Yes, I am still alive.

Sorry, I haven't posted in awhile. Lots been going on.

• I resigned from my position on the Communications/Marketing Committee. Too much drama to deal with.
  
• I became a registered Girl Scout (Don't Ask). Mainly so I could be a Co-Service Unit Cookie Manager with Amy. We manage around 60 troops and their cookie orders.
• I got a second part-time job back at the Print shop I used to work at, AlphaGraphics.
• Still going to school.
• Working on more training at work, to have more responsibilities.
• Amy and I became Creative Memories Consultants. Mainly because they came out with so many new opportunities for folks and their photos! Contact us for more info!
  

Just lots of stuff. So I have been really busy. I get about 4 hours of sleep a day, sort of. It's been hectic.

Talk later when I ain't so tired!

[KNOCK], [KNOCK] Is this thing on?

So, I haven't written in quite awhile. Sorry.

My life has been insanely busy.

College: Not only has classes started up again, but both courses were drawing courses. Which would hav been fine and I would have enjoyed them, but they were condensed and so busy. I had assignments due every other day!

Work: Still not liken the whole no music and not internet policy. But it is okay. The pay is good, the hours aren't too bad. But the work can be boring and then there is the nights when there is nothing to do.

Home: Busy as usual. Riley is growing fast and starting to add more and more words to his vocabulary. I will miss it when the love he gives is unconditional. My oldests still give unconditional love, but it is less frequent. The signs of growing older.

Board: Busy as ever. Need to advertise like crazy. Need to find replacement board members. Interested? LOL.

Not much else. But I thought I better update ya.

I want the new iPod! With its full touch screen. (iPod Touch for those keeping score).

It’s My Time

I haven’t said anything, because I didn’t want to jinx it, but I have been on assignment with a client (through Aquent) for a year now. Well, a few weeks ago, they hired me on full-time.

The exciting part is that they have kept my pay rate, which worried me, because I had assumed if any client ever hired me, that the rate would go down. But it didn’t.

I also get really nice benefits and 401K. So I am excited.

Downfall, we can’t listen to music anymore or use Internet on our puters. Bummer. It is kinda scary hearing some of the stories of people walking off the job or getting suspended without pay over what seems like really menial stuff. But we will see what happens.

Good Mornin... Good MORNin'...

Good Morning all you people that are asleep as I write this.

I was out of town last weekend. Went up north to my Sister-in-law's house for the final Family Christmas on my wife's side.

Oy Vay. That is all I am gonna say. We had our fun moments, but, oy vay!

The kids did put on a pagent. That was cute. I use dmy projector to cast a background for them to use. Next year I will take more time and actually create various scenes and stuff!

Nice to be back. I have so much stuff to do though!

1. Scrapbook night on Friday
2. Pinewood Derby on Saturday
3. An online presentation on Thursday
4. finish up PRC stuff this week

Just a lot to do!

Riley is talking nicely, more sounds than actual words, but he is getting there.

He knows some sign language that Amy is teaching him. He can ask for a bottle, food, more and toys. They aren't the actual signs, but he understands when we sign them and he has his own version (with a sound to go with) to tell us what he wants.

He is so smart too! I can't get over how smart he is for his age!

We have a meeting with the Dean of the Elementary and a few school teachers in regards to Dominic.

They think there is some issues there and I think they need to know how to handle him. His actual teacher had no problems with him, when she went off to maternatiy leave, all of a sudden we are having issues... oy vay!

Well, got to get back to the imaginary work to do here...

A long overdue update.

Well, it has been quite awhile since I wrote last. And, I guess, a lot has happened that has kept me busy.

Let’s start youngest to oldest.

Riley is getting pretty big. He can stand himself up on things. He crawls VERY fast. The roomba is his friend. He will sneak over there and turn it on whenever he can.

He is also getting in a lot of his teeth. He also gives this great big cheesy grin. Matter of fact, it is the same cheesy grin that Dominic and Mikayla had when they were younger. The one where they scrunch up their whole face and all you see is a big toothy grin. I love it. I could stare at that face the rest of my life and be content.

He also loves the computer even more now. He will play pogo with grandma or Amy, or watch me play WoW.

He still takes his naps with me in the afternoon when Amy sneaks him in bed with me. I never know he is there until he wakes me up. If Amy gets him before I wake up, then they come in around 2:30 and wake me up. There is nothing better than having your baby boy sitting next to you on the bed, gently patting your back to wake you up and going “da da da da”

Mikayla is just like her mother. All attitude. But cute attitude. And she is still my baby girl and still a little princess.

She is still in dance. Unfortunately we don’t know for how long she will be able to stay in dance. She is currently in Pre-Comp. But after that she would go into a competition line. Trouble is, it is EXPENSIVE! So far this year I think comp line has paid about $400 in dues, and that is just since September! They still have more to go!

