Holy Crap!!

It's been since DECEMBER?! WTF. Man, I fail. So how do I give the Cliff Notes version of 4 moths worth of crazy events.. hmmm let me see if I can break it down the best way I know how....

• December: The rest of December was great. Spent our year anniversary up in Leavenworth at a lodge that was far enough up in the mountains they required you to take a snow cat up to it. We met some really awesome people, had some amazing food. If any of my faithful ever want to see what's up there, feel free to check out their site. They are awesome hosts! Mountain Home Lodge .. OH and we did get engaged while up there. ;) December 19th was the date on that. With December 20th being our one year anniversary. I got Erin Sounder's season tickets for Christmas which she loved and I got a paintball gun which was awesome..
  
• January: Low key New Year's party, instead choosing to go snowboarding to Steven's after instead. It was a great time up in the mountain. January kind of flew by as we decided it was time to move to save some money. We loved that house in Des Moines, but realized it was sucking the $$ right out and we weren't even buying it. After talking to the landlady we determined that it was time to move. Turns out she'd broken up with her GF and wouldn't be renewing our lease at the end of the term anyway! So we would be able to get out of the lease penalty free. So the apartment/house/condo/townhouse search started.... and ended in:
• February: We found our apartment up in Issaquah. It is a beautiful 2 bed 2 bath with attached garage. We spent our Valentine's day painting some walls to make it feel like home. We also then moved, the weekend after. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend, it was a 60 degree weekend, sun and bright. Packing, moving, cleaning and things took up the entire month for the most part. Which lead to me getting sick near the end of the month. To the point where I actually visited the Dr. Got some meds and finally started feeling better in early:
  
• March: It was a boring March. Kinda. We got situated and delivered the couch we had in the house to my mom in Yakima on her 50th birthday. We bought a sectional couch for the apartment which rocks. The couch is so comfy it's a nice change. Overall though it was a very quiet month, all things considered. We did get our Sounder's tickets! The first game was awesome to go to. It's definitely something we look forward to. My sister came and stayed a night with us, that was a fun time.
  
• April: So far, mid month, we've gone snowboarding, played soccer and just enjoyed life. Did Easter, met with the priest who got us in touch with a Deacon for the annulment process & to find out more with baptism. So far it's been a painless experience, other than a ton of paperwork I have to chase down and fill out. Life is good thus far. We're leaving next week for Vegas & Phoenix, so that should be a great time. OH and we both seem to be hitting the poker jackpot. Though PB is definitely hitting it bigger online than I am. So I'm proud of her for that.

So that's life in a nutshell. I'll need to come back and go off on thoughts as time goes on. But so far, that's a good recap. Maybe I'll set a calendar appointment to remind myself to update this thing. Couldn't hurt!

Regular updates ... riiiiiiiight.

Wow, I have failed miserably at keeping this thing up to date! Even as things change. However, on a recent drive PB reminded me that I should update it more as it's a good history of things that are going on in life. As I age, as things come and go, then it's only natural that this should provide a reminder of what happened and when.

So to recap thus far... Sept 21ish is when my Jeep was stolen. Yep, taken right out of my driveway. Hmmm maybe I need to rename my blog now, eh? I'm not really Crawling anywhere! Oh well, it's only a temporary time w/ no Jeep as I'm looking at a time when I can grab a new one. Ok, well, not a "new" new one, just new to me. Preferably an older one, one I can build and mod and enjoy in ways I hadn't been able to enjoy my other one. In it's place, I got a new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. The V8 has power I haven't had except on my motorcycle, which I still have.

The house is good. We just got a Christmas tree last weekend on the caravan. However it's still not up nor decorated. Given how busy we are, I see it being a few step process. First, put it up and put a skirt around it. Then I see it getting lights and anything else. But like I said, I'd bet a slow process.

Poker is still going ok. I need to play some more big money games, as I think it could be profitable, however, I have a hard time playing for the big money as I don't like giving that money away. But we'll see what happens AFTER Christmas.

