Almost all my coworkers, my best friend, and I all celebrated the 4th together down town atop my best friend's roof. She lives in Beacon Hill while overlooks Boston's firework display. The were really cool despite the lack of wind to clear the smoke up. While we were waiting for the fireworks to start, we played poker. It was quite a feat because we were crowded around a coffee table in a small sized room. Regardless, it was a lot of fun (well, except I also lost $5).

On Tuesday I have 10 relatives coming to visit me. Including Honey And Papa, The Fosters and The Moore/Mohrs... I can't wait, it has been to long since I've seen them all. I worked extra last week so that I can take some time off while they are here (considering I am lacking PTO due to the Australia trip, and want to save what I still have for My Sister's baby... oh by the way, I haven't mentioned that because I wasn't suppose to but now I can! My sister is pregnant! YAY! She is due on Christmas Eve, which is when I was due as well...) Anyways more on that later, I'll probably have quiet a bit more pictures next week.

Labels: aubrey mohr, austin foster, bailey foster, brian and patrice mankowski, dave foster, kristen foster, papa and honey, su moore, sydney mohr

This is a long overdue update... A ton has happened in just the few months since I last wrote. I'll try to make this as chronological as possible:

Patti came up to visit in mid-October. She spent 9 days here, and for the first time she got to meet my other best friend who lives here. They got along great (of course they are practically the same person, so why wouldn't they)...

So right on to November... the first weekend of November Patrice, Brian and Megan all came up for the Boston College/Florida State game. We had a blast and we got to see FSU upset the #2 team in the country! Woohoo! I felt a little bad for the BC fans, but it still felt great over all... Patrice was absolutely miserable because it was in the low 40's and pouring rain and her feet got wet on the walk over the the stadium. Megan had a blast though!

For Thanksgiving I flew out for a week's vacation at my grandparent's lake house in Homer, Louisiana. Lots of my family also went which was awesome. I was feeling really homesick at this point. Even more exciting though, was Mike, one of my best friends while growing up, decided to fly out and spend the week there as well. His sister Tatiana also drove in from Tallahassee. It felt great to catch up with him. It's always fun to hang out with Honey and Papa as well.

On to a very sad and depressing thing: my friends lost their baby Wesley so I only had the title of god father for less than a day. The whole situation has really brought me down during the last few months, so to avoid thinking about it, that is all I'm going to say... at least for now. On the brighter side, I'm flying to Australia in May for their wedding! 9 days in Sydney and 4 days in Fiji. I'm extremely uberly excited about it!

Now, in December I flew home for the holidays. My PTO expires at the end of the year, so with the combination of holidays, I was there for almost 2 weeks. While I was there I got to see my god daughter Ashlyn! She makes me happier than anyone on the face of the planet! It is so hard not being there while she grows up. I spent 2 days with her though... Man, those were two very tiring days.

During the holidays my dad, my grandma and I decided to do a three way car swap. My grandma got my car, my dad got her car, and I got his car. It's been a major ordeal, but it is finally working out. I was tired of paying $400 a month in car payments when I was only driving 30 miles a month.

Dmitri was kind enough to drive my dad's car up to me, and my car down to my dad. Of course, he got a free trip to Boston out of it. He spent a little over a week here, and during that time we went skiing in New Hampshire with my neighbor's brother Doug and my co-worker/friend Josh.

Of course, not everything is wonderful... I have horrible elbow pains from too much computing (of course, I'm using the computer to write this, which probably isn't the best idea). I've been to a Dr. who says I need to see a specialist... I also talked to her about my knee pain that I've had for nearly 3 years now... It hurts a ton to run/ski/hike/walk/ride my bike, etc. It most likely is going to require some sort of cartilage manipulation surgery, but hopefully not.

For new years I quit soda again... I drank no Dr. Pepper all of 2005 and absolutely no soda for 2006, but then I rewarded my self with a Dr. Pepper to ring in the new years 2007... well, that was a bad way to start a new year... so after getting in the habit of drink way to much soda again, I am forcing myself to quit it... for good this time... I'm 32 days sober... go me!

Well, I think that covers everything, although extremely briefly... but I'm suppose to stay off the computer, so that's all I'm going to write.

