Figured I'd keep you posted on the ever-growing Milestone Center Industrial Park area here in burgeoning Germantown. For those of you who do not traverse up 270 you would have no idea how many companies want to move into this area (I had no idea either). But apparently there is enough interest to justify another building.
I did it... Upgraded to the BlackBerry pearl yesterday. So far so good. I figure I'll test it out for the 30 days and decide if I want to keep it or change to a phone with a full keyboard. I'll keep you posted.
View from the Backyard
Originally uploaded by psubuzz
We have a friend who has a cabin in the West Virginia mountains and we were fortunate enough to tag along with him this past weekend. The cabin is seriously in the middle of nowhere (couldn't find it in my GPS), and at night, it is about as quiet and dark as you can get. It was so dark and quiet in fact, I almost freaked myself out standing outside on the balcony Saturday night.
In any case, this is the view from the mountain that the cabin sits on, after a very steep 25 minute climb. Based on some of the maps we had, I think this is about at 3,200 ft. facing east towards VA.
It was really nice to get away from DC for the weekend and truly unwind, and the amazing part about it is that it is only 2 hours away. Pretty cool.
As some of you know, I have been jonesin' for a new blackberry for a few months now because: 1) this one is getting old and is much thicker than the new ones, 2) I want a phone with a camera so I can be cool, 3) I want to photo blog from my phone, and 4) everyone else has one.
Well, my anniversary date is February 22nd and I've tried everything I can think of at the Verizon store to get them to move it up without a fee and nothing has worked. When I say the phone doesn't work they give me a new one, when I say I'm spending a lot of money with them they don't care. I've even gone as far as to say that I am personally responsible for building the weather content on their phones, and they think that is cool, their standard response is, "call customer service."
But, the more that I think about it, the more I am inclined to switch carriers all together and go with someone that has the Curve so that I get the full keyboard AND has a camera. I'm not totally set to go this way, but as I am experiencing with Comcast (more on that in a forthcoming post), it may be time to move away from the incumbant. And no, this is not going to spiral into a political post as I am kind of getting sick of all of the primary coverage... Which by the way, thought it was interesting to hear this morning that the Chesapeake region (Maryland, DC, and Virginia) is a battleground area for Obama and Clinton. Our little area is finally politically relevant. Funny. But I digress...
Just in typing this alone, I had to spell Virginia 10 different times to get this small keyboard to figure out what I was typing so maybe it IS time for a switch... Though sources are saying that Verizon will be releasing a curve lookalike in the next few months... Should I wait? What do you think? Just think of all of the fun pictures you'll get once I have a camera on my phone!
My big (and only) brother turns 36 today! Happy birthday Steve! I'll have to dig around for a recent picture of him to post... Which I'm sure will thrill him tremendously.
For those of you who are nice enough to actually keep up on my blog, I thought I would let you know that we ARE actually listed on TheKnot.com under our first and last names and we ARE working on our registry. I was actually surprised at how complicated and exhausting it is to put together the darn registry, but after switching ideas of where we want to register a few times we have settled on 2 stores, of which details will be posted on the knot and my blog once complete. Should be in the next week or two.
Also, the save the dates are finally in (got them yesterday) and we will be putting together the packet and sending them out in the next week. We truly appreciate your patience, but this also took longer than expected.
That's the latest... More to come as we enter the final six months...
I don't know about you but I had mixed feelings Sunday night during the game as I watched the Patriots quest for perfection end in a last minute loss to the Giants. On one hand, I was rooting to witness history, and on the other, you couldn't help but he sucked into rooting for the overwhelming underdog. As funny as it sounds, I was at odds with myself and it took some of the enjoyment out of the game for me and left a bittersweet taste in my mouth when Eli escaped the clutches of not one Patriot but THREE Patriots and completed that pass. Don't get me wrong, we all screamed and shouted when they scored, and yes, I was happy for Eli, but I am so sick of the damn 72 Dolphins that I was hoping that it would all end Sunday night. Oh well...
By the way, did anyone else see how hammered Shockey looked in his box? I believe Joe Buck said, "Shockey must be worried about his job" (in reference to how well the rookie Boss [I had mis-typed Voss - thanks Gene] has performed in Shockey's absence) when he must have wanted to say, "geez, that guy is loaded!" I mean, did you see all the empty cups around him??
Thus begins the countdown to next season... Thank God MLS starts in 6 weeks...
