Austin's Second Ball Game

Today we loaded up and went up to the Woodlands to watch Austin play in his second Baseball Game. He played Right Field, Catcher, and was able to bat three times. Although in the end, they lost, the effort was well displayed.

Bring on the PICTURES

Perfect Weekend

This Entry was written Sunday July 8th 2006 and was posted the Following Thursday.

The later half of last week was eye opening to say the least for me. For some reason my days shifted around on me. I think it’s because I’ve been working so many late night hours and pushing so hard to relax on the weekends… well, my body finally said “You’re a morning person, get used to it.” Sat and Sun I awoke at 6:30. It was nice and quiet in the house before everyone was up. Both mornings I made coffee, unloaded the dishes that had washed the night before then read the news on the back porch.

Saturday, I had really wanted to work around the house then do some things with the kids, basically a family day.

Grant woke up right after I got in from my morning walk (yes, I’ve started taking morning walks regularly). He and I went upstairs with some milk and watched his favorite Power Rangers show and just hung out. Ashton was up around 7:30 and the three of us made “Daddy’s Famous Cinnamon Toast” of which I ate two, Ashton three, and Grant tore one to pieces without actually eating it. We went upstairs for an hour and just hung out. We let mom sleep in until 8:30 then it was up and out into the yard. We have 3 palm trees in our backyard and they require an annual trimming. So that was my task while Corri and the kids pulled weeds. I got the trusty ladder out that my dad had given me when I bought my first house and up the trees I went. After a few hours I had them all cleaned out and the kids and Corri had done a great job with the flower beds and walk paths. They all went in to shower and clean up while I tied up all the palm tree prawns and moved them to the curb.

Standing in the back yard I could see a vast improvement in the main areas. We still have lots more to do, but the hard work has been done. It is really hard to find something as satisfying as seeing the hard work you put into your yard pay off. I smiled as the sweat dripped off my nose.

After I showered, the whole family loaded up in the car and went to the library. The kids and I had been at the park Friday evening and Ashton had begged to go to the library. Corri and I have a general rule with the kids: learn to read and we will buy you any book you want or take you to the library anytime you want. So here we all were around lunchtime walking in the front door. Ashton and Grant went to the kids books right away and I trucked along with another smile on my face. Corri went on over and applied for a library card… so I thought. Ashton and I went through several books when she finally asked “Dad, where is the young adult non-fiction”. Damn fine question I thought. We found it, and off she went while Grant and I read Disney’s Scary Stories. She came back a bit later with several books on different states. I looked through them and to my surprise she had picked all the different states that she has family living in. Pretty smart I thought.

Corri came back and got Ashton while Grant and I read some more. After a few minutes, Ashton came running up and presented her very own library card with her name on it. Her smile was bigger than mine, but not by much.

We selected 3 books for her and like the big girl she is, she went and checked them out by herself. I snapped a quick picture (that's her in the Orange and White striped shirt, sorry about the quality) of her talking to he librarian as she so. On the way home, we talked about what it means to have a library card and the fact that it’s good until she is 18 years old… to which we then talked about was only 12 years away!! Ack!

After we returned home, we all had something to eat then let it settle. Corri was feeling tired so she curled up in bed for an afternoon nap and the kids and I hit the pool.

The pool here at the Huff House is a central part of our summer. We spend a good deal of time in it on Saturdays and Sundays and usually I’ll grill hot dogs outside when we are done. This Saturday was no different, other than the fact that it really is the first time I’ve been in the pool with the kids this summer. We played and splashed. Grant worked on swimming without his floating ring and did a great job. I threw Ashton as high as I could many times until my arms hurt.

After a bit, I climbed out and sat in a chair on the back deck and just watched. Grant would throw a rock and Ashton would dive down and get it. He’d laugh when she shot to the surface with it in her hand and she would smile and let him throw it again.

“Now you’ve got it. This is what we work so hard for.” My inner voice was back and happy this time.
“Yes… this is it”

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to stay nice and the rain started to come. We packed it up then went inside to read and play on the computer. A little bit later, after the rain had died down, I was able to fire up the grill and cook up some dogs, thus keeping the summer tradition alive.

Towards the evening, we popped some popcorn and the whole family went upstairs to watch Sponge Bob Squarepants The Movie. Ashton and I curled up on one side of the couch while Grant and Corri hit the other. I was so happy and comfortable that I only saw the first 10 minutes before falling asleep. It was bliss.

Bedtime was easy for the kids and Corri went out to the hot tub with some wine and a book while I got a little work done in the office. I joined her after I finished for an hour which was really nice. Better days are really hard to come by.

Sunday morning found me sitting up in bed again at 6:30. Again, I felt great and jumped out of bed… quietly this time so as not to wake the sleeping monster named “Morning Corri” whom was next to me. Milk, Vitamins, News outside, shower, dishes and I was ready for the day. Ashton got up early and asked if I had taken my walk yet. Nope was the reply so off her and I went around the neighborhood. I took my tumbler of coffee, she her morning bottle of milk. We stopped at all her bus stops and took a sip and chatted about life in general.

We got back and sat on the back porch and talked. Just father and daughter having a good early morning talk while we watched the sun come up around 7 am. Corri and I had talked about me moving my office into the dining room and giving Ashton my office as her own room. This was the main topic of conversation and Ashton agreed it was time. So sometime before school starts, I’ll vacate this room I’m in and we’ll paint it up for Ashton to once again have her own space. Not sure how Grant will take to that, he loves sleeping in the same room as Ashton… we’ll work it out.

