Pic of the Day 

Saturday Night

We had a 9 person poker tournament last night... wait. Let me set this up right.

I play poker (Texas Hold 'em) with some friends on Thursday nights. The games have between 5 and 10 players most nights. I missed this week's game so that Carmen could go play Bunko (sp?) with some of her friends. I figured it was only fair, since she's moving away from her friends soon. Anyway, Saturday morning I call a friend to apologize for not giving him guidance on his recent notebook purchase (he called, and I forgot to call him back). Work's crazy, but there's no excuse for letting someone down that expects your help. During our conversation, he mentions that one of the guys we play with on Thursday night is having a party for his wife. She finally completed her chemo for breast cancer, and they wanted to celebrate. I don't know him very well (we've played cards 8 or 10 times). He also mentioned that this gent wanted to play some cards after his wife's friends left. That sealed the deal, and I went.

We arrive at "Jim"'s house around 7 o'clock to find severely limited parking. My friend (whom we shall call "Rob") neglected to tell me it was also a keg party. There were a lot of lit people.

One of our poker circle, "Randall" for lack of a better name, is an excellent musician and singer. He decided to perform for the group. Unfortunately, everyone had a few beers and asked him to play some of the songs he knew from our college days. He started out with a ditty called "penis extender". You can imagine that this went over with mixed reviews. Unfortunately, the vocal reviews were from the drunks who loved it.

Now things go a bit uncomfortable. Two drunk patrons (let's call them Andy and Ronnie) called out for the tittie song. Being drunk, nobody remembered that the reason for the party was to celebrate the survival of a woman who had breast cancer, a mastectomy, and chemo. As Randall was singing "I like... big tits, small tits, any tits will do", the faces in the room grew a bit troubled. I faded downstairs at this point to avoid the impending implosion.

I was standing in the garage when everyone came downstairs when Randall, Rob, Andy, and Ronnie come in saying "dude, you didn't know" and "Man, we made you play it". Randall was feeling about as upset as I've ever seen him. He realized his mistake over half-way through the song, and wanted to leave. Being the friends that we are, it soon turned to comments like "okay, actually, I'm just glad you're the one who did it not me" and "Wow, that was F***in' wrong."

Jim came down and broke the mood by rehashing a verse or two of the song. It really is a funny song when you are drunk. Randall went inside and apologized to Jim's wife, who said she found it funny. It was her friends who were offended for her. All ended well there.

The quick and who-cares wrap up:

Then we played cards. I knocked 7 people out. The only person left in was Jim. It was his house, it was 2 am, and everybody was tired. I was big stacking, but I cut a deal with him to split the pot and call it a night. He promptly split the winnings with me and gave his half to his wife. He's a good husband.

I'm moving

It looks like we'll be moving sometime after 3/30... everything is done. I am happy, I am sad, I am excited, I am apprehensive, I am intimidated, I am thrilled, I am moving.

I am becoming a zombie...

Evidently, I have contracted pink eye while working in the nursery at church. I assume that's where it came from since NONE of my family have it.

Thanks, kids!

Carmom...

Well, it looks like we're up to 1 wall and 2 pieces of trim that you are doing by yourself.

This is one way to get out of those pesky tickets... 

Please accept my apologies...

I'd like to apologize to my regular reader, as I have been lax in posting due to other circumstances. To catch up, here's my week in a nutshell: I have been drawn into 15 unrelated projects as an "expert" because most of my coworkers are as useful as a no-legged retriever (dog show reference for Cathy). I'm blowing through things they suffered with for weeks, mainly because these high-dollar employees have only been with the company for a few months. Those of us with time served are now paroling out to other areas of the company.

On that note, my definitive future boss and I talked yesterday. I will be moving to Indiana for certain. The waiting is over for that, and I should know the exact $$$ today.

Cathy, for Doug's sake, please do not read below this point.

I will probably begin to post more infrequently as I spend my time working on the house. Every 10 minutes I spend typing a blog entry could be used instead to paint a wall. Every 5 minutes I spend uploading a picture could be spent painting a strip of trim.

Peace and Love, I'm out.

With the verbal equivalent of a forehead slap...

