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I know I know, it's been many months since I've updated here... what can I say, things have been busy and most of you who read this call or visit anyway :)
I've just completed my contract with AEP in Ohio and am moving on to other contracts which are in review right now.
The family and crew are doing great down here. Last month my sister Kamie and her son Austin came to live with us while Kamie heads back to school... that is going great and we're happy to have them here.
We are enjoying the holiday now as it's just kicking off... heading to the farm today to visit and enjoy the relaxation.
On a sad note, my grandmother from my mothers side, Virgina Jones, passed away a few weeks ago due to a long and painful fight with cancer. It was a sad time in an otherwise enjoyable year. She is no longer in constant pain, and for that I am grateful.
Drop an email, phone call, or visit if you're interested in anything else going on with us at the Huff House!
Well, Corri has pretty much recovered from her Surgery, she still gets a little sore from time to time, but all looks to be fixed up, YAY!
Everyone is doing really well here at the Huff House, no complaints really, unless of course it's Ashton talking about how bored she is this summer... do you know a 7 year old who isn't?
We're going to eliminate that boredom at the end of the week as we are taking a very long road trip up to North Carolina to visit Corri's side of the family. This should be a really fun trip as it's the first one where all of us are loading up and going cross country. We'll be there a week and in the middle of that week I'll be heading up to Columbus, OH for some work stuff for a day or so. Once we return to Houston I'm sure that I'll be done driving for a good long time!
Has anyone been watching the Britan's Got Talent show? If so, then this next bit will be known to you...
BGT is a show very similar to American Idol, only it's less about commercialism and more about actual real talent. The overall winner of the thing was an Opera singing Mobile Phone salesman. I'll not go into details, but take some time to watch these video clips of his performance...
Paul's first performance at the audition
Paul Potts wins the Semi Final
Paul wins the Final!
The entire UK has gone crazy over this guy... it's amazing to watch really if you can google his name and read some of the UK papers it's wonderful. There is no way that a guy like that could win here in America seeing as how most Americans could care less about fine arts, or talent for that matter. Here it's all about who would look best on the front of a National Enquire magazine. I'm happy to see that at least in some parts of the world, talent is what counts and that a guy like Paul Potts can win the day.
Corri had surgery this week! Ack! Wednesday morning she went in and today (Friday) around 1PM we got her home. She is well and recovering fine, if a bit slow... but she'll hang in there.
Also, 10 years ago today Corri and I said our vows. Wow, 10 years... and many of you thought we wouldn't make it! :)
Needles to say, we are postponing our Anniversary celebration until she is up and moving around.
Happy Anniversary Corri, Get Well Soon!
Last month, Nick and Erin tied the knot! Congratulations to you both! I’d have to say it was hands down the best wedding I have ever attended. I was honored to be in the wedding itself along with Nick’s brother Ben (best man) and Nick’s father Hector. They put so much thought and planning into the event itself, it was wonderful. The ceremony itself was just the right length and the reception after was a blast! If you are interested in seeing pictures head on over to www.teneophoto.com and go to the Weddings link, then click on Clients up top. You’ll then see a place for a password on the right, enter the word diaz and enjoy some of the best wedding pictures ever taken. Warning there are over 300 pictures there! We got new outfits for the kids and took a few PICTURES prior to going. They look awesome. Ashton was the perfect little princes and Grant stole the show on the dance floor late in the evening. It was difficult to get him to stop dancing!
Last month, the kids and I stepped outside and rode around on the bikes. Ashton didn’t think I could ride a bike, so I hoped on her little 18” and did a few laps… she grabbed the camera and took some PICTURES for proof.
I mentioned in my last update that I got a new car, here are the PICTURES.
We had a round of the stomach bug pass through the house last week. Everyone but myself got it. What a mess it was for a few days, but Friday came around and we were able to celebrate my birthday in style. Now Grant and Ashton have the annual 1 month cough that they always get which is always a lot of fun.
Ashton started swim lessons yesterday. That kid is happiest in the pool than any other place. She is such a great swimmer. I can’t wait to open our pool for the summer, which we plan to do the first weekend in May (Grant’s b-day party).
I was in Ohio last month for a quick trip for work, I’ll most likely be up there again in the next month or so. All in all work is going really well and I’m very happy with the progress of some of my side deals. Can’t really complain there.
That’s the quick update from the Huff House in Houston. Hope all is well with everyone reading this!
We have installed a few new upgrades here around the Huff House over the past week. Both of our cars were getting a little long in the tooth so to speak… ok well mine had 50 foot teeth!
My friend Kevin bought a new Mini-Van a few weeks back and he called to ask if I would be interested in buying the one he was replacing. After looking it over and running the numbers I couldn’t pass up the deal, so last Friday Corri officially took possession on her new Town and Country mini-van… yes, she is officially a Mini-Van-Moma and she loves it. I must say it’s a super nice ride with remote controlled doors that slide open with the push of a button. It’s in wonderful shape and runs great. We loaded up the kids and Austin last Friday and took them to my moms. It was so nice that Corri and I could sit in the front and have a conversation without the kids interrupting us. She has been carting 4 or 5 kids around at different time all this week.
During the same time I put my Mercedes in the shop to have the front end looked out. Well, while it was in the shop the transmission failed. So I had to put in a new tranny plus do some other things to it. It finally passed the emissions inspection and is now legal. However, when I picked it up last Friday and drove it home, the damn front end was still messed up… and that was the original thing I put it in for. So back to the shop it went. After all this mess I decided it was time to replace it. So I called a friend of mine that works at a dealership and told him to keep his eyes open for a very specific car and I’ll be damned if he didn’t find it exactly the very next day. So I made the leap from Mercedes to BMW this past Monday with an 01 325Ci Convertible. It’s a great car with 3 years and 36,000 miles left on the dealer bumper-to-bumper warranty. Now I just need to get the Mercedes out of the shop and sell it and we will be all done.
It’s funny because the van and the bmw are both 01’s, Silver, with gray leather interior. When you open our garage now it looks like a big silver animal exploded in there.
So that ends the Mercedes era for me. I have owned 3 of them so far and I think I am finally done with them. After doing all the research on the quality of BMW, and having known many owners of them, I’ll most likely stick with them for a while.
Everyone else here is doing wonderful… I’m very thankful in that it seems everything I put any effort into right now is going really well. There really is no point in which I’m having any issues! How often can you say that about life?
Well, it's finally time. Dash is officially looking for a new home now. We just don't have the room for him anymore. The past two weeks of really bad weather has driven that point home.
I've put a listing up on Craig's List which you can read here if you know anyone who might be interested.
We really hate to loose him but we think he will be much happier with a bigger yard and other dogs to play with.
Wow, we are not even one month into the new year and things here at the Huff House are really going fast… and great I might add!
GIRL SCOUT COOKIE ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey all, Ashton is selling Girl Scout cookies this week. They are $3.50 a box and will be in next month. Money is due on arrival. You all know your favorites I’m sure, so shoot me an email if you want any! Orders are closed off at the end of this week, so get your order in quickly!
