I'm a Florida Boy

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Well I had a pretty interesting weekend. I should say week really. It all started on "♫♪one of them zip-i-dee do da days...♫♪"

I went to renew my license tag online before my birthday a couple weeks ago and it wouldn't let me. I didn't really think anything of it, I just thought I was trying to do it too close to the date for them to mail the sticker. I went in on my lunch break one day last week and found out I couldn't renew my tag do to a "wrecker lien." Apparently, when the Probe was towed, almost three years ago now, they didn't include the fees when it went to court! So in order to renew my tag I have to pay this fee. So I call the number the lady gave me and the guy I talk to claims to remember the Probe. I ask if I can give him a credit card number and he says, "Nope, its gotta be cash." I explain that I live in Tampa and I work during the week. He offers to meet me on the weekend, so I end up having to go over there to take care of it. I met the guy in the parking lot of a gas station, and got it straightened out. I will be going to the tax place at lunch today to get my sticker. I may be the sole cause of a budget surplus for the state of Florida this year!
Last night, I met Tim, Tiffany, Chris, and Stevie at St. Luke's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Orlando for the "Lessons and Carols" mass. It was beautiful. That place has an outstanding pipe organ. It was nice to be in a church with friends again. I really miss that feeling. Even if it was Episcopal! =D
That's the latest from my World, what's up with everyone else?

Blogging

Fun Weekend

I had a pretty fun weekend. Friday night, Tim and Tiff were in town and we went out to Channelside, which is kind of like a Point Orlando/Citywalk type of a place. We ended up checking out this place called Stump's Supper Club because they were doing "Rockstar Karaoke." Basically, its karaoke in front of a live band. It was pretty cool, but none of us were brave enough to go up there. Here is an example of what we saw. This guy was awesome:



On Saturday, my brother Marcus and his whole crew were in town for his wife's brother's wedding. I went and picked up my cousin Jill, and we all met up at my sister Patty's house. We hung out for a few hours and ate some bagels. It was a good morning. That afternoon, my brother-in-law Brian invited me to the Auto Show at the Tampa Convention Center. It was really cool. All the new model cars for next year were there, from Hyundai to Ferrari. You could sit in a lot of the cars, and I took full advantage of that. I sat in a $130,000 Mercedes! Probably the most expensive car I'll ever sit in unless I win the lottery. We both forgot cameras, but here are a couple of shots from my phone. The first one is the new Chevy Camaro and the second one is the Ford GT, aka the GT40. If I ever do win the lottery, I will be getting one of these Fords.



After the Auto Show, we met my Mom and Sister at the mall and went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Yum.
Sunday was pretty uneventful. I got an oil change. I also got an antenna for the little HDTV in my room so I can now watch TV on it as well as use it as a computer monitor.
Yesterday I went and saw "Role Models." It stars Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott. It is a pretty funny movie. It was definitely funnier than I expected.
And today, I am back at work. I work the front desk on Wednesday mornings, so I thought it would be a good time to blog. Feel free to comment. :)
Peace!

Ramp Fail

see more pwn and owned pictures

Crappy Weekend...well, mostly.