Christmas is coming up and should be a fun day at PB's mom's house! We'll see if she's surprised at her present. Needless to say, I think she will be.. I'm looking forward to the short weeks later in the month. 2-3 day work weeks will ROCK!

Let's see... anything else happen... we went snowboarding to Mount Baker on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov 27th. They had an 80" base already. Luckily for us it was icy. BLAH! Overall it was a fun trip but man, that ice can sure hurt the tailbone! We're looking forward to the next trip, maybe this month, maybe early January.

hmmm that's good enough of an update for today. Maybe I'll write more later!

Let's recap...

Since I'm now going to try and blog more again, I can recap more of the things that have gone on that I haven't blogged about in a long time....

Let's start w/ the one that is on my mind the most.. PB. (oh how she looooves her nickname!)

Besides being smoking hot she puts up with my shit, what more can a guy ask for?! But in all honesty most of what I wanted to do while I was 30, I've been able to do with and because of her. When things hit the fan, she was the one that was there.

She bought me a snowboard, we laughed together as I learned how to use it. She's an amazing cook. She looks smoking hot in dresses that she no longer owns. She doesn't kill me when we find out she no longer owns those dresses. She shows patience as I decide I hate poker and am no good at it. She teaches me how to be a better soccer player, then gets to see the immediate rewards where she smiles with pride as her coaching works everytime the ball hits the back of the net. She laughs and talks about the monster she created as I figure out poker and start winning good money. She's the one that asks "Why not take the bike?".

We've gone camping, for a weekend or for a night. We hit Vegas and had a great time. We'll be hitting Portland, seeing new things and having another amazing time. We'll drink together, laugh together and share a lifetime together. We do pretty much everything together not because we depend on it and require it, but because we love it and want to. We don't lead one life, we lead two amazing lives that just so happen to compliment each other ever so perfectly. I thank God every chance I get that back on that great day after my birthday, I could receive such a great present.

In 8 amazing months, I've done more than I have in the years before it. This is how my 30's have started and I'm excited at what the future holds. Many more surprises and events, more smiles, hugs and kisses. More miles, more grins, more inside jokes, nicknames and entertainment.

3/4's of year one down and there's no looking back. This is the life I was meant for. With her, hand in hand, moving forward, never back. Laughing as the likes of DB and others fall to the wayside.

I love you, my PB.

I know, I know...

I don't write near enough here.. If only the summer hasn't been so busy. When I'm at work I'm *gasp!* usually working! Though now that life is settling down, sports seasons are coming to a close for the summer/fall leagues and we're having an open weekend here and there I should be able to find some time now!

So let me try and recap some things... Let's see.. We went to Vegas. The tip trick we read about online worked. For those that aren't fully in-the-know, let me educate you..

• We booked a trip to Vegas, reserving a basic room @ the Bellagio.
• When we checked in to the hotel, I put a $20 in between the credit card & my ID.
• I asked if there were any upgrades available.
• The lady upgraded us to a full lake view room, top floor. $20 extra dollars.
  

That little trick saved us about $250. The room was AMAZING, the view with the floor to ceiling window, just something I will never forget. No, we didn't get married, but we had a great time.

Oh something else happened in Vegas that I quite enjoy... I figured out how to play poker!
Since then I've been working on my game, online and in person. I won top-hand of the hour at a casino near by, netting me a few hundred. 4th at a charity tournament and I've been cashing in at 95% of all online tournaments I play now. Usually finishing in the top 15%. I say top 15% instead of like top 5, because these tournaments usually have anywhere from 2500-7200 people in them at once. So I usually make it from 150-350, always making my buy-in back and a little extra. Needless to say I can't complain and enjoy the competition.

Life is good though. PB & I are going to Portland this weekend for UFC. We will be there to celebrate our 8th official month together. Good times it is :)

So it hasn't rained...

