Might remember back in Nov, I was talking about vacation planning. Or in my case, lack of. I've been at my job for 9 months and I've used zero hours of vacation time. This must be some kind of crazy record for me. It's not like I haven't had any breaks. I had three floating holidays I had to use at the end of December or I'd lose them (they don't carry over year-to-year). And I've taken sick time here and there. Now I'm looking at having to use 5 days of vacation time before June, or I lose those also! (vacation goes year-to-year of your hire date... don't ask, its complicated)
Anyway, the point is, we got some fun things coming up. This weekend, we are going down to New Ulm for an overnight trip. Andrea's parents will be watching Megan for us. In April, we are going to go spend the day at the Water Park of America. Courtesy of free tickets provided by Andrea "Free Stuff" Anderson. Then in May, we are going to head up North for a romantic weekend get-a-way at Superior Shores. For that weekend, my Mom is going to watch Megan for the entire weekend! Should be interesting, she says she is going to Megan proof her house before then, but really - can anything be fully Megan proofed?
If all these little mini vacations weren't enough, I've even got one more planned just for me. I'm heading out to Boise at the end of October, all by my lonesome, for a 4-day weekend trip. I think it will be great to just see a couple of my old friends from back there. The other big reason I want to go back to is run a solid half-marathon along the Boise Green Belt. No specific event in mind, just running the thing I had access to for 5 years and never even used. To think I lived no more then a quarter mile from this wonderful running location all that time... I try not to have any regrets, but sometimes it's so hard not to.
Speaking of running, on a more positive note, I got outside today for a great run. It would have been a crime not to, with this great weather. I thought it was supposed to be cloudy and rainy today, not sunny and awesome! Bad news is that the battery on my distance monitor died, so I had no idea how far/long I was running. Here is the loop that I ended up running. It was great except for the fact that for the first 4 miles, I had the wind to my back the entire time (little did I know). The way home was a bit rough, but I managed. Now to relax and enjoy the rest of today!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Friday Night Party
Involves Megan sitting on my lap while blogging and watching Harry Potter 3. Good enough for me! This weekend couldn't come soon enough. Pretty rough week at work... although I put 46 hours on my time sheet, it was more like 50 hours at the office. Guess I shouldn't really complain, first long hour week since I've been there.
Got outside for a great run tonight, gotta love the 60 degree sunny weather. Running outside is SO much nicer then running on the treadmill. It actually feels easier, I can run faster and not get as tired, not to mention it is not as boring. Don't know if I'll get out again this weekend, but I've got the itch now. Spring won't be here soon enough.
The rest of this weekend should be loads of fun. I'm only NOT at TMNT right now because Andrea had some plans for tonight, so Megan and I are home alone. Hopefully I'll catch it tomorrow afternoon. Then I'll be getting my bike into the shop this weekend so I can get it fixed for the summer of riding. Tomorrow night is dinner with the family at Applebees.
Come Sunday morning, I might be running a D&D session. I'm still waiting for a phone call if one last person can show up. I think it will be fun, and a nice change of pace to do a morning - afternoon session, instead of our usual night time - 3am games. Maybe everyone's mental faculties will be working a little better from 10am to 4pm.
Gotta go now, time to get Megs ready for bed. In her PJs at least. She's been staying up pretty late recently. Past 10pm for the last week for the most part. Might still be a fall out from the time change, it's hard to say.
Got outside for a great run tonight, gotta love the 60 degree sunny weather. Running outside is SO much nicer then running on the treadmill. It actually feels easier, I can run faster and not get as tired, not to mention it is not as boring. Don't know if I'll get out again this weekend, but I've got the itch now. Spring won't be here soon enough.
The rest of this weekend should be loads of fun. I'm only NOT at TMNT right now because Andrea had some plans for tonight, so Megan and I are home alone. Hopefully I'll catch it tomorrow afternoon. Then I'll be getting my bike into the shop this weekend so I can get it fixed for the summer of riding. Tomorrow night is dinner with the family at Applebees.
Come Sunday morning, I might be running a D&D session. I'm still waiting for a phone call if one last person can show up. I think it will be fun, and a nice change of pace to do a morning - afternoon session, instead of our usual night time - 3am games. Maybe everyone's mental faculties will be working a little better from 10am to 4pm.
Gotta go now, time to get Megs ready for bed. In her PJs at least. She's been staying up pretty late recently. Past 10pm for the last week for the most part. Might still be a fall out from the time change, it's hard to say.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Time for Change
It's weird how after I get home from work, in my head, it's the next day. It's Thursday to me, even though its not. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Wait, what was this post going to be about? Oh ya.
I originally bought my mp3 player back in Jan of 2006. After I got it, I put 26 songs on it. For 15 months, my mp3 player had those same 26 songs on it. 400+ miles of running, unknown number of biking miles, all to those same 26 songs. Yesterday, I finally changed the playlist. Now it has 46 songs on it, all different from the original 26. Right about now you might be wondering, who cares?
Cause sometimes I feel like my mp3 player is a metaphor for part of my personality. Change is good, right? Tonight, the new music was a great energizer to my run. It felt great... so why did I settle for the same 26 songs for 15 months? It's not my lack of music interests... Maybe partly my lack of available mp3's. (I only have 1.6 gig of music, not exactly a lot) But really I think it's just that I don't go out of my way to seek out new things as much as I should. I'm not saying I need to be going out buying things or taking extravagant vacations to exotic locations all the time, but I think it might do me some good to focus on the things I do enjoy and build on them to keep things interesting.
Btw.... TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES THIS WEEKEND!!! WOOHOOO!!
I originally bought my mp3 player back in Jan of 2006. After I got it, I put 26 songs on it. For 15 months, my mp3 player had those same 26 songs on it. 400+ miles of running, unknown number of biking miles, all to those same 26 songs. Yesterday, I finally changed the playlist. Now it has 46 songs on it, all different from the original 26. Right about now you might be wondering, who cares?
