well hello again. seems like i am only writing these once a month as of late. a ton has been going on in my life … from a new house, new job role, to family and my relationship. you name it. now on with the program.


lets start with where i am failing. my exercise program has been pretty much nonexistent. i have been so preoccupied with the move and work that it seems i never have a chance to work out. i also never seem to have time to eat right. excuses fucken excuses i know. i blame no one but myself. i am failing at all of my exercise goals but achieving all the rest of my life goals. well i know i have said this before but i am going to try again. my brother called me and he is actually trying to workout and eat better so why the heck not me to. so starting on monday i am doing this over. starting from the beginning, old school style if i gotta. i know i can do it old school style but it takes a lot of dedication. i’m going to spend some time this weekend thinking about my goals again. why i want this so much … why i feel so much better and have a better mental attitude when i am working out and taking care of myself. more on this in my next journal though.


the house is sweet! i love it … best thing i have done for myself in a long while. i also like it much better being on my own, not having a roommate. i am able to be as loud as i want, not worry about my stuff being knocked up and knowing that the rent is going to get paid and that i’m not going to have to carry peoples money problems. not saying i ever did, but it was always at the forefront of my mind with my roommate not being employed for 6+ months. anyhow, the place is pretty empty but i am slowly buying stuff for it. last weekend amy and i went curtain shopping. yes, real honest to goodness curtains, not blinds. i like the feel of them a lot better, more homey. the ones i put in the family room are cranberry and are tabbed curtains. they need to be modified a bit though. amy’s mom is going to help out with that. lets see what else have i done … 2 weeks ago i started ripping the walls apart in a few rooms. no, nothing to out there … i had to in order to run some cat-5 cable. cat-5 is a type of cable that is used to run phone and ethernet lines into rooms. in order for me to put internet connections into the rooms in my house i had to run a bunch of lines from my basement into my 1st floor, then into the 2nd floor and finally into the attic. to run them i had to cut small access holes, the same size as a power outlet. we used that hole to snake the wires through the walls. once we ran them up to the attic we then cut outlets into the walls where we wanted the connections and then ran them from the attic to the wall jacks. so in all we ran 5 - 120’ lines into my attic from the basement. i will have 4 internet and 3 new phone lines upstairs when done. i didn’t do any of this myself mind you. actually amy’s dad larry did most of the work since he is the expert at this stuff. him and amy were crawling around in my attic for a few hours. i did learn a lot though and think i could do this for others if needed. so any family or friends out there that want help, let me know. we are planning on finishing up the job this weekend. we are running some cat-5 into the main floor living room, family room, and a few in the basement hopefully. this way i can work where ever i want and when i i get some new electronic appliances that need internet connections i have it all wired up already.


my next home improvement project is finishing up the curtains and buy a dining room table. i have been looking at room and board for a table. i think i am going to go with the penn table with the cherry top and then the peyton chairs. this would look pretty sweet in my dining room. that way i can have people over for dinner and entertain. right now we kinda gotta hang out at the island in the kitchen or dine on the couch.


let’s see what else has been going on. work has been going great. i went from managing 3 people on a project that was getting little to no respect to managing 13 people on a project that is going to redefine the future of our lab. not only are we being given the manpower and freedom to do this project right we might just pull it off in the timelines we proposed. when we finish with this release, we are going to have a product that is much more robust, expandable, and business friendly. not only will it scale better but the administration potential and ease of use will be remarkably better. i am excited to be leading this project, and also a little scared. we are on a pretty aggressive schedule. wish me luck.


amy and i are doing fantastic. getting closer every day … spending about 3-4 days per week together. she has helped me sooooooo much with the house it isn’t even funny. not sure where i would be right now without her and her family. she likes the house a lot … and everything i get i make sure i pass buy her first ;) … no sense in buying something if she doesn’t like it at all. then in the future she might toss is if she moves in. wouldn’t want that.


i am throwing new years at my house this year. so far kris and michelle, ellis and christina are coming, and amy of course. i think mike and lori may as well, haven’t heard yet. i am going to try and get the table before new years so we have a table to party at. anyhow, i am really excited. they are all going to be coming in the saturday before new years and spending 3-4 days here and new years of course. going to have to think of something to entertain with. worst case i toss ellis on the computer and we go shopping and play games. there is a ton to do downtown and out here in the burbs though so i don’t think i will have a shortage of things to keep them entertained. i am going to try and make it as cheap as possible though. there is no need for everyone to blow a ton of cash every time they come to chicago.


well now that i think about it there isn’t much going on in my life other then work, the house, and amy. hehhehe … thats enough though … keeps me busy. anyhow, i gotta get back to working. will write more later in the week to let you know how my workout program is going. till then … ttfn.