Happy Birthday to Me!

It doesn't get any better than Donald Duck Cartoons!

Opening my gifts from Kenneth & Kristine... and yes they wrapped my wrapped presents..

My turkey "cake" ... actually they are pull apart brownies from Publix.. Delicious!

Ricky & Me on my birthday.. he smelled like mesquite smoke because

 of the turkey.. but I wanted a picture anyway..

UAB??? Really... At Least I Got to Put Up My Christmas Tree...

Our Christmas Tree

This little girl was sitting in front of us... her face looking at the score board says it all

Yea... that's the empty student section.. depressing.. they get in for free

Ricky & I prior to the game starting... little did we know...

Well that's it... the end of the UCF season started the way it began: an incredibly boring game to a team we should have stomped all over and yet we managed to act as though first downs were against the rules of football. Today UCF played UAB to a crowd of "some." The students who get in for free didn't even want to show up. How depressing is that? This season has just been a disappointment in general. The only positive thing about this season is that Ricky and I have been able to spend it together and comfort each other in our misery. What's that old saying... Misery Loves Company.. in UCF's case misery loves the company of over 45,000 students and heaven only knows how many alumni. We all suffer together...Yay! I think the funniest part though is when Ricky made the comment today that, "There's always next season." Coming from a Cubs fan (Cubs are going on year 101 since they have won a World Series) that wasn't very encouraging.. funny yes, encouraging.. no. 

After the defeat and disgrace, we decided to drown our sorrows at our favorite Orlando area cheesesteak shop, Briantos. We met up with another one of our friends and discussed the nonsense of the game over delicious subs. After dinner, I was ready to put up our tree.

This year I had more casualties than I usually do with my ornaments. Unfortunately, since we have ceramic tile in the house, every time I dropped an ornament, pieces would break off. I had 4 dismemberments today, but with a little super glue all is well again. The tree actually came out very well. It only took me 5 hours or so to get it all up. Granted, many of you are thinking.. "Five hours, what were you doing for all that time, it takes us 45 minutes." I can't remember the last time it only took me 45 minutes to put up a tree. I have so many ornaments (each with their own boxes) that I have to remove them for their packaging, add hooks and then decide where I want to put the ornaments in relation to where I can see them. Tedious, yes. Time consuming, yes. But thoroughly relaxing. Besides, I will get to enjoy the fruits of my labors for the next month plus some, so I think it is definitely worth my while. 

All in all it has been a great weekend so far. I had a great birthday/Thanksgiving (more pictures of that to follow), I survived Black Friday, UCF finished off their losing season with a lost to UAB, and after work tomorrow we are heading over to the car show at the convention center. I must admit, I am glad I have Monday off. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crazy Weekend!

This has definitely been a full weekend. Yesterday Me, Ricky, and our friends Gary and Barb joined forces to have a yard sale. We had a few things we were trying to get rid of and to be honest we can always use a few extra bucks. So we took all of our stuff over to to their house in Waterford Friday night and went over there early on Saturday morning. We were set up from about 7AM to about 3:30PM. We had a good flow of traffic for most of the day. As with most retail type environments, we had busy times were we couldn't seem to get the money from people fast enough and then slow times where there wasn't anyone shopping. At the end of the day, Ricky and I actually made over $100, and with only selling small stuff, that's not too shabby. Granted, we didn't get the amounts that they get on Clean House, but at the same time we didn't have any big ticket items. We are planning a larger garage sale next year with some big ticket items so we shall have to see. To top off the afternoon, UCF ended up beating Memphis 28 to 21. Now we are in a 4 way tie for 2nd. Woo Hoo!

Today was another crazy day. I had to work from 6Am to 1PM. Unfortunately, because I had to work until 1PM, I wasn't able to drive Ricky to the airport today for his first Golf Channel business trip. I am still bummed about that, but there really wasn't anything I could do about it. But as of right now, Ricky should be in the air to Portland. He arrived successfully in Atlanta and I am just waiting on the text message saying that he arrived safely. Just to finish off the day, I have been fighting a migraine all day. Fun times!

So all in all it has been a crazy weekend, but I am looking forward to the rest of the week and my birthday.. Yay! 

