Just this week I made an upgrade to my parking situation at work. I made the move from the open lot on the other side of the freeway to the parking garage that is connected to my building (albeit after walking through two other buildings and another parking garage).
I didn't think it would be much of a difference, but I like it ridiculously more (it may just be the honeymoon phase). When I enter the garage and scan my card the system greets me by name. For comparisons sake, after navigating the giant pot holes and broken glass in my old lot, I would occasionally be greeted by a beggar looking for money for bus fair. I guess no one ever gave him any since he never leaves.
As fellow Houstonians know, it gets hot here, so my move to covered parking is just in time. No move cooking in the car after a long days work. I never did enjoy getting into the oven in pants and long sleeved shirts.
Honestly I should have changed lots earlier. I mean after someone hit my car with a brick I should have taken the hint that the local bums were UNC alums. . .
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Additional Victories
1. I finished our taxes with 3 days to spare. New PR. Victory (Thanks TurboTax)
2. We found out what our next bundle of joy will be. Either way this one was going to be a victory.
On our way to the ultrasound, Lisa was asking Little Colin if he wanted a baby sister or a baby brother, and he only said "No, No, No!". I guess he has heard that he wont be the center of attention with a new sibling.
Lisa didn't want to know at first, but as the date of the big ultrasound approached, her curiosity got the best of her. She made me promise not to blog what the doctor said or to post it on FB, but if people ask I can tell them. Hint: It is either a boy (Moms beware of the Caughran Boys) or a girl (Big Brother Colin will mess you up if you treat her wrong).
2. We found out what our next bundle of joy will be. Either way this one was going to be a victory.
On our way to the ultrasound, Lisa was asking Little Colin if he wanted a baby sister or a baby brother, and he only said "No, No, No!". I guess he has heard that he wont be the center of attention with a new sibling.
Lisa didn't want to know at first, but as the date of the big ultrasound approached, her curiosity got the best of her. She made me promise not to blog what the doctor said or to post it on FB, but if people ask I can tell them. Hint: It is either a boy (Moms beware of the Caughran Boys) or a girl (Big Brother Colin will mess you up if you treat her wrong).
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Victory
This week can be summed up as follows, "Victory". I mean I should go buy a lottery ticket this week has been so filled with victories small, large, individual, team, and life.
This week started with a fright, BC climbed out of his crib and fell waking Lisa with his screams. That signaled that it was time for a big boy bed. That night BC and Lisa watched me convert his crib to a toddler bed. The boy slept in it all night and was in it in the morning. Victory.
This past week marked the end of the Macquarie office Biggest Loser contest. For those of you that don't remember (or don't follow the blog religiously), I won the Constellation Biggest Loser contest last year (link). There is no way I could put on a repeat performance this year with a bachelor party and Wedding the weekends before the final weigh in could I? 10 lbs lighter from the 30th to the 31st sealed the back to back championships in the Macquarie office Biggest Loser contest. Don't ask me how, but it did not include diuretics or saunas, but good old fashioned hard work. Victory.
2010 Biggest Loser Cast:
We had Easter Sunday with both Grandparents at the Aquarium in Kemah. It was a little weird to have Seafood for Easter (since typically people go back to Meat and Eggs after Lent is over) but it was really good and a great atmosphere. The Easter bunny even got into the tank and swam with the fish. BC loved it. Victory.
East Bunny in the Tank:
BC Checking out the Moray Eel.
In my last blog (link) I wrote about going to the Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight with the family. Duke won both of those games to go to the Final Four this past weekend. Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the evil-empire/Goliath/America's-Team-to-Hate Duke taking the dream away from the Cinderella/Underdog/David/America's-Latest-Love-Affair Butler. Great game/instant Classic. Victory.
On the same note as the Duke Victory, I also won the one Tournament Bracket that I filled out this year. I always have a customary Duke Champion bracket, and this year it finally paid off. At the final count, I was in the 98.4 percentile. That may sound impressive, but that still put me in 77,234th place. Still I got first place in my group for the first time ever. Victory.
This week started with a fright, BC climbed out of his crib and fell waking Lisa with his screams. That signaled that it was time for a big boy bed. That night BC and Lisa watched me convert his crib to a toddler bed. The boy slept in it all night and was in it in the morning. Victory.
This past week marked the end of the Macquarie office Biggest Loser contest. For those of you that don't remember (or don't follow the blog religiously), I won the Constellation Biggest Loser contest last year (link). There is no way I could put on a repeat performance this year with a bachelor party and Wedding the weekends before the final weigh in could I? 10 lbs lighter from the 30th to the 31st sealed the back to back championships in the Macquarie office Biggest Loser contest. Don't ask me how, but it did not include diuretics or saunas, but good old fashioned hard work. Victory.
