in Epcot so I know how much fun they are...too bad they're nearly $6,000 apiece!

And, to wrap things up...these three words:

GO, PACK! GO!

Let me see if I have this straight...

2011-01-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

Women have been having babies for tens and tens of millennia, right? Ok, I thought so. So tell me this...why is there a need for an iPhone app to help a new mother (and/or father, too, presumably) to keep track of feedings, last time a diaper was changed, etc.??

REALLY??

It's *THAT* freakin' hard to remember back about 3-4 hours?

Here's a thought, when the baby's crying or if the baby smells like it pooped out some White Castle mixed in with some Taco Bell, then there's a high probability that he/she needs to be fed or have their diaper changed.

That is all.

Let's see if I can keep from losing it this time...

2011-01-25T12:49:00.000-05:00

My passport, that is.

I've had two before (from my first real job out of college when I traveled to Europe, Mexico, and Canada a lot) and from a later job when I went to Shanghai for two weeks. Each of them I lost in a move or something. My gf will see to it that doesn't happen again! lol

Finally starting to get excited about the trip. Time is going to fly before then, though, I'm sure. My gf's brother is visiting for a couple of weeks and my Mom is flying down later next week to stay for about 3 weeks. It'll be her first time seeing the new house. Was hoping to get a bunch of new furniture before she got here but that probably won't happen until after we get back from Cancun. Pretty much know what we want after looking through 4 or 5 different furniture places down here.

Can't wait for this diet to end...I complain about it but it's not really that bad, esp. since I'll be eating pretty much whatever in about 7-8 weeks. Already dropped almost 15 lbs...a little over 10 to go!

Or maybe not...

2011-01-24T12:41:00.000-05:00

Bring on the 80s already, damnit! I know it's only January but, come on. The AVERAGE high is in the low 70s...enough of the 60s crap! :-p

Still kicking butt on the diet, down below 160...finally! woo hoo!! A couple more weeks and I'll be back to a much-expanded menu and another few weeks after that it will be back to normal stuff. whew! Just in time for the trip to Cancun. We were looking at pics of the place we're staying at down there and it's going to be beyond amazing! No phones, no internet, just beach and pool and sun!

Feels more like spring, finallyl!

2011-01-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

Just took a walk around a bit down here and it's just about PERFECT weather! 73F, nice breeze, lots of sun. Oh yeah! About damn time we got some average temperature weather. There were something like 15-16 nights of freezing or below freezing temps since Dec. ENOUGH of this crap! This is FLORIDA!!

Was sick for about a week or so and missed a few days of work. Still waking up with a bit of a stuffy nose. My body is ready for the 80s and 90s. Can't wait til we start getting estimates for our pool!

I recently took the plunge for a certain type of diet. My gf has done it for a few months and has done great on it and I wanted to finally get past a plateau I couldn't break on my own (and to share her suffering, too...heh heh) It's not the easiest of diets but it works and works very well. I'm down 12 1/2 lbs so I'm at the halfway point. No before pics will EVER be seen by anyone other than me and her, though. Maybe just the final result. :-)

Had a great New Year's hanging with the neighbors. Being able to stumble back home from 50 feet away certainly has its advantages!.

Not a whole lot else going on...rooting on my Cards, getting new pics of the grandbaby ever so often (I'll have to put up some new ones!)

Til the next time....

Ciao

Another Christmas has passed

2010-12-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

And it was an awesome one!

For one, I wasn't stuck overnight in an airport like I was in Dallas last year. Nope...we were snug and warm and our new house with our new family! Even had my daughter here until Christmas afternoon when she flew back north (glad we picked Christmas day or she might have been stuck in Charlotte on Sunday! Ack!)

My gf cried at her gift (I knew she would). Got her a weekend at a Disney resort for a reunion with a friend of hers from Vegas who moved to south FL this year. A GWO (Girls Weekend Out). She had no clue and can't wait for her special weekend now. hehe.

Got my gift on Christmas Eve. The kids couldn't wait. My gf had kept me out of the garage the last couple of days before Christmas saying the neighbors had some stuff in there and she'd had to use my car to get something for them since my rear seats fold down. I didn't think anything about it. So, Fri. night I go in the garage, flip on the light and I'm looking for something wrapped up and don't see anything. I look up thinking a garage door opener for what would be my side of the garage...nope. Then I look at my car and notice my windows were rather dark. She gotten my windows tinted from some guy locally who normally only does custom jobs on cars like Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, etc. Sweet! I was totally surprised and never expected anything like that...ever! :-)

Did a lot of "assembly required" on Sat. and the kids went outside (oh it was warm!) to play on the neighbors' new trampoline with their kids. I can't wait for the E.R. visit coming some day soon. lol.

Back at work and hating this cold weather (yeah, I know there's like 2 feet of snow up north but, come on, they EXPECT that crap every year). Orlando ain't supposed to be in the 20s! blech!

Nothing big planned for New Year's. Just walking next door, cooking out, playing some Let's Just Dance on the Wii until us grown-ups collapse from exhaustion (probably after the 2nd verse of the 1st song!), pop some bubbly and just havnfn!

Looking forward to the New Year's Eve matchup between the Cards and the cats. We'll probably be back in the Top 25 after tonight and UK is almost a Top 10 team. Should be a great game (and I get to see what our new arena looks like - at least on TV)!

Only One More Week 'Til Christmas (Eve)

2010-12-17T13:15:00.001-05:00

Not much has happened since last we met. Well, there was the Christmas Tree Tragedy of 2010 that happened several days ago but we've recovered from that and looking forward to a great Christmas.

What happened you ask?

Well...I've had a real tree for most of the last 15 years. We had some trouble finding a tree this year as we were looking for a nice 8-9' tree (since we have higher ceilings now) but had to settle on a decent 7-footer. We get it home, let the branches hang for a day, I put the lights on, we decorate it, etc. and we're sitting on the couch enjoying some Christmas movie when out of the blue, *crash*! Oh F***! The tree FELL!

What made things worse were some one-of-a-kind glass ornaments of my girlfriend's were broken. I literally felt sick. She was crying, her kids were crying, and I felt about 3" tall (cuz she and I had just had a "discussion" a couple hours before over real vs. artificial trees and I was steadfast in wanting a real one).

Needless to say, what's now in our front room is a 9', pre-lit Westinghouse (no Frasier Fir). It does look pretty freakin' awesome, though.

Survived the cold snap (lows earlier this week were in the mid-20s!) That's like unheard of for down here. Did kill off the mosquitoes, though! The girls were ice-skating on the sidewalk across the street one morning as the neighbor's sprinkler system was still set to kick on at 6am and made a nice sheet of ice on the sidewalk. lol!

My granddaughter just turned 2 months old and weighs almost 11 lbs. 4 lbs in 2 months. Miss holding that little angel so much...

Anyway...reckon that's about it for now. If I don't see ya before then, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-03T08:28:00.000-05:00

After we got home last weekend, we started decking the place out for Christmas. On Sunday, the place went from a Thanksgiving feast to an explosion of Christmas (my gf wastes NO time! lol).

Had to borrow a neighbor's extension ladder to start hanging stuff on the roof but by the time I got to that, it was nearing sunset and the mosquitoes were coming out in force. So, after the cold front moved thru a couple of days ago (and another trip to Lowes for more lights - going LED), rushed home from work while there was still some light and plus no more mosquitoes (YAY!) and got the rest of the roof done:

Still plenty more to do inside (windows, wall hangings, Christmas knick-knacks, etc.) Getting the tree this weekend, too. Lowes has some really nice looking 8-9' Frasier Firs for less than $60. sweet! I've paid more than that for a 7' before.

Just glad it's Friday and going to ignore the fact I'll be missing J. Roddy Walston and the Business (opening up for The Black Keys tomorrow night at House of Blues). We'll be havnfn with some friends in town this weekend. I could use a little eggnog in my rum!

I know it was a concert but was that necessary?

2010-11-11T08:28:00.000-05:00

So, we went to see Rick Springfield at Epcot tonight.

I'd been feeling an odd vibe all night, from leaving work to meeting my gf at her mom's condo, to parking at Epcot and walking in...dunno what but just an odd, off-karmic kinda thing.

Anyway...we get our seats about mid-way back in the middle and the show starts and a woman in the front row of the 2nd section stands up and she's dancing and swaying and stays standing the entire time.

A family behind them was apparently making comments to her, perhaps asking her to sit down (the guy was a big tall guy and even he couldn't see over/around her)

After a few songs it started to get heated and I was half-expecting a fight to break out. Disney Cast Members were involved and nothing was really done and the woman went back to her spot and kept standing and swaying to the songs.

Now...this is a concert. Granted it's at Disney but it's still a concert so should one expect to have someone in front of them standing/dancing the entire time, esp. if they've been walking around a theme park all day and don't want to stand for 30 min straight? Does that mean the entire crowd should then stand the entire time?