The Business Trip to Portland

Yesterday we found out that Ricky gets to go on a business trip. Since Ricky has been promoted and moved into a different position, he will no longer be taking customer service calls. I cannot even begin to describe how happy he is about that. Since he is done with answering phones, they are relocating all of the customer support calls to Portland, OR. The problem is that no one knows how to properly use the phone system, so Ricky is going to head up there to train the them.

Ricky is excited because he loves to travel and has never been to the actual west coast. The closest he has gotten was Vegas when we went for the Star Trek Convention last year. The down side is the fact that he is going alone. When I told him that he was probably excited because he loves to travel, his response was, "Yes, but I love to travel with you." He wont be gone for too long though. He is leaving on Sunday in the afternoon and will be back on Wednesday night late. Apparently, when they were booking his flight, he made sure to tell them that he had to be home on Wednesday, not because of the fact that Thanksgiving was on Thursday, but because it was my birthday (Yay!). So assuming all goes well, he will be coming in at around 11PM on Wednesday night.

I am excited for him because I know how much he loves to travel and how much he loves to fly, but I will miss him while he is gone. I suppose I am just getting a taste of what it was like when I had to travel so much with Premiere Trade. Especially since this trip is about the same length of time that I used to be gone. But if it means that Ricky is going to be happier because he doesn't have to do customer support anymore, I am all for it. Besides, its not like he is going to Seattle.

Christmas Shopping = Exhausted

First of all, I must say I am loving this weather. Its so nice to know that we don't have to turn on our air conditioner. I think the average temperature in the house has been 69 degrees. The highest it got yesterday was 71. I love it. 

I went Christmas shopping yesterday and let me tell you it was exhausting. Last year, I did a good portion of our shopping online since I could find everything I was looking for in one place. This year I wanted to save a few bucks by getting things in the stores to save on shipping. I knew that everything I was looking for was available online, but I figured a day shopping would be good for me. So I made a list of the places I wanted to go and headed out. For the most part, I found everything I was looking for and managed to find some really good deals on a few things that I didn't even realize I wanted to get. Unfortunately, there were a few key items I couldn't find in stores, so I ended up ordering them when I got home. 

So from this point, I can honestly say I am almost done shopping. I am waiting on a few key items because I need to use my discount at Best Buy to get them. Under normal circumstances, some items aren't worth waiting for the discount because we really don't get too much off the price, but for the few gifts for Ricky, the discount is considerable. I actually spent some time today getting numbers and prices for  few things when I went to Best Buy to get WallE. But, I really don't have to wait too long for the conclusion of my shopping though because the discount should kick in next Monday. Once that kicks in, I'm going on a Christmas shopping spree (mainly for Ricky).  All in all, it has been a fairly painless shopping experience this year. Now we just need to work on making Thanksgiving a great family get together and maybe celebrate a birthday or two.. =).

How gorgeous...

Can I just say how much I love this weather? I love the fact that we can open the windows, turn off the air conditioner and just enjoy the fresh air. This is what this time of year is supposed to feel like. You can just tell it is the "fall" with the air feeling fresh and clean versus being muggy and gross. I love it!

We Won???

Ricky & I before the Marshall Game

UCF CONTINUES THEIR C-USA UNDEFEATED STREAK AGAINST MARSHALL

(30-14 UCF)

Three words and phrases to describe this game would be:

Smoke,  Points in the 2nd half, and Offensive Points? 

Today's UCF game was televised from Marshall. Marshall decided in their infinite wisdom that scheduling UCF for their Homecoming game was a good idea. Unfortunately, what they didn't realize was the fact that UCF doesn't have too many streaks left to hold on to, so beating Marshall in C-USA is necessary for morale. 

We invited a few of the tubas over to enjoy the game and some experimental food. Ricky wants to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving this year and wanted to test his smoking abilities. Especially since we don't actually have a smoker. Ricky read about a way to convert his grill into a smoker and aside from the fact it took 10 hours to smoke, the pork was really really good. It was definitely worth the trouble and now we know that smoking the turkey for Thanksgiving will work.  The only disadvantage is the fact that now the house smells of mesquite. At least it is supposed to be cooler this week so we can have the windows open and get some fresh air in. 