Cause sometimes I feel like my mp3 player is a metaphor for part of my personality. Change is good, right? Tonight, the new music was a great energizer to my run. It felt great... so why did I settle for the same 26 songs for 15 months? It's not my lack of music interests... Maybe partly my lack of available mp3's. (I only have 1.6 gig of music, not exactly a lot) But really I think it's just that I don't go out of my way to seek out new things as much as I should. I'm not saying I need to be going out buying things or taking extravagant vacations to exotic locations all the time, but I think it might do me some good to focus on the things I do enjoy and build on them to keep things interesting.
Btw.... TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES THIS WEEKEND!!! WOOHOOO!!
Embracing the goddess energy within yourselves...
will bring all of you to a new understanding and value of life.
A vision that inspires you to live and love on planet earth.
Like a priceless jewel.. buried in dark layers of soil and stone.
Earth radiates her brilliant beauty... into the caverns of space and time.
Perhaps your are aware of those who watch over your home.
And experience it as a place to visit and play with reality.
You are becoming aware of yourself as a game master.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
10 Pointless Questions
Ahh, the lazy Sunday strikes again. Actually I did do a short work out this morning, but been relaxing the rest of the day. Recently, Megan must have screwed up the channel memory on our TV, because I couldn't channel up/down through any channels. I went ahead and told the TV to re-memorize the available channels. After doing this, I went through to find any that needed to be deleted, only to find 10 channels worth of On-Demand that are playing movies. There is really no reason I should be getting these, but for some reason they are playing. Available today: Passenger 57, Departed, Revenge of the Sith, Curious George (Megan and I watched that!), RV, and even.... Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl!! How long will it last?!? Considering I don't even have a cable box, it might just be around for awhile...
Anyway, on to the 10 pointless questions promised in the title:
1. If you could live forever, as a normal young healthy person, would you?
2. What would you do if you won the lottery?
3. If you could know what really happens when you die, would you want to?
4. If you could know the exact date and cause of your death, would you want to?
5. If you could take a pill that made it so you never had to sleep, but it would take 5 years off your life expectancy, would you?
6. What would you do if you knew the cure for cancer or AIDS?
7. If you could have a DVD of your entire life, would you watch it? (btw, I had this question in my head long before the movie Click came out)
8. Would you want to be able to read peoples thoughts, if it meant everyone else could read yours?
9. What would you do if you could travel through time? (aside from attempting to cause a paradox)
10. If you could be given all knowledge of how the entire universe came into being, how it works, and operates, would you take it?
Anyway, on to the 10 pointless questions promised in the title:
1. If you could live forever, as a normal young healthy person, would you?
2. What would you do if you won the lottery?
3. If you could know what really happens when you die, would you want to?
4. If you could know the exact date and cause of your death, would you want to?
5. If you could take a pill that made it so you never had to sleep, but it would take 5 years off your life expectancy, would you?
6. What would you do if you knew the cure for cancer or AIDS?
7. If you could have a DVD of your entire life, would you watch it? (btw, I had this question in my head long before the movie Click came out)
8. Would you want to be able to read peoples thoughts, if it meant everyone else could read yours?
9. What would you do if you could travel through time? (aside from attempting to cause a paradox)
10. If you could be given all knowledge of how the entire universe came into being, how it works, and operates, would you take it?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
TGIF
Okay so Friday is still another 3 hours away, but it's close enough. We ate at TGIF tonight and it was yummy. I had a french fry appetizer with some french fries as my main course. I'm a little french fried out needless to say. I just brought the sandwich I got home to have for lunch tomorrow. We dropped Megan off at Grandma G's, aka Casa De Chocolate. Now I'm kinda sick off M&Ms and Hershey bars. Can you say lots of exercise this weekend? I CAN!!
Andrea and Megan are heading down to New Ulm tomorrow night to spend the night with her folks. So Friday night I'll just be exercising until I'm sick of it, and then a long run Saturday morning. I actually got a long run outside on Tuesday this week when it was 60 out, but now this weekend isn't looking to be as nice. Bummer.
Here are the promised pictures of Megan...
This first one was just cute, although hard to see, Megan is wearing a pair of cat ears that Andrea bought for Halloween. Hmmmm wonder where those ended up, hopefully Andi got them put away.
I thought this one was funny, Megan throwing out gang signs.
I'm not sure if she just had her eyes closed, or actually had started to fall asleep in this position. I'm gonna guess she was actually asleep like this and that's why Andi snapped the picture.
Finally, Megan playing in her new booster chair. She loves just sitting in it for some reason. Recently she's figured out how to strap herself in! Too bad she doesn't know how to get out yet. Or is that a good thing...? J
Andrea and Megan are heading down to New Ulm tomorrow night to spend the night with her folks. So Friday night I'll just be exercising until I'm sick of it, and then a long run Saturday morning. I actually got a long run outside on Tuesday this week when it was 60 out, but now this weekend isn't looking to be as nice. Bummer.
Here are the promised pictures of Megan...
This first one was just cute, although hard to see, Megan is wearing a pair of cat ears that Andrea bought for Halloween. Hmmmm wonder where those ended up, hopefully Andi got them put away.
I thought this one was funny, Megan throwing out gang signs.
I'm not sure if she just had her eyes closed, or actually had started to fall asleep in this position. I'm gonna guess she was actually asleep like this and that's why Andi snapped the picture.
Finally, Megan playing in her new booster chair. She loves just sitting in it for some reason. Recently she's figured out how to strap herself in! Too bad she doesn't know how to get out yet. Or is that a good thing...? J
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Happy p Day
I had once considered myself quite the math buff, yet I had never heard of PI day until today. And I call myself a geek!? Thank god I still play D&D, it's the only thing I got left to hang on to my geekdom. Although there is a good chance I might give up on that too...
Giving up. Such an interesting concept. Probably the single easiest thing one can do. I think Office Space said it best. "Well you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Just take a look at my cousin, he's broke, don't do shit." I remember posting about quitting as one of my first posts. Turns out it was actually my 6th post ever. In going back to read the post, I found an anon comment from someone who had physical withdrawal symptoms (headaches, vomiting) from quitting online games. The comment came almost 10 months later, so I had never seen it until now. Interesting. Almost makes me want to go through all my old posts...