Yet apparently that's big news? Hmmmm... I suppose it could be if we were in some major drought. But this is Seattle. It's been nice instead. So what are people whining about? The fact that if they don't water their lawn it's going to be yellow already? (Mine's close.... hahaha) I know the allergy sufferers hate it and I have my days. But medication does wonders. I say keep the sun! If you don't like it, move to Miami (where out of the 29 days it hasn't rained here in Seattle, it's rained 25 days down there).

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Oooooh how I haven't blogged in a while. I don't know why. I've got so many side projects, events, and life to live, it's hard to sit down and just type for a little while. I suppose I should work on that. I have been debating about a photo blog? I have started to figure out more about the nice SLR that I have and thus, have taken some interesting pictures. Just this morning I took a picture of a yellow bird in the yard, then on the way into the house decided on an "artsy" photo of a soccerball sitting there. Maybe that's what I'll do. Recruit PB and myself to take fun photos of random things and people. Post it on the internet, see what happens, how it goes, etc.

The only drawback to that? All those copiers out here in the interwebs. I'll have to watermark images and crap. Blah. Or well, I suppose I could just let it go and then sue whenever I see my photos in books or somewhere like that should any be good enough...... ha.

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Recent events.........
PB moved in. Master's degree - Housewarming Party. Vegas in July. Parental visits. House reorganization. Ticket while camping. Fishing.

Much living going on in the year of 30. While I may not be a YES man, I am willing to do plenty of new, fun and exciting things.

I need to blog more!

Or so I've been told.. So here ya f*in' go! Actually I have plenty to vent about. Like how I hope computer virus writers need to get the most painful, most dripping STD humanly possible. Yeah, I'll start off with that rant, right off the bat......

I've been a PC user since I was 16. I went through the phase of hacking and doing malicious things. But never bad enough to cause serious problems. Sure I downloaded a few games and things of that nature. But I never wrote any code that would harm people's computers. Let alone on the global scale that people are doing now. So the news since right before April 1, was about this new virus. Everyone was scared about what could happen. Then, when the first came and went and there was nothing, everyone kind of chuckled. Until this week. Suddenly our servers starting exhibiting signs of a problem. Deeper analysis pointed to a virus. Then it started spreading. It got an admin login on one server and then *BOOM* away it went. Servers all around the world started getting it. We have 300+ servers & probably close to 2000+ workstations. Suddenly people are working around the clock & every day we have a new way of fighting it. Thus almost every day it was morphing in a way that the previous day's efforts were being erased and invalidated. We're just now getting ahead.

So for the past week, despite working my ass off all day, all I've done is clean fucking virus problems. Not one "issue" other than cleaning. GRRRRRR.

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But on a brighter note, PB & I went to opening day @ Safeco. Man that was a great time. I'll be posting pics of the game shortly, I'm still redesigning my home web site. Once that's done I'll post up the link. (That's also why the logo from above is missing too ^^) It was great to see Griffey @ home. It was definitely a touching moment seeing him introduced. Chills and memories flooded in. Good times, good times.

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Let's see... I fixed the bike, putting 1.5" spacers on the rear pegs so PB's legs are at a better angle when she rides. So far so good, she sat on it last night and it worked well. Today I'm browsing around looking at communications systems. The weather's about to turn and it's going to be time to RIDE!

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OH and a quick shout out to Dimes for her nice little how-to video on makeup. Because you never know, someday I may need to know how to do it. You know, right after I start wearing PB's pants....

Speaking of pants... I don't know how many read this blog, but go to Joe's Sporting Goods before they close! I've spent almost $250 there in 2 trips, everything is 10-30% off as they liquidate the store. I'll keep checking back too as they're going to keep changing the pricing as they get closer to the end..

Ahhhhhh....

You know today is APRIL FOOL'S DAY, right?

Well in that case, I hope you had a great time at the shock of my last post. There's some fun jokes going around today too. Like the new "Gmail Autoresponder" ..

Other than that humor, life is good. A new month, a new day, but the same great life.

Life's changes..

