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

I officially have a cunephew (cousin nephew). My cousin April just had her second child this last week! He is HUGE! 9.3 lbs, 22 inches... He is almost as big as his 4 year old sister (my god daughter, Ashlyn). Ashlyn has hypothyroidism, which causes her to grow slowly, so slowly in fact that she is only in the third percentile for height at her age. I just hope she gets tall enough so I can take her on roller coasters someday.

I have a few big companies, (that I will mention later once I'm either given an offer, or shot down) that are showing interest at me. One of them is my dream company for many reasons, but on top of that, it has been rated the best place to work for in the entire world. I've made it to the second stage of interviews and I am hoping to make it all the way. The whole idea of working for them is making me nervous, excited, confident, giddy, and ecstatic (to name a few). I know I am a perfect fit for a job, now I just have to convince them of it

My sister is moving into the townhouse next year, and it looks like she may have found two roommates to rent out the other rooms. This is definitely a good thing considering I am part owner of the place. Now I don't have to worry about loosing tons of money just because she couldn't find roommates. I spent all last night scrubbing every nook and cranny of the place! To get all the dog hair out, I had to empty my vacuum 5 times... Vaska sheds like crazy, but I love him none-the-less... Jäger on the other hand doesn't shed much. The problem with him is, despite knowing better, he has been getting into the trash, eating food of the counter, etc... REALLY frustrating, and I can't figure out how to get him to stop.

Labels: april pinner, ashlyn pinner, dogs, family, grant pinner, megan folts, work

This semester is going to be hectic, but exciting at the same time. I am excited about teaching Computer Literacy II recitation, looking for a job, and most importantly graduation. It also looks like I am going to be creating the website for Alpha Gamma Delta sorority... There sure is a lot on my plate right now, but as I mentioned, I am excited.

My sister came down with mononucleosis and is thinking about withdrawing from this semester. I've been taking care of her for the last few days. I've been sleeping on the sofa so that she could sleep on my memory-foam-super-ultra-comfortable-600-thread-count-sheet-luxury bed.

Last week I found and saved two stray dogs. A 100 pound golden retriever and an 80 pound black lab. They haven't found the owners last time I checked, but hopefully they will soon. I wanted to keep them, but since I already have two dogs, and these two were gigantic, I figured that wouldn't work out too well in my small apartment.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention how great of a resource monster.com is. I put my resume up there earlier this week and I have already gotten 3 calls, and 4 emails. Looks like I'll have a lot of choices for the future. One of the jobs is in Colorado Springs, which is really exciting because then I'll be near the ski slopes... I still don't know where I'll end up, but hopefully somewhere near the mountains. Well, monster.com is just full of head hunters that spam your email, and call you at all times of the day... don't bother wasting your time there... goto websites individually

Labels: dogs, family, grad school, megan folts, work

Well, Thanksgiving was very much appreciated... If it weren't for such a great holiday then I wouldn't have been able to get a break from school and work... The week prior I slept very little in order to finish all my huge school projects early, so that I could use the entire Thanksgiving week for relaxation. I headed down south to my parent's house last Friday, and didn't come home until this past Sunday. On the way down my sister Megan and I stopped in G-ville and had dinner at Friday's for Patti's 24th birthday. Unfortunately we got there right during rush hour so we had to wait nearly an hour before Patti made it there. I was glad to see her despite how little time we had!

On Saturday I decided I was going to camp out for a Wii since my previous attempts of pre-ordering it failed. I headed out at around 7:00 PM thinking 5 hours before it was sold would be plenty... I had heard every Walmart would have around 50 Wii's... Well, that was before they sold them to their employees first... I went to both the closest Walmarts and I was told that the line was already longer then the magical number of Wii's being sold... Depressed, I headed home and decided that I would try good old Amazon.com instead... Not knowing when they were going to start selling them, (I knew it was going to be between 3:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST) I decided I would wake up every hour on the hour and start pushing the refresh button... By 10:00 AM I was pretty drained and loosing hope... Still not for sale... Finally, at 11:00 AM, I thought I would try one last time before heading out to the Hard Rock Seminole Casino and the Sawgrass Mall with mom and Grandma. Sitting there pressing F5 while casually talking to my mom, I glance over at the monitor and I see "Buy with One-Click Ordering" appear on the page! YAY! I got one, they sold out in less than a minute and I was one of the people to get one! Go me!