Grant got up a little late, but in a good mood and up we went to watch his morning shows with milk while Ashton played on her computer. I did some work on it for her which lead me to discover that I have to add a dvd player on it and replace the video card. Geez, my six year old already needs an upgrade on her computer… and it’s her second PC!

Around 10, the three of us moved out to the garage. Corri has been redoing some furniture and one side of the garage has been trashed for a few weeks thus making Corri park her car outside. I decided it was time to clean it up, so the kids and I went to work. They both tried as best they could to help me out and I must say it was funny to watch them both move things in and out of the garage. Corri awokenice and late on her own which she rarely gets to do. After a bit, all four of us where out there cleaning things up.

An hour later I stood on the street and looked into my clean garage with both cars pulled in. It’s always nice to see an accomplishment.

It’s Sunday around 2 pm as I sit here and write this. The kids are upstairs playing, waiting for me to finish so we can work on a Crystals lab that Ashton has and Corri is playing with Ashton’s new cat Maya (Don’t ask, and comments on that are NOT welcome thank you very much). Outside the window it’s raining which will put a damper on our plans to swim in a bit, but that’s ok… we have loads of fun things to do around our house… even if it’s just talking.

I stopped and smelled the Roses…

The past few weeks have been, to say the least, hectic here at the Huff Household. I’ve been up and down on side projects and working very hard to get my new ventures off the ground. In order to help out, Corri has been keeping herself and the kids out of the house as much as possible. At first, it was a huge help in that I could get a good deal of work done without being disturbed. But after a week, I started slipping and getting down. I thought this was because I was not accomplishing the amount of work that I had set out to do. But this week, I found the real reason…

Wednesday morning the alarm clock screamed out 7 AM. I stumbled across the room and hit the snooze, stepping on the dog as I went. The Snooze Bliss ended 15 minutes later and I was up. After a shower, smoke, vitamins, and milk, I hoped in the car and headed towards downtown to meet up with Hector Diaz (Nick’s dad) who has been my unofficial business mentor for over 10 years. He and I spent two and half hours at a McDonalds going over business plans and ideas. I left feeling invigorated about what I was setting out to do. I got home and Corri and the kids had already left for the day.

Walking into the quiet house hit me hard. I have gotten so used to having one or both of the kids meet me at the door and screaming “Daaaadddyyyyyy” that the silence was a hand I could feel squeeze around my heart. I went to my office and did a few things and the funk started to set in. There is nothing louder to a father than the sound of an empty house. I finished what I was working on, then closed down my office and went and sat in the living room.

“Dude, this is what you work so hard for. The kids, Corri, the family…. where are they?” my internal voice asked.
“They are gone” I answered simply
“Well, go get them idiot. You can’t push yourself hard to create a life when the reason is not always around you”

It was a simple conversation, one of those that we all have from time to time with ourselves. But they serve a great purpose. They reset us and refocus us on what is important. This one did its job.

I went to bed very early feeling better about what I was doing.

Thursday morning at 4:30 am I opened my eyes. I was wide awake and knew there was no going back to sleep. So I lay in bed and listened to the sounds of the house. Dash whimpered and gave out a muffled bark as his legs ran through his doggie dream; some water ran through a pipe; the AC turned on.

I rolled over a few times and let my body come out of sleep on its’ own. At 5:30 AM my eyes popped open all the way and I jumped out of bed. It was dark still, and with the curtains drawn in our room, it was almost a depressive dark. Corri and the kids had stayed at Rick’s house so I was able to toss open the drapes and open the windows. I smiled at the pre-dawn morning and decided that the whole house should be sunny. Moving from window to window downstairs I started to sing a little, then a lot. Luckily, at 5:30 in the morning, the neighbors aren’t out and about yet.

I started the coffee pot going and then hopped in the shower. Damn did I feel good!

At 6:45, after some milk and a bite to eat, I took my travel mug full of coffee outside and walked around the neighborhood. It was a brisk walk of about 20 minutes and when I arrived back home a little after 7, my blood was pumping and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. What the hell was going on with me????

The day flew by for me. I visited a client and dropped of some software, got a ton of emails out, finished up some loose end type projects that had been sitting around, and couldn’t wait for Corri and the kids to get home.

Late in the afternoon, Corri dropped the kids off while she ran a quick errand. I was overjoyed to see them. We played upstairs and just laughed. Corri got home a little later and we had dinner. I read extra stories and played the night night songs on my guitar just a little longer than usual. It was nice to play for them even after they had gone to sleep.

Corri and I sat outside and talked for an hour and then we went to the bedroom to finish watching the Back to the Future trilogy we had started two months ago.

The end of the movie found Corri sound asleep next to me in bed. I powered everything off and then made a check of the house. Doors – Locked; Windows – Closed; AC – Set; Garage Door – Closed. All was well.

Brushing my teeth I looked up to find that the smile I had at 5:30 this morning was still there.

My head hit the pillow and I turned a few times to listen to the sounds of the house. Corri was breathing quietly next to me, the kid monitor was broadcasting Grant and Ashton turning in their dream filled sleep. Dash whimpered.

I sighed; this is what my house should sound like.

Memorial Day 05

What a busy busy holiday weekend it was!

Corri and I stayed up too late Thursday night (which set the �tired� mood well all weekend). We grabbed a little sleep Friday night, then the festivities began.

