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Unexpected Meetup With Friends

Today as I was planning to get to my sisters after work I ended up meeting up with Luke to discuss some work stuff. That actually turned into meeting up with a whole group of friends I hadn't seen in a few weeks. I didn't get to spend too much time with everyone since I had to leave at 7PM to go catch a train. it was nice having two drinks and seeing everyone.

After meeting up with everyone I headed over to Penn Station to catch a NJ transit train to my sisters. I didn't get to see the kids since it was after 9 by the time I got to the house but coming to get me from the train after they went to bed was the best idea logistically. Tomorrow I get to spend the entire day with them so I am looking forward to being exhausted but happy!

Nothing major to note at work. It was a typical work from home day.

Last Minute Plans With Friends

I went into the city this afternoon to do some shopping. I hit Macy's and finally broke down and bought a new dress shirt. I had needed to get a few for a while, or wanted to so I finally went. if i like the way this new shirt fits I will get a few more. I looked for a bunch of other things but didn't find anything I liked so I called it a day.

I was wet from rain and doing grocery shopping for dinner when I got an unexpected call from Jayson. Apparently him and the wife (and Seth) were in for Gretchen's birthday and wanted to goto dinner. I put what I was shopping for back and decided to goto dinner with them since even though I saw them twice in Dec, I don't normally get to see them that much.

We went to dinner at Carmines. Jay loves that place. The food was good. 4 of us split a 40oz steak, among other items. It was good seeing them. Seth was a super well behaved baby too.

New Years

For new years I made plans to goto Jayson & Gretchen's for the night. Originally we had thought about going to a restaurant near them and get a group of people together. The group didn't materialize so I went anyway. We had a lower key night. We bought steaks and cooked and stayed in. Dave also came over, but I don't know what is wrong with him. He is always such a buzkill and needs to control his emotions. Other than Dave being a bit crazy we had a good time. I stayed over and we went for breakfast and then I headed back to the city in the afternoon.

Other items of note on this trip was I ended up breaking down and buying a pair of boots. I had needed after all the snow, but opted for the less water proof ones and went with the more comfortable ones. I got a pair of Doc Martin boots that feel really comfy. My mom said I can do something to them to water proof them a bit. They are still a step up from the shoes I wear when it snows!

Xmas

Yesterday I went up to visit Jayson, Gretchen and little Seth for Xmas. It is the second year in a row I spent the holidays with Jay's family. Even though my family all goes to the same family friends house for a party I never was a huge fan of that gathering. It isn't my holiday. It is fun to spend it with my friends family. I don't get to see them all very often so it is a nice change of pace since I do spend most of the other holidays with my family. I spent the night and hung out most of the day today. We watched District 9 and the new Family Guy Star Wars spoof. Both were good.

Even though I had fun yesterday and today I am glad to be home since it is nasty out now. Wet and cold is never fun! I was pondering heading out to the city to meet up with Danny but I am just tired and don't want to head out again. I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight and early tomorrow and then it is off to my parents for the afternoon.

On The Third Dav of Vacation...

Saturday it rained. It wasn't a typical southern rain. It didn't rain for a few minutes and be over. It rained all day. We were pondering making the drive to New Orleans but the rain totally ended those plans. Instead we went to the shooting range. I had only gone shooting once before at Gretchen's dad's place but this was my first time at a real range.

Joe and Chris brought an assortment of weapons. Some would say a small arsenal. Others would say they were not waiting in the car while they went and got a few things from a store (that someone was me). We were only kidding but Joe loads up.

I got to fire a 45 and a 9mm. I even got to use a laser sight. For someone with as poor vision as I do, I (and everyone else) was amazed that I wasn't a half bad shot. I naturally aim a bit high but with practice that I wont get I could compensate for that. I wasn't as impressed with the laser sight as I thought I would be.

