nacho night

doritos, fritos, santitos... and nacho. libre, that is. i was giddy at the release of nacho libre on dvd. had to throw a party. a naachooooooooo party. have you seen it? have you!? wait till late, find your funniest friends and put it on. crazy. we had said friends over. we even had our own chancho. did i mention that i got the mask with the purchase of my dvd? oh yeah.

gifts and more gifts

This is my sister n law, Cathy - she is getting soo big! Her little boy is moving around all of the time. It is so strange to see her pregnant. Just cause. You have to know her. She looks cute though. Due in December, we are all excited. So her and her husband Richie had their anniversary on the 23rd and they got US an anniversary present. They ALWAYS do that. They beat us to the punch, our anniversary is not until Nov 8th!! They ended up suprising us with this cute pink pack n play and a gift certificate to Baby's R us. So generous. We have yet to get them anything...

Yes, it is a bit early for such a gift. But you know I kinda like having it in the house. I can completely see a little black haired sweetie pie playing in it. We will also have it now for when my sister visits in exactly 11 DAYS!!!! from California with Penny and her husband. To see this little cutie -see the pumpkin below.

We also got the book, I love you like Crazy Cakes, from our fellow waiting family friends Jeremy and Tracy. It was so thoughtful of them and the note from Tracy is something I will keep in Lucy's book for sure -THANK YOU!

We are getting spoiled with all of these treats for Lucy. I would like to think that next year by this time we will be packing to go get her. I am sticking to that.

So John is making me go to the gym. It has been a while so I better go. We need to build up our endurance to walk up the Great Wall, right?

p.s. endless shrimp is a really bad idea

i mean really, who needs an endless amount of shrimp? okay, i thought i did. red lobster... darn you! how long will this decision haunt me? never again. thanks jeremy.

case of the mondays

yeah, today was tough. not really sure why, but i could have been anywhere but at work today. i broke out laughing thinking about any clip from office space. the kind of laugh where you turn off the phone and crack yourself up. tired, deliriously tired laughing. ahhh... too much.

fall into NY weekends

there are a few things that i love about this part of NY. we have all 4 seasons, sometimes they seem to last a bit longer than we would like, but nonetheless, each one is amazing. in this area, we have a lot of parks that are a real short distance from our home... tinker park, mendon ponds, 'canalside', and a little distance away is letchworth state park. this time is the best time to visit. colors and cool breezes, still waters and leaf piles.
we spent some time at mendon ponds this past weekend. it has been a few weeks since we have even seen each other, so the sunny weekend was what the dr ordered. so, we went for both days. there is this gorge-ish area called devil's bathtub. the pond down there is always still, and reflections are amazing. they need more benches down there, because once you reach the water, there are 10 other couples sitting in amazement. we walked along the pond till it got a little 'horror movie'-ish. they may have shot swamp thing down there. tonya freaked at the first snake she saw.
day two we brought our niece. ball of energy. i was tired by the time we got there. she is so outgoing, she makes a friend with her opening words. she found little kids whom she immediately warmed up to, and fortunately someone brought a puppy. i say that since they chased each other for 20 minutes and wore each other out.

on a less cheery note, i lost my grandpa this weekend. he passed away on sunday night. he was not sick, he was not slowing down. he was a full 96 years old. he was living with my parent for the past 2 years, just to have someone look over him. one of his sons, who gave part of his eulogy, was there with him at the time. he stated that grandpa passed just like he would have liked. he had just finished a big pasta meal, drank his last glass of wine, and that was it. he passed right there at the table, physically satisfied and satisfied with days. we buried him this afternoon, right next to his wife, who passed 2 years ago. i look forward to getting to see and know him better in the future, when i see him in perfect health, and we speak the same language. i will miss that guy.

alright, according to tonya, i am writing a short story. thats her hint that it is time to go to bed.

Penny the Pumpkin

Penny! SHE IS SO SWEET! She is comin' to visit from Cali in a month. We can't wait! We can't wait to see her parents too :)

Neil Diamond Day... and other mindless ramble

ALRIGHT, i am just going to say it. i like neil diamond. i do. there it is. i was laying there last night, and he came on the airwaves. thats when it hit me. so, i would like to proclaim that this friday is NEIL DIAMOND DAY. i would like to think that there is support for this out there. stop denying your feelings. you like him too. so, in honor of 'the man', we have to each sing a song of his on friday, no matter where we are at 11am. wherever in the world you are, in whatever time zone. 11am in your location.

i saw this picture and thought of you, kevin and tonya. i am not sure how close to tempe you are, but if you are anywhere near it, it would be cool if you could go to this exact same spot sometime. it was shot along the east-west oriented western canal. the details are here. think about it.

lately, we have been having really great sunsets and sunrises. this morning, it was gorgeous. sun shining through some dark clouds, beams shooting out. great stuff. love the clouds. i want to have the time to lay down outside and see some patterns. i want to be able to do that with lucy. i spy. tonya and i decided that we are going to be very outdoors-ie parents. not that we will roll in mud or anything, but lay in the lawn, throw leaves around and watch the night sky. did i just get sappy? hmm. i found some great shots of crazy cloud patterns. check them out.

ever get that feeling that it is about time for some time off? you know, when everything gets to you? yeah, got that.

tonya has been working like crazy. she is putting me to shame with the number of hours she is working day after day. she worked thru the weekend as well. feel like i should do something for her. buy her something. not sure what though. see, here is my predicament. our anniversary is in a couple of weeks, and i have to buy something for her, which i love to do. but, since she is our banker as well, there is no way to hide a purchase from her. she sees every dollar that goes out. i told her not to pay attention to the finances for a bit, but she will. it is our 9th anniversary. what does tradition say it should be? aluminum? can't remember. i am a very lucky man on many levels, but in this regard, she is not a materialistic girl. jewels do not do it for her. she likes practical stuff. and cards. loves cards. ask her about the year i forgot a card. 7 years ago. she will tell you in detail. what did you girls out there get for your anniversary? i am not so haughty as to ignore a suggestion here and there.

does everyone tear apart their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before biting into it? is that a rule?

i probably should do some work while i sit here.. at work.