In thinking about all the things I've given up on, video games, food, drinking...(although that last one is arguable, especially considering what happened just last weekend) I wonder if maybe I've taken things a little too far. I did all this under the motivation of becoming a "better person". But what does that even mean? Have I become so obsessed with certain things that I've completely lost sight of the simple pleasures?
And in spite of all that, I find myself having thoughts of giving up on even more things. And I'm not just referring to D&D here. I'm talking about things that some small part of me still cries out that they are worth fighting for, worth holding on to. I want to listen, really I do... because the last thing I want is to give up on so much that I no longer have anything to look forward to. Not that I think it will ever get that bad, but sometimes it feels like I'm pretty damn close.
I know, I know. Why does every damn post have to be so serious/dark/brooding? Who knows... I guess because it's my blog damnit, and I'm taking it back for me! If that makes me the asshole, well it's probably not the only thing... On the plus side, I have some pictures of Megan ready to go for tomorrow so this post won't even sit on top for 24 hours. You can thank me later.
Giving up. Such an interesting concept. Probably the single easiest thing one can do. I think Office Space said it best. "Well you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Just take a look at my cousin, he's broke, don't do shit." I remember posting about quitting as one of my first posts. Turns out it was actually my 6th post ever. In going back to read the post, I found an anon comment from someone who had physical withdrawal symptoms (headaches, vomiting) from quitting online games. The comment came almost 10 months later, so I had never seen it until now. Interesting. Almost makes me want to go through all my old posts...
In thinking about all the things I've given up on, video games, food, drinking...(although that last one is arguable, especially considering what happened just last weekend) I wonder if maybe I've taken things a little too far. I did all this under the motivation of becoming a "better person". But what does that even mean? Have I become so obsessed with certain things that I've completely lost sight of the simple pleasures?
And in spite of all that, I find myself having thoughts of giving up on even more things. And I'm not just referring to D&D here. I'm talking about things that some small part of me still cries out that they are worth fighting for, worth holding on to. I want to listen, really I do... because the last thing I want is to give up on so much that I no longer have anything to look forward to. Not that I think it will ever get that bad, but sometimes it feels like I'm pretty damn close.
I know, I know. Why does every damn post have to be so serious/dark/brooding? Who knows... I guess because it's my blog damnit, and I'm taking it back for me! If that makes me the asshole, well it's probably not the only thing... On the plus side, I have some pictures of Megan ready to go for tomorrow so this post won't even sit on top for 24 hours. You can thank me later.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Choppin' Broccoli
She chopUUNNN!
It's pretty cool that Megan actually likes to eat healthy food. Oh sure, she loves cake, pizza, and cookies, but she will also ask for broccoli and even brussel sprouts. Especially the brussel sprouts, she will point and ask for them until she eats her fill. I even caught it on video for proof!
I'd post more but it's 11pm and I need to get some serious sleep. I've got to be in at 6am tomorrow to have some things done by 8, which means I'm basically getting up at what used to be 4am to get to work... Or something like that. I can hardly do the math required to figure that out.
It's pretty cool that Megan actually likes to eat healthy food. Oh sure, she loves cake, pizza, and cookies, but she will also ask for broccoli and even brussel sprouts. Especially the brussel sprouts, she will point and ask for them until she eats her fill. I even caught it on video for proof!
I'd post more but it's 11pm and I need to get some serious sleep. I've got to be in at 6am tomorrow to have some things done by 8, which means I'm basically getting up at what used to be 4am to get to work... Or something like that. I can hardly do the math required to figure that out.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
A Brief History of Time
I have no clue how this post is going to turn out, so bare with me. Recently, work has been pervading my thoughts. From my nightly runs to my weekends at home, it's getting annoying! Work has not, and SHOULD not be something that invades my home life. This got me thinking about why I would let work get to me like that, which lead me to thinking as I often do, about what's really important to me, and where my priorities are. Finally, this lead to thoughts about how those priorities have changed over time and so I decided to actually put a list together in my head.
1994-1998: College Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
1998-2004: Stagnation Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
2004: Year of Shock
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
2005-2006: Rediscovery Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
2007+: Year of ???
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
1994-1998: College Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
- Grades/School
- Andrea
- Drinking
- Friends
- Everything else (mostly Mario Kart)
1998-2004: Stagnation Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
- Work
- Everquest
- Andrea
- Drinking
- Everything else
2004: Year of Shock
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
- Andrea
- Family
- Friends
- Work
- Everything else
2005-2006: Rediscovery Years
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
- Andrea/Megan
- Family
- Shawn
- Friends
- Everything else
2007+: Year of ???
Top 5 Priorities during this time period:
- Andrea/Megan
- Shawn
- Work
- Family
- Everything else
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Two's Day
Not much new to report, or should I say, not much I want to post about right now. Instead I'll just say how much fun was had on Saturday with all our things, and how Sunday we all just sat around enjoying a relaxing do nothing day. Here are some pictures of Megan from the weekend.
Playing with Grandpa B and the basketball. Swoosh!
Megan got a new outfit to wear, so we put it on right away, before she out grows it!
She thought this was a fun game, to get her head stuck in the stool... I let her figure out how to get out. :-)
Hard at work at the computer... She's playing this game if your curious.
Playing with Grandpa B and the basketball. Swoosh!
Megan got a new outfit to wear, so we put it on right away, before she out grows it!
She thought this was a fun game, to get her head stuck in the stool... I let her figure out how to get out. :-)
Hard at work at the computer... She's playing this game if your curious.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Between here and there
Somehow I survived this week? I'm not even sure how... between the lack of exercise, the long nights at work, the snow storms... This week was really a downer. Yet here I sit on Saturday morning after my morning run feeling much better. If there is one thing this week showed me, it's that how tightly my mood is currently tied to my exercise / activity levels. That must mean something good, but my brain is too damn exhausted from this week to analyze it much more.
