No clever title

So, this past week was recovery from Thanksgiving. Leftovers for days just like normal. I just can’t get over how much leftovers from Thanksgiving almost always taste better than the day off. That’s OK though! This week also started the cold streak getting ready for winter! It didn’t last long though.

Middle of the week, we discovered that the Christmas lights weren’t coming on. Dad ended up coming over and helped me track down the problem, which only took about 15-20 minutes to find. After we found that and got it back online, we discovered that we had another issue with the upstairs breaker. It kept tripping, so we swapped it with another and it worked. We picked up a new breaker, set it up in the box, and it tripped as well. So, we left the band aid in place and ate dinner. The next day, I stopped into Lowe’s and traded the breaker for another one. Took it home, got it hooked up, flipped the switch, and it tripped! The odds that three breakers are bad is very improbable. So I took the original breaker and placed it on another slot (we already knew that a regular breaker would work in the upstairs location, so now it was time to see if the special breaker would work elsewhere) and it stayed on without incident! So, I had to take the new breaker back and then thanks to information from Uncle Butch track down a possible loose connection on one of the outlets.

Not much else in the way of excitement I suppose. The pregnancy has been bringing headaches, nausea, and fatigue. I’m sure that Jen has been feeling a lot of the same! Caitlyn had her Violin lesson on Wednesday, so she is still enjoying that which is good. Thursday was her gymnastics day, so she went in for some more tumbling, we she also still enjoys. Friday took us to our home-group for church to a new house. Kids running all over the place, everyone enjoying themselves, turned out to be a good night. Saturday, I was going to do some work on the outlets and see if I could find the potential culprit, but I ended up getting a couple tires flipped and stopped in to see some friends and their new baby girl. Six hours later, I realized what time it was and had to get home!

Sunday was the TSO concert. We caught up with a few friends for lunch first, went to the show, rocked out, then caught up with a couple other friends for dinner. As always, the show was phenomenal, and we are prepping for next year’s show. Dinner was great, nothing extraordinary as we ate at Crazy Fire, but the company that we were amongst was fantastic.

Till next week!

Thanksgiving down, Christmas on the way, then waiting for the spring.

Well, this week was a slow but full week. Amazing given that it was also a short week.

The beginning happened with a close to non-eventful Monday. Mom and Dad swung by for a short visit, so that made the day. Tuesday was a killer because it was the next to last day of the work week (I know, it just started!), and because of that fact, it dragged on forever. Wednesday was a 3/4 work day for me. Cut out at noon and headed to Cary. Had my retake exam to do, plus I was picking up a ham from Honeybaked Ham. Exam came and went, I passed (yeah!), and then stood in line for about 30 minutes to get a ham (but boy oh boy is that some good ham).

Turkey day was quiet and peacful. Basic staples for the meal, turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, sweet potato casserole, spinach, broccoli, cranberry stuff, ham, and apple pie. Very thankful for everything in our life. We don't focus on that enough, but if one day a year is all we get, then it's better than nothing. During the day, I started my "Black Friday" shopping. Ordered a handful of things online as most stores started online on Thursday. Friday, I woke up and finished my online orders. With the exception of a few things, all my shopping was taken care of before I ever left the house on Friday. When I finally did venture out, it was to discover that most of the madness was already over. I was able to get to the few places that I needed to get to very easily, and without incident. Walked into each store and walked out without spending more than 10 minutes in each location. That to me was a huge success. Now, I'm approximately 95% complete with my Christmas shopping.

Saturday, we did some cleaning around the yard as the trees dumped the rest of their leaves on us finally, and I was prepping for the decorations going up. We went and picked up a tree at our normal spot, however, instead of our traditional hot cocoa, spiced cider, and coffee to take on the trip, we had frozen goodies instead to quench our thirst in the warmer than normal climate. Got the tree back, placed inside to drop, and let it sit. An added bonus to this is I finaly got a filler tube that I've been looking for so all I have to do is fill up the water from up top without climbing under the tree anymore (sweet!).

Sunday, with all the decorations down, we started to set up outside. The majority of the lights are up, the snowman and santa are up, and the bows are up. Once the tree finishes dropping, we'll be able to complete the inside decorations. Only a few more things to do, and then be merry till the end of the year!

Once Christmas is over, then our next big thing happens in the Spring. Near the end of May to be precise. What is happening is that Caitlyn is finally going to be a big sister. Jen's pregnant with our second! No clue if Caitlyn's having a baby brother or sister yet as it isn't time, but sometime in or shortly after January we should know. Time to start rearranging the house! =)

Till next time, hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.

