Things are going about as well as they usually do.  Work has actually been busier than usual.  I am working on several projects that will be launched in January.  One of the larger projects I am proud of is a flash video player that I developed for a client.

Enough about work though.  Casey and I just had some pictures taken of ourselves and the dogs.  I can post some of them once we receive them from the photographer.  Suprisingly the dogs did very well considering we were downtown with all the noise.  Well I guess Van Wert isn't really a busling metro environment either.

We have also been quite busy shopping for birthdays and Christmas.  It is hard to beleive that it is just a week away.  Definitely another cold winter too.  I love it, but Casey is having none of it...what a wimp!

I now have a facebook page as well.  Most likely I will continue to use this for long posts and upload all my media to facebook.

I just got word that they had baby Oliver this morning.  He is a healthy 9lbs 12oz.  Congratulations you two.

Oh wow, I have a blog.  I guess I should do things like post updates at regular intervals....

So far this summer has been going good.  Work has been extremely busy with just myself and our database administrator working on development.  We are currently in search of a .net programmer to join the team, but until then I will be working double time.  Job security at least!

Casey and I have been working on improvements to the yard.  Typical stuff like flowers, plants and a garden.  We haven't taken what I would consider a real vacation in some time, but we do have plans to hit up the Buffalo Wing Cookoff in Buffalo, NY during the Labor Day weekend.  The plan is to see Niagra Falls, my grandparents, friends from DAOC and get back in one piece.

Not much else to say, but keep tuned for pictures from the wing festival.  I plan to join the eating contest!

We are back from our vacation and I have been busy at work for the past two weeks and did not find time to post about it.  We went to Gatlinburg for a week of relaxation and good food.  The drive down was not too bad except that we forgot Chic-Fil-A is not open on Sunday's.  That was quite sad, but we did manage to stop at one on the way home for some tasty goodness.  We arrived around 7:00pm and decided to just kick back and enjoy the cabin for the night.  Our cabin had a king sized bed, jacuzzi, hot tub, pool table, kictchen and a beautiful view.

The first few days we spent driving/walking around all the shops found in the strips (Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg).  We went to a COSI type attraction called WonderWorks which was pretty amusing.  On our way out we buckled and stopped to talk to one of the "free tour guide" type stations we have seen in the past.  Turns out that we could get free Dollywood tickets if we would just attend a 90 minute sales pitch on a timeshare the next morning.

So next morning arrives and we show up for the sales pitch.  We are treated to a free breakfast buffet, then a tour of the facilities.  Finally we deal with the sale pitch.  All-in-all it was not as brutal as we expected even though it did last just over 2 hours.  Their last ditch attempt to get us to purchase was to sick some crazy lady on us who wanted to set us up for a free vacation next year at their resort.  She kept using the term "free taste" as if we were trying to score some high times or something.  In the end we walked away with $100 tickets for Dollywood so I would say it was worth it.

Dollywood was a good time.  The Festival of Nations was going on that week so we took in a "Rythmn of the Dance" show.  There is also a nice exhibit showcasing several birds of prey, including their bald eagles.

We spent most of the next day in the historical arts district.  If you are a fan of pottery, metal work, hand soaps, paintings and etc. then this is the place for you.  Last year we bought several pieces of pottery, but we managed to come out without spending any money this year.  Mostly because most of the work is still the same and we did not find anything unique that we had to have.

The end of our trip was spent doing mountain drives and enjoying the outdoors. We saw several wild turkey, deer and even a bear (from the side of the road).

I will not talk about all the food since I could take up an entire post on just that topic.  I will recommend that you try the following restaraunts though:  The Old Mill, Applewood Farm, The Park and Bullfish.   

Not a whole lot going on these days.  We finally got our new carpeting put in and our half-bathroom finished.  We even have a game room setup now with a tredmill and darts.  We all know I don't use the tredmill, but it looks motivating!  Towards the end of April we will be going on our "traditional" Gatlinburg trip to shop, eat and drive the mountain trails.  It isn't a major vacation, but this will be our third time going and it gets us out of Ohio for a relatively cheap price.  We are looking at possible going to Vega in September which should be fun since I have yet to make it there.  All I know about Vega is what I watch on CSI.

As usual not much to say so until next time...Fat man out. 

 

Barely 6 months have gone by since the big flood in our basement and the disasterous one in Findlay.  We have spent a lot of time getting the basement looking nice and put all new carpeting in.  All this hard work only to be woken up at 5:00 in the morning to the sound of our water senor going off.  There was so much rain and melted snow that our sump pump couldn't keep up with it and our basement took on water again.   We had to move all our stuff out so that we could have a crew come in and install fans to dry our carpet out.  We are looking into a water powered back-up system so that this will be the last time this happens.

Despite being another year closer to 30 things are going pretty good so far in 2008.  I have been keeping myself busy at work and we are working on adding more value to our house by installing carpeting in the basement rooms and a half bathroom.   Soon I will be able to game and never leave the basement!

Speaking of games; I recently bought a Nintendo WII.  That thing is so addicting.  Right now I have Mario Galaxies, WII Sports and Resident Evil 4.  The controls are so fun and if you are a lazy bum like me you might even get a work out from the sports games. 

Another big purchase I just made was the 80g Zune.  I have been wanting a large storage MP3 player for a long time and now I finally have it.  It took a lot of back and forth research between the Ipod and Zune.  Finally, I decided that Zune was best for me.  It's got plenty of storage for me, a larger screen size than the Ipod, FM tuner, decent software package (not as good as Itunes) and from what I have read is more durable and scratch resistant.  The headphones and sound quality is great.

That is all I have for now, but maybe I will actually post again before next month...

I hope everyone had a great holiday break.  I had four days off to visit family and eat lots of food.  We drove to Elwood, PA on Saturday to spend time with Casey's mother and grandfather.  The roads were not bad and traffic was pretty light considering the time of year.  The worst part was dealing with the massive winds coming hom Sunday night and then getting back on the road after a break and driving to Van Wert to spend a few days at my parents.

Everyone had a nice time and it was fun to watch my nephews open gifts and jam with their toy guitars they got.   Have a great week to those who are still on vacation.  I am back to work for 3 days and then another 4 day weekend for New Years.

Well another Thanksgiving is past and I am surely 10 lbs heavier.  Casey and I actually started the holiday the weekend before when we went to PA to visit her mom and grandpa.  It was good to get out of Ohio and we always have a good time visiting.  We took the dogs, of course, and spent the weekend there.

We then spent Thursday - Friday at my parents house in Van Wert.  Just coming off one food coma I was barely ready to partake in another gorge fest, but as you all know me....I managed!  I got to see my nephews who seem to be growing up way too fast.  Fletcher seems to have a crush on Casey so I need to keep my eyes on that little guy before he steals her from me.  <>Ryan and Natalie visited as well so we got to see their little girl Claire.

Other than that it was just a relaxing weekend playing games and watching movies while Casey had to work at the hospital.  As promised here is a picture of us with Shiloh and Willow in Van Wert.  Shannon, my sister, for those of you whom care was playing photographer for us.  There are many more pictures like this, but at the risk of looking like "That Weird Guy and his Dogs" I am only posting this. 

There has been a lot going on the past few weeks so I have not had the time to post.  I should have more news to update you on soon, but for now I'll leave you with some pictures of our dogs. 

We just took a bunch of pictures with them so I hopefully can get those posted here once I grab copies from my sister.