goals, etc…

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I was just brainstorming about life, the universe, etc… the other day and started building a list in my head of some things that I’d like to do this year. Some are new, some have been on the list for a while, and of course, there are still the BIG THREE goals that are priority … even though I am finally making progress on at least a couple of them…

The Standard Three Goals

  • get writing online and post new columns on a regular, weekly basis
  • continue losing weight until I get to a healthy number
  • continue paying off debt, with hopes of cutting mine & Sara’s collective debt by 50% by year end…And Some Other Random Stuff That I Think I’d Like to Try to Do This Year
    • spend more time swimming / snorkeling and get more comfortable in the water again
  • pick up the acoustic guitar and slowly get into playing again here and there
  • be caught up with my writing so I’m only writing new stuff each week and am no longer plagued with backlog after backlog…after backlog
  • collect a check, whether it be for just advertising or directly for writing, from somebody new with my freelancing
  • spend a weekend over at one of the Epcot resorts for the International Food & Wine Festival this fall
  • possibly also do either Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or the Candlelight Processional again, or both for Christmas
  • get through the wedding planning without going completely insane
  • keep the house a little cleaner (i.e. clean bathrooms, kitchen floors, etc… more than twice over the two years I’ve been here!)
  • go on a spur of the moment, weekend roadtrip
  • spend more time with Sara
  • see some live comedy, improv, or whatever that is actually funny
  • go to a concert – big or small
  • revisit past projects – either bringing parts of Just Laugh back online, or restart the comic, or maybe even start greeting cards withthe comic – just something creative that isn’t directly writing
  • move into a new house this fall that is a step or two up from where we are now, yet still in our price range
  • help get Sara ready for nursing school, and get our finances in order so that we’re not pulling hair out when her hours cut back
  • help encourage Sara to lose weight along with me
  • spend the month of December doing Christmas stuff (cookies, decorations, etc… – last year didn’t seem to happen because we were so busy)Just some food for thought…

Bright House sucks…

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…and Verizon isn’t much better.

We came home Monday night to the worst cable & internet services we’ve had to date. Internet access is down almost daily … it’s actually been down since yesterday and I’m only able to post tonight because my neighbor finally turned back on their unprotected wi-fi point. Also, during Tuesday’s American Idol broadcast, our Tivo decided that it didn’t want to record anymore because it thought that no recordings was the same thing as three recordings and refused to record until we deleted something that didn’t exist.

To make matters worse, a Verizon FiOS rep finally came back today, but apparently nobody ever followed up on the crack in the wall issue so he couldn’t do anything until someone talks to our HOA. I’ve finally got the contact info for a supervisor with their install group, but I still have a bad feeling that when they call to ask the HOA if they can go ahead, they’re going to be told no anyways.

And I don’t have a cell phone right now! My Sprint phone died on vacation and now won’t turn on anymore, and it really sucks not having any way for Sara to get ahold of me or text me during the day. We tried to go get me a Verizon phone Tuesday night, but the manager working there first misquoted the prices and then refused to honor them when we went to make the purchase, so I left mad and I’ve been without a cell phone since. Well, technically I finally got my cell for work yesterday and have been using that a little because the house phone is dead with no Internet access, but I really don’t want to abuse that right off the bat.

To top it all off, I’ve still got lots of vacation photos to post and haven’t been able to between busy schedules and crappy Internet. I’ll try to throw up a few more tonight from my laptop as long as the wi-fi holds out. It just sucks being so reliant on something and then suddenly losing it – it’s how I communicate, track my diet, research for my columns, and as of late how we’ve been planning the wedding, too. Grrrr…

And they both lived happily ever after…

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This is probably one of the most important and exciting blog posts that I’ve ever gotten to make – Sara and I are getting married!!!

…deep breath…

This weekend we’re on vacation at Walt Disney World to celebrate being together over the last year, and that just seemed like the perfect place to pop “the question.” Last night we went over to Epcot to have dinner and watch fireworks after we got here, which also happened to be where we had our 2nd date (April 22, 2006!) and where I absolutely fell in love with this girl. As we left the park at the end of the night, I suggested that we stop for a picture in front of Spaceship Earth (the big ball at the heart of Epcot) and found a cast member to photograph what I was about to do. It was then that I got down on one knee and asked the woman of my dreams to make me the happiest man at the Happiest Place on Earth…

Needless to say, she said yes!

So in no uncertain terms, life is good. I’m at Disney World, I’m engaged to a woman whose smile makes me smile, and all is right with the world. As good with words as I may be, the pictures below probably tell it better than I can at this point. Life is very, very good…

Anybody want a free month of NetFlix?

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Just got a promotional e-mail to share with my “friends and family” for a free month of NetFlix and wanted to pass it along to anyone who’s been thinking about signing up because Sara and I just absolutely love it! We can put off watching something for weeks without worrying about late fees, or watch two or three movies over the course of a week. Plus, it’s definitely nice to know that Blockbuster isn’t gouging us for $4+ a pop for rentals anymore!

http://www.netflix.com/Default?mqso=80012816

I don’t even think I get anything out of anyone signing up, but give it a try and if nothing else, I’m sure you can always cancel at the end of the free month. Their trial period is usually two weeks, so if you’ve been thinking about it, now’s the time…

progress at last!!!

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Tonight I weighed in under 220 for the first time in months!

219.0 to be exact, and boy am I just thrilled. I’ve been really focusing on calorie counting and controlling myself over the past week, after really letting things get out of hand since I re-started by diet for the 867th time back in March. It kinda sucks to think that last fall I was “kinda making progress” and fighting with the 210-mark, and now I’m just struggling to make up those last ten pounds of the nearly twenty that I packed back on in the cold winter months that Florida had last year!

This next week will be a challenge, as our 1-year vacation over at Disney starts Thursday night and it’ll be a lot harder to control portions and count calories over there, but I think as long as I don’t go crazy and get right back on track the following week, I should be ok. I figure with all of the walking around that we’ll do, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to at least maintain my current weight, if not lose anything. Ironically, the last time that we took a big trip over there was when I got officially bucked from my then-current diet plan and proceeded to gain everything back, so as long as I learn from my mistakes and don’t do that, I should be fine.

my awesome, geeky girlfriend

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Last night Sara and I were out walking late at night and we had brought our beach towels with us because the plan was to stop by the hot tub on the way back. Halfway through the walk, we’re staring up at the stars as we walk and she says, “You know what this reminds me of? Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – because you shouldn’t go anywhere without your towel!”

How many other girls would be able to make a reference like that?!