Dominic is doing pretty well in school. He still will have his moments where he likes to screw around and not pay attention, but we are working on those. He and I have nightly talks. Sometimes we talk about whatever he wants to talk about and sometimes we talk about what I want to talk about and sometimes it is to talk about serious matters (like behaving).

Courtney is doing great in school. Smart as ever, still in the Talented and Gifted Program at school. She does have this knack for turning in homework late. So we are working on that one.

My mom is doing pretty well. She is known around here is the beddie-time grandma. It is her job to put Riley to sleep at night. I think the record is 2 seconds. She literally picked him up, he rolled over to look at her and out he went. He seems to sleep better at night if grams puts him to bed. Sometimes though she has to wear him out by playing pogo with him or watch some TV. It is there special bonding time together.

Amy is busy as ever. It is Girl Scout cookie season and being the Service Unit Cookie Coordinator for the entire Centennial Service Unit (60 troops this year). It is her job to make sure everyone gets their troops order in on time, train the “cookie moms”, and organize all the paperwork. I helped her out this year by putting together a PowerPoint presentation for her to use, so she could make sure that all the trainees (in three different training sessions) got the same information.

I am doing so-so. Working third shift does take its toll. I am always tired. I feel like I never get anything accomplished at home. I still am on the Board at our cooperative. And still the Communications/Marketing Committee Chairperson and Committee Relations Advisor. Not easy work, I am constantly busy.

I have been going back and forth with the decision if I want to run to be on the board again this February, or not. And if I want to stay involved in my committee or not.

• The pro is that I get a say in what happens where I live, I get to be a part of something grand (in its beginnings too!).
• The con is that it takes up so much of my time, some of my neighborhood friendships have deteriorated, I get frustrated with the in fighting and drama.

So I try to figure out if it is really worth it. I know that there is no one else who could do the jobs I do. No one is as organized as a secretary as I am. No one has the skills (let alone the design programs) to do the creative work that I do to try and make this park more professional.

It is also hard being in the ‘public eye’, since I am such a private person.

I hate not having free time and being lazy, like I used to be. Every waking moment is filled with things to do.

But anyways. Enough of that.

Not sure what else I should write. I want to write more, but finding the time is exhausting. I have so many things I want to do. Lose weight, eat right, write more, home projects, office projects. The list goes on and on and on.

In my iPod:

• Aquarius - 25th Annviersary Edition
• Take Me Out - Franz Ferdidnand
• Vacation - Connie Francis
• Eldest - Audiobook (Eragon Book 2)
• Hurt - Christina Aquilera

Get me the FUNK outta here...

Okay, so I am in a funk. I hate it. I hate being in a funk, I FUNKin' Hate it.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my career. I don't know what to do with my volunteer work. Nothin.

Where should I begin... I don't like working third shift. I don't hate it, kind of nice and quiet, but the sleep schedule sucks.

I want to work from home. I want to work, when I want to work. But I am so afraid of taking the leap and trying to start my own business. Could I actually do it? Am I good enough to have my own design studio? Maybe I should go back to school. I don't know.

I am tired of my volunteer work with the Cooperative. WAY MORE work than I ever imagined. Takes up WAY too much time and there is just WAY too much DRAMA! I can't stand drama. I have enough of my own! Then friendshsips get in the way and I don't know if I should be loyal, or make sure the work is getting done...

I don't know if I still want to be on the Board of Directors, or Just be the Communications/Marketing Chairperson or neither. I want my life back, but I can't afford to not be there. NO ONE can do the work that I do. If no one can do it, I fear we could loose our home and then where would I be? I don't know.

I am tired of WoW. Now that I made level 60, everyone expects me to help them out here or do this quest with them there, "because I am level 60 and have nothing else to do" or "Your in our guild so you have to help us".

Well no I don't, I just wanna relax and play and de-stress. I don't even like playin my 60, I have played her for SOOOO LONG! I wanna try a different character, but feel like I just have to check in every now and then otherwise I am labeled "Too Busy To Care". And I don't like that, before I was a 60, I helped everyone I could if they needed it and I happened to not be helping someone else. I did that since level 30. Can I be done now?....

So I left my guild. Not that I really wanted to, but I don't know anyone on there anymore other than my chracters and my two good Friends. And all these new people on there get pretty rude (see paragraph above). It isn't the same guild anymore. Lately I am never actually playing because I either have to try and break up a very heated/insulting discussion (and then get chewed out for trying to calm things down) or I get insulted myself and then don't feel like playin. I don't know.