My parents came down and we all swam Saturday during the day. We dropped the kids off over at Joleines and Corri and I went out Saturday night� again staying up way too late (Don�t we EVER learn?). Sunday was the graduation party for my cousin Clay, which was the real reason my parents came down. I�m really proud of my youngest cousin� he graduated with honors and is heading off to UT this fall. Kick ass guy to say the least. Got to see two of my uncles at his party, my grandparents, and Clay�s mom my Aunt Val who I hadn�t seen in years. Sunday night was spent cleaning up the house as was Monday morning for our first little party at the new house. I cooked (very well I might add) on the new grill, we had several friends come over, swam all day, and pretty much crashed that night. Joleine�s kids stayed with us Monday and Tuesday night.

So to say the least, Corri and I are pretty wiped out. But it was a great time. I had to come back to work on Tuesday just to get a break.

We do have pictures from Saturday when my parents were down� I�ll be posting those up later tonight or tomorrow.

Mothers Day Rescheduled

A happy mothers day to all mothers there. Here at the Huff House, we are going to reschedule it.

Corri and I stayed up a bit too late last night and polished off a bottle of wine and a few beers... which means I awoke around 4 am with a massive headache (I should remember that I can not combine those two very well). Additionally, Austin stayed with us last night and ended up getting sick all over the beds. Soooo, Corri woke up this morning and spent the entire morning taking care of Austin and doing laundry while I spent the morning in bed not able to move too much.

Couple that with terrible rain (even though we are needing it) and you pretty much get a ruined Mothers Day.

I did have several plans, and even had something setup, so I'm pretty disappointed, as is Corri.

Soooo, here at the Huff House, Mothers Day will be next Saturday. Hopefully I can make it up to Corri since she has done the work of three people here at the new house. Yesterday, when I got back from picking up Kamie, Corri had already cleaned one of the flower beds, and was working on a real mess of Bananna Trees in the far back corner of the yard. I hung a ceiling fan in the kids room, but it doesn't compare. She has pretty much single handedly gotten us unpacked and settled in. I'm thinking she deserves a really nice day.

Other than today, the weekend was really nice.

Nicks New Place

Nick is all moved into his new place now, and MAN is it coming along.

Last weekend, his dad came over and they worked on his computer area setup. Prior to moving him in, he and I were down there and talking about where to put his computer setup... because we all know, to geeks like us, that is the main concern right behind where to setup the big screen TV. Anyway, I suggested making a custom place in the hall out of glass and such, and after he made a few modifications to the original idea, the end result came out awesome! His dad provided the glass, and I showed up a little later to help with the final touches. Talk about a great work area! It's clean, minimalist in design, and is sharp. Check it out HERE.

He has also has pretty much gotten the rest of the place put together. I really like his LIVING ROOM area.

You can check out all the awesome pictures of his place HERE. (be sure to look at page 1 as well, prior to the move in.)

Congrats Nick, you are "living the life"!

Merry Christmas

A very nice Christmas was had by all.

Here is wishing you and yours a special time.

Grant and Ashton got a little under the weather, and even though Christmas Eve was a little tough with him waking up all night, Christmas day was very enjoyable.

We actually got snow for most of the day and night on Eve, it was really enjoyable and added a sense of wonder to the time. Ashton and I ran around and did those last minute things that you always forget about, and she tried to catch the snow on her tongue as we went from one store to another.

Today the kids had a blast with all the new things Santa had left for them. Grant enjoyed all things musical and Ashton entertained us all with her new microphone stand.

My parents dropped by early in the afternoon and my Uncle Perry and Cousin Clayton as well. Was great to visit with Clay as I had not seen him in several years. After everyone left, Corri took a nap to recoup from the entire week, and I cleaned the house with the kids and played with all the new toys myself (so I have a little bit of kid left in me still).

I was finally able to talk to my friend from High School, Leslie Snyder. I have known her for years and it�s always great to catch up with her again. She has moved from Vegas to Austin and I lost touch with her during that move. She is doing really well and sounds happy.

Tonight we all watched a movie and settled down. The kids are tucked away and dreaming of wonders that I can only sometimes remember from when I was a kid.

The house is now quiet, I�m full and happy, and once more Christmas passes us by moving into another year.

I�m just happy that I have family and friends to spend it with.

Happy Birthday Corri

Today is the birthday of Corri Huff... She is turning [x] years old.... Hmm, seems this program censors out her age. She is turning [no don't] years old. Damn it, she is turning [idiot, can't you learn] years old.... Grrr, sometimes technology really sucks. Ok, she will be [younger than you] years old today. Hey!

Happy Birthday Corri

Social Positions, how people never change

Last night, Nick was invited to meet up with an old friend of his from School. He asked that I go along with him and at first I was not going to. After thinking it over a bit, I decided it might not be a bad idea if I went. Turns out my thinking was correct.

This friend was a guy named Mark. Nick and Mark were good friends in their early childhood, however, as we all got to Junior and then Senior High School, Mark was accepted into the Popular Jock clique and Nick was not. Mark was still nice to Nick however, he didn't go out of his way to be friends anymore. It's the same old story really, we have all seen this happen. I knew Mark in High School only, and barely at that. He lived next door to a girl I dated and we had a class or two together, so I would bump into him from time to time.

Over the past several years, Mark and Nick have kept in touch through instant messaging and email. To Nick it seemed that Mark was "ok" with him or to him rather. So when Mark came to Houston to visit, Nick was happy to go have a drink with him.

When Nick got to my house last night, he informed me that about 15 people would be there, so I knew it would not be the great time that Nick and I normally had when we went out.

