I am a tease... and a dumbass

I talk about blogging, and I never do.

I did finally take the kids on vacation. I think some of you know about it from Facebook. We drove to Michigan for a few days and visited my mom and sisters families. It was a good visit.

Kevin has a friend that just recently moved an hour or so from where my mom lives so I took him to see his friend. They had fun riding skateboards.

I took Erik on a canoe ride at the park my nephew and neice work at. They load you into a van with a trailer full of canoes in tow. They help you launch it into the river. Our run took about 45 minutes. We capsized the canoe 5 minutes into the run. It was pretty funny. This part of the river is pretty shallow, so it didn't take much to reach shore and dump the water.

Mom seems to be doing well, and was excited about flying to Maine with my sister the next week. I was pretty bummed that I couldn't do that with them, but I just couldn't afford it... and the boys had to get back to school that week.

I am not big into Facebook, but it has a couple mind numbing and addicting games. I kind of hate that I have gotten into that. A few old girlfriends have tracked me down on Facebook. A couple from back in the early 80s, and a couple since my divorce. I kind of feel voyeuristic being able to see what they are up to. Some of it makes me sad.

One lady in particular was the first woman I really liked after my divorce. She broke it off with me because I had a vasectomy and she thought she would want kids one day. Other than the fact that I am seedless we got along so great. We were only seeing each other for about a month. We kept in touch as friends and even met for lunch and other things a couple times. She met someone later that year. A year later they were getting married. I was happy for her, but we stopped all communication. She didn't want to give him any reason for being jealous.

Well, for some reason she looked me up on Facebook. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a note from her. I felt dirty looking through her profile. Am I crazy? I saw that she had a daughter, but then I read how her and her husband adopted their daughter. That gave me mixed feelings. I was happy that she had this beautiful daughter, but I was sad that she didn't have one herself. I'm not going to lie, part of me thought that breaking up with me for the reasons she gave were completely nullified somehow.

ANYWAY...

The boys are back in school. Kevin in his junior year in high school, and Erik is in his first year of middle school. It's all making me feel older... UGH

How the hell are you all? Anyone still reading this crap?

Summer WTF

Long absense, huh?

Now that the kids are out of school I seem to be even more stressed. I wonder what they are doing while I am not home. Are they getting outside or just watching tv and playing video games. Luckily, my ex signed up for a family membership to a rec center/gym, so they have something to do. I have been reminding them a lot to take advantage of that. And I have been giving them chores to do, which does help a lot... when they do them :D

The boys have asked me if we're going to go on a vacation this year. Quite frankly, I don't know. I could take some time off, but money is getting very tight. My savings took a hit due to some unforseen expenses. I hate charging up my credit cards. I am trying to get all of my credit card debt to disappear (just in case).

As for work... it is what it is. I am burnt out. We are still making progress on the new projects and we are improving things everyday for the existing ones. I just wish someone outside of my department would make an attempt at making some changes for the better.

I did get a small bonus, that should be showing up in my next paycheck. I am glad I got it because I was nominated for it by our VP of Development (at least that is what I think she is). She nominated me and one of my guys for this because she knows how hard we try, and how hard headed these people are that we have to deal with.

What else is there to tell you all...

Oh ya... my love life still sucks. You'll love my latest story. Maybe I'll blog about it later.

I am such a tease

Welcoming the Spring

Its been an entire month... What do I have to show for it?

I got my reviews done at work.
A couple of our big projects are moving along well.
I went on a date (what a shocker that is).

I am not thrilled with work. Two of my best employees have a bit of a feud going on. It upsets me that they aren't getting along. I don't even understand what caused it. One thinks the other doesn't like his type A personality, the other hasn't said a word to me. I will probably have to clear the air with them in a week. Have I said before that I hate being a manager?

I was supposed to be going to Iowa this week, but I did not make detailed enough plans for what we need to accomplish, so we're delaying the trip. Now my boss thinks that maybe we could do what we need remotely. I totally disagree, but this may have travel budget implications. I was going to take the 2 employees I mentioned earlier. I may have to rethink that even if we do get the budget.

My typical weekend is comprised of me sleeping in until at least 9:30, then putzing around the house. I may go to a movie, I may not.

This weekend was not typical. Friday night my friend Laura ask me to join her and a friend of hers to to a movie. That was fun. The movie was ok (Duplicity).

Saturday morning I received a call at 7:45. Of course it was my friend Mike. He was calling to tell me he was on his way over. He was borrowing my ATV for a few days. I made a few attempts at starting my ATV after putting a new battery in it the other day (without success). I've left it sitting around unused for too long. Mike also brought his computer over for me to look at. Aparently Turbo Tax doesn't like him. Unfortunately I fixed some problems with it, but not enough to make it work.

After Mike left I did my typical laundry and cleaning (a half-assed job on the cleaning). Then I headed to the store to pick up a meat tray and some beer for a board gaming party. That was fun, as usual.

Sunday morning I did sleep in until 9, but then got to work on more cleaning. I also rotated my tires and washed the car. I had to work for a few hours on crap I left unfinished on Friday. Then I went on the date I mentioned earlier. Nothing big to report. We'll see if anything happens.

One of the shows I am watching this year is getting REALLY good. Dollhouse... If you haven't watched it, you should start. I was a little more than luke warm on the show until this week. It's been building up to some big stories, and now its starting to hit. Friday nights episode was THE best. I am now totally hooked.

I am hoping to take a long weekend and head to Vegas before it gets to damn hot. Why do some people love the heat, and I just can't stand it. Give me 75-80 degrees and I am one happy boy.

Music Videos... and why some don't suck

I have loved this band since their first CD came out in 96. I never saw the video. I've stopped watching MTV for obvious reasons. Came across this and laughed my ass off.

I had a girlfriend back in 2003/4 that HATED this song. I never understood why. One of our last dates during our first go round we went to see Matchbox Twenty, and opening for them was Fountains of Wayne. I was totally into it. She had a look of disgust on her face. I am thinking that maybe she saw this video and didn't like it. Her kids were the age of the kids in this video at the time. Hehehe

Celebrate!!!!!

Guess what day it is kids?

It is my Blogiversary

Not that this is a big deal, especially when I have a hard time posting once a month.

My life is not so different from month to month. My department has been making a lot of great progress on our projects. Although I am feeling a sense of accomplishment, I am also feeling burned out. I think my whole department is. We're even starting to get on each other's nerves, which has never happened with my group of "performers". I need to do something for them, but unfortunately I have to get approval to do ANYTHING to boost morale.

My mom, and cousin have been hounding me to go to maine this summer. They are renting a couple of houses for a week. This would make it much more affordable, but I think I would rather just escape away from everyone for a week. Anyone got a couch needing an occupant?

An old friend and I patched things up recently. She and I aren't dating. We did date for about 4 weeks a number of years ago. That ended, but we stayed friends. Then we had a falling out. That was aout 3 years ago. We've contacted each other over the last few years, but up until a few weeks ago we had not seen each other. We met for drinks and it was like the friendship had never been stopped.

Last week she invited me to a friend's wine party. I haven't been getting out much, so I felt it would be good to meet some new people. I then found out that this is a singles group she belongs to. She said "there will be lots of single ladies to mingle with". This actually sounded more and more like something I needed. I picked up a nice Pinot Noir.

Well, I had a great time. No, I didn't get any phone numbers. I didn't even try, to be honest. It was just good to meet some people and kind of refreshing to just start a conversation with someone out of the blue. I did meet a few very attractive ladies. I made a good impression with a number of people, so hopefully I will be invited to more events of theirs.

I do want to share this...


Untitled from Graham Butler on Vimeo.