Busy Month

I feel that this entire month is just speeding past. It has been packed with illnesses, chaos at work, Aidan's third birthday, exhaustion, and finally goodbyes to one vehicle and hello to another.

Life is rocking along at an incredible pace. (Speaking of rocking, I have mastered Guitar Hero I & II on medium and am about halfway through conquering Part III)

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Illnesses - Somehow, I've managed to avoid it all. Its cycling around and around and around here. Each pass, I miss it, somehow. I'll credit the glass of whiskey that I have on occasion but seriously, I haven't had that supposed immune-boosting glass in over a week. Maybe I should just accept my immune system is on overdrive.

Chaos at Work - Not the typical chaos either. Additional Chaos stacked on top of the Standard Chaos. I had to fill in as an IT Guy for the last half of this past week. We upgraded our computers to handle our software. Unfortunately, I am more trusted with the desktop machines than the IT Guy, which means all of the work fell on my shoulders.

Still, I managed to have everything switched over and fixed quickly enough (although not quickly enough to avoid some overtime).


Aidan's Third Birthday - Was fun (to the left is a photo from his Birthday Eve with Ely poking her head in to make sure she was included). We chose not to take on anything too trying this year--a good choice for my sanity. It was a simple night at home with dinner, cake, ice cream, gift opening and fun! He loved his presents, ice cream, cake, and not so much the dinner but I believe that is to be expected of a three year old.

Recently, he's also taken to potty-training like a champ. He's only had one accident in the last couple months. AND, he's conquered the very first trial of growing into a young man--that event that is sure to annoy bathroom-cleaners, mothers or maids everywhere--the ability that all women* long for in the wintry season: The act of peeing while standing.

Yes, my son is now a "real" boy. If only I could make sure he never lies...

Exhaustion - A staple of my chaotic and filled existence. Still, I'm feeling it more right now than usual (or at least it seems that way). I think that may just be because my body is fighting off the illness referenced above.

Goodbyes and Hellos - I have had a couple of these in the last month. The most recent would be the trading of my current vehicle for a brand-spanking-new Scion. The clutch had gone in the old car, the timing belt was not keeping the best of time, so, sadly, I had to say goodbye to her. I spent most of yesterday at the dealer (with Aidan in tow) working out the paperwork for a Scion which will hopefully perform very well over the next few years.

As for more personal Goodbyes and Hellos, I caught up recently with my first "real" girlfriend from high school. She and I met up for some coffee a couple weekends back to reminisce and see how each other were doing. It was nice knowing that she's doing well.

It was also interesting to observe the changes between us. We're definitely not the people we were all those years ago; I consider that a very, very good thing.

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I believe that brings us fairly current with my crazy life. Hope all is well out there in the really, real world . . .

* - I do not really believe that all women desire the ability to pee standing up.

Rock Out!

She batted those long, undeniable black lashes, blue eyes shining in the early morning sun. "Um," she cautiously stalked into the question, one foot twisting in a small circle against the carpeted floor, "later today could I rock out?"

She (Crayons' and Mr. T's daughter) was referring to Guitar Hero, which has only recently become a part of the household but it already holds a coveted place. The advertising for the game should go something like this (maybe):

Want to be the coolest middle-aged person on your block? Run out today to your nearest Gamestop and pick up GUITAR HERO! Go now! Get the band back together!

Guitar Hero is much more challenging than I expected. I actually found myself getting into it, believe it or not, and I'm not big on video games.

The callouses I once had when I used to attempt to play guitar (yes--"attempt"--I'll not delude myself about that) are suddenly all back. Didn't even need real strings for that. Even my forearm was a little tender for a day or so.

So, if you're looking for one of those "active" video games, get the band back together.

Um...Bellydancing

I ran a mile and a half tonight to help stretch my body out (on top of my normal stretching) so that I could venture into the complex world of Bellydancing.

Yes, you read that word correctly. Bellydancing.