We got to the bar a little before everyone else did, grabbed a table and some drinks. About 30 minutes later, Mark came in with the first wave of people. They all headed to the bar. Thinking they would all grab some drinks and then grab a table, Nick and I decided to stay put and hold the "area" for everyone. Mark looked over, saw Nick and came over to say Hi. We both talked to him for a few minutes, catching up a bit, talking about work and such. Nothing major. However, none of the other "crew" came over. They all decided to hang out next to the bar in the middle of the bathroom doors. After a few minutes I asked Mark "Are they all just going to stand there, or do you guys want to grab an area or something?" He responded "Oh right, yeah, let me go get everyone and see"... well that was the last we talked to Mark. He went back over and hung out with the "cool crowd" from the old High School. Nick and I just laughed, these people fell right back into the old habit's they had when we were all 14! Most of them are of course 29-31 now, you would think they would have gotten the memo about the need to grow up wouldn't you?

Anyway, Nick and I watched them for a bit (they were standing 10 feet away from us), chuckled a bit, and decided that we were pretty happy to have let the old High School cliques go.

As we left, Nick said bye to Mark who commented "You're leaving?"... my thought was "Um yes jerk, what gave it away?" instead I simply said hello to another prick that was there that I hadn't noticed before then turned to Mark and said "Good seeing you again" and promptly walked away.

We left and went bar hoping to a few places and had a nice finish to the evening.

I was predicting that seeing Mark would be about like that... I think Nick did too. It's always so funny to me when I watch people "select" which friend is worth their time and which is not.

In the end it's nice to know that I have grown enough not to care what cliques or groups people "ran in" while in High School and that I don't base decisions, judgements, or opinions on them today.

Brian turns 30 (Pictures)

Not too much time to update, but last night some friends came over and we had a great time.

PICTURES HERE

Nick came over early in the day and with the help of Ashton actually baked me a really good birthday cake. That was pretty surprising... not that it was good, but that he did it. Meant a good deal to me as it's not normally in the "macho perception" of a guy... even worse when the guy pulls up in a Viper and proceeds to unload baking goods from the trunk!

But it was a nice calm relaxing birthday. Low key and enjoyable. Although Corri got a good kick out of teasing me all day long... guess I will just have to make it up in a year and half! Can't wait!

Sore Elbows

Was a real busy weekend. Nick and I decided that we would detail and polish the cars.

Saturday morning we went out looking for a 7" pad for his rotary and could not find one in all the many places we looked. So we settled on one that would fit my drill and we headed to my house to get to work. We washed the Mercedes and Viper with Dawn to strip off any protection they might have had. We then used the drill and scratch/swirl remover on both cars. Unfortunately, I was not too skilled in the process and applied way too much to the Mercedes and it ended up baking in. We also tried out the new Mister Clean No Spot car washing kit... which didn't work. Spots got baked into the Viper and by the end of Saturday night we were upset with all the results. So Sunday morning we started over with the Dawn on both cars and then polished away. Around 10 PM we had the final coat of polish on both cars and we let them "cook" over night. Monday morning we (or rather Nick) buffed both cars off and applied the final coat of "shine".

The result was great. The Mercedes looks better than it did new. The Viper looked better though Nick was not satisfied 100% with the results on that one.

I must say that I love the way both cars look after such hard work, however I am not too sure I will participate in that process again. The Zaino kit that we used is really expensive and really tough to do properly. The great thing is that all the work put a protection on the cars that is far better than any type of wax.

Many people have asked how much a job like this would cost if you went out and had it done... the answer is you can't. The best job that I have been able to find is around $500 and that only does the first step of what we did. This job would easily have cost $1,500 or so if we could have actually find someone to do it.

J Man's Birthday

Yesterday was Justin's birthday. All the friends planned a surprise party for him, so we all down-played his birthday all day. Was a great night and a great time.

Nice to be Home

The trip is over, we are back in Houston and back with the family. I updated the final three days and pictures on the Brian and Nick's American Tour area.

Now, if you will excuse me for a bit, I have tons of work to catch up on.

Final Leg

We made it to Dallas!!! Texas baby!!!!

Posted up Day 7 and 8 (In the American Tour area to your left) which takes us up to Needles, Ca. I'll finish up the last two days and get them posted up sometime tomorrow.

Loaded and Heading Out

9:30 PM local time Wednesday night, truck is loaded (we DID fit everything in) and we are headed out!

Day 5 and 6

Posted up Day 5 and 6 of the American tour

Day 4

DAY 4 is now posted up in the Nick and Brian's American Tour section.

Houston to Redmond, the Story

I created a new area on the site here to document the "little trip" Nick and I are taking cross country....

You can find the link in the Navigation area at the top left, or HERE.

Nick's baby

It started off as an interesting day today.

With Nick moving back down to Houston, one of his concerns of course was getting his 2002 Dodge Viper down here. The end result was that he shipping it via a transport company to me to store in my garage until he gets down.

It arrived this morning.

I must say, that prior to this morning, I was not a large Viper fan. I always respected the car for what it was built for and to those it appealed to. However, I got a very new liking for it today.

I met the semi it came on at the front of our neighborhood so the driver would not have too much trouble getting back out on the road. From there, I took control of the car and drove to my house. After 5 minutes of very carefully getting it into the driveway (it is only about 3 inches off the ground) I was greatly impressed. I had told Nick that I had no intention of driving it other than to my driveway, to which his response was "Yeah right, we'll see how well you do when it is sitting there in front of you". Turns out he was correct, and I had to just "take it for a spin" up to the little store in front of the subdivision. All I can say is that it is truly an impressive car. Drives very well, is comfortable, and really does not get away from you at all unless you ask it to (which I refrained from doing).

