Month: October 2004

We followed the plan exactly. We were in Ashland by noon for homecoming, got to see a number of people. We left around 3, were home by 5 to change into costumes (she was “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and I was Indiana Jones). We left by 6, got up to Leigh & Mike’s (near BWI) by 8. We saw their funky cool new house (made of stone), and hung out for a while before Jill started to get tired. But we still had to hit Alan and Eve’s party (on the way back), and Jill got a second wind. We were home by 2 (before factoring in the time change), and headed to bed as Jill needed to be up somewhat early this morning to pack for her trip home (yes, I’m solo this week, but it’s much like when she works night, i.e. we won’t see each other and will talk on the phone at night).

Today I went grocery shopping, cleaned up the pantry, got the recylables and donations ready to go, while watching the Redskins lose again. At least there’s one bright spot: the last home game before a presidential election, if the Redskins lose, so does the incumbent.

Busy week. Went to meetings Tuesday and Wednesday (Herndon Festival and my HOA), had a massage Thursday, so tonight was the earliest I got home at 7:30.

Busy weekend, as we go down to my college near Richmond for homecoming, then we head up to two Halloween parties in Maryland. Jill flies up Sunday to spend next week with her family, as her nephew should be at her mom’s by then. And I’ll watch the ‘Skins, then go to a long concert at the 9:30.

Work had its cable accidentally cut today – no ‘net, no email, no phones. As much as I missed email, it was the lack of getting to MSDN and Google for work that hurt me the most. I actually had to open books to look up info – it’s so much faster to Google info. It’s funny, that was a concern of mine when job interviewing – with Google, I don’t need to know the basics of code like I used to, just how to put it together. It’s like using a caculator for math – it’s good to know the basics, but you don’t need to use them on a daily basis.

Ok, that’s enough geek rambling, it’s time for bed.

Is doing fine. His surgery was just over 3 hours. The family’s over from Ireland, staying with Jill’s mom – apparently one of the two best guys in the world in this specialty works in Boston. Her extended family’s had a number of health problems lately, and everyone seems to be recovering fine. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that no one else develops anything.

Saturday night, my new boss was having an Octoberfest party, and we went and stayed a while – over 5 hours. He homebrews and I enjoyed his hefeweizen and red beers. He and his widfe grilled piles of brats, chicken, and sauerkreaut – very tasty.

When we got in the car, it was already the 6th inning of game 1 of the World Series, and tied 7 all. We were home by the 8th inning, but Jill went to bed, missing Manny’s errors and Bellhorn’s homer to win. She also missed Ashlee Simpson’s spectacular lip-syncing failure on Saturday Night Live – apparently they didn’t bother to change the tape before the second song.

Sunday, we caught Cecilia at Jammin’ Java for an afternoon show, then headed to my mom’s house. Jill and I walked the dog with my dad, then we read and socialized while the food finished. Dinner was prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, fresh green beans, Caesar salad, rolls, and a lemon cake for dessert. Mom’s Yorkshire pudding was great, and made up for the subpar version I got at Disney’s English pub. The prime rib was perfect, red and juicy.

My presents? Jill got me a copy of Jon Stewart’s new book, and the whole family chipped in to get me a Treo 600 phone/PDA. Good thing, as my old Kyocera is fading fast. Kinda ironic they just announce the Treo 650 today.

We watched some of game 2 after dinner; by the time we were in the car it was in the 4th inning. We listened on the radio, and it was top of the 7th when we got home. Luckily the Cardinals didn’t manage to take advantage of the Red Sox errors last night, either, and the offense got some power and Schilling got another win. I don’t think a sweep is likely – Cards have been good at home. Game 3 should be fun though – Pedro starts for the Sox.