On Saturday night, we joined our friends Dan and Leslie for drinks and an excursion to the Old Town Theatre on King St. to see the Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. If you haven't had a chance to either make it to the Old Town Theatre or to see the Bucket List, I highly recommend both. While the theatre is not quite what you may be expecting in terms of a normal movie theatre, it makes up for its rough edges by the small town feel you get sitting in the rickety seats. I'd say there were about 14 of us in the theatre total (and that might be generous), and after we were lectured by the owner on bringing in outside food and drink, we were able to put our feet up on the ledge, stretch out, and enjoy our wine during what turned out to be a GREAT movie. I'd have to say that Bucket List vaulted into my Top 10 and will make it to our Netflix list so that we can watch it again.
Now Macy's... last night we did our first round of registry selections. So, for those of you who faithfully check this blog and have been looking for your wedding details, this is one of the first bones I've thrown... The registry will be ready in the next week or so as we wrap up what we want online, now that the initial meeting is over. So, continue to check our knot site for updated details on that one. But as fun as it is to scan items that you wouldn't normally buy on your own, there is also something a bit pretentious about asking people to buy you something that again, you wouldn't normally buy on your own. While our friends have all been actively offering advice on what to scan and what not to scan, my personal philosophy has been to ask for things that we KNOW we'll use on a regular basis, and pass up the item if we answer "yes" to the following question: Are we scanning this ONLY because its our one and only chance to ask for it? And you know me... after an hour, I was useless... not to mention that we're both fighting off some kind of sickness which made it even harder to focus for more than an hour.
Anyway, it's nice to have gotten the ball rolling on that part, and for everyone who has been awaiting a "save the date" the order was processed and it's just a matter of getting the final pieces. Once we get those, you can look for yours soon...
Until next time...
I thought I would have grand thoughts and strong opinions following the AFC and NFC championship games yesterday, but the Green Bay loss in overtime has left me feeling a little lost for words. I would compare the feeling to breaking up with that girlfriend you had high hopes for, or Christmas Day when you didn't get what you wanted. The expectations were so high for the Packers and everyone had been talking up a Brady versus Favre Super Bowl so much that when Tynes kick went through the upright after the Packers had won the toss in OT I felt so deflated. I am not a Giants fan. They are hot right now, and that's it. But these are the same guys that were embarassed by a backup quarterback IN the Meadowlands in week 16. While they pushed the Patriots farther than any other team this season, I will be rooting for perfection in two weeks and hoping the G-men get throttled.
And for the record, I am not an Eli Manning fan at all. He is no Peyton, and quite frankly I find it hard to be a Manning fan at all. I didn't give them permission to inundate me with their family from all angles. What other family does that? Who gets more airtime as a family? It started with the ESPN commercials, then the DirecTV commercials, then the commercial with Leinart, and now these credit card commercials... It's too much.
Anyway, we have two weeks now to dissect this game every which way, and we'll hear over and over how well the Giants play on the road, that by the time the game comes around I'll be ready for soccer season.
Let's go United!
With the Birchmere as close to our house as it is, we decided to take in Isaac Hayes last night for something a little different from what we would normally go and see. I have to say that we were not disappointed, and it was one of the few shows that we've been to in recent memory that was an "experience." And when I say experience, not only was Isaac fantastic, but the crowd was in to it, and his whole band knew how to play to the crowd. I had a smile on my face from the first note until Isaac walked off the stage.
There just doesn't seem to be music like his anymore... full of funk, soul, and emotion. I can only imagine what he must have been like in his prime back in the 60's and 70's. What a life he has lived, and what stories he must have... Who in our day can polarize a community like he could (and probably still does)? Not many musicians... The only person I can think of is Bono. He might be one of the remaining "rockers" who can pull a crowd and community together like Isaac could in the 70's.
Anyway, I wish we had pictures to show, but sadly, they did not allow flash photography last night. But take my word for it... it was a great experience all around, and one I will remember for a long time.
I thought that last weekend was one of the best weekends ever, but if the weekends keep up at the pace they are going, I'm going to have the best year. Unless you've been out of the country, you should have seen Joe Paterno record his 500th win on Saturday night over Texas A&M and the Redskins vault into the playoffs as they whacked the Cowboys 27-6.
Two wins.
David_PostGifts
Originally uploaded by psubuzz
... or this one. My Christmas nephew! Such a happy Christmas!
Two Boys Fast Asleep
Originally uploaded by psubuzz
It doesn't really get much better than this on Christmas Eve... A grandfather holding his grandson, fast asleep on the Lazy Boy. Of course, I set him up with the feeding and burping first...