Labels: allie evans, ashlyn pinner, best friend, boston, boston college, brian and patrice mankowski, dmitri sokgobenzon, florida state university, homer, josh kolash, megan folts, mike smith, mike treffehn, papa and honey, patti botero, tatiana treffehn, wedding

Work is still kicking ass... the new version is super cool, a few little things to do yet, but the main design is pretty much done. Been a busy month, I got to see my friend Alana Rush, who I haven't seen in over a year. She had been traveling the world doing cool stuff. When she finally moved back to the states, it just happen to be 45 minutes from me. I just found out another one of my high school friends moved to Florida, MA as well. Hopefully we'll get back in touch as well.

I've been really happy with my decision ever since I moved here. I love my job, my neighbors, the weather... pretty much everything about it. I am wickedly stoked about the weather... Fall starts in a few days, but it already feels like it... today was the first day this week to hit 70 degrees! The smell of the air brings back wonderful memories of days before Florida. I don't know how I made it nearly 9 years there... It completely and utterly sucks...

The only thing I miss about Florida is my friends and family... Nithin has already come to visit, he was the first, and he gets many friend points for that (note to all you other friends who haven't yet). Patrice, Brian and maybe Megan are all coming up in early November for the Boston College/FSU game. Patti plans on coming up sometime next month as well. YAY visitors!

When Nithin was here we did a lot of the touristy Boston stuff, so now I know what to suggest to people when they come up to visit me... I'll still use the next few as guinea pigs, but at least now if I have to work, I'll have something to suggest to people...

On the 1st of this month I helped my best friend move. I had to carry heavy furniture down 3 flights of narrow stairs, walk it 4 blocks, and then up another 4 flights of stairs... it took 3 of us 4 hours to get everything, and she claims to have already moved "the majority of it" before I started helping... I was sore for a week...

Not much else besides hanging with the neighbors, waiting for visitors, moving friends, and catching up with old friends has happened as of late, so not much else to blog about...

Labels: best friend, boston, boston college, brian and patrice mankowski, florida state university, megan folts, nithin sathyamoorthy, patti botero, work

WOOHOO! I was found out today that I am going to be the God Father of two of my closest friend's first born! What an honor! Super exciting, I can't wait until he/she is born! They told me right before work, and then I had to try and not be too excited and actually be productive! For those of you who don't know, I am the godfather of my cousin's daughter (love of my life... hardest part of moving to Boston was leaving her) as well.

Well, I haven't updated in forever, but that is because it has been some of the busiest weeks of my life... I finished moving to Boston, I am almost completely settled now... need a few more random things, but other than that, I am pretty much set up. In a gist: I absolutely love my apartment, my neighbors kick ass, and work is very enjoyable and is only about a mile from me. Jäger is loving life here too, so many new smells.

On the way up to Boston I made lots of stops. First, I stopped in Tampa for Patrice & Brian's wedding. This was absolutely awesome beyond words... Everything was perfect... short ceremony, long reception, good food, and most importantly great people. It was great to see all my family and friends. Some of the people there I hadn't seen in nearly 11 years! All the parents of my elementary school friends were there... It was great seeing them... and for the first time I was an adult as well... much different conversations take place between two adults, than between a child and an adult. It was very enjoyable. For the third wedding in a row, I caught the garter... still single ladies!

The next day I continued my drive to Boston. I stopped in Tallahassee to pick up a few things (at this point my car was packed to the brim with at least 2 tons of my belongings). I had dinner with Kyle, Shannon, Dmitri and Nithin. And then early the next morning I was off... I drove all the way to Philly, arriving after 1:00 AM... I stayed at my friend Mike Treffehn's apartment. He and I had fallen far out of touch in recent years, and I was really happy to catch up with him! (despite it being after 1:00 AM we chatted for nearly 2 hours).

I was off the next morning for the final leg of my drive. The drive through New York sucked, but Connecticut was beautiful! I need to do that drive in the Fall, it has to be gorgeous.

Once I finally arrived, I had to unload the 2 tons of stuff from my car... then I went Target shopping, filling my car again, having to unload it again. Then I went to Ikea, and had to unload another 3 tons form my car... then I went grocery shopping and had to unload even more... Once I was finally done, every muscle in my body ached.