I am tired of money. Even though I have a job, I am busting my ass to play catchup on bills. Then on top of that my car has to break and cost me $900 to fix (that I don't have). I hate it. Can I please win the lottery? Just once? Can I please win like 500 mil? I would be happy, trust me.

My family still wants a dome home, and I don't know how we are ever going to raise the $40,000 we will need for the downpayment (roughly a $300,000 home and I would need at least 10% to get that kind of a loan, if not more). It is so hard for us to save any money!

I don't know. I really don't know.

The only thing I do know is that I love my family and my wife and my mom and sister and brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws and just plain old in-laws. I love that aspect of my life, I just wish everything else would work out along with it.

"Life is an ocean. A twisting nether at one time, a calming plain another. Forever changing. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but always changing; turning into something beautiful or something ugly. How we swim in that sea, determins our course. We either swim hard, or float through, or drown. But it is our choice that makes the difference." -- Bert Jones

Wow, I just wrote that. I don't really think of myself as a writer, but that just spewed forth from my fingertips. Hmm....somewhat satisfying actually. Kiki? Is this what it is like to write? Not knowing exactly what your writing until you think you are done? And then looking at it and feeling a completion? A gratification? I envy you. No, I take that back. I am lucky to know you.

All the things that you do, creatively at least, inspire me to try the same. You also inspire me to try harder, no matter what life throws at me. You inspire me to just try. Thank you for being my good (best?) friend.

Kiki?... You out there?... Hello?... (hehehe..LOL)

What Day Is It? Can you Please Tell Me? What Day is It? I'm Confused You See!

For those of you who know me, you should now that part of the song from Space Ghost

So, it has been awhile since I last wrote. And actually I didn't write anything, just posted some videos.

I am not that crazy about my job. I don’t know if it is the 3rd shift, the lack of work, or both.

1. I am tired all the time.
2. There is barely any work at work. So it is hard to stay awake.
3. I have so much going on in my life.

Basically we had 3 people out of 5 resign from the Cooperative Board I am on. Which means I am the only resident board member left. So everyone comes to me with their stuff.

Not only am I the Secretary, Communciations/Marketing Chairperson, Committee Relations Advisor; but now I am also the interim President (of sorts) to keep day-to-day operations going and keep in touch with management.

We also are planning an open house for the end of the month! A lot of work!

So much to do, and I have such little time.

I wish I could just quit my job, but I need to money. I do need to find something during the day, and full time. That may make it easier.

Amy may be starting her own cake businesses. That would be very cool!

Okay, back to work… sort of.

My Life is My Life

Well, I am on my last week of training for my new assignment. I can’t wait to get started, but I am a little nervous too. It will be different once I am ‘out on the floor’. But I wish all my other clients had training like this. Very comprehensive.

Riley is getting so very big. We had to buy him a new car seat. I can’t get over how happy and smiley he is. Whenever he sees Amy, my mom or me, he just lights up and smiles at us. He loves to laugh at me. I tell Amy, it is because of my hair!

Recently we sat him in from of my laptop and he was so engrossed in it.

He would try and tap on the keys and just watch the monitor. A few days later, Amy put him in from of my moms PC and he would just attack those keys and watch the screen. When something would pop up, he would try and make it reappear by hitting one side of the keyboard and then the other. And if it worked, he would do it again. He is very smart and will be using a computer in no time.

Amy has him on baby food now. He loves it! She will mix the baby food with rice cereal and he just eats it up.

And of course, he loves his snuggle time. Last night mom had him asleep and not 5 minutes later he was awake. Mom put him next to me on the couch (where he could watch me play World of Warcraft) and not 5 minutes later, he was back asleep!

Amy will put him in bed with us, in the early morning, and he will slowly edge his head close to me, and push Amy off the bed with his feet. So she ends up going to sleep in another room and Riley and I have the bed to ourselves. And he will sleep for a few more hours.

Courtney has been gone most of the summer. She switches weeks with her dad, but the last time we had her she was at Girl Scout Camp. Then the when she went back to her dads, she went to their church camp. So she has been just a camping away.

Dominic and Mikayla are both doing good. Just hanging around the house, getting on each others nerves. They play nice one day, fight like hell the next. Usual sibling stuff.

My dad has been in the hospital since June 14, and I finally went out to see him last night. Time just flew by and I had so much going on with the family that I didn’t have a chance to visit him. That, and I don’t like hospitals unless a baby is being born.

Dad had to have the back part of his leg removed, and if it doesn’t heal, they may need to take off his leg from above the knee. He is doing better. He originally went in for pacemaker problems and tiredness and they found out his leg was infected (I think there was a blocked artery). He is not expected to get out for another 8-14 weeks!

Not much else has been happening around the house. Been pretty quiet.