Exhausting week and migraines suck

This week was split up because of a little trip I got to take on Wednesday. More on that soon. =)

So, the week began slow, but started off immediately with me feeling tired. Not a good way to start, but it was what it was. I think because of that, I went to bed early every single night. Not that it bothered me, it wasn't as if there was anything worth while for me to watch on TV, even if I could watch TV. Tuesday morning I found a 55 gallon drum on craigslist for cheap. Called up and set a time to meet and swap then almost immediately forgot about it! Pretty bad since I've been needing a burn barrel since my firepit finally disintegrated after 4 years of use.

Wednesday, I got to skip work because I went on a field trip with Caitlyn and her school! We went to the Mordecai house in Raleigh (that's pronounced Mor-de-key). We got to walk all over the place and learn different things about how the size of the house had changed over the different generations, and how many people lived in the house at each stage of it's existence. We also learned about life on the plantation outside of the house, and I learned that one of our guides has the ability to say "OK" over 50 times in a ten minute span. We saw where Andrew Johnson was born and lived for the first nine years of his life, then learned about his accession to the Presidency and his impeachment trial. Afterwards, we had a great lunch outside, saw the spring (that has since dried up) and then ended the trip with a visit to Krispy Kreme! It was brilliant!

Thursday threw me back to work, and then I had the evening to myself as Jen and Caitlyn went to see Taylor Swift. They had a great time and Caitlyn thoroughly enjoyed her first concert ever. Friday put Caitlyn and me at small group with our church group, but Jen missed this one to go see the new Twilight movie with one of her friends. She loved it, but hated the ending. I guess the fact that it was a part 1 of 2 didn't clue her in to the fact that it would have an open ending! This also happened to have been the beginning of my wonderful headaches. Excedrin isn't working as well this time as it normally does.

Saturday was birthday party at Pump it Up in Raleigh, followed by an early dinner at Firebirds. That revealed to be a treat as they were having a tree lighting at the location that we went to and we didn't know it. So we walked for a bit and took in the sights, then proceeded to have dinner before heading back home. Sunday morning was an early morning, which is unusual, but at least we were able to get ready for church on time and make it in. Afterwards, some yard cleaning (followed by some leaf and limb burning) got the place ready for Christmas decorations that go up beginning next weekend. Now, if only this migraine would go away, I'll be back in ship shape. Three days in a row is not good for the old noggin.

Checked comments

I missed on Sunday, it was just too nice to do anything (including blog) so I'm going to let it go till next week.

It was mentioned that the comments section was messed up so I went to check it this morning. I was able to post a comment with a blank account and it showed up just fine. I checked the settings for the blog, and everything is set opened. So I'm not sure why the comments are not coming through. Hopefully something will come about and I can get comments again. ;)

Daylight Savings....I'm tired

Well, as I mentioned last week, Daryll's dad passed away last Sunday night. He was 4 days shy of turning 73, so he lived a decent amount of time. The funeral was Wednesday so I went to be there as moral support for him more than anything else. Myself and five others were there and only knew each other (and Daryll) but being there is what mattered. After that downer, the rest of the week made out to be pretty good.

I kept studying the rest of the week for my MS exam. Friday came and I went in to the testing center early and lucked out in getting in ahead of schedule. 50 questions later, I come out without passing. Looks as though the study questions that I had were somewhat outdated so the material I had was only 60% good. So I had to search for some other study material that was more up to date to review to try and pick up what I lost. I'll have to see if I can get in there on Thursday and do my retest (just hope I'm ready by then), otherwise I'll have to wait till next week. That evening, Jen had a Scentsy party to go to, so Caitlyn and I went up to the store to pick up some things that we needed, and on our way home stopped off at DQ for a couple of Blizzards! I don't know about hers, but mine was pretty good. I think she liked hers as well ;)

Saturday was a full day! Caitlyn went to a friends birthday party at the skating rink, then we got haircut's, and we went shopping (mostly for Jen because, well, she likes to shop). We ended up in the Crossroads area and hit Hallmark, ACMoore, Olive Garden (yummy) and finally Toys R Us. Toys R Us was last so Caitlyn could spend all the time she wanted just walking around trying to get ideas for what she wanted for Christmas, plus she was looking for something to get right then because she got straight A's on her report card!! Not that it was really a surprise, but we felt why not. =) Then we hit Kohl's, Five Below, and Best Buy before finally heading home.

Sunday morning, I forgot about the time change and didn't realize that I woke up at 6:15. So I had my coffee and started my day, then an hour later, it hit me. Oh well, too late by then. So Sunday was fairly relaxed for the most part. No running around all crazy like, just a little running around lackadaisically. Mowed the yard, worked on building a dock for my phone to put in the car, went to the grocery store, and was just plain exhausted because of the early day. It's supposed to feel better getting that hour back, but I think it's worse on me right now.

