Friday

Friday May 4, 2007

I started getting a cold yesterday and today I feel like shit. We almost got caught up yesterday so I shouln't be too bad. At least it's Friday. I just hope I'm feeling better by tomorrow. I hate feeling sick on the weekend.

Good news: I get paid today. We need to pay bills! The timing was just right. we get paid every two weeks, and for all I knew they could have been paid last Friday. If that were the case I'd have to wait another week to get my first check. I won't be able to deposit it until tomorrow, if that. I'm going to run to JSC in the morning and hopefully they'll credit our account immediately but chances are it won't go through until Monday.

Well, I got to get to work; it's 9:45. Too bad I don't have sick days yet, but I'm not sure I'd use one just for a cold. I can work, but like I said, I feel like shit.

Tuesday & Wednesday

Tuesday May 1, 2007 9:31 AM

Well, I stayed home last night and watched the Rockets take a 3-2 series lead over the Utah Jazz in a closely fought contest. It's been a brutal series. I hope they manage to win in Utah, I don't think they can take much more punishment.

Maybe tonight I'll see if Eric wants to hang out. I'd feel bad not going straight home; I know how much Aidan looks forward to seeing me afterward, but it would make more sense to go straight to Clear Lake after leaving here. I probably won't be getting off until around 7 anyway. I can't even remember the last time he was over our house.


Wednesday May 2, 2007 9:26 AM

I think spending my mornings with Aidan is having a good effect on him. We don't really do anything but talk about stuff but it's the bonding that he really craves. Yesterday I went straight to Eric's house afterwork and Aidan didn't fuss about it. I think it's because we visited in the morning and he knew he'd see me this morning. He crawled in bed and cuddled with me again this morning. Wednesdays he gets even more attention because Brandy takes Rowan to therapy so we get one on one bonding, and then she picks him up from school for some Mommy/Aidan time.

Last night was fun. Eric was nice enough to treat for pizza and we just hung out and played video games. We need some new 2 player games: we've been playing the same 3 games for years now.

This weekend I'm going to concentrate more on getting the house in shape to have people over and maybe I'll invite some people over for dinner. Hell, we haven't had a party in ages.

Work has been going good. We have been so busy. I wish I could find quicker ways to do the same work but you have to be precise. It's ten times as much work trying to fix a problem then it would be to do it right the first time. I'm meeting my benchmarks, as far as I can tell anyway, but I don't think Alex is. It doesn't look like he does much in a day, and I assumed he was doing stuff that wasn't apparent to me, but Priscilla gave us a talk yesterday about making benchmarks so I guess he really is slow about it. All I know is I have to bust ass to work efficiently and accurately in a day but everytime I look at his monitor he seems to be doing something other than what we need to concentrate on. I hope I'm wrong. He's a nice kid.

Monday April 30, 2007

Monday April 30, 2007 9:28AM

New week. The movie was hilarious. Shaun of the Dead was probably a bit better but they managed to reference pretty much every trait possible in a buddy cop/action flick. All the quick cut editing gave Carrie a headache, and I usually hate the style, but here it was hilarious because of how over the top it was. Funny shit.

When I left this morning Aidan was working 1st grade level schoolwork while relaxing in our bed. At this rate, by the time he gets in Kindergarden, he'll be reading 2nd or 3rd grade level. It's awesome. He doesn't do the work simply to please us, although that helps, but he truly seems to enjoy learning. I swear that kid is a sponge. He reminds me of myself.

Eric and I are supposed to do something tonight or tomorrow night. I'm not sure which. By the time I get out of here tonight I may not feel like driving to Clear Lake. Ideally he would come to our house so I could spend time with the boys. It's either that or not getting to his house until around 9PM and staying until midnight or so. I really don't want to spend the night at his house and rush home to get ready for work tomorrow morning. Who knows, maybe tomorrow night would be better.

Sunday April 29, 2007

Sunday April 29, 2007 11:11 AM

Kids are still at church, I’m on the bench swing in the backyard while Brandy makes coffee.

On Friday Jerry and I both shot pretty poorly on our 9 holes of golf. It was our first time playing from the yellow tee boxes but that didn’t affect our scores much. We both played some shitty short game and putted like we’d never dropped a putt before. He ended up one stroke better than me but that’s not saying much.

Last night we ended up playing poker at Rudy and Natalie’s where there was supposed to be 16 people and only 9 of us showed up. SSDD right? We really couldn’t afford the $10 each buy in but coughed it up anyway because we knew that I would win it back. In fact, Brandy ended up playing me heads up for the first place so we didn’t have to sweat out the end. She played really good: conservative when she needed to be; aggressive when she needed to rake chips. I still don’t think Rudy and Natalie realize the skill level involved. They must think I’m pretty lucky to keep winning. ;)

Today we have to take the kids somewhere. We kept them home all day yesterday as we cleaned and they need to get out of the house besides church. At some point we are planning on watching Hot Fuzz with Jerry, Carrie, and Jarrod but I’m not sure if that’s this afternoon or sometime tonight.