As a man, I'm socially trained to believe that the "love-handle" is the most hideous spot of the male body (despite the ugliness of some...ahem...other body parts). Whether or not my Handles of Love are nearly as bad as I imagine them to be, they certainly felt as if they were getting in the way tonight.

Bellydancing grabbed my Handles of Love by the hair and showed them who the real man of the house was.

Now, my abdomen is crying out in sweet, sweet pain for more. My arms want to dance like silky serpents through the air. My hips demand that I move in sexy ways (if I were proficient, that is) that they've never wanted to before.

I just wonder if this feeling will pass before I go to work tomorrow. Otherwise, I may be shaking my ass, hips, or many other body parts as I undulate up and down the walkways tomorrow. I'll let you know if I receive any harassment claims.

Oh, and sorry, no pics ;)

Until next time...

Missed it!

Well, I missed the HNT this week so you'll just have to forgive it. I'm not much in the mood to recycle a picture in an attempt to post this week. I'd rather give you something...original.

So, here we are with a few rambling words from yours truly, instead.

Too much time working this week. Large project has to go out (how often do I find myself saying that anymore. Note to self: Need new catch phrase).

So much time working, in fact, that Mr. T nearly brought dinner to me because he and Crayons thought I wouldn't be home until late-late again. Instead, I gave up work (trying to kick that habit) and set it aside finally at six pm and headed home for dinner.

I also haven't been very thorough with the workout this week. That's something that should improve. It always seems as if Life is getting in the way of "the routine" but perhaps its just an example of my being a gentleman, opening the door for Life, which then distracts from "the routine".

*Sigh* The pains of being human.

At least there's that wonderful excuse of everyone being sick this week (almost deathly ill in a few instances) to toss into that mix. Still, I've managed to slide by the illness this time, it seems. Yes, yes, that sound you just heard was yours truly knocking on wood. ;)

Alright, I fear this is where the rambling ends for the night. There's not a lot interesting going on in my world at the moment (unless you count that looming Shopping Center I'm working on--and I try not to). Hope everything is well out there in ReaderLand.

Until we next meet...

A Long Weekend...

In some manner, utilizing some abnormal definition, this past weekend was a four day weekend for yours truly. I did not technically go to work on Friday. I did not technically go to work today. Instead, I utilized my personal back door to work from home.

Friday, I had to meet with "the competition" and provide my taxi services to Crayons, who needed to drop the kid-mobile off at the dealer for standard scheduled work. So, I provided a vehicle by which Ely could attend school and Crayons could drop off and pick up her vehicle. In that busiest of days, I also spent an hour, maybe two, answering a rash of emails that erupted in my mailbox when something went wrong at work and later making a phone call to assure myself that all had been righted.

The meeting with "the competition" was not anything treacherous, believe it or not. While I am not the most satisfied individual with my career (I do work too much for what I'm paid), I was not looking to backstab my employer. No, instead, I was searched out by these two individuals for another company. Two individuals that, combined, do two-thirds of my current job. They were looking for advice on transferring to a program with which I am unnaturally fluent.

I provided my advice for the low-low cost of lunch at a pleasant, upscale restaurant and we parted ways--with ideas of organizing a get-together for ALL the companies in our area to discuss these same topics. It really would be easier to have everyone on the same page, after all, even though, technically, we're in competition.

Saturday belonged to our bi-weekly [b]Game Day.[/b] My gaming group (who have temporarily, at least, decided to call themselves the "Order of the Burning Stag") rocked the city of Seaquen, hard. Right now, we are playing through the War of the Burning Sky campaign, ran by yours truly, and I'm having a blast. They're an awesome bunch of fun (and perverted) individuals.

Sunday was a day of rest which boiled down to a pursuit of knowledge in the financial realms (particularly regarding my son's financial future and the balancing of current account ledgers), the finishing of Greg Keyes' The Charnel Prince, and a healthy dose of Baldur's Gate II, which Crayons and I play together. Altogether, a good, relaxing day.

