Shopping Success

Our mosly-annual trip to the Ozark outlet mall last weekend was a complete success! The ladies all felt they accomplished a lot and the men enjoyed their golf despite a little bit of drizzle and some chilly breezes. I personally made a huge dent in my Christmas list, and am now no longer worried about finishing in time. I must apologize for the lateness of this post. I had wanted to include a total bag count in comparison to past trips but I couldn't find all of my old data. I searched long and hard, even having to get a password cracker to open an Outlook file I forgot the key to. Anyway, that being said, I did find this much:

Year	Bag Count
2001	63
2002	71
2003	??
2004	??
2005	no trip
2006	85

What is a Berm, you ask?

Well, that's what we paid a lot of money for to get in our front yard. The goal was to provide a barrier from the street, without spending a ton on an ugly fence and to cut down on the large amount of grass we have to mow and water constantly. So we ended up with a mound of dirt, some bushes, a few trees, and a bunch of ivy sprigs. This is a view from across the street. The mailbox is almost as tall as the "trees". 

Here is another angle from across the street where you can see the entire section of land between the berm and the road has had the grass removed and ground cover ivy put in. 

I'm really hoping these tress grow fast. Since we wanted to block the street from view, and here you can see by looking out our front door that there is still a lot of space to fill in. 

Despite all my criticisms, the actual work is really nice. Below is a close up where you can see the coolest part -- the big boulders. There are 5 in total, and I think they add some "pizzaz" to the thing. 
In the end, we're thinking the berm/mound/hill/whatever deserves an official name. What do you think of "Mount Trantor"?

Birthday/Christmas Lists

As requested, here are some ideas for the two of us. For Angie Amazon wish list Slippers Long-sleeve night-shirts A small teapot Work shirts that don't need to be tucked-in Leather belts (one brown; one black -- for work slacks) Goalie shirt Membership to Audible.com Stand-up easel Full-size Popcorn popper (like in real theatres) Shirt/Sweater - L Pants/Skirts - 12 Favorite color: Pink Likes: Games, Movies, SciFi, Snoopy, Cool kitchen gadgets, Storage/shelf organizers Dislikes: Red, Velcro For Justin Amazon wish list A high quality microscope ("ADVANCED BINOCULAR COMPOUND MICROSCOPE 40X-1600X") Oscilloscope Air compressor Honda EU1000i or EU2000i generator XM radio Size - XL Shirts with no collar; v-neck or large neck Favorite color: Dark green Likes: Movies, Computers, Cool techie gadgets, Books, Stainless steel and brushed chrome finishes, Gift certificates Dislikes: Cows, Dust-collectors For Both Electric Wok with "sear" setting Heatable icecream scoop A really good camping tent A big gift card for Lowe's, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight Planning time from a Landscape architect Certificates to a nursery Time and elbow grease to work on the house (either outside or in)

Boston Movies

Justin wanted to see the new Scorsese movie, so we went to The Departed yesterday morning. I'm rating it a 7 for now, which is kind of a stretch. Although the acting was superb, and the story starts off interesting, I don't feel that it really went anywhere. I mean I am starting to get used to movies that just "end", but there wasn't even the usual character depth that one comes to expect from a good drama. Furthermore, there were too many holes in the story that made the situation not very believable. Yet I really enjoyed Nicholson's and Baldwin's performances. So for comparison, we also watched Good Will Hunting, which still holds to its perfect 10 rating. Now here's a Boston I can believe in and characters I care about. 'Nuff said.

A day in the life

5:30am

Alarm goes off. But my dream is so nice.... snooze.

5:39am

Alarm again. Darn it. Dream is ruined. But I'm soooo tired..... snooze.

Several more snoozes later

Alright, alright. I'm getting up already.

Stumble, as quietly as possible so as not to wake Justin, through the bathroom into my closet. Stare blankly at the shelves for a few minutes while my brain slowly engages. What day of the week is it? What is the weather going to be like? When did I last wear this shirt? Eventually take a stack of clothes from the closet back into the bathroom and turn on the shower. Step on the scale. Yikes! Can't eat anything again today. Step into the shower. Yikes! Water is still too cold. Do I need to shave my legs today? Which shampoo do I use?

About 20 minutes later

Go downstairs and feed the cat. Drink some milk and take some vitamins. Is there anything I'm forgetting? Get in the car and head to work.

Between 7:00am and 7:30ish

Arrive at work and turn on the computer. Fill up my water cup. Read waiting work emails. Connect to computer at home and read home emails. Check schedule for meetings or other things that might interfere with lunch. Run the randomizer and send an email to friends inviting to chosen lunch location. Try to prioritize the tasks for the day and start working. On a good day, this will be actually programming. Other times, it's a struggle between more tedious things like writing documentation, composing emails to various people, and sitting in meetings.

11:00am

Lunch time! Enjoy time chatting with friends and getting out of the office.

Between 12:00pm and 12:15pm

Grudgingly go back to the office. Refill water cup. Read work email. Connect to home computer and read home email. Update the time entry system by trying to figure out what I've actually worked on during the day. Try to actually do the loathsome tasks avoided thus far.

Between 4:00pm and 4:30ish

Time to go home! Do I need gas? Do I need anything at the grocery store?

Most days: Change into walking clothes. Go on a walk with Justin. Eat leftovers or cook meal or go out to eat. Play computer game or watch movie or read book.

Mondays: Play soccer.

Every other Thursday: Play games with friends.

Sometimes: Do house work, yard work, other chore.

Around 10:00pm

Yikes! It's bed-time (or past it). Change clothes. Put in ear plugs. Put on eye mask and wrist brace. Please, please go to sleep quickly so I can get up tomorrow.