After the range we headed back to Joe's place to relax for a bit, and then we went out to a really nice dinner. Joe and Karen (mainly Joe) does know how to find nice places, and I am amazed that the staff knew him! The meal was great. Afterward Chris headed off to a bar, but I was tired so I headed back to the house with Joe and Karen.

What was funny was Karen was prodding Joe to find stuff for us to do so I wouldn't be bored. The fact is what we did do was inline with exactly what I was looking for. Minor activities, but nothing too crazy. I even got to goto Waffle House for Breakfast this morning! Vacation was almost perfect! Points were lost for the weather.

Day 2

Friday was low key. Joe, Karen, & Chris had to work. I slept in and thankfully slept off the drinking from Thursday. I didn't drink a lot but for me after one or two I start to feel it the next day. Getting old stinks sometimes!

I went to Joe's office. Hung out for a bit, they ordered lunch for us and some of his guys that were in the office. I then took a quick run on two jobs with him to just tag along. We got to drive around the wet and dreary Baton Rouge for a bit.

For dinner Joe grilled up some steaks from some place they order from a lot. They place seasoned everything in some special seasoning and sauce. It was really good, even if Joe did over grill the steaks.

After ward we played some xBox. I hadn't played anyone on xBox in a while. I forgot how fun it is. I didn't forget how bad I was at it though.

Vacation #1, Day #1

Yesterday I was off to Baton Rouge, well I flew into Baton Rouge but am staying with Joe & Karen in Zachary. I hadn't seen them since the wedding, and I haven't visited in ages. So when I decided to burn off vacation days they were a logical choice to go hang out with for a few days.

My flights out were relatively uneventful. That is always good when dealing with the airlines. I am thankful for my Amex card and that it allows me access to the Delta lounges.

We hit the Chimes for dinner after I got picked up from the airport. I didn't need anything fancy. I just wanted some fried sea food. I got it in the form of shrimp. We drank a bit and then headed back to Joe's place.

We hung out and talked a lot longer than I thought. Joe and I (mainly Joe) had a few more rounds. It scares me how much a like Joe and I are in some ways.

Friday Off

Today is a half day for my office. Since I took off Wednesday and there was a holiday on Thursday I decided to take off today and have a nice 5 day weekend. I just realized this was the longest I have had off in about a year. I didn't do anything special today. I just hung out and relaxed. After the hectic two days at my sisters it was nice to relax.

I did go out for a bit to meet up with Danny for drinks and dinner at Stout. He was braver than me and went shopping today.

Not really sure what I am going to do this weekend. I am trying to avoid most stores but I do need some stuff so I shall see how the weekend goes.

Friday Work From Home Day

Today was a work from home day. I was thankful for that since I had a conference call at lunch time and then a 2 hour technical review right afterward. Lots of technical talk. it was interesting but a lot to take in. Thankfully my noon meeting ended early and I was able to make something for food. All the calls and the icky weather took its tole and I started to get a migraine in the afternoon. I was hoping to go out and meet up with Mike and probably a few other friends tonight but I wasn't feeling up for it. Well there was that and the fact that Mike left early and couldn't meet up either. We will reschedule for two weeks since he is out of town next week.

Overall I didn't get a chance to get very many work tasks done since I was pre-occupied with calls. I am aiming to take Monday off so I am going to try to stay away from doing work this weekend. That means tons to catch up on Tuesday!

Friday Off

I took today and Monday off. I needed to relax and burn some days off after a hectic month. I tried to avoid work but I had to make 2 calls in the afternoon. I also will admit i checked email a few times durring the day. It was hard not to since I know a lot was going on. It took every bit of self control I had to not reply to most of the messages. I am on vacation so I needed to act like it a little.

I slept in, but got woken up by a caller ID unknown person at around 11. That was not fun, but it wasn't too early so I can't really complain.

I meet up with Danny by Union Square for dinner and drinks. I called it a night early. I am thankful for that since I started drinking early. I wasn't too bad, but lets just say I didn't follow my self imposed 2 drink maximum that I almost never follow! Overall it was a nice relaxing day.