Well, I guess it’s time to start enjoying my last day off.

Emovienews

A good friend of mine has started up an excellent site for strictly movie news.
He is a writer for Mania.com and always has excellent insight into the film industry.

check it out: Emovienews.com

Order of the Phoenix trailer

The international trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is online

Here's a direct link to the quicktime version

enjoy :)

Week in Review Again

Well, this is getting a little pathetic. I haven't really been online all week and the only computer time I've been getting has been at work. Thus, all of the following journal entries are once again being mass grouped and uploaded at the same time.

At least this time I didn't wait until Sunday to catch up the journal itself!

Monday April 23, 2007 8:22 AM

Well, I got here with plenty of time to spare. I left at 7:35 just in case traffic was stagnate and it was pretty bad but I saw more than a few ways to go around it. The only stretch that you have to suffer through is 288 between Beltway 8 and 610. Still, it wasn't that bad. Tomorrow I don't have to be here until 9:30 so I probably won't leave until 8:30. It's only 15 miles but I'm driving at the wrong time. Hopefully it won't be too bad tonight. 288's eventing rush hour is usually one of the worst but I don't get out until 6:30PM so maybe it will have cleared up by then. We'll see.


Tuesday April 24, 2007 9:21AM

Working 10-6:30 now with a half hour lunch. Yesterday I went in at 8:30 to use the restroom and found out that was when they were expecting me. My recruiter told me 9AM at least twice. I even called to confirm on Friday. Well, I got out at 5PM so it worked out good.

For some reason my badge won't let me into the parking garage today (it worked fine yesterday afternoon) so I hope it doesn't get towed. I'm going to have to stop by HR on my way in to clear it up.

I like the company. There are so many stages to the operation and Joaquin, one of the floor supervisors, was nice enough to give me a full walkthrough. Technically I am a temp hire for 90 days and I got the feeling that he doesn't do that for every new temp but Brian spoke highly of me and he made it clear that he loves what Brian brings to the table. I will not disappoint.

Right now I'm just trying to get myself into the flow of the system. I sat in and saw what I will be doing mostly but they were caught up in our department and behind elsewhere so I pitched in wherever they need me. I'm pretty sure in 90 days I'll be able to walk in and know immediately what I need to get done.



Wednesday April 25, 2007 9:25 AM

I'm digging the new schedule so far. Last night I didn't get out of here until 7PM but Brandy and I got home within 5 minutes of each other. For the most part, I'll be getting home close enough to when I was before when I had to wait for Brandy to finish up. The difference is now I get to spend time with the boys in the morning as well. Aidan and Nina made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I sat and ate with them after Brandy took Rowan to therapy. I can tell that Aidan loves having me home in the morning. He crawled in bed with me and cuddled after my alarm went off.

With the ability to sleep in I have been staying up late as well. I think I'm going to limit that to when I'm reading a good book, though. I haven't been doing anything other than flipping channels so it's really just wasted time. If I get to bed earlier I can make myself get up early and start charting out a workout routine for myself and Brandy. I need to quit smoking and start running. I'm not getting any younger. At 31 if I don't start healthy habits now I may not be around past 75.

Everytime I light a cigarette Aidan gives me shit. On the one hand it's cute coming from a 4 year old, but I get sharp guilt pangs everytime he says something because it shows how much he loves me and wants me to live forever. When he says it it's not the usual cute kid comment where they say things because they know they'll get a reaction. He says it in full sincerity and honesty. In times like this I can see the future father and future leader he will be. Make no mistake: Anyone who spends a full day with Aidan knows he was born to lead. He reaons out problems and makes firm decisions. The boy is way ahead of his meager 4 1/2 years. I'm a very lucky father.


Friday April 27, 2007 9:31 AM

Friday at last! Yesterday was beautiful, today is nice, and yet it's supposed to rain all weekend. Same story different day right? Arien wants us all to go to the Deep Ella show tonight but no one wants to go. I was trying to talk Jerry into watching Hot Fuzz now that his theater is carrying it. Let's see: spend money for a ticket and drinks to see a show I could care less about or go see a movie I've been waiting for for free. I hope he decides to not go with Arien.

This weekend is going to be a clean house project. We've been slacking at it and can't afford to do anything anyway. Besides, if it rains all weekend we won't have any excuse to ingore the mess in our house. It really isn't that bad but living with two toddlers makes it easy to get trashed and yet makes it that much more important to keep clean. I've been putting off small maintenence issues for awhile and need to get them caught up.

Work is going well. I'm starting to learn where I fit in and where I can contribute. There is always a ton of stuff that needs to be done so I'm never short of finding work. I had an issue with one project yesterday where files were out of order and I didn't catch it until almost leaving but managed to fix the problem and get out at 7PM. Lesson learned. From now on I'll double check everything before I scan it and make sure everything is in the correct order. Come on weekend!