Monday was blessed with the appearance by my son, who is just amazing as far as I'm concerned. His daycare provider had taken the day off, so, he spent the day with myself and the T. Clan, running his cars across the floor, practicing his sign language and talking back a little (which ended with both time-outs and spankings, go figure). The child is stubborn--which definitely has been inherited from this Parabolist.

Fast-forward to this afternoon, another Gameday! We picked up right where we left off on Saturday with the group chasing after a hurricane summoning druid/monk. Twice, I worried about a TPK (Total Party Kill), but they managed to pull the rug out from underneath their foes. We finished up book three of the campaign: Shelter from the Storm and they delved headlong into adventure four. Fun!

I've also worked fourteen hours and have managed to read half of Beowulf. It's been a very busy, but awesome, weekend. I hope you've all had the same!

Goodnight...and until next time!

HNT...the Good ol' days

And here we have a photo cut from the history books. I guess I was about 3.5-4 years old at this point. We had "professional" family portraits done because my brother was finally old enough for it at 1-1.5 years old.

Happy HNT.

So...sleepy...

I'm not sure what exactly is up with today but I've been unable to wake up all day long. I just had dinner a little while ago and it seems to have helped a bit but I didn't skip any meals today so I'm not sure what that means.

I can assume that its just normal exhaustion. Perhaps, there is a larger explanation. Was anyone else out there unable to wake up today?

I'm hoping now that my run in twenty minutes or so will finish kick-starting my mind. It is hard walking around in a haze all the time.

Huh...

You look away for two seconds and all of a sudden two months have leapt off that horizon we call possibility and into that shifty textbook we call the past.

Where does it go?

Like so much sand, it just slips through our fingers. I'm not trying to be sad or emo here. Really, if it didn't slip through our fingers so quickly, we'd never have those moments that we cling to which we appreciate, so much.

Well, Happy New Year out there to all of you. Maybe I'll do a bit better with updating this year...or, maybe I'll use the excuse of being too busy again to avoid consistency. Either way, I hope a few of you hang around.

Forgive the sudden change of background. I'm actually working on a new layout for this place, but for the time being, I just grabbed one of the standard layouts.

See you sometime.

Bad Hair HNT

She'll be a quick one today, folks. Let me show you the horrors of long hair (at least, when attached to my head)...

If it please the court, I'd like to add Photograph 1 into the records:

Clearly, we can all see that the long hair...is not very stylish for my box shaped head.

To further prove my point and offer a comparison, let us enter Photograph 2 into the records as well.

I believe the Prosecution rests it's case. So, kids, remember, when I randomly declare that I'm going to grow my hair out, someone needs to tackle, subdue, and give a quick haircut.

Happy HNT!

Just Another Manic Monday

Dear reader,

…Everything feels off today, I’m not sure why. My dreams were assaulted by a weirdness so aberrant, my conscious mind was unable to grasp onto the specific images but did managed to hold the subtle, unnatural feeling that is, even now, clawing at my soul.

First stop on this crazy, whirring, train of unease in this very similar but still parallel and thus, incorrect dimension was a close, very close look at the conductor. You can tell, from the picture, that he was indescribably insane. He conducted my entire weekend (and so I’m convinced it was him that sent me so far off the beaten track today!) with his mood which is as changeable as the clichéd weather. Prone to rapidly alternating moods of possessiveness and compassion and patronizing condescension, he held the carrot over a sheer chasm. My unfaithful steed took the bait and we plummeted.

The train kicked forward, rushing to overdrive as the day crawled to my hour-and-a-half late lunch. I run to a Giant supermarket only to be assaulted as soon as I make it through the front doors.

“Would Bob Manly please come to the service desk! Bob Manly, please come to the service desk!” screeched across the loud speaker.