The Wii arrived on Tuesday via UPS overnight... I unpack it, set it up, put Wii Sports in... "Unable to read disc..." I get an error... after browsing Nintendo's website I find their customer service number... They are sending me a new one, but it sucked because I had no game to play on my brand new system... I ended up renting one from Blockbusters, but I wanted to bowl, or play tennis... After getting bored of the game I rented, I headed over to Gamestop, and mentioned that I got the Wii and was waiting for Zelda to be shipped to me... They then told me that some guy sold them his used copy of it (4 days after getting it!)... Of course I went ahead and bought it for $10 less then it cost brand new... I was the first person (at least at their store, but probably anywhere) to get a used Wii game... Pretty cool...

On Thanksgiving we were suppose to goto Epcot and eat at the German-all-you-can-eat buffet... Well, when we called to make reservations, we found out that they were completely booked... So, last minute, we had to change plans and cook a Thanksgiving feast... My dad and I headed up to Melbourne to pick up my Grandma (who was there the day before our plans changed, but headed home thinking she was going to meet us in Orlando)... At first I was disappointed because I was really excited about the German food, but in the end (after sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, peas, turkey, cranberries, 2 apple pies, and 2 pecan pies) it all turned out well...

Now it is back to school where, despite being ahead of the game before I left, I am right back in the "ahhhhhhh! Grad School" mode, trying hard to stay ahead... I just have to keep telling myself "3 weeks left!"... but then of course I think about the 14 page paper, the programs, and the bookwork I have yet to finish... Oh well, we'll see what happens...

Labels: family, gaming, grad school, grandma, lori folts, megan folts, patrick folts, patti botero, vacation, wii

My friend Megan and I weren't sure if we were up to the long drive to my Grandparent's lake house (I wasn't because I had had 9 hours of sleep in the 3 days before) but finally we decided it would be good to get our minds off things... so we both hopped in our cars and headed there... right before leaving I got my car its first oil change, which turns out to cost me extra because it is difficult to do... so that cost me $45 because I didn't know of any cheap places to get it done... hopefully in the future it will be cheaper... anyways... About 200 miles into my trip as I approached Dallas the sky turned pitch black, and it was noon... The clouds were nearly touching the ground and the winds were blowing hard... the horizon had a green tint and it began to hail... I was freaking out because I was still 20 minutes from Dallas and I had to go about 10 miles before I found a good place to stop to let it pass... I swear a tornado had to have passed within a mile because that was some sort of storm... that is exactly what you see when you see it on the weather channel... Luckily it only lasted like 20 minutes until it cleared up enough for me to get out on the road... so I jumped in my car and started to drive... the highway was flooded after the quick storm and I was in a construction area and the construction dust had combined with the water, making it white... yeah, that was scary...

Once I finally got there I greeted everyone and then played basketball... I pitched one over my head, without looking, all the way across the court, and made it! That shot almost let me win in horse... but, when I was about to win, Megan pulled up and I was sweaty and covered in dirt so I gave her a big hug... aren't I nice... When she got there we ate dinner and then I think we went kayaking for the first of many times during the weekend... Then we just chilled and talked about stuff that was on our minds... the next morning I woke up early, Papa and I went outside and talked while he had his morning smoke... he is hilarious... by 6:30 I was bored so I went to see if Megan looked like she was in a deep sleep and she did, so I stayed talking to my papa for another 30 minutes and then checked on her again, this time she had an angry look in her face and her hand was over her eyes so I knew she wasn't sleeping soundly (the sun was beaming through the window straight into her eyes)... I went inside and tickled her arm pit to wake her up... We just chilled most the morning and went kayaking, swimming in the middle of the lake and ate... then sometime in the afternoon we both passed out in each others arms... I don't know if it was her breathing that calmed me, but for some reason I was able to relax and get things out of my mind and sleep for a much needed hour...