Or should that woman have thought to herself, "Oh, I'm probably blocking someone's view...I'll move down to the end or get a spot somewhere that I won't be blocking someone's view" and then acted on it?

If it had been *me*, I'd have made sure I got there soon enough to get a good spot and get up close and be with the people who generally tend to stand/dance for a whole show, not park myself further back where the crowd is typically more reserved.

I'm a Grandfather!!!

2010-10-15T17:27:00.000-04:00

My baby girl granddaughter is finally here! My daughter is now a new mommy! hehe!!

Don't know the details yet (like the time, weight and stuff) but she's here and safe and healthy! CanNOT wait to get up there and see my girls! :-)

Sometimes you just have to improvise....

2010-10-07T12:58:00.001-04:00

So, I'm at work and wanting to fix my soup for lunch (Chunky Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef...NOT low sodium, btw) and I realized I left my plastic container at home so I have nothing in which to heat it up! doh!

Scanning the desk I see a nearly-empty jar of peanuts so I finish those off and pour the can into the empty jar and heat that up in the microwave. But, it's not real easy to eat out of that since the jar is tall and the spoon is not. So, pour it carefully back into the can et voila! yummy soup goodness is now in my belly!

Last night, we ventured back to Epcot to catch the next act in their Eat to the Beat concert series. Sugar Ray performed last night (and thru tomorrow). My gf and her friend have challenged themselves to see *every* act that plays there, even Hanson and Taylor Hicks. I haven't the stomach for that so I'm going to several that I've deemed worthy of attending. He put on a good show (we saw the last of 3 they do each day). Things are just more relaxed at the later show, plus it's dark and people just seem more willing to have fun. Could tell Sugar Ray was enjoying it, too. Here are some blurry cell phone pics:

edit: OMG, I forgot to mention. He brought something that was greatly needed: More cowbell!

And, in other news, this is the 3rd day in a row we've had the windows open. Woo hoo! Lovin' this weather!

Food & Wine again!

2010-10-04T12:30:00.000-04:00

The 15th annual Epcot Food & Wine festival, that is. Sampled some of the food Fri. night w/my gf and some friends that are in town on vacation. Tried the braised ribs from France, a beef tenderloin from South Africa, stuff cabbage from Poland and a barbecue chicken stick from China. Dying to get back soon and try the Belgian waffle! yummmm!

An exciting week shaping up here. My oldest daughter's due date is this Thursday so I could be a grandpa at any minute! And, my youngest turns 16 on Friday (got a party for her and some friends in the works.) Next weekend is my birthday and the following weekend is my gf's son's birthday (he wants a *scary* cake so we have that coming and will probably get a bounce house thing and maybe one with a slide, too.)

And have I mentioned the weather? Low 80s, lots of sun, low humidity. yummmm!

Bad News, Good News

2010-09-28T13:11:00.000-04:00

First, the bad news.

PopTarts are twice as bad for you as I previously thought. It's true. And it makes me sad.

Look at the side of a box of PopTarts. Serving size: 1 pastry

WHAT?!?!?! *1* pastry is a serving size?? Since WHEN?? Once opening the hermetically sealed package that contains not 1 but *2* (that's TWO) pastries, how is one supposed to eat only 1? That's insanity, dude!

Excuse me while I regain my composure (and my breath).....

Okay...I think I'm better now. Whew...

Oh! The good news part. Scrabble Cheez-Its!! Holy crap that's awesome!!
Fun with Scrabble Cheez-Its

How did I not find out about this until a year later? Got some catching up to do!

Time for some KICK-ASS music:

J Roddy Walston and the Business

Use Your Language

I have been jamming J Roddy for a few weeks now. Damn...I can't get enough of this stuff. Freakin' ROCKS!!! You GOTTA check out the rest of the songs on their YouTube Channel. And, they were on World Cafe several days ago.

Everyone ready for fall and Halloween coming up? woo hoo

"That was peculiar."

2010-08-25T08:21:00.002-04:00

Was almost at work and I look at this woman in a Jeep Cherokee next to me at a light and she has what looked at first like a plastic knife and fork in her left hand while holding the steering wheel. I'm thinking...umm... why? Then I look at her face and see about 2 dozen tongue depressors sticking out of her mouth (the things in her hands were two extras).

I thought about rolling my window down and asking her what the deal was but then I'd have felt bad if she started to talk and they all fell out of her mouth and all over the floor of her car.

heh

Oh, so...I've been experimenting with different routes to/from work and home. Trying to find a good mix of using the toll roads and surface streets so I'm not forking out $4-5/day in tolls but not sitting at traffic lights for half an hour. I've found two decent alternatives to all tolls. One only costs $1 each way but takes longer but I miss the more congested areas near downtown so it's about 10-15min. longer, tops. The other way only saves $1/day and only takes about 5 min. more in the afternoon but about the same amount of time on the way in to work. How do I know it's the same on the way in? Well, I'll tell you why!!

Leaving my subdivision this morning I was behind a guy in a green Honda and the last 3 numbers/letters of his license plate caught my eye (I won't bore with the inside joke significance of it but anyway....) He merges onto the first toll road but I take the surface road and take what's become my normal route. I merge onto another toll road (I live near a confluence of 3 different toll roads coming from different ways...makes for interesting directions when telling someone how to get here!) and I merge in and who do I see in the lane next to me, one car ahead? That same guy in the green Honda. ha!

So, taking the same amount of time I'll save $1/day which is about $250/yr which is about the price of a Disney Florida Resident Seasonal Pass renewal! lol!

Quite the exciting life I lead, eh?

It's been cloudy/rainy here the last couple of days. Sunday was crazy rainy. Had flood advisories out for our area (and the water draining off the gutterless roof was forming a lake in the landscaping in front of our house. Looks like I can add gutters to the list of things the house needs pretty soon. But, been enjoying the cooler weather. 85 vs 95? Oh yeah...makes for some nice evenings outside playing with the kids!

Two Things

2010-08-19T09:46:00.001-04:00

Came across of couple of interesting links yesterday. One is downright hilarious (yet kinda sad) and the other is something that should get the brain enthused about bringing out the self-sufficient side of life.

First, the hilarity:

Plastic surgeon was texting in car before fatal crash

Sorry, but, uhh...LMFAO!!!

NO ONE'S life is that freakin' important (well, except to themselves maybe) that they have to tweet/twitter/tweeter/whatthefuckever about their dog, ESPECIALLY WHILE DRIVING!!

One less brain-dead robot in the world at least....whew....MORON.

Oh well, on to better and brighter things:

Appropedia

Appropedia is the site for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of sound principles and appropriate technology and the sharing of wisdom and project information. It is a wiki, a type of website which allows anyone to add, remove, or edit content. Registration is encouraged but not required for contributors.

Appropedia has been described as an "appropriate technology wiki," but it is much broader than that - it is a green wiki, and a wiki for all matters of international development and aid. But most importantly, Appropedia is an open site for stakeholders to come together to find, create and improve scalable and adaptable solutions. For more about our motivation, see Appropedia:Mission.

Appropedia began in April of 2006. In the earliest stages it was a collaboration between passionate people from the United States and Australia, and quickly expanded to become a global project.

A number of other similar sites have joined Appropedia since its inception, bringing many content pages, readers and contributors, including:

* Sustainable Development Wikia
* WinWinWiki
* Wikigreen.org
* Village Earth's Appropriate Technology Wiki Project
* HowToLiveWiki, home of the Hexayurt
* The sGoals Wiki, a.k.a. the Sustainable Goals Wiki (sustainable business)

I've been poring over this site and loving it. Tips on saving energy/water when washing clothes, how to build a solar-powered lawnmower (wish I'd found this before I bought mine!), etc.

And, now that we're settled into the house, it's time to get the indoor gardening up and running! Probably start with tomatoes first. Easy to grow and everyone eats them. :-)

OH, btw (and I guess this makes this entry Three Things, not Two...lol), I am now soft drink-free for the last 10 days! And Aspartame-free, too! Aspartame should NEVER have been approved but, hey, we all know what happens when Republicans take office and help their buddies (just look up Reagan, 1981, FDA, Rumsfeld, Aspartame and you'll find all you need to know). It's just bad news...can actually lead to obesity (or at least weight gain), is not good for those with blood sugar issues, etc.

I've lost 4 lbs so far just by virtue of eating and drinking better (and my 2-3 times/week workout with the lawnmower!! hehe)

The Loss of Innocence

2010-08-04T20:22:00.003-04:00

Watched The Lovely Bones over the weekend. It's about a girl murdered by a neighbor but who's stuck in the "in-between" and how the family copes after and looking for the killer and she can see what's going on (in a nutshell). But...it was based in the early 70s so the clothes were like what I wore as a kid and what my parents wore and the cars they drove and houses we lived in. By then, social conformity had set in comfortably.