So after the week I had last week I decided on Friday that I needed to get away from my Mom for a bit. I texted James hoping that he hadn't made any plans and he said that he didn't. I texted back asking if I could come and hang out. He said of course. Keep in mind, this is a two hour drive for me. I left right after work because I knew I would have to come back Saturday afternoon to go out with my sister for her birthday, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I left for James' about 5:30ish. Traffic was good, so I was making good time. When I was about 25 minutes away James calls me to see where I was at. I told him and he said he and his roommate Dennis were going to go to a party in Orlando. He asked if I wanted to go, but it sounded kinda like he didn't want me to go with them. He said they were only gonna be there for a little while. I said, sure I'll go. He then said, "Just so you know, Dennis is planning on drinking and driving." WTF?!?!? Who plans to drink and drive? What a moron. Anyways, I said just go without me, but leave your door unlocked so I can get in. I had some reports to do for work anyways. So I get there and the house is empty. I watch TV, go get some food, do some work, play some XBox. James had told me they were gonna leave the party around 10 or 10:30. I gave up on that when 1:00am rolled around. They didn't get home until 2:30am! Both, obviously drunk off their asses. It really pissed me off. The next day when James finally woke up, we went to Wendy's (cause Dennis wanted fast food) and brought it home (cause Dennis wanted to) and then I left. James was like, "I didn't know you were leaving today, I thought you were here for the weekend." Granted I didn't tell him I was only there for the night, but he did tell me he had no plans for the night. Whatever. The whole situation pissed me off.
So I head home to get ready to go to Carraba's and then the Improv with my sister for her birthday. The whole reason I didn't stay at James' another night was to go out with her for her birthday. When I get about 45 minutes away from home she calls and asks where Mama is. I say I don't know, I'm driving back from James' house. She said she hadn't heard from her all day, which is very strange for my mother to not call on a birthday. I then realized that she hadn't called and pestered me at all that day either. Which is also unusual. So now I'm freaked out cause no one knows where Mama is. Patty called her again, and it turns out she was sleeping. So I get home and meet my Mom, Patty, and her husband Brian at Panera. That's when I find out we aren't going out because Patty and Brian got tickets to Cedric the Entertainer instead of the Improv. So I drove all the way home for nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Again, I am pissed.
This brings us to Sunday. Brian got me a ticket to go with him and Patty to the Bucs game. I was excited because I had never been to an NFL game before. They were playing Atlanta, so it was two teams I don't really care about, but I was still looking forward to it. The game itself was fun. Being in the stadium was an experience. Sitting with Patty and Brian was miserable. Patty complained about everything. "We're too high, it's raining, I'm hot, we aren't in the sun, I'm hungry, this food is gross," and on and on and on. The whole car ride to the game, the whole game, and the whole ride home. It never ended. Even when Brian yelled at her. Which made things that much more uncomfortable.
So all in all, this was a pretty bad weekend. The good news, for most of you that read this, is that this weekend made me want to move back to Phoenix more than ever. I hope this week goes better than last week. I don't have my hopes up though cause I'm still working 12 hour days.

Tension

So, I almost went off on one of my co-workers yesterday. Those of you that know me (all of you reading this) know that I don't "go off" on people. I should preface this with the fact that I have been working 11-12 hour days this week, so I'm a little on edge by the end of the day. Add on top of that the pressure of trying to get students to enroll, (which I'm doing fine with) and dealing with my Mom every night, and I am under a little more stress than I have been lately.
Anyways, let's get back to yesterday. We had a student come in to enroll, and he is a devout Muslim. No problems, this is America, we accept all people, right? Because of his religion, when Areen, one of the Admissions Reps came out to greet him in the lobby, he apologized saying, "I'm sorry, because of my religion I can't shake hands with you," and he crossed his hands over his heart. He didn't yell this, or give a dirty look, or anything remotely rude or mean. Areen, having grown up in Jordan, assumed that he would be more comfortable with a male advisor, so she asked André to help him. André came out, and shook his hand and took him to the back. When it was time for him to meet with Financial Aid, he told the FAO the same thing about hand shaking, but he had no problem with sitting with her while she put together his financial aid packet. He left after that, and will actually be coming back today to finish everything up. After he left, André asked me to come to his desk. I went over and he asked that I finish everything up for him today, because he won't be here. I said no problem. Then, Areen and another Admissions Rep Yaznay heard us talking and came over. They basically said the student was an extremist and fanatic because he wouldn't shake Areen's hand. I tried to argue the point for a minute, but Yaznay is Cuban and very opinionated. Yaz is great, and I have hung with her before, but I take religious freedom very seriously. It may have been because it was September 11th, but she said he was "just like those guys." That's when I had to walk away. Are you effing kidding me?!?!? Just because the guy won't shake hands with a woman he's a terrorist? He wasn't even rude about it. I could understand if it had been him that didn't want to meet with Areen, but it was the other way around. I am still just floored by prejudice when it rears it's ugly head.
Sorry for the rant. I'm better now. :)

Clever Title

Well, it's been awhile since I posted, so here's an update.