Well, that is all I have time for, but in general, everything is going great! Can't wait for Boston tourist to seek refuge in my apartment!

Labels: allie evans, ashlyn pinner, boston, brian and patrice mankowski, dmitri sokgobenzon, dogs, kyle gower-winter, mike smith, mike treffehn, new york, nithin sathyamoorthy, philly, tampa, work

I have a horrid cold! I've lost my voice even! It has lasted nearly 5 days... maybe I should see a doctor. It's all Patrice's fault garrr.... Nevertheless, I hope she hasn't suffered this much. <cough, gag, sniffle>

Labels: brian and patrice mankowski, sick

Last week I helped Amanda move to Jacksonville... It wasn't something I was very happy about doing, but it had to be done... Her apartment seems really nice, big bedroom, mature roommate... Glad things are working out for her, just wish she didn't have to be so far away! This week has been really long without her to lean on...

Well... after helping her move, Dmitri and I drove to Gainesville. We dropped Vaska off at Dmitri's parent's house, and then headed off to see my second best friend Patti. Yes, my second best friend, it is a long story to explain why she doesn't quiet top the list (of course, she is a very close second), so I'll save that for another time... Anyway, when we met up with Patti, she, along with the entire University of Florida dentistry school, were attending a BBQ at a lake right outside Gainesville. They had quite a few events, including a raffle for mp3 players, dvd players, and even a flat screen TV! Well, I was only 10 tickets (out of thousands) away from being the big winner and walking away with that flat screen TV! I was completely bummed about being so close, yet so far from absolute glory... After the BBQ we headed over to her place where we watched some football and just hung out... Once all the good games were over, we went to what I think is the best restaurant in Gainesville, and then we went to see the movie "Open Season" (which I recommend if you like animated films)... My only regret about the whole weekend is that short time I was there... I got there late Saturday afternoon and had to leave first thing on Sunday... It would have been nice to see my other Gainesville friends, it has been forever... Of course, it'd probably be weird since it's been so long... <sigh> oh well, next trip I'll definitely have to at least give them a call...

On another note, I finally was able to get something better than a B on a Aggarwal test! Very proud of myself, of course it is just one test, and now there is a 14 page paper and an intense program due... but at least I was able to prove to myself that I can do it, it'll help motivate me for the final...

Lastly, but definitely not least, I was asked to be in my cousin Tara's wedding this December, which makes me feel real special, even if it is just ushering... I am going to be the best damned usher there ever was! I am also in my sister's wedding in July... man everyone's getting married!

Labels: amanda vichich, brian and patrice mankowski, dmitri sokgobenzon, dogs, family, football, gainesville, grad school, movie, patti botero, tara polly, vacation

Over Christmas break I went to Homer LA for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. It was great to see all my family again, and it was very relaxing after a never ending, extremely stressful semester. Two of my cousin's announced that they are getting married! I am really happy for both of them. It looks like my sister will also be getting married this year...

Anyways, I know it is pathetic, and I swore it would never happen to me, but I am addicted to Facebook... I use to hate the thing and thought it was stupid, but now enough of my old friends have joined to make it interesting... I have talked to many people that I haven't talked to in years. My first "girlfriend" is one of them that is finally on, Deanna Tobin. I put quotations around girlfriend because we "dated" from kindergarten to 6th grade (when I dumped her to date Maria Wilkins which lasted 3 days). I just found her on there yesterday so I haven't been able to contact her yet, but I think it will be very interesting to see what is up in her life. Kathy Zischka also now has joined and so I can finally communicate with her again after loosing contact for quite some time. I found my good friend from elementary school Brandon Bert a while back and found out that he lives only two hours from me (on the Gulf Coast) so we are going to try and meet up sometime. Anyways, these are just a few that I was excited about, there are many, many more that I am waiting to be "confirmed" as a friend on that will also be interesting to see where they are in life...

School this semester is going to be really really really really boring as I finish up my required courses. The only positive to this semester is that I only have class on Tuesday and Thursday, so I get four day weekends. Well, I guess another positive side is that my work schedule changed too and it is much better then the previous year which is hard to imagine possible.