Then we watched Hearts in Atlantis (based on a Stephen King story) and it was based a bit further back in time...in the days The Lone Ranger was new each week. The main character, a boy, had his eyes set on this Schwinn bike. Another period piece in a way. Again, conformity was already set into American life by the late 50s.

But it also got me to thinking that, for the most part, kids are still the same (at least until a certain age). There's still that childhood innocence, that ignorance of the really horrible things in the world and the really bland, monotonous lifestyles that abound. To a kid, anything and everything is still possible. Just watch Radio Flyer for another glimpse into childhood imagination (albeit with a dark, tragic motivator).

When do we lose that? The first heartbreak? The first job? After college? At some point the imagination just starts to fade away and falling into a daily routine of subsistence takes over.

Not everyone loses their imagination. Plenty do, though, and I think that's one of the most tragic things that can happen to someone. To me, being able to imagine is an amazingly unique trait to humans. It's the spark of invention, film, music, pieces of art, humor, legends...things that altogether form a culture of a people. When imagination is gone, what's the purpose of living? A person with no imagination is no different than a cow standing in a field munching on grass totally unaware of the sledgehammer headed for its skull.

edit: Meant to add this. nothing like being Innocent When You Dream...

Discovered something the other night

2010-07-20T16:55:00.001-04:00

We can actually see some of the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom at Disney from our front porch. It's just the ones that go up the highest but that's still pretty cool. We'd been hearing the BOOMS every night starting at 10pm but never figured we could actually see them. Was in the garage the other night cleaning stuff up a little and heard the booms earlier (9pm) so I peeked my head out of the garage and I saw a couple of big fireworks going off over a roof a couple houses down from us. Pretty cool! Too bad the window in the bonus room upstairs faces the opposite way or we'd be able to see better. Of course, in the grand scheme of things this ain't no big deal...just kinda neat. :-)

Haven't gotten to use the new mower yet. Total bummer. Waiting on a new battery to be sent from the mfr to replace the one that looks like it's about to explode at any second (buldging sides, mashed battery post). Still having to borrow the neigbhors'. Glad they're nice folks...hanging with them at Aquatica tonight after work.

Still trying to decide if I want to go with Direct TV or just use the cheap TV antenna I picked up Best Buy. I didn't realize the TV station towers were well to the east of town (30-35 miles away) so reception is iffy with that little thing (oh, Radio Shack double bow-tie antenna, how I wish I hadn't thrown thee away!) I'm sure once basketball season hits that I'll cave! Just have to get that letter written to the HOA Architectural Review Board (seriously) to get the positioning of the dish on the roof approved before installation....ugh.

And why can't Orlando radio be decent? Gawd I wish every single day that the Louisville Public Radio Partnership would copy itself and create a group down here. So much good music I can only get by streaming over the web....Dawes, The National, Mumford and Sons, Drive By Truckers, Backyard Tire Fire, ALO, Lucero (who's coming soon to House of Blues to open up for someone...woo hoo), Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, The Hold Steady, She & Him (buddy of mine back in Ky got his ukulele signed by Zooey Deschanel...way cool)....ugh...so many more. Oh well...blessed be the internet for now...

I probably...

2010-07-19T21:12:00.001-04:00

shouldn't have told my gf that Shaun of the Dead was ok for the kids to watch. >:-)

shouldn't have had four soft drinks today.

shouldn't have borrowed the neighbor's lawnmower last week (they just had to have it replaced under warranty after it just stopped working.)

should start working out every day and doing my spinal stretching exercises.

should take my girlfriend out for another "date night" very soon.

should finish reading the book I started almost a year ago (about 2/3 done...heh)

should put together the audio rack and hook up the receiver and the turntable.

should get some candles and a bottle of wine this weekend.

should get off this laptop and get busy with the stretches....

Fourth of July boogie recap

2010-07-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

The trip back to KY went well. Weather was beyond awesome the first day at my mom's. Played outside all day with the kids. And that night, they all caught fireflies for the first time ever. They'd never even *seen* them before! It was sooo cute watching them run around catching lightning bugs! And the things kids come up with... In the backyard is a well house. Just a small roof over a short wall that covers up the deep well. My gf's son gave the perfect description of what it looks like: "Mom! Look! Their doghouse melted!" LMAO!!

Headed into town the next day and stopped by White Castles near my sister's house (mmm....7 tasty cheeseburgers loaded with pickles and onions!) Ended up at her stepdaughter's house across the river where several people had pitched in and bought what was probably about $2000 worth of fireworks. BOOM! BOOM! big ones! It was awesome!

Relaxed the next day and celebrated my sister's birthday (and my oldest daughter, too, even though it was a couple weeks early for that). But, had a good talk w/my daughter and her fiance about my advice to them on how to get their own place eventually, him finishing his degree, etc etc. Felt good hearing my daughters' laughter...miss them both.

Headed back home and the kids kept wanting me to put the ipod on Bertha Butt Boogie (the old Jimmy Castor Bunch song). They freakin' love it! lol!

We got our fridge yesterday! woohoo!! Girls' beds came today. Washer/dryer coming tonight. New lawnmower (omg the grass is getting tall...hurry up and get here!) on Friday. Blinds on Friday. Ready for some beach time this weekend!

oooo...just saw this. Some Epcot Food and Wine food/concert info! Gonna be plenty of cheese (and not just the kind you eat! lol) Hope there's some chocolate and beer at the Belgium stand!

Not-so-Brighthouse strikes again

2010-06-27T15:11:00.001-04:00

Well, we're all moved into the house! Now the fun of unpacking and waiting for all kinds of deliveries (frig, washyer/dryer, blinds, etc.) Direct TV comes tomorrow to setup that stuff. I checked around for various internet-only services and it ain't cheap when all you want is internet service (no bundle w/TV or phone).

Brighthouse won out on price/performance so I setup a new install off of their website. The earliest date available was this morning between 8-10am. Sounds fine to me.

Well, 2pm rolls around and still no one. I call and they have NO record of my order anywhere. So I have to setup another one for Tuesday morning (which means my gf and her kids have to delay or scrap going to Aquatica with our new neighbors - met them last night...really nice and have 2 kids about the same age as my gf's youngest two).

Ugh...I hate crappy service and piss-poor designs for software that *should* be a top-priority for a service company that provides internet service! ... idiots.

Oh well...

Looking forward to heading back to Ky for the Fourth. Haven't been to the 'Ville since New Years! Can't believe it's been 6 months since the last trip.

Hope everyone's enjoying their summer!

Finally! It's ours!

2010-06-17T08:37:00.001-04:00

At 3pm today we close on our house!

The last 2 months have been about as nerve-wracking as they could possibly be but things all eventually fell into place and I got an email yesterday that the USDA Rural Development finally approved the loan and a short while later I got a call that closing was set for 3pm today!

We'll be getting the keys for this baby right here:

My gf is heading to Home Depot today to get some paint, rollers, painters' tape, tarps, etc. and we'll start painting tonight (looking forward to painting those 9' 4" ceilings...mmm hmmm....)

But, yes! Finally! It's ours!

The New Three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

2010-06-13T11:50:00.000-04:00

The more I read about the oil spewing into the Gulf from BP's huge fuck-up, the more I get sickened. To save themselves about $100,000 they've unleashed Armageddon on the Gulf of Mexico and no one knows how long before they can stop the leak. And now BP has the Coast Guard and the National Guard chasing away citizens and CNN cameraman from sites where oil is washing ashore?!? WTF?!? It's WAY past time for Obama to "kick some asses", starting with the BP execs on down.

I've decided to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle as much as I possibly can. I already stopped buying bottled water months ago. Now it's time to Reduce anything petroleum-based. Just look around your house and look at how much plastic (oil-based) has entrenched itself in our lives. From the 10 year-old laptop I'm typing this on, to the cordless phone, to the remote control, plastic juice bottles in the frig, etc. Time to head back to glass and steel and buying used and/or organic.

After we move into the new house, I've decided to get this for a lawn mower (cordless, rechargeable):

http://www.amazon.com/Solaris-S21HB-21-Inch-Cordless-Discharge/dp/B001PKTRU8/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1276443367&sr=8-3-fkmr1

Which comes with this solar-powered battery charger:

http://www.amazon.com/Solaris-510143-Environmentally-Friendly-Cordless/dp/B001PKTRW6/ref=pd_bxgy_ol_img_b

And check out this Lennox solar-power assisted HVAC system:

http://blog.homerenovationguide.com/heating-and-cooling/lennox-unveils-solar-powered-home-energy-system/

We have to do something to stop our dependence on not just foreign oil, but oil in general! No matter what that dumb-fuck The Twit says (She's on about how we need to keep up with the "Drill, Baby. Drill") My god, I wish an asteroid would splat that dumb-fuck into oblivion.

It's a girl!

2010-06-04T19:46:00.001-04:00

So, yeah, in 4 months I'm going to be a grandfather! Zoinks, Scoob!

