Inside the Head of a TV Junkie

Just a quick second post today.  I’m getting ready to head over to my Mom’s house for traditional Easter Dinner with the family.  It’s kind of convenient that it falls on my birthday this year.What have I done today? Not much.  Did a little bit of housework but I mostly just lounged around.  That’s my type of birthday.  My mom has given up on figuring out what to buy me (she gave up many years ago) so I know I’ll be getting a check in a card today.  :)  Now I have the hard decision on what to buy myself with that $$.  Any ideas?

I received some very nice and thoughtful items from Mike yesterday.  Some of them are going to help me to become more organized in the home office/desk area, which is really needed.  I’m going to see if I can get it all under control before next weekend.  Fingers crossed, it’s going to be a big job.   Maybe I’ll take some before and after shots and put them up here for all to judge (just don’t be too harsh).

As most of you probably know, my father passed away unexpectedly this past August. It’s coming up on 5 months since he passed and it seems like it just happened. Time seems to have a different meaning to me over these past months. You always hear people say “there are good days and bad days” when they explain to people how they’re doing after losing a loved one. I never fully understood what they meant by that statement. Now I do. Literally, there are good days and bad days. For me, 99% of my days are good. I don’t dwell on the loss and sometimes don’t even find myself thinking about it. Then there is the remaining 1%. Those days are bad because I’ll run across an old email, a photo, a card, or just some item dealing with the estate. I think that my bad days consist of mostly small bouts of depression or sadness just realizing how much work I have left to do or how much I truly miss my dad. I don’t’ think that the “bad” days will ever stop happening. They’ll probably become much less frequent in the future and maybe I will even be able to stop calling them “bad days”. Only time will tell. I wanted to say thanks to all my friends who have made my life truly great. I’m sure you know how much I appreciate you but it never hurts to say it again.

I’m never sure about posting items like this. I don’t want to be a “Debbie Downer” but, at the same time, I think writing about this sort of stuff helps with the whole process and most of you probably care about me enough that you don’t mind that I’m writing about it.

Wow, so today was expensive! I knew it was going to be but I had no idea that I would return home with 4 new pairs of shoes. DSW is dangerous and should not be visited by two people who have problems saying NO to new shoes of any sort. I bought 2 Pumas, 1 Diesel, and 1 pair of Converse (which I heart). I may have to post some pics of the Converse. We’ll see…

Tomorrow is another week of work, should be quite interesting. My boss’ last week with us and I’m just praying he’s not crazy. We have a going away deal for him on Thursday so that will be interesting. Family will be around on Friday, so who knows what may go down that evening. I’m just hoping that everyone at work is on vacation and I can have short days. That’s my real Christmas wish! :)

See, I am doing better on the posting… we’ll see if it continues.

Why can’t I remember to blog more often? I’m kind of lazy about it. I’ve tried to make more of an effort. I think I’m worried that I won’t have anything interesting to say. Is it actually necessary to have something interesting to say on a personal blog site?

Ok, so here’s what’s up recently. This week of work was kind of hellish, many things happened. My boss put in his 2 weeks notice, totally unexpected. I had lots of small issues that came up during the week. It was kind of annoying and it made the week go by sort of slowly. Oh well, it’s over now and this upcoming week will probably be good. There will be a lot of people on vacation which means my life will be a bit less hectic. We have a going away event for my boss on Thursday, which should be interesting.

I’ve found myself watching less and less TV recently. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because most of the shows I watch are going into reruns for who knows how long. I’m also finding myself spending more time reading and doing things around the house that I would normally put off until the weekend. It’s a good thing, right?

This weekend, my cousin is in town. We’re doing the hang out thing and some shopping. A pretty relaxing weekend actually. It’s interesting how much you can miss talking and visiting with someone. I’ve been reflecting on that more recently. Maybe it has to do with the time of year? Everything that’s been going on the past few months of this year has definitely had an impact on me. I’ve started learning more about who Daniel is.

Ok, we’re done with all this. I will try, I swear, to be more of a constant blogger. Check out my picture blog though, it’s update more often and, like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I was thinking about some things recently and so now I’m posting random stuff tonight.

I have been going over some places that I frequently visit here in the Valley and I decided to plot them out on a MyMaps by Google Maps. Here’s a screen shot below, click for full size. I sure do get around this place! The markers show places like work, shopping, friends and things of that nature.

Other news, I went to Target on Black Friday. I’m insane, I know. I went specifically to buy a Christmas gift that was at a price I couldn’t pass up. Unfortunately, getting to Target at 4.55am was not early enough. Oh well, now the real bargain hunt begins! Oh, have I mentioned how much I dislike gift shopping?

Recently, I have started making a list of unique places to eat here in the GPA (Greater Phoenix Area). I am going to try and shy away from the chains for a bit. I’m sure there are some really great places here that I just haven’t found. This should be an interesting project and I will post updates as I visit new and different places.