Once we awoke, the Fourth of July celebration started (yes it was the 2nd, but that is when they start on the lake) with a parade of all the boats decked out in red white and blue... this happens as the sun sets and once a full circle around the lake is complete, the boats gather by the dam and watch a fireworks display...

The next morning was much like the first, just chilling... We tried to take a nap on the hammock but just ended up talking for 2 or 3 hours... in the afternoon we went inner tubing, but as soon as Megan got on the boat ran out of gas, so I didn't get a turn and her's was a short one... after a jet ski towed our boat back to the dock we talked to the neighbors (the Browns who are the parents of my Dad's childhood best friend) until dinner was ready... on the way to dinner Megan pushed me into the lake where it was only 2 feet deep so she had to run like crazy before I got out and tried to drown her... after dinner it was time for more fireworks! We were all out on the dock and my uncle tried to push me in but barely missed so then, when he was trying to push Tina in, I ran up behind him and pushed him instead... Everyone was so happy I did because they love picking on him, mainly because he is constantly picking on them...

The next day Megan had to leave really early in the morning because she worked at 6:30 AM on the 5th... I decided to stay though, and played scrabble with my sister, watched karate kid, and stayed in my pjs all day even to watch the fireworks... (I knew I couldn't go down by the lake or my uncle would have pushed me in) After the fireworks, we all played Scategories, which was really hard because we had around 9 people playing so it was hard to be creative enough to get any points...

At 4:45 the next morning I headed back to Austin with my sister so that I could make it back in time for my appointment where I got my wart removed... hopefully it won't grow back, I got it removed before and it did, but this time they cut it off, then burned it, so it didn't bleed, and also so it might destroy it at the root... oh well, we'll see...

Labels: best friend, family, homer, honey folts, kelly folts, megan folts, papa folts

I highly recommend everyone goes and sees Mr. And Mrs. Smith... It is hilarious and Angelina Jolie is gorgeous... Batman Begins is also a great movie... Anyways, my younger sister is in town for 12 days... I have been really busy working 10 hour days so that I don't have to use my Paid Time Off this Friday to head out to Homer, LA where my Grandparents built a lake house... I am really excited, I get to see my best friend Megan (best friends since 9th grade) because she is driving down there from Atlanta... I don't think I am going to have time to finish the Harry Potter series in the next 15 days 16 hours... to busy and I am falling behind because I can't read when I have a lot on my mind... which I do...

Next weekend I am setting up somebody's computer and that will earn me some extra cash... As I probably mentioned, my sister and I are trying to go to Europe this Winter and I have to pay for a lot of her until she can pay me back, so I have to make as much as possible... I might change my mind and just end up buying skis and going to Colorado, but that doesn't sound as fun... It has been forever since I was in Europe and it is my favorite place to be... We'd stay at a youth hostel in Munich and take a train everyday to the Alps and go skiing... Then, on Christmas Eve we would take the train up to Frankfurt area and see the Treffehns for Christmas... Both Tatiana and Mike are going to be there visiting too... I haven't seen Mike in a million years and he use to be my best friend... He also might come and visit me and his sister in Tallahassee this Fall...

I am excited about school starting... I hope I get to work in the Lab still because I get to be social and the regulars there are fun to talk to... and the money is nice as well...

I am really excited about the sofas I am getting from Adriana... They are sooooooooooo awesome... I've spent a lot of nights passed out cold on them... and a lot of days sunken deep between their cushions watching movies... good times good times... uber comfortable...

Labels: adriana infante, best friend, harry potter, honey folts, megan folts, mike treffehn, munich, papa folts, tallahassee, tatiana treffehn, vacation

Well, I had the weirdest dream last night... it was a Kindergarten-9th grade reunion... everyone from that time in my life was there... yet, not a single person from 10th grade on... which was really weird... I actually had two girls get in a fist fight over me... who? my first girlfriend Deanna Tobin who I dated from Kindergarten all the way to the middle of 6th grade (I know this doesn't really count, but she was my first kiss) anyways, the other girl was Kathy Zischka... my first love... I dated her in the middle of 9th grade in Germany... Anyways... I know for sure it was a dream because they both flirted constantly with me and Kathy even started to cry... when I asked her why it was because I had left her, but now she was engaged to some guy, despite the fact that she really loved me... he he... shut up you guys, I know what you are thinking, I know I am pathetic...