2010 Biggest Loser Cast:
We had Easter Sunday with both Grandparents at the Aquarium in Kemah. It was a little weird to have Seafood for Easter (since typically people go back to Meat and Eggs after Lent is over) but it was really good and a great atmosphere. The Easter bunny even got into the tank and swam with the fish. BC loved it. Victory.
East Bunny in the Tank:
BC Checking out the Moray Eel.
In my last blog (link) I wrote about going to the Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight with the family. Duke won both of those games to go to the Final Four this past weekend. Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the evil-empire/Goliath/America's-Team-to-Hate Duke taking the dream away from the Cinderella/Underdog/David/America's-Latest-Love-Affair Butler. Great game/instant Classic. Victory.
On the same note as the Duke Victory, I also won the one Tournament Bracket that I filled out this year. I always have a customary Duke Champion bracket, and this year it finally paid off. At the final count, I was in the 98.4 percentile. That may sound impressive, but that still put me in 77,234th place. Still I got first place in my group for the first time ever. Victory.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Dukie in Training
The Stars aligned for the Caughran family a few weeks back when Duke got the #1 seed in South Region. Reliant Stadium was hosting the south regional this year so if Duke made it to the Sweet Sixteen they would be playing in Houston. Luckily they did and Lisa, BC and I all went to Reliant Stadium to root for the good guys (Duke).
We don't have any little kid Duke gear for Colin (Mainly because I was terrified of kids when I was in college), but Lisa was able to make a Duke shirt for him (Go embroidery machines).
Outfit:
At the game, Colin was sporting some blue hair in his support of the Blue Devils. He was amazingly good at the game. He really likes to people watch and everyone loved his blue hair, even the Purdue and Baylor fans.
During halftime, we took him to the concession areas and let him run around on a leftover platform that displayed a Ford F-150 during the Rodeo. He loved being able to run freely and hit on unsuspecting women that walked by. I think if one of the lady's BFs didn't come up, BC would have definitely gotten some digits. He was dancing to the halftime music and high fiveing and Fist bumping everyone that would make eye contact with him. We might have a future Blue Devil mascot on our hands.
All and all we had a great time at the games. Of course Duke is going to the Final Four, so we were happy (this post might not be as chipper if we had lost).
These were the first steps taken to ensure that BC has an unhealthy obsession with Duke Basketball. I better start saving money now if he wants to attend. Now I just need to figure out a way for him to say "Go to H*ll Carolina" without getting in trouble with Lisa.
We don't have any little kid Duke gear for Colin (Mainly because I was terrified of kids when I was in college), but Lisa was able to make a Duke shirt for him (Go embroidery machines).
Outfit:
At the game, Colin was sporting some blue hair in his support of the Blue Devils. He was amazingly good at the game. He really likes to people watch and everyone loved his blue hair, even the Purdue and Baylor fans.
During halftime, we took him to the concession areas and let him run around on a leftover platform that displayed a Ford F-150 during the Rodeo. He loved being able to run freely and hit on unsuspecting women that walked by. I think if one of the lady's BFs didn't come up, BC would have definitely gotten some digits. He was dancing to the halftime music and high fiveing and Fist bumping everyone that would make eye contact with him. We might have a future Blue Devil mascot on our hands.
All and all we had a great time at the games. Of course Duke is going to the Final Four, so we were happy (this post might not be as chipper if we had lost).
These were the first steps taken to ensure that BC has an unhealthy obsession with Duke Basketball. I better start saving money now if he wants to attend. Now I just need to figure out a way for him to say "Go to H*ll Carolina" without getting in trouble with Lisa.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Walking, Walking and more Walking
For once, the Caughran Family took full advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend. In the past we have napped through the beautiful days, sat in the car driving somewhere, or spent the day shopping. All respectable activities, but none of them truly maximizes a beautiful day/weekend.
Anyone in Houston this past weekend can't argue that this was the best weather weekend of 2010 (Twenty-Ten, not Two-thousand-Ten . . . get it right). I joked that big Houston Companies should plan their recruit's trips to Houston in March, any other month would scare them away. Now if they wanted to be cruel, they would wine and dine them in March and then set their start date in August.
Back to our weekend. On Saturday we got up early and headed to the Livestock Show and Rodeo/Carnival. We walked a good 3-5 miles around the Reliant Complex. BC loved the animals, especially the pigs. He even called one of the spotted ones Tysie (I don't think Tysie would appreciate it since he has lost 13% of his body weight since going on a diet). We also saw some cows, sheep and other livestock.
We then went to my parent's house to visit them and my sister and their kids, including the newest addition Bobbie Bess (3.5 weeks old as of our visit). The kids played outside next to Clear Lake.
Sunday morning started horribly since Day Light Savings time robbed