Surprisingly to everyone, UCF actually won. I watched the first half with the guys, but once half time came, I decided to play board games with my mom, Kenneth, and Kristine out in the other room. I based how we were doing by the screams coming from the guys. I am just happy that we finally won another game. The best sound was when a scream of disbelief came from the family room when Dan yells in a questioning voice..."We won??" At that moment, I knew we had won, but I also was reminded about how badly we were doing this season... so badly that fans are surprised and slightly confused when we actually do win. Either way, UCF managed to put another win in the W column. Not matter what we do though, UCF cannot have a winning season this year. Go Knights....

And the winner is.... Mac

Guess what... I have made a decision....

For those of you who don't know, I have been deliberating over a dilemma for the past couple of days over which laptop to buy. I have wanted to purchase a MacBook for grad school, but the model I wanted to get (the cheaper one) is being discontinued and I didn't know if I was going to get all of my money in time to purchase the one I wanted. The problem was that the new one was going to be over $300 more than the low end one. 

As I went into Best Buy this week, I was looking into PCs because they tend to be cheaper and I wanted to know what my options were. I found an HP that was considerably cheaper than the Mac, but I would have to deal with Vista (Not something I was looking forward to). I was prepared to purchase the HP because I didn't think I was going to be able to afford the Mac in time and I was having an emotional dilemma. With arguments coming from Ricky for the PC and Kenneth for the Mac I didn't know what to do. Should I get the HP or wait and see if I could get a Mac?

So after thinking about the options, I decided to ask the one non-biased person that is up at 5:30 in the morning while I was waiting to go to work.... my mom. I talked to her about my options and we came to the decision that I would get the Mac one way or another. 

So I went to the Mac Store in Altamonte after work today and talked with the rep to discuss my options. He first asked me if I had a student id and when I told him yes he smiled and said that I was going to get a great deal. After hearing that, I was ready to buy. I told him my thoughts and I left with a Macbook and iWork. The best part was that fact that I had pretty much the exact amount in our account that I needed for the purchase today (and I was still waiting on money from Pearson for my testing).

Yay! I got my laptop today and I am a happy camper. I am glad that I had the dilemma though because it made me realize how much I really wanted the Mac and that I made the right decision. To top it off, when I got home today, I received the rest of my money from Pearson, so now I have replacement funds for my account.. Yay for Christmas shopping money! 

Even More UCF Homecoming '08 Photos

Trip with his tuba

Smokin' Joe warming up

UCF Huddle

He steps back to throw...

Dave & Annika in the stands

More Homecoming '08 Photos

UCF Marching Knights & Alumni on the field for half time

Annika & I outside of Tailgaters

Ricky and his tuba

Rachel playing the mellophone

Emma looking very spirited

UCF Homecoming '08

Ricky & I before band rehearsal

The Sousas

Alana laughing at Ricky and his Sousa mouthpiece

Ricky & Laura

UCF DROPS THE BALL INTO THE EAGLE'S HANDS
(17-6 Southern Miss)

Three words to describe this game were:
Sousas, Sunburn, and Lost

This past weekend, UCF held their Homecoming Game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Aside from the fact that the game was horribly dull and we lost didn't ruin our day. Ricky participated in the alumni marching band which meant that he was going to perform with the current Marching Knights during half time.

We started off the day fairly early (but I'm sure not as early as some). We checked in and went out to the practice field where the alumni band were going to go over their music and practice their moves. While Rachel, Annika, and Ricky were marching Dave and I took turns keeping an eye on Emma for Rachel and going up into the tower to take pictures. It was actually quite fun to watch because once the band started to play Twist and Shout, they had to learn their dance steps. So of course, Emma and I started to learn them as well. I must say we had some pretty rockin' moves.

After practice, we had lunch near the alumni center. This year's food wasn't as good as last year, but we managed to survive. Once 3PM rolled around we got into our positions in the stands and watched the game. We started so well and then it just went downhill. Fortunately, at half time we got to watch the alumni band perform, which is always fun. Ricky even forgot a step, but I didn't even notice until he said something.