My point is, having the dream made me regret not keeping in touch with old friends... luckily I found out that Mike Treffehn, my best friend from Germany, is trying to visit me in Tallahassee during the Fall... but yeah... I started writing to all my old friends in Germany, and I also went on Facebook and added a whole bunch of people from my elementary school... I also missed Germany itself, so I spent the day trying to plan the trip my younger sister insists we are taking this winter... but prices are WAY to high... which frustrates me... even for somebody as rich as I am... if I knew if I had the lab monitoring job next semester, then I would know more if I could afford it... otherwise with just the TA job I will be making just enough to pay morgage (I am joining ownership of the townhouse with my parents... at least $375/month), car ($400/month), health/car insurance (around $200/month)... food ($150/month) and the books/random expensive ($100/month) If I had that security of that second job it would make my life a lot more relaxed and fun so I could blow money on a awesome ski trip to Europe... And maybe even see some of my old friend from Germany...

I miss Europe... I am thinking about moving there after grad school... Freescale (the place I work now) has a branch there and since I might be able to keep my job, and could do it from anywhere... I think there would be great... America sucks he he... well, at least Florida and Texas... too damn hot... Florida is even worse though... even though it is averaging 98 here this week, the humidity is non-existent... I also found out today that Sebastian's post-cancer problems are coming back... right when he is moving into the dorms no less... which is pretty scary because, if I know him, (which I probably do as much as anyone does), he is not going to be motivated to take his medicines daily... or go see the doctor... etc... another thing that frustrates me...

I have been trying to get a hold of my god daughter Ashlyn since I got here, and every time I call they don't answer, so finally they call me and I missed it because I was busy, but Ashlyn left me a message and it made me so happy that I am not going to delete it all summer so even though I can never actually talk to her, at least I can hear her and know that she hasn't forgotten me... 4 months is a long time when you are her age...

Labels: ashlyn pinner, deanna tobin, facebook, freescale, germany, kathy zischka, megan folts, mike treffehn, sebastian amunategui, tallahassee, work

Well, after driving 1500ish miles to Minnesota I am now in Fort Lauderdale visiting my parents... It is pretty cool because now I am a guest in their house and they can't make me clean it... they are going to have a hard time getting use to that... but so far pulling the "I am a guest" card worked every time... It isn't like they can stop giving me money, because they don't anymore... ahhh... true relaxation... I wish Francisca was down so we could chill... I didn't really get to spend that much time with her with all the graduation things going on... Anyways... My graduation was exciting... I felt accomplished walking across the stage (the pictures they took to try and get money from you turned out really really good too so my parents bought some) Having all the people there made it much more fun... I was really happy I got to see Francisca, her family, Normi and the Rush's... my family was exciting to see too... B) I ate way to much in the last two weeks... man that cheese was good...

After the reception we went to the Nug and chilled there until we finally decided to go to Fridays (we being me) we went there and had a ball... I forgot to get points though so I was mad, but then Astrid said she could get them later because her hotel was near Fridays... YAY... 2750 points... go free food!!! anyways, after dinner Francisca and Normi left... B( and then Grandma, Astrid, Ken, Sean, Austin, Megan and I went to attempt to bowl, but the Crenshaw lanes on campus was closed for reconstruction and the other bowling alley had a 45 minute wait for a lane, then we even tried to go to Snookers to play pool but it was so fucking smokey that I didn't want to... so we went home and went to bed so that I could wake up and go to Minnesota the following morning...

