Sunday, December 20, 2009

Christmas 2009

Well, it’s Christmas time again, so as 2009 draws to a close I reflect upon times gone by these past 12 months.

Family-
As I’m sure you’re all aware Paige and Carlos had a baby boy “Maddux” the day after Christmas last year (although I expect Paige did most of the work), so Mom won the pool. I spent the final portions of her labor stuck in the hospital stairwell…long story…If she had just held him in one more day that money would have been mine… anyway, he’s a pretty neat kid, he started walking a few weeks ago, and seems hell bent on becoming better and better at that, so it keeps all of us hopping out of our chairs frequently to find where he went and to make sure he’s not near the stairs. Paige and Carlos have changed as a result of having the kid as well, they are more mature (if that’s possible), probably a little more stressed, and definitely more comfortable sharing stories about the baby’s latest bowel movement at the dinner table. For more on Paige, Carlos, or the Baby…mostly the Baby check out http://www.1plus1equalsfour.blogspot.com/ but don’t be gone too long… go ahead I can wait.

Work-
The state of the nation’s economy has taken a toll on my profession as I’m sure it has most professions. Northern Nevada isn’t the best place to be at the moment if you’re in the land development field. On the other hand our company’s mining division has been keeping somewhat steady with the price of precious metals being inflated such that they’re able to counteract the corresponding deflated dollar. Needless to say we weren’t able to participate in any of the types of activities we had last year which was a little disappointing but not unexpected. I did however get the opportunity to work out of our company’s Fort Collins office four weeks this past summer, which was a nice change of pace from summer in Reno. This also gave me the opportunity to spend time with Lisa, Deb, Bernie, Tobe, Hannah, Luanne, and Julie. This was my first opportunity to size up both Hannah and Julie, both made the cut, as a result we had one wedding this summer and one will follow next year.

Animals-
Booker turned three in February, we didn’t have much of a celebration though, seems as we grow older birthdays occur more and more frequently and are less and less significant each successive year. Kirby on the other hand turned one year old in April and some friends and I had a small celebration at my house in his honor. Nermal is 6 and really hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years, although he is more and more tolerant of the dogs as time goes on, in fact he and Booker often sleep together. The turtle is still alive and kicking, she is about 14 years old, or so, and lives day to day hoping that I never let Kirby play with her again.

Weddings-
Seems this had been the year for weddings.

April had me heading down to Cabo san Lucas, Mexico for Ryan and Caitlin’s wedding. Matt Mowbray and I booked a trip down there with Apple Vacations. The trip began as Matt and I ran to meet our connecting flight in Phoenix and found that Matt Caviglia had gotten there a few hours earlier and had been enjoying the overpriced beers at the bar across the terminal (yes it was 9:00 AM). Mowbray and I both shook our heads at Caviglia’s attempt to board the plane with a Scolaris grocery store receipt, and it didn’t end there. Despite the plane only being 10% full Caviglia was insistent that we all sit in the same row as to have a complete row of Matts, this was of course to the great amusement of the rest of the passengers. We finally touched down in San Jose del Cabo and after Mowbray had filled out Caviglia’s immigration paperwork for him we took off to baggage claim where Mowbray’s uncanny ability to look like a terrorist got him random bag checked and strip searched (okay one of those was a lie). After that the vacation had begun. We stayed at the all-inclusive Riu Santa Fe resort where we drank our weight in beer and tequila each day. The room had a wall mounted shot dispenser and a couple of double beds that the cleaning crew seemed determined to make into one king bed (see pictures at right). With all of the drinking and time spent preparing for drinking (sleeping) we only actually had time for two activities while in Mexico, the wedding and a round of golf. The wedding was nice. It was on the beach where passersby decided to stand behind the alter and watch. The reception went late into the evening and while Matt and I made an attempt to head down to Cabo Wabo after the reception I found myself nodding off at the bar (too much fun in the sun I suppose) so we packed it in for the evening. Our game of golf was on a nice course inland from the ocean (those courses are $200 a round). Matt and I played with Caitlin’s uncle and a guy we had met in the clubhouse. I shot terribly (which I do often) although I blame the course, they had a 640 yard par 5 for god’s sake! The rest of the trip was rather uneventful unless you count the lady sharing a row with Matt and I who decided to have a nervous breakdown on the plane going from Cabo to Phoenix.