Later, I had to go to HP for a prototype feedback forum (human factors they are called). I took my Mercedes of course, which up until this morning had always been a fine car in my mind. When I parked, there was two other Vipers parked side by side near the entrance. As I passed them, one of the owners was getting in. I said "Nice car", to which his reply (of course) was "Thanks."
I could see at this point that the guy was all ready to answer the usual round of questions such as "How much did it cost?" "How fast does it go?" "Does it help you pick up chicks?" However I surprised him when I very casually said "Yeah... I got one myself this morning."
It was great to get a double take from a Viper owner with just a comment. We then proceeded to talk about the cars a bit and how the car was really just a friend of mines who is moving.

It speaks a good deal to the type of people that these cars appeal to in that this guy quickly accepted me into "his circle" simply because I was either close to an owner of one, or that I had a recent experience with one. I know a few car type owners (*cough* BMW's) that will completely just snub their noses at you if you don't have the best of that class yourself.

That's all really, it was a positive experience to have, and I now know why Nick has pursued the owning of the car for the past several years of his life.

Happy Birthday Nick Diaz

For many that read these random thoughts I have here (well, the few really as there are not many that read these) it is known that my closest friend is one Nick Diaz.

Today, February 16th, he turns 30. I am not able to send "the perfect gift" as Nick himself is usually so good at doing. Instead, I thought I would take a moment to jot down my thoughts about him as a person and what his friendship means to me. So if you don't like reading sentimental thoughts from someone who rarely analysis's his own, I suggest you come back another day when I am spouting off at some liberal political idea.

Good, you're still here. Ok, let's try this.

Nick and I met over a dozen years ago at school, through a mutual friend which sadly neither Nick nor I have contact with anymore. I suppose like many middle-teen boys, we both had our annoyances with each other, they were easily overcome however at our shared interests.

Through the years we have of course had our ups and downs just as any other friends. But for some reason (of which I look at in a bit) we always come back to some great balance. I think this is due to the fact that Nick and I "think" in the same manner. Or at the very least, we think in a complementing manner. We have the type of friendship which really requires few words in order to communicate a complex thought process. It's rare and enjoyable to find someone where a conversation such as the following can take place�

"Hey"
"Howdy" (Nick's favorite greeting)
"Did you?"
"Yeah, this morning"
"Good?"
"Yeah, better than I thought"
"Going to again?"
"Most likely"
"Cool"
"Oh, File-New, I got it"
"Great! Interested to hear the result"
"Will update"
"Great"
"Tangent, Tomorrow night we are"
"Oh, good for you"
"Yeah, happy"
"I bet"

Now, most people would hear (or read) about 3 topics there, when in reality, with Nick that above conversations spans about 9. That's the beauty of it all. Few words needed to convey many thoughts.

There are of course many other reasons why Nick and I get along so well. The fact that he loves my kids and they love him or that my wife feels comfortable around him and trusts him, or possibly the fact that I admire his ability to form a goal and pursue it. But I think mostly, it is the simple fact that no subject is "taboo" when in conversation with him. And that if he disagrees with me, he states it, yet still respects my decision all the same.

Today, Nick spends his 30th birthday by himself up in Seattle, Washington. This saddens me only a little, even though several weeks it would have done so greatly. The reason of course, is his immanent return to Houston in two weeks. I feel guilty in that with his moving back to Houston, I feel it is I who has received a great birthday present.

So here is to Mr. Nick Diaz. May his next 30 years be all that he may dream them to be.

Busy week, long overdue update

The past several weeks has been very hectic for us here at the Huff House. Nick is coming back to Texas (BIG LOUD YAY!) and I have been helping as much as I can in looking for apartments/houses etc. I will be flying up there next Friday and we will make the drive back together. Also, programming has been going crazy. I have no less than 3 projects going on at anytime and everyone wants it now. Spending 15 hours a day in front of a pc is not fun to do!

I am happy to say that I am loving contacts vs. glasses. I am still getting used to them somewhat, but I will commit to staying with them.

Corri and the kids are getting antsy these days. With the weather being so "up and down", coughs, colds, and stuffy noses have been the norm around here. Hopefully everyone will get past it all and be able to get out and about soon.

Grant is taking his first steps right now. He can walk about 6 steps before falling down on his butt. Not even 10 months old and he is trying to walk.

Ashton is spending much more time alone playing in her room or on her computer. I am not sure if this is because Grant is demanding more of Corri's time or if Ashton is just enjoying her solitude. This is something that we will watch closely, as we don't want Ashton to harbor bad feelings to wards Grant for getting all the attention.

Everything else is as it should be I suppose. We are just trying our best to keep up with the work load around here.

Take care and a happy V-day to you all.

Busy week - But great news for TOBR

This week has been very busy for us over here at the Huff House.

Grant got a sinus infection, so that had to be dealt with. Ashton has been doing just fine. She is really working on her singing talents with the X-Box game Music Mixer that Nick got us for Christmas.

Speaking of Nick, he has some pretty bad news. On Friday he was let go from Microsoft.
A very big blow to him, and a large shock to me. He looks to be OK though, a few things in reserve and a few ideas. We HOPE that something might get him back down our way to Texas :)

Work is crazy crazy. TOBR has it's first contract setup (finally) with RM Crowe and they have asked us to hurry up with Houston and go do their Dallas buildings as well. PM Realty is right behind them, so Tom and I are VERY excited about that. We have to get over to South Africa soon to put together teams and such and meet with some buyers. We will be putting together teams of Installers and Upkeep crews as well as (I think) creating a network management center to go along with all this stuff. So things are really taking off for TOBR.