I'm only 43! but...I couldn't be happier. Things are going well for my oldest so far (hadn't said anything yet as she has had some medical issues in the past but things are going great). She went to the doctor today and...it's...a....GIRL!! Can't wait to spoil the ever-loving heck outta her! lol

The housing front is progressing. Got the updated loan docs from the funding lender the other day and printed them out, signed them, scanned them, and emailed them back. I'm hoping we finally get cleared to set a closing date next week! Starting to get excited again! (and getting tired of the I-4 commute each day...oh, the new commute will be so much better)

My youngest daughter is doing better in school. Just a few points shy in a couple of classes from making honor roll even! I'm proud! She had her keyboard recital this week, too, and she played Amazing Grace with...amazing grace. har har! :-)

Have the place to myself right now, hence the ability to get on here and write more than a "hello". Watching a Travel Channel show on the Colorado River I DVRd in Feb! ha! going to try and watch a couple more shows I DVRd in the last few months but haven't had a chance since the TV's usually on Disney, Nickelodeon, or the kids are playing the Wii.

Might get to see a sunset tonight for a change. Been stormy every night this week so far which my gf LOVES! She's not used to being around storms and the lightning and thunder get her going...lol. ;-)

Hope everyone has a great summer and a great weekend. Think we're heading to Aquatica tomorrow (weather-permitting).

June already?

2010-06-02T21:18:00.001-04:00

Was hoping to close on the house on Friday but that's delayed probably 2 weeks or so. But the good news is the loan processing is back on and should be able to set a closing date soon! whew!

I'll get some good news Friday anyway when my daughter goes to the doctor to find out if she's having a boy or a girl! woo hoo!!

And work has finally slowed down to where I actually left on-time today. But then traffic was a beeyotch and took me nearly an hour to get home...blah.

another FL thunderstorm rumbling along outside...been hot this week and getting hotter this weekend. Pool time!

oooo...wish we were moving into our new house this weekend! Finally getting excited again after 3 weeks of delays and unknowns...

OMG!! Surprised!!

2010-05-22T01:45:00.000-04:00

My gf's mom came into town early this morning and is staying down at Disney so her and the kids went down today to have fun for the next few days. I, of course, had to work (wrapping up phase 1 of a big project and next week is the big deadline).

I headed down after work and I'm greeted with the biggest surprise I think I've ever had.....my oldest daughter!!! *happycry*

My gf had gotten some airline credit and flew her down here for a few days! OMG!! YAY!!!!

We spent a few hours at Epcot and going back down to Animal Kingdom in the morning and then just relaxing all day Sunday and hanging out...maybe go by the new house so she can see that (oh, btw, on Monday, the Senate takes up the bill we need passed...ugh...come on!).

omg...I can't believe this! I haven't seen her since New Year's! HEE hee!

In Limbo

2010-05-19T17:53:00.000-04:00

Well, my mortgage app is in total limbo right now due to the USDA's Guaranteed Loan Program being out of money. Should be just days away from the Senate passing legislation that includes an amendment to replenish the funding. Will cost me about $20/mo. more but, hey, I don't mind!

I've emailed the top dogs at the USDA, the two FL Senators, been calling Sen. Bennet's office and Sen. Reid's office to find out when this will come up for a vote but no one knows or can say. ugh.

Hey...wanna laugh?

Heard that on World Cafe yesterday and was cracking up. :)

What else...

Work is CRAZY BUSY and might have to work more this weekend, too. Wrapping up Phase 1 of this web application for the sales team. Getting great reviews from the execs and users so far. Sweet!

Almost summer!

2010-05-15T07:37:00.001-04:00

Even though I've only managed to get to Disney twice in the last couple of months, life has been fun. Not much time on the ol' PC anymore as we're usually doing family stuff now. SO funny hanging w/the kids and the crazy things they come up with to do (and say! lol) And I'd forgotten how gullible little ones can be. >:-)

Several friends are in town, staying at Disney, so the last couple of evenings we've had a "date night" and my daughter has babysat. Last night was just walking around Epcot's World Showcase and partaking in some great food and drink. Here's the Avocado Margarita and Chicken Tostadas (minus black beans) from La Cava de Tequila:

It's actually a bit greener in person...cell phones in low light aren't the best for pics :-)

On the house update, we've passed Final Underwriting!! Now the loan's been sent off to the government for the guarantee (the particular program we're in) but that program has apparently already depleted its funds and Congress is about to pass legislation to replenish it. Hope we're not delayed any longer and they somehow manage to secure that guarantee and we can close in a couple of weeks! Soooo close!

Been a year already? wow.

2010-05-04T12:42:00.001-04:00

One year ago I had just moved from Ky where I'd lived my entire life for a new life in Florida. A new job, a new city to explore and find a comfortable place to live, school for my daughter, etc. Now it's been a year and I've switched jobs (much better one now), I'm looking to buy a house (wish the lender would let me know more but I'm in the waiting period now...ugh), my girlfriend and her kids are living with me, I'm going to be a grandpa in a few more months. The adventure never seems to end.

I still miss Louisville a lot. Been since New Year's that I was last up there...too long to go w/o seeing my other daughter. Missing her bunches.

Daily life isn't really any different, though. Although there have been many trips to Disney and the beach but still have the daily grind, laundry, bills to pay, shopping, etc. so I'm getting used to being here. And now there are a few more faces clamoring for hugs and attention and I'm loving every minute of that!

Doesn't feel like "home", though. But hard to get that feeling after I lived in the same place for 42 years. Orlando radio still sucks, though. That's why I end up streaming WFPK from back in Louisville or I'd go insane! heh.

Thought I might have something more profound to offer up but nothing is coming to mind. Haven't really had time to reflect on all that's happened in the last year and, frankly, don't really feel like it right now. Too much to look forward to right now. Like I can't wait to go pick out blinds, a refrigerator, washer/dryer, paint colors, etc. with my girlfriend and start fixing up the house! soon...I hope.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Dick Dale! If you don't know who he is, then you don't like surfing guitar music! :-)

The Kentucky...Muddy?

2010-04-30T21:11:00.003-04:00

My first time not being in Louisville for a Derby and Mother Nature is set to let loose with a few inches of heavy rain tomorrow. That's the trouble w/the Derby when it's held on May 1. Seems the weather is usually awful. I can remember snow flurries during a Derby before!

We'll be nice and hot and dry down here, though. Well...we'll be wet but that's because we're heading to Aquatica for my gf's daughter's bday. Woo hoo!! Then it's off to Rita's for a free Italian ice (tomorrow only...woo hoo, part two!) Then we'll be back home in time to watch the mudslinging at Churchill Downs.

Everyone be havnfn!

Memory Triggers

2010-04-27T09:31:00.001-04:00

Memory Triggers

Often they come at me from out of the blue.

A song comes on the radio I haven't heard in months or years and a flood memories roll through my mind. Some bring on feelings of melancholy and a longing for simpler (or just different) times. A longing to escape back to a time when I thought life felt comfortable and more my own.

Sometimes it's an immediate spark of a happy moment in time. My daughters' laughing, cutting grass on a nice spring day, making a snowman in the front yard, a trip to NYC or maybe a trip for work....a thought of preparing for a Derby party (not this year, though...my first year away from Ky for Derby)

Sometimes it's a memory of sadder times...times of loss. Sometimes memories of regrets...thoughts of what might have been if things had gone differently or had I done or said something differently. Even the littlest of choices can have profound effects on our lives.

Then, as quickly as it arrived, it's over. The song ends. A new one comes on and reality eases back into place and I'm back at my desk at work in downtown Orlando and waiting on a call from the builder's lender (edit: ooo...they just called. Approved thru their underwriter now it's off to the USDA for final approval after I sign the disclosures!) and wishing the day was over so I could be back home w/my girlfriend and all of the kids.

Sometimes I think it would amazing to be able to somehow record memories off and watch them on TV. But would I just get lost in that? Remember that scene in the first Harry Potter when Harry is looking into that "memory mirror" and looking at his parents and he spends most of his time up in that room, letting life pass by in the meantime?

Can't let life pass me by. Did enough of that in my time. Still...it's nice to think back once in a while....

They got their dimes' worth!

2010-04-26T07:52:00.000-04:00

We did a March for Dimes walk on Saturday. The weather was awesome and there was a HUGE turnout. People from all kinds of different sponsors there. We stopped by our corporate tent and got some bottled water and snacks and the stopped at a restroom for the kids before we started the walk and were waiting for others from the group to walk by for the team photo. Well, they must have gone around the OTHER way because by the time we got to the photo spot, they had just taken the pic! DOH! Oh well...