Kevin and Heidi got married in July at the Episcopal Church in downtown Reno, I got to the wedding late and had to sit in the back of the church near the horns…yes I said horns. After regaining my hearing the wedding had past and it was time to go to the reception at the Atlantis. The reception was a fun time, the most memorable moment was when Heidi’s aunt was mid-way through giving a half hour long toast recounting all the moments of Heidi’s life when she told a raucous crowd to “shut-up I’m not done yet.” Sorry I put this in here Heidi, but it was funny.

In late August we had Tobe and Hannah’s wedding in Colorado. I elected to drive Mom’s car out, a decision that I was actually happy that I made, the sun was still down all the way through Nevada, unfortunately it came out through Utah…gross. Wyoming was actually a really nice drive, while accounting for the longest leg of the journey it sure didn’t feel like it. I pulled into Lisa’s driveway after pretty much exactly 13 hours of driving. One of the managers of my company’s Fort Collins office got wind of me heading out there and decided to invite me in for a day of work the following day…sure. After that I was up the mountain to Deb and Bernie’s cabin in Allens Park for a couple of days of R&R. A couple of late nights drinking and playing hearts, as well as an impromptu visit to a biker bar in Lyon’s with Ted left me pretty unwilling to participate in the early morning hikes Luanne had put together, we did, however, squeeze in a game of golf in Estes Park. After a day in Fort Collins, and a couple of days in the mountains, it was down to Boulder for the wedding. The rehearsal dinner that Deb and Bernie put on at the Wanebo household was very nice, and the wedding the following day was also a very fun time. After the brunch the day after the wedding, it was time for me to head back home, this time I opted to spend the night in a Motel 6 in Wendover rather than make the drive through the night through Nevada. Those of you who saw my Facebook status update that night, thank you for remaining vigilant.

Jillian and Jason got married in early September up at Lake Tahoe’s beautiful South Shore. The wedding was coincidently overlapping one of the final days of the rib cook-off, so I was left with a difficult decision to make. I opted to go to the wedding as I had made it out to the cook-off the previous three days. The wedding began late as the minister was “stuck in traffic” which I took to mean “finishing his half rack of ribs before heading up the hill.” The wedding was a fun time, drinking and dancing were the staples of the evening, although I did behave myself as that mountain can be a treacherous one coming back down.

Pat and Jenna got married this summer at Idlewild Park, this wedding was the first one (and I assume only one) I’ve ever been to in which the bride actually referred to the groom as her “baby’s daddy” in her vows. That elicited laughter from Pat’s side of the isle and mortified gasps from Jenna’s… ahh good times.

Fun-
Well this year I played a number of rounds of golf, mostly at the local municipal courses that are being shut down one at a time by the county due to these economic times. I hope that we can pull out of this recession before I don’t have a golf course to play.

In early summer some friends and I went to float the Truckee River, a new favorite hobby of mine (yes sitting and drinking can be a hobby). When I say early summer I actually mean mid to late spring, since the water was not exactly the nicest temperature for playing in. We toughed it out though and actually made the longest float that I had ever done on the Truckee…about 5 hours. The cooler raft that I’d built held up pretty well, but after striking a few rocks it took on some water and floated cockeyed the rest of the way, nevertheless the beer made it unscathed. Next year I’ll be sure to schedule that particular event a little later in the year.

Rib cook-off is always the event of the year for me every year. This year I made it down 3 of the 5 days and actually decided to break from the vendors I usually visit and try some of the other ones. I was pleasantly surprised with the lesser know vendors ribs and will probably try them again next year. www.nuggetribcookoff.com

This year marked the 11th year in a row that we played our annual “Turkey Bowl” game. The venue this year was up at McQueen High School. We keep getting muscled out of municipal parks as they are all being turned into dog parks which I can only assume is a result of fat children not wanting to play outside in this day and age. Anyway, I digress, the game this year was great, we had a full game 11 on 11, well 11 on 10 anyway. Those of you on that “10 team” quit your whining. Paige brought Maddux so he could get acquainted with the game with players that run slower and take more than one halftime.