Currently in my iPod:

• Popular – From the Broadway Play WICKED
• Evanescense
• Beautiful to Me – Dolly Parton
• Not Ready to Make Nice – Dixie Chicks
• Everything for Free – K’s Choice
• One – Mary J. Blige & US

He Works Hard for the Money

Well hello all, it has been awhile since I wrote.

I started a new job on Monday. I am working with a company in St. Paul. I have three weeks of training during the day and then I will switch to 3rd shift.

Not quiet looking forward to the whole 3rd shift thing. But it is more money, and then Amy will have the car during the day.

Riley is making lots of sounds. He is figuring out his voice and making noises from low to high squeals. He likes to gurgle and goo. He is getting so big as well.

He had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and he is in the 90 percentile in weight, the 75 percentile in height and 99 percentile for his head size. So that means, he can hold his head up, but not for too long, because he is 'top heavy'. His head is too heavy for him. Hopefully by his next appointment in 2 months, that will have corrected itself.

Other than that, he is doing great!

His hair is growing out so he looks so cute cause it is spiking on his head!

He had a doctors appointment yesterday and it seems he has an ear infection. We had thought that he was teething (he wasn't rubbing his ears at all) so we were giving him teething gel and a teething ring and it seemed to work. To doctor told us why it seemed to work was because it was relieving the pressure in his ears as he would chew on it.

We also had the doctor look at his big toes. Ever since he was born the nail on those two toes grew a little different. And his big toes were very red. Well, it turns out they are infected. So we have to clean them out and apply antiseptic on them to help them heal.

He also had two shots in his leg. So Tuesday night he had a fever. From the ear ache and the shots, he wasn't very happy. He just wanted to snuggle. Poor guy.

He seemed to do better in the morning, although his fever was starting up again.

Not much else is going on. I will keep ya posted!

To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn

Well... so much has happened since the last post...

But...

I don't want to get into it. Lets just say, I am done with all the drama.

I am working with a nw client (which is always good). Kelly had her wedding and even though a few things went wrong with the wedding (like my card failing in the middle of the ceremony and I thought I lost everything.) Things did turn out (like finding a great program that restored the card so that I didn't lose those photos).

It was a wonderful day. Kelly looked absolutely GORGEOUS! The Bridesmaids were all beautiful and the Groomsmen all had Zoot Suits and looked dashing!

And Kelly's two children (Devin and Kiana) looked so cute! It was a very fun event.

Now I just have to edit all the photos, upload them and get them printed.

I do start a new job on July 10th. I am excited, it will be nice to work full time again. Even if it is for only a few months.

Til later!

UPDATE: Just noticed that it was exactly a month ago since my last post! Wow, I need to work on that!

I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter...

That is from a Madelaine Payroux song that I have...

I haven't had a chance to sit down and post, but I am installing Windows XP on a computer, so I have some time (19 minutes to be exact).

It has been crazy around here. We received our tax refunds, so we have been shopping.

We purchased the baby items that we still need. I purchased a bigger flat screen monitor for my design work and a new digital camera that is Professional grade. It has detachable lenses, a separate flash and can take pictures in RAW format.

Most consumers have never heard of a RAW format. Well, let me tell you it is nice. It literally holds all the information that the camera has about that picture. From the aperture, to the ISO setting used, to the Exposure, everything. And it keeps the Red, Green and Blue channels (what make up a color photo) separate, so that in editing the photo, I am able to do a lot more.

Basically, when I open one of these formats in my photoshop, this little menu comes up that lets me change the exposure, aperture, etc. And save those changes, without actually changing the file. Then I can open it up with those changes and save it as something else, yet still keep the original file untouched.

Very handy for all the stuff I do. See the picture above, I even feel more artisitc in my photographing now!

We also purchased an Airport Express. It is a little router, that connects to my wireless internet and allows me to play music over the network to my surround sound, and it lets me hook up a printer to it so that I can use the printer without it having to be connected to a computer.

Amy received a laptop, so that she can be more mobile with her volunteering. It really helps now that she is on a strict bedrest.

Oh, I should mention that...

Well, it turns out that Riley was breech last week, so we needed him to turn. Well he did, but he kept going and now he is sideways.

On top of that, since he is sideways his is pushing her pelvic bones apart, and that is where she was having problems before, due to her fall when she was pregnant with Courtney. She wasn't able to barely walk, and now he is putting even more pressure on it, she says it feels like she is being ripped in two.

So the doctors said she MUST stay in bed or sit in a reclined position. So she has to stay that way for two weeks and hope that he turns the correct way, or else they will schedule her for a cesarean.