My Uncle Danny is doing great. It looks like he is going to be able to go home this next week which is really exciting! What a great recovery for him.

Everything else is about as expected. I'm taking Corri out tonight, so I have to go shower. Take care!

Sickness and Health

It has been a good while since I updated here due to server changes. But those are all done now and the site is up and running just fine on the new (much faster) servers.
So here is finally an update...

The past 10 days has been very up and down for us. Business is going very well I am glad to say and that has lifted all of our spirits around here. Corri and I have had a good deal of dental work done that we have been putting off. Nothing like getting that all done and feeling good about your teeth! Unfortunately, Corri got a sinus infection after having her wisdom teeth pulled and that of course transferred to the kids for a few days. Everyone is back in good health again, although Ashton still has a bit of a runny nose.

Unfortunately, that is not all the sickness that I have to report. My Uncle Danny, my dad's next oldest brother, has been seriously ill. A little over two weeks ago, his wife Vicky checked him into the hospital with what they both thought was a serious case of the flu. It was not. Danny had contracted Bacterial Meningitis. The doctors informed them that if indeed Danny had gone to sleep that night, he would not have awoke the next morning. The following day, he had lost consciousness and his kidneys failed. It was a long week. The family outside of Houston made several trips in to see him while he was unconscious. On toward the end of the past week, he finally woke up. He was in great pain still, and spoke very little. On Saturday I made it up to Herman Hospital where he is being treated. He was awake, and recognized me as soon as I walked in. He was joking and telling us stories (often times over and over again) and generally in very good spirits. He is able to eat regular meals and feed himself. The doctors are calling it a miraculous recovery. They all thought he would not pull through I suppose. But the Huff spirit (Danny's obviously the most) pulled through. Although his kidney's have not yet restarted and he remains on Dialysis still, there is great hope of recovery for him. It is not known for sure how or where he contracted the bacteria, but it is generally believed to be from a restaurant employee who did not wash his hands... food for thought huh?

On the kid front...

Ashton is doing wonderful with her different learning toys. She has made it all the way through her Leapster that Nick got her for Christmas and we are going to go get her some additional software for it. She is getting more and more adult like as the days go on. She did get grounded all day yesterday for hitting her cousin Austin in the face Saturday night while Corri and I were out celebrating our 8 year "since we met" anniversary. Ashton was not too pleased with her punishment, but I suspect she will not be hitting anyone again.

Grant is fully mobile now. He crawls along the floor until he can pull-up on something, then walks around it to get where he wants to go. He is such a happy baby and gifts anyone in the room with his smiles as often as he can. I think he looks like me :)

I will be posting up some new pictures during the week and hope to get back to the video work I have put off for the past year of both kids, although my current work load is really high, so don't hold your breath on that.

To leave on, here are some funny "Ashton Quips".

In regarding her parents nicknaming her "Motor Mouth"...
"Why do you call me Speed Lips?"

In regarding talking with her Great Grandmother who passed away before she was born...
(Dad) "Well Ashton, you have to go up to God to speak with her"
(Ashton) "OK, I'll go do that now"
(Dad) "If you go up to God, then your mom and I will never see you again though"
(Ashton) "Well.." Dramatic Pause "I'll just have to drag you all with me then!"

After coming home from a Monster Truck show with her aunt Kamie and cousin Austin...
(Kamie) "Thank you very much for coming with us Ashton"
(Ashton) "No thanks needed aunt Kamie, I wanted to go"

When told by her mother "No we are not going to get you any toys today, I don't have enough money on me"
"I have money Mommy, don't worry about the little details"

Recovery Mode

It has taken us several days, but we just about have the house back together. Or rather, Corri just about has the house back together.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and for the kids, it truly was magical for them. Everyone left Saturday morning, and Corri and took stock of the house. After having 17 people here, it was indeed a big mess. She spent a full day working on laundry while I worked. Seems we have more stuff now to put away than we did before, but that's always the way around Christmas.

I'm backed up with work again. Tom Tanner has sold AllArea which means both he and I have been working to facilitate the sale. Mostly him of course, but with his two new twin daughters born Christmas Eve (PICTURES HERE) I am trying to help as much as I can.

I have a program due next week, and I quoted out a large one yesterday that should be a great amount of fun.

Nick will be here tomorrow! He is staying through Friday with us, so we will ring in the new year with good friends.

Christmas Pictures

OK, have had no time to put captions or organize these, simply due to the fact that many things are going on here, but HERE ARE THE CHRISTMAS PICTURES for everyone to view.

I'll come back and organize, edit, and put captions on them all within the next few days.

Merry Christmas!

Home Again

Corri and the kids should be here within the next 30 minutes and I am really looking forward to seeing them all again. I have the house all cleaned up, the Christmas lights all on and some Christmas music playing.

This past month has been busy. I really have gotten a good amount done, however, I didn't get done what I originally needed to do. Isn't that the way it always goes? So now I will have to bust my butt to hit a deadline of Jan. 5th for a program. Ugh.

On another note, Kevin and Cathy borrowed our digital camera to take some pictures of their kids for a Christmas present for friends and family. I think they are making shirts with the pictures on them using a transparent kit of some sort. Anyway, I uploaded a few of them to the photo gallery and you can see both Andrew and Alexander HERE.

Nick will be heading out of Seattle today to head for Texas. He will be going up to Dallas first for a few days, then heading down here to Houston this coming Saturday through Friday. Really looking forward to spending some time with him.