As I’m writing this I’m excited for our annual snow bowl game played every year on Christmas Eve, this is usually a low turnout game, but is always pretty fun playing in the snow, mud, and ice.

The Resolution-
My New Year’s resolution for 2009 was to give up eating french fries. Today is December 20 and I’ve still yet to have one (mostly because of the resolution, but also because some of my friends didn’t think I could do it, so there’s money involved now). You would not believe how hard it is not to eat French fries, go to a restaurant like TGIFridays (now closed in Reno) and order a salad instead, and they still bring you the fries like they thought you were joking. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though. I haven't decided what next year's resolution will be, but rest assured it will be a test of will power, and my friends will be able to wager against me.

Well I guess I’d better finish wrapping Christmas presents, Happy Holidays everyone. I'll leave you all with some footage I took this past summer of Kirby trying to keep cool in the sun.






Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Christmas Letter 2008

Well, it's been 12 months since the last post, wow the time really flies! Here’s a brief summary detailing my 2008.

I know you have all been on pins and needles to hear if I had passed my PE exam back in January. Unfortunately I passed all but the seismic portion, so I vengefully returned to Sacramento in April and am happy to report that I received my letter in July stating I had passed, and am now licensed in California. As an aside I will also always remember the day that I received my result letter as the day I spent drinking Miller Lite while floating down the Truckee River on an inner tube and getting completely sunburned head to toe...those of you who received a phone call from me once I received news will remember that day as the day "some drunk dude called me yelling about a test and inner tubing?"

While we’re on the subject of river rafting…my company sponsored a raft race down the Truckee River from Caughlin Park to West Street Plaza (See pictures to the right). We did very poorly (19 out of 24 I believe) but the proceeds went to the Truckee River Foundation http://www.truckeeriverfoundation.org/ and the Transplant Network. http://www.thetransplantnetwork.com/

I recently got another dog, his name is Kirby (Puckett), and he is a golden retriever. He is much lighter in color than Booker (See photos to the right). He keeps me on the edge of my seat whenever I'm at home, and to my surprise he and Booker get along very well, which is more than I can say for he and Nermal. He is about eight months old and is going to be neutered next month (ouch) as he is quite the little hump happy puppy and my couch is threatening a sexual harassment suit.

Rib cook off was excellent as always. The city has a lot of events throughout the year, the majority of them in the summer. They are all are pretty fun, but all take a back seat to the rib cook off. This year I tried to get a table on multiple nights although, with the increasing popularity of the event, the Nugget felt the fair thing to do was to hold a lottery for the tables. Thus I didn’t get one and will have to wait another year to hopefully get one on the weekend with friends. Those of you that don't have even the foggiest idea what I'm talking about...for shame. http://www.nuggetribcookoff.com/ check it out. You can return here after a you get a little education...it's okay I can wait.

What else is new, well I'm still single...wait that's not new. Oh, a couple of my friends got married...then a couple others got a divorce...circle of life I guess. Ryan finally proposed to Caitlin just shy of a decade of courting...yes people still use the term courting. If you have any interest in their wedding info you can check them out here http://www.ryanandcaitlin.weddingwindow.com/ but return quickly, you don't want this blog to get cold.

I’m 26 this year, so I’m officially closer to 30 than 20. As is the case every year my birthday fell near Halloween. This year I decided to celebrate by dressing up as the devil and heading down to the Peppermill with some buddies to ogle the scantily clad women standing in line to get into the new club (The Edge). I spent most of the night drinking beer and re-gluing the horns to my forehead. For those of you who are used to attaching porcelain to your face, you know how frustrating that process can be. For those of you who don’t, you have been wasting your life.