I am now officially done volunteering as the Secretary for the Board of Directors for my Community. I am now just the Communications/Marketing Chairperson. So I still have a lot of projects to do (Handbooks, policies, forms, website, flyers, etc.) but it is more fun and more relaxed than being the secretary. I HAD to have the minutes done before the next meeting. Most of the items I do now, just have a due date of SOON.

I am also still working with Best Buy. But not as much. I do have to go in their offices to do some work for a few days, I think next week. So I don't know how we are getting the kids to school.

Not much else is going on. We are just taking it easy until Riley is born. I am a little nervous. It has been so long since we had Mikayla (5 years!)

Til next time,

Big Daddy

Tying up loose ends...

I am trying to finish up some thoughts that I have going around my head.

1. I have been watching the new Battlestar Galactica (okay, new to me). Pretty damn good!
2. I have been working this past month with my Manufactured Home Park, which is now a Cooperative. I am the Communications Committee Chairperson and interim Secretary on the Board of Directors.
3. World of Warcraft is addictive. BUT I LOVE IT! So much to do!
4. Did I mention that I love iTunes? I do, it makes it so easy to listen to music.
5. I can't wait to see me son.
6. My ear infection is over, but I still have some hearing loss in my left ear. It comes and goes. The doc thinks that the drainage tube (Eustachian) is not at the correct angle and so I get fluid in my ear which blocks my hearing.
7. Still no real job. Which sucks, but I am getting stuff done at home. Anyone need a graphic designer?

I think that is it... here is my iPod playlist:

• La Tortura - Shakira
• I Don't Wanna Know - Sheryl Crow
• One - U2 & Mary J. Blige
• The Cruel War - Dolly Parton
• Twelfth of Never - Dolly Parton

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have an assignment next week. It is working downtown, but only for one week. I wish I had a long term assignment. I don't know what we are going to do for Christmas, but I guess I just need to have faith.

I also have a cold, I hate being sick, but hopefully I will feel better before I have to work.

Not much else is going on. Keep us in your prayers!

Well, well, well.....

Not much of an update, but I thought I should share something.

Still no assignment. I haven't even heard from my agency. Worries me a little bit.

We are decorating for Christmas already and getting ready for my Christmas Card Party this weekend.

Money is tight, which sucks.

My kids are cute, which is good!

Later!

These are the days of my lives....

I'm watching Days of Our Lives right now... my favorite soap opera...

It's all my sisters fault really, every summer while our parents worked and we were out of school, we had a schedule.

I would watch cartoons until 10. Then the Day of Soaps began:

• 11 a.m. - Young and the Restless
• 12 p.m. - Days of Our Lives
• 1 p.m. - One Life to Live
• 2 p.m. - General Hospital

I only watched Days of Our Lives. And it was around the time-frame when Bo and Hope got together, Jack and Jennifer, Patch and Kayla and Shane and Kimberly and his evil daughter Eve...

Man I loved it back then. And my sister would cook me Chef Boyardee ravioli, or O's in the pan, not in the microwave... now that is love!

But the Days that are on now, is so boring. It takes three weeks for them to do one day. And the same writing over and over again...

So now I barely watch it. I read about it a day ahead of time here.

And when I get really bored I can always re-read and discover things I forgotten on this site.

Okay, I think I am done with my trip down memory lane. I am going to try and actually watch my soap this week that I have off instead of playing on the computer...

Anyway my birthday is coming up! I am so excited. Amy is planning something, I don't know when or where, but I know she is planning something!

I don't wanna grow up... I'm a special ed kid...

My mommy dropped me on my head and look what it did...

I was in Special Ed growing up and me and a friend came up with a song sung to the tune of the Toys-R-Us song... we were really bored.

the reason I am singing that now is Amy mentioned that wherever she goes, people make her tell the story and sing the song... kinda funny.

And way, I had a good weekend.

I finished work, got to go shopping and finished painting my dining room with grapevines.

Made BLTs, snicker salad and even had time to make chocolate chip cookies and my famous Chicken/Mandarin Orange/Red Grapde salad... Momma Mona will kill me when she finds that out!

I even finished working on the DVD of Jennifer's wedding. So that felt good. Now I just need to finish the reception, my Dolly LPs, Home movies and I think I am set for a while.

I have the next week off, which sucks, but at the same time, it will be nice to have a week off before my birthday! It's my golden birthday ya know....

Til later!

Stuff in my iPod or on iTunes:

• Annie - Greatest Hits
• Linkin Park - From the Inside
• J.M.F.D. - Share
• Same Day Service - OK Alright
• Katie Todd Band - Face Down
• Yo Viviré (I Will Survive) - Celia Cruz
• Eisa - Tiakoza
• This old House - Bert

boredom... keeps me on my toes

I am so bored right now. It is midnight and I am watching GoldenEye on Bravo and just plain bored.