On the way to Minnesota we stopped at two casino's... we lost all our money twice... well, "our" money being grandma's money... I was up for a while both times... but you get addicted and they take your money back slowly... We made it all the way to Minnesota in 2 days... we drove 900 miles the first day and the rest the second... Tatiana did the most driving while Grandma didn't drive an inch (literally) because she slept the whole way between casinos... Tat wanted to though, I wasn't going to complain... we took turns though and when she drove I slept, and visa versa...

The day I got there grandma and I went to the liquor store and got some booze and that night we sat around drinking and talking about people and things... That was a riot... when she went to bed I watched the last samurai and some bonus features... long movie... but good... the next morning we woke up and went to some art thing she was suppose to go to... that lasted only like 10 minutes because there weren't enough seats for her... so then we went to Walmart where I bought shirts, socks, belt... and a watch... and grandma bought a printer... We went home and we tried to set up the computer and it turned out her monitor was crap... so we had to go out again and buy a monitor... we stopped at this yummy place and ate and then went to some outdoors store because it is famous... then we went to Walmart but they only had one monitor so we went to target, but they had none so we went back to Walmart to buy the one they had because there were no other stores anywhere near by... so we got home and took a nap because we were tired from all the activity... then I woke up and set up her computer... then I went and picked up some A&W rootbeer floats and hot dogs from the root beer stand... YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY I love that stuff... then grandma went to bed and I watched TV until I too fell asleep... we woke up and we went to the airport so I could catch my flight...

I finished deception point (the Dan Brown book) on the first leg of the flight from the Twin Cities to Atlanta and slept most the way from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale... it was pouring in Ft. Lauderdale so the plane had to circle forever... finally landing, my ride was late because of the rain so I had to wait... it took us nearly an hour to get home also do to the weather...

I got home and watched about 3 hours of TV until Normi asked me if I wanted to go to starbucks, we went there and spent a good hour and a half talking about cool things because we are cool people... I tried to get her to tell me things that I knew she couldn't but she wouldn't which makes me wonder if there are things she shouldn't tell me... if that makes sense... oh well... I am a loooooooooooooser...

Oh well, now I need to pretend to be tired and try to go to sleep, but I know it isn't going to happen... I have relaxed so much that it let things get on my mind and that makes me not be able to sleep... so yeah... been up since 6:00, we'll see how long I take to fall asleep...

Labels: adriana infante, bowling, francisca amunategui, grandma, megan folts, normi cadavieco, rush family, sebastian amunategui, tatiana treffehn

Well, I went Orlando this weekend, it was uberly fun... I stayed at Joes on Friday and Saturday night... Friday night we went to ESPN Club on Disney Boardwalk... it was pretty expensive, but I still had fun... we had to spread out onto 4 tables since there were so many of us... Joe, his girlfriend, his roommate, and I went early to put our name on the list only to find out that there was no list so we waited for an hour until the other people finally showed up (after major drama because Shanon got lost on her way and was mad)... Overall though, it went well... Joe had one of every speciality drink they made and then he got a pretty lame birthday cake (it was free for birthday people)... it was really nasty so his other roommate ordered a HUGE ice cream Sunday that came in a football trophy bowl... and so we all chipped in a dollar (all 18 of us) so that she didn't have to pay for it... and we had 18 spoons and were all eating it (it had strawberries, oreoes, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, cherries... etc... you name it, it was probably on it... oh and peanut butter... I got there early Friday because Joe wanted me to meet his girlfriend... then we went to Blockbuster and bought ourselves xbox games...