Who (in the fuck) names their kid “Bob Manly”? I brushed off my confusion—trying to focus on the task at hand, instead of pondering the ensnaring abnormality of the day. Acquisition of lunch foods led me close to the dairy isle where the managerial staff at my friendly local Giant supermarket has posted a picture of the Dairy Manager. His name, you ask. His crazy ass name was Harpo. My eyes stretched wide at the insanity of it all—that, or at the fact that he looked like Captain fucking James T. Hook (minus the big, black, curly wig). He’s even balding in the same ways. I can’t make out his hands in the picture, either because hooks don’t photograph well or Giant is afraid of Disney locating their runaway pirate captain.

Taking a deep breath and grabbing a sandwich, I glue my eyes to the floor until I made it to the self-checkout isle. My lunch slid across the scanner and I paid for everything, making sure to move double speed. Only, something drew my eyes before I quite made it out—right near the service desk.

Sure enough, that which drew my stare was Bob Manly. His name tag read: BOB in big, bold fucking letters. He was a middle-aged man—nothing too remarkable there except that he looks exactly like Duncan, Master at Arms from He-man (or Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren).

I averted my eyes, hoping he didn't notice me—in the event that his posse (probably consisting of He-man/Dolph, Teela, and maybe even Orko) are hanging around—and rush out the door.

It’s approximately a five minute walk back to work (give or take depending upon the amount of traffic and the then variable amount of time it takes to cross a town street without a crosswalk). Birds are chirping, the typical smell of smoldering cigarette smoke is absent, and perfect, white, poofy clouds pirouette slowly across a crystal, cobalt sky.

It is then that the realization hits me: I’m fucking dead. I must have died last night while gaming. It is the only explanation that makes any sense. At all. I had some sort of massive coronary whilst playing through the Tomb of Horrors. Acererak himself has condemned my soul to some godless prison—and to an eternity of weirdness—just for wishing his demise.

I’ve returned now to my cubicle…but it’s definitely not MY cubicle…

If, however, I manage to keep my head down and eyes closed, perhaps Wile E. Coyote’s Laws of the Universe will keep my soul from being trampled on at least, for a time…

*end transmission*

Like Father, Like Son - HNT

Here we have my son, in a tiara. He thought it was pretty, and we all did too!

Then apparently it was my turn, and who am I to turn down an opportunity to be pretty?

Random: My eyes are bleeding!

Okay, not really bleeding; they're figuratively bleeding. I've been pounding away at some work for about the last four hours--which doesn't include the ten straight hours I worked earlier today.

It sucks but I feel as if I've actually accomplished something. I've managed to navigate the most painful part of setting up a bunch of design standards and its really the last hill I had to climb. Everything else with these files will be downhill from here which means that I may be able to crank out this road design within the next three weeks as requested.

I have a slight headache--but a few sips of whiskey should take that edge off.

I spent part of tonight with my boy. Not enough time; there never seems to be enough time. Sigh. I'm looking forward to Halloween and the first weekend in November--both of which will be spent in his mischievous company.

Also, my birthday is swiftly approaching (this coming weekend). I'll be just a bit older than that cliche spring chicken we all hear so much about. Sadly, because of work, I'm having to rearrange my plans slightly. I'll probably have to pass on what's become a yearly tradition for me: Taking off the surrounding three or four days of work to write. There is just too much work and not enough me to go around (right ladies?). I still may pop out of the office early (or in late), if possible, but my odds aren't that great at this point. But such is life. And I do have a great weekend planned with a bunch of folks in DC...so, I'll get over it.

Not much else is up here on the eastern front. My brother's enlisted and will be marrying his girlfriend this weekend (all very, very suddenly, mind you). I shouldn't comment too much about it--but I wish him more luck than I had in each situation.

HNT tomorrow...I'll see you all then (or you'll see me, rather) ;) Until then...

HNT - With the Spiked-ed Hair.

I haven't violated this aspect of the HNT rules just yet. I haven't overused it. Not in the slightest.

So here it is...an HNT violated by the cuteness that is my hellspawn. I promise not to overuse this, but, I figured since I've been absent for a bit...here's a decent return.