Work has been going really well. In the next couple of weeks I will be getting a promotion to one of two positions. Either a full blown Admissions Rep or Admissions Associate. The Admissions Rep position would pay more, but there is a ton more stress involved. The "lose your job if you don't meet goal" kind of stress. But the money is decent, so I am still torn on whether or not I would take that position. The other position is more administrative and pays a little less (still more than I make now though) but there is less stress and less of a chance of getting let go. Decisions, decisions. Any input would be appreciated btw.

I'm excited about this weekend. After work today I am heading over to hang with James for a couple days. I helped him move into his new digs over in Melbourne a couple weeks ago, so I am in for a drive to get there. It's a really nice place though. I like it a lot more than the house in Orlando.

Speaking of traveling, I can't describe how stoked I am to be going back to Phoenix for a visit! You could almost describe me as "giddy!" I will be there on Thursday the 28th through Tuesday the 2nd. I miss my desert family SOOOOOO much. Here are some things I am looking forward to while I'm there (other than the obvious hanging with my peeps): Dry Air, Oregano's, Second Service, Matilda, Goodwill, and of course, Dirty Probe. I can't wait!

I guess I should get back to work now, so I can actually get one of those promotions! Peas Zout!

Some Things Never Change

Only James

This past weekend, Tim and Tiff hosted a birthday bash for James. I stopped in Orlando on my way to T&T's to pick James up so we could ride together. The party was AWESOME. I had a really good time. Other than the strange gathering around the pool while Tim, James, and I swam that is. Kinda weird. We then had a return of the cheese eating contest, mozzarella edition. I kicked James' butt! Not something I should be proud of though. Mainly, it was just cool to hang out with people that I don't get to see very often. Billy, Holly, Lauren, Frank, Bridie, Steve, Summer, along with the usual cast, Tim, Tiff, Brian, Sean, and James. James and I ended up leaving at like 2:15ish to drive back to his house. We get to his house around 3:00am and discover that he left his keys at T&T's. It wouldn't be that big a deal, but Brian and Sean weren't there and we couldn't break in. After half an hour of trying to break in, we decided to go see if The Dark Knight was playing on I-Drive. I had read online that there was a 4:30am showing, but it turns out the interweb lied! At this point it is about 4:15am and we start back to T&T's. We try calling them, but get no answer. When we get there, James goes to the back porch to see if he left his keys there, but alas no. Thank God Lauren was there. James got a hold of her and she let us in. James got his keys and we headed BACK to his house. We got there right as the sun was rising. I think if it had been anyone else I might have been pissed, but because it was James all I could do was laugh.

That's all for now. Later I'll tell you what's been going on at work. Some exciting stuff!

Viva La Revolucion!

Rollin

The other day my new boss asked me to find out where the closest Mercedes dealership was because the logo on the center of his hubcap fell out and he needed a new one. I found where it was and called them to verify that they had the part. I told my boss where it was and left it at that. Yesterday he asked if I knew where it was. I said yes. He then asked if I would take his car and pick up the part if he bought me lunch. So I was rollin' in a 2003 SLK320 hard top convertible at lunch yesterday. It was pretty sweet. And nerve racking all at once. I don't know what it is about this place that makes people want to lend me their car, but I like it. :)

P.S. More blogs people. I mean it. I get bored at work and I can only read so much news.

I kinda want to try this...

Who is a World Class Poker Player?

