BLOGS FOR NOVEMBER 2009

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Week ending Nov 29th, 2009
How was your Thanksgiving and time off?

Hope you got a little vacation time in! I had Thursday and Friday off so I of course took it easy, hung out with friends, etc. On Thanksgiving I hung out with my friend Jack and his family. It was really cool to spend time with them and I even got to help make food. If you know me I am not much of a chef, lol. I did get to help make pies so that was cool.

I'm still sore from workouts last week. In fact, I have bruises on the top of my shoulders from doing squats on Wednesday. I didn't think I had that much weight on there but apparently I did because the bruises are right where the bar was. I guess I should take it easy and not over-exert myself. The workouts are going good and I plan, after the New Year, to go back to my personal trainer. I still have to work in more cardio as I have a desk job and don't get to run around as much as I'd like. We do have stairs though and I'm up and down on them every day.

Otherwise, things are going pretty well. It's a relaxing Sunday and I'm watching the Bucs play the Falcons. It's the 4th Quarter and we're up by 4 and the Falcons are driving from inside the 10 with about 30 seconds left. Whether we win or lose, the defense is playing a lot better now that Raheem is calling the plays.

Church -- I missed it on Saturday but got to watch it online. If you have never seen my Pastor talk and are interested, go to HORIZON.ORG and take a listen. He's amazing to listen to and the message is always something that you can apply to your life every day.

Well that is about it for now. Short and sweet. Going to finish watching the game and then get some chores done. Hope you have a great rest of your holiday weekend. (Boo, Bucs let them score....d'oh!)

Week ending Nov 22nd, 2009
Thanksgiving week :)

Well I hope you had a fun week. I did, that's for sure. I've been taking it easy (as I mentioned last week), sticking to work and the gym as always. I haven't gone out and done anything in a while, mainly because I am saving up and planning a snowboarding trip soon.

I did whip out my guitar a couple times this week to work on my chops. It's amazing how much I have lost since I haven't been playing regularly. Back in the day I used to be able to down pick (correctly) all the old Metallica songs. I definitely can't do that anymore. In fact, I've forgotten how to play most of the songs haha. It's ok though, I am not planning on covering any more Metallica songs, lest I plan on doing something on my AW-16G (recorder). It was good to jam and little bit and play around.

Work related, things are good. I am finishing up a lot of testing that has taken me about two months to complete. Most of it has been simply waiting for things to get fixed. It was a considerable amount of configuration work. It gave me a lot of good experience though and something that will help me for when I move on eventually (Europe, I hope, haha!).

Church was awesome on Sat even though Pastor Bob was out. We got a short video message from him and then one of the Associate Pastors came out to talk who had a really heart-felt story about being thankful. All in all, a good message and a heady reminder that as bad as you (we) think we have it sometimes, there are many more things to be thankful for.

That reminds me. It's Thanksgiving week. What are YOU thankful for? I'll list a few of many things I am thankful for.

Brian is thankful for...

... God. 'Nuff said!
... my awesome friends and family. Love you all!
... gainful employment -- a job I actually like I lot.
... a roof over my head, food and transportation.
... living in a great city like San Diego.
... the Military who keeps us safe. Semper Fi!
... everyone who fought in wars past.
... having a mom that cared to give us the best and sacrifice her own needs.
... living in a Country where I am free to express my faith!
... coffee! Some days you just NEED it. (haha)
... every person I've ever come in contact with. I learned from them all!
... never having to deal with a bad marriage :)

There are many more but you get the idea. I am thankful for many things. What are you thankful for? Feel free to comment on this weeks blog post on the guest book (don't think anyone's signed it in a while).

By the way, this is the 4th year of blogging. There's 4 years of history on there. Like I've said before, it's cathartic for me to write and has the added benefit of letting me come back and reflect on things I've learned and how I've grown as a person.

Well that's it. Hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving. I'll be spending it with friends and then to Church after for the Thanksgiving social. And hey, we get two days off, so that alone is something to be thankful for :)

Have a good one!

Week ending Nov 15th, 2009
Easy Going Week :)

This week has been relatively "chillax" (haha). We had Wednesday off for Veteran's Day so this weekend overall I just rested. I've been feeling ok, just a little tired. I actually took the entire week off from the gym to just rest my muscles. As it turns out that was a good idea because when I got back to the gym on Friday I was able to push it past the normal limits. I should probably do that more often. Every 1/4, take a week off and just let my body recover.

Everything else is going well. Work "is what it is" hehe. Busy and lots of stuff to do, politics and agendas to deal with, but that's just part of the job that I have. I try to ignore that stuff and keep my eyes on the projects that I am working on and stay out of trouble. I do have my hands full and that's good enough reason to keep my nose in my business and let other people deal with that stuff. I've been really quiet lately and doing my own thing (which means my work). There are lots of things going on but I just prefer not to get involved.

Things are pretty fantastic otherwise and I can't complain. Most of my single friends want to go out and drink/party and I'm just not down with that. Mainly because of my faith (which had been faltering but now is back to full strength -- I think we all have those periods in life where we question things but God is faithful to bring us back 'round!). So I keep myself occupied by my hobbies and try to stay out of trouble (which I've been doing a good job of).

The holidays are coming up soon so I am trying to plan a trip up to Mammoth for a week's worth of snowboarding. I plan on leaving on a Sunday and staying through to Friday AM. That way I can avoid most of the weekend boarders and not have to pay through the teeth for expensive rooms and such. I may bring a friend with me -- haven't decided yet how that will pan out.