We walked through a part of town that reminded me a lot of the Highlands back in Louisville. These homes weren't as old as most of those but they were older, larger lots, overlooking lakes, etc. Checked the prices on realtor.com when we got home and they ran from $800k to over $2 million. In our price range? Nope..."just a bit outside". heh

Got to the 3-mile mark and my girlfriend and her two youngest took a shuttle van back while my daughter and my gf's oldest finished the last 3 miles. We had fun walking, talking, goofing around. Got back to a free lunch and picked up some swag from some tents and headed home. Went to the pool for a bit and then back and we all crashed for a few hours. More pool time yesterday and then sitting back and enjoying the thunderstorms that rolled through last night. She and her kids didn't get to see many of them in Las Vegas so it was fun watching them get excited over the loud thunderclaps.

Back at work and ready for another week. Meeting a loan officer today to go over more papers for the financing. Haven't heard back yet from the builder's lender but we're probably looking at late May to early June for a closing, I'm guessing. Would be nice if it happens sooner but hard to say how these things will go. Been 12 years since I tried buying a house. Not quite as simple as buying even a car.

Later....

It was just a number

2010-04-19T08:11:00.001-04:00

Phone number that is. I'd had the same cell phone # for over 10 years. Ever since I was first in business for myself. But, alas, that number is no more for I now finally have a FL area code. :-)

I had to switch my account from KY to FL so I could add my girlfriend's phone onto my account. We couldn't just transfer her # from Las Vegas on AT&T apparently. You'd think since it was just one big company it would be easy, eh? Nope.

It was a bit of a hassle. They kept trying to add a data plan to my old smartphone (which was a year out of contract and I'd dropped the internet plan) Finally got that straightened out and then our new phones came in and at least she isn't dropping calls in my apt anymore. Weird, as we had the exact same phone but her reception was sucky in my apt. Weird.

And now we're in a kind of waiting mode. Waiting to hear back from a couple of lenders for the mortgage approval. Going to have to work to clear some medical collections on my credit report that belong to my ex-wife (I know that for sure as the dates are from 2-3 years *after* the divorce) and something from the state from years back when I owed some taxes but their online system shows it's all paid but my credit reports don't. Ugh...what a hassle. But, if it all goes through, we'll be moving into a beautiful new house about 10 min. north of Disney! lol. The schools are pretty good there, too, which is why we decided on that area, plus the traffic is less congested and tolls are cheaper to downtown so my commute won't be so bad.

Otherwise, we're all settling in and getting used to having a crowded apartment now. We're havnfn alright!

Epcot Garden Town Breakfast

2010-04-18T17:13:00.000-04:00

Well, my gf was orignally going to be here this weekend w/her kids and her mom but obviously things have changed since she's already moved here! But, I'd planned a special brunch to surprise her (and it was to give her and I some time sans kids).

So, this morning, we went to the Garden Town Breakfast that's part of Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival going on right now. The food was awesome (and the dessert - pic below - was super tasty and they gave us the recipe, and a demonstration of how to make it) Before the chef came out, though, there was someone speaking who was in charge of the plantings for the festival. I got to ask him a question after the event as to what types of grass can grow down here in FL. I'm used to Ky bluegrass or, better yet, a rye/fescue mix which would die out here in a heartbeat. Apparently, Empire Zoysia is a good option and, assuming the financing goes through, is what I'd eventually replace the St Augustine grass in the backyard as it's much softer and better for the kids to run around and play on. hehe.

Here's a bunch of pics from the breakfast:

Oh...and here are a couple of pictures of the

Cantina de San Angel

construction going on at the Mexico pavilion at Epcot:

Beach baby, beach baby, give me your hand...

2010-04-17T08:29:00.001-04:00

Heading to the beach this afternoon. My Dad is at his timeshare for a couple of weeks. Went there last Sat. and got a bit sunburned. Probably will today, too.

And going to put an offer on a house today! Out in Winter Garden...brand new. Details to come!

Yeah...it's been awhile

2010-04-07T21:30:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I've written and it's been a while since my home was filled with little kids running around! :-)

Ayup...my girlfriend and her family finally have made the trek east! 4 days of driving over Easter weekend (with a stop in the French Quarter...New Orleans has recovered quite well from what I saw in the French Quarter and the Garden District). The kids were great the whole way, too!

Now we're trying to find a good rental home in the area. Saw one tonight and it was nice...about 10 years ago. It's gotten long in the tooth and not worth the money they were asking.

Well...back to the fam!

Woo! It's back!

2010-03-28T10:54:00.001-04:00

National "Something on a Stick" Day!!

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

Dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Now, what will it be? Corn dog? Popsicle? Kebobs?

Willful Ignorance. I just don't get it.

2010-03-27T19:00:00.004-04:00

The desire to NOT want to learn.

The fear of thought.

The fear of ideas.

Perhaps it's due to modern technology but, imo, never before in America have so many people (well, the "29%ers" anyway) eschewed the strive to educate themselves. Never before have so many just shut off their brains and blindly followed the faux news they see and hear in quick soundbites.

And now that willful ignorance is manifesting itself in a violent manner as we read of multiple offices of Congress members vandalized, gas lines of the homes of politicians' families are being cut, death threats issued to members of Congress, assassination threats made to the President.

Over what? A healthcare bill the Republicans would have voted for if *they* were the ones that thought it up? It's virtually identical to "Romneycare" instituted in Massachusetts by then Republican Governor Mitt Romney and includes a mandate of insurance that was first brought about by Republican President Richard Nixon and further supported as recently as 2008 by Republican Senator John McCain.

The Terrorist Party members are holding a rally in Searchlight, NV today with The Twit being their headline speaker, you betcha! That at least 1/4 of Americans find The Twit to be intellectually capable of holding the office of President of the United States of America is another damning indictment as to the state of this nation and how willful ignorance is running rampant.

Think I'm blowing smoke as to how ignorant these Terrorist Party members are? Check out this poll

Want to see one of them up close and personal? Prepare yourself for rampant ignorance and hatred:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMIsmSml5gs

Many of them don't realize that Medicare, Social Security, even the Veterans Administration are social programs. Most of them even want government intervention to create more jobs yet they bitch and moan that the government is too big already and that people should be responsible for themselves? It's like some mutant form of Ayn Randian (lack of) thought.

They're angry. And rightfully so. But they're angry for the wrong reasons and at the wrong people. The very party that's led this nation to the brink of complete financial disaster with 30 years of Reaganomics continues to embrace and condone these domestic terrorists that spawned the likes of Timothy McVeigh.

If they want civil war, they'd best listen to this Marine first.

It's going to take a long time for this country to recover from the damage the conservatives have wreaked for the last 3 decades. I hope at least a few of these willfully ignorant finally wake up and start thinking for themselves and realize their idols are really the devil.

edit: And from the You Can't Make This Shit Up Department:

Terrorist Party member on the government roll

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."

And so it goes....

2010-03-20T00:33:00.001-04:00

What a way to end such an inconsistent year: a double-digit loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

blah.

At least Sosa's gone...great freshman year and then 3 years' worth of a sophomore slump.

Sooo....when's football start? hehe

Well, off to bed. Need some sleep...going to rope drop at Disney's Hollywood Studios tomorrow. Not sure how long we'll last there with the spring break crowds there. Probably bail after lunch.

Just looking forward to two weeks from now. Should be pulling in for the night somewhere in New Mexico w/my gf and her kids as we make our way back east!! woo hoo!!

What's The Strongest Thing in the World?

2010-03-14T08:33:00.000-04:00

So, what's the strongest thing in the world?

Iron? Steel? Some type of alloy? Carbon Fiber?

Nope. Not even close!

The strongest thing in the world is....

The adhesive used in those plastic bags inside boxes of cereal!!

Dude! I'm totally serious! I thought I was going to lose an arm this morning (at least a couple of fingers). Sheesh!

Happy Pi Day! (3.14). And, actually, to be a bit more accurate, We could celebrate about 5 min. til 4pm (3.14159). hehe

Oh, and Happy National Potato Chip Day, too!

WE WON!!!!

2010-03-12T19:16:00.000-05:00

In 3 weeks my family will triple in size!

My gf won her court case yesterday. It's all over! No more waiting and wondering!

Now we just have to figure out all the details of the move and start looking for a rental house and figure out if we'll be able to stay in the same school zone for everyone and.....

OMG what a relief that the waiting is over!

Fare Thee Well (and SUCK IT, 'Cuse!!)

2010-03-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

UofL just said farewell to Freedom Hall by beating the shit outta #1 Syracuse!!

A lotta memories in that arena for me. Can't wait to check out the new downtown arena when next season starts up. I'm sure I'll make a trip or two back to Louisville. heh heh.

March Madness has begun!!

A different type of goodbye

2010-03-03T06:57:00.001-05:00

Back into the regular work grind now. Feeling a little freaked out watching the morning news. A clerk at a local grocery store was shot and later died at the hospital. It was a domestic violence case, not some random robbery, but I wonder if I'd "known" her. I was in that exact same store as I was heading back to work after dropping my gf off at the airport yesterday morning. Sad news....