Intentionally late (to an extent)

So this week I wanted to wait till we were finished with Halloween before posting anything in case there was anything really exciting. Well, it rained, and we went out, in the rain, plus it was cold. Luckily we didn't stay out late, and we didn't go far, but at least Caitlyn got a pretty good stash because of the limited ghouls and goblins that were out. Once we got back, I was so exhausted that I just didn't want to post anything, so it ran one extra day. Sorry ;)

Anyway! I went and put my name on a list for a vanpool from the house to Bragg, but doubt that it will pan out. The only other people that live out here and work on base have different hours than me, so it doesn't look like I'll ever get that carpooling/vanpooling thing going. That's ok though, our tax guy informed me last year that the mileage can be written off at the end of the year because of where my "home office" is located.

I've been studying off and on for my next certification. Nothing spectacular this time, just Windows 7 which is sort of a prereq for the bigger overall certs that I'm looking at getting. Basically, the test has to be taken, so I'm just getting it out of the way (plus I have a voucher pack for two more tests that I need to get done by the end of the year otherwise I lose them). So, looking to get two somewhat easy tests knocked out so I don't end up having spent that money on nothing. Test is this Friday, so I should be fine. So far the practice tests have me at about 90%, but I want to get a little better prior to walking in and getting knocked in the head with something that I forgot to study. One of the benefits of the voucher pack that I purchased though is that if I do fail a test, I get to retake it again for free (just once, otherwise I use the next voucher), so that helps as well in preparation.

This past Friday we went to church for the Fall Festival (aka Halloween fun without the evil spirits). Again, it was raining and cold, but it was a success and all enjoyed, ourselves included. Saturday, Caitlyn had a girl scout event up the road during the day, and Jen and I just hung around the house being lazy bums. Well, I studied some more (mostly that will be my life till after I get this test knocked out). Then Sunday, we were at both services for church as we had greeting duty. Got to welcome everyone in and hand out the days hand-outs. Then went off to Jen's moms to mow the lawn for her and go visit real quick with a friend on our way to dinner at Nantucket Grill. Real good food, reasonable prices, New England style dining and food. We enjoy it, so that's reason enough to go back. =)

Only thing that happened to bring everything down is that a friend of mine (Daryl Putnam) lost his father to cancer on Sunday night. Services are Wednesday, so that's where my afternoon will be spent tomorrow. Not that I want to end it on a sad note, but for those that know Daryl, I just wanted to make you aware.

Till next time.

Another round of unexciting news.

Yet one more less than stellar week has gone by. Most of the beginning of the week was used for recovering from the fair (at least for me it was). Slow and steady at work, slow and steady at home. Friday eve was spent at the assistant Pastor's house for our home group that we are in and ended up doing our Membership Interview to the church that we've been attending. It went very well and we are moving forward to the next step at some point.

Saturday was a fun filled day. Caitlyn had a girl scout event at the History Museum in downtown Raleigh that went on from 1 till 4:30ish. Then we stepped into the Science Museum real quick to pick up some dead bugs for her to take to school for a project. Afterwards we headed home for a spell to get ready for the night out at the Corn Maze where we met up with Mom, Dad, Carrie, and Jeremy. We ended up splitting into three groups. Caitlyn went with Carrie and Jeremy; Mom and Dad went on their own; and Jen and I went last. Once we actually got into the maze, Jen decided that it was going to be a race after all and just booked it. We were running all over the place, only seeing Mom and Dad once at the very beginning. When it was all said and done, we finished in one hour four minutes and met with the rest of the family about seven minutes later when they emerged as well. So, Jen's persistance paid off as we won (exactly what we won I'll never know, but we did it).

Till next time.

Two days behind! Oh No!! Don't freak out everyone!

I forgot to post on Sunday about the past week! And then I let it slip for an additional two days! Sorry folks. Didn't mean to worry anyone. ;)

Monday was Columbus Day, and thanks to working for the military, I had off. My one day off that Jen doesn't have, and I spent it working on the car stereo. At least now I have the part I started completed correctly. Will work on the rest later as the parts start to trickle in. Tuesday was back to work, and nothing exciting, much like the rest of the week. Afternoons and evenings were quiet, but well spent with the family so I got to enjoy that. We made plans with friends to come up to our place over the weekend and go to the state fair. Everything was good till Saturday when they called and said one of them was sick with a 100+ temp. Had to cancel their plans to attend. That's OK though, cuz we were still going.

Got to the fair at 9:30 (skipped out on church, but at least it isn't a common theme for us) and went to two food places and both were closed. Two of the things we wanted to get, and it was a no go. Had to settle for a second rate establishment (I know, are there such things at the fair?) and then continue on the day. It was great weather, lightly crowded, and full of fun. Caitlyn got to ride some bigger rides as she started getting much bolder with actions as well as talk. Except for the really big rides that spin and flip at the same time, she rode every heavy hitter out there and enjoyed all but one of them. We ran into five different families that we knew and spent a few hours with one of them. Plus we saw an additional three people that we knew as well. Not bad for such a large place. All in all, it was a fun, although exhausting, time. So that would explain why I missed Sunday's post. Till next week!