Another project I’m currently working on is ripping all my DVDs to my computer for on demand streaming to my XBox 360. On average, it takes about 3 hours to rip a DVD to disk in the format that will play on the XBox 360. Not the fastest thing ever, but I’ll get there eventually… 8 down, unknown number to go.

Check the song I was listening to as I began this post… it’s totally fitting at the moment.

No, this is not going to be your typical “what I’m thankful for” post. I find those to be annoying. Instead, this will be a post of saying “thanks” to those of you who have done more for me this past year than I can even put into words. (fuck, I’m already tearing up and I haven’t even started!)

Jennifer - Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for comforting me. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for loving me. You’re the greatest, sis!

Regina - Thank you for being there whenever I needed someone to talk to. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for being so supportive. Thank you for making me laugh when I needed it most.

Sabrina - Thank you for being concerned. Thank you for inviting me to forget about life, even if only for the weekend. Thank you for sharing more about yourself with me. Thank you for helping me to better understand myself.

Adam - Thank you for our IM chats. Thank you for distracting me from the craziness that is life. Thank you for listening to me in a way that no one else in our family really can.

Stacey - Thank you for letting me call you in the middle of the night. Thank you for giving me advice. Thank you for caring.

Jason - Thank you for being a genuine friend. Thank you for all of our conversations.

Sylvia - Thank you for being there during my most difficult times. Thank you for listening to me whine and bitch. Thank you for all of your advice.

Hollie - Thank you for standing by me all this time. Thank you for being there when I needed someone to talk to. Thank you for driving me home.

Erin Kate - Thank you for the stimulating conversation. Thank you for being my number one movie buddy. Thank you for sharing your successes and failures with me.

Erin - Thank you for the good times at sporting events. Thank you for coming to all those concerts with me. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being my communication to others I may have lost touch with.

Rachel - Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for enjoying many of the same things I do. Thank you for our long phone conversations. Thank you for hanging out when you visit.

Jenie - Thank you for all your stories. Thank you for making office life more interesting.

Dad - Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed you. Thank you for just listening. You have no idea how much I appreciate the trust you had in me. Thank you for giving me a place to live when I needed it. Thank you for being my chauffeur, my grocery shopping buddy, and my free laundromat. Thank you for keeping me on the right track and telling me when I was wrong. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions with me. Thank you for allowing me to get to know you. Thank you for being positive, even when things were really bad. Thank you for loving me. I will miss you so much.

And to everyone else who has been there for me & my family over these past three, very difficult months… THANK YOU!

Leave tomorrow for the place that is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It shall be fun… Plenty of stories to come after. Seriously, I’m going with my awesome cousin… which means there may be trouble… especially on my birthday on Friday. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!

Later people… pics will come later… be prepared!

Ok, so here’s some pics and info on my recent trip to “The City”

This is the view from outside the hotel on 48th and Lex. Yeah, all the hotels were very expensive because of Fashion Week approaching. The Open didn’t help prices either. We stayed where my company had an employee discount for The Open. Still spent over $1000 for the 5 nights!
The Apple Store on 5th Ave and Central Park South. Open 24 hours, what more could you want?!

The new 7 World Trade Center building. I love how it reflects the sky.

Little Italy! Only in New York!!

The HEAD Penn booth at The Open. From right to left: Megan, Colin, My Mom, and Me!

The HEAD Penn booth, again. This time, from right to left: My Mom, Me, and Paula!

Part of the very short session of tennis we got to see. Tennis live is awesome!

See, this is why we had a sort session of tennis. DAMN RAIN!

Ok, I hope that was entertaining for all. Those were just some pics from my trip to NYC. I love The City and am planning a trip back next year for The Open. If you’re at all interested in coming along, save some cash for airfare, food, and hotel and I’ll try my best to score the event tickets! Sometimes working for a tennis company has its perks!!

Hey all! Just returned from Las Vegas where good times were had by all. See MySpace for an interesting video of my cousin… hahaha.

Today is America’s 230th Birthday. Happy 4th to all the American’s who read this. Go out and have a good time tonight, it’s a celebration!!

Vegas pics follow…

Hoover Dam

Drinking a Black and Tan

My cousin and ‘The Strip’

At the Hoffbrauhaus: Las Vegas

Apple Strudel at the HB: Las Vegas
Weren’t those fascinating… yeah, 3 days in Vegas and that’s all I have to show for it… hahaha!

Let me just say that I was hoping this week of work would be better than last week… unfortunately that is not the case. This week is the same, if not worse than last week. Sooooo much crap going on at work, it’s almost more than I can handle. Oh well… it’s almost Friday and I have a feeling next week will be better…. mainly because the boss will be on vacation! YEAH! lol

Once again I must pause and praise my car. In Arizona you’ve got to love what you drive, and I do!

Time to get ready for an evening out on the town (if that’s what you call accompanying your mother on her Mother’s Day gift, a Josh Groban concert, lol).