Work highlight this week... So I'm sitting in a meeting with the Project Lead, the Quality Assurance Lead, and myself. We are going over potential problems in the software, and in discussing something the QA Lead makes an off-hand comment, "Well you guys would know better then me on that one, it's your code." The Project Lead responds jokingly, "Well, at least 1/3rd of the people in this room know the code." He was of course, referring to my knowledge of the code. Not bad for 8 months... Now to just survive the next 8! HA!
Today is pretty busy, although a small lull right now gave me time to blog. In about an hour, Grandma B & Grandpa B will be arriving to visit Megan and spend the afternoon here. I'll be out running a few errands while they are here. Then tonight we will be dropping Megan off and Grandma G's, and Andrea and I will be going out for a nice date night.
First stop is this new place in Apple Valley, down off Galaxie called Luxury Sweets. It's sorta her post birthday present, since I didn't have time to really get her anything and she couldn't even leave the house on her birthday. We will be getting their specialty, Getati's!! I can't say if I've ever actually had an official Gelati, but I'm sure they will be mighty tasty.
After that we are going to head to the movies and see Zodiac. The hype says this movie should be pretty good, and I'm up for a good thriller. Only two things that kind of stick out... first, it's 160 minutes (2 hour 40 mins!) long. Second, since it's based on true events, you pretty much already know the bad guy gets away / doesn't get caught? It might be kind of rough to sit through 160 minutes of movie when you already know the ending...
Work highlight this week... So I'm sitting in a meeting with the Project Lead, the Quality Assurance Lead, and myself. We are going over potential problems in the software, and in discussing something the QA Lead makes an off-hand comment, "Well you guys would know better then me on that one, it's your code." The Project Lead responds jokingly, "Well, at least 1/3rd of the people in this room know the code." He was of course, referring to my knowledge of the code. Not bad for 8 months... Now to just survive the next 8! HA!
Today is pretty busy, although a small lull right now gave me time to blog. In about an hour, Grandma B & Grandpa B will be arriving to visit Megan and spend the afternoon here. I'll be out running a few errands while they are here. Then tonight we will be dropping Megan off and Grandma G's, and Andrea and I will be going out for a nice date night.
First stop is this new place in Apple Valley, down off Galaxie called Luxury Sweets. It's sorta her post birthday present, since I didn't have time to really get her anything and she couldn't even leave the house on her birthday. We will be getting their specialty, Getati's!! I can't say if I've ever actually had an official Gelati, but I'm sure they will be mighty tasty.
After that we are going to head to the movies and see Zodiac. The hype says this movie should be pretty good, and I'm up for a good thriller. Only two things that kind of stick out... first, it's 160 minutes (2 hour 40 mins!) long. Second, since it's based on true events, you pretty much already know the bad guy gets away / doesn't get caught? It might be kind of rough to sit through 160 minutes of movie when you already know the ending...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Three days too long
I have not exercised since Saturday. That would make today day three. According to my logs, I have not gone 3 days without exercising since November. (last time I went 2 days was the first week in January). Needless to say, it's dragging on me big time. It's mostly works fault, I've had to stay late the last two nights. I'm not sure if it will stop anytime soon, but it damn well better. Things SHOULD slow down tomorrow, and I'll be able to do my normal schedule, but you just never know...
Tonight Andrea is going out with a friend for a birthday dinner. Her 30th birthday is coming up in 2 days. She can finally join the club! Not much big planned for her so far. She was going to do an early morning brunch party with her Mom's club, but due to the fact that Megan might have some type of mild flu, she has decided to call it off. We might do something this weekend instead, hopefully get my Mom to babysit. Grandma G hasn't got to see Megan for a few weeks now.
Last night we experimented with putting Megan to bed without a bottle. It did not go too well... I'm not quite sure what the best approach is there. It seems to me that bottle weaning is very subjective. Although there is agreement that you shouldn't put a bottle in the bed with them over night while they sleep (which we have never done). There doesn't seem to be any real strong reasoning behind not giving a child a bottle before bed time. Some seem to think its totally bad to let that happen past 12-18 months, while others do it as long as age 3 or even 5! I think perhaps the approach we can take is to slowly start to reduce the amount of milk in the bottle over the next weeks until maybe she can fall asleep with out it at night. Time will tell I guess...
Tonight Andrea is going out with a friend for a birthday dinner. Her 30th birthday is coming up in 2 days. She can finally join the club! Not much big planned for her so far. She was going to do an early morning brunch party with her Mom's club, but due to the fact that Megan might have some type of mild flu, she has decided to call it off. We might do something this weekend instead, hopefully get my Mom to babysit. Grandma G hasn't got to see Megan for a few weeks now.
Last night we experimented with putting Megan to bed without a bottle. It did not go too well... I'm not quite sure what the best approach is there. It seems to me that bottle weaning is very subjective. Although there is agreement that you shouldn't put a bottle in the bed with them over night while they sleep (which we have never done). There doesn't seem to be any real strong reasoning behind not giving a child a bottle before bed time. Some seem to think its totally bad to let that happen past 12-18 months, while others do it as long as age 3 or even 5! I think perhaps the approach we can take is to slowly start to reduce the amount of milk in the bottle over the next weeks until maybe she can fall asleep with out it at night. Time will tell I guess...
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Ummm... take the Storm back
I was only kidding! Before jumping into what happened yesterday, I thought I'd share some pictures. There is nothing better these days after coming home from a tough day at work and a long run, to have Megan just curl up like this on my lap even though I'm dripping sweat and smell totally gross.
Close-up picture I took the other day, I just love her eyes in this picture. They are so beautiful and bright blue!
Megan is at the climbing stage. Sometimes while sitting on my lap at the computer, she will climb up to other areas. I don't even fight it anymore...
Yesterday started out pretty good. I ended up braving the elements and making it over to Woodbury with Megan for a birthday party in the afternoon. Lots of fun there... the way home still wasn't too bad.