Early

Corri and the Kids are coming home a day earlier... yippie!

Instead of leaving sometime on Tuesday, they will be leaving Monday afternoon or early in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

I wanted to have much more done before they got back, but there seems to have been more to do. I *should* have gotten two programs finished, however, I just got one done and part of another. Oh well, just more work to do while everyone is here.

It's been odd having them away for so long. I have enjoyed being able to get work done in a quiet atmosphere, but I sure have missed them all.

So now they will be here Tuesday sometime during the day instead of Wednesday as will the rest of her family. Should be really interesting to see how I react there. After having the house alone for a month will be vastly different to getting raided by 17 people. Should be interesting to watch.

Corri's Birthday Pictures

Corri had a nice birthday dinner and cake at her folks place last night. They took SOME PICTURES.

Also, Kevo sent down a picture of the big Playhouse/Fort that we built for his sons.
View it here

Happy Birthday Corri

Here is to wishing my wife a Happy birthday. Send her AN E-MAIL with best wishes if you like.

I got her an Amazon Gift Certificate, I know, that's not something that is "Great" or "Special" by any means, but she IS in TN and there is no way you can get her to tell you anything she might want. Plus, she loves the actual shopping aspect of things better than actually getting things I think. Anyway, she later sent me a link of what she was getting with her GC. THIS is it, looks like I came out the winner of this purchase.

Special note, they got their first Snow up in TN today on her birthday as well... Ashton will love that.

So, here is wishing my wonderful, beautiful, young wife a happy birthday and best wishes for many more to come (though we wont count them anymore dear.)

Good Food

Last night I had a great dinner with my business partner Tom and his wife Kay. Tom makes a great steak. Later Justin stopped by and we worked on music for a few hours, it ended up being a good session. Talked to Corri for a bit as well, and worked on the laundry. Nick had a date last night that sounds like it went well.

Just over two weeks until the family returns, sure seems like a long way out.

Got some more items going up on Ebay today, little extra Christmas Cash is always nice to have.

Today I am working on finishing up the Group 1 Automotive program requested last week, as well as getting ACC some documentation I needed to get to them last week. I have much more time to work right now, but with so much on my plate I am getting farther behind than I thought I would. I also have some more items to get up online for TOBR sales. Ugh, too much to do. Oh, plus there is the fact that I am supposed to go through Ashton's room and empty out some of the larger stuffed animals and a few toys she no longer plays with, get the house decorations up for Christmas, work on the car a little... the list keeps going.

Helping Out

Helped out a friend who has his own business create a special logo today, Lower Resolution Here or download the Higher Resolution Here Considering my graphics skills are not THE best out there, I think it came out looking pretty good. Took me about 2 hours to do, as I had to learn about Channels in Photoshop and such, but I'm happy with it. Now back to programming.

Good Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really nice for us here at The Huff House. Corri's mom, dad, and grandmother all came down on Wednesday and we had an enjoyable few days with them. This morning, they all packed up and took off. In the process, they packed up Corri, Ashton, Grant, and the cat as well. So, until Christmas Eve, I am "Home Alone" if you will.

The main reason was that I have tons of work to do. Three programs going on, TOBR, and of course my normal Net-Admin type clients. It is always much more difficult to get that amount of work done when the family is home, so Corri thought it would be good to take off during the next three weeks and give me time to get everything done. I of course look forward to having the stillness of the house needed to accomplish all these projects, but I will no doubt miss them before I fall asleep tonight.

Ashton should have a really good time up there in TN, as Corri's parents run a summer camp, and of course live there as well. Which of course means she should spend a good amount of time outdoors enjoying herself, and there is the possibility of her seeing snow for the first time (Real snow, not Texas Snow).

In order to make it through the next three weeks, I properly prepared myself this evening by going to the Liqueur store and getting Buttershots, Irish Creme, and Crown Royal. Which means that I will be warm with my good Coffee and happy with my Crown and Coke. Unfortunately, it also means that I have blown my "extra spending money" all on the first night... sounds like I'm 19 all over again. But if you think about it, I no longer need to leave in order to relax and get away, and of course that was the plan.

Justin most likely will stop by tonight and we will talk about "Joining Hands" and play some music which is always enjoyable to do. Nick had a horrible time on the ski slopes this week, visit his site and he might just post about it (You can find his site on the right in the "Links" section).

When Corri and the kids return on Dec. 24th, they will also be bringing a large part of her family. I think the count right now is something like a total of 15 people that will be here at our house for Christmas... that's a full house. What I didn't think about until today is the fact that they will not be back in time to put up the tree or decorations, which means I will have a lonely night of decorating the tree while seasonal music plays in the background. This is a bit sad for me as the past two years has been so much fun with Ashton in decorating the tree and I was looking forward to Grant's first glimpse of it.

Oh well, he most likely would rather eat the pretty lights than look at them.

The Goings On

The past week has been pretty busy for us all.

Corri, Ashton, and Grant all got very sick two weeks ago and I did pretty well in not getting it until last week. It was that Flu crap that went around, and the three of them didn't move for several days. Fever, aches, coughs, etc were the norm for many days. They are all pretty much better now and I am just at the stage which I am very tired.

Corri has been getting the house ready for her Mom, Dad, and Grandmother to visit on Wednesday. Her and the kids are going to head back up to TN with them for three weeks and return on Christmas Eve with the rest of the family in tow. I think we will have close to 15 people here for Christmas. I hope to get an extra amount of work done while they are all gone, however, I am sure I will miss them.

