"Loose in the mails"

First off, I'd like to point out that this is my 100th blog post. That's pretty big for me. When I started this blog, even though I didn't want it to end up as something I would quit by March, I was pretty sure that it was going to go down that way. But 100 posts later and I'm still going. Yay!

When I got home from work and checked the mail, there was a plastic bag with a piece of charred, soggy mail sitting in my mailbox with my opera tickets. 0.0" I brought it to the table and had a better look at it. The message on the side of the bag started:

Dear Postal Customer:

The enclosed was found loose in the mails or has been damaged in handling in the Postal Service.

LOL Orly? I would never have guess from the smoky remains. D:! Inside the bag was a note, detailing the horrific traffic accident and subsequent fire, and a charred and completely water-logged piece of junk mail. Someone could have saved me $600/month on my mortgage in early March. I just about fell out of my seat laughing. Oh noes! A wild junk mail appears! It were loose in the mails! Run for your lives! At least I was not missing anything important... Makes me wonder how much else never makes it through.

Nearly lost in all this was the fact that our season tickets for next year's opera schedule arrived: Il Trovatore, Carmen and The Mikado, as well as a summer performance of Tosca. ^_^/ We're really looking forward to going out this year.

After all this excitement, I could feel the walls of my house rattling, so I knew that the neighbors must be home. Last time I was over at the house next door, my wife and the gal over there got into it over the volume of the music coming from their back deck at 11 at night. In fairness, their deck is RIGHT BELOW our bedroom window the air filter that I used to drown out the noise was broken. I have felt bad about having to call the cops on them and not being able to settle like, well, neighbors or friends.

I also have had an on-going issue with neighbors across the street. Her husband is in prison (nicest guy, btw, his current issue is a ghost of the past) and she works nights, and for a while she didn't take her kids to a sitter. I understood money was tight, so I never said anything and just kept an eye on their house while I was awake. Well, one night, the kids were lonely and wanted to spend the night either at Colin's (my) house or with their grandmother. To make sure they got their way, they locked themselves out of their house, then lied about it and made up a story that their grandma was coming to get them. I was sick as a dog that weekend, so I couldn't handle the kids staying over that night. They had a phone number to call for their grandma, but the guy at the other end of the line had no idea what was going on. These kids were locked out of their house for more than 3 hours in the middle of the night, and there were no family available for them, so I called the police. It was a hard decision, because I really felt for this family. A day or two later, the mother got on D's case for calling the police and blaming her new-found situation on us for not being able to see through her children's lies.

I really feel bad that I seem to get off on the wrong foot with all my neighbors - I either don't know them well or at all, or end up calling the police on them. Doesn't help that I can be a complete social recluse and be happy as a lark that way. But this has been bothering me for a while. I went next door and met with the owner of the truck with the system that was knocking stuff off our walls. He was visiting with a family member of mom across the street. I didn't go over to complain, though. Instead, I went over to apologize for my part in getting off on the right foot. The guy with the truck understood and we talked about it for a bit, and I invited both of them over tomorrow night for some beers and grilling, if they're interested. Later I was able to talk to the gal that owns the house - the one that my wife got into a fight with. Even if they don't come over, I hope things get better with my neighbors with time. Sure would be nice to be able to hang out with my neighbors as friends again.

Spent the evening cleaning the lower level of the house a little, just in case people do decide to arrive. We also went to WalMart to gas up and get some beer and brats. If no one shows up, that's OK: more beer for us. :P I just didn't want to invite people over empty handed. Did a little bit of campaigning to wind down for the night, but the counsel is still all emo at me and won't let me keep my emblem.

So, tomorrow will either be a neighborhood BBQ or a quiet cookout with the family. Either way, I feel at peace with it, and I'm glad I took the steps I did to rebuilding the bridges I've had a part in knocking down.

On the road again!

So I got the word that I'm back out on the road for an assignment. I don't mind much at all - I actually make more doing these assignments. Long drive though: it's a good 45mins if the traffic is problem-free, which it never is... This assignment is only 3 days, but that's still more money in the bank. ^_^/

When I got home, D had already started dinner and was upstairs hanging out with the kiddos. We decided to hop back ingame from a long hiatus and see how the crew was doing and do Dynamis-Whatever. They had cancelled dynamis for the next week or so due to graduations/holiday/vacation attendance. It happens every year about this time: people get really, really busy. School lets out, people move, get married, take vacations and trips and generally have better things to do than sit inside and play a video game. It's the natural swing of things in this game. Anyway, we decided to hit up some campaigns and try to keep our ranks. They are happy with Keri, but not yet with me. D:! I'll need to do some this weekend or I'm gonna loose my Holyknight Emblem... ; ;

Oh well, might go hand-in-hand with the hiatus thing. I, for one, just really needed some time not playing the game and actually doing stuff. Stuff around the house, stuff out of town, stuff with my church. I'd love to get my house in a shape that we could host a small group or have company over. I also want to get in shape and help my wife with her fitness goals too. And it's been nice having movie nights together where we can actually talk face-to-face and be close. Not to say I don't enjoy playing this video game, but it got to the point where it was my only means of entertainment. I need more dimensions.