Downtown Reno has spent a lot of effort and money over the past few years in an attempt to boost tourism and image. The city has done really well with the locals in the creation of the Whitewater Park and by sponsoring “beer crawls” http://www.renobeercrawl.com/ and the “wine walk.” This year for the first time Reno put on a “Turkey Crawl” downtown the day before Thanksgiving. The buy in was canned food for the needy and the whole thing was sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. This is one of the only beer crawls I actually finished this year as they only had 10 bars on the list (shot and a beer at each bar) as opposed to the usual 18. Never the less a good time was had by all and the proceeds went to a good cause.

Turkey Bowl this year was one of our best yet. This year marked the 10th anniversary for our Turkey Bowl, an event which has had just about as many venues. This year we took it to Plumas Park, as Hidden Valley Park (the site for the previous three Turkey Bowls) has been turned into a dog park. Unfortunately we just aren’t in the kind of shape we used to be, but at least we all depreciated at the same rate. I’m sure passing teenagers would have wondered why we were playing football in slow motion…punks. Let’s see how well they play football after 10 years of beer drinking and ignoring fitness.

Reno got a new sports team this year, the Reno Bighorns, a development league basketball team that acts as a feeder for the Nicks and the Kings. The last week of November some of the guys and I decided to check out the inaugural game after being coerced with promises of free tickets and dollar beers courtesy of Scruples Bar and Grill. To my surprise we actually had a pretty fun time…the dollar beers did contribute somewhat to the enjoyment I’m sure. After two hours of screaming and enthusiastic jeering, I noticed that the mascot wasn’t holding up his end…ultimately leading to our defeat…I decided to tackle him. On the way out of the events center he was shaking hands and high fiving everyone, I lowered my shoulder and speared him, I was thankfully not arrested, and to my enjoyment, received many fist bumps and high fives on the sidewalk outside.

We just recently participated in this year’s downtown Santa Crawl (28 bars in this one, no chance in Hell), an event that I look forward to each and every year for the inexpensive drinks, large crowds, and yes…scantily clad women (I’m feeling a trend here). For anyone interested in the night of debauchery feel free to check out the website at http://www.renosantacrawl.com/ they should have pictures up soon.

Well, that’s about it…back to eating Christmas cookies and dreading all of my 2009 New Years Resolutions. Happy holidays everyone!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Christmas Time

Well, it's the end of the year; therefore it's time to update everyone on the past year's exploits.

The year began as it does for most people (I'd imagine), with a New Year's resolution to lose weight and get into better shape. I'll follow up this blog with one solely dedicated to my workout schedule and dietary regimen so as not to bore those of you who don't care. Basically the punch line is that I set a goal for myself to lose 65 pounds by year end, and I'm proud to say that it's currently December 10th, and I only have six pounds to go.

But enough about me let's talk about Booker...my dog (see the many pictures to the right of the blog if you still don't understand). He turned 1 year old on February 24th, so I had a birthday party for him. As crazy as he is by himself, those of you who know him can imagine what a hectic house I had that day with another half dozen dogs and a dozen people. Mom made a "safe for dogs" birthday cake, while I picked up a human cake from Costco...yellow cake, not Soilent Green. We barbequed brats and chicken, and mom put together goodie bags for all of the visiting pooches. Needless to say, Booker slept like a baby that night.

A week later we thought it would be fun to go back to the farm in Milford where I got him (about 45 minutes north of Reno) to visit his mom and the other dogs she lives with. I was surprised to see that Booker's sister, Zoe, was still living with Tom and Cindy. They opted not to sell her because as a newborn she got a cut across her face that became extremely infected, so much so that we all thought she was going to die. She made it though, but by the time she was able to leave the nest, she had already become too accustomed to life on the farm, so Tom and Cindy decided to keep her. See the photos on the right for Booker's family reunion.

As you can imagine, the dog and cat consume most of my life. In fact I spent a ridiculous amount of time this past summer building a dog kennel (which I finally finished) only to find out that Booker can jump higher than I had predicted when I designed the thing. I'll need to add a small extension on top to prevent the jumping out...ah the never-ending backyard projects. Anyway, I decided to have Booker neutered this last fall, a decision that he was not a part of. It didn't change his temperament at all, although he no longer humps the stuffed animals...Conor, I know you're disappointed.