Job Stuff
First off, a quick job update just to get it out of the way. The contract that I have been working since October got extended for a year. Originally it was just to be a 4 month deal but the contractor (AEP) likes our work so much that they moved a project forward and we are staying on. This means a few more trips up to the North East for me, but it comes with a great job. Additionally, full benefits kicked in on Jan 1, so the entire family is re-covered on insurance (health, dental, AND vision) woohoo! Work wise, I’m as happy as I have ever been.
Ok, now onto family things.
New Years:
New Years Eve was quite here at the Huff House. We typically just stay in, shoot off a few fireworks for the kids, kiss at midnight, then crash. That’s pretty much what happened this year but with the addition of Rick and his daughter Kayla with us as well. Ashton and Grant didn’t make it past 10 pm.
Dances: (PICTURES)
We move on past the first to Jan 13th. This was a big day for Ashton and I as it was her Girl Scouts “Winter Ball” which is a father daughter dance. We got all fancied up in our finest and went to a great ball. Rick knows someone with a Limo so we arrived in style. Rick’s daughter is a Girl Scout as well, so the four of us went together and had a ball (pun intended).
Animals (PICTURES)
Ashton had a kitten named Leo whom was a stray that Corri found out on the road (damn her mothering instincts). Over the Holidays, he decided that my office was a litter box. Needles to say, he couldn’t stay. Around the first of the year he got out and ran off. It broke Ashton’s heart and she cried on my shoulder a great deal. Well, I’m a sucker for a crying Ashton (I think she knows that) so I gave in and said she could pick out another pet. She chose a Ferret, which meant that Grant had to have one too. Corri was all too happy to jump online and research them and find some. We ended up finding an entire setup on Craig’s List that had 2 of them that had grown up together plus a HUGE cage all for a really cheap price. A few weeks later Corri couldn’t stand not having her own, so on Jan 18th I told her she could have her own. Incidentally, Jan 18th, 2007 marked 11 years for Corri and I (of meeting, not marriage). That’s two years in a row I’ve given her an animal for that anniversary (last year was Bishop the cat)… if she’s reading this right now: “Don’t get used to it Corri!!!!” Grant got the Albino boy whom he named Nick (or ThunderNick as he says), Ashton the Silver Sable girl whom she named Princes, and Corri got the Dark Sable boy named Seth.
Cars:
We have been needing to something about a family car here at the Huff House for years now. Corri has an Acura Integra that was owned by Wendy (my step-mother) for many years. Well, it’s just not big enough for a family of four. We have been looking at SUV’s and Mini-Vans for about a year now. I’m finally making a move on one as Kevin Opalacz bought a new one and is selling his very nice Chrysler Town & Country LXi to me. Which means we are playing the car-shuffle game here now. My Mercedes has had an issue for a few weeks with the front suspension so I put it in the shop for that and to see what kind of shape it’s in. I’ll put the Acura in the shop right after for it’s 90,000 mile maintenance and to see what kind of shape it’s in as well. Whichever one will cost less to keep (repair wise and such) I’ll keep and sell the other one in order to get the van for Corri. I’ll then wait a few months and pay off a few final debts then get myself something else. So if you know anyone looking for a great dependable car shoot me an email.
All in all things are wonderful here at the Huff House. Hope that the new year has been as great to everyone else!
Things have been nice and busy here at the Huff House the past two months.
Thanksgiving was a fun time. We spent some time at my moms house as well as the farm.
Christmas was even better around here. We had several weeks worth of Christmas with my mom, then here at our house, then in San Antonio with my parents and sister, then at the Westfall house with Rick and his family. We still have not recovered completely, just one look at our poor house will tell you that! :)
But the kids had a blast which is all that matters.
Here are many pictures!
Ashton's Field Day 2006
Thanksgiving - Ashton visits her friend
Christmas 2006
Last week, I posted about my trip around the history of flight in Dayton, OH. Turns out that Brent Merritt is working for the rail-road in Dayton and has been living there since Oct 8th! Talk about a small world! He sent an email over and the last Friday night I was up there, I drove over to Dayton (from Columbus) after work We caught up and drove around exploring Dayton and the surrounding areas late into the night, talking and driving to no place in particular… just like old times, it was wonderful. It’s been over 3 years since he and I have seen each other. He is doing great. He and his brother Dustin are living up there working for the rail-road and enjoying it. They most likely will be staying for a long time and are looking into getting an apartment or small house together. That really ended the trip on a good note.
I flew back to Houston Sat. afternoon on a nice easy flight. Amazingly, both the flight up there and the return flight arrived early, that’s always a bonus.
Tracey picked me up from the airport and when I finally got home there was many a cheer to be heard.
So this week starts the first official week of telecommuting for the new contract I am working with AEP. Got off to a slow start, but in the end, as usual, I ended up working more hours here than I did up there. That’s the trouble with having your office in your home… you just never really can separate the two.
Corri finished up all kinds of projects while I was gone, so I had lots of new things to look at around the house. With Rick’s help, she completed the curtain project in our bedroom, transplanted the rose bushes, rocked in the rose bush flower bed, rocked in the Texas Sage flower bed, cleaned the house, put wood flooring down in Rick’s front room, and got a plumbing leak fixed! That girl was busy!
This weekend we are doing lots of things for and with the kids. Soccer game for Ashton to go to, Girl Scout stuff, a new friend is coming over for her to play with later… all around fun stuff.
Tomorrow Rick’s mom and dad are cooking a Turkey and we are doing a mini-thanksgiving dinner at his house, that will be great fun and should officially welcome in the Holiday for us I suppose… crap, it’s only 1 month away!
PICTURES - read the post before viewing though.
Saturday was pretty boring. The weather was supposed to be bad, so I didn’t plan getting out of the hotel at all. However, the morning wasn’t too bad, so I decided to get out and about and see the sights.
I checked out OSU, and drove around Columbus. Some neat things to see, but nothing to really write about.
Today, however, was a beautiful day. I hoped in the car, and headed to Dayton, OH.
For those of you who don’t know, Dayton is where the Wright brothers did their work, and I’m a huge history buff as well as a flying buff.
The first place was in downtown Dayton; The Cycle Shop. The 4th shop that the brothers had is still in the same place. This is the shop where the idea of flight first really became serious to the brothers. They started some of their first drawings and ideas in this shop. Over the years, the shop became many things, but it’s been restored to the best that history can tell us. It was awesome to stand in the same shop as they. The floor was still original, and you could see the “walk paths” that they took around machinery and such. It was great.
I then went next door to the Wright Museum. This was neat in that there was a really informative movie on their life and progression of flight. Other than that, there wasn’t too much to see.
I then got in the car and drove across the Mighty Miami river (which is very big) and went to the Carillon Historical Park. This is an open air style park meaning there is a bunch of building in a park and you walk from one to the other. The first part of the park was a really nice walk through the Pioneer age of Ohio, roughly the last 20 years of the 1800’s. A schoolhouse, cabin, and tavern where all open for full walk through, these are all original buildings.