Where do I begin to retell the weekend that was? Should I start with the big win from the Redskins last night, or should I start with the fact that I welcomed my new nephew home?!? I don't think it really matters either way given that it was a happy and joyous weekend all the way around ranging from dinner with Lauren's family on Saturday night to celebrate the Christmas season, to holding (and feeding) my new nephew for the first time, to wrapping it all up in a Burgundy and Gold bow last night.
After a year of getting to know Lauren's family better over the past year dinner this year was much more fun and much less stressful than last year. Anytime you walk into a room of 20+ people, all of whom want to know everything about you, it gets a little nerve-wracking. But this year, I felt like one of the group and was able to be more of myself. We even got a surprise gift from one of Lauren's cousins... Hopefully I can get a hold of a picture to post.
We then flew home yesterday morning so that we could have lunch with my brother and sister-in-law AND their cute baby boy! Oh, he is as cute as all baby's are... And he's home just in time for the holidays! Though I have to admit that I have always been a little nervous holding babies in front of their parents... But he was a piece of cake the whole time and I even fed and burped him, though Lauren is the pro at burping... Seriously.
Finally, the Skins finally put on two convincing performances in a row rolling over the Vikings last night putting them one win away from making the playoffs. Shockingly, Todd Collins continued his strong showing as a backup moving the skins effectively down the field supported by one of Clinton Portis' best games as a Redskin. Just a win over Dallas who has nothing to play for will get them in... Whew, what a game that will be.
It doesn't get any better that this at Christmas time...
It's that time of year again when the gloves come off and our collaborative teams become combative opponents... No, I'm not talking about fantasy football anymore, though I am still psyched about moving on to the Super Bowl and bitter about getting knocked out of the other league... I digress... I'm talking about the WeatherBug holiday decorations contest!
If you recall, last year while the battle was tight between the Marketing and Product teams, and publicly, the contest was declared a tie, the judges later told us it was a clear victory due to our creativity and the length we went to execute on the theme. However, given all of the effort the Marketing team spent on creating their Winter Wonderland, the felt guilty and awarded them 1st as well.
Well, that supposed "tie" has sat in our stomachs for a whole year and we're out to prove that not only are we more creative, but we are the true winners.
Am I competitive? Maybe.
Stay tuned for pictures of the decorations contest tonight and the piece de resistance tomorrow.
Happy holidays...
Between my 28.5 victory propelling me into the Exit 16 Super Bowl yesterday and a gutsy 22-10 win last night for the Redskins this has to go down as one of the bigger win weekends in recent memory. My 133.5-105 win over the hot $75 was all due to the fact that I got lucky on 2 kickoff returns from the Bucs and me going with my gut to bench Winslow in the snow in favor of Donald Driver in the dome. The Skins meanwhile won thanks to the mettle of their 2nd string QB and the play from their defense. All in all, a big weekend all the way around.
Sets up a big showdown in Minneapolis between the Vikings and Skins next Sunday night and a Clark Super Bowl for the Exit 16 crown. Woo hoo!
Christmas Couple
Originally uploaded by psubuzz
Did the annual Christmas show at the Kennedy Center last night. This was our pre-show posed photo since we usually are very anxious to get out of our clothes (take that how you will) when we get home.
All in all, dinner was good, the show was great, and we had a lot of fun. The National Symphony Orchestra always put on a great show and get you into the holiday spirit. Last night was no exception.
As you may or may not recall, I started blogging about my fantasy football team a few months back when the regular season started. I participated in two leagues as I usually do and had decent teams in both. The total investment is $175 with the total potential winnings of somewhere around $1,500 assuming you won both leagues.
Well, for the first time in four years, I made the playoffs in both and seemed on my way to winning my first game last weekend when disaster struck on Monday night football. Football night in America. With a 12 point lead going into the final game and my opponent having a WR playing for Atlanta I thought I had it in the bag. And I did, even after he scored a TD in the first quarter to narrow the gap. But for those of you who watched the game - if you remember the last play of the half where 3rd QB throws a hail Mary from the 40 and the New Orleans DB jumps and intercepts the ball though the officials claimed the Atlanta WR had a hand on it as well ended with them awarding a catch to the WR (tie always goes to the offense in that situation). The catch gave the WR 3 more points changing the score to 111-110. The WR didn't touch the ball again that game. And while I could blame the loss on McGahee not doing squat on Sunday night (4 points) that one play will live in my head until next season.
On the bright side, I'm still in the hunt in my other league with my WR Brandon Marshall putting up 15.5 points last night for the Broncos. In the other semi-final, my brother scored well against Lauren's brother which might set up the first brothers only super bowl if all goes well.
Thanks for letting me vent and stay tuned for more crazy hi-jinx and holiday spirit!