Not to exciting

So this week has been slightly less exciting than most. A bunch of going to work, coming home, doing a little running, sleeping, and repeating the next day. The most exciting parts were Saturday afternoon going to Lowe's to pick up a new Halloween blow-up only to find that they've been all sold out for a while and all the Christmas decorations are out so we ended up with a new 11 foot Snowman. Plus, picked up a new LED flood light (very cool and only $10) and a Christmas tree funnel filler (been trying to find one of those for years now, also only $10). Then on Sunday afternoon we got to spend some time with Mom and Dad before going off to our friends house for our Bible study group.

So, a slightly dull week, but at least we made it through the week.

Tweaking, working, the beginning of fall, and being sore

So, as I mentioned, the PC has been louder than I remember it so I needed to remedy that. I finally got it matched with the right RPM's while still providing the cooling needed without killing the computer again. One thing completed, YEAH!!

Work has been work for both Jen and I, so no real big news there. The only exciting thing that happens, is that at least once a day (typically it's upwards of three times a day) a mini Nerf Gun war breaks out that goes on for approximately 10 minutes each time. Fun for all is had, and it's a good way to break up the monotony of the day. I'm happy to say that not one person has lost an eye during any of these battles.

So Friday night started the massive cooldown here in central NC. It was 84 during the day, and as soon as the sun went down, the cold air rushed in and it bottomed out at approximately 50! All weekend it didn't get any warmer than 70 so it was a welcomed relief from the heat for the short amount of time. Next week, back in the mid to upper 70's (thankfully), but it looks like no more 80's except for a one off every now and then. Guess I need to break out the cold weather gear soon.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that another of our trees had been hit by lightining. Nothing looked wrong with it, just the scourch marks all along the side from the hit. While looking at it though, we noticed that the larger tree behind it has progressively been getting worse as far as looking like it's rotting away. So this weekend was the time to start taking that tree down. So, I tied off the top of the tree, roped it to the adjacent trees to direct its fall and slow the decent down, and got to work sawing away, by hand, which was long and hard. Every so often, I would climb down, grab the rope and tighten up the slack to keep pulling it in the right direction. Then get back up and do it all over again. After the top came down, I started cutting it into smaller pieces to go burn and to clean up the yard some. It wasn't till I finished and started to slow down that I realized how sore I was. Looks like I got a decent upper body workout without realizing it. Too bad it didn't work my abs any!

Till next time.

Almost slipped

So, for the past few months or so, I've been doing my best to get back into running. I've had little to no success in being consistent, but we'll see what happens. So far, the results conclude that after a spell of consistent every other day runs (well more like half runs half walks) I hit a wall and went 2 weeks of being a lazy bum again. This past week, I started it up again and got a run in on Tuesday, and another on Thursday. Over a four mile track, I'm averaging about 13.5 minute miles. While not real good, it would be much better if I was able to run the entire time. So my goal is to be able to actually complete an entire run as a run, and then if it's still at 13.5 for a mile, then I'll feel really bad.

Last weekend, Jen went yard-saling and scored some cool gifts for me. She picked up four Nerf guns for me to take to work. Because, there's nothing better than to have Nerf guns at a secured facility on a military base and shooting people who come in my area. Well, to be honest, we only shoot at each other, but there was an incident that did involve a full-bird Colonel, but he joined in the fray so the initial shooter lucked out. This weekend she found a Hose Reel for me, so now I can get that unsightly water hose up off the driveway and into a more compact container. (Honestly I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but I'm very happy with the present).

There isn't any plans here in the near future to get a new car for me yet, but when that happens, I may have to change what I'm looking at. My carpool buddy, which we carpooled all of twice, has taken a new project that is no longer out at Bragg. That's a real bummer considering that he lives a couple minutes away from me in the same neighborhood and if we had continued, it would have saved both of us about $200 a month in gas. So, now I'll have to see what falls into the "LEED" vehicle program at work so I can get one of those to cut down on gas and to continue to allow me to park up front instead of half a mile away. The distance isn't that bad since it can add to my excercise, but when it's time to go, I don't wanna be walking for 15 minutes before I leave ;)

So, after having got the computer back in operation, it's been sounding like it's much louder than it used to be. I'm not sure if that's true or just my imagination, but regardless, I've been tweaking the fan settings to get it quiter while still providing adequate cooling to keep from overheating. I think I'm almost there as I can now hear myself think while I'm in the study with the machine.

Till next time, take care all!

So, what have we been up to.

