Off to LA

Val and I are off to LA this weekend and I am sure it is going to be enlitening to say the least. Neither of us has spent much time there so it should be fun. We are going to see Vals brother Henry graduate from Cal. State Fullerton on Sunday. We are also going to get to see one of my good friends from College "Holt" while we are there. He now lives in Long Beach for those of you who know him. We fly out tomorrow am around 8:30. Im sort of looking forward to seeing how big LA is and how it compares to Chicago and DC. Hopefully we can get to the beach one day since it is hot as all get out there right now.

Have a great Holiday Weekend everyone!

The Saturday night Nats vs. Cubs rain delay was an amazing storm watching experience..... I have never seen so many people cheer on lightening and thunder. The show was amazing.

Easy Tiger....

Have any of you read the article or news report about the bengal tigers that were being breast fed from a woman? Does this sound as strange to you as it is to me? Apparently there were some baby tigers somewhere in Burma at the zoo that were being shunned by their mother and not fed. So a woman who was a relative of a zoo worker who had a seven month old baby said she would nurse the tiger cubs. She had been doing this for 6 weeks when the tigers died from dehydration. The article said that their livers couldn't handle the human milk.
Is it me or does this seem sort of strange that they would try to breast feed a tiger cub from a womans breast when there are numerous accounts of tiger cubs being saved using other milk and coming froma bottle..... Weird....

Cubs vs. Nats

As all of you I'm sure are aware, this weekend is the biggest yet in Major League Baseball this season. It is also the weekend Val and I have been looking forward to for months. As soon as we found out that Washington DC was getting a baseball team in the National League we were looking forward to the weekend that the Cubs came into town. The Cubs are setting the middle bar for the NL Central at 13-17 right now while the Nats are actually doing very well at 17-14. Val and I are obvious Cubs fans if you know us well, but it should be a weird site to see people with Cubs gear and Nats gear on this weekend. I have decided at the beginning of the season that I would root for my teams in the following order. Cubs first, then the Red Sox, and then the Nats... So I'll be pulling for the Cubs this weekend keeping in mind that I'll be rooting for the Nats the rest of the year until they meet the Cubs again. Val and I have probably been to more Cubs games than Michael Jackson has had bed mates over the age of 10. It's a sad but true fact. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing except that MJ has some issues.
Go Cubs! But I hope the Nats finish well after the Cubs leave town! By the way, we have tickets to both the Friday and Saturday games so if you are watching look for the guy and girl with a Cubs hat and a Nationals shirt on.......Wish I could bring in some Old Style to get us closer to Wrigley!

A Glorified Gamer

Today I have reminded myself that I am a glorified gamer. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I get paid to make Military video games. Given, these video games train people how to fly some of the most expensive toys in the world. They also train to kill people. I mean, lets face it, Fighter pilots are trained killers with expensive weapons. Today I am flying an F16C with Laser Guided Bombs (GBU-12), and JDAMs which are GPS guided bombs into Las Vegas and dropping them on "Targets" that I will be visiting in July when I head out to Vegas. Boy is it going to be hot that time of the year. Anyway, I am sitting here flying around in an F16 somewhere over Vegas thinking..... Boy am I lucky. People would die to have this job. Heck, I have joysticks on my desk. Sometimes it's easy to forget how lucky I have it when I am in the weeds with work. Hopefully today will help keep me motivated for a while.

Fight Club continued

Once again, I am as sore as a bull rider the day after the cows come home. I swear there is a benefit to learning Jiu Jitsu beyond getting beat up or beating someone else up. It sounds weird but getting your butt kicked multiple times a week has a way of bringing you back to reality. The reality is that Im not as tough I as I thought I was. Or maybe I am tougher but get my butt kicked by guys smaller than me is just humbling.
No but seriously, I am learning that the only way you can get good at fighting is training. If you want to protect yourself from an attacker you need to know as many different ways to get out of the situation or to reverse the situation on the attacker. Then you need to practice, practice, practice. The practice is what hurts. Most of you know me as a 150 pound light weight that has a bark louder than his bite. Well Im now 163 pounds of a training machine. Im sure Ill go through phases where I dont keep up with the schedule I am currently on but for now, its a great way to get in shape and learn something fun. Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger has been put to a whole new meaning lately.
I fought the urge before to put this picture up here because as you can see I have a little bit of a hair issue on the top of my head, but I fiugred it's worth a laugh. Enjoy.

The Crown effect

You Gotta Love Weekends!

I'm not sure if I have quite let go of the weekend yet but I'm sure by the time I step into the office tomorrow I will realize it has gone. I had a great weekend. It started off with a date night with my best friend, Mrs. Blow. We went and saw the Interpreter, which is worth watching for sure. It was a well done modern story that really gets you thinking. Looking at Nicole Kidman never hurts. After that we went for a drink at American Tap Room and saw a friend of mine from Fightworks and called it a night.
Saturday we woke up and made a great breakfast that would make Bill Perry very Jealous. I went to Fightworks for an open mat session and for the first time in weeks actually felt comfortable rolling with the guys. My rib and back are feeling much better. Val came and took some pictures of the class which I wont share right now because she perfectly took pictures of my balding spot in each picture. I've made an executive decision to withhold any pictures that show my balding head. After class I went with some friends from the class to grab a beer and some food. Meanwhile, Val was off shopping for about 4 hours and boy was I worried..... But she did well and came back with minimal damage. Val and I went to dinner on Saturday at our neighbors Scott and Laura with Jon and Emily, our other neighbor dinner friends. Kabobs was on the menu and wow was that perfect after a day of serious fighting. We had a great time with our friends. It's great living in a neighborhood where we have close friends. It's easy to walk home with a good buzz after a few cocktails!
Val and I had a wonderful day today. We woke up a little late and went to a church we hadn't been to before. The Falls Church. A close Christian friends of mine and Val are leaders in the worship (Music) there. It was a great service. The lord was definitely speaking to us today at this service. The sermon was about how Jesus told his disciples right before he was taken into custody that his mission was now their mission. In as many words, it meant that we as disciples should take over where he left off and share the glory of god with the rest of the world starting with the people we know and the community. Today was a wonderful day because god spoke to me through this sermon. So I decided to share with you that Jesus has made a difference in my life.
Thanks for listening!
Val and I went out for a great breakfast today after church and then started an afternoon of weeding, raking, planting and mulching. It was tough but our front yard and back yard look much better for it. Vals work in the front yard definitely looks great. I'll take some pictures for you all to see soon. So now its time for us to turn the tv off and go to bed and start a new week. Have a great one!