I know that I have a ton of projects that I could be doing, but I just don't have the energy right now.

Lately, I have become addicted to Stampin Up. I can't stop stampin cards, notepads, decorations... it's crazy. I love the water pen. It makes watercolring with stamp pads SO EASY!

Work is crazy too. They have me kinda booked these next few months. I'm not complaining, but it's sucks that I am working two different assignments. I want to keep myself open for Best Buy, because:

1. they pay me more;
   
2. I don't have to pay $7.50 for parking per day.
   
3. And they have REAL food there.
   
4. And the people seem a little nicer.

I am so tired. So much is going on in my life right now. Issues with da Boyz, issues with the neighbors, issues with the community, issues with my life. Ugh, so much drama.

I want a house.

A REAL house.

Did I mention I want a house?

I should go now....

mmmmmmmmmm?

I am so tired. I don't even know why I am still up at this hour. I really should go to bed.

We have the boyz over for awhile. Long story there. But it is nice to have my brothas here.

I am looking to get a cheap mac for a project coming up.

Not much else is going on. Still working. Needing more hours, but that will come in time.

In my iPod right now:

• Madeline Peyroux
• Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi
  
• Reba Live
• Queen Latifah
• Allison Kraus

Photo Blog

I just realize that I never updated my photo blog and that I have been putting photos on my normal blog.

So. I am transfering some artwork over to the photo blog and decided to use that to showcase artwork or other photos.

So please periodically check my photo blog (which can be access by clicking on the photo blog button on my home page www.bertjones.com or clicking here: tiggermn.buzznet.com)

Life is going okay for right now. I am working a bit more, so that is a good thing. I still wish it was during the day though and more permanent.

I am going through and re-recording all my LPs into my computer so that I can remaster them and put them on CD. A lot of work, I have about 6 of 56 records done.

I am also still trying to scan paperwork. I decided, why keep all this paper around, when I can scan it all to a PDF and store about 5 boxes of paper on a CD? Saves space and I can access it easier.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho... It's off to work I go

Well, what a week this has been.

I enjoyed not having to work so much, but this week has been crazy.

I worked all day and night Monday, and then every night this week.

Exhausting, but I need the money and the benefits. I also found out today that I am going to work four days next week too. I should be grateful for the hours, but... I really like staying home with my wife and kids.

Let's see... what else can I tell you...

I learned how to record vocals while playing back music on Adobe Audition. So that will help me redo a lot of my songs. Now to just find the time to do it. I also found some other cool settings, so know I have to re-record all my old LPs back into the computer so I can re-clean them and make them sound great!

I recently purchased X-Men: Legends for the PS2. OMG! That game is pretty cool, its great to develop their mutant powers and watch them kick ass. My favorite mutant powers are Jean Grey's Phoenix Force and Storm's Cyclone Fury. I haven't seen Nightcrawlers Teleport Frenzy, but I am sure it will kick ass. That game is addictive.

I recently read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and Deception Point. Both are really good books, if you liked DaVinci Code, you'll love these two (Especially Angels and Demons since it takes place in Italy and is more of a treasure hunt like the code was.)

I acquired Mariah Carey's Emancipation of Mimi album. I like the song It's Like That and its respective remixes, the rest of the album will have to grown on me.

I am trying to figure out how to take the movies that my digital camera can take and put them on DVD. So far all my DVD making programs can't read these .mov files. I don't understand why, so I need to figure out how to convert them.

I am trying to learn how to use Adobe Encore, but man that seems daunting. I may wait on that until I finish Photoshop, Illustrator and GoLive CS training books first. Now I hear Adobe CS2 is coming out. I finally get CS and now they have 2. I will have to try and get that now too!

I still need to get QuarkXpress 6. But InDesign CS is pretty good too right now, so who knows I may convert (Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone!)

Well, I think I have wasted enough time. Maybe I should go to bed..but I am not really tired.

G'Nite,
Tigg'a

lots of free time...

well...

I turned down the 3rd shift assignment my talent agency offered me. I was miserable working 2nd shift and 3rd shift would only make it worse.

So as of right now, I am jobless. At least I will have time on my hands to finish some projects I had stored up. I just feel so unmotivated to do any of them.

as my world turns

i sit here not knowing where to begin...

i am writing in all lowercase because i feel so small in this world that likes to deal me shitty cards. i love my job and i love the company i work with. but i wish i had more control over my destiny.

i found out that the assignment i am on is terminating one of the full time positions. there are only two of us at night and my coworker has been there longer so she got to decided if she wanted the position or not. she did, so i am pretty much out. they are creating a pool of people they can call when they get major swamped. i am in it, but not for long. my agency is finding me a new gig.

i am amazed at how fast they may have something lined up for me. its third shift, lower pay, but at least amy will have the van all day and all night and i will be home (awake) when the kids get home from school and be here for them when they really need me. i will just have to get used to sleeping all day.

but at least my benefits will stay steady and so will the hours. i just wish the pay was closer to what i am making now. but i can't have everything.