Since June, Caitlyn of course finished school (but that was in May), Jen finished school (ok, maybe work is a better word for that). Then they both went back at the end of August. Work days came, and work days went, all very slow. It got so bad that I started to look for work elsewhere (not actively, but had a friend at a software company looking for someone so I threw my hat in the ring). None of it worked out though, so I stuck it out with the DOD.


Later on, I finally got a lot of information (which would have been nice at the beginning of my employment there) on what my title and role is. It seems that I've finally made my career goal of becoming a Sr System Admin! That's a good thing! The bad thing though is that because I'm said highish ranking person in a military installation, I don't do anything. I have underlings who do the work and I just make sure it gets done. So, all my boring nothing to do days, I've actually been doing what I was supposed to do and didn't realize it. Isn't that something.

Sometime in late June as well, the Legacy started to give all kinds of fits and would have cost more to fix it than what it was worth. So, with 200k miles on it, we traded it in on a new Forester for Jen. Top of the line 2011, Black on Black, and very purty. She says she likes it, and I'm inclined to believe her. Since we got her that, I took over her Silver 2005 Forester for the time being, and will probably drive it for quite a while. Currently it has 208k miles on it, and should be good for at least double that, but we'll see.

We took a trip in July to Florida that overlapped the Fourth holiday. Spent time in Lauderdale, Miami, Sanibel Island, and Orlando. Overall, a very good and relaxing trip, we have fun and got to unwind a lot. On the trip back, we split the drive in two and stopped in Savannah for the night. That was an unexpected trip, and we are hoping to make it back again sometime for a couple of days.

Other than the trip to Florida, there were no beach trips for me this summer. Jen and Caitlyn went on a couple, they also made a trip up to New York for a week in June. I've tried to start running again and have been doing ok with it. Started small, then worked my way up, then stopped completely for some unknown reason, now trying to motivate my lazy butt to hit the pavement again.

That's the bulk in a nutshell, it's not everything, but I tried to do a little catching up instead of blasting you with a bunch of info right out the gate.

Love to all, and talk soon.

Cosby

Sorry for the delay...

But just replaced the motherboard finally. Bear finding one, and especially one that didn't cost as much as the PC itself.

So, I'm back, no time to update tonight, but will rack my brain trying to remember all that has happened since the beast blew up.

No I didn't drop the ball again!!

I just had computer issues. I'll get back on things soon, but the long and short of current situation is good computer has broken motherboard so need to eventually replace. Currently running old crappy computer till able to replace. *sigh*

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there reading, and especially mom, thanks for everything and for managing to keep your sanity while we came up with new inventive ways to try and kill ourselves. Happy Mother's Day!

Helping get a better me

So, Sunday I decided to take Jen's diet and give it a shot. Figured the beginning of the month was a good starting point. So, I'm giving her a month to see what it does and then I'll go from there based on the results. Eating a bunch of food, although it's good for you food, at regular intervals all day every day = weight loss. Supposed to be some sort of metabolism thing because of the constant intake of food. It has worked for her in the past, so why not. Tack that onto the walking (and hopefully running before long) and I should be good to go in the next few months.

So as the week progressed, I lost four pounds (Jen thinks this is big for me, but since I vary about 5 pounds either way on a weekly basis normally, it really isn't), however, I put 3 pounds back on after a night of Mexican food for Cinco De Mayo (eating once again only what she put out for me) so she is blaming that on the chips and salsa that we were eating. Then, Saturday we had a pancake breakfast for a school fundraiser (which was awesome) and she claims that my mess things up as well. Whatever, I'll just let it go and whatever happens happens.

Other than food, life has been pretty slow this week. Replaced the broken mirror from when the mailbox jumped out behind the car on Jen, so it's back at 100% again. Started painting horns to mount on the car. Got more seed to plant more grass in the yard. Walked around the track at work every day (cept for Friday, had to skip it since I left early). It may take a while longer than I anticipated to get to where I can run again since I'm still only able to walk roughly 3/4 of a mile before my shins start killing me (not a stroll, but not a power walk either, just an in between brisk walk). Still, I'm getting 2 miles in a day, so we'll see what happens there as well. Bought the new Beastie Boys album off I-tunes, man that is my new favorite album. Can't get enough of it. Plus the Z-trip mega-mix tribute that he produced is very good as well.