Life at 30 seems to be quite different for me. There's been all kinds of new events.. A birthday party in Vegas with 15 friends. A car accident. My house broken into. An amazing girlfriend. Learning to snowboard. Things just keep popping up!

So I think PB is pregnant. Why do I think this? The morning sickness usually point to a culprit.. Especially when she hasn't been sick and then feels fine towards the end of the day. Looks like some things will have to change a little. Snowboarding? Not for a while. Motorcycle? Yeah, because dying and leaving her to be a single mom is high on my list.

Work is great, life is going to be interesting but great. I may not be quite ready to be a dad, but who is? I know people who've planned baby's and they are still surprised and taken off guard by everything that happens.

Ahhh.. the fresh snow of Spring.....

Yeaaaah, that's what I was thinking Saturday night.. Where does snow come from at the end of March?! Especially so much snow you can barely see the road? Then go about 10hrs later and it's gone, not even a trace. Craaaaaazy!

Overall, not a lot to say for this weekend other than it was busy. Had the Leanne Womack concert @ the Showbox in Seattle Friday night, that was fun. Watching PB do karaoke afterwards was fun as well. Saturday afternoon/night went well down in Olympia, then church & soccer Sunday. It was one of those go-go-go weekends.

But when you have the most amazing girl around, it definitely makes it easy to just go and spend the time together. We threw last night for the first time as well, so that's a plus, especially with softball starting in the next 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to more of that lovin.. hehe

Nothing much else going on right now. Heading to Yakima Saturday for my nephew's 2nd birthday. Should be fun I suppose. We're hoping that Snoqualmie extends night skiing until Saturday too, so we can hit that on the way home =) Right now they've only extended it until Friday.

Well, almost April. My how time flies..

I lived, I lived!

HAHAHAHA! She couldn't kill me (the mountain, nor PB) hehe! I actually had a great time snowboarding Saturday. I made it down the mountain a few times, like 5 actually and felt it was a great learning experience. I'm excited to learn more, go again and then do some more runs probably following the great PB (or maybe I should change that to "Crash"?) down the mountain. It won't be long..

Then a small little gathering at the house that night. It was good times. Some pool, beer, jello shots, a fire in the back yard, it was good. Everyone had fun, plenty to do for everyone, a very successful night.

Yesterday was just as great. Breakfast with a couple friends that stayed Saturday night, then some Xbox 360 (I'm up 2-1 thus far!) and dinner at Jimmy John's. We played more 360, watched some TV, movies and a few episodes of the Office. It was just a great weekend.

Ahhhh now back to work... SHIT. haha

What do I do when I'm bored in the day?

Well looking @ the number of my blogs, I obviously don't blog as much. But I do have a few sites I go to and laugh at.

Actually, looking over where I go, it's mainly news & ESPN. But there's one. One great site I go to that keeps me laughing everytime I'm there. Mainly at people who are so stupid you have to wonder how they're still alive. Then there are a few you feel bad for.

Of course, there are fakes too. But that's for you to decide.

For all of you, I present, fuck my life! Or well, actually fmylife or on the web site FML!

Just be warned if you're at work, giggle lightly otherwise people will want to know why you're just laughing to yourself!

Some things in life really aren't a joke...

and when people do stupid shit, it then pisses me off!! Thus here I am ranting and raving about stupid shit. At least then I cool down somewhat.

What some people don't know, ok, most people, is that I've taken suicide prevention courses and am certified to work those nifty hotlines they have to help save people's lives. You know the type, where you answer the phone and all you hear is "You have 60 seconds to tell me why I should live before I pull this trigger..." and then it's game on.

Sadly, I'm not joking. That's how it can be. Sometimes it's just a girl crying over a breakup, sometimes you get someone mad at the world. What they really want is someone to care, someone to talk to, and really, someone to give them an insight they may not be getting from their parents, loved ones, whatever. The training to be able to get that certificate is intense, emotional, and not the funnest time I've had. So needless to say, I look at suicide different than a lot of people.