But....yeah, my gf and her youngest daughter were here for the past few days and we had a great time staying down at Disney. On the flight out, the flight attendants were asking her if she was going to DisneyWorld and she'd answer them that she was coming to see me. I'm bigger than Disney! woo hoo!!

I'll have to post up some pics once I get them off the camera.

Felt different dropping them off at the airport, though. But, it was a good different. Like I really felt this could be the last time she'd have to fly back. Not long now until the next court date and, don't want to say much else but confidence is rather high we'll finally get some great news very soon. Still a chance the judge could order it to go to trial but it would just be a formality (not to mention a waste of the court's time and resources) but that's the way it's been with this judge.

Well, time to get ready for work...blah.. Wish it would at least warm up to average temps. Tired of these chilly mornings already! I want that warm FL sun!!

Guess what this week is???

2010-02-22T19:53:00.001-05:00

National Pancake Week!

And guess what happens tomorrow at IHOP?

Free short stack for every guest!

Just hope the closest IHOP isn't packed...might have to have a late dinner tomorrow. heh

Went to the beach for a couple of hours yesterday...parked at the condos where my Dad has his timeshare and got a temporary parking pass. Sure felt good walking with the sand under my feet.

Loving this triumphant return of warm weather, although we have a few days of highs in the 60s later this week, great timing...have a special visitor coming! yay!! Going to be an awesome weekend of Disney fun. Actually staying on-site the whole weekend so it will be like a mini vacation.

Been looking at rental houses again. Hoping like heck we'll *need* the room very very soon. Otherwise, guess I'll be waiting for my lease to end in May. Still thinking of moving a bit further south and east but now my daughter has a new friend at school. Took her down to Disney w/us on Saturday and spent the entire day down there. Had a great time, of course.

Well, off to do some laundry and get ready to watch Jack Bauer kick some ass!

A better Valentine's Day than last year

2010-02-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Was talking on the phone w/my gf when two dozen of these arrived at her place:

Hopefully, in a few more weeks, she'll be here permanently!

In other news, yesterday, my daughter and I met some good friends down at Disney. Had fun at Animal Kingdom, even though we got stuck for a few minutes on the hill going up on Expedition Everest. Was starting to get a little nervous but then it started up and all was well.

Took my daughter to the airport to send her back to Ky and the snow for a weekend w/her mom then I went back to Animal Kingdom to meet up w/my friends and we went back to Expedition Everest but it was shutdown. Felt weird knowing that my daughter was *just* there with me but now she was 900 miles away. Already miss her...

Got see what the new Bay Lake Towers looks like. Nice and crisp and modern but almost too much so. Does have awesome views of the Magic Kingdom. Got to see the Wishes fireworks show from the Top of the World Lounge. Got a few cell pics:

(Studio room)

(give you one guess.....ayup...the pool!)

(Beef Tenderloin Flatbread, with goat cheese, from the Top of the World Lounge)

Oh! And woo hoo!! UofL just beat #2 Syracuse. Our tourney hopes are still alive!

Explorlando 2 - The Results

2010-02-06T18:02:00.000-05:00

So, we're back from exploring around the area and we definitely ruled out the Oviedo area. There were some really nice developments, though, between UCF on the south and Oviedo proper on the north but I just didn't get the warm fuzzies like the other area we looked at: Winter Springs.

So, it's a distinct possibility that moving to that area will happen by the end of summer, hopefully sooner. A couple areas were REALLY NICE...if only. Well, I *could* afford it but then I'd have no money left for fun stuff soooooo....

Well, off to fix some pasta and some sort of meat to put in with it...probably diced chicken. :-)

Au revoir....

Explorlando! The Eastern Odyssey (+ how I will die)

2010-02-06T08:37:00.000-05:00

Last time I went out on an Explorlando expedition was several months ago and I focused on the Windermere/Winter Garden area (north of Disney, west of downtown). Was a really nice area but since I was working well north of town, would have made for a crappy commute.

Well, now that I am working downtown, beginning to think about moving closer to work to cut maybe half the commute time (and cut the toll in half, too, for the times I take the toll route home).

Did a bit last night after I dropped my daughter and a school friend of hers off at the movies but it was dark and a bit rainy so couldn't see too well but a few areas really piqued my interest a little south and east of where I am now. The schools there are still top-notch, one high school even got a 10 rating from greatschools.net. Going to search the home and rental websites for a while today and find some good candidates and then go Explorlando!

In other news, mostly over the head cold but still taking the sinus meds every morning and having to clear everything out after I wake up. ugh. but, OOOH!!! That reminds me!!

I know how I'm going to die

Death by Mutant Spider

Ayup...it's true. I'm going to die being eaten alive by a mutant spider.

I had a dream last night, kind of a weird one going all over the place. At the end, I'm sitting on that bed/table thing in a doctor's office and I look up and see a yellowish spider on the ceiling, about the size of a half dollar piece. I figure, ok, Doc's done with me, I'm getting outta here. I get up and start to head for the door and look up one more time to be sure the spider isn't dropping down in front of me and then....It senses me and grows twice its size on the ceiling!

Then it knows that *I* know that it senses me and it doubles in size AGAIN!!

Holy Fuck!!

Then it drops down on the floor and it's about the size of an area rug and I just KNOW that it's going to wrap its legs around me like the Kraaken in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Then I woke up. Felt freaked out as hell. But I made myself try and get back into the dream so that I could end the battle. I summoned the willpower and jumped up and stomped its guts just before it could attack! (It still tried to get a couple of its legs wrapped around me...*brrrr* *shiver*...damn...this is still freaking me out typing this! LOL!!

Ok, time to get some breakfast and wake up my sleepyhead daughter and get busy. Oooo...look at all that sunshine out there...time to open the blinds, too!

Ciao....

My first (Florida) cold

2010-01-28T20:44:00.001-05:00

Hit me this afternoon at work. Started feeling feverish. Thought it was just that it was warm back in area where I work (which it was) but I could still feel that flushed feeling. Took some Advil and that helped.

Now I'm at home and blowing my nose and sniffling and feel a sore throat coming on. blah. Only thing I have here right now is some nasal spray. Guess I'll stop by CVS or Walgreens tomorrow in the morning and get some stuff that will make me think I feel better (or something).

Was excited a little to get home as Amazon was showing my order had been delivered. It Might Get Loud tonight? Nope...not getting loud. Jimmy Page, Jack White, and the Edge were NOT in my mailbox in their Blu-Ray glory. Have to wait several more business days before I can request a replacement order. blah^2.

At least I got something pretty cool figured out at work today that will help me build some pages on the website much more quickly. I was quite pleased with myself. hehe. :-)

Ciao, babies....

EDIT: It WILL Get Loud this weekend. Yay! It was there today!

It's a little spartan but WAY better than before!

2010-01-27T20:25:00.001-05:00

I finally have a real living room! No, really. A sofa to go with the mini loveseat and the bookcase moved and organized. Just need to get a real stand for the TV but it's fine for right now. Oh, and need a coffee table, too.

Can only thank my gf and my daughter for setting it all up last week while I was at work. They rock! :-)

Had some fun at Disney last weekend. Did a couple of the Kim Possible "missions" at Epcot's World Showcase and saw parts of China and the U.K. that I haven't seen before. We ended up having dinner at the Rose and Crown (mmmmm!). I'd post food porn but the pics came out all red because of the heat lamps above (was a bit chilly that evening).

Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go

2010-01-18T23:28:00.002-05:00

Good...

Martin Luther King, Jr.

versus Evil...

Rush Limbaugh

And may your dreams be realized

2010-01-18T07:10:00.001-05:00

Reet? Slain? What does one call it?

2010-01-09T07:31:00.001-05:00

I guess "slain" wouldn't be a good word to use, eh?

I'm talking about a rain/sleet mix, which is currently falling outside of my bedroom window in *Orlando, FL*!! yuck!

I moved down here to get *away* from that crap (well, among other things, too, but...)

Not supposed to last long and certainly nothing will stick. I do feel bad for the Disney Half Marathon runners that are about to run 13 miles or so in this crap. Although 30 miles south of here it shouldn't be sleet but merely a cold, cold rain (like that makes it any better for them).

A hot cocoa morning and then maybe off to catch a model train show up at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. I had a great-uncle that had a cool model train setup in his basement. I remember being fascinated by it when I was but a wee lad.

Otherwise, just a lazy weekend. Don't have to fly or drive anywhere. So, hey, why not check out some trains! And maybe watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles after. haha!

I guess it could be worse

2010-01-06T18:29:00.001-05:00

I moved to Florida to get *away* from the cold. Guess I brought some of it down with me from Ky. At least the snow stayed behind but, ugh! I hate cold weather! Why can't Orlando be a couple hours further south?