Nick is making plans for Christmas as well. He is trying to get in visits to our family, his dad her in Houston, and his mom up in Dallas. Trying to maximize flights and minimize costs is always a pain when you have lots of people to visit is always difficult, but throw in his dog Shakkan and it makes it even more so. We have offered to keep Shakkan for him so hopefully that will help.

The Opalacz family is doing good down the street. Kevin is pretty busy right now which is a good thing going into the holidays. Andrew and Alex are doing fine as well. Cathy baked a Pumpkin Roll with cream cheese filling last week and sent some down to us along with Kevo's home made chicken soup. The soup is being eaten regularly, however Cathy's pumpkin roll was gone by the next day... very delicious.

I got a program started and completed yesterday and delivered today for first review, tomorrow morning I have a meeting on what could be my biggest program to date. This is a "Phase II" module to a program I did last year, which was the biggest one I did in 2002. Should be a nice bonus moving into the holidays. I also have another program that was approved last week, so that makes three ongoing right now.

TOBR has its first set of contract updates in hand from a building management group. They have pulled a few things out that we would have enjoyed to leave in there, but nothing that is deal shattering. In the meantime, I am still working with Government officials from South Africa which is exciting. We are on-time within our schedule and if things continue to go well, TOBR will be a good solid company by March or April... lets all hope.

I have more pictures to upload this week, and I have some more videos that I am working on as well, so keep your eyes open over the coming days for those.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Passing

Justin's father passed away Saturday September 13, 2003 at 8:03 P.M. from cancer.

Alexander Michael Opalacz

Kevin and Cathy's new baby boy arrived last Tuesday. I gave my digital camera to Kevin to take some pictures, and today I put them online for the family.

Here they are

Current Music: Shazz - El Camino Part 1 (JAZZMUSIQUE - Smooth & Stylish Downtempo from NETMUSIQUE)

Visitors

Brent came into town... a few people came over last night for an impromptu party... yes, I'm feeling it a bit, damn it but I have to remember I'm not 19 anymore

Concert

Went and saw Def Leppard last night with Kevo who has some family relations to Rick Allen the drummer. We were able to go back-stage and hang around for about an hour and a half. Had an incredible time with them all and took some pictures although with my cheap little camera they did not turn out great.

Grant is growing very fast and Ashton is keeping pace. Corri could not stand to sit around any longer today so she went and did the weekly shopping while I watched both kids... ACK! It was as difficult as one would imagine it to be. It did however inspire some scenes and dialog for my next comedy movie.

A special day

Today, May 18th, 2003 is our 6th Wedding Anniversary.

Andrew's Birthday Party

What a fun day! Kevin sure knows how to throw a kids birthday party. Lots of good food, many people, and there was even a moonwalk in the backyard! Ashton I think had more fun than even the birthday boy. She jumped in the moonwalk for almost 3 hours! I had to keep making her come out and get something to drink. By the time it was time to go, she was head to toe covered in sweat. Got her home around 6:30 and she almost didn't make it through a bath. She crawled into bed at 10 till 7, I gave her some milk, and 5 minutes later I went back to check on her... she was out, the milk having hardly been touched.

Went over to my parents house for a bit after that. My dad was in town yesterday and today. Great to see him again, it's always comfortable to just hang around him. Seems they are having to take a more active role in my nephews life as my sister keeps messing up (don't ask).

Talked to Nick, and got quite a bit of writing done tonight! I hope to get more done tomorrow as well... I have several scenes mapped out that I need to get down in print now.

Corri even made it down to the party today, people seemed surprised she was out and about. She is of course pretty sore now from being on her feet most of the day. She left early and came home to soak in the tub. Just a few more days...

and the doc says...

We went to the DOc Yesterday, we are scheduled for Tuesday Morning at 6 AM to start inducing labor. That is of course if he doesn't come on his own before then.

Current Music: Gnomusy - Birth of Blodeuwedd (Radio Rivendell - The Fantasy Station)

A news Opalacz

Good news, Kevin, Cathy, and Andrew Opalacz are adding a new member to their family. Cathy is around 4 months pregnant I think, today they found out IT'S A BOY! Yay! If you want to say congrats to Kevo, send him an email here. Both Kevo and I are excited, as both of our second childs are boys, and they will be about 5 months apart. Hopefully we can stay close and let them go to school together. Whatever happened to the time when people would do things like that?

He and I have been talking about starting some inter-family traditions... summer camping trips and such. We are both really excited about doing those things as they were part of our lives growing up. Sure hope we stick do it and carry it through.

Current Music: Evan Marks - Coast to Coast (SmoothJazz.com - The world's best Smooth Jazz - live from Monterey, Calif.)

Great Days

Gayle, this link is just for you: Nick and Brian in 92

Current Music: Tom Grant - In My Wildest Dreams (SmoothJazz.com - The world's best Smooth Jazz - live from Monterey, Calif.)

Nick in Town

Well, lots of things going on. I have taken a job now with 123City.net as a sales person basically. Should be interesting.... My position right now is Area Manager. However, they have made me a Regional Manger (which I don't want to be) and I have to start my training classes for that in 2 Weeks.

NICK DIAZ has been seen in and around the Houston area!

Picked up Nick last night and we went to dinner with Stacey. Then came back to the house and stayed up all night drinking and talking... my head is a bit sore this morning (or afternoon rather)

Great to have my friend back if even for just a day or so. It is always nice to confirm that we are able to jump right back into our friendship as if there has been no lapse of time since he left.