Saying that, I don't mean my view, because I still view it as wrong. Though I haven't really figured out how I stand on terminally ill people committing suicide, because there's a huge moral dilemma there. So it's been a debate and discussion for a while.

But I digress. My point is that I know how serious it is. I know how real it is. What I don't stand for is people who cry wolf about it just because they want the attention. There's a difference between those people who are on that line, who feel life has nothing for them, who are minutes away from grabbing that knife, those pills or that gun and the person who has no intention of doing so, and is talking about it just because they want that attention from people because someone else has all the attention.

I have a cousin like that. Everytime one of her sister's has something big going on, like a wedding for example, she puts on the whole "Life isn't fair." "I'm tired of playing the game." "God hates me." crap. Sadly that's just what it is too. Right now she uses Facebook status updates to display her disdain for her life. Then she gets lots of messages from people on her list that don't know about her attention whore standing, then the next day comes up with a new status to reflect how she wants to not be here anymore. Why's she doing this? Because her sister's getting married soon and has all the attention with people planning on the travel, talking about how cool it is she's getting married, etc.

It's like the little boy who cried wolf. If there's ever a time where she's actually serious in this endeavor, no one will know. Because she keeps bringing this up everytime she needs attention. While I know that most actual attempts are just that, simple cries for attention, hers are never attempts, just the talk to get the attention. Then once the event she wants to take the attention away from is over, she's "fine".

Grrr... very fucking irritating. Sadly she already sees a shrink. Maybe they need new doctors in Canadia. Someday those older than me, almost as old as my mother will need to grow up. I'm sure her kids love seeing those messages.

And this is why I like living hours away from my nearest family member.

Where has the time gone?

It seems as though I never update this thing lately. It's not as though I have no time to do so, as my work day is basically the same as it always is. I guess there's just not much for me to rant or rave about that I care for people to know. Some parts of my life are always going to be private.

Hmmmm let's see..

• As a nerd I fixed my own XBox 360. That was fun. There wasn't anything to exciting there, but the result made me proud to play, as it runs like a champ.
• My knee from snowboarding is almost 100% I'd think. It still hurts from time to time, but it's taken a beating and kept on going so far. I think PB's trying to murder me though, with talks of going back up to the mountain this weekend. Look for a blog update next week on if I survived, otherwise look for my funeral/party invitation.
  
• Football season ended and while we didn't win a ton, we definitely had a great time.
• Soccer is never ending and while in one league we suck, in the other we're 7-1 and on the way to the championship game!
  
• Softball is starting soon, which will be different nights than soccer. I'm looking forward to that, it's been a while.
• My sister got married. PB got to see the family too. That was fun. Especially watching her get my mom & step mom confused!

That's a good update. I think I'm going to start post-dating blogs. Write them in advance and let them post on that date. At times that'd be easier. Just an idea I'm floating around. Or maybe I'll move this blog over to my new web server that's still being setup. Oh yeah, the longest frickin' process I've ever gone through. Thankfully it's not my new provider's fault, it's the one I'm leaving. They apparently don't like you leaving, so they make the process very difficult and convoluted. Bastards.

Anyhow, I'll update more here tomorrow or Wednesday. Time to do a quick upgrade so I can get the hell out of here and go home!

Change of pace?

I really haven't had much to blog about, so let's change the pace on rants and raves and show some humor! Yes, some of it is nerd humor, but deal with it. I'll start it all off with a pic that will make the one I love giggle...

Good or bad... hmmmm

Yep, he's baaaack.. Seems to be the talk of the town... I keep going on "Is this good or bad?" Kind of like the Russian Astronaut in Armageddon when they draw straws.

I grew up with Junior. His leaving Seattle hurt. But he was so likable, I didn't mind that much. Comparing that to A-Fraud, it was way different. Everyone still hates him. Now that Junior's coming back am I excited? Eh, I'd say more a reserved excitedness. I'm happy we have a left handed bat. If he stays healthy, he'll rock his full year in Safeco. If he follows trend & gets hurt, then well, we tried.