The crown jewel of the park however, is the Write Brothers Aviation Hall. In the late 1930’s Orville Write (the remaining brother) worked with the founder of NCR from here in Ohio, to build a building that would house some of the Wright brother’s actual work. He retrieved all the pieces and parts of the original 1905 flyer. Now, the brothers took the first powered flight in 1903 at Kittyhawk. That’s the famous flight that everyone talks about. However, not until they built their 3rd plane in 1905 did they consider their plane usable and flyable. This is the first plane they could actually turn and they did it at Huffman Prairie just outside Dayton. With the 1905 flyer, they could stay in the air up to an hour and had complete control of the flyer. This is also the plane they used in 1908 to prove to the Army that it would work. In other words, out of all the planes the brothers built, this is the most important to them. They used the 1905 as the basis for their “Wright Flyer I” which was the first production one built. He personally worked with people who put it back together, and when all was said and done, the plane was 85% all original, not replicas at all. That’s huge, because even the first plane that is in the Smithsonian is only about 20% or so original, much of it had to be rebuilt from drawings.
I stood and stared at it for almost an hour. I was alone with the tour guide (this is the end of the tourist season up here) and he gave me tons of information and pointed out all kinds of things. I was amazed, and it felt great.
The rest of the park had a ton of great things, the original Engine ever built by the B&O Railroad company. Some first class luxury train cars from the early 1900’s.
I spent about 5 hours in the park total and plan to go back again.
I didn’t bring my digital camera with me here on this trip, but I took a ton of pictures with my phone, they aren’t all that great, but you get the idea of everything. I plan on going back there again soon and taking better pictures.
All in all, it was a great trip over to Dayton today, one that I will cherish, and one that most everyone reading this is happy that I didn’t drag them along on.
Sorry for lack of updates lately, for some reason I’ve just not been in the mood to post.
Lots of stuff going on right now at the Huff House (I seem to start off most of my posts with that line).
Poor Ashton has been through just about every sickness that a little girl can go through. Strep, Flu, even Chicken Pox has tested her ability to handle being indoors and not going to school. The worst is that it all started on her birthday. Poor little girl. However, the good news is that she is finally over the Pox and tomorrow she gets to go back to school. The bad news, is that she has missed 9 days of school this year and it’s still only the first half. So now if she gets sick even for 1 day, she has to go get a doctors note. In true fashion though, she is going through it all like a trooper.
Grant is at the end of the “terrible three’s”. I said this about Ashton, and it proved true with Grant, I’ll take the two’s any day of the week over the three’s! Just about everything makes him cry right now. This happened to him almost a year ago and now again, exactly as it did with Ashton. So to all you out there reading this and might be planning a family, make vacation plans for the age of three.
On the work front, I’ve taken a contract with KForce to do some work for American Electric Power (AEP) which is the upper mid-west electric utility provider. The great thing about it is that I will be telecommuting on this three or four month contract, the bad thing is that it is based in Columbus, Ohio. Which basically means I have to spend a little of each month in Ohio which is actually where I am right now. I flew in last Sunday from a wonderfully nice day in Houston to cold rain. Monday morning I awoke to snow. Ugh. I’ll be here for two weeks until Nov 4th. Which means I’m missing Ashton’s field day which I worked at last year, as well as Halloween. The family understands, but it still sucks all the same.
Corri is having fun trying to deal with everything while I am gone. Luckily I’ve traveled a good deal in my career so she is used to me being gone, unfortunately she’s not really used to it with both kids being home and one of them being sick. So for that, a quick “I love you Corri” for her being such a trooper. I’ll have to make sure this Birthday and Christmas is really great for her.
It’s a little after midnight here in OH so I’m off to sleep.
The big news today is that Grant has finally started to use the toilet. There have been about 8 people working on him over the past month to get trained to use it and it finally has started to work. Corri worked it pretty much the same way as she did with Ashton, get them really cool underwear that they really like and start giving it to them as they use the toilet... Grant doesn't want his Power Rangers underwear messed up. Of course he is in the bathroom every few minutes trying to go again because Corri is making such a huge fuss over it. Hopefully the days of diapers are soon to be over here at the Huff House.
Last Sunday I hurt my back yet again (damn old back). I've been pretty much laid up all week and not getting a ton of work done. I hate it when I do this because it makes me feel pretty much useless. But here it is Thursday and things are feeling better, so hopefully in a few more days I'll be back to 100%.
We have two more weeks left of summer vacation for Ashton. She starts FIRST GRADE on the 16th! That is just so damn cool. I'm excited to see what this year will bring for her. For me, 1st grade is when I remember really starting to learn stuff. I think I'm looking forward to junior high the most for her... I'm too easily excited over this kind of stuff.
In celebration of going back to school, we are throwing her a pool party on Saturday. She has invited over friends from school and family friends as well. If you get this, and are looking for something to do on Saturday, give us a call, we'll be doing hot dogs and burgers and such while around the pool most of the day.
Work is going very very well. I'm excited about what the end of 2006 is going to bring around.
Everything else is going as planned here at the Huff House, hope all is well with you and yours.
Hi there, long time no talk right? Yes, yes, I know, it's been ages since any update was forthcoming here, however here it is, so quick complaining already!
As always there is lots of stuff going on here at the Huff House. Earlier in the year, the kids and I gave Mom the day off and we went to the boat show. I snapped a few PICTURES while there, however, our digital camera finally gave out after years of service.
A little later, Grant decided to play MAGICIAN for us all.
Oh, also, we added some pictures from this past Christmas that Wendy sent over... they're mixed in with our set of Christmas PICTURES as well, but you can tell the difference I'm sure :)
In these, there are some of the best ever taken... here are a few of my favorites:
Grant the Cowboy
Grant the Spider Man Cowbow Wizard
Ashton the Princess
The whole Family
Ok, that's a good amount of pictures to go through for a while.
2006 is being really good to us here. Ashton is doing so well in school... she got her second to the last report card in today and had almost all E's (which is like an A+). She enjoys it, but we fear she is getting a little board. They tested her in reading last month and she is reading well past the first grade level.
Grant has finally flushed out his full personality, and it's all HAM.
I'm working away on several different things and the day job is going well. Corri of course has her hands full around the house. Kamie is spending every other weekend down here with Austin, which means Corri and I get to go out sometimes and actually act like adults together.
This past Easter weekend, I loaded up the kids and wife up and we went to my Mom's house. It's the first time I have seen her in a long time and it was a little nerve wracking, but the end result was good. The kids (and more so Corri I think) had a blast playing with the monkeys they have up there (they breed them). About 40-60 Lemurs were going crazy and of course Ashton and Corri were hitting me up for one before they even walked out of the walk-in cages. I'll post some pictures up when I get them. Grant enjoyed riding the Four-Wheelers the best I think... he figured out that if he smashed his hand against your thumb (the one working the throttle) he could make us go REALLY fast. All in all a very good Easter weekend. Considering it started off on Thursday with my 32nd Birthday (don't you feel old reading this dad?) I'd say it was a better one than we have had in a long time.