5pm rolled around, and the snow really started to pick up. However that would not stop me, and on to roleplaying I went! The session was great, everyone had a fun time. Oddly enough, I think the players had more fun then me this time. From my perspective, I wanted to see them get through as much "content" (dungeon levels, monsters, etc) that I prepared. From the players perspective, they enjoyed over analyzing one single monster encounter to death. Granted, I'd be a tad worried if I saw a sleeping dragon-looking-thing in the courtyard of a fortress with unknown number of evil forces around. But hey, only 2 people almost died and the party was able to bring them both back from the brink!
We decided to call it a night at 2:30am, and the drive home was probably one of the worst decisions I made all night. Not that it would have been much better in the morning. It took me about 25 minutes to drive the 7 miles home. And then it took me another 25 minutes to get from the end of my cul-de-sac into my driveway. First I made the mistake of thinking I could actually make it. After getting stuck, I shoveled my way around for a bit, and tried to back up to get a running start back into the drive way. On the way back, I almost took out one of the mailboxes of our cul-de-sac. What I was left with was a nice long streak of mailbox paint on my car.
After that incident, I cleared enough snow to get the running start up my sloped driveway and into the garage with no further incident. Thankfully, I think everyone else from the roleplaying group got home safely as well. It could have turned out much worse for me. Good thing my car is almost 9 years old and I don't really care much about it's condition!
Close-up picture I took the other day, I just love her eyes in this picture. They are so beautiful and bright blue!
Megan is at the climbing stage. Sometimes while sitting on my lap at the computer, she will climb up to other areas. I don't even fight it anymore...
Yesterday started out pretty good. I ended up braving the elements and making it over to Woodbury with Megan for a birthday party in the afternoon. Lots of fun there... the way home still wasn't too bad.
5pm rolled around, and the snow really started to pick up. However that would not stop me, and on to roleplaying I went! The session was great, everyone had a fun time. Oddly enough, I think the players had more fun then me this time. From my perspective, I wanted to see them get through as much "content" (dungeon levels, monsters, etc) that I prepared. From the players perspective, they enjoyed over analyzing one single monster encounter to death. Granted, I'd be a tad worried if I saw a sleeping dragon-looking-thing in the courtyard of a fortress with unknown number of evil forces around. But hey, only 2 people almost died and the party was able to bring them both back from the brink!
We decided to call it a night at 2:30am, and the drive home was probably one of the worst decisions I made all night. Not that it would have been much better in the morning. It took me about 25 minutes to drive the 7 miles home. And then it took me another 25 minutes to get from the end of my cul-de-sac into my driveway. First I made the mistake of thinking I could actually make it. After getting stuck, I shoveled my way around for a bit, and tried to back up to get a running start back into the drive way. On the way back, I almost took out one of the mailboxes of our cul-de-sac. What I was left with was a nice long streak of mailbox paint on my car.
After that incident, I cleared enough snow to get the running start up my sloped driveway and into the garage with no further incident. Thankfully, I think everyone else from the roleplaying group got home safely as well. It could have turned out much worse for me. Good thing my car is almost 9 years old and I don't really care much about it's condition!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Bring on the Storm
The weekend is here! And not a second too early. I've been counting down the hours until this weekend since 10am on Monday morning when all this shit hit the fan at work. I got through it all, it ended on an up note for the most part. I was out of the office by 3:30pm today. Can't complain with that.
Originally we had planned on going to check out a movie tonight, Number 23 with Jim Carrey. Unfortunately we had to cancel because Megan had a few vomit incidents this week. Once on Wednesday afternoon and then again one more time today. She doesn't seem sick or have a temperature, so it's most likely not a flu or anything like that. But we aren't sure what it is, so we didn't want to take any chances.
Tomorrow Megan and I were supposed to attend a birthday party in Woodbury. But with this weather that is starting up, in combination with Megan's status might make me change plans. We'll have to see how bad it is tomorrow afternoon and see how Megan is feeling by then. It's at a big gigantic inflatable jumping palace, and we already know how much Megan loves those!!
And then finally, tomorrow night is the end-all-be-all of Dungeons and Dragons sessions. I'll have to be careful not to get my hopes up too high, because something will just have to go wrong. But I'm sure that everyone is going to have a great time and remember this session for quite awhile. Perhaps I will actually end up setting the bar TOO high, and I'll never be able to out do myself again. Sunday's post will most likely be my analysis of the entire session. So look forward to that! Or... maybe not.
Originally we had planned on going to check out a movie tonight, Number 23 with Jim Carrey. Unfortunately we had to cancel because Megan had a few vomit incidents this week. Once on Wednesday afternoon and then again one more time today. She doesn't seem sick or have a temperature, so it's most likely not a flu or anything like that. But we aren't sure what it is, so we didn't want to take any chances.
Tomorrow Megan and I were supposed to attend a birthday party in Woodbury. But with this weather that is starting up, in combination with Megan's status might make me change plans. We'll have to see how bad it is tomorrow afternoon and see how Megan is feeling by then. It's at a big gigantic inflatable jumping palace, and we already know how much Megan loves those!!
And then finally, tomorrow night is the end-all-be-all of Dungeons and Dragons sessions. I'll have to be careful not to get my hopes up too high, because something will just have to go wrong. But I'm sure that everyone is going to have a great time and remember this session for quite awhile. Perhaps I will actually end up setting the bar TOO high, and I'll never be able to out do myself again. Sunday's post will most likely be my analysis of the entire session. So look forward to that! Or... maybe not.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Anti-Climactic
If you are looking for something exciting, you might as well just stop right now and go do something else. Honestly there are days when I think about just stopping the silliness of this blog thing. Hardly anyone reads it and those that do mainly just want to see Megan pictures. (Please, don't post a comment of "But I read your blog!" I'm not seeking validation, I'm simply stating a feeling I have sometimes)
I originally started this blog for me, and in the end, that has to be my main reason for posting. But more and more it feels like maybe I'm not actually posting for my own reasons. The ironic thing in all this, is that a blog by its very nature/definition is a gigantic ego trip. You're basically saying to the world, "Hey look at me! My life is so cool I have to make a permanent record of it for everyone to see!" The funny part is there is hardly anything exciting about my life. In fact, I've done everything in my power to simplify my life. For whatever reason, I've really started to find solace in simplicity.