Unfortunately. not me. :(

So I played in a poker tournament over in Cocoa Beach this weekend and it was a blast. This was my first ever tournament, and I think I did pretty well. The way it works is there are tons of qualifying games that anyone can play in over several months. The more of these you win, the more chips you start with. Your first win gets you $10,000 in chips, and each additional win gets you another $1000 in chips. I only had one win so I started with the lowest amount you could have. There are three nights of preliminaries, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the final on Sunday. About 300 people play on each preliminary night. The final is composed of the top 30 or so from each preliminary night. I played on Friday night. It started at 6:00pm and went until 11:00pm. The table I started at there was a guy that had $124,000 in chips! I thought I didn't have a chance. I was wrong. After five hours of poker, I ended the night with $95,000 in chips, and made the cut for Sunday. Sunday we started at 11:00am with about 110 people. The chip leader on Sunday had $504,000 in chips and the short stack had $3000 so I was somewhere in the middle. I did okay for about half an hour or so, but then got knocked out. I went all in with pocket nines and got beat on the flop with a pair of jacks. I played well though and I plan on playing more often.
More details on everything else that's been going on to follow. Hope all is well with everyone. Peas out!

Look who's blogging!!!

Hey everybody, sorry its been so long. I've got a lot to say, so here we go...

After nearly losing my mind, I am finally employed again. Back in May I went back to SWFC to talk to the new Director of Admissions about a new job. He offered me a job in the reception area, with some time training as an Admissions Rep. I accepted, and he told me he would call in a couple days to tell me when I would be starting. After about a week I heard from him that they higher ups decided not to hire anyone until July 1st which is the start of their fiscal year. Last week they called again and asked me to come in to talk again. They just wanted to make sure that I still wanted the job, still starting in July. This morning they called and asked if I could come in to talk again, but asked me to make sure and wear a tie. The Director asked if I could start today! I said heck yes and there you go. I have a job. Decent money, and they agreed to skip the 90 day waiting period for benefits, so those start July 1st.

In other news, I will be playing in a poker tournament this weekend. If I win, I will be going to the World Series of Poker! Wish me luck. I will try to blog more frequently, but right now I gots to sleep.

Peace.

Had a couple of interviews yesterday...

and I think they went pretty well.
The first was at a place called Clean Water Action. They are a a political/environmental group that has an office here in Tampa. Check out their website. The position is half office work, half door to door type of stuff. Going around educating people on environmental issues and candidates. It sounds like an interesting job, but I'm not so sure about the whole door to door aspect of it. I know I hate when people come knocking on my door at 8:00 in the evening. They asked me to come back for what they call a second interview, but it actually more of career shadowing. Monday I will spend an entire day with one of the senior staff members to see if I would like the job. They are going to pay me for that day, so I figured why not.
The second interview was at John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center. It is an Admissions Rep position similar to what I was doing at SWFC, but it is a commission based position. You can check them out here. It was a good interview, but if I am offered that job it would be tough to take it. I have read a few negative reviews of the company online. It is over 25 miles away, which translates to over 3 gallons of gas just to go to and from work everyday. It would be cool to have a business card that says I work for a modeling agency though. :) Perfect pick up line right? "Excuse me ladies, are you models by any chance? No? Well let me give you my card." Hehe.
Then, after the my last interview, I stopped by SWFC to see my friend Areen who still works there. It turns out my old boss got fired a couple days ago and they have brought in some one that has been the Director of Admissions at the Ft Myers campus, and then "retired" and held a seat on the board. Several people told me I should come in Monday to talk to him about possibly getting a job as an Admissions Rep there. I would normally not want to go back to a company that has laid me off like that, but I truly believe that it was my former boss that was the cause of the problems. I just really liked the people I worked with, and the owners of the college. And honestly, what's the worst that could happen? I already don't work there.

On another note, my Mom is crazy. I will try to set the scene:
We are sitting at Sonny's, the local bar-b-q establishment. We were casually talking about nothing in particular and our food came. We dug in, and for several minutes neither of us spoke. Then this happened,

Mama says, "What time is it in France?"
"I don't know for sure, but I think like 7 hours ahead?" I replied. "Why?"
"I was just wondering what the people in France are doing."
"Okay. Why?"
"No reason."

Again I submit, my mother is crazygonuts.

Matt-attack out!

These guys are awesome.