At that, I'm pretty sure our BLM static has fallen apart. And it's ok. Ame cancelled her content ID and plays WoW with her hubby. Life is too short to do something you don't like with the little leisure time we get in today's working world. I'm gonna hold off on leveling it without her for a bit. She said she would need to see what's in it for the next version update, but when I quit, it took an update, a new expansion pack and 3 months of curiosity to bring me back. And even then it was touch and go for a good month or two before I really felt I made a good decision.

Tomorrow would be BLM static night, but maybe I'll see what's going on with the LS or level BST instead, if I do anything in game at all. The house is still a wreck from our trip. We kinda just plopped everything down from the Vue and haven't really put any of it away yet.

Weekend Intelligence: Now with more Suzie!

Ooops. Nearly midweek before I have enough time to write a post on the holiday weekend trip to Ol' El Paso. But no matter, we had a great weekend that almost ended horribly but ended up ending awesomely. So, in typical weekend intelligence fashion (and so many loose "ends" to tie up >.>), here are the highlights!

I'm so glad I finally have a job that allows me to take some much needed vacation time. I got the approval to leave work at noon on Friday so that we could be out the door and on the road by 1. All went off without a hitch: D did an awesome job of getting everything staged, getting Clara to the doctor, getting Colin's DS from school (LOL yes the one that he had confiscated from him several weeks ago), and generally having everything ready for me to load up. Suzie's kennel fit perfectly in the back, but left no room for luggage, so it sat next to Colin. Poor Colin was in pretty tight quarters most of the trip. Lucky for him he's pretty skinny still.

DeAnn asked if the doctor had any tips for traveling with a toddler. He asked if we had a trunk or roof rack free... We weren't but 20 mins on the road and Clara started getting fussy. She was snarling fussy for practically the whole 8+ hour trip. No snacks, no toys, nothing could get her to just relax and take it easy. I was hoping she would nap a little on the way, but only took a short 30 min nap towards the end of the trip, and that ended promptly when the sun got in her eyes. My only advice for traveling with a toddler: drugs, and don't skimp on them either.

When we finally made it in, D's mom had sandwiches, mixed drinks, queso and chips and all sorts of stuff: a truly great spread! She also had a warm crib made and ready for our 20lb snarling bundle of toddler to take a long overdue trip to Sleepyland. There was eating and drinking and much rejoicing. ^_^/ She got a new laptop and camera, and needed it set up on the network, so I got to play around with computer stuff and drink and joke around well into the 2 o'clock hours.

Saturday was a late start, and I didn't care. I was on vacation for the first time in years! We bummed around the house and took naps, joked around, and basically just relaxed with family. We hit up the State Line for dinner with more of D's family. Awesome BBQ. D's mom looked after the kiddos as D and I went out on the town that night. I got her something to wear to the clubs and we went dancing and drinking at Graham Central Station till the early morning.

Sunday was started somewhat earlier: D wanted to make service from her old church, and got to catch up with some old friends and her old pastor. They were doing some major renovations to the sanctuary, so service was held in a park in a poorer neighborhood. In Crossroads fashion, it was full of outreach: in between songs, the worship leader invited people from the neighborhood over the PA to come out of their houses/apartments, have breakfast, snag a drink and hang out. They had jumping balloons and games for the kids and one guy brought a basketball and some Frisbees. We tried to do something with Papa (D's grandpa) after service, but he wanted to schedule us in, and we just were not in a scheduling mindset. We were on a relaxing vacation, not sightseeing or touring, so we just resolved to catch up with them later. D's mom took Colin and Clara and mentioned a Wine Festival going on in Las Cruces, just a little way up the road. She even gave us admission money and filled the gas tank for us to go! We spent the afternoon driving to Las Cruces, tasting all kinds of different wines. We got our names engraved on our glasses and bought a bottle of some really nice black currant wine.

We grilled out that night, got our laundry started, filled up the great inflatable hot tub and Papa stopped with his girlfriend Betty by to visit afterwards. Somewhere in there, Suzie managed to escape without anyone noticing. It wasn't until later that evening when I only saw Piffy and the demon cat scurrying around that I noticed Suzie was nowhere to be found. All my clothes were in the wash, so D and her mom went out in the dark of night to go looking for the stupid dog. Of course, she was nowhere to be found...

We got our stuff packed up and ready pretty early on Monday. I wanted to be on the road by noon - the only bit of scheduling we had. We submitted an ad online for Suzie in the newspaper. While I was hopeful of seeing her again, I felt sick leaving her behind. As we got stuff packed into the car, D saw the "Stupidu" strolling up the street from the park. Probably went out to find a boyfriend for some El Paso lovin' for the night... -.-" At least she made it back home in time to catch the ride out of town. The ride home was significantly easier. Clara was in a better mood, and D drove a quarter of the way to give my eyes a rest. Got home half past 9 and hit a Jim's before calling it a night.

The next day, I got notice that I'd be on another assignment for the remainder of the week. Picked up a few odds and ends that we need to get us through to next weekend, but nothing major, and watched the movie "In & Out" from our Blockbuster queue to relax for the night. I start on the road again, on assignment, starting tomorrow. I'm just glad I can help. ^_^/