Ah, so many good times. Till next week (or earlier)

Looks like I'm trying to slack off

I've got to get back on the ball with my daily updates, I'm slacking off and almost missing my Sunday posts. *sigh*

So Easter was a good day. Mom and Dad came out and we enjoyed an early dinner and some together time. For the meat eaters I grilled, but spent to much time talking with dad and cooked the meat to an almost well done state. Guess I'll need to just keep some sort of timer on hand instead of relying on internal timing. =) The week in general was quiet, I've been getting some walking in trying to start a slow buildup to getting into something that resembles being in shape. If I can do this right, I should be able to have the muscles under my shins poised to allow me to start running again. That would be nice. Especially since there is a track right in front of my office building. Sometimes being on base does have it's perks. =)

Look sis! More paragraphs! =P

Saturday was a somewhat lazy day. Caitlyn had a GS event at Camp Mary Atkinson just up the road that was all day, so Jen and I went and saw the latest Fast and Furious installment. It's a guilty pleasure, but I'm happy to saw that they've come a long way from the first one that was all cheese. Now it's only filled with a little cheese. At least it isn't processed cheese, but a decent block of aged Swiss. =)

Now, lets see if I can get back on schedule for next weeks post.

Almost missed it

I had slipped all week with keeping tabs on everything. I knew though, that if I let one week go, I wouldn't hear the end of it, plus it probably would be the beginning of the end again. Can't let that happen. =)

So, in all honesty, nothing really exiting happened all week. The drive to and from work was dull all week. Work was pretty dull all week. Nothing new to share at home. The only real excitement was really the fact that for some reason, everyone travelling North on I-95 this Friday decided to look at the tornado devistation. I guess they were all in Florida all week and this was the first time they saw all the pools thrown all about and broken into little bits. That and seeing at just how lucky Jen's mom was since one of the tornados tore through her neighborhood only a couple blocks away from her house.

Now that everything has "settled down" maybe I can start walking again and see if that will allow for me to build up to jogging without killing my shins. I think I need to do something. ;)

Till next time.

Much of the same

Nothing real exciting this week. Much of the same with the car, drive one day it's fine, next it's about to blow up, rinse, repeat. Jen was still feeling a little down this week, but was getting better, if only she would relax some more, maybe next week. Thursday I took Jen's car to work, because mine was no longer moving from it's resting place. Friday, I didn't go anywhere because of the same issue. Saturday, we went to Chapel Hill and got rid of it. In it's place, I'm driving a new (to-me) 2005 Forester that looks vaguely familiar. Jen on the other hand, got a new Forester that she actually likes! It's bigger, roomier, and looks good. So far she's happier. We survived the tornado that went right over or around us in Smithfield. Everyone was ok, and discovered that all friends and family and possessions were fine as well. Like I said, not a great exciting week, but what a way to end it!

Ok, seriously?

So Sunday was a fantastic day. Went to church, came home, took a nap, mowed the lawn, then had burgers (since I wasn't able to grill on Thursday) and ice cream cake! Monday, slow day at work, but the drive home was interesting. The car overheated again. BAH!!! So I get home and do some searching, find nothing, and go back in to clean up and start relaxing when Jen calls. She hit Caitlyn's violin teacher's brick mailbox and blew a tire and broke the side mirror. Needs new mirror, four new tires (one of the few drawbacks of AWD, can't replace one tire or it destroys your transmission). *sigh* Tuesday, car isn't overheating. Wish it would make up its mind. Wednesday, I get told that I'm getting reimbursed for 3 weeks at 3 days a week worth of driving to Aberdeen, total, no more, because it isn't their "obligation" to pay me for mileage, even though I was never told that I would be driving 200 miles a day to get to work. It's OK though, cuz it isn't forever, and it is work. Then to top it off, the car does overheat on the way home. Thursday was the kicker, car overheats, but doesn't climb back down. I peg the guage, then pull over to let it rest some. No steam, no spillage, it does look like there was some blow-by from while I was driving, but nothing else. 10 minutes later, and the car is good to go. I make it all the way home, but it's hovering about the three quarter mark while I've got the heat blasting. Friday, the first day that the car starts to overheat in the morning! Then, get to work, start my day, and at 10 I leave and start to drive, towards Bragg!! Finally! I get to go to Bragg! However, after I get there, I'm sitting around doing nothing for about 90 minutes since they actually didn't have anything set up for me that I could do work on. So, I get a walk in as I head to Starbucks (on base, awesome), discover that my phone works perfectly in this building, no more outages, and I was just basically bored till I got something that I can work with and discover that I don't have to go back to Aberdeen on Monday. Hurrah! But, of course, the happiness couldn't last very long. Not 10 minutes after leaving for the day, and the car overheats again. One day, it will all be better, one day. Caitlyn was a little ill, but nothing major. Jen took whatever Caitlyn had and made it worse for herself (what an overachiever). We went looking at the new Forester's on Saturday to get a feel for them for Jen. So far, it looks good, but we aren't there yet and she still wants to check out a few other vehicles just in case. We made it to dinner with friends Saturday night, then went bowling. It was miserable for Jen cuz she just didn't feel well, but she wanted to be there. Hopefully this won't last too long for her.