Labels: brandon bert, brian and patrice mankowski, deanna tobin, facebook, family, grad school, homer, honey folts, kathy zischka, maria wilkins, papa folts, tara polly, work

I finished the 2.5 day project of cleaning and organizing the kitchen... once I was finally done with that I moved on to my laundry closet and the dining area... and now I finally started the living room... I can't decide where to put my fish tank though... There is more Akira (my sister's dog) hair in this place then there is on all three dogs my family owns combined... but I still want a dog myself... especially since my mom just got one... we'll see, once I get all moved in and hopefully find a roommate...

I can't decide which bedroom upstairs I want as my office, and which one I want as my bedroom... or if I even want to move up there at all... major dilemma here, and nobody to help me through it... I definitely need a TV ASAP because it is really lonely in this apartment without some background noise...

Labels: brian and patrice mankowski, dogs, lori folts

This weekend I did absolutely nothing other than play video games... it was UBER relaxing... I got off work early on Friday because I work 9-10 hour days most days, and I am not allowed work more then 40 hours a week... At 11:15 on that Friday my Uncle and I drove 15 miles from work into the backwood country Texas to a place called "The Salt Lick" where they have an open pit where they bbq and you can bring your own beer and get ALL the ribs, sausage, etc you want.... yummy... oh, and beans... It was very good... afterwards I drove home and played video games... slept... played video games... ate... played video games... in an endless cycle the whole weekend... on Monday I went to my Aunt and Uncle's friend's house... It was fun, and nice getting paid for having fun (PTO)... I won at the game of Sorry and then talked while people played in the pool... Then it was back to work... I worked 10 hours yesterday and 11 hours today... so I again can have a short Friday... I have had Jamba Juice almost (all but 2 nights in 2 weeks) every single day for dinner... I love it... B) I ride my bike there when I am not in a hurry/exahausted/or have to grocery shop... which has been once or twice a week... so like 3 times... but still, I bought a comfortable seat and a helmet and new breaks so that I don't die and am all excited about it... I have no scale here so I have no clue what I weigh... probably the same... I am eating really unhealthy compared to what I would like... I have fixed that in the last week or so, but "The Salt Lick" is one example where I didn't... This whole timezone thing is confusing... I missed the Apprentice finally because of it... and the Survivor finally... I usually am just getting home from work or jamba juice at 7, exactly when these good tv shows start here... ahhh....

Oh well, I have been really getting into this online poker that my Uncle plays, and I am actually starting to get the feel of the game... I miss my goddaughter... for those of you who don't know Ashlyn (My cousin's daughter) is my god daughter... I also miss Tat, Brian, and Patrice... oh and Akira... he he... Tat needs help buying a new computer and I need to help her but she goes to sleep at 8 my time and I don't get minutes until then... B) so I always forget to call her... oh well, it is 10:45 and I get up at 6:30 so I am going to bed...

Labels: ashlyn pinner, brian and patrice mankowski, diet, dogs, exercise, gaming, kelly folts, tv

Well, I am done with school... I aced my History test, so now I have at least two of four A's for sure, the only two classes I am unsure about are OpSys and Distributed Networks, both classes depend on the class curve... I will be pissed if they give me an A- or something... I calculated it and if they didn't have minuses here then I could graduate with a 3.5 rather than a 3.489599999ish... I'm going to see if they will drop some of my classes that doesn't count toward my major... one that I got a C in, and then that would throw me over the 3.5 GPA too... oh well...

I was really excited for about an hour after my exam... now I am already bored... About a week ago I was excited about seeing everyone for my birthday and chilling, and then I found out that everyone I've asked isn't going to be there for my birthday... I feel old... I got my first gray hair this week too... The reason I probably haven't gotten one before this is because my hair is falling out before it can turn gray... I am so close to graduation too, that makes me feel even older... I don't know what I am going to do with my life either... my life has just got so flipped upside down this year... I can't wait until this year is over...

I am a completely different person than I was this time last year... 35 lbs lighter, (most of that is probably hair weight loss... he he), 1% smarter, etc... At least I am still 100% sexy... even with my ugly "Paul Bunyan" beard that I have no reason to shave... I haven't kept up with anyone I use to hang out with, haven't had time I suppose, haven't had anything to talk to them about... My friend Megan and I have become close again at least... Patrice's boyfriend is really cool, I just kicked his ass in Scrabble...