I wonder where the distinctions between a satisfying life, a simple life and a boring life are drawn? Maybe there are no distinctions, and it's just a matter of perspective. I like to think of it that way. Or maybe I'm just trying to see life for what it is, and let go of idealistic notions that I've held on to for so long. Or maybe I'm just waiting for the next huge change to come along and smack my simplistic life in the face and laugh at me for thinking I could get by that easy.
Tonight Andrea is out for Mom's Night Out with the Mom's club, seeing a movie. Megan went to bed early (8pm) due to an early nap today. I totally intended on using the rest of the night to work on D&D, but instead just ended up cleaning out my Hotmail inbox for a full 45 minutes. After I get done here, I'm going to make the bed, as we have clean sheets! Exciting huh? Can't say I didn't warn you.
I originally started this blog for me, and in the end, that has to be my main reason for posting. But more and more it feels like maybe I'm not actually posting for my own reasons. The ironic thing in all this, is that a blog by its very nature/definition is a gigantic ego trip. You're basically saying to the world, "Hey look at me! My life is so cool I have to make a permanent record of it for everyone to see!" The funny part is there is hardly anything exciting about my life. In fact, I've done everything in my power to simplify my life. For whatever reason, I've really started to find solace in simplicity.
I wonder where the distinctions between a satisfying life, a simple life and a boring life are drawn? Maybe there are no distinctions, and it's just a matter of perspective. I like to think of it that way. Or maybe I'm just trying to see life for what it is, and let go of idealistic notions that I've held on to for so long. Or maybe I'm just waiting for the next huge change to come along and smack my simplistic life in the face and laugh at me for thinking I could get by that easy.
Tonight Andrea is out for Mom's Night Out with the Mom's club, seeing a movie. Megan went to bed early (8pm) due to an early nap today. I totally intended on using the rest of the night to work on D&D, but instead just ended up cleaning out my Hotmail inbox for a full 45 minutes. After I get done here, I'm going to make the bed, as we have clean sheets! Exciting huh? Can't say I didn't warn you.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Evil Bunny
Know the face of evil, for this is it! We got a call today, from my brother of all people, that this bunny has just been recalled. I only say that because my brother has no kids, so it seemed kind of weird to be coming from him. Apparently the nose on these evil bunnies can pop off and pose a choking hazard.
Andrea has already filled out a form to get our bunny money back. Besides, Megan likes her learning puppy more then the evil bunny anyway. For those of you that have seen Megan do "Itsy-Bitsy", this Puppy sings that. Megan knows just what to press to get that particular song playing (the nose multiple times) and will keep going until he starts singing it. Then she will do the hand motions along with the singing dog, it's so priceless. (note- for anyone that has not seen "Itsy-Bitsy", make sure to ask Megan to do it next time you see her. She will gladly perform.)Originally I wasn't going to post until after I saw Ghost Rider this weekend, but as it turns out I'll be seeing it tomorrow afternoon instead of tonight. My brother is of course convinced it will suck, but I don't care. Even in my original movie listing of 2007, I said it had suck potential. But it's a comic book movie, therefore I will see it.
Spent the rest of today exercising, napping, and working on Dungeons and Dragons some more. Tomorrow after Ghost Rider, we will be using our free money for an early dinner at Major's. We tried going tonight, but it was 6:40 when we got there, and there was a 25 minute wait. We didn't feel like trying to get Megan to sit still for all that time, so instead we just came home and made a nice pasta dinner. It was just as yummy and filling! Megan loved it too, she likes spaghetti or pizza sauce. Yes, she had spaghetti sauce in her hair by the end of dinner. (sorry, no pictures)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Mid-Week Fest
Nothing very festive actually, just couldn't think of a better title. Happy Valentines day to everyone! Andrea reminded me earlier this week how when we first started dating, I always made big deals out of V-Day. Mainly because I just never had anyone to share Valentines day with before that. Over the years, I guess it's just kinda worn off, and now I just see it as an overly commercialized "Hallmark Holiday". This probably just makes me a bad husband since I didn't buy my sweetheart flowers.
Wow, there is that negativity shining through again. Let's see, what are some positive things to talk about. I got my fixed (new) glasses today, glad that only took a few days. I actually left work early (3pm) just so I could get my glasses and still have time to get a run in. I ended up coming home first, and realized that maybe taking a break and actually spending tonight with Andrea and Megan might be more fun. Besides, I think my legs need a break.
Tomorrow night we are having an old college friend over for dinner, that should be fun. And then this weekend is the release of Ghost Rider, which I am looking forward to. Probably be checking that out Saturday night and spending the rest of the weekend working out and getting ready for the next Dungeons and Dragons session.
Hmmm what else on the positive news front. We got our taxes done and will be getting a decent refund. Not quite the same size as last year, but still decent. Plus, I got a small bonus check at the start of the month (whole company got it, nothing special). Finally, March is a 3-paycheck month! Combine all those and we should be making a very large dent in our "financial emergency fund" goals for the year.
See? I can be positive. :-)
Wow, there is that negativity shining through again. Let's see, what are some positive things to talk about. I got my fixed (new) glasses today, glad that only took a few days. I actually left work early (3pm) just so I could get my glasses and still have time to get a run in. I ended up coming home first, and realized that maybe taking a break and actually spending tonight with Andrea and Megan might be more fun. Besides, I think my legs need a break.
Tomorrow night we are having an old college friend over for dinner, that should be fun. And then this weekend is the release of Ghost Rider, which I am looking forward to. Probably be checking that out Saturday night and spending the rest of the weekend working out and getting ready for the next Dungeons and Dragons session.
Hmmm what else on the positive news front. We got our taxes done and will be getting a decent refund. Not quite the same size as last year, but still decent. Plus, I got a small bonus check at the start of the month (whole company got it, nothing special). Finally, March is a 3-paycheck month! Combine all those and we should be making a very large dent in our "financial emergency fund" goals for the year.