That's it for now, I'll try to post more than once every few months in the future... it's just a bit tough with all the projects going on.
Take care all!
The Huffs
Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. Things are nice and busy around here but everyone is doing very very well. I have some pictures to upload from around the house from the boat show that I took the kids to and I'll get those up soon. Bad news is my digital camera finally died (it was only 10 years old heh) so I wont get any new ones soon.
Anyway, I'll be posting longer over the weekend... again sorry for the lack of updates.
Whew, we made it.
We took off Friday after my half day of work and went to the farm for the night. Really enjoyed our stay as we were the only ones up there and didn’t tax my grandparents too much with the visit. Corri had made her homemade Chicken and Dumplings Thursday night to take up there, so we all enjoyed a nice dinner Friday. We exchanged gifts that night and had an early bed turn in. Saturday we spent the day feeding the animals, Ashton and Grant drove the tractors for us, then Grant rode a bull with his new black cowboy hat… he made the full 8 seconds.
We got back home around 3 and Corri and I got everything ready for visitors later that night. There were a few problems and everyone kinda flaked on us, so Corri and I enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve in the hot tub with wine. Can’t complain too much about that.
The kids woke around 7 am and were delighted to see that Santa did stop by even though they had been really really terrible all year long ;)
A few other picture notes:
Ashton had her school Christmas party of which Corri and Grant attended. Corri said all they did was sit around and eat, so she only took One Picture.
Grant was in a motorcycle mood a few weeks ago and we snapped a few PICTURES of him in his full riding attire.
We combined Birthday and Christmas for Corri and got her Mothers Ring finally, and she is very happy with that.
Hope everyone is enjoying this nice time of year, we sure are. Will post again next year!
Yesterday Corri turned... well, I can't really say, but the number starts with a 3 and ends with a 0... we'll just leave it at that.
We had a nice weekend. I've worked most of the weekend on a side project for Kevin and should finish up tonight. Last night, we headed out to the club for a nice evening. Robyn and Eric showed up which was really cool and we all came back to our house and hung out until early in the morning. Woke up and took them back to their car and then back to work today.. ugh, so much to do.
Dad and Wendy stopped in as well yesterday. They were in town for an annual party with some of his friends that he grew up with. Always nice to see them.
Looks like all of our Christmas shopping is pretty much done. Corri spent 2 days on EBay and got everything she wanted... with a few things leftover like stocking stuffers that needed to be picked up at the store. The kids are really going to have a great time this year.
Here's to hoping you and yours are well and have a happy holiday season.
A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone today.
We were originally heading to the farm like we do every year, however, Grant and Ashton were both running fevers for the past two or three nights and we didn't want to risk getting anyone sick. So last night Corri went and got a Turkey and some "fixins" for a feast today, which was cooking, and smelling, nicely this morning.
I went and picked up my nephew Austin from his dad this morning and drove out to meet my sister halfway to the farm and drop him with her, and then came on back home to a ready meal! Life was good. Corri did a wonderful job on the Turkey, and as we ate it and gave thanks, Corri pointed out that this was the first Thanksgiving in which it was just the four of us... that made it all special right there. After pie, I promptly fell asleep for a nice two hour nap... nothing like those Turkey naps!
On some other notes, Corri has been working around the house a great deal. She put in a massive amount of work making and putting up curtains, here is the result of all her hard work. They really look great!
Myself, well, I've been a mechanic this past month. My car was in need of a brake job, and when I had it in the shop having the Ignition Coils replaced, they checked them out and quoted me $350 for the full job. That's a pretty damn good price from the Mercedes dealership, and I should have taken that as a warning. I dropped it off about four weeks ago for that $350 brake job and got a call the next day in which they told me that the job had inflated to a $900 brake job because the rotors did indeed need replacing (They assured me they were fine when they first inspected them). There is no way I am going to pay $900 for a brake job, so I went and got the car and began shopping online for parts. The dealership was just going to put stock parts back on, and the price of the parts was $400. After all my shopping, I ended up with High Performance Slotted/Vented/Cross Drilled rotors all the way around, EBC Green Stuff ceramic pads (no brake dust yay!), new sensors, wheel bearings, and wheel seals all for under $350. Throw in a floor jack and jack stands from Sears for $29.99 and I was ready to go. Nick came over on a Saturday and he and I tore into it. Took us about 6 hours to do the entire car and I'm really happy with the result. Of course, Corri was a little put out by the way I looked when I was done... you should have seen the shower! All in all I saved $500 doing it myself AND got three times the performance from my brakes.
Next up: The entire family got in Corri's car last weekend to head somewhere and when I depressed the clutch, it went right to the floor and did come back out. Uh Oh. I thought it might have been the Clutch Slave Cylinder that went out, but after a little research, I figured it was the Clutch Master Cylinder instead. Called some mechanics and got prices. Master was $400, Slave was $300 (You should always replace them both at the same time if you can). Then I read up some on the process and determined I could do it myself. The local Auto Parts store ordered the parts for me Monday for a whopping total of $116 (that included a new set of flare wrenches as well) and I had them in hand Tuesday night. Started the job around 6:30 in the evening and was driving her car around by 8:30. Total savings: $584.
Combined with my brake job, that's just over $1,000 dollars saved in 30 days by doing it myself! Lesson here, mechanics are rip offs! Now after I have said that I bet my engine will blow up or break in a way that I CAN'T fix... knock on wood.
Big news with Ashton is she got her ears pierced last weekend (that's when we noticed the clutch on Corri's car being out). Corri had taken her last year around this time to get them done and Ashton freaked out. So we all talked it over for a year and Ashton was ready to go. I told her if she didn't get them done this time, she would have to wait until she was married :)
She did great. She got a little scared until I sat down and she sat in my lap. I told Ashton that we would just put the machine up to her ear to see how she liked it and the two ladies doing it went and popped em in. Ashton didn't even know... she was really surprised when she turned and looked in the mirror. Now of course, she is ready for all styles of earrings... I see Christmas presents being much easier this year!
That's the news from the Huff House these days. Hope everyone has very happy holidays!
First off, the pictures I promised of the skirt Corri made for Ashton’s sock hop are HERE.
The past week I’ve been a bit under the weather. So Friday night came and went without much activity. Saturday I pretty much stayed in bed all day trying to get over the last bit of this junk. Corri took Ashton and Grant, along with Joleine’s kids, up to the Open House at the Jersey Village Fire Department. There, they all enjoyed climbing on the fire trucks, ambulance, boat, and helicopter from Life Flight. They really enjoyed the ride on the Fire Truck, and I was informed my Corri that Grant did NOT want to get off. Later, Joleine had a Halloween party at her place that Corri took the kids to. At that point, I was pretty much done staying in bed, so I got up and cleaned, which of course made Corri very happy when she got home. After the kids went to sleep, Corri and I enjoyed the cool evening in the hot tub for a good long while.