2010 is here, eh? An uneventful start for the most part. Quite the opposite of last year's beginning. No plans for any New Year's resolutions and no idea what I expect from this year. Think I'll buy a sofa next weekend. Probably a good idea since my Mom and her husband will be staying nearby for about 3 weeks starting next week and having a place for them to sit when they visit would be good.

Nothing else to report. Haven't been to Disney yet all year! (ha ha) OH! But I did see myself on the Disney Parks Christmas parade! I was visible a few times, in fact. I'll have to post a screencap soon. hehe

Taking the Christmas tree down and tossing it into the dumpster tonight and doing some apt cleaning and laundry and whatnot.

Sooo....happy New Year I guess.

Perfect way to wrap up this year....

2009-12-29T07:15:00.000-05:00

So, I flew to Las Vegas for Christmas and, while I did finally make it there and had a great time once I was there (and miss the smiles and hugs and kisses), it was a helluva time getting there!

Here are the highlights of the journey....

1) Finally find parking at the edge of the "red" satellite parking lot (all off-site parking is full)
2) Get to gate and see delays for anything headed to Dallas (my connecting city).
3) Realize snowstorm hitting Midwest is affect Dallas.
4) Get on stand-by for earlier flight to better chances of making it thru. (only positive of the day)
5) Board flight and leave Orlando at 5:10pm.
6) The worst turbulence I've had since a transatlantic flight in '96.
7) In a holding pattern outside Dallas for over an hour.
8) Land in *Austin, TX* to refuel.
9) Leave Austin about 11pm.
10) Land in Dallas at midnight (Dallas time). Yes...8-hour flight to Dallas (supposed to be *3*!!)
11) Finagle way from *Saturday* flight out of Dallas to 12:25pm flight to Vegas on Christmas Day (means I'll miss Christmas morning w/the kids)
12) Find a place to curl up to catch some sleep at the airport.
13) Fall asleep only to be wakened 30min later by some chatty bitches talking about their choice of schools. Fucking ignorant morons!! It's 1:30am and people are TRYING to sleep! Several of us get up and leer, insult, etc.
14) Wander the terminals for 30min and finally find an empty cot. Catch 90min. of sleep
15) Wake up freezing when lights are flipped on at 3:38am!! It's an end of the terminal under refurbishment! WTF?!?!
16) Wander about and finally find another spot and get maybe another 30min. of sleep.
17) Make way to another terminal in hopes of 6:50am flight to Vegas.
18) Manage to get confirmed on 7:55am flight and on standby for the earlier one (#33 out of 46)
19) Realize I'm not getting on 6:50am flight and truck it back to the other terminal (where it's fucking FREEZING! The fucking A/C was on full blast!)
20) Board plane and land in Vegas about 9:30. Hallelujah!!
21) Get greeted by g/f with hugs and kisses and go surprise her kiddos on Christmas morning!

Whew! What a nightmare that was getting there!

But, I had a great time. Best Christmas in 7 years. Even thought I did managed to nearly rip all the skin off of my hand (and skinned my arm and knee) falling off of a Razr scooter.... hehe

So, this week, it's back to work and visiting WDW with an old college friend who's here with his daughter and then driving back up to Ky for New Year's! Can't wait to see what happens next year!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-24T06:25:00.000-05:00

Almost all packed up for my trip today. Cannot wait to get off that plane tonight and be greeted with smiles, hugs, and kisses!!

This is what I got myself for Christmas:

My new 50" plasma set. Woo hoo!! I've watched Across the Universe, Bolt, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on it and I'm just blown away at how good Blu-Ray looks over regular HD material. I can't wait to see how good it is after I get it all adjusted/calibrated! hehe

And since I'm a huge fan of Neko Case and heard this on WFPK the other morning as I was getting ready for work, I'll leave you all with this:

Santa Left a Booger in my Stocking

Merry Christmas!

Well, that certainly was different!

2009-12-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

The Christmas tree has been purchased along with the stand. And such was done whilst donned in mere short-sleeve shirt and shorts. Quite the unique experience for me I must say. Quite unique, indeed.

I'm most used to shivering beneath layer upon layer of clothing and succumbing to frozen nose by the time a proper tree was selected, bundled, and placed inside the boot of the car.

My daughter and I shall now, having dined upon the fine cuisine offered by the neighborhood Chik-Fil-A, release the aforementioned purchased tree from its plastic netting and begin to wrap it in strands of light and adorn it with various and sundry ornaments.

Good night to all!

Disney Christmas Parade pics (hat trick entry)

2009-12-07T21:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, last set of pics for the night...

Kelly Ripa

Guess who?

Disney Christmas Parade (part 2) (pics)

2009-12-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

After the Jonas Brothers performance (4 separate takes), I thought I'd check out a spot on Main Street to watch the parade and maybe find a spot where I could wave and smile and look like an idiot in the background on TV. hehe

Found a spot about halfway down and a bit later a woman came up and stood behind me with a sign reading "A Blessed Christmas" (ABC...get it? ABC? Disney owns ABC. So, if you see that sign, I'm probably standing next to her. lol)

Anyway...here are more pics

This is the float I was dancing in the street next to...probably end up on TV. lol

Random Magic Kingdom Christmas pics in the next entry....

Disney Christmas Parade (Jonas Bros) (pics)

2009-12-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my daughter and I ventured down to the Magic Kingdom so she could have a chance to somehow, maybe, possibly, catch a glimpse of the Jonas Brothers taping their performance for Disney's Christmas Parade. She was able to do more than that. She was *this* close to being able to touch them. Needless to say she is one happy girl! She'll probably even be on TV in some of the shots, too. And, um, I might be on TV, too...if you see a dorky guy dancing in front of a float with Mickey and Minnie on it....yeah, that's me! lol

Parade pics in the next entry....

Observation of the Day

2009-11-29T21:07:00.001-05:00

Just saw a commercial for Dawn dish washing liquid that has Oil of Olay in it (to keep ones' hands from drying out too much after washing a lot of dishes, I presume).

Umm...I don't want *hand lotion* remnants on my plates. I want to wash my dishes and have them be clean and rinse clean. If my hands are dry after, I think I'm smart enough to use regular hand lotion (which has been around for centuries).

That is all.

Thanksgiving - Vegas Style

2009-11-29T01:28:00.000-05:00

Just got home and it was really hard leaving this time. Esp. since it seemed to fly by so fast. I know it's only a few weeks til Christmas and we don't have to have this three time zone difference between us anymore.

I'm too tired to write much so I'm just going to post a few pics from my cell phone (all the good pics are on my gf's camera but here's a few that came out ok on my phone) Don't have pics from Thanksgiving dinner itself but it was fun heading up into the mountains and eating a yummy dinner looking at the base of some mountains. Definitely help set the ol' holiday spirit.

First off, we went to the Christmas lights display at the Cactus Gardens at Ethel M's (and got some chocolate after the short factory tour)

Then we dropped her kids off w/her father and brother and enjoyed some nightlight high over the Las Vegas skyline (nice having a girlfriend w/connections at the top clubs!)

Then I had to fly home today. :-(

Annoyed

2009-11-22T22:13:00.003-05:00

Spent *5 hours* at a tire store to get my front 2 tires replaced and an oil change and a front-end alignment check. I finally had enough and told them forget the alignment, I needed to get out of there. When I got there, the morning talk shows were starting. When I left, the Colts/Ravens game was almost over.

To top it off, heading back home I felt a slight vibration up front so apparently a tire isn't balanced properly. I'm stopping by a different location on the way home tomorrow and getting that taken care of.

Soooooo ready for Wed and flying back to Vegas to spend Thanksgiving w/my girlfriend and her family and doing some Black Friday shopping, too! I'll mostly be tagging along as I've done most of mine already (still waiting on the new plasma TV to ship...still on backorder. blah)

My first Thanksgiving away from my girls but my little one just rode back to Ky w/my Dad and stepmom who spent the last 2 weeks down here. But, next year will be awesome, esp. if we can really get everyone down here to FL for Thanksgiving!

And still debating staying on-site at Disneyworld in Dec sometime to enjoy all the holiday fun down there or if we'll just head down a day or two and drive back home each night. Guess it depends on what's available down there.

If I don't get a chance to write again soon, Happy Thanksgiving!

Not asleep

2009-11-11T05:37:00.004-05:00

Woke up way early this morning and heard the wind blowing in the trees...reminding me of fall weather back in Ky. These words and thoughts came to me:

Awake too early
sleep is being a tease

All I can hear
is the wind in the trees

Wishing and hoping
on that breeze

Bring me a gift
if you please

One that will calm
the unsettled seas

The thing that will lift me
right off of my knees

Out of that wind
my hands will seize

And receive that gift
to set my life at ease

And isn't this song from Bob Schneider about the most beautiful song ever written?

My favorite part:

Put 'em up high reach for the ceiling tell 'em that I don't walk damnit I'm reelin' it aint no crime it's just dreams we’re stealing anything to get more of this feeling

You take the high and I''ll take the low we'll get there before you know we ain't got no time to waste we got too much life to taste.