See? I can be positive. :-)
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Mid-Winter Fest
There is something I have been suspecting for awhile now, but I got to experience it first hand this morning. You see, the gym I goto opens at 8am on the weekends. I often arrive there sometime shortly after 8, only to find every single treadmill and elliptical in use. So this morning I specifically got there about 4 minutes before 8. Sure enough, there were about 15-20 people sitting in their cars waiting for the doors to open. When they finally did, they made a stampede like rush. It looked like an opening morning of Walmart on Christmas Eve. By 8:03, every single piece of equipment was in use. People are strange.
This morning was SO much fun. One of the things I wanted to try and focus on this year was more family events on the weekends. So often our weekends end up being, I go work out, Andi goes and works out, Andi goes to Church, I stay home, I go do this, she goes and does that, etc. This weekend we did something very fun, the Apple Valley Mid-Winter Fest.
Lots of free things to do, we mainly went for the inflatable jumpers that would be there. Megan really enjoyed them. We saw a few people we knew that Andrea had invited. The icing on the cake was when Andrea won a door prize! We got a $25 dollar gift certificate to Major's. Damn that women is good at getting free stuff.
Action shot! She couldn't really jump, but she would bounce up and down on her knees.
We tried a little face painting for Megan, but it didn't last very long. In fact, it lasted maybe all of 3 seconds. I didn't even get to see it before she got her hands on it. It was supposed to just be a heart.
There was even an ice sculptor there, I got to catch him hard at work.
Here was his finished product. He did it all in barely an hour I think.
As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we then headed over to Supercuts in Apple Valley, because... drum roll... They were giving out free hair cuts for kids! We figured it might be packed, but we were the only ones there. Megan got her official first haircut. She sat very nicely through the whole thing, didn't fuss or anything.
Her finished haircut... so cute!
This morning was SO much fun. One of the things I wanted to try and focus on this year was more family events on the weekends. So often our weekends end up being, I go work out, Andi goes and works out, Andi goes to Church, I stay home, I go do this, she goes and does that, etc. This weekend we did something very fun, the Apple Valley Mid-Winter Fest.
Lots of free things to do, we mainly went for the inflatable jumpers that would be there. Megan really enjoyed them. We saw a few people we knew that Andrea had invited. The icing on the cake was when Andrea won a door prize! We got a $25 dollar gift certificate to Major's. Damn that women is good at getting free stuff.
Action shot! She couldn't really jump, but she would bounce up and down on her knees.
We tried a little face painting for Megan, but it didn't last very long. In fact, it lasted maybe all of 3 seconds. I didn't even get to see it before she got her hands on it. It was supposed to just be a heart.
There was even an ice sculptor there, I got to catch him hard at work.
Here was his finished product. He did it all in barely an hour I think.
As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we then headed over to Supercuts in Apple Valley, because... drum roll... They were giving out free hair cuts for kids! We figured it might be packed, but we were the only ones there. Megan got her official first haircut. She sat very nicely through the whole thing, didn't fuss or anything.
Her finished haircut... so cute!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Growing excitement
In just a few hours, Megan will officially be 16 months old. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, damn she seems to be growing so fast. She will be talking before we know it. We are thinking about getting a toddler bed soon, sometime before she turns 18 months. That should be an interesting transition. I'm also nervous about the whole bottle removal process... We only give her bottles twice a day, once for nap and once for bed time. But getting rid of it entirely will be a challenge I'm sure.
You may have glossed over the bad news I posted about at the end of January. The fact that due to schedules, our time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions is a full month. This is much longer then I'd like, but I've taken the opportunity to do some pretty wicked stuff for next session. All told, I've spent over $40 dollars on supplies and at least 10 hours preparing so far. And I easily still have another 10-15 hours of prep that I want to do. Overkill? Probably... but when this is my primary form of weekend entertainment, I might as well. Coolest new thing so far? A fully laminated battle grid!
Ohhh look at that sexy shine. Combine that with a bunch of dry erase markers, and you got yourself much more interesting battle scenarios! Should be tons of fun. Needless to say, I am very excited for our next session. I think it will be the best one yet!
In other news, I took a sick day from work yesterday, I'm really glad I did. I needed it... At some point next week I'll be having my first review, which is always a stressful time regardless of how you might think you are doing. Anyway, my BRAND new glasses decided to break for some odd reason. One of the ear pieces just fell off. Thankfully I'm getting them fully replaced at no cost, so no big deal there. No one at work even noticed that I went back to my old glasses. Or maybe they noticed but didn't say anything.
On the running front, I also used my time off yesterday to buy a new pair of running shoes. I got the latest Asics GT-2120's, which are the update to the 2110's I've been using. Like buying the 2007 model of a new car or something... You'd think I was some serious runner, but really I'm just an amateur who pretends. Tried them out tonight. The first couple miles they felt weird, but after mile 3 they were really nice. Light, good support, and very flexible. Maybe they will help with the recent ankle soreness I've been having!
You may have glossed over the bad news I posted about at the end of January. The fact that due to schedules, our time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions is a full month. This is much longer then I'd like, but I've taken the opportunity to do some pretty wicked stuff for next session. All told, I've spent over $40 dollars on supplies and at least 10 hours preparing so far. And I easily still have another 10-15 hours of prep that I want to do. Overkill? Probably... but when this is my primary form of weekend entertainment, I might as well. Coolest new thing so far? A fully laminated battle grid!
Ohhh look at that sexy shine. Combine that with a bunch of dry erase markers, and you got yourself much more interesting battle scenarios! Should be tons of fun. Needless to say, I am very excited for our next session. I think it will be the best one yet!
In other news, I took a sick day from work yesterday, I'm really glad I did. I needed it... At some point next week I'll be having my first review, which is always a stressful time regardless of how you might think you are doing. Anyway, my BRAND new glasses decided to break for some odd reason. One of the ear pieces just fell off. Thankfully I'm getting them fully replaced at no cost, so no big deal there. No one at work even noticed that I went back to my old glasses. Or maybe they noticed but didn't say anything.