I was told "oops, let me send a note off to HR"... This is getting extremely wearying.

I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO PLAN MY SUMMER!!!! IS THAT TOO MUCH???!1!?One!

Is today the day?

My hopefully new boss is in town for the next 3 days for some meetings. Since he's here in person, will I get an offer? The waiting in painful.

Perspective provided

The same air mattress has been inflated in our living room (den?) since Grandaddy left. We were all bouncing on it (Mommy, Mattdaddy, Gabe and Abby) when Gabe got a little overstimulated. He grabbed a block and threw it directly into Mattdaddy's head. After yelling in pain, I sent Gabe to the corner. As he stood sullenly in the corner, I remarked to Carmom "I sent him so I could count to ten and not kill him." Which promptly induced a quiet "one, two, three..." from the corner. Carmom and I hid our laughter until he got to 13, and let him out of the corner with a somewhat non-stern admonition not to throw blocks.

Grandaddy spent the night!!!

Grandaddy showed up yesterday afternoon. This made Gabe's day. They slept on the air mattress, and were up at the precrack of dawn. I don't know who enjoyed it more...

La casa de mucoso

Now its our turn to blast through kleenex and cold medicine.

"I think someone's baggage train just crashed"

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-general&T=952017&P=1

Priceless!

The other end of the front of the house... FOR SALE SOON 

The back of the back yard 

Here's the back of the house... 

Here's the house in June of last year... 

RIP, Krispy Kreme and Krystal Burgers

We hardly knew ye...

It was good talking to you, Seth.

I want one

Check this out...

Dunch or Linner?

We just had an in between meal with Carmen's folks... She's decided to go to the mountain for a couple of days to spend some time with them. The first thing my MIL said was, "how long till you're back in Tennessee?"

Of course, at least these aren't my neighbors. 

The trailer park/marina (depending upon recent rainfall). 

Let the fretting begin!

We've spent one almost sleepless night worrying about what needs to be fixed around the house...

So far: paint a bunch (trim, walls, ceiling), replace 3 doors, fix the bathroom closet, fix the leaky faucet... and pray that being in a neighborhood of houses 2/3 the size of ours doesn't kill us on resale.

Did I mention the trailer park/marina down the street?

Well, it's now 95 to 5 for moving...

It looks like I'll be headed North in a couple of months... I spoke with my soon to be Boss, and he still has a few HR hurdles to clear. That said, if an offer is made and accepted, it will include relocation. I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm anxious, I don't know what to say. I have to tell my parents (who rarely get to see my kids) that I'm moving my family farther away. My wife gets to tell her parents (who see the kids very very often) that we are moving MUCH farther away.

I'm happy, I'm sad.

Today will be good...

I'm looking forward to a great day, how about you?

Abby has started saying "Daddy" and "bye"... Hmmm... now, why are those the two words she has associated with me?

Thursday nights rock!

Poker night netted a 120% ROI tonight... I turned my winnings into a $5.00 scratch and win, $4.00 Powerball ticket, and $3.00 for diet cokes over the next week. We don't exactly play high stakes. It's cheaper than a night at the bar for the guys, and we have a lot of fun talking smack. I like it because I almost always come away with Powerball money.

Waiting is the hardest part....

I'm still waiting for an offer... waiting.... waiting...

What a DAY!!!

I officially had a great day. First, my company announced a 1.8 factor for our bonus. That means you take your annual salary times your bonus percentage times 1.8 to get your gross bonus (times .67 for the approximate take home). This is one of the highest payouts ever for the company. I am super stoked, and plan to put 100% of this towards debt reduction.

Next, I enjoyed one of the best signing days ever. We signed probably the TOP class in the US of A. GO VOLS!!!!

It's NATIONAL SIGNING DAY!!!

GO VOLS!

Welcome Jonathan Crompton, our first Fax recieved today! The future at QB is in the fold!

Volchat
Volquest

Be sure to check in early and often today to see who goes where!

Christmas is officially over

The 12 boxes of Christmas are all nestled over head, with hopes that Spring will soon rear its head.

DJUGGLER is the man!

He not only saved my html bacon, but he somehow got my comments to transfer over to haloscan!!! You da man!