I'm not usually a fan of traditional "jokes,"

...but this one made me laugh out loud.

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners.At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.

Having no luck, he took out a business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

Quick Update

I just , umm, how can I put this. I just sat on myself and I want to cry.

This post contains material not intended for children, reader discretion is advised.

So I had a pretty fun weekend. I had to get away from my mom for a bit, so Saturday morning I headed over to Orlando to hang with James and the gang. For most of the afternoon James, Sean, and I just hung out and played some video games. That evening, Tim and Tiffany came over and we played some poker, and watched Cloverfield. I ate horribly on Saturday, and regret almost everything I ate. For lunch Sean ordered pizza. Then I had a bag of Funyuns. Then when Tim and Tiff came over we went and got ice cream. Then before the movie we hit Taco Bell. I haven't eaten that badly in a long time. I felt crappy this morning.

Today Sean, Brian, James, and I went to play some tennis. Maybe not the best idea on an empty stomach, but I was up to the challenge. It was actually really fun. I have never actually played tennis for real before, and I think I was doing okay. then disaster struck.

It was my serve, so Brian and James were hitting the balls to me so that I could put some in my pocket. Brian hit one pretty hard and it hit me square in the generals. The fellas. The family jewels. My nards. Get the picture? Oh. My. Gosh. I have never, ever been hit that hard there. I collapsed to the ground, and kind of blacked out. I don't really remember exactly what I did, but I made it over to a bench somehow. I kid you not, it hurt so bad I almost pooped my pants. It took probably 5-10 minutes before I could even talk. Needless to say, that was it for me for tennis for the day. Honestly, I am still in some pain. I'm a little concerned.

BEWARE, HERE LIES GRAPHICNESS THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU UNEASY.

I don't have any swelling at this point, but the "area" is still sensitive. I checked WebMD, and if the pain is still acute tomorrow, I will probably go to the doctor. This should tell you how much it hurts. I hate doctors.

To apologize, Brian actually bought me lunch though, so the day wasn't all bad. :) That's pretty much it. Back to job searching tomorrow. Hope everyone is well.

Laterz!

No job yet

Well, I had an interview yesterday that went okay I guess. It was a group interview, so its kinda hard to tell how those go sometimes. It was for an Admissions Rep position at Florida Career College. I also went today to the mall because the same school has a kiosk there where they pester people to come check out the school. Its only a part-time position though that pays very little. Assuming I get unemployment, I would be better off not taking that job if they offer it to me.

On to more exciting news. Chris is the man. After more years than I care to count, we are back in touch with one of our Junior high friends, Gabe Sterling. Also known as Gnilrets Ebag. :) I sent him an email earlier, but haven't gotten a response yet. I did talk to Chris though and it sounds like he is doing well.

I also started writing again. For those in the know, I started working on "The Sniper" again. I have not written anything in quite some time, but I figured I should make use of all the time I have now that I am jobless. Not that I'm not looking for a job, but I decided to write for at least an hour each day until I find a job. And then maybe I will be in the habit again and I can actually finish something. I have also been doing a little song writing believe it or not. One that I have shared with a couple people is just turning the Bob Dylan song "To Make You Feel My Love" into a praise and worship song. There are others as well, but nothing I'm ready to share yet. I'm trying to be more optimistic this go round of being unemployed. It is a little better this time, just because I have a couple of safety nets now with unemployment and my bro-in-laws cleaning business.

That's all the news from the left coast of Florida. Peas out.

I don't see what the big deal is...

I could do this if I wanted to.

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire...

we don't need no water let the mother butler burn!

So I went to work Saturday morning and what do I encounter? A huge crowd of students and faculty gathered in front of the building with two fire trucks parked next to it. Turns out there was a small electrical fire in one of the air conditioning ducts. They got it taken care of in short order, but the whole building was smokey and smelled horrible so they sent us all home. I did ask the Dean to let me in to get one of the schools cell phones that we use to text students so I could call some people from home. Just the ones that had appointments set for Saturday to tell them they shouldn't come.