Bah! The bad week spills over to another

So, we find out that the lines that have to be replaced are only available as a kit when you buy the heater core. And no, not the aftermarket cheaper heater core, but the more expensive OEM heater core. SOOOO, attempts to find a shop that can mend/modify/manufacture the lines needed started on Monday. PLUS, the heater upstairs stopped working. ARGHH!! Somehow though, the heater started working on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, the car was almost completed with local manufactured hard lines. It increased the bill a little bit, but it was much cheaper than A) buying a whole OEM kit, and 2) buying a new car ahead of schedule. While I did enjoy driving moms truck (I mean Pathfinder) I had to get it back to her because I was holding it hostage for way too long, so I went to rent a car. When I got there, something caught my eye. It was shiny, it was black, and it was very retro looking. I discovered that they were going to put me in a Kia Forte (yuck) and asked about prices and availabilities and was surprised to find out the reasonable cost and the fact that there were two available. So, I drove off the lot in a 2011 Dodge Challenger (sadly though, it did not have the Hemi). Very surprising at how easily it rode, how light it was, and how agile and quick the steering response was. This is in no way the same car that the Dukes drove, this is an improvement. I was happy for two days. So, now the car is back, and hopefully fine for the next 6-8 months. Rain kept me from cooking out on Thursday which is my normal routine now, so no fire cooked beast this week. Work is still crap-tastic as I'm still driving 90 minutes one way, but they actually think that will change next week. Once again, I'm not holding my breath, I'll die much to early if I did that with this place. ;) Friday we got to see mom and dad again for a not-so-enjoyable dinner(got to keep with the weeklong theme you know) at TGIFriday's. It was surprising because normally they're really good. Oh well. Saturday we took Caitlyn to the girl scout Jamboree and Jen and I just made it a lazy day. We watched a couple of movies at home, went out to dinner at Clayton Steakhouse. Looks like Saturday broke the streak. We'll see how next week goes. =)

What a week

So, of course the A/C went out last week. Thankfully Sunday and Monday weren't horrible so it was bearable. Since it was a nice day, Sunday we got out and cleaned up the leaves in the back yard by doing some much needed mulching. Caitlyn got to play in the backyard so we all had an enjoyable somewhat lazy day. Monday was the beginning of the horrible week. I get to work, and one side was completely gone and had to fix it. After I get done, an email was sent out stating that there was an issue over the weekend and provided the solution. That would have been nice to know before I started working on it myself. Plus, I found out that one of the most annoying people that I have to work with is in fact moving down. Looks like I'm stuck with a major idiot for a very long time. =( So Tuesday I'm driving into work and all of a sudden my windshield starts to fog up bad as the vents started to pump crap inside. Then when I get to leave for the day, the car starts to overheat. *sigh* So, I get to Ryan's, and we discover that it's a heater core. Plus, I need to have some rings replaced in the steering rack, but if another problem continues over the week, then it will be a remanned rack instead of just rings. Then, I get home and discover that the service guy tells us that our compressor is dieing on our A/C unit. Thankfully it's still under warranty, so it will only cost us about $600 for labor. So, drop the car off on Thursday and mom was able to shift her schedule around so that I could borrow her Pathfinder. I've been thinking that I want something more roomy, this may not be a good thing and have me wanting a Tribeca soon. =) Then, I find out that it isn't the heater core going bad on the car, it's a hard line that has a pinhole in it. Attempts to repair this problem have turned up not so good so they will have to replace it. This isn't something that they can call and get pricing off till Monday, so I'm stuck without the Legacy till Monday afternoon at the earliest now. Thankfully, mom is letting me use it for another day. Saturday friends of ours come in from Charlotte, so we eat at Brio for dinner (fantastic just as before) and then go to the Canes game. They started off strong, but I think the refs weren't paying as much attention to the game as they should have been and made lots of bad calls and missed calls that ultimately hurt us. We may have still lost without the calls, but the calls didn't help any.

