If you're gonna be around these areas...here is my travel schedule for the next month.  Let me kno if you're in the area at all...

• October 4-6  Orlando Florida
• October 9-16  NY, NJ, Philly, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, DC
• October 17-19 Atlanta area
• October 25-27 North and South Carolina

Pics from the bday..thanks to everyone for the bday wishes and for comin out and celebrating.

Labor Day Weekend in NYC...

Nick's bday back in august...

My boss is the biggest micro manager ever...most people have monthly recaps... I now have a weekly report to do on my activities followed up with daily reports of my travels and activities...what a bunch of bullshit!

More Minneapolis fun...

Had a great labor day weekend in the New York area.  It was great seeing Justin, Christine, JR, Margarita, Eric, and Kevin.  I've been living in the greater Minneapolis area for over 6 months, and I was only in the New York area for 3+ days, and New York felt more like home than Minny does... I guess that the proof is in the pudding (I have no idea where that phrase is derived from)  Another wonderful phrase, 'home is where the heart is' definitely applies to my sentiments this past weekend.  Whenever I leave Minny for another excursion or small side trip, I'm rather excited about it, when I left NYC, I had an overwhelming feeling of sadness.  Home is definitely not where you reside or where your mail is sent, but where you feel comfortable and safe, where you have that 'Cheers' philosophy of life : a group of friends  and places, where everybody knows your name...and who you really are.  Friendship is definitely not about quantity, it's about quality.  Leaving NYC/ MI for Minny meant leaving a small group of true friends for a larger group of acquaintances that only know me for the information that I provide for them.  I would definitely make that trade back if I could....

Time to put my two cents on a topic.  The last 12 hours I've heard a lot of complaints and whining about the recent increase in gas over the last day or so.  Initially, yes, I was annoyed by the fact that I would have to pay an additional $15 to fill my tank up with gas.  After listening to just an overwhelming amount of people complain about this issue, it makes me kind of sad how tunnel visioned and selfish we can all be.  So what if we have to  pay $15-$30 to fill up a tank of gas...what about the people who no longer have homes to go to? What about the people forced to stay at the Superdome with no running water and the roof half torn apart?  What about the people who have lost loved ones as a result?   Our small incremental increase in fuel pales in comparison to the losses of the masses devasted by Hurricane Katrina.  Okay, I do understand that it had a profound effect on the entire country in so many different facets, but I would rather pay an extra $30 a week to fill up my car then to lose a family member or a home.  I dunno...

Different topic I guess...

If you're in the New York area this weekend for Labor Day, give me a shout.  I'll be there for NABA, moreso as a spectator than a player.  It will be a surreal experience this not since a lot of my boys won't be going.  Those of you who understand what Intercity is, it's much more than a basketball tourney that travels from major metropolitan city to the next.  It's offers much more than a 3 day vacation during Labor Day Weekend.  It serves as a reunion for a lot of us since we all have been going our seperate ways.  I've personally been playing in this tournament for the past 10 years, and it has produced some of the most memorable memories that will forever be ingrained inside my little brown brain.  From, Kelly throwing ice out the window and almost getting us kicked out of the hotel when we were 14, to Alize __________ and JR ________ in Toronto, to Alize and Cura passing out in the van before we made it to the clubs in Boston.  To me and Cura stealing that 10 speed in Chicago and Carl getting so mad he wouldn't talk to us, to the whole lot of of us jumping in that fountain in fron the cops in Toronto to Dave falling UP the stairs in downtown Boston,  to endless memory after memory.  But this year, no road trip, no intiations, no bakla activities, no tittie twisters, no slaps and wrestling,.. It's not gonna be the same this year without all the Pikoy Doyz..

a bunch of us fools at Malarkey's in Southgate...

Tim and Cathy's wedding last weekend...a bit of a reunion for former ERAC'ers.

So my coworkers and I have been on this health kick.   There's a bunch of us about the same age and same mentality when it comes to being conscious about our health.  We try to push each other to work out and eat well.  Anyways, a few of the girls here do the weight watchers deal where you weigh in once a week to track your progress, kinda like the weighing in on 'celebrity fit club.'  In support of that, for a few days I tracked what I ate...I didn't really go into detail about calories, fat, and all that crap, it was just the actual food I ate..and this is what it looked like (in chronological order).

1 pear, 1 nectarine, 1 thing of yogurt, 2 sandwiches for lunch, 4 hot dogs and 2 popsicles for dinner

I had that for like 3 days in a row...lol.  I think I need to learn how to cook...not just for survival purposes, but because I need to learn how to cook!!  It's just too bad that last time I went grocery shopping, I bought bread, sandwich meat, cheese, hotdogs, and popsicles all in bulk!  I guess I'll have to wait until my inventory of crappiness is gone until I can start buying real food...lol