Buffett '08

Ah, the annual Buffett concert. What could be more... crazy? No... that's not it... surreal. That's more like it. Because this is the only even that can make even the most hardcore, serious person loosen up. Not that I know anyone like that. But come on... am I right?

This year I went with Wendy, Erica, and Danyelle (Nelly). I made my jello shots and Wendy had her jug-o-rita for the pre-concert festivities. We threw some hula hoops and a shark into the mix this year, and we were set! The sun was shining and hot, so you couldn't ask for more. Except maybe a kiddy pool to sit in because it was so humid. But other than that... We got to the parking lot with plenty of time to down margaritas and jello shot to 'prepare' for the show. We were well prepared going into the show. :)

The show was a good time, as usual. Lots of singing, more drinking, dancing around, more drinking... good stuff. :) I posted my pictures, as usual, for anyone to view and share. I also posted a video on my YouTube page of part of his encore, when he did a cover of Bruce Springsteen's Glory Days. It was something a little different. Not sure why all these artists seem to be doing covers this year... Anyways...

So another round of 'annual concerts' down in the history books. Being unemployed actually made these good ones... didn't have to worry about taking time off. A good thing. :)

Dave and More!

So I didn't get to this over the weekend... sorry!! I just didn't get to my computer much over the weekend. :P

Okay... first off, Dave Matthews rocked!! Personally, I liked Saturday night better than Friday night. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the seats, or maybe it was just a better set... I think it was a better set. :) Tim Reynolds was on guitar this year, so that was a bit of a treat. Definitely gave some of the normal DMB songs a bit of a different sound when he put his riffs into it. :) Dave did some covers both nights and Saturday night, he got crazy during the encore, dancing around, taking fans hats and putting them on, just crazy stuff (see video below). It was a trip! Definitely a great way to end the night. I think Saturday night was one of my all time favorite DMB shows!

For more pictures, you can go here. I also have some other videos posted on YouTube.

But I have bigger and better news than that... I got a job!! Woo Hoo!! I accepted it, formally, this morning. I don't start for another two weeks, but now I can really feel like this is more of a vacation than unemployment! A very good thing.

I'll be going back to the consulting world - so I won't be traveling like I was before. Kind of a bummer. I really like the traveling. I will be cross training a bit, though, and learning something new. Which is really cool. I'll blog more about it once I start in a couple of weeks. Until then... a little true R & R which, believe it or not, I need! :)

So Much to Say...

Well, there's much to talk about but not a lot of time right now. This is a busy weekend (week) for me... I have Dave Matthews Band tonight and tomorrow night, plus Jimmy Buffett coming up on Tuesday. I WAS going to go to the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, too... but I never got tickets. Thankfully. I don't know that I could have made it between all the concerts! I didn't realize how close all the dates were when I initially was planning on that!

I hope to have a little more time tomorrow to play catch up with everything. If not tomorrow, Sunday maybe??

TTYL!

The BEST!

So yesterday was my birthday (obviously, based on yesterday's post) and though I had nothing major planned, there were a few things here and there, like meeting up with friends at the Rathskeller last night (thanks all - it was fun!). But I ended up having fun little surprises all through the day - a package from my parents, a note from my niece, etc. - it was awesome!

The the best was when I got confirmation that I have the best man in the world in my life! Eric was traveling for work, so I didn't plan on seeing him at all for my birthday. I was a little bummed, but I understood and we were going to celebrate Friday night. So about mid-afternoon, I decided to run my few errands I had to do and I was on my way home when Eric called. He wished me a 'Happy Birthday' and then asked where I was. I said I was on my way home from errands and then asked where he was. "On your front porch," he replied. Of course I didn't believe him - he had a late flight back that night!

But sure enough, I pull in my driveway and there he is, gifts in hand. He hurried up what he had to do and caught a much earlier flight home to surprise me. And that was the best gift of all, I think - I got to spend some unexpected time with him on my birthday. He's too good to me...

Isn't he the best??? :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Another year, another birthday... it's great to be 29!!

Again.

I'm not one to normally boast about my own birthday (anymore)... but for some reason, this year there just seems to be something in the air. I can't really describe it. I don't know if it's just more wisdom setting in with age or if something's going to happen (which we all know I seem to get a sense about - ie, my current situation), but there's just some greater force out there telling me that maybe not the day itself, but this year is going to be a good year.

So I'm actually going to celebrate this year. Meeting up with some friends tonight to have a few drinks and such, and this weekend, Eric and I are just going to do a little celebrating by ourselves. So no - no MAJOR celebrations... not a big party or anything. But I normally just treat it like any other day, except that I get cards and well wishes from friends (which I appreciate, regardless of the age :) ).

