100

Happy New Year!!!

What a 'count-up'; to celebrate 2008; I give you my 100th POST. 2007 was an interesting year; growth in my personal life but very stagnant on the career, physical, and spiritual aspects of my life. 2008 has potential to be big on all fronts. I plan on stepping it up and making sure I make giant strides across the board.

I do want to leave this year with one premonition; a prophecy that will fulfill itself in 2026: we will still be playing in our local men's basketball league but with a new starting point guard.

99

98

Buck 70

I reached a milestone in my life yesterday. At no point prior to yesterday have I reached such a monumental achievement. Upon stepping on my electronic scale, my current weight is at an unbelievable and hefty 170*. As a self-proclaimed procrastinator it usually takes a swift kick in the butt to fire my belly. I now have a target in mind; I plan on dropping down to a slimmer, healthier 160 by the end of March, 2008. Wish my fat ass luck.

*Actually the scale originally read 169 but being so close, I drank two glasses of water and stuffed myself with rice and almonds. After several tries and more stuffing, I got myself up to the record breaking weigh-in.

Purpose of Christmas

I am very glad that I have a small immediate family who aren't interested in the popular Christmas culture. I've noticed recently (before that I was in Asia for a few years and no one really cared about Christmas) that people really stress out about buying presents. And if they are not stressing out now, they will soon because so many of them spend beyond their means (why would you want to go into a new year with credit card debt?). How unfortunate for these individuals who require materialistic giving and receiving to be satisfied with Christmas. In the end, Christmas is about spending time with family; there really is no point in all this gift giving formality. Ultimately I'm the type of guy who doesn't need a special day to give; if I see something that a family member should have, they will get it without having to wait till December.

Rat Poison

So PiRo got herself into some trouble yesterday. K and I were upstairs for a few minutes and when we came back downstairs a box of rat poison was spilled and across the garage floor. Rat poison is a blood thinner that eventually causes internal bleeding and usually takes a few days to take effect. We actually called poison control who informed us that about 1 oz. of rat poison was considered an emergency. The box of rat poison was 3 oz. and it didn't seem like PiRo came close to eating 1/3 of that (so it wasn't an 'emergency'). We tried inducing vomit with salt water (that is a whole separate story in itself) and based on another blood specialist's consultation, we went out and bought protein shakes for Piro (which she loved... it was vanilla flavored). She seemed totally fine but K still took her to the vet today for some blood work, vitamin K injection, and brought home some vitamin K tablets to supplement PiRo's diet for the next few weeks. [Vitamin K is the direct antidote for rat poison - mild cases; severe cases could result in blood transfusion] Ultimately K spent a little over $200 on vet bills. I guess that was necessary to ensure PiRo's safety. I think K may want to do some more blood work in the next few days; at $100+ a pop, I veto that - YES to protein shakes; NO to more useless vet visits...

Wedding Update

As of today, we are exactly 4-months away from our wedding. We've made some progress in the last month or two. We've decided on the cake, wedding gown, photographer, wedding-bands, invitations, and most recently a confirmed color. We'll be speaking with the florist this weekend and the DJ in early January. Although all of this is important, the most exciting thing to me is our honeymoon decision. We've already booked and confirmed a destination; we'll be going on a 12-day cruise in the Mediterranean. We fly into Athens and will spend 2 nights before embarking on a cruise to several Greek Islands, Alexandria (to see the Great Pyramids), and Istanbul (where we will visit the famous temple dedicated to my mother; the Hagia Sophia). 4-more months until the big day, but more importantly 4-more months until a much needed vacation.

eBay, PiRo, My Buns of Steel, and a New Season

We are nearing the holidays and since I'm not big on gift giving/receiving there really isn't much to blog about.... so I have decided to blog a little about everything.

1.) eBay - for my companies annual Christmas Party everyone was supposed to bring an unwrapped toy. I have a bunch of Warcraft/Starcraft action figures courtesy of my friend who worked at Blizzard. I was going to bring those to work but went on eBay to see if they were worth anything. I have 7 action figures total; so far with 3-days remaining they have already totaled over $90. I fully expect each to sell for $20+ (one of them is already at $26.00) - nice chump change.

2.) PiRo and Money are lazy. All they do is sleep, especially in this cold weather. Below is a picture of them caught in the act... of sleeping.

3.) I've been riding on my trainer (see previous post). I hit 30-minutes today, shooting to ride 45-60 minutes 5-days a week. Good exercise, good sweat, good for my buns of steel.

4.) Season '3' for men's basketball started this past Sunday. A heartbreaking 38-34 point loss to a rival team. I picked up 4 quick fouls with ~8 minutes left in the FIRST HALF! I sat out the rest of the first but ended up playing all of the 2nd half and finished with 14 points. It is going to be a tough season w/ only 6-confirmed players. More PT but it gets hairy when someone is in foul trouble...

Vanessa

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.

You have forever filled all those around you with love. Please look after John and your family from above; we will hold you close.