Saturday I went to Epcot first thing in the morning, but for the first time ever my parents didn't leave South Florida before 5 AM... they actually left at 7 so I was there an hour before them... so I had to find my way away from Epcot and went to a place closer to where they were so I could meet up with them... We parked one of our cars at Publix and drove together once they finally arrived... So once we finally got there we ate... first thing once we got into the park... some pastry place, pretty good... then we went through the educational rides for a while... Megan and I got a fastpass to the ones with long lines... when we finally were suppose to go on those rides we split up from my parents... of course, knowing my luck (it has happened on every ride I have been on since I was 12 it seems like, all three of them stopped in the middle of the ride... and say they are experiencing difficulties... when I went to Islands of Adventure a while back every ride stopped for some reason or another... the Dragon ride, twice... once they made Francisca and I get off because she had no sandals on, the other time who knows what happened... also the Spider man ride broke for like 20 minutes when I was inches from getting on it... This all started at Oktoberfest the year that the ride crashed killing 6 people... it broke down when I was in line to ride it... it didn't open until the next day (the day it crashed)... lucky I wasn't there the next day... that same year I went on a ride there called the "Frisbee" it spun like one of those gravity machines that throws you against the wall, and it rocked at the same time (like one of those big ships that go upside down and sit there)... that was probably the worst (as in the best) I have ever been on... buutttttttttttt... the girl two seats from me vomited... ALL over everyone next to her... luckily we were spinning the opposite direction, otherwise I would have had it in my mouth... like almost everyone else... luckily it didn't cause a chain reaction because then I would have gotten it too... poor girl... more importantly poor people... Oh well... back to the story... ok, so... once we finally got through with those rides we met my parents in Germany for dinner/lunch... it was about 3:30 at the time... it was a buffet they had all the German goodness... Schnitzel, Kartofflen (Potatoes), Wurst, Semmel mit Kase und Fleisch (bread roll with cheese and meat), Sharf Senf, Curry Ketchup... und am bestem die Apfel Strudel mit Vanilla Sosse... it was really really really really good... ALSO they had freshly made Spetzi (for those of you who don't know, which is probably most if not all, Spetzi is a drink in Germany that is made from mixing Coke and citrus drinks... yummy goodness) I loved it... so did my family... I only spoke German for the whole 3.5 hours we spent there... I told the waitress that it was my Dad's birthday so when the band came on they announced it and sang happy birthday to him in German... everyone was swaying their Steins around singing along... or mumbling that is... so finally when we were done we went on to the other countries in a rush because it was raining and cold... we completely skipped France because it isn't worth our time... he he... we watched some video about Canada though, but that is because we happened to walk by when it was starting...

So when I got back to Joe's, the party was about to start... the cops broke up the party... that was another exciting yet scary thing that happened... that happened at 1:00 I think because I remember Joe complaining after he was excited about being the first party out of his friends to be broken up...

The next morning I was woken up by my sister at 11 something because she wanted me to go to Melbourne (my Grandma's house) and watch the Vikings loose... I got up and left Joes and picked up Patti went... We had fun in the car ride catching up... There was a ton of food at my Grandma's house too which made it worth while... Once the game was over we drove back and then I watched her play video games for about an hour and then Eric, she and I went bowling because it was Sunday night and they had a special 1.50 per game and 1.50 for shoes... we played 3 games we all won one... the last game the score was pretty low because all of our arms were tired but it was REALLY close 84 (Me), 85 (Patti) and 86 (Eric)... I won the second game with a 120... my first game sucked because I was using a 12 lb ball rather than the 15... after bowling we went to walmart and then we went back to her house and I passed out... The next morning I woke up and drove home in 3 hours and 10 minutes... I love cop radars and loud music... When I got home I played video games like usual but then at 8:00, since it was cold, I ran around the block... I was going to do the same today but it is below 30 tonight and that is too cold for any clothing I have... I don't want to get sick again...

Today was my first meeting for my TA job... It seems like it is going to be easy so I am excited... I checked out my office... not bad... not particularly good either though... but now I have access to a fridge and microwave so I can eat on campus... I also got everything worked out pay wise and filled out my time cards for the first two weeks even though I didn't work... I found out that I actually don't start until next Thursday, and then I only work 2 hours... so for the first 4 weeks I will only have worked, including meetings and getting use to the software, about 5 hours and I will have been paid $800 for it.. B) that is $160 an hour... B) I have a lot of responsibility on my hands though once everything gets rolling... I am the administrator or whatever and that brings with it making sure everybody is happy...

so within the next month I will be getting about $1500+ from all my different jobs... what they owe me and what they will owe me... life is good...