The hair is spiked-ed in the pictures because of a bit of psoriasis (I blame my father for that...the genes skipped a generation and I have no maladies). Anyway, I ask only that you bask in the glory that is my son, Aidan. He's beautiful...and amazing...and almost always wearing a smile (which we all need at times)...

Seven Things...

- Crayons tagged me.

1. I've never been blog-tagged before.

2. I was born in Belgium (I am a military brat).

3. I was in the marching band in high school *cough*band geek*cough*.

4. Obviously, I did survive my surgery and have just been absent for other reasons.

5. I was a computer engineering major in my freshman year of college but changed to a double major of psychology and criminal justice. Had to leave college, wound up working in the civil engineering field while trying to finish my degree--only a business degree this time.

6. I once had an agent for acting.

7. Did you know I'm actually published now? If you're a gamer geek, please pick up a copy and support my habit :D

Well...nervousness...

Alright. In five minutes, I can no longer eat or drink anything. Intravenous Anesthesia here I come!

I'll admit, having never been under the knife before, I'm a little nervous. I can only hope that my hallucinations are fun! Maybe, if I'm not too sore tomorrow I'll check in.

Talk to you all soon!

Thanks...

...go to Crayons for the wonderful layout. Thanks also go to Mr. T for a little technical know-how.

*Sigh*

I saw my son tonight, briefly, when I was shuttled over to the ex's apartment by Crayons. Because of the vicodin, I've not been driving (which leaves me at the mercy of Crayons and Mr. T). She was kind enough to drive me hither and fro for a bit.

Anyway...

My son (who is rapidly approaching three) threw his arms around me and gave a gigantic hug. I tried to explain to him that I couldn't stay long. He looked at me--with those perfect blue eyes--and asked, "Are you going back to work?" There was no malice there, no sadness, just curiosity in those eyes.

It reminded me of my own childhood. I remember thinking, if not expressly asking, that with regard to my own parents.

I'm saddened tonight and for good reason.

Relaxing HNT

Happy Half-Nekkid Thursday, all!

Bahamas ..... Check.
Beach ..... Check.
Mixed Drink ..... Check.
Ocean lapping against your toes ..... Check.
Great company ..... Check.
Perfect Relaxed HNT pic ..... Check.

What more can be said?

HHNT all, and I'll see you next week (if not before).

Darling, will you dance with me?

Darling, will you dance with me?

Okay, okay...so she didn't really ask so much as she directly leapt onto my shoes and grasped my hands to benevolently gift yours truly with the privilege of leading. No matter the technique, my heart was stolen.

This is just one of the many, many pictures taken from the Disney cruise. For a larger sampling, check Crayon's blog.

I won't bog this blog down with too many random pictures (even if there are sexy pictures of yours truly wearing pin-striped suits or more hot Pirate costume pictures [one night was Pirate night!]). I should correct that to say that I won't waste all of my back-up HNT photos ;)

I just thought I'd post a couple photos to show the joy that was had. Thankfully, we had the sense to enshrine the moments digitally.



It was great fun. There was even one point where I was on my feet and waving my napkin about... -->

And I think I'll leave you on that note (and with that picture.) I'm a bit tired and the pain is coming back (my surgery was pushed back a week...which means I'll be hopped up on Vikodin for an additional seven days or so). Time for more meds and more rest.

Talk to you all soon...

Quietly...

...I return...

Its been amazingly busy for me (Amazing is by far the best word to describe what I've been going through). I've been on vacation (and before that putting in WAYYYYY too many hours at work). We've (Crayons, Mr. T., the kids, and I) went on a cruise to the Bahamas ala Disney. It was amazing (there's that word again) fun.

We made it home Monday around 12:03 am EST exhausted in all the wrong ways. I had the pleasure of the appearance of an impacted wisdom tooth for a portion of the vacation and will undergo the knife tomorrow afternoon to excise the problem. As a result, my other posts this week (and I assume there will be more seeing as how I probably won't be able to move from my position here on the couch) will be sponsored by Vicodin.

Sorry for the absence and thanks for hanging around ;)

See ya soon!