A “Pyle” of Stories

Looks like a grey morning outside in Houston. Maybe the weather is grey, because it suits the mood of the town of Houston after they ran into the streaking Tennessee Titans and the VY/CJ duo. Might be my guess.

Patrick and I continued our tradition last night by attending the MNF game in Reliant Stadium. It was by far the most exciting game he and I have attended. The game in September had much more action, but this one was electric. The atmosphere was great and there was no shortage of energy due to the nature of the rivalry, the state of each teams playoff aspirations, as well as the MNF telecast. Well fortunately for my boys in the powder blue, we were able to pull out of the Bayou City with a W. I must admit, I have never been a fan of VY, but the style of offense we play, and the way he is protecting the football, I’ll have to roll with him. Maybe I’m becoming a believer. Maybe I’m just really hungry for some more victories. Who knows, but he looked good last night and has looked good over the past 4 weeks.

So now we are off to Lafayette. We are actually in the act of packing as we speak. Well, Patrick, Amy and Elizabeth are packing, I’m of course blogging. I’m not actually sure what time we are heading out of here, but I think there is some pizza in our future before we leave town. Who knows … I feel like a cargo item. Fly down, drive here, drive there … drive back, fly back But I’m just saying, I’m not complaining at all. I feel like a I’m going to need an overweight tag put on me, since I’m cargo, and since I’ve done nothing but eat our entire time down here. From mexican, to burgers, cajun food, bbq, free beer tailgating. Just a lot of goods have been consumed in a short timespan. And from the sound of the conversations this morning, we are eating mexican tonight, then of course Thanksgiving is coming up in a day or so. And I’m sure mom will have lots of tasty treats for us to devour.

I am enjoying this last week or so before I have to have my surgery next week. I haven’t really said much about it, but I’m having a hernia fixed next Friday. So, get a good week in of eating and indulging before I spend a week laid up, and then FINALLY I can get back to exercising. It has been about 2 months since I’ve been able to exercise since I’ve been concerned about tearing anything worse than what it already is. Next Friday really can’t come soon enough.

Time to do my part. Shower, pack and get ready to head out. I’ll have some more updates as the trip rolls on. Enjoy these photos in the meantime

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Wings were some kinda tasty last night. For some reason lately they have not been as good. A big part of this is because they haven’t been spun with enough sauce, so they basically just tasted like fried chicken. While this is normally 100% OK, it is not when you are expecting that habenero flavor. Well last night they did not disappoint. We actually had a larger crew too. Adam showed up, as well as Jeb, who is becoming somewhat of a regular. It is nice to have the 4 of us, and then when other show up, its pretty much a bonus.

Conversation was good … We spent some time talking about all of our Thanksgiving plans which was nice. I’ll tell everyone we will be down south because there will be someone staying at our place the whole week. So not really worried about security. Then we discussed our Holiday Mixer that we are setting up for some point in December. Should be a lot of fun.

I can’t believe we are already at Thanksgiving. What I mean to say, is I can’t believe 2009 is almost in the record books. And with that comes age and life. Some of us are having our first kids, some of us are turning late 50s and 60s, some of us are close to dipping into our 40s, some of us are having surgeries, and lastly some of us are in their 40s. Just seems like it goes by so quickly, and continues to accelerate. Feels just like a roller coaster. Starts off so slow as you hear that tink tink tink … and then next thing you know you are flying for 30 – 45 seconds and its all over. So I guess my point to that rambling was to enjoy your time doing whatever it is you are going to do over the next week. Have fun with family. Have fun by yourself. Eat the heck outta some turkey and celebrate life. I’ve come from some pretty dark places in the past 18 months that I care to never visit again, and you can bet my last dollar I’m going to enjoy this next week with my wonderful girlfriend as we tour the places my family dwells.

Oh, and if you are looking for some good travel music, the new John Mayer Battle Studies album is good as well as the latest Norah Jones. Enjoy!

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I’ve got a few short minutes before we head out of wings. M & J are on their way down from the top of the hill. Yum those blazin’ and mango habenero wings are going to be oh so good.

So I just got our new Quad Core iMac setup with the Magic Mouse. Must say, it is very very sporty. 27″ screen isn’t so bad either. If you are in the market for a new machine, I would highly recommend the simple, yet powerful iMac as a contender. And if you need some Windows action, check out Parallels 5 or even VMare’s Fusion. Either are good choices.

So who is ready for Turkey Day?!? Is anyone taking off for the week/weekend/holiday? I don’t wanna give out our plans, due to the nature of everything …

Mark just walked in … heading out. Enjoy your dinner!!!

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I’m not really sure how this has occurred. Keeping up with the Kardashians is on my TV right now. Why do you ask … well this beautiful woman is watching TV, and I’m just enjoying the fact that she loves it so much.

Elizabeth and I have been dating for a couple of months now, and I really cannot be happier. Over the coming weeks and years … there will be plenty more detailing our adventures and travels. There will be more to come soon, I’ve just been laying low due to some other issues that have been going on in with people I know up here. I’ve just been keeping a low profile. No more though.

I hope you’ve all had a great Friday and Saturday and your particular sports team wins tomorrow unless you are a Bills or Rams fan

Until next time …

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I’m sure Chip is in her house this morning. Actually I think she has been in her house since about 9 PM last night. She has this giant igloo that makes her like an eskimo. Sometimes I go out and ask her to mush. And tell her that the Iditerod starts in a few weeks and that I hope she is ready. She promptly barks and asks for some cheese. What a silly dog.