Then Saturday got a little sad. My Mom took her new dog Venus to get checked out at the vet. Turns out she has an enlarged heart and fluid in her lungs. The vet said she wouldn't last long. :( We ended up taking her back to the SPCA, but they didn't have any other dogs my Mom liked. So now Mama doesn't know if she wants to go through that again. It was sad.

On a happier note, James and I had a blast on our "man date" last night. For those not in the know, a "man date" is when two heterosexual men go out together and do something that would count as a date if it was a guy and a girl. Chris and I would go on them whenever Aimee was out of town. :) Anyways, it is no way gay. Not there's anything wrong with that. We went and saw the Florida Orchestra and then out to eat at Applebee's. And for the record, the Applebee's in Brandon has some pretty hot chicks. (Aimee and Emily read that last part as very intelligent women)

Well, I'm off to work. I just felt a little left out cause everybody else posted.
Peas out!

Let's call this one; Why is my ex-wife retarded?

First a little history to catch everyone up: James is one of my best friends in the whole World. he lives in Orlando with two brothers named Brian and Sean. Brian and Sean's cousin Tiffany is living with my friend Tim. Their parents live in Merritt Island and have a big dinner every Sunday that they invite EVERYBODY to. And I mean everybody. I have been several times, and it is a lot of fun.

So this past Saturday, after I went to the SPCA with my Mom to help her pick out a dog(see picture below), I went to hang out in Orlando. Brian got a promotion at work so we all went out to House of Blues to celebrate. It was pretty fun, even if we got soaked running back to our cars. Before we got to the restaurant though, Summer(my ex-wife) kept calling Brian and James over and over. Being the guys that they are, they just ignored her calls because they pretty much can't stand Summer. Finally, James decided to answer figuring she wanted to hang out and was looking forward to telling her that they already had plans with me. Unfortunately for James(who has a hard time telling anyone no) she was calling because her car was broken down. Apparently she needs a new starter. She asked if James and Brian could help her out before Sunday dinner. James hemmed, and hawed, explaining that I would be hanging out with them, but they would stop by at some point. I figured this would be a good time to stop by Tim and Tiff's house to get some of the stuff I've been storing there, so I went over to Brevard county with them. Now, Summer knew I was hanging out with them this weekend, and should not have been surprised when i showed up with them. But alas, she was almost speechless when I showed up. Now, I hold no ill will towards Summer. I'm an adult and can act civilized around her. I thought the same of her. But it seems I was wrong. The three of us looked at her car, but she didn't have any way to raise the car up to get at the starter. It also started raining so they weren't able to help. They said goodbye, I said goodbye, and that was it... or so I thought. Later that evening while at Sunday dinner, Summer said to James and Brian, "Thanks a lot for bringing Matt today." James asked her what her problem was and she said she wished I hadn't been there. He asked if she was afraid I would ask to see Sweet Pea(her dog, formerly our dog) and she said yeah for one. She said something to the effect of, "I just don't see why he was there." James said, "Well, we were hanging out and he was going to get some of his stuff. Matt doesn't have this problem, why do you?" To which she had no response.

Now, I could understand if I had been abusive. Or if I had cheated on her(instead of her cheating on me). Or if I was just mean in general, but that is not the case. I have gotten over her. Totally. Don't mistake this for me pining after her. The fact of the matter is, her and her family were a HUGE part of my life for 10 years. Ten. A decade. And now she acts as if it never happened. She doesn't allow her family to have any contact with me? It hurts. Who is this person I was married to? Why does she act like a child when it comes to relationships? She needs to get over herself. Start acting like an adult, but more importantly, start treating me like one. This may be a bit of rambling, but I needed to get this off my chest.

Now, here's a picture of a cute dog:

I'm a little afraid right now.