Sunday was the Pumpkin carving at our house. Ashton had picked one out yesterday and she drew out the face. This was our first time for carving one, and I don’t think Ashton will be too disappointed if we don’t do another. After I carved out the top, I had her clean out all the seeds… this disgusted her to no end. In fact, with her arm fully engaged inside the gourd, she uttered “Carve a pumpkin… me and my big mouth”. I promptly fell out of my chair laughing. The end result was great though, and she happily named it “Scary”. You can’t carve a pumpkin without properly baking the seeds. Ashton really enjoyed eating them after she got so grossed out cleaning them.
Corri then made the comment that she would really like some of Cathy Opalacz’s pumpkin roll that she made last year (and wonderfully let us have some). So on a whim, I looked up the recipe, grabbed Ashton, and made my way to Kroger. There we got all the ingredients to make it and I picked up some Top Sirloin as well. Ashton was a huge help in putting everything together. The end result was nowhere near as pretty as Cathy’s, but the taste was great. We had steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes for dinner followed off with pumpkin roll and coffee (milk for the wee ones… no that doesn’t include Corri) and here in just a little bit Corri and I will enjoy the hot tub again.
Life is pretty damn good here at the Huff House…
Just an FYI...
Sunday I upgraded to the latest version of MoveableType (the system I use for this Blog) and it includes all "New and Improved" spam blocking within the Comments section, so I'm going to open them back up and hopefully be able to keep them open.
I've pretty much kept them off for the past 8 months or so because I was getting hit with a few hundred comments per day by Online Casinos mainly.
So let's try them out again, I would much rather have comments directly on the posts then to get them via email.
(psst Happy Anniversary Scott and Kaylee!!!)
A quick update...
First off, the 4th of July party was a really good time. The brisket, MMMMmmmmm, Corri and Justin both said it was most likely the best one I had ever done, and coming from them both that is high praise indeed! And would you beleive that eventually all that meat was eaten? Granted it took a week, but boy was that one great week or leftovers! For those interested, I took a snapshot of the finished platter of meat ready to serve... yes, I was a proud papa.
The reason for the quick update, I threw out my back once again last week. I know, I know, I'm not as young as I used to be (but luckily still younger than most of you old farts reading this right now *smile*) so I have to take it easy and all that. I wont go into *how* I did it, let's just agree that it hurts ok?
Anyway, I couldn't get in to see my normal doc last Friday so went to a clinic. My advice, go see a Vet. before doing the whole "walk in" clinic thing.
Anyway, got in to see my normal doctor yesterday and I'm all muscle relaxers and pain killers to help me through the night.
So I'll be back later on everyone, it's time for me to go crash in blissful numbness.
Well, as usual, I overdid a few things.
We are having some people over on the 4th, which means I decided to do one of my popular briskets... I overdid it a bit.
We have two big briskets now marinating in the fridge, roughly 17lbs of meat there. Four links of Chap. Hill sausage, 5lbs of hamburger, 3 packages of hotdogs. That's just the main stuff!
When I added up how many people we invited... well lets just say that there is enough food to feed two to three times that number... SO, if you get this, and you don't have any plans yet for the 4th, shoot me an E-Mail and come on over. Bring something that you want to drink (we do have soda's and stuff, but if it's beer or anything else, bring it along).
Ok, I have finally gotten a good version of a Spam Guard working on the site here, so I have opened comments back up to everyone. All *should* be working from this post forward.
Note - olderposts most likely wont accept comments without moderation, which means I'll have to approve them as they are posted.
Well, once again another weekend has come and gone.
Like all the others of late, this one was busy.
Friday we took it easy just hanging out in the Hot Tub. Saturday morning was an early morning in the yard. Corri decided to build a new flower bed right off the back patio. The swimming area of the yard has always looked good, but the kids play area of the yard was in need of attention. So, she built a nice flower bed off the back and we transplanted a bunch of bushes from other parts of the yard to under the master bedroom window. I finished up the gate, dug up plants, poisoned grass that was coming up in cracks, and cleaned up. Later we took the kids swimming for a grand time. They crashed really hard Sat night while Corri and I enjoyed ourselves in the hot tub late into the night. Sunday Corri took it easy (She did 60% of the work on Sat so deserved it) while I did some office work, then cleaned and organized the garage. Ashton was on my hip most of the day. Around 5 I took the kids swimming, then dinner, and they crashed.
Sat we had a visitor in the pool. A little snake had made it's way in and we had to take care of it. Grant is now always pointing at the water asking about the "nake". Too cute. Also, he discovered that he really likes "The Wizard of Oz". He asked Corri to put it on this morning... he meant to say "I want the Wonderful Wizard of Oz", however, it came out as one word "IwantwonawonaOz" later he told me he liked "WizaWizaOaz". Sounds way too cute.
Anyway, here are a few pictures (with lots of comments) on the Yard Progress So Far
Two Site Notes:
1) If you want to post comments go ahead. An error does come up, but ignore it. I have to update a few things right now and just don't feel like it. I'll get an email that you posted which will prompt me to approve and display it.
2) The pictures area is going through a huge rearrangement right now. So keep that in mind if you go through the pictures... I'm sorting them all together instead of so separate like they are now.
Here are the pictures from the Saturday over Memorial Day weekend 05 when my parents were down.
The weekend was very nice if not very HOT!
Last week, on Wednesday, Corri and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. Sure has been a while. This past Friday, we dropped the kids off with the sitter and went out for a nice night. I have not slept very much at all for the past several weeks. Not sure why, but I'm only getting about 2 or 3 hours sleep per night. Anyway, Saturday morning Corri was wonderful enough to let me sleep in all I wanted. She is very concerned about my lack of sleep (as am I) so she simply doesn't wake me. Needles to say, I got some great sleep Saturday. I got up, sometime in the afternoon and took the kids swimming. Grant and Corri took off to the store around 6 so Ashton and I stayed in the pool until they got back at 7. Ashton is amazing at learning to swim. She is VERY determined to do it on her own as well. She pretty much has it down, but can't quite go from one side to the other. When I told her it was time to get out she replied "Daddy, I really want to do this. I'm not going to quit." What could I say? We stayed in until dinner was on the table and we both were shaking due to the chill. It was great to see her progress.
This morning, Corri got up early with the kids and took them out of the house. I slept until 10, again catching up on sleep. Around 11, Corri and I started working in the yard. We have a cluster of Sago Palms near the pool that are all around 9 feet hight. They have grown together a bunch and really needed some maintenance. Armed with a rake, hedge trimmers, and wasp spray I went in. If you have never cleaned up a Sago, I highly recommend you don't start now. My entire body is covered with little red puncture marks from the leaves. These things HURT!. We took lots of breaks and drank tons of water, but a few hours later the Palms looked great. Corri worked on the pathway that leads from the patio to the pool area. It's too narrow and with the new fence up, it's hard to navigate easily. So she dug up the black plastic border, arranged the rocks differently, dug a new trench and put in a new plastic border to keep the grass out. It was a ton of work and it looks great... what a hard little worker :) I did some other odds and ends in the back like fixing the fence, the gate, and hanging up our outdoor clock and thermometer that my parents gave us years ago. It all looks much better.