I’m having a hard time getting out of bed this morning. I need to get out and leave, but these bamboo sheets are swallowing me up. Mixed w/ some Chris Isaak on the ole iTunes, and well, it is just a little tough. I’ve been so swamped at work these past few weeks that I just can’t get my hand/head/arms around all of the tasks. So I’m thinking about cutting back. Possibly trimming down to one job and then just picking up some side work here and there when I can use the extra money. Not sure if that is exactly how it is going to play out, but that is the initial thoughts that I am having. I know I’ll make the right call when the call is made.

So I’ve got some furniture coming in tomorrow. Yipee! Bought time. Once the house was emptied back last winter, I pretty much left things as is, and stuck with a bunch of empty rooms. But since I hired some house cleaners a few weeks ago, I figured, things are now clean so time to fill them out. Jennifer has been a great help up to this point. We still have a lot of work to do, but hey … it is progress. And there is nothing like a little progress to get one into continuing. I’l take some photos once it is all in. ALL I have left is … a coffee table, tv table, rug, artwork, greenery, paint the kitchen, recover the bar stools and buy a kitchen table … be done before I know it. RIGHT! It will be nice to have it all squared away and then I’ll move on to another room in the house. Prolly the guest bathroom.

I will end with this … there may be a team down South that thinks they are the real “UL” .. while no team is the real UL, since they both have the Monroe, Lafayette locations attached, I’d like for the better football team to stand up! And that would be the Warhawks. 3-0 in the Sunbelt! Way to get a W on ESPN. Nice job guys!

Until next time …

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Finally! The weather has turned to what seems more normal for this time of year. Not that it has been hot in this part of the world over the last 2 months or more specifically the last month, but my its been a little “tropical”. I think they said this is the in the top 3 of wettest Septembers of all time. I can attest that it is the wettest September in the years I’ve been here. This makes my 5th of these, and its easily number 1. BUT, my how it is nice outside today. Looks to be shaping up for some 40 degree temps tonight for lows for the next few days. I’m looking forward to more of this 70s and 40s pattern. the next 2 months are the reason I love it here so much.

So Chip made her second trip to the vet in as many months this morning. Seems that she shovels dirt and it gets up her large nose and clogs it, she then earns a trip to the vet. I tried to clean the nose and watched it all weekend, but it just didn’t look like it was doing much better. Vet said she cut it on the inside and removed all the excess dirt, and put her on antibiotics. Seems Cephelexin is her new favorite snack. She just finished a bottle 3 weeks ago.

I’ve gotten distracted this morning. I had more I wanted to say … so maybe I’ll finish this tonight. I’m out for now, but there will be more. Work — what a distraction!

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This week seems to have breezed by one me. I think part of it is because I’ve either been on the road or had company the past few weeks in town. I’ll chalk some of that up to being sick too for the last 2 weeks. This cold has been tough to shake, but not really any different than the other times a year I get one of these things. Just kinda have to let it run its course.

I’ve got a line up again this weekend, but nothing too crazy. Need to wash the new car, mow the grass, do some housework (I have a maid service coming Monday, so I need to get my laundry done), and then I’m taking care of M & J’s dogs on Saturday night. Sunday will be a full day of football. Since I bought the Sunday Ticket on Directv, I’ve become even more of a fan. So that will be nice. Watching those fantasy scores. No dates or anything lined up at this point, so a nice chilled weekend with some space to myself. Should be nice.

I’m going to start back on P90X this coming Monday. Not like between these 2 contracts, I have that much time, but looks like I’ll just be waking up earlier to get it all done. Chip wakes me up @ 5 to go out and eat her breakfast, so I figure that will be the perfect time to get up and get at it. Some discipline will be good!

I’m out for now … just doing some small catch ups. Hope you all have a great weekend!

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Wow, have I been this social networking kick and have totally neglected my blogging duties. Between Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, I’ve just lost myself in all of this other stuff. Part of it too has been all the changes that I continue to undergo in my life. I would have never thought in a million years that divorce would reek such havoc on me in all the areas of my life. Leave it to me to learn things the hard way. Oh well. I consider this space that I’m in to finally be the beginning of my “rebirth”. I’m finally getting close to being comfortable in my own skin and this new track of life in being single. Should be a lot of fun though moving forward.

Just some light updates, so that I don’t bombard everyone with a play by play of the last 4 months or so.

I did finally finish up on the house for the time being. The painting I wanted to get done is done. Which is a good thing. I’ve managed to get some cleaning activities lined up too so that maybe my house won’t be such a bachelor pad and disgusting going forward. Chipper is doing well. She’s a mini horse and very fluffy right now. What a great dog and friend she’s become. I left my previous job and took on a couple of contracts. I always wanted to get back to contracting. And quite frankly, divorce is EXPENSIVE! And the fastest way to build my bankroll back up, well start working by the hour ;-D Oh, and I managed to get rid of the Escape and get myself the car that I’ve wanted for a while. I landed a Mustang GT a few weeks ago. I LOVE it. I missed my old one so much, that I figured why not get another one.

Those are of course highlights into my world. I’m back to learning on the technical side of things in my professional life which is good. I’ve dived into ASP.NET’s MVC framework and doing quite a bit of work with NHibernate which is a slick ORM. And I’m working again with Steve. A long time friend that I learn a lot from and who I enjoy working with. We are putting together an online health and wellness portal. Should be fun. When it rolls out later next month, I’ll supply a link.

I’ll provide more later as we get back into this. I’m thinking I’m going to be less and less Facebook and more blogging again. I like having a little more control of things for some reason. I might still tweet, since it is so easy, but I do miss the interaction with everyone.

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More to come …

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So I’m changing the light blue. I’m adding a new color to the dining room (not up yet) and a new one to the kitchen. This should give me 4 colors total. Take a look so far.

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