Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
man oh man
It's been pretty slow for a while, hasn't it?
That's my fault, or rather, work's fault. It's been so busy the last few weeks while we try to meet deadlines and milestones. The week before last I logged an almost 60 hour week, which wears on you quickly. But enough about work, what else has been going on?
Last weekend was ACL weekend, and leading up to the weekend, my excitement was minimal. In my opinion, the bands they booked were weaker than the last few years, which is pathetic because it was the "celebrated" 10th year anniversary of the festival. Well, it didn't seem like they pulled out all the stops here. The two "biggest" (in my opinion) headliners — Coldplay and Kanye West — were both given the lower, Friday timeslots. Stevie Wonder closed Saturday (meh), and Arcade Fire closed the entire festival on Sunday (even more meh). In fact, the highlights of the weekend weren't even really related to the festival. Taylor and I bought some new bikes, using the festival as an excuse to finally replace my old, stolen bike. We got the whole shabang: bikes, helmets, lights (you need them to ride at night, legally), and a car rack. We mounted them on her SUV, parked at Mark's (or around), and biked down a trail about 15-20 blocks to the park. Last year, I rode my motorcycle which got me pretty close to the entrance at motorcycle parking. The bikes have it the best, though, because the racks are right at the entrance.
The other highlight of the weekend was the rain. Apparently it wasn't as widespread as I thought, but it rained all three days at Zilker. On Friday and Saturday, there were even some heavier downpours. I almost started getting worried that we were going to have another mud bowl because of the rain, but luckily the ground was so dry that all of it soaked up pretty well.
This weekend has been good. On Friday night, we went to a high school football game featuring the Cedar Park Timberwolves against the Vandergrift Vipers. It turned out to be a great football game. We were rooting for the Timberwolves, who got down 13-0 early. They rallied and scored three unanswered touchdowns, giving them a 21-13 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves' quarterback threw a nice pass to a wide open receiver, who had a clear shot into the endzone to ice the game. Sadly, he fumbled it right before the endzone and the Vipers recovered in for a touchback. The Vipers marched down the field and scored a touchdown, bringing them to within two. They had to go for the two point conversion, which they got on a magic heave. The quarterback was getting major pressure, and basically just heaved it in the general direction of a receiver. The receiver jumped way up, and while falling backwards, raised one hand to tip it into his chest as he fell down on his back. It was damn ridiculous. The game went into overtime (college rules, they each get an opportunity from the 25 yard line), and the Vipers scored on their very first drive to give them the advantage. The Timberwolves looked uneasy and faltered on their first couple downs, but managed to sneak in a touchdown. This is it: you can either kick the PAT and tie, which is the safe choice, or go for the two point conversion and end the game right there. What would you do? Most people say go with the safe bet. Not the Timberwolves, they could taste victory. They went for two, and wouldn't you know it, they got it. Great ending to a great game.
Saturday was spent running some errands, and then making a pasta bake dinner. Today was a pretty productive day for me. I did some reading, finished all my laundry, went to the grocery store, made a potato salad recipe (average outcome), and watched a ton of football. And it's only 6pm! There's still more football to watch.
Hopefully, now that things have calmed down a bit at work, I can ramp up my blog again. Take it easy!
That's my fault, or rather, work's fault. It's been so busy the last few weeks while we try to meet deadlines and milestones. The week before last I logged an almost 60 hour week, which wears on you quickly. But enough about work, what else has been going on?
Last weekend was ACL weekend, and leading up to the weekend, my excitement was minimal. In my opinion, the bands they booked were weaker than the last few years, which is pathetic because it was the "celebrated" 10th year anniversary of the festival. Well, it didn't seem like they pulled out all the stops here. The two "biggest" (in my opinion) headliners — Coldplay and Kanye West — were both given the lower, Friday timeslots. Stevie Wonder closed Saturday (meh), and Arcade Fire closed the entire festival on Sunday (even more meh). In fact, the highlights of the weekend weren't even really related to the festival. Taylor and I bought some new bikes, using the festival as an excuse to finally replace my old, stolen bike. We got the whole shabang: bikes, helmets, lights (you need them to ride at night, legally), and a car rack. We mounted them on her SUV, parked at Mark's (or around), and biked down a trail about 15-20 blocks to the park. Last year, I rode my motorcycle which got me pretty close to the entrance at motorcycle parking. The bikes have it the best, though, because the racks are right at the entrance.
The other highlight of the weekend was the rain. Apparently it wasn't as widespread as I thought, but it rained all three days at Zilker. On Friday and Saturday, there were even some heavier downpours. I almost started getting worried that we were going to have another mud bowl because of the rain, but luckily the ground was so dry that all of it soaked up pretty well.
This weekend has been good. On Friday night, we went to a high school football game featuring the Cedar Park Timberwolves against the Vandergrift Vipers. It turned out to be a great football game. We were rooting for the Timberwolves, who got down 13-0 early. They rallied and scored three unanswered touchdowns, giving them a 21-13 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves' quarterback threw a nice pass to a wide open receiver, who had a clear shot into the endzone to ice the game. Sadly, he fumbled it right before the endzone and the Vipers recovered in for a touchback. The Vipers marched down the field and scored a touchdown, bringing them to within two. They had to go for the two point conversion, which they got on a magic heave. The quarterback was getting major pressure, and basically just heaved it in the general direction of a receiver. The receiver jumped way up, and while falling backwards, raised one hand to tip it into his chest as he fell down on his back. It was damn ridiculous. The game went into overtime (college rules, they each get an opportunity from the 25 yard line), and the Vipers scored on their very first drive to give them the advantage. The Timberwolves looked uneasy and faltered on their first couple downs, but managed to sneak in a touchdown. This is it: you can either kick the PAT and tie, which is the safe choice, or go for the two point conversion and end the game right there. What would you do? Most people say go with the safe bet. Not the Timberwolves, they could taste victory. They went for two, and wouldn't you know it, they got it. Great ending to a great game.