This weekend I am going to dive head first into the whole grad school/job applying thing... I just don't know what to do for the statement of purpose... we'll see... ok, well I think I have even started to bore myself with this blabbing so that's enough...

Labels: bowling, eric rubinstein, francisca amunategui, grad school, joe castelbuono, ketchup, lori folts, megan folts, patrick folts, patti botero, publix, sick, vacation, work

YAY! The List so Far:

• Lord of the Rings Monopoly
• $100 worth of Lowes gift cards
• $50 worth of Circuit City gift cards
• $200 worth of American Express gift Cards
• $65 worth of Checks
• $10 cash
• 256 MB USB JumpDrive
• Green Day CD
• Shrek 2
• Star Wars Trilogy Collectors edition DVD set
• Super duper toaster
• PCI Wireless Network Card
• Gummy Bears
• Water Filter for my sink
• Shampoo, Conditioner and Moose
• Coca Cola Collection stuff

There are still a few more to open at my Grandma's house and Francisca said she has something for me too...

A lot better than I thought it would be... B) Megan got a SUPER computer that I am jealous of... grrr...

Labels: francisca amunategui, grandma, megan folts

(I wrote this last night, but for some reason it didn't post... so here it is)

I beat halo 2 about 30 minutes ago... go me! After that I came over to the computer to see if my last teacher posted a grade, and it turned out that he did, and for the first time ever I made straight A's (meaning no A minuses either) just pure, sexy A's... oh well..

My family and I celebrated my birthday today (well, technically yesterday, the 13th) because they are all going to be busy tomorrow and can't... I opened all my presents except one of the one my parents got me... I got 2 dress shirts with matching ties from my parents, Ultimate Bustamove for Xbox live from my sister, and a brick from my grandparents... luckily they used fifty $1 bills for the padding... B) think they are all tricky and stuff... I am hoping the other present my parent's are giving me is the digital camera I want... even though I have nothing really to take pictures of, I want one... because then if I wanted to take a picture I could without paying a lot for film/processing...

I don't know what I am going to to do when I get up this morning... if that makes sense... I already beat Halo 2, maybe I can try and beat it on Legendary (the hardest difficulty)... or just play it online for the whole day... who knows... I just hope I don't get any more mature since I am 22, because that would suck and I would be boring and have no reason to live...

Oh well, the best birthday present I got was getting out of the hell semester I just had... I am glad I did so well, if I didn't then I would have been angered considering the amount of effort I put into it... next semester better be easy... or fun... well, my elective better be fun because "Complexity and Analysis of Data Structures and Algorithms" sure as hell won't be... I think I am taking "Introduction to Intelligent Systems" as my elective... learn about making computers think like a human... sounds cool, sounds fun... sounds hard though...

Labels: birthday, gaming, honey folts, lori folts, megan folts, papa folts, patrick folts, undergrad

YAY... only 13 days until my birthday! December is my favorite month... not only because of my birthday, Christmas, and then new years eve, but because of cold weather, time off school, and friends and family... that sounds kind of corny, but I am corny, so deal with it... I can't wait to see what I get from everyone... I think I am going to get everything I wanted except for some of the DVD's I wanted... I want to many of them... I have a thing for trilogies this year... Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star wars (all of them so I guess that is more than a trilogy, but hell, I want it... I also want Shrek 2, all the Jay and Silent Bob movies (I have Dogma though), The Bourne Identity and whatever its sequel is... I think I am getting some of those already, but I don't know... I am really hoping I get a whole bunch of gift cards so I can buy xbox games... My sister got my bust a move ultimate for xbox..... I don't know about it though... she tried hard not to let me see even though I was in the store... you can actually play it online against other people!

I didn't get paid when I was suppose to last week, so now I don't have money for Christmas presents until next week, which is tough... I want to get Sebastian something because I thought about how much he always gives me when his dad buys him something better... I don't know who else is getting me something, but I don't plan on getting people something unless they want me to because then they might (because they should) feel that they would have to get me something... I don't want anything from people without notice and a price limit of 10-15 bucks so that I can actually afford getting people things...

Labels: birthday, harry potter, megan folts, sebastian amunategui

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