(UPDATE: I never did take this assignment, they cancelled it. But, a year later, it came by again and I did take it.)

i am currently reimporting all my music cds into my laptop so that i can reorganize before i put them on my server. i moved my music around so much that i wanted to make sure i had the best quality. and now that i have sooo much space, i can keep all the albums and not just the songs i like.

once all that is done, i move onto importing old LPs and then onto scanning old documents.

currently in my ipod/playlist:

• Queen Latifah... Dana Owens Project
• Madaleine Peyroux... dream land
• sean paul... dutty rock
• and a mix of early 90s music

i also can't believe we blew right through all our tax money. but we had things we really needed. so i guess it is okay. i just wish we had a ton of money. i love my new home, but i really want to be living in our dome home right now. all that space and stuff. it be like living in an amusement park.

i am visiting with my old coworker/best friend from alpha on saturday. i am gonna help her get her nephews xbox set up on her network. i am also buying her drawing tablet from her, so that i can draw/paint digitally. i used to love to watercolor, but it takes space and is messy, but not for long.

amy bought me wonder woman season 1 and 2. i am happy about that.

i just wish my life was going better right now. a ton of money and lots of happiness. i just feel so helpless and lost and no control over my own life. i feel like a drone, just doing what the queen bee tells me to (no not amy)

not much else right now.

Spending Money!

Well, Tax time again...

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR! I get to spend money. I just purchased a new Dell Inspirion 9200 with a bunch of cool stuff! I can't wait until it comes (two weeks--I won't last that long!)

But at the same times it's depressing. My benefits were just cancelled due to lack of hours at work. Ick! Hopefully my agent can find me a new assignment asap. I can't afford $90 for my allergy meds.

So if you can spare the mojo and prayers and love, it would be appreciated!

Technology at it's finest... and the idiot who uses it

Don't you love technology? I do.

I think it really helps us accomplish so many things. Like cooking meals in minutes, Listening to music anywhere, keeping us safe and secure and making sure no one can access restricted areas.... even if we have the access to them...

The place I work is a secure building, so we have to wear badges that you use to slide into slots (like ATM cards) in little machines next to all the doors to gain access to a place.

Recently, they have been switching over to the proximity badges (where you just hold the card up to this little box on the wall and it lets you in).

They are starting with Level 4 and working their way down. So my level is 2nd to last, so I have two cards I have to wear. I wear mine on a lanyard around my neck... lately though I take it off at my desk because it gets stuck on the edge of the desk and when I back up or get up, it snaps it's little retractable cord back and I get hit.

So I had to get some change in the change machine on the main level (I work in the lower levels) and my co-worker was leaving early and I thought I would walk her out, get my change and head back.

I do all that and get in the elevators to come downstairs. I get out and go to the elevator lobby doors to let me onto my floor and realize--I left my badge on my desk.

So upstairs I go to the main lobby and the security desk (Thank god it is staffed 24 hours a day) to get a temp badge. Thank goodness they know me and let me have one without too much hassle. Sometime they require you provide them with your Driver's License (which is at my desk)

So I get the badge, and I am waiting behind some other guy trying to get in and his card makes the walkway/entrance detector say proceed, then immediately change to wait and back again a few time (it reminded me of something out of Maximum Overdrive--where everything electrical went nuts) so I go to another walkway and try mine and the proximity card works in the lobby (their upgrade is complete) and I continue on down the elevators to my floor. I go up to the elevator lobby on my floor and slide in the ATM like card and..... nothing...... I try it a few more times and then try the reader on the other side of the lobby....... nothing. Back upstairs.

So I get up there and the security guard is confused why it doesn't work, but switches the cards out so I can try again... back downstairs.

So I try the ATM-like card in the elevators and it flashes a few times and viola! it works. So I go to my department door and try my card. It flashes really slow a few times and..... nothing....... So back upstairs.

I talk to the guard and she makes some calls and realizes that she gave me the wrong card. Because I am a contractor I get a yellow temp badge not a green. Back downstairs I go.

Finally everything works and I get into my department. I grab my badge and go back upstairs to return the temp badge.

Let me tell you that no matter what I am always wearing this badge at work. That was too much effort to get back into my department. I wasted about a half hour.

So isn’t technology lovely......

Patience.....is a virtue

Well, sometime this week they will move the trailer to its new home... then finish it and we can move in... I have no patience right now. I want to move in NOW!