Saturday was spent running some errands, and then making a pasta bake dinner. Today was a pretty productive day for me. I did some reading, finished all my laundry, went to the grocery store, made a potato salad recipe (average outcome), and watched a ton of football. And it's only 6pm! There's still more football to watch.
Hopefully, now that things have calmed down a bit at work, I can ramp up my blog again. Take it easy!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
SO BUSY
I laugh to think that I was busy at work before. Now we are busy. I'll probably have to work a lot this weekend, and there's also a chance I have to fly out to Jacksonville, FL for a couple days early next week for work. Unfortunately, if I have to do that, I still don't get any reprieve on all the other stuff I have to do. So that would just delay me by 2 days.
At least I started off this week with an enjoyable 4 day weekend. I think when the next 2 or 3 weeks are up, I'll have to take another long weekend to wind down.
At least I started off this week with an enjoyable 4 day weekend. I think when the next 2 or 3 weeks are up, I'll have to take another long weekend to wind down.
Monday, August 29, 2011
stl and atx
Two weekends ago, I went to visit my family in St. Louis. My dad flew from Florida and I met up with them all. Thursday night I got in, unpacked and situated. Friday around noon we headed out for a two hour drive across state boundaries into Illinois. Family got a cottage along Lake Carlyle for the group of us. The cottage was kind of trashy, but nothing horrible. It felt like staying at a motel 6 along the lake, but since it's on the lake you can't really complain. There were about 7 of us staying in a place that barely accommodates 4, but us Habibi's make it happen. It consisted of me, my dad, my uncle Mehdi, my aunt Patty, their two children Brooks and Shaudi, and Brooks's two children Aaliyah and Aiden. I guess that's 8 of us, awesome.
It took a while for the rest of the family to join us on Friday, so I did a fair amount of reading and finished book two of the Dark Tower series. Saturday and Sunday was spent out on the lake. There was a lot of tubing and a tiny bit of water skiing. I tubed a couple times and it was pretty fun because he was taking sharp turns in the boat trying to make us fly off. I tried twice to water ski, but I had trouble getting up on the skis. I actually got up for a few seconds, but as soon as I started to straighten up I would lose my balance. Ah well, still fun to try.
We drove back Sunday, I packed up, and I left Monday morning. The following two weeks at work were crazy hectic.
I haven't been in the mood to write in my blog lately, just because I've been all over the place at work. For some reason I can't get myself in a great zone to write at home, which is why this blog entry mostly sucks. The flow is bad and there's no enthusiasm. I had a fun weekend in St. Louis but I probably didn't convey it well.
Oh well! Things should start chilling out at work this week. I'm still occasionally sharing stuff on the left hand side links, so don't forget to check those out sometime.
It took a while for the rest of the family to join us on Friday, so I did a fair amount of reading and finished book two of the Dark Tower series. Saturday and Sunday was spent out on the lake. There was a lot of tubing and a tiny bit of water skiing. I tubed a couple times and it was pretty fun because he was taking sharp turns in the boat trying to make us fly off. I tried twice to water ski, but I had trouble getting up on the skis. I actually got up for a few seconds, but as soon as I started to straighten up I would lose my balance. Ah well, still fun to try.
We drove back Sunday, I packed up, and I left Monday morning. The following two weeks at work were crazy hectic.
I haven't been in the mood to write in my blog lately, just because I've been all over the place at work. For some reason I can't get myself in a great zone to write at home, which is why this blog entry mostly sucks. The flow is bad and there's no enthusiasm. I had a fun weekend in St. Louis but I probably didn't convey it well.
Oh well! Things should start chilling out at work this week. I'm still occasionally sharing stuff on the left hand side links, so don't forget to check those out sometime.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
take a little trip...
Sorry it's been so long, I've been swamped at work with a plethora of things.
And that's still true, so this entry will be mostly useless. I am going on a trip to St. Louis today to visit with my dad, uncle, and aunt, as well as some cousins. I think we're going to be staying in a cabin for the weekend, but I really don't know too much.
The sucky part is that I think I am on the onset of a cold. Mold has been high for August and I haven't seemed to be suffering from allergies, but it's still possible that this is just a random allergy thing. Let's hope that's the case, because otherwise my timing for getting sick is at an all-time bad (last time I remember being sick was during my Vegas trip).
See you guys later. More updates later next week.
And that's still true, so this entry will be mostly useless. I am going on a trip to St. Louis today to visit with my dad, uncle, and aunt, as well as some cousins. I think we're going to be staying in a cabin for the weekend, but I really don't know too much.
The sucky part is that I think I am on the onset of a cold. Mold has been high for August and I haven't seemed to be suffering from allergies, but it's still possible that this is just a random allergy thing. Let's hope that's the case, because otherwise my timing for getting sick is at an all-time bad (last time I remember being sick was during my Vegas trip).
See you guys later. More updates later next week.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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