Thursday, May 31, 2007

Stop The Networking

I think it's getting out of control - the whole social networking thing. For me? Maybe. But I mean in general. It started by doing research for a story I was working on. LinkedIn. I sent a bunch of invitations. Facebook. My friend list is growing. The latest? Twitter. It's this insanely useless feature where you randomly hammer out a 140-character answer to the question, "What Are You Doing?" Think Text Message responses. I've been messing around with these sites all day and I'm starting to get a headache.

I know. What's up with the blog? No new entries in like a week or two. Oh the shame of it all... Where do I begin?

We had company. Gary, Jackie, Sean and Shannon came to visit. They got this great rate on a flight to NY, instead of DC. So Stacy and I got up on a Saturday morning and took this trek into NY to pick them up. How hard could it be, right? They fill my tank and maybe buy dinner and we're even. I had it planned out so Stacy and I would cut over from New Jersey to Brooklyn, hang out at Coney Island for a couple of hours and then cruise over to JFK. But it was raining. And there was some major traffic backup coming off the Turnpike into NY. So we had to reroute through Staten Island, a way I had never been before. I had to stop and get gas, buy a NJ state map and make my way there... The traffic getting over the Verrazano Bridge was horrible - but we finally made our way into Queens and over to JFK - with THREE MINUTES to spare. It was a nice visit with them, though they were busy people. Gary had been reading tour books for weeks and knew everyplace he wanted to see. And once he had the Metro all figured out, they were gone...

Donna also stopped by for a one-night visit. She was only in DC for a couple of days so she came home with me from work one night so she could hang out and see Stacy and the kids. It was nice... Our newly remodeled guest room has really been getting some use.

Stacy and Nick both finished school. They both got A's. But it was a tough end-of-the-semester with the tests and papers and all that. In the end, I'm very proud of them both.

OK. Here comes my pledge again to blog more often. I think about it - but then I just decide against it. After sitting in front of a computer all day, sometimes, the last thing I want to do is write even more. Ugh. Sometimes, I just need some mind-numbing, no-brainer TV (which is why I love to TiVo SouthPark.)

Next Blog Entry Coming Soon...

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Blogging Duty

I so haven't been in the mood to blog lately. I don't know why. It's been a busy couple of weeks. The weather has changed. My allergies are steadily kicking my butt. Alex has been keeping us busy with her softball games. And Zack... well, he's grounded from ALL video games this week for waiting until 30 minutes after his bedtime the night before his book report was due to announce that he still had to write a presentation for it. And Nick has been warned that if he lets Zack play video games - and I find out - that I will take the power cords to the video game consoles to work with me everyday for two weeks.

I can be such a jerk, huh? But I'll bet Zack doesn't put off his homework like that anymore... Did I mention that he had three weeks to do this book report?

What else? Oscar De La Hoya lost the fight last weekend - and I could barely keep my eyes open for it (despite coughing up $65 for it) because it didn't even start until 11:30 PM out here. Come on. How ridiculous is that? The 11:30 start time. Don't even get me started on the $65 price tag.

Me and Stacy are trekking up to NYC this weekend to pick up some cousins who are coming to visit. They got a DIRT CHEAP price on a round-trip non-stop flight -- but not to DC, only to New York. For the money they're gonna save, they can fill my tank buy dinner and still be ahead by hundreds of dollars.

Finally, I had my first Page One story in the paper. The Pentagon pulled the plug on sites like MySpace, YouTube and PhotoBucket, blocking them from government computers. That means the soldiers in Iraq, too...

Big storm headed this way as I type this. Possible tornado watch (or warning. I can never remember the difference) later. The cold front of the storm mixing with the heat that we had today (it hit 85) makes for tornado conditions and ugly humid air.

I bet it was nice and sunny in California today!

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Birthdays That Last Forever...

Remember when you were a kid and wished that your birthday would never end? Wasn't there even a movie about this??? Anyway, Zack got that wish this past weekend - or so it seemed.

Saturday was the party with his friends - a swim party at the indoor aquatic center. Two hours of swimming, then pizza, games, cake and ice cream and presents. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and his smile was a mile wide.



Then came Sunday and a trek out to Mt. Vernon for some sightseeing - My Mom and Dad, Tia Nena, Tio Ray and Roc are here visiting. After MV, we headed over to TGIFridays for dinner. And, of course, the waiters and crew all sang the Friday's Happy Birthday Song to him...

Technically, his birthday was Monday. After Alex's softball game and his previously-scheduled campfire scout meeting, we all came home had dinner (he asked for his mom's enchiladas) and then - once again - sang Happy Birthday and had cake and ice cream.

When he finally went to bed that night, I asked him how his birthday was and teased him about the three-day celebration. His response: "Dad, this was the greatest birthday ever."

Nice.