For now, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm even trying to get opening day tickets, I just don't think I'll be able to. Upon announcing his return, the M's sold 16,000 more season tickets. Should be an interesting year.

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PB's finally feeling a little better today after being way sick the past few days. Those white spots on the tonsils always look so nasty, yet so cool to look at. Either way, they are not fun if they're on your tonsils!

Lucky for my kickass immune system, I'm not sick with that. I'd end up needing to go to the dr & getting a note too. I hate sitting at a dr's office, so it would drive me nuts! Plus sitting at home all day is no fun at all! Cabin fever big time, especially in such sunny days.

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Well, time for pizza! We have a lady who's last day is today. Time to go celebrate with food. Hopefully beer too! mwahaha!

What it must be like...

.. Ever see things on TV or read it on the news & wonder how people can stand it? For example, countries that don't provide basic care for their citizens. While the U.S. doesn't provide health care, we do have social service programs, laws, freedoms, & the right to do just about anything we want.

Countries like China restrict it all. This blog, for another example... I can say I hate Bush, I can say I love my job, I can say I hate people, I can say whatever the FUCK I want (see what I did there?) however the fuck I want & whenever the fuck I want. I can profess my love of intelligent people or PB, I can disclose that if you're a prick I'll put you in your place, and I can talk about whatever or whoever pisses me off at that very moment.

Love me or hate me, I don't really care. My friends know pretty much everything in this blog. Dimes for example reads all my posts. Agree or disagree she respects my opinion and we have a great friendship because of it.

Imagine now, that one of my readers worked for a communist government or every time I posted it had to go through a government censor program. Not so much fun now is it?! I'm sure the recipe blog would pass through ok. I'm not so sure that this blog would. Ha, who am I kidding? This blog & 99% of its postings would be against the law.. They'd either be deleted or my ass would be put in jail.

For all this, I'm glad for my freedoms, I'm glad I have my rights. I'm glad I live in this country. The benefit of this blog is it's my world. I can spout whatever. Don't like it, leave. Like it, visit regularly. Hell, even leave comments, I believe in free speech though I can & will moderate posts as needed. I am a human & a person & I expect to be treated as such. Failure to do so will lead to unwanted consequences.

As I said, thank God for America. Everyone have a great day and don't take for granted what we get for being here!

Valentine's Week...

Working with a bunch of guys that like to talk as much shit as I do makes the work day fun. Then we sit and chat about things like Valentine's day, women, beer, cars, and anything else that appears from day-to-day.

Unfortunately at this present time there is no nickname's setup for my group, so I'll just make up names instead! "Bill" & "Robert" are the only two people in my department in the office today with me. Bill showed us the coffee mug his wife made him. It has pictures of the two of them in it, pictures of his wife with their baby, and then a piece of paper that gives him a free charter fishing trip. It was pretty cool, definitely creative.

Then the service center (our IT help desk) manager sent us an email, saying she heard us talking about Valentine's and wanted to show us what she got her fiance. It was a brand new, 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle. He had previously sold his motorcycle to pay for her engagement ring (everyone all together now: "awwwwwww"). We were pitching idea's for her to give it to him, since she's not sure how to pull it off yet.

We then discussed the thing's we're doing and how much of a commercial "holiday" that Valentine's day is. I only say it like that because people shouldn't need just one day a year to do something nice for the person they care about. Sadly though, because there is more than one guy out there who won't ever send flowers or do something nice, this holiday was born. Those of us that do random sweet things because we care see that day as a day to be creative. Because roses and candy are too cliche. Plus really, I could send roses any other time of year at a fraction of what they raise the prices to. Dozen long stem roses during late Feb - end of January: $50-80. Same place, same flowers, week of Valentine's day: $120+.

Yet doing something creative, something personal, something that makes a moment and shows some thought will do more than any store bought rose or candy heart. I know, nothing says I love you like dark chocolate... But still. Creative is where it's at!