New grilling machine, and other stuff

So, I've now become a grilling machine, not a master, just a machine. Since we got the new grill, I want to grill everything. Good thing that Linus is much faster than me. =) So, like I mentioned, we got the new grill. Sunday I get it set up and prepped and decide to go ahead and break it in. Cooked some chicken that I got as a present at Christmas and WOW, just WOW! This infrared grilling stuff is no joke. I've now got to make sure that I can get proficient in grilling on there and ensure that the rest of the family enjoys it as well. Shouldn't be a problem! That afternoon, we went to see the Perkins, which is always a treat, but this time was for Gabrielle's birthday. So we got to hang out and enjoy a fun filled afternoon with friends, again. I'm really beginning to like this whole having time to do things again. Reminds me of the three months I was out of work, only not. Monday, was an absolutely awful day, and an absolutely wonderful day! First, lack of sleep because of time change (drag), but then, first day of "new" employment! Same work, same location, just now it's "permanent". Now it's all supposed to go downhill right? Wednesday was an exciting day, or rather evening (for me at least). Jen had a tooth pull where she lost a crown. It was a lot more involved as to why the tooth was pulled, but the long and short was, a crown fell off and the tooth was pulled. I went to see the Blue Man Group with mom and dad in Durham and loved it. I was surprised when they wanted to go see it as well given the loud concert atmosphere, but it looks as though it worked out pretty well. Will have to keep an eye out to see if/when they come into town again. Thursday is grilling day (now since the new grill) so we were going to cook some Filets. When I got home though, that changed to chicken because of the missing tooth. It probably wouldn't have been a problem, but we didn't want to take the chance. So, made the chicken like I did on Sunday, and as Buddy would say "Everyone Loved It!" Yeah, I think it's a good thing. Friday was movie night with friends. Went and ate at Noodle Company, wasn't bad, different, but not bad, then went and saw Mars Needs Moms. Not a great movie, but it was a good movie. While standing in line we saw that Dreamworks is making a Puss in Boots movie. That should be good. Then we get home to discover that the upstairs A/C unit is on the fritz, again. Joy. Haircuts on Saturday, I say that my cut was the best looking of all, but I'm apparently in the minority there. =) Went to the mall real quick (only took about an hour, maybe a little more) then stopped at Fairview for some browsing. Didn't get much, but got an idea of what we may pick up. We'll swing by again in the near future. When we got home, grilled more Filet's!!! Oh, in case anyone is wondering these Omaha Steaks packages are an excellent idea for me for Christmas, Birthday, Halloween, Valentine's Day, or any other reason you want to get me something. Thanks to the best sis and bro-in-law for this present (now that I finally get to use them). Still need to check out the burgers and pork chops, but there's still time.

Keeping a good track record

I think this may actually work. Here's to hoping!



So Sunday we finished clearing out the garage, again. It's only been cluttered since August. ;) It was a good time to do it since the monsoon came and tried to wash us away. Really uneventful Monday and Tuesday, minus the massive migraine that hit me on the way home from work on Tuesday. That ended up with me taking two Excedrin Migraine and crashing early. Only, when I woke up on Wednesday, the migraine was still there. Enter two more and go to work. *sigh* Made it back home Wednesday afternoon, popped two more pills and finally the migraine started to slip away. Called up my cousin and talked some about how life is treating each of us. It was an excellent talk. Thursday was mostly boring, only exciting happening was driving home in the rain. I did try to contact the town again about trying to get the culvert that daylights in our yard connected to the storm sewer manhole that's 20 feet away. It would help keep the swamplike appeal down when it does rain. Friday they let me know that it wasn't a city matter but a county matter. Guess I'll be calling the county on Monday. Saturday Jen and Caitlyn went off to the Art Museum for a girl scout event. While they did that, I went and spent the day with an old friend. We all caught up for dinner that evening and I got a new grill! Thanks Jen! =) Then to top the week off, other than changing the clocks to an evil time, we watch Cop Out. Should have went to bed instead. Another 90 minutes of my life wasted right there. =)

1st of many....

Hopefully.

So last weekend, Jen and I went to Carolina Beach for our 1st anniversary. We had a nice relaxing time with no set schedule and very little that we wanted to do. Very successful in my book. Returned Sunday afternoon and picked up my newly maintained wagon, no more oil leaks! Now to just make the car more enjoyable since I'll be driving it for quite a while. I took my first Microsoft test on Monday (which technically I should have taken these a long time ago) and passed. So now I am an MCP and MCTS. Caitlyn had her violin lesson on Wednesday, and we decided to go ahead and buy her the violin. So Thursday Jen took a trip to Dunn to buy the violin. Now if she tears it up, we don't have to worry about getting charged for it since we already got the bill. =) Friday night ended up with friends for dinner and just catching up at their house. Good times had by all. Saturday ended up a full day. Cleaned out the garage some, almost able to park the car in there again, changed the oil in the Forester, transferred some stuff from the garage to under the house, and went to the Harlem Globetrotters game with some friends. The kids had a blast, and the entire show was very entertaining. Sure it's almost exactly the same thing that they've been doing for years, but it's something about seeing it live versus on the TV that was very rewarding.

Resolution

OK, so I'm making a new month resolution (too late for a new year resolution, so this will have to do). I'm going to make an effort to post at least once a week on here and do some form of recap of previous weeks events. If it works out, I'll keep this baby alive and kicking. If not, I'll try a monthly review. If I fail at that, I apparently have little exciting in my life, or I'm just real lazy when it comes to blogging (I'm thinking the later would be the culprit).

Wish me luck!