Another cool aspect of this game was the fact that my aunt was able to join us and watch my cousin Henry as he participated in the UCF colorguard once again. This time Henry got to carry the Army flag. This colorguard was a mixture of Army and Air Force, but unfortunately when they announced them, they only mentioned Air Force. Boo Hiss to the announcer for that one.

After the game, the tubas, my aunt, cousin Henry and Lena all went to Outback for dinner. By looking at us you would have thought we had all run a marathon. We looked exhausted and it was only 8PM. I guess that's what happens when you get older.

All in all it was a great day filled with great friends... I kind of wish we would have won, but there is always next year.

Trivia and Beef O Bradys

So last night Ricky and I decided to go to Beef O Brady's for dinner. It was just the two of us since Kenneth was at a meeting and Kristine had to work. We had been talking about going to eat there since neither of us had been in such a long time. I used to go all the time when I was younger because we would go after baseball games. Unfortunately, the one in St. Pete went out of business and Cici's Pizza moved in instead.

We knew we wanted to go, but we had to make sure it wasn't on a Tuesday (Kids eat free on Tuesdays at ours) so being that it was Thursday was perfect. As we pulled up we looked through the window and I think there might have been 5 other people in the restaurant. Needless to say, it was not too difficult to find a table.

So as we were eating, a lady came up to our table and asked if we were interested in playing trivia... Us? Trivia? Do you even need to ask? Of course we want to play... and if we're lucky, we will win. I mean really.. who has more useless knowledge than Ricky? So the game had 3 rounds each one getting harder and harder. The first two rounds, we got 2 wrong, so we had lost 6 points (each question in round 1 was 1 point, round 2 was 2 points), but to be honest, that's not that bad. The third round is what really got us. There were some questions that we just didn't know, so we were guessing... and guessing wrong. In the end, out of a possible 61 points, we scored 52. Since we weren't expecting to play trivia and we managed to get all but 9 points, I think we did fairly well. I think next time our whole house should go, because between the 4 of us, we should be able to get every question right.

All in all, dinner was great and considering we had a nice surprise with the trivia, it made for a very fun evening. Now we are just looking forward to this weekend and UCF Homecoming! Maybe we'll win a game... wouldn't that be a novel idea...

The guys in purple are NOT on our team Greco...

It didn't rain during the game, but it definitely did before

Ricky & I before the disappointment

A shot before the game got too ridiculous..

The hits keep coming as UCF loses another C-USA Game:
But this time in the BRIGHTHOUSE.

10-13 ECU (Overtime)

The three words I would use to describe this game are:
RIDICULOUS, RIDICULOUS, RIDICULOUS

I don't even want to talk about how ridiculous that game was last night. We lost to ECU in overtime because our QB decided tonight was the night to try something new. Everyone knows that UCF's strategies have always been Run Run Pass Punt... that's just what we do, but yesterday on first down in overtime, we decide to through the ball DIRECTLY to an ECU player. The player from ECU didn't run in front of our player or catch it because it was bobbled.. NO... he was thrown the ball directly. It was RIDICULOUS.

I think the worst part of all, is the fact that their kicker misses 2 field goals during the game and then proceeds to kick the winning field goal in overtime to win the game... RIDICULOUS!

And in case you thought the hits have stopped, that was the first conference game we have lost at home in several years, not to mention the fact that it was the first home conference game we have lost in the Brighthouse. RIDICULOUS!

Oh my...

Ricky & Drew dressed up as Wayne & Garth... the later years

It's Coming....

NOVEMBER 13th 2008

Halloween Costumes!

Pyramid Head (Luke), Sexy Eskimo (Kristine), & Ace Ventura (Kenneth)

Ace Ventura calling all of his animal friends

Ace attempting to steal a penguin from an Eskimo... she doesn't look too happy about that...

Never fear...
more pictures to come, I don't have the pictures of Ricky and Drew
yet since I wasn't able to go to the party with them...

By the way.... Ricky managed to win a pumpkin pie eating contest. He ate an entire pumpkin pie (including the crust) in under 3 minutes. This is why I love him.... and in case you are wondering, we are going to proudly display his trophy next to our 24K gold ship on a stick!

*For those of you who don't know what the ship on a stick is... its those little plastic carnival cruise ship trophies you win on carnival cruises... which I won for beating everyone at the trivia contest*