So thank you to all my friends and family for another great year of life! I love and appreciate you all and can't wait to see what the next year brings!!. :)

My House

Here's a blog I've been meaning to do for awhile... but other things kept coming up as more exciting blogging topics.

Okay... lame excuse.

Anyway... as spring rolled around and I looked outside, I realized I needed to repaint the trim on my house. When I moved in back in 2002, it looked great! But it's 2008 now... the paint on the the trim was peeling and fading something fierce, especially in the 'bake zone', also know as my front porch!

Here's what it looked like when I first moved in:

So with a little help, I decided it was a task worth taking on... no... it was a task that NEEDED to be taken on! It started out simple enough... scrape, prime, and repaint only the areas that really needed it. Sounds easy... but then we got to looking... a lot of little areas needed it, all over. Okay... so we're doing all the trim!

What started as a simple one weekend task turned into a five weekend task due to the ever increasing scope and also thanks to the ever constant rain we seemed to keep getting on the weekends - mind you, I was employed then, so it had to be done on weekends. And it was a pretty wet spring here.

Taking a step back as we were doing this, it was decided that my house was lacking any 'umph'... there was no pop. So with a little nudging, I decided to take the color of my front door - a deep red wine color (I think the original color was actually wineberry that I picked out in the showroom) - and expand it to other trim areas on my house. Some on the column and porch area by my front door, the vents over the garage, and I added shutters.

The final touches happened the last weekend in June... we started it all in May sometime. There were a few weekends that nothing was done, either due to weather or travels. But you know what... I'm glad I did it, no matter how long it took! It was exactly what the house needed and it was even noticed right away by some neighbors, who loved it!

This is what it looks like now: Here's a closer shot of the front door: The pictures really don't do it justice. It's MUCH better in person! I think it totally improved my curb appeal, too... not that I'm trying to sell my house right now. But now my house stands out from the other gray houses on the block.

Oh... and I also spray painted my coach lights black... they were starting to look like the nastiness that brass fixtures usually become... which is a big reason I HATE brass fixtures, inside or out! Completely new looking, now. I also replaced my address numbers above my garage. The old ones turned out to be real cheap and had to be replaced after taking them down. :P

Yay for my house! If I didn't feel like a homeowner before, I sure do now after actually doing true home maintenance!

4th of July Weekend

This was a good 4th of July. And it goes back to Fishers Freedom Fest. This was a good year (despite other things in my life right now).

Just as it was my first year going to Fishers Freedom Fest, this year also served as my first year to actually go see the fireworks in downtown Indy. They have a great set up there - they shoot them off of one of the tallest building downtown (though not THE tallest), so they can be seen for miles around the downtown area!! So if you're anywhere in the vicinity of downtown, you can see them.

Which makes Eric's place a great place to watch them. His house is on the first residential block leaving the downtown business district. You can sit in his front yard and get a great view! So he hosted a little get together with family and a few friends to have a few drinks, eat a little something, play a little cornhole, have fun with a few fireworks of our own, and, of course, watch the big show. It was pretty cool, actually.

Of course, when the fireworks actually started, I had to one-up the great view we already had and climb up on the roof of the neighbors' condo building (with the neighbors, of course) - there were no street lights to hinder the view there. And really, that only made a difference if you were taking pictures. Which I was, of course. But it was worth it. :) The show was spectacular, and much longer than I thought it would be, which was a bonus. I only wish the pictures I took could give it justice. But it's hard to capture the true movement and light of fireworks in a still frame. So you just gotta make due. :)

One week gone...

Wasn't quite sure how to title this one... one week of being unemployed has passed.

The thing is, I wasn't expecting anything this week with it being a holiday week and all. For those who've noticed my 'Tweeter Time', you've seen I've been kind of doing my own thing so far,

Not to say I haven't done anything to try to become employed, because I have. I've updated resumes, looked on Monster.com some, talked to some of my contacts, and even applied for something. But again, expectations were very low this week for any kind of feedback on any of that, let alone positive feedback! The way I've looked at it, I'm just gearing up to go full steam on Monday.

The bummer of it all is that this counts as one of my weeks of severance. I only have so many... :P Just buckling down and only getting necessities for now. It'd be nice to make it last longer than what it's meant to.

Oh well. I have plenty more to do to keep me busy, both on the job search and around the house. Just keep you fingers crossed for me. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible throughout this, which, so far, has been easy. Kind of weird to say that... but the only negative I can really say about the situation right now is the lack of income! I think there's something better out there for me, anyway... they just forced me to look for it sooner than anticipated.