Since I know some of my reader base, that's where my description of what I'm doing for Valentine's day ends.....

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On the bright side, PB gets to meet the family this weekend. That should be a good time. I haven't been back in a few months anyway, so it'll be a good time for all. Plus it'll help that we're staying at the Hilton too, so she (or well, me more so) can unwind away from them all. I haven't seen some of the family I'll see this weekend for many years, like close to 3-4.

Life...

المرح الشيء غوغل المترجم. حتى أتمكن من الحديث عن هذه الفتاة الخاص بأي لغة كنت ترغب في ذلك. الانجليزية؟ من المؤكد أن سهولة. الأسبانية؟ من المؤكد انها بذلك تكون قادرة على قراءتها. العربية؟ يخلط الجميع للخروج من الجحيم! وهكذا فإنه العربية.

أنا بس كنت استخدام هذا الوقت لأقول أنا سعيد لهذه النتيجة المذهلة امرأة في حياتي. لم اكن اعتقد في يوم مثل هذا الامر. أنا دائما عن أمله ، ولكن في الحقيقة ، لم أكن على يقين من أنها حقيقة واقعة. أشكر الله كل فرصة يمكنني مذهلة في اتجاه الشخص الذي القى لي. أنا سعيد لأننا كنا قادرين على رؤية كلا! ها هي الحياة ، والحب ، والضحك من العمر.


Sí esto es acerca de usted. La traducción no es tan buena, cerca de que a nuestro idioma, pero se vuelve al punto de ancho. Poco.

I'm aliiiiiiiive!

Kinda. haha That picture I posted on Friday was scarily accurate to how yesterday's humbling experience ended up! And boy do I fucking hurt! My fingers are even sore. However, I'm extremely grateful for the amazing girl that I have in my life.

First and foremost I have to recap my first snowboarding experience.. because this is something that has to be put down to be remembered. I will post pics of the trip into a separate blog later.

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I talked a lot of shit. Kind of the normal shit I talk with everything else. Because really, why would snowboarding be any different from other activities I do? God granted me the ability to pick things up and run with them very easily. Sports, technology, life, I learn and go forward. Usually from a crawl to a walk to a run very fast. Failure's never been an option, neither has having to work really hard at things. It just works.

But not this time.

Oh no, God decided that while other activities in life may come easier, this was one activity I need to work at. But the thing is, I'll do just that. I'm too stubborn to give up and really, I fucking hate to lose. HATE to lose. Especially since I'm losing to myself and SNOW. A frickin' inanimate object. How the hell do you lose to something that isn't even trying to compete with you?!

The chair lift went pretty well. I didn't really fall getting off the first one like PB thought (figured) I would. She tried her little initiation "push" which I balanced and stayed up on. There's hope! I could be good! Or...... not. I promptly ate it the whole way down. Sitting and reflecting and getting frustrated each dump. It took me way too long to get down that first run because I wasn't sure how to deal with my frustration. About half way down that first slide, the back of the board cut in hard and while I was very tense, I tried to counter that idea like a dumbass. As I felt the pop of my knee, about 10 seconds later I hit the ground. What I screamed inside my head is not safe to post on this blog, even for me. PB knew something was up based off my reaction.. I mean, really, I don't get hurt, not much. But I made it down, and it hurt.. She made a quick run after that, while I tweaked with my bindings a bit, trying to find my balance. We took a quick break for batteries and a shot (or two), then it was back to the mountain.

We decided it was about lunch time & PB really wanted one of the restaurants that are up on the mountain. It was ski-lift time again! Again, proper dismount, thus not making an ass of myself nor did they have to stop the lift for me... whoohoo!