But my favorite line is:

We're like good times that haven’t happened yet, but will.

gawd....I LOVE this song!

Quick traffic thought for the day...

2009-11-10T19:37:00.002-05:00

Why don't they put signs that read "Keep Right Except to Pass" or "Slower Traffic Keep Right" next to the LEFT lane side of the highway???

They're always on the right where the other slow people already are! We're trying to get them out of the left lane so doesn't it make sense to put the signs on *that* side???

Just sayin'....

Oh, and I got to use my Sunpass sticker thing for the first time today when I took a co-worker home. Feels SO good cruising down the highway and not have to stop and pay a toll because it's already paid! woo hoo!

Did I move to the wrong city? Yikes!

2009-11-06T18:43:00.000-05:00

Guess you've heard of the latest mass shooting that happened here in Orlando today. It was about a mile north of where I work. I took an early lunch and was walking around for a bit outside and heard sirens all over the place and noticed traffic on I-4 had come to a near-stop and figured it was just a bad wreck on I-4 or the 408. Got back inside and had an email from a buddy who's actually been asking me about the area here this past week as he's wanting to move from Louisville, too, in about 5 years. He was asking what the heck was going on down here. I didn't know what he meant so I checked the news sites and whoa! Another mass shooting and it was right here in downtown. Watched all the live streaming coverage and saw they caught the guy pretty quickly and without incident.

Can't believe the guy was holding a grudge 2 1/2 years after he'd been fired for performance reasons and picked today to go shoot the place up and kill and injure innocent people just trying to live their lives. Maybe the shooting yesterday gave him an idea or maybe he's been planning it all along. Perhaps we'll find out as the investigation continues.

And this comes right when my g/f filed her motion to relocate and this is the area she wants to go to (not telling the courts about me at this point...wouldn't be wise from a legal standpoint.) But, sheesh....maybe Las Vegas woulda been safer! yikes!

Naaaahhh...I really do like it here. I don't think I could take the extreme heat there in the desert. Sure it gets hot and very humid here but it's still endurable. 120F, even if it's a "dry heat" is just insane. Plus, there's still Disney and the beaches!

Ok, well, I'm going to order some pizza and kick back and relax. Ready for tomorrow. Getting a sleeper loveseat delivered. Finally! Living room furniture! YAY!

More HAVNFN in Disney

2009-10-26T22:56:00.000-04:00

Last Friday night, my daughter and I were invited aboard the Grand 1 Yacht (a 52' SeaRay that docks at the Grand Floridian Resort at Disneyworld). Here's some pics of the boat:

And....bonus video!

Hallowishes (from the rear of the Grand 1)

Electric Water Pageant (again from the Grand 1)

HAVNFN Bday in Disney

2009-10-26T22:50:00.001-04:00

A couple of pics from my bday a couple of Saturdays ago. Remember that Segway tour at Epcot I'd mentioned before? Ayup...that's us looking like dorks on the Segways!

And here we are at the Biergarten restaurant at Germany in Epcot that night

Annoyances of the Day

2009-10-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

Not that I keep track of things that annoy me on a daily basis but a couple just popped into my head just now so I thought, "Hey! Why not write about some annoying things that happen to me once in a while. I'm sure everyone will love to hear what annoys me!"

Or...maybe not but here goes anyway!

Numero Uno:

Having to park across the parking lot from the entrance to my building and schlepping all the way to my door with stuff in my arms and then, after having gotten inside and taken off my shoes and put stuff away and sat back to relax hear the sound of a car starting up right outside my window (meaning an open spot right next to my door). Oh well.

#2 (btw, did you know that 2 + 2 = 5 for very large values of 2? Oh! And that 2 + 2 = chicken?? 1,000,000 bonus points if you get that last reference). Oh...#2:

Smokers.

I know it's a free country and certain privately-owned establishments still allow it but, ya know what? I have a right to NOT breathe that stinky-ass, carcinogen-laced smoke into MY lungs! This was brought about by a group of people smoking a row in front of us at the Florida Tuskers vs. California Redwoods UFL football game tonight. This is some new league in its "PREMIERE" season and, um, well, I'll just say I wish it luck. kk?

Ugh...what a nasty-ass habit that is. Boggles the mind why people would actually want to start smoking.

In other news, good news on the legal front, for now. My g/f got some awesome free legal advice today at the courthouse there in Vegas and things are looking pretty darn good to her not only keeping sole custody of her kids but still being able to move here later this year! wooooooo hoooooooo!!!

Ok...I'm off to find something bad for me to eat.....

Another birthday has FALLen by the wayside

2009-10-19T20:36:00.001-04:00

Except for last evening which I really wish I could get a do-over, my birthday last weekend was one of the best ever.

Started off Fri. morning with picking up my g/f from the airport and getting a quick breakfast and she dropped me off at work and went to WDW to hang out with some friends. She later picked up my daughter and they got me from work and then had some pizza at the Mellow Mushroom. Good stuff! Eating some leftovers now. Followed up with some dessert at Rita's Italian Ice.

Got home in time to watch a new episode of Monk (love that show!) and then it was an early bedtime as we had to get up early Sat. for my first birthday surprise.

Hit the road about 6:30 or so and got to Epcot a little after 7 and I still had no idea what we were doing. I was guessing one of the Food & Wine Festival special events but, nope! It was a.....Segway Tour! That was a blast!! I'll try and post some pics here soon (as soon as I get them from her...we used her camera). I really want to get one now but not really sure what I'd do with it. lol! Was cool cruising around the World Showcase with no one around. It was pretty chilly but I didn't care...was havnfn!

Then back to get my daughter and back down to Epcot for some rides and Food & Wine and a big dinner at the Biergarten where I had a beer in the largest beer mug I've ever seen! mmmmm

Then we headed out and took my daughter to the hotel room and we went out for my 2nd surprise...a horse-drawn carriage ride through the Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter resorts! Munched on the gingerbread man cookie we'd gotten from Biergarten (No! Not the gumdrop buttons!) and enjoyed the ride, being led by "Luke".

Yesterday I had to drive back home to get the tickets for the evening's visit to the Magic Kingdom Halloween party (and my daughter's gift card) and got back and we went to Hollywood Studios for a couple hours then back to the room to nap before the Halloween party. The rest of the evening, well, it didn't turn out like I wanted and ended with a near-breakup but things are better now...just a lot of stress on her end from her piece-of-shit ex-husband who's been out of their kids' lives for the last 2 1/2 years now filing to prevent her from moving the kids out-of-state. He hasn't even lived in the same state since then!! Fucking piece of shit. Sooo...now we have that battle ahead of us but I have to believe it will work out. Don't want to think about any other possible outcome.

About to get a load of laundry done and send my little one off to bed (We saw Where The Wild Things Are tonight...more intense than I was expecting but it we both enjoyed it.)

Hope everyone is getting ready for a Happy Halloween and enjoying some fall weather!

Yay! 2009 Epcot Food & Wine (w/pics!)

2009-10-03T23:16:00.002-04:00

Been wanting to go since it started and finally got the chance this evening. Weather was very warm and muggy, the nice, cooler weather of mid-week is long-gone but we had fun.

Started off with some cider from the UK. We stopped to watch a little of Mickey Thomas (Starship) singing Find Your Way Back and then we walked over to Italy so my daughter could have some Pizza (she really liked it), then I had a Chicken and Coconut Soup from Singapore, some awesome Pot Stickers from Shanghai (my daughter had one of them), then Shrimp Stew with Coconut and Lime from Brazil (meh...the biggest letdown of the night) and Pork Skewer with Farifa also from Brazil (was better than the Shrimp Stew but was rather dry). Next was a Corn and Cheese Arepa and some Rock Shrimp Ceviche from Chile. The Arepa was great. Then Ham Croquettes and a Mojito from Puerto Rico. Next up was Greece with a Greek Salad (my daughter ate the Pita bread) and a Spanikopita (mmmmmm...in the Top 3 of the night.) Then off to France for some cheesecake (for my daughter) and chocolate cake (for me.) Finished off the night with more pizza from Italy for my daughter and then we headed on back home and here I be now! The pot stickers were definitely my favorite! #2 being the chicken and coconut soup.

Here are a few pics from the evening:

Pork Skewer and Shrimp Stew from Brazil

Full Moon

Still want to try Montreal, New Orleans, Poland, and Austria.

OOHHHH!! And there was a booth for Australia, too, *RIGHT* in front of where I've thought a new "country" should be added for Australia in Epcot's World Showcase...just past Germany if you're headed counter-clockwise. PERFECT spot for an Australia pavilion. They could even do a type of water ride and call it the EAC (East Australian Current) and have cars shaped like the sea turtles from Finding Nemo!! Wouldn't that rock?!

Oh well...time to shower and hit the hay. Got some clean sheets on the bed and don't wanna dirty them up already!