And I really want things. I want a new sectional/fold out couch, a recliner, bookshelves, home theatre system, a dual-layer DVD burner, an external hardrive, iPod accessories, Altec InMotion speakers for iPod, home wireless network, Wonder Woman complete first season on DVD, Celine's new live vegas CD, a bedroom set, a new Desk...

But the house comes first, then maybe I can "beg" some stuff out of Amy. Or at least try really hard.

Guys weekend is coming up soon. I can and can't wait. As a Fat man, food is my top priority and right now only 2 meals are guaranteed and I have no idea what I am supposed to bring...

Somedays I feel like I am drowning. I don't know if it is stress, or what. But I feel like no one else is worrying about things, so I have to. I know Amy takes care of a lot of stuff... but, I still feel like the weight of everything is on me.

It doesn't help when she complains about me not doing stuff around the house. I work hard. I may sit on my ass at work, but I have to use my mind and it leaves me mentally drained. I come home late at night and am so awake. But then during the day, I feel like I need to relax to recharge myself, so I don't feel like cleaning, or doing chores. Work is my chore. Be thankful I have a job and go to it. And money... I work hard and I know it is going to pay bills, but I would like to be able to go out to dinner with my coworker once a week, or be able to have pop everynight at work, or buy a DVD burner, or take my family out to eat. I like to splurge a little. I would like for Amy to have her table saw or biscuit joint tool thingy. Maybe when we finally move I will feel less stressed and depressed.

Ho Hum... What a life...

Well, we put in our applications in to the Park we want to live in. We will be waiting for a week or so, until we know if we are approved.

Once that is done, hopefully they will move the mobile home in... then they will finish the inside and hopefully we can move in...

But... we met with the park manager... A REALLY nice guy and he didn't have very many nice things to say with the two people we are dealing with for our California rambler... he even showed us a home that they tried to fit into a too small of a lot and just left it there. So I am a little stressed/worried. I don't feel I will be able to rest until the home is in the park, we have been accepted and moved in...

Keep praying for us.

Work has just been unmotivational. I have been tired and stressed and just unmotivated. But thank goodness for Audiobooks. I listen to that and actually find myself just pluggin along and pretty soon my night is over. Kinda nice.

Dominic and I have been bonding more. I recently reinstalled the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. So we have been sitting together while I blow the crap out of monsters and stuff and he tells me which guns are more effective on which monsters. One smart little guy.

I just installed Deus Ex and me and him were trying to figure that out. A little trickier. Cheat codes our are friends!

Mikayla is so excited about her dance recital. She got stage makeup today and has been wearing it all day. She looks so cute (albeit a little overdone - stage makeup has that effect-but still cute!)

What a week.

Well, this week has been okay. I didn't get very many hours at work. 16! Only 16! My co-worker and I could have used a few more hours. We need at least 20 for our benefit info! Kinda Sucks!

But I got some stuff done. That was good. I am just going through music albums and getting them on my PC right now... I have over 50 albums to do!

Blog ya later!

I'm Where... And Why did I do this?

Just got back from work and are my feet sore. Why, you ask? Since I sit on my butt all night? Because my co-worker and I went on a field trip.

We wanted dinner. We didn't want Keiran's Pub (it wasn't Wednesday and so our bartender wasn't there and it is too expensive). We didn't want to walk all the way to Subway. We didn't want to order Divanni's.

So we talked with the last Day person before he left for the night and told us to try a few of the skyway shops. Even though most close at 6pm (it was now 6:35), there should still be one or two still open.

So we got all excited. Let's GO! So we punched out for a half hour break... and here our adventure begins.

We started walking the skyways in the direction he said to. closed... closed... closed... closed... we past 4 subways, 5 Caribou Coffee's, a Jimmy Johns, a Cousins subs, a few pizzerias... 8 asian places... ALL CLOSED.

So we thought, let's keep going. We are close to city center (Which is 6 blocks away from our office bldg.)

So instead of a straight shot down the street, we were zig-zagging through the skyway. Finally, we get to City Center. Everything closed at 7pm. It was 7:30.

Let's try Gavedaii Commons next door... all closed at 6pm... Let's try Marshall Field's Marketplace....EUREKA!!!!!! LeeAnn Chin (YUMMY Orange Chicken!) So we had found food. And tons of it... we were happy. So we start walking back.... and get lost... twice...

We finally got back and realized we had a 1 and a half hour lunch/break. Yuk... But we figured we both need to get in shape, so we will walk everynight to Marshall Field's and Back and see if we can get there and back in 1/2 hour.

So again... my feet are sore... next time wear tennis shoes and not sandals... No matter how much of a hurry your in... and light-weight clothing... some of those walkways still have the heat on!