I left Quad Knopf in May and started working for John Welsh's company Telesto, which turned out to be a better decision than I could have known at the time as Quad Knopf laid off a good chunk of their staff including their entire civil engineering department in the Reno office. Things are going great at Telesto. In a time when the residential market has slowed dramatically we are able to keep extremely busy with John's mining projects and civil projects brought in by the newest partner David Hagen. It's just nice to know that we can thrive while others have to close the door.

The summer came and went, and September was upon us yet again which means it was time for the rib cook-off. As I mentioned before, I had been sticking to a relatively strict diet, but with eight months to sort out the logistics I felt reasonably confident that consuming my weight in pork would not hinder my efforts. Never-the-less to watch me you'd swear I was trying to re-gain what I had lost. I emerged from the mass of pork eaters a week later to find myself a changed man; I was a ravenous animal devouring anything that had even the slightest hint of the Texas Outlaws Sauce on it. A couple of salads later I was back on track, just in time for Italian Festival, this is more of the same, but instead of taking place in Victorian Square and serving overpriced ribs, the City of Reno blockades Virginia Street through downtown so the Eldorado can set up their pasta tents (they're exactly what they sound like) and sell overpriced spaghetti and ravioli. Anyway I get excited about the Italian Festival every year, probably because I don't remember each previous year's experience. Don't get me wrong, the pasta and garlic bread is great, it's just the atmosphere that's lacking, the entertainment is terrible, and with everyone standing shoulder to shoulder attempting to eat their spaghetti without spilling their plate the whole experience seems to be more like looking for a contact lens in a mosh pit than enjoying a nice EXPENSIVE plate at a "high class" establishment. Maybe now that it's documented I just might not get so excited next year.

October rolled around and it was time for me to stop procrastinating studying for my California PE exam. As I've already passed the national exam a couple of years ago, all I needed to take was the California specific portions...the seismic and the surveying. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until they release the results in February, which makes it difficult to use a fork, but I'm getting by. Oh yeah, I turned 25 on the 30th of October, thanks to those of you that remembered me, those of you that didn't, don't feel too bad, I probably won't remember your birthdays either, in fact I'm taking you out of my Outlook contacts list after I’m done typing. Moving along Halloween was a bust; I put on my old baseball umpire uniform, as I had little time to prepare a costume because of the aforementioned exam. We spent the evening sitting around Stocking's house waiting for the "Fun Boy's" to finish their costumes. They originally wanted to go as 80's punk rockers, but when everything was said and done, they looked more like 80's flamers...see attached photo, it's a little grainy (camera phone...plus I was probably laughing too hard). By the time we left (around 12:45) there really wasn’t anything left to do, so I went home, while the Fun Boys went downtown to get stared at and spit on … that last part may not be true, when I’m not there I tend to imagine things.

Leaping into November, my conditioning increased so I could be in football shape for our yearly game on Thanksgiving Day up at Hidden Valley Park-TURKEY BOWL 2007. I'm happy to say that we had our best turn out yet, about 22 people. We opted to play "two hand touch" since Kyle had broken his leg two years earlier in a more manly game. That's not to say that there wasn't a fair amount of contact, being the fatty that I am I was stuck up at the line for two hours of bumping and shoving. My team won the first game 7 touchdowns to 1, but we lost the second one 2 touchdowns to 3. After the game I headed over to Randy and Juliette's house for Thanksgiving dinner, since they were out of town, Ryan and Caitlin were watching the homestead and asked if I wouldn't mind frying a turkey...I didn't mind at all. Since this was my first Thanksgiving without mom she thought she would help by making a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie, and oh yeah, a friend of Paige's also made us a pumpkin cheesecake...we get it, I'm fat. The food was great, and a great time was had by all.

It's now December, the year has come full circle, and I'm a little lighter, wiser, and in awe that I was able to go through an entire year without even thinking about enrolling in another graduate program.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Wednesday, November 7, 2007