No racing until March/April so I'm glued to the NFL. Yes the Bucs lost today but at least they made a game of it. The defense is just porous right now (we can't get a stop when we really need it). We should have won that game today. I know it sounds like whining but we had a very bad call that I am sure the NFL is going to review and issue an apology. The refs really messed that one up and basically handed the Dolphins a TD.

Service was great on Saturday as always. Good to see my friend and co-worker, Brock there. He runs a small group at the office which happens on the days I mostly work from home. I'll try and catch one sometime my friend, I promise.

Nothing political to whine about, other than I don't really see this "Government" healthcare system working out. From what I have read and seen, it's going to be as big a disaster as "Social Security". We can't pay the bills now and are deep in debt to China -- who holds all our bonds. Bah. Crazy stuff.

Well that is about it for now. Nothing excited. Like I said, pretty chill.

Week ending Nov 8th, 2009
Busy week!

Man it has been a really busy week at work. I've been swamped so much that I worked a 13 hour day. Probably many of you work that long but sometimes I just need some time away from the PC. I've been on it entirely too much lately. Not just with work but at home as well. That is probably because I have not been feeling well this week at all. I'm a little concerned that I have the same problem as my mom did but I am aware of what happened and how to prevent it. So that's what I am doing, trying to keep myself healthy and avoid the kinds of foods that upset me.

Everything else is going fairly well. I rested all this weekend after hanging out with friends most of the week. Had a great sushi dinner and met up for socializing after. This weekend I vegged at home and slept a lot, even taking some naps. Today (Sunday) I watched the NFL and got to see the Bucs in their "creamsicle" uniforms finally win a game. And they did it with their rookie QB who ended up throwing 3 TD passes. At least we're no longer 0-FOR. HAHA.

As I sit here and write this I am watching the last MotoGP race of the year. This is the first race for Ben Spies who isn't doing well but Nicky Hayden is! I won't spoil it for you or for him, but let's see what happens. Next year MotoGP should be off the hook with all the changes, new riders, etc. The AMA is going to be boring again but WSBK should be interesting, even without Ben Spies. Maybe some of the AMA riders will move over to the WSBK. I know they don't pay as much but the competition and tracks are better.

Speaking of International Racing, you wonder why I want to move to Europe? LOL. The house deal is off the books even though they have extended it. I am at a point now where I can move anywhere in the world that I want to so I am keeping my eyes and ears open before I decide to settle down anywhere. I love San Diego, don't get me wrong, but I still have a hard, earnest desire to experience all that Europe has to offer.

I didn't get out to Church this weekend because of how badly I was feeling but I did watch the services online. Gotta say, I really enjoy listening to my Pastor. He is such a well-grounded person with God's priorities first -- and he's pretty funny too which always helps. The messages are great and I always take something new home with me that helps me to deal with the sort of situations that come up daily in my life. He's been a really good influence on me and I am very thankful to have Horizon's in my life.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon which means SNOWBOARDING (yay!) and lots of stuffing one's face with Turkey! Can't wait! And we have Wednesday off so I am trying to figure out what to do :)

Well I think that is about it. Hope you also had a great week.

Week ending Nov 1st, 2009
Happy November :)

Hope you had a great week and a fantastic weekend. I know I sure did. I don't really celebrate Halloween anymore. Well, not like I used to knowing what the Holiday is based on but I did hang out with friends this weekend and had a GREAT time. More fun than I've had in a while, lol. Nope, I did not dress up (everyone else did though so I stuck out like a sore thumb, haha!)

This was a good week overall. Work-wise I've been really, really busy with a bunch of projects and now I have two more big ones that have been dropped on my lap. Not that I am complaining (because I am not!) it's just good to have a lot of work to do. Keeps me busy and keeps the days flying by.

Well, WSBK is over and CONGRATS to Ben Spies. A rookie on the World stage with 3 AMA titles to his name and goes out and beats the best of what Europe has to offer. I mean, I knew the guy was good in the AMA but wow, I never expected this. He goes off to MotoGP next year but not without a stand in appearance at the last GP of the year next weekend. It'll be nice to have another American to root for on the world stage. I mean, I've been pulling for Nicky all these years and other than 2006 there hasn't been much to cheer for. (I blame Ducati! haha).

Personally things are going great. The house situation hasn't changed but I did just hear that the Government has extended the "First Time Homebuyer" tax break to the end of April 2010. That's good news as it gives me some breathing room to try and find a place that I really like. So far, much like all of this year the places I have been shown have been subpar. The good ones, the ones that I like and always OVERBID for, I am still losing out on those offers. Let's face it, I am not going to live in or pay for a bad place to live in a not-so-good neighborhood. If things don't pan out there is still always Europe to look forward to. Never know about that one :)

I'm trying to think if I missed anything pertinent but that's really about all there is to report on this week. I have all this vacation time to blow and still haven't figured out what I am going to do with it. I honestly am thinking about spending an entire week up at Mammoth snowboarding my brains out. The only thing is that I'd need a bunch of people to go with me to make it financially feasible. Hey, if you want to snowboard for a week this winter in Mammoth, let me know! Besides, I am itching to test out the 4WD on the new Tacoma. So far in the rain it works good, so let's test it on the snow :)

No Bucs games this week but my Gators did put a number on the Bulldogs. :) Good job, fellas. Keep it up!

Take care of yourselves and talk to you next week!

B.