Yes, it's been awhile

I know I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't want to post a repeat of what Oksana says in her blog because those who read this blog, typically read that one. It doesn't matter how fast I think I can get here and post something, if I check hers she's already posted it...with pictures. So, I haven't been writing at all. However, I will post today and some will slightly repeat hers and I'll put is some original content.

We've gone geocaching for the past 3 days. We are taking a break tonight so we can watch some brainless tv instead. There are so many cache's in Houston, I don't think we could get them all, especially since new ones are popping up everyday. But, we are enjoying finding new places. There are a bunch of small parks in this city you just would never know about. I have to say (and this is sad) I'm kinda of down about not getting to do even one tonight. I know, very sad. But some time away from it would probably be better for Oksana and my relationship :-P

Why is it that service people can't or won't be accurate on times? If they tell you they'll be there between 10 am and 2 pm, why can't they be? If you had a 4 hour leeway about when you were to be somewhere, don't you think you could do it?

On the baby front, we have an updated legal document from the lawyer for her and the donor to sign that basically says that his 'donation' is nothing more than that and it does not give him any rights whatsoever. So, we just need to okay the draft and have them prepare the "official" one for Oksana and the donor to sign.

Here's an interesting news story... They think Mona Lisa was pregnant or had just given birth when she sat for Leonardo Divinci. Now, while this is interesting, I wonder at the budget for this research. I bet it was a very significant amount. Now, again, while interesting, why does this matter? Maybe it was Leonardo's ????? The story can be found here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MONA_LISA?SITE=LYCOS&SECTION=home&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Have you ever watched any of the Trunk Monkey commercials? This is one of my favorites (Oksana, maybe we should get this feature before having a kid) ...
http://media.trunkmonkey.com/video/suburban/Monkey5-high.mov

This one is also very cool, actually it's funnier than the pediatric one, but not as relevant...
http://www.trunkmonkey.com/content/view/40/51/

On vacation!!

It's been quite a week. It just seems like something is breaking everyday. Today the lawnmower is dead and of course we need to do the lawn today so that the evil homeowners association doesn't send me a nasty letter. Oh well, our lawnmower won't get fixed today because the easy fixes aren't working (gas, oil, new air filter, spark plug). We'll try to borrow our neighbors mower tonight so we can get the front yard done. The back yard will just have to become a jungle while we are away.

We are on vacation for one week starting tomorrow morning!!! The unfortunate part is that we have to leave for the airport at 5:30am. Maine is not a popular flight destination so it is a lengthy affair to get there so of course our flight leaves at 7:50 am and with the drive time and extra security time we have to get there way earlier than I want to be up. Oh well, at least we can sleep in the rest of the week.

Tonight is going to be extremely hectic getting everything done that needs to be done before we leave. It all needs to be done tonight because I am not getting up any earlier tomorrow morning.

Ah, but the rest of the week will be marvelous :-)

Ready for vacation!

It's been a very busy week. You would have thought with last weekend being a long holiday weekend I would have gotten completely rested and started this week refreshed. But, alas, I was more tired after the weekend than before. Saturday was pretty lazy and was a good start to the weekend. Sunday we went to my sister's for the day to see my brother and sister-in-law who had come into town as well as play with the niece and nephew. It was a really fun day, but tiring. Monday we went to a friends house for a barbecue. There was 6 of us total and it was really fun, but again not relaxing. After leaving the friends house, the plan was to go home and goof off (me) and meet a friend for coffee (Oksana). That was great until 7:45 when Oksana called because she blew out a tire. So, I went to meet her and stay with her until roadside assistance could get to her. She called a guy friend to help us attempt to change the tire by ourselves and we did attempt it. But, something was keeping the tire from coming off so we could put on the donut. We tried everything we could think of with what tools we had, but no budging. So we had to wait the 90 minutes it took roadside assistance to get there. When he got there he took out a big metal pipe and knocked the tire off. Evidently brake dust can get coated into the tire and superglue it. Who knew.

I got the comments back from my committee and I've been working on updating the dissertation proposal accordingly. I am trying to get this done before leaving on vacation Saturday morning. It would be nice to have this off my plate while I'm away. At least I won't feel the need to work on school while I'm away if I get this completed. I am still waiting on one of the organizations to send me the official permission letter on company letterhead that has to accompany my proposal.

Last night Oksana made tres leches for a gathering we are going to tonight. I am really wanting to dive into it! It looks fabulous. Yummy!

Oh well, I should get back to work (or don't tell my boss - back to my dissertation) :-)

It's finally September

Well, it's finally September. Maybe now the temperatures will start going down a bit. Our windows/AC unit are pretty bad so the coolest it can keep the house in the afternoon is around 84 degrees and because my home office is at the end of the house, it is around 87 degrees. Way to hot to work effectively.

I *really* wanted to take the day off from work and focus on my dissertation. Not that I should be off today because I was out of the office in Oklahoma last Thursday and Friday and I'll be on vacation the week of the 11th. I think it's because I need a vacation that I don't want to work. Plus, I just got all the feedback back from my dissertation committee and I really want to get the edits fixed so that I can move onto the next step.

Work was actually pretty good this morning. I had a client issue dumped on me Wednesday night that my partner had been working on for almost 2 weeks. I had to go out to the client site today and I was pretty worried about figuring it out while there especially since they were losing patience. Well, I figured the problem out and had it fixed within 15 minutes of being there. Since I was already there, they had me do almost 2 hours worth of other work that was all billable. So, they are pleased with me. While I was there, a guy from another company liked what I was doing at that client and wants me to go to his office and potentially do some work there. So, my business partner should be happy with me today as well. It's a nice start to a long weekend.