So it's no secret that I'm a giant nerd. I was watching NatGeo tonight (that's what us Turbo Nerds call the National Geographic channel) and I saw a very interesting, yet slightly disturbing program called Human Ape. It deals with the similarities and differences between man and the great apes, ie Chimpanzees, Bonobos, Gorillas, and Orangutans. It showed how apes can use tools, and can work together, and can learn things, and they have a small grasp of physics. Blah, blah, blah. All very interesting. It got a little scary when they showed the Chimps going out Special Forces style and killing neighboring Chimps. That's not even the scariest part. There are these two Chimps that can recognize over 300 words and characters. One of them can even follow instructions given in complete sentences. Pretty cool until you pay close attention to what the Chimp is doing. First it shows him using a toy hypodermic needle to inject a baby doll. Then it shows him undressing the baby doll. WTF?!?! Are we seriously teaching Chimps to strip our kids and inject them with something? Isn't possible that this could be the wrong thing to be teaching them? Now I can't sleep because I know that there is an elite group of Special Forces Chimps out there ready to sneak in my room, strip me, and inject me with some sort of truth serum so that I will tell them where I keep all the bananas. Well the joke is on you GI Joe Chimp! I have no bananas.

Seriously though, watch this show. It's pretty interesting..

Some much to say, so little motivation.

So a lot has happened to me/around me/near me/in my general vicinity since my last blog, where to begin. I guess I will try to go somewhat in order...

End of November:
I got my driver's license back!!! Whoo hoo!!!! On my 32nd birthday, 16 years after I got my driver's license the first time, I got reinstated. I guess I will have to do this again on my 48th birthday. I spent Thanksgiving with my sister Patty and her husband and one son Mike. And my mom's of course. I was still jobless and stressed.

December:
I was jobless for all of December, but there were some bright spots. my brother nick came to visit for a couple of days around my mom's birthday. It's always nice hanging out with him. Christmas was nice. I met my Great nephew Marcus. he's a fat little baby. I got to see Amos too. And Mike and Felicia. Patty and i cooked up a storm the whole week basically. I learned how to make Nanny's meatballs and sauce. For those that have never had them, they are the best meatballs, ever. Period. Nothing even comes close. At the end of December, Jeremy, Chris, Aimee, Mercedes, and Mariah were in Florida and I got to spend some quality time with all of them. Let's just say, Beach(west coast), Poker, Beach at night, James' house, The Caper/Heist/Epcot, Ale House, Sean hates Jeremy, Wickersham's, Beach(East coast), Barnes and Noble, Bowling?, Krystal's, Beach at night again, truth or dare, Cuckoo clock, Mall, Liquor store, James' house, Sean loves Jeremy, New York Joe, Chris is drunk, Guitar challenge, long drive to Tampa. I prolly missed some stuff, but you get the idea.

January:
Well< i started the month unemployed, but finally, after a long search, I got a job. Honestly, I can't really say much about January other than that. I prolly saw some movies. I prolly hung out with James. But at the end of the month, I got hired by Southwest Florida College as a Guest Service Center Representative. What is that? Well, I basically contact potential students that have previously requested information about our school and set them up with an appointment to talk to an Admissions Rep. It's a pretty interesting job, and I def like the people I work with. Also in January, I did not shave my beard, making it an official "Janu-hairy."

February:
I shaved. I worked. I hung out with James.

March:
So, it seems that my job is a little more stressful than I first thought. One of my coworkers got fired yesterday because her numbers were low. We all have goals, and none of us are meeting ours, but hers were really low. And apparently she was told she had a bad attitude. It's stressing me out a little considering I just bought a new(to me) truck. That's right, I once again own my own vehicle. It's pretty damn sweet too. Its a 2005 Blazer, all black, 2 door. It only had 25,000 miles on it when I got it. Its the nicest car/truck I've ever owned. I got to hang out with Chris this past Easter weekend, but it wasn't all fun and games. I'm glad I got to hang out with him, and be able to drive him around after all the driving he's done for me, but Nannie will be missed. It really upset me that I couldn't be there for the funeral itself, but because of things at my job(see above) it was unavoidable.

And that brings us up to date. If I missed anything important, I apologize. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time, Peace, love, and Chicken Wings.