There was this moderately steep downhill right off, as we took a right to the next lift we had to take before we got to the food.. So PB was working with me on how to take it and keep it easy. However, on this day, NOTHING was easy. While I started to do it correctly, I made it probably 15-20 feet where I then promptly ate it. Then continued to eat it about every 2 feet the whole way down. I even got to find some ice! My tailbone still enjoys that discovery. I had no real strength in my left knee though, so after enough falls, I unbuckled (we hit a flat spot, no momentum = walking) and walked to the next lift. I was so tense while falling down the slope continuously that when I loosened up to walk, I was exhausted. My body hated me. While talking with PB on the walk, we had a ski safety lady ski by, who watched my little ... adventure .. and told me that if I was tired or having a real hard time to just ask ski patrol or the safety people and they'd get me a courtesy ride down the mountain so that I didn't kill myself.

That little piece of advice was in the back of my head the rest of the next ride up. Oh, and I didn't bite that dismount either! When we got to the food place, I was so exhausted that I didn't want to eat, despite needing food. So I picked something and just kind of ate pieces here and there, while PB devoured hers. At least one of us could eat something. While eating and unwinding there, I pretty much made the decision that I wasn't going to slide my ass down the mountain for a few reasons. One, my knee really was starting to hurt in ways that made me nervous. Two, it wasn't fair for PB. She can board, but while going with me, she's not going to leave me behind. So as I fall and get pissed every 3 feet, she'll end up waiting for me. Thus not a fun ride for her. I couldn't do that. Real relationships, good relationships are about compromise and give and take. We have always done that and I'm pretty sure we always will. So I swallowed my pride and asked for a ride down, so she could it it on her own and not have to stop for me the whole way. I owed her that much after all the patience she had with my inability to do anything on a snowboard but crash.

Ahhhh the sled ride down. They strap you into this sled, and the ski patrol takes you down. That was actually pretty fun. We hauled ass down the mountain (passing PB even with her head start but I got to wave LOL!) and once at the bottom I waited for her to come down. She was happy and excited about her run smiling and happy to tell me about how amazing it was. Seeing that in her face really told me that the decision I made, regardless of how big of an ego bruise it created, was the right decision. That excitement and smile told me all I needed to know about the day. Since it was about 4, they were slowly shutting down, but she was able to get on a lift and hit it again before they shut it down. She came down, the same excitement and smile on her face as the last one. Yep, I may suck at snowboarding, but seeing her happy after those runs definitely made the day perfect.

We got a chai tea to depart with, then remembered that they took pictures at the beginning of the day, so we went to check them out. They got 2 good action shots, one of her, one of me (obviously has to be shortly before biting it! ) and then two great pictures of us, together. So we got the package deal with 4 5x7's. They're some great pictures though.

Once home, PB forced me to sit on the couch, made me some ice bags, rolled them up onto my knee, then proceeded to get me water, cocoa, beer, food, whatever. A sweetheart, in so many ways.

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Today's my review too, this should be fun. I haven't had a work review in ages. Hell, in all my career I've only had one raise. Not by lack of performance, but because the companies I end up working for go bankrupt or get bought out & merge. Thus if the ownership is always changing, there is no annual review other than, "Keep working!".. So we'll see how this goes.

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A sad, yet happy story that tugs at anyone who's a hopeless romantic....

Read me...

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On that note, it's time to get some food!

Man...

.. what a slow Friday. It's too bad they restrict so much access from here, otherwise I could remote out and do some other work. Oh well, I'm just doing some intense web research and trying to keep myself occupied. I'm sure another long email thread about random things is in order. My group is fun like that. It gets even more fun when your boss chimes in and cracks a few jokes as well.

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It's been so slow, it's now 2p, and I just got back from a 2hr lunch. We sat, had some beers, and laughed. A lot. Learned a new word even....

Behyman (be - high - man). If you're not sure what that means, well, sorry! I know I've got mine though, so that's all that matters. Like I said, a good lunch. My stomach still hurts from laughing so much. My co-workers are fun, that's for sure.

Well the weekend is a little slower, with only soccer tonight & football tomorrow. I think Sunday instead of watching the Super Bore, we'll be off snowboarding. Where has yet to be determined, but it sounds like it's between Baker & Crystal. Either way, I hope I live!