There are the regulars in the lab (the place I work) that are really cool too, but I don't know if they just put up with me because they want to use the lab or not... and I don't know if I will work in the lab next semester either, depends on how my schedule works out... I don't even talk to my family much anymore either... nothing to talk about except for boring classes... glad they are over...

Me, Vin, Anton, Duane, Tom, and some guys that Vin knows are planning to make a website with puzzle like games to play... I didn't think it was going to actually happen because I thought I was the only one who has the motivation for something like this, but when they saw my half-made tetris game they all got excited and they actually have a meeting planned to start working on the design for the site and gather game ideas... I didn't even start this either, Vin did and invited me to take part in it... If this actually works out it might help me get into Guildhall like I want (the gaming school)...

Oh well, I am just going to play xbox the whole time I am there... Me, Sebastian, Joe, and Sean... whenever they are not in school/not in South Florida... I am going to my Grandma's for Christmas, I am excited... I'd prefer it if she came down to my house, but still, I am excited...

I fly home tomorrow afternoon... glad to get out of this place for a month... I need a time to relax and find out who the single Nikk is... I am a little scared about seeing Francisca again because last time, even though I swore to myself I could do it, I really couldn't... I got all defensive and to prevent from shutting down completely I tried to just push her even further away... She doesn't want me and it hurts... I want her as my friend so much, but it hurts too much... One minute I would be happy never to hear her name again, the next minute I would never be happier to talk to her... grrrrr times a million...

I finally got the pay check that they didn't give me 2 weeks ago... that was exciting... money money moneeeeyyy, moneyyyyyyyyy... speaking of the apprentice, they picked the dumb "barbie" girl as a finalist... if she wins I will never respect Trump as a corporation again... I just want to smack some sense into that stick with legs...

Oh well, enough talking to myself since I know I already bored everyone so much that they haven't been reading for the past 7 paragraphs... yeah... I'll update later once I have anything good to add... which I probably won't... I might have a party on the 18th, I know that the Benham Christmas party is that night, but it is the only night I have a chance of celebrating my birthday... D and Anton will be down in South Florida during that weekend so they can come too... I just don't know where I would have it...

Labels: best friend, brian and patrice mankowski, francisca amunategui, gaming, joe castelbuono, sean rush, sebastian amunategui, undergrad

I found out today that my dog Spirit has a tumor in her intestents.... She can't poop, so she can't eat... I thought I was ready for this to happen... I mean she is 13, almost 14... can't see, can't hear, and now can't poop...

There is an operation to remove it, but the vet said that it is risky... and that since she is so old she probably won't make it through it... so now we have to decide if we should put her to sleep or not and take the risk of her dying a more painful death if the surgery fails... It is just so hard to know that she is suffering... I have had her since I was 7... that is a long time... it is going to be weird living in a world without her... I want to put her to sleep though, I don't want to risk her feeling more pain than she already is... and even if we did teh operation, she probably would have something else go wrong with her body pretty soon...

My little sister is taking it the worse... Spirit has been in her life since she was 2... she went out and bought her a whole bunch of her favorite foods (bologna, peanut butter, etc.), but she can't even eat it... she gets to stay home tomorrow and be with her... I might not get to see her again, which is hard... I did say goodbye to her as if it were the last time I would see her though, because I knew it could happen any time...

She is the smartest and most freeminded dog that I ever have known... She will be missed...

Ok, semi-subject change... on another animial note... there is a cat that won't leave our back porch... it is one of the sweetest cat I have met (I don't usually like cats)... just wants to be loved... but we can't have it because my mom is allergic to them... and when she comes to visit she wouldn't be able to be in our house... So, for now it plays with our dog in the back yard and we feed it and water it because it was here for almost a week and we knew it was starving because it looked like it... it is black with white paws... and looks to be about a year old... we posted signs around the neighborhood but nobody has called yet... we are calling the pound or whatever tomorrow to see if anybody has called in a cat missing with that description...

Labels: brian and patrice mankowski, dogs, lori folts, megan folts