On the running front, I also used my time off yesterday to buy a new pair of running shoes. I got the latest Asics GT-2120's, which are the update to the 2110's I've been using. Like buying the 2007 model of a new car or something... You'd think I was some serious runner, but really I'm just an amateur who pretends. Tried them out tonight. The first couple miles they felt weird, but after mile 3 they were really nice. Light, good support, and very flexible. Maybe they will help with the recent ankle soreness I've been having!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Dirty Little Secret
As much as I like to use this blog to share details of my life and perhaps even glimpses of the inner workings of my head, the truth of the matter is that there are plenty of things I don't post about. My work life is a prime example of something I tend to filter out, but I also tend to censor out some of the more negative thoughts I have.
I think the main reason for this is I really don't want other people interpreting or judging some of those thoughts. Often times they are simply a passing thing anyway, and the last thing I want is for someone to read it and think I'm depressed, crazy, malicious, selfish, or any other number of negative ways to describe thoughts of that nature.
Am I all doom and gloom all the time? Of course not, but if I were to honestly record my all my daily musings into two columns of positive or negative, I'm sure the negative side would win. I'm pessimistic, so what? I deal with it!
I don't really know where I was going with this post, other then the fact that work has me freaking out right now, and I'm convinced I'll be out of a job within a year. Thanks to that, I can't really come up with anything overly positive to post about and I just didn't feel like faking it.
So instead, I'll just close with a few pictures of Megan doing odd things. First up, she was having fun wearing other peoples shoes:
And finally, what happens to a bored Megan when no one is looking? She falls asleep in very strange places.
I think the main reason for this is I really don't want other people interpreting or judging some of those thoughts. Often times they are simply a passing thing anyway, and the last thing I want is for someone to read it and think I'm depressed, crazy, malicious, selfish, or any other number of negative ways to describe thoughts of that nature.
Am I all doom and gloom all the time? Of course not, but if I were to honestly record my all my daily musings into two columns of positive or negative, I'm sure the negative side would win. I'm pessimistic, so what? I deal with it!
I don't really know where I was going with this post, other then the fact that work has me freaking out right now, and I'm convinced I'll be out of a job within a year. Thanks to that, I can't really come up with anything overly positive to post about and I just didn't feel like faking it.
So instead, I'll just close with a few pictures of Megan doing odd things. First up, she was having fun wearing other peoples shoes:
And finally, what happens to a bored Megan when no one is looking? She falls asleep in very strange places.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
On like Donkey Kong
Ended Jan with about 135 miles ran. I say "about" because as I've mentioned before, that includes some distance covered on elliptical. Still, another new record under my belt and a great start to the year. Got a 10 mile run in this morning, which is 18 miles for Feb already!
I haven't posted one of these pictures since July 06, so I figured I might throw another one up. This was after my run this morning.
I read every now and then how BMI isn't always a good indicator for overall health. But it's really the only thing I've had to keep me going, so I just stuck with it. 180 is considered "normal" BMI for my height, which is 5' 11" and 1/4" (I swear I've shrunk). 180 is the weight I think that I would like to maintain in the long term, so in other words, I've finally made it.
I'm going to enjoy the rest of the weekend, starting with a big dinner tonight at Champps with my bro and some friends of his. I know, you're thinking, "But Shawn, didn't you say you would never goto Champps again?" This is true, but only Burnsville Champps! We are going to the Champps in St. Paul, where Andrea got us a $50 dollar gift certificate for $25 bucks.
Then on Sunday, I will be heading over to my brothers apartment to watch the super bowl. Apparently they are getting food for everyone... This was a surprise to me, but yet not really. I can see Scott is the same way as me, that if your going to do something, you might as well do it right. When I (used) to throw parties, always had to go overboard. I can think of many a time where our alcohol budget alone would top $100 bucks.
Too bad that's a thing of the past. One of my mottos for '07 is to do away with useless endeavors, and it just so happens that throwing parties for myself is now on that list (along with a bunch of other things that might seem odd). Luckily, I now have Megan as an excuse, and although we kept her 1st birthday small, I hope to do something much bigger this year. Speaking of Megan, I know I promised pictures, but I haven't taken any good ones lately. Instead, please enjoy Megan dancing the Hokey Pokey with Elmo. She got this gift from a cousin on Christmas and at first was absolutely terrified of it. She has since warmed up to it, and gladly dances along.
I haven't posted one of these pictures since July 06, so I figured I might throw another one up. This was after my run this morning.
I read every now and then how BMI isn't always a good indicator for overall health. But it's really the only thing I've had to keep me going, so I just stuck with it. 180 is considered "normal" BMI for my height, which is 5' 11" and 1/4" (I swear I've shrunk). 180 is the weight I think that I would like to maintain in the long term, so in other words, I've finally made it.
I'm going to enjoy the rest of the weekend, starting with a big dinner tonight at Champps with my bro and some friends of his. I know, you're thinking, "But Shawn, didn't you say you would never goto Champps again?" This is true, but only Burnsville Champps! We are going to the Champps in St. Paul, where Andrea got us a $50 dollar gift certificate for $25 bucks.
Then on Sunday, I will be heading over to my brothers apartment to watch the super bowl. Apparently they are getting food for everyone... This was a surprise to me, but yet not really. I can see Scott is the same way as me, that if your going to do something, you might as well do it right. When I (used) to throw parties, always had to go overboard. I can think of many a time where our alcohol budget alone would top $100 bucks.
Too bad that's a thing of the past. One of my mottos for '07 is to do away with useless endeavors, and it just so happens that throwing parties for myself is now on that list (along with a bunch of other things that might seem odd). Luckily, I now have Megan as an excuse, and although we kept her 1st birthday small, I hope to do something much bigger this year. Speaking of Megan, I know I promised pictures, but I haven't taken any good ones lately. Instead, please enjoy Megan dancing the Hokey Pokey with Elmo. She got this gift from a cousin on Christmas and at first was absolutely terrified of it. She has since warmed up to it, and gladly dances along.
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