Nick came over around 2 right as we were cleaning up. Everyone jumped in the pool for many hours and we had a great time. Ashton improved with leaps and bounds on her swimming and Grant had us all over the place swimming and pushing him in his float. We got out, had dinner, then the kids and I sat down to relax over a movie. Ashton was pretty fussy due to being in the sun and pool all weekend. She curled up next to me and in the middle of a sentence feel asleep on my chest. It felt great. We put the kids to bed, talked for a bit, then Corri crashed while I read.
All in all it was a great weekend indicative of the reasons we got this house. There is nothing better than having a great backyard where everyone can enjoy quality time together in.
It's official... the Hot Tub at the Huff House is now in working order W00T!
Tom, the Spa/Pool repair man stopped by for the final time today with the part needed to complete the repairs. It's in the process of heating/cleaning as we speak.
This is a big deal for Corri and I since it was one of the main attractions of the backyard for us. We had a hot tub in The Woodlands house (a.k.a. Alder Place) and we were in it two or three times a week. So having this in working shape is a big deal.
A little bummer is that the main jets are on a 1 speed pump. So the jets are either on or off. I'm told that is a pretty common setup, but I'm too used to dual speed pumps. I check everything over with the spa guy and he assured me the filtration system and computer "brain" will handle a two speed pump that is a half horse more powerful than what is on there... so I'm going to start the EBay searches for a new pump. He was always kind enough to get the lights working on it again, so now there is a 3 position dimmer light within the unit.
I stood out tonight, with the hot tub running, the pool jets running, the light in the tub turned down low, and the pool light on and just enjoyed the new backyard. It's the parties and atmosphere that things like that create that I really live for.
We got all moved in over the weekend to the new house. Still a good deal of unpacking left to do but it's coming along nicely.
We got some laborers to do all the heavy lifting and such, so it was a pretty easy move as far as move go. We didn't get started as early as I wanted on Saturday due to some logistics issues, but we still had the truck unloaded at the new house by 7 pm on Saturday. We had some friends over Saturday night for some poker and fun to break in the new place all proper and such.
There is a problem with the hot tub that is keeping us from using it right now, and that really sucks, but it should be fixed over the next two days... hopefully the cool weather will hold out a little longer so we can try it out seeing as how it's still a little bit chilly for the pool.
The kids room came together great, Corri has done a wonderful job making a little fantasy land to sleep in and they both really like it. They crashed there last night for the first time and didn't make a single noise all night long.
Had a little problem getting my wireless network setup, and had even bigger problems with Time Warner getting our cable and internet setup. It also appears that we will have to get a new phone number as our old house was in the 281 area code and the new one is in the 713... Seems you can't port a number across area codes and that really sucks.
This week should be a long week of unpacking and rearranging and such but those things are always a lot of fun for us.
Side Note - I turned the "Comments" ability back on here on our site, however, they are "moderated" which means that before they appear on the site I have to approve them. So feel free to post comments and I'll make them visible as I get them.
Hi everyone, I have been doing a lot of behind the pages work on the website here. I have been receiving about 50 spam messages a day in the comments area of old posts, mainly from online casinos.
Anyway, in response to this new spam, I have simply shut down comments to non-registered users.
My site is built on MoveableType, which is a blogging system that I use for the main page here. They offer a registration and signup service that will generate a unique key called a "type key". If you go HERE and sign up for one, you can then use that key when posting comments here. You will only have to signup and input the key once, then my site will remember you.
Sorry that the few bad apples make it hard for the rest of us, but I'm getting really tired of having to clean up the comments area of my site daily.
There is another system called a Black List that I am waiting on which will stop this comment problem. But I'm not expecting that to be finished for a few months... so until then, this is the way to comment here.
Lots of things to talk about for once!
First off, we did get the house and we will be moving April 29 & 30th. If you're around the area and would like to drop in, shoot me an email. There will be no "Friends Helping" on this move, as Hector (Nick's Dad) has the perfect solution. He brings a few day laborers over early in the morning; they load up the truck, drive over, and then unload the truck... I know, it doesn't sound original, but for about $50 to $90, our entire house gets moved! You can't beat that!
We are MOST excited around here to be moving (FINALLY) and getting settled back in to a new place. Throw in two decks, a built in grill, an upstairs game room (read: kids mess room), a pool, and a hot tub, and you can see why we are anxious to get over there.
Also, we are excited to get over there and in place so we can get Ashton registered at Gleason Elementary School for Kindergarten starting in September! Our little girl is growing up fast!
Grant is working on potty training. Ashton for some reason is really interested in getting him trained... must be that they now share a room and she is tired of the diaper smell?
Corri is making all kinds of plans for the new house and the kids' room. They are going to share a room, since they enjoy it so much, so she is going to do two walls in a daytime "sky" theme and the opposite two in a nighttime scene. Should be great! We are also shopping for bunk beds for them. Looks like we are going to get some sort of slide/tent bed combo where the top bunk has a slide down from it, and the bottom bunk is enclosed in a tent making it all the more fun for them both. Where were these when I grew up?
If you want the new address, shoot me an email and I'll get it to you.
Everyone who knows what my sister has been up to will be very pleased to hear that she is now in Bryan-College Station and should be looking for work up there soon. I don't know all the details, as she just moved there yesterday, but I plan on making a trip up to visit her as soon as possible. Hopefully I can get her son Austin and make the trip.
Also, Ben Diaz (Nick's Brother) has returned home from his second tour in Iraq. Nick and his entire family flew out to CA to meet him as he came off the bus. Nick, as always, took some great pictures so we could all share in the excitement. Additionally, Ben brought home some insightful pictures of Fullujah from this tour. I can never come up with a way to say "Thank You" in a way that will express my profound appreciation of the services our soldiers like Ben and so many thousand others give. So I will simply say '"ou all are wonderful people". For those reading this in Texas, that translates to "Ya'lls good folk".
Nick has kept the Viper here for the past month and a half while his new place gets the street repaired. I have been having an enjoyable time with it, of course, driving it pretty much as often as I can. With that in mind, this past Saturday I had a great day of "Cars". I started off with an early morning meeting with an online group of Lotus owners that I have known for a few years (Lotus Owners of South Texas - L.O.S.T.) at Star Motor Cars. Star is the local Lotus dealership. They also carry Mercedes, Volvo, and Aston Martin. Anyway, after a great meeting and taking full tours of all different years and models of Lotus cars, we all trucked on down to La Port for lunch. It was a great drive on a wonderful day. After lunch, I returned to Star Motor Cars to do some shopping. With all the business deals I have going on I'm looking to replace our cars over the next six months. Well, Wally, the Lotus salesman, took me for a complete tour of all things Lotus. After driving the Viper so much I was starting to think it was THE car for me. After wrapping several different Loti around myself Saturday, I can honestly say that the Esprit is THE car of choice for me... though the Viper will always be a VERY close second. Anyway, after going over all the different Lotus cars there, we then looked at the Volvo CX90 SUV for Corri. WOW what a car! That's what she will most likely be getting, and I know she will love it. We then looked at several Mercedes for me; I'm on my third Mercedes and I love them, however, after looking at a 2002 SL 500, then a 2004 SL 500, THEN a 2005 CLK 430, I was REALLY disappointed. It seems that Mercedes has tried so hard to distinguish themselves from all the "Me Too" luxury cars out there that they have distanced themselves from the driver too much. The cars they put out now look nice, but they sacrifice too much to technology and "Gee Whiz" factors. Wally was pretty hip to that idea already and, like the great salesman that he is, he already knew what I really wanted. So he took me over to a Volvo C70. OH MAN WHAT A CAR! Anyway, suffice it to say that the C70 will be replacing the current Mercedes I have.