Well, we didn't go to the show or the movie. I ended up getting out of work early so I don't go over 40 hours and Jerry got out early also so we went and played 9 holes of golf!
Great start to a weekend if you ask me :)

Week in Review

Sunday April 22, 2007 2:21PM

Taking a break at the Autism Fair. It's been a week since my last post but it's to be expected considering the week.

Starting with Monday: We went to the parent support group in Angleton directly after leaving Brandy's work and as we were leaving BACH I noticed we had a flat tire. We ended up driving the 50 or so miles up 288 on a tiny spare at 50 mph. It was 9:30 at night when we finally got home.

On Tuesday: Brandy didn't finish up work until 6PM and only then remembered she was going to try and clear up a tax issue for her grandmother so that took another 2 1/2 hours and we weren't home until 9PM.

Wednesday evening Brandy went to NotSuoH for poetry but first had to accompany her brother to a car dealership to prevent him from making another stupid mistake. I stayed home, ate dinner early, and played with the boys in the backyard until sundown. Wednesday was nice.

Thursday my buddy Kevin and I played 18 holes of golf in La Marque and took way too much time. We didn't finish until 7:30PM and me and Brandy didn't get home until 8:30. It was well worth it, though. I needed the experience and I won't be getting any more opportunities to play during the week. I played bad: I shot a 111 but I progressively got better. Front 9 I shot 25 over par but on the back 9 only 14 over, and four of those were on the 10th hole where I shot a quadruple bogey. The last 8 holes I had 2 double bogeys and 6 bogeys. Much better! Plus I had a couple of 300+ yard drives for the first time. It did wonders for my swing. Which leads me to...

Friday: Played 9 holes after work (my last day at Coffee O!) I warmed up with a bucket of balls and immediately noticed a difference. I shot 3 pars, 5 bogeys, and double bogey'd hole 8 for 7 over; which isn't my best score but close to it. The big improvements were how straight and clean I hit the ball and distance. I dropped 2 or 3 club lengths for most holes. On hole 5 (148 yards to the pin) I used to hit a 5 or 6 iron depending on the wind. Friday I over hit the green with an 8 iron. Now I just need to work on putting. I'm still mostly 2 putting, which is good, but I've missed out on some great opportunities for birdy due to this. Rarily will I sink a putt 5 or more feet from the pin and I want to change that. I need to if I want to lower my scores.

That night was nice as well. We played Scattergories with Brandy's grandmother and she really enjoyed it. It was nice. We should make a game night so she has something social to look forward to besides church. We all had a good time.

Saturday was the best laid back day of all. The weather was beautiful so we spent the whole day in the backyard with the kids. We even ate breakfast outside. I set up the kiddie pool and the kids had a blast just playing with Mommy and Daddy. That night we went to Kevin and Nikki's for a party. Burger's and beer in the backyard with great adult conversation. It was fun and reminds me of how much work we need to do at our house to get it back in shape for our own Spring/Summer evening parties.

That's pretty much it, but a pretty busy week all in all. So far the Autism Fair has been relatively small but it was expected. We're just trying to do as much as possible to get the word out. It's early yet so we'll see how the next couple of hours go.

Tomorrow I start out at MRC and I'll admit I'm a little antsy. I know I'll be fine and it's normal to have jitters before starting a new job. I'll do my best to make a good impression and learn my duties as quick as possible. What else can I do until I've actually got it down? I'm probably more nervous about how the Rockets do in the playoffs this year.

Sunday Morning

Sunday April 15, 2007 10:10AM

One of the great qualities of having such a large backyard is all the area to practice pitch shots. I'm halfway tempted to install a putting green near the back. Not one of those astroturf kind either, but a real grass sodded putting surface. It can't be that expensive or complicated can it? Keeping it maintained (as well as making sure the kids don't tear it apart after a rain) should be the largest concern. Jerry's right. We should just build our own course.

We went out last night with Brian, Kevin, and Francesca and got in early at about 1:30AM so I decided to watch a little T.V. Once again I fell asleep on the couch! You'd think my body would be screaming at me by now but I actually feel quite refreshed. I woke up at 7AM just before the boys and as soon as they pulled out of the driveway to go to church I fired up the lawnmower and cut the backyard. Hence my pitch shot practice: There's just something about fresh mowed grass that makes me grab my clubs.

I don't know what to make of this new bio-rhythm. Maybe I'm just getting old. Last night made sense. Even if I wasn't tired when I decided to stay up, at least I had been drinking. But all the other nights I just seemed to pass out the moment I got a little peace and quiet. One thing is for sure: even after sleeping on the couch I've been waking up early and feeling refreshed. This weekend I've enjoyed the morning relaxation as opposed to sleeping in until 10 or 11, or worse: having Aidan wake me up at 7:30 after only 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I've been getting up before him.