I think, with the wind chill, it was under 0 ° F outside. I am, however, enjoying that we really do not have a lot of snow around the apartment. Just nasty bitter wind.

Work is gearing up. Really intensely busy, hence the lack of blogging. Really, my life consists of work, cooking, exercise, shower, relax for an hour, sleep, and repeat. This past weekend, we were just home relaxing, and it was great. I didn't have today off, unfortunely.

Well, time for bed.

2007 Resolutions

1. Lose weight. - still ongoing. Lost about 20 lbs from last year, hope to do more


2. Finish my MS degree. - done


3. Get a house. - moved to this year due to relocation

Not a great success record, but I view resolutions as goals more than anything else.

2008 Resolutions

1. Lose weight. - Yes, it is carrying over from last year, but I would like to lose some more


2. Buy a house. - Another carry-over from last year, but I think this will be a done deal before winter

It is a light list, but the two goals are not easy to accomplish and maintain. But I hope to show you guys results soon.

Well, Joe, Buster, and I are settled into our new apartment in Niagara Falls. My job is going good, and Joe seems to be locking down a job offer very soon. Buster is getting used to the new apartment pretty well and his separation anxiety has been minimized somewhat.

It is great living near family. We still try to manage which ones we visit on which days, but it is a lot easier to drive 20 minutes to 2 hours than 5 hours.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season!

This week, I am looking as well for an apartment around Niagara county. Joe's last day at Dolphin is Oct. 5th. So, busy bees are we.

With the moving process, this server, and website, will probably be down until we get the internet at our new place, wherever that may be.

Well, off to ease my jitters.

We went hiking today on Bald Mountain, just north of Old Forge NY. It was a shorter hike, as some of the larger mountains in the Adirondacks are about 1 hour or more north of there.

The view was great from here. You can see some of the leaves have already started to change. Plus a great view of the little lakes around here. It was a lot of fun.

But first I need a job. I am starting to look up AJAX as a decent portion of employers are asking about it. Flash is getting up there, but I don't know if I want to work with that everyday. Personally, I think Flash is not very accessible, but I am applying for jobs that will probably not give me that control. I am also working on refreshing database and xml skills. While I have taken the classes, I am not sure if I want to apply for a DBA.

This weekend is the 50th anniversary of Joe's grandparents. We will celebrate it with them. Fantasy hockey is starting up soon. I anticipate a job before Halloween. So it is going to be busy, but I will work harder on keeping the blog up to date.

Joe and I returned to the Sterling Renaissance Festival two years after our visit. We went with Joe's parents, Jenn, Jason, Corinne, and Stephanie. Overall we had fun, however there was a definite more adult theme this year than my first visit.

1. Most of my Guild Wars characters have been female, necromancers, and have Disney names.

2. Joe has been getting me to play his new board game BattleLore , that he won off of a bet. I am currently kicking his butt.

3. I am beginning to truly hate summer, and cannot wait for an event-less fall.

4. While I am looking for a web developer job, I would be happy if one day I could teach at a college level.

5. I despise white walls and beige carpet after being surrounded by it for 5 years.

6. Since I have watched a ton of the Law & Order repeats on TNT, I am slowly getting addicted to the HGTV channel.

7. My two latest hobbies are sewing and learning AJAX.

8. I am extremely nervous about my job search.

Congrats to Jason & Jenn!

Lately, I have seen PA about 3 - 5 times in the past month. Some for Jen's wedding, some for my grandmother's bypass surgery. All appears to be well on both fronts.

With the wedding within a week, I probably be very busy. I still have to finalize the wedding program, organize appetizers, and who knows what else.

As for IE, I am aware that this page looks messy with IE 7 (haven't try IE 6). I will try to fix it sometime this weekend.

1. I used to be the ultimate sensitive sleeper. An eye mask and absolute silence was necessary to sleep for me. But, then I got Buster who snores loudly throughout the night, and I began to sleep with sounds. Lights are still an issue as well as evil morning birds.

2. My closet is color-coordinated. It is not exactly ROYGBIV style (Red, Orange, etc.), it is more light to dark clothes spectrum in there.

3. Once in a blue moon, I get into a cleaning frenzy. For about 2 - 3 hours, I clean non-stop in a manner that absolutely scares Joe. Sometimes I get triggered by possible guests, sometimes it just happens as I am picking up stuff.

4. I am a pack rat.

5. I tend to be left-handed in most aspects of life, but my right hand has better handwriting.

6. I hate tomatoes but love ketchup. I have similar issues with grapes but enjoy grape jelly.

7. I prefer using back roads / alternative routes to get somewhere versus the way that we are "suppose to go", aka major state routes or highways

8. I am slowly but surely collecting the majority of Disney films and cartoons that are available on DVD.

That's all I can think of for now.

After the bridal shower, Mom and I traveled to the Chautauqua Institution to listen to my sisters perform in the Chautauqua County concert. There was a big turn-out. I was disappointed that their school was again not rewarded for any of their singers or band members, but it was a good concert.

Jen's bridal shower was today and I think she had a lot of fun. We had a Hawaiian themed shower, with vivid colors, grass skirts, and much more. Jen got a lot of presents and we all had fun.

I was quite proud of the cake. I didn't make it (thanks Wegmans!) but I was so happy with how it turned out. The flip-flops are magnets.