It's now 12:16 am on April 13, 2005 and I'm getting tired. I suppose it's because as of 16 minutes ago I turned 31 (Yes, this is a shameless plug for my birthday, deal with it). Also Kevin Opalacz turned thirty... something (I won't disclose his official age since I don't have written authorization). It's great to share your birthday with one of your closest friends... just make opening that bottle of Crown Royal we give each other on this day that much more fun!
As most everyone knows, Corri and the Kids spent six weeks in New Mexico with her brother Doug. They are all back now and getting settled back in.
Also, as everyone has heard us say over the past year "We are moving". Well, we finally really are. April 2005 will be the last month we are here at the house. We have found a house on 290 and Gessener that we really like. It's a little bit smaller then this one, but we are really going to enjoy the backyard. There are two decks, one which is covered, a built in grill, wonderful landscaping, a hot tub with a deck sunk in the ground, and a pool. So the kids (us big kids too) should really enjoy the upgrade in living style. AND it's right in our budget, so all is great there. We will know this week if we are going to get it or not.
The kids are growing like crazy! Ashton can write the entire ABC's now, and is doing a great job in learning to read! Corri really spends good quality time each day with her on it. Grant has a ton of words that he knows now, and lets us know when his diaper is dirty, so hopefully that will make potty training that much easier. They are both huge!
Work is going really well these days. Just doing the 9-5 thing and getting things done. Can't complain at all.
Anyway, that's it for the time being. I'm sure there are a ton of questions out there, feel free to email them to me and I'll try to post up the answers as I can.
I'm not sleeping at all these days. For the past 4 weeks I have gotten about 2 hours of sleep each night. Sometimes I luck out and get some more, others I get less. So I have spent a great deal of time surfing the net for interesting things, or going over old interesting things that I always meant to investigate further.
HERE is a really great light setup within a house. For those that know me well, lighting is really important to me. I have always wanted to take the time and go through my house and setup a massive display of indirect lighting. Well, this site takes it all the way and I can't help but get ideas from it. I suppose my next house will have some similar things inside it.
Ahhh Thanksgiving.... I ate too much as usual. There were actually 4 days to my Turkey Eating frenzy, what with work having a dinner, then leftovers, then the farm, then leftovers again. It once again illustrates why people don't eat a good deal of turkey during the rest of the year.
We had a great and relaxing time up at the farm. Wendy took some great pictures, which you can find here: ASHTON PICTURES ----- GRANT PICTURES
We came home on Friday and had a great weekend at the club working and relaxing. The past two weeks have been filled with busy work at the house. Getting ready for Christmas, Ready to Move, Helping others Move... you all know the Holiday Routine.
My car broke just prior to Thanksgiving, so it went in the shop last week. I can never get away from the dealership without spending an arm and a leg, but they do a great job and usually do a bunch more (without charging) then what I needed. In the end, I ended up getting about twice as much work done then what I paid for, so the value is just fine.
Work is going well, I'm starting to get into the routine of it all I suppose. I'm not all that great with schedules and having to be at a certain place for no reason other than that is what is expected of you, but it's starting to come in line. I still have a great deal of projects ongoing outside of work and they keep me super busy.
This weekend will be a blast. A friend of Nick and I is coming in from NY tomorrow evening and will be staying over the weekend. That will be a blast to see him again. Corri has her birthday on Friday which is always fun.... and no, I have not decided what to do/get yet. Finally, I'm DJ'ing a Saturday night at the club, which should be a blast. I DJ each Wednesday night, but the crowd is MUCH smaller than a Sat so it's not near as much fun. Looking forward to this one.
Last Sunday I watched "Dawn of the Dead" with Nick. I was not really all that interested in seeing it, but enough people suggested it to me that I had to check it out. It ended up being a great movie that was filmed in a smart way. They let the viewers become a part of the story and use our imagination instead of dumbing it down like many of the big budget flicks do these days. All in all, if you are even somewhat interested in scary movies I would suggest it.
We will be spending Christmas in Houston this year, at our own house, without a full load of family in from out of town. I have almost gotten used to Corri's family all coming in at once and making the Holidays a really busy time. It will be strange having it quiet this year. New Years will be awesome as we have a huge deal planned at the club. Please don't call for several days after the first... I wont answer due to recovery needs I'm sure.
And now a nice little bit of Christmas Trivia to finish off your day...
Subject: Christmas Stress
When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress.
Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"
And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
Yes, I know, I know, it has been a long while since my last update. I have just not had the time nor the inclination to update. There are a ton of great things going on right now. Too much work to really list out at the moment, but some really fun projects going on at home. The boutique and club continue to do well and seem to get better each month.
We are still not 100% sure when/where we are going to move, but it looks more like sometime in Feb now as we can wait that long.
Grant and Ashton are doing wonderful. Nothing like watching them grow well, actually, watching the SLEEP I think is the best!
We are heading to the farm on Thursday and coming back Friday. I think its been close to 2 years since we have been up there. So this will be a great break for us. Ashton is very excited to head up there as usual.
Talked to Brent last night on the phone for the first time in almost a year. He changed his phone numbers up and rarely answers his email, so it was tough reestablishing contact with him again. He is doing well I can happily report.
Sold the truck by the way, so that chapter is closed. Sure was a great truck, but someone needed it and I didnt. Speaking of cars, the Mercedes died on me. The low-idle sensor went out on it. Have to put that in the shop next week since I cant really work on the electrical portions of that car.
Got a letter from my sister as well last week. She is really doing well. Few more months and we can sit down and chat about everything. Looking forward to that.
*Caution you are entering Rant territory*
Went and caught The Grudge last Sunday with Scott. Enjoyable movie if you like to be scared it was a good deal like The Ring. I always tell everyone that I hate going to the movies. Its not that I dont like the big screen and great sound systems, its because I REALLY get into whatever it is I am watching, and it seems inevitable the crowd pulls me back out of it. For example, this Sunday, there were two girls sitting behind us. There is a scene at the beginning of the movie where a man jumps off a 5 story balcony and kills himself. Its a quiet scene, with no words or music. Very poignant moment and those two girls were giggling saying Giiirlll, that man be trippin on somthang I know, Im tellin ya Trip - pin. That set the entire mood for the show, and our highly educated movie critics behind us. Let me point out to them (Ill pretend they are reading this for my own ranting sake). *IF* you go to a movie in which a good amount of paranormal activity is in the script, EXPECT the people to seem as if they are trippin on somthang please. It does not need to be pointed out to everyone in the theatre unless you wish to advertise your own lack of social graces and understanding, thank you.
*You are now leaving Rant territory*
So anyway, Im looking forward to a relaxing 2 days with no computers, cell phones, or email. We come back Friday and of course are working that night and Sat. But after a good restful Thanksgiving day, it should be most enjoyable to cut loose some.
Happy Turkey day everyone!
Week Two of working at Travis Software is done and under my belt. Getting the hang of it pretty well. Still having a hard time judging the traffic in the morning, but that will come with time.
My day pretty much is made up of programming (which is good since that is what I was hired to do) doing bug fixes and feature enhancements for the next release of our software. It's a good team that I am working with. My boss is super easy to get along with and the other developer whom I work with keeps me laughing most of the day.
Corri and the kids don't like that I am not at home during the day anymore, however, the stress relief at home is beyond measure now. Corri is happy almost all the time (can you believe that!). She has had a real busy two weeks getting adjusted and back in the habit of having to run all the errands that are required to run the house as well as all those required to run the boutique.
Nick has had a hard week, so I have been spending good time hanging out with him and such. His brother Ben is deployed again in Iraq, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers... he is heading in to do some really nasty work.
The kids are doing really well considering that I am not at home during the day anymore. Ashton takes it in stride and I talk on the phone with her a few times a day. Grant is really getting his vocabulary working now. He tries out all kinds of different words these days. Anything that starts with an "S" ends up sounding like Shoe though, so we are worried about him having a shoe fetish later in life.
Quick note on my sister, she has started her treatment program this week, so things are in motion for her finally. Can Not Wait For It To Be Done... really miss her.
Sunday night I had a few things to do then stopped by Nick's for a time to chat after he got back from the Viper Owners Invitational. Got home and was trying to get some sleep so I would be nice and fresh for my first day. Wouldn't you know it, I ended up sitting there in bed and my brain would not shut down. Needles to say, I got no sleep Sunday night.
Monday morning, I got out of the house early and was going to head to the office using one of the back ways in order to avoid traffic. Well, that ended up being a mistake, and I was about 10 minutes late getting in.
Working in this environment will be interesting for me as I have never worked at a cubicle. The people that I am around are really nice, but I'm very used to a quiet area with only my music going. That sure is different now. I am sure that I will adjust.
As normally is the case, the first day was about filling out papers with HR and setting up my desk/computer. Got all that done early and was surprised that my title is not just Systems Engineer, but Sr. Systems Engineer. That's a nice sign. Anyway, the rest of the day was spent going over manuals and learning the other programmers style of programming.
Took lunch around noon and was happy to discover a Sonic next door. Unfortunately, they lost my order twice, so 40 minutes later I walked back into the office about 5 minutes late. Ugh, I think it was a conspiracy or something all day.
Left at 5 and had an easy drive home. It's about 40 minutes to the office and about 30 home.
All in all, I think I am going to like it. It's a big change for me as I am very used to consulting from home. However, the people are great and the work is right up my alley.
Thanks to everyone who sent emails and messages to me wishing me luck.
I start on Monday.
Today I had my follow-up interview with Travis Software, meeting the President and accepting the job offer.
I will begin Monday, September 13 at my new position. This will be a new chapter for me as it has been a bit of time since I have had a steady 8-5 job. I'm turning over several clients and projects to many people that I work with. I have a few projects that I will be completing over the next many weeks and then most likely will only take on the normal updates/maintenance that I do for some clients.
I'm excited to begin this. Hopefully it will actually decrease my work time as right now I think I put in about 15 hours a day working on any normal day. It will be VERY nice to come home around 5:30 and NOT have to rush to my office here at home to get a number of things done.
Also, with us moving next month, it will really make things nice and easy on us. The salary is exactly where I wanted to be, the benefits are good, and there is even profit sharing which is always nice.
Thanks to everyone who wished me good luck!
When I need a break from programming, I usually work on something musical. In that regard, I updated the Music section of the site here to share some of the things I have created. The bottom 3 links are the new updates on THE MUSIC PAGE.
Feel free to either Right Click the links and save the file to listen to them, or simply click on them and they will "stream" over the internet to you.
Ever wonder how simple problems escalate into some super-morphed-disaster? Things seem to be that way around the Huff House these days. Simple things that *should* be easily addressed get pushed aside until they become major issues and then create a gigantic rift that is damn near impossible to cross. All because of miscommunication or misconceptions.
Stop and talk to the ones you love. Try to understand their perspectives. Apologize if haven't. It makes things easier in the long run.
It's been a good long while since I have updated here (yes, yes I know I'm pointing out the obvious). Mainly due to a very heavy schedule and lots of things going on.
First off, here are some new PICTURES
These are from Memorial Day. Our friends Scott and Kaylee had a party at their house and the kids enjoyed some time in the pool.
With that out of the way, here are the things going on here at the Huff House.
My parents took a trip to Scotland for two weeks. From everything they say it was a great time. Talking with dad and Wendy about it brought back tons of memories from my time in Scotland as well. I spent a good long while there working and really got to see a great deal of the country. It's not near as much fun by yourself to be honest, but Corri did get to come over for 10 days during the middle of my stay there. It's one of those countries where you long to go back. Not for the country itself (although it is wonderful) but more for the people. The Scot's are some of the most fun people I have ever met.
Work is very busy right now. I have several projects going on at the moment trying to get them all wrapped up so I can bill for them. I quoted out another large project a few weeks ago which if it comes through will take about a year and be a great project. Keep your fingers crossed.
The Boutique is going well. Corri had a slow week last week, but the one before was over the top. She almost ran out of inventory and had to make several orders last week to restock. I suppose that is a good thing, but it sure did put stress on Corri.
Grant is growing and growing. He has a few more words down now, and has that wonderful little "Uh Oh" phrase down pat whenever he drops something. All parents that read this can relate to the smiles that that brings to your face. He is also at the stage where he mimics our facial expressions often. We have a great time with that. Another surprising development is that when he has to go to the bathroom he often runs into the bathroom, pulls a step stool over and climbs on top of the toilet. He has seen Ashton do it, so I think he is just doing what she does, but hopefully it will help with early potty-training. At 15 months it's a bit early, but if he gets used to it now it sure will help.
Ashton is a handful right now. I'm not sure who came up with the "terrible two's" phrase, but obviously that person never made it to the age of 3, 4, or farther with their child. Right now, she is pushing all limits to see where the boundaries are. It's a tough time on us poor parents really. Several arguments, some grounding, and some spankings keep her in line, but it sure is challenging. Other than those times she is still the joy that she has always been.
Last night I went over to Nick's and we just hung out. Lots of things going on in his life right now, the main being that he and Robyn have started dating. I'm happy and worried at the same time. Over the past several years both have had some bad luck with significant others, and I'm happy that they both have someone in their lives that are not loosers. However, the flip side is that both of them have been in our "circle" of friends for 10 years or more. I always get a little apprehensive when two friends start dating. I have been in situations where two friends began dating then had a falling out and it caused lots of problems when trying to invite p