Just be sure you don’t fall into the case of Dilbert…

So once the plows had a chance to push through the area a little, the house mates and I decided it was time to venture out. Fear not – I’m not driving, just in the navigator position.

If you’re interested in the epic adventures after Son of Snow, check it out in the Son of Snow Album on Vimeo.com.

Overnight, we continued to shovel the snow every few hours. It seemed though that with every time we would go out that we had not dented the snow with any of our previous efforts.

By Saturday morning, the snow was deep and any previous efforts to clear snow were disturbed by wind blowing snow into drifts. Wandering about the neighborhood took precedent

After much shoveling and digging, the snow had finally died down, but my car still seemed to be weighted down by a significant amount of snow. I decided I would submit my thoughts to the world by drawing a little something in the snow.

All in all, by my car was finally freed from the snow by Sunday night.

Unfortunately more snow is on the way…

It’s been more than a year since I last gave my Mom a hug.
So the first is still on my mind fairly often, but with time, memories turn to smiles rather than gnashing of teeth. I still want to pick up the phone from time to time to say hi and see how things are going on at Immanuel, but I stop myself and just breath, realizing that life will never be the same.

It’s been more than a year since I’ve seen close friends.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen several close friends. Relating to my first though, several folks clammed up and weren’t certain what to do when Mom passed away. Several didn’t know what to say. Understandably, but just swinging by the house to say hello or calling would have been something that would have blown me away. Instead, while there seemed to be a ridiculous outpouring of sorrow on Facebook, I can’t say that there was one person that dropped by the house to share a meal or to say hello and see how I was doing. Granted, in some respects, I can’t blame them since I was over taking care of my dad through sometime part way into December.
Now that’s not to say that all friends have wandered disregarded me, but I guess it seems like “most” did. As time has gone by, some folks have come out of the woodwork to hang out – the “some” is relatively small. If anything I turn to my colleagues at work – some of them knew the full extent as to what had transpired, others just thought that there was an accident (hello, awkward!). These folks, while some not knowing Christ, were utilized by Him, providing care and friendship I would have suspected my Christian brothers would have rushed forward to provide – and people wonder why it’s hard to trust “christians” when they’re not true to the character of “Christians”.

It’s been more than a year since I’ve had the opportunity to really just be me.
Maybe I’m a little off on timelines, but it’s been a while since I feel I”ve had the opportunity to actually just be the kid that I like to be. In some respects I was able to be a kid in Nashville, TN over the past year, but not to just kick back and relax.

What’s that? You’ve got a vacation coming up?
If only. Though I suppose a trip to Hawaii would be acceptable to get away and just kick back, relax and breath.

So what are you looking to do this January of 2010?

Okay, all kidding aside, if you are interested in partaking in this "fun" activity, check out the instructions from none other than Instructables.com where they have specific instructions on How to SAFELY fry a Turkey.

Anyway, I figured that when I’d get home I’d look through some of the photos of how I remember Boston and what I saw over the weekend. While doing so I went through my “picture archive” which spans back to early 2003 when I bought my first digital camera.

The first picture is gone – I’m guessing I took a picture of the inside of the lens cap. The second, third and fourth pictures though… all Mom. They’re all of Mom at Immanuel Bible Church, a community that she deeply loved and cared for.

So I figured I’d share them with you all.

8 TV Shows I Watch

1. The Office – “I want people to be afraid of how much they love me…” Michael Scott, you are our hero, our leader and our inspiration.
2. The Simpsons – Yes, that’s right, I’m an American that enjoys the humor of Matt Groening.
3. NCIS – Over the years, it’s grown on me.
4. 24 – As long they don’t bring Kim Bauer back into the fold of things, I’ll be a happy camper.
5. Chuck – John Casey is definitely my favorite character by far in this.
6. Burn Notice – It’s a hard life in Miami… but it’s good to be Michael Weston.
7. ALF – Here Lucky, Lucky, Lucky…
8. Criminal Minds – Interesting perspectives on how screwed up some people are in the head.

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Mike’s American Grill – It’s too bad that they don’t have their Chocolate Ho-Ho anymore, what a great dessert. On a regular day, their Tuna or Salmon salad is fab.
2. Houlihan’s – Chicken Nachos to start with, then the Buffalo Bleu Salad please
3. Champp’s – I’m a sucker for their barbecue chop salad. If you’re really eager for a dessert that will leave you quite satisfied, go for the Mile High Ice Cream Pie.
4. Delia’s Pizzeria and Grille – Delish Tummi dishes. Did you know you can order online? I didn’t…
5. Duck Chang’s – Great food that’s different than your typical “American” Chinese food establishment.
6. Gordon Biersch Brewery – Oh how I adore the chop salad.
7. Aladdin’s Eatery – Great gyro wraps and their cheese cake is ridiculous.
8. Shooter McGee’s – Where else can you get a half priced burger on Monday nights or Ribs with such a sweet taste with such tender meat on Thursday nights?

St. Louis Bread Company – Yummy soups, need I say more? (this was #8 originally)

8 Things That Happened To Me or That I Did Today

1. Woke up around 7 AM and continued catching up on RSS feeds on good ole Google Reader.
2. Dressed up in my snazzy taupe colored suit and was told that I looked like I was dressing up for GQ or something.
3. Discussed a few project strategies with my boss.
4. Spent 2.5 hours commuting to and from Herndon during the day.
5. Talked to Robert quite a bit about life while carpooling back and forth.
6. Pondered buying an iPhone 3G but after seeing a few news snippets about a 128 GB SSD version of the iPhone, holding off a few more weeks.
7. Watched three episodes of Heroes in an attempt to catch up and have a clue what’s going on this season.
8. Took a short nap before waking up and seeing that I’d been tagged and figured if I didn’t reply to this now, it would be a long time.

8 Things That I’m Looking Forward To

1. Going to the gym in four hours.
2. Hanging out with Gus later this evening.
3. Figuring out what I’m doing for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
4. Getting project defined further so as to execute more precisely to be effective.
5. Seeing old friends as they circulate through the greater Northern Virginia region over the holidays.
6. Getting over this cold – almost there.
7. A nap this afternoon.
8. Verizon Wireless going to LTE.

8 Things I Wish For

1. Greater clarity in thought.
2. Continued to determination to live more frugally.
3. Greater fellowship interaction.
4. A wonderful young lass to come into my life that just clicks.
5. Peace of heart after the events of 10 October 2008.
6. Continued determination to become more fit – gotta be ready for the 2010 World’s Strongest Dan Competition.
7. An Infiniti G37.
8. Reconciliation.

8 People I Tag To Do This Too!

1. Joel
2. Mike
3. Sarah
4. Kellan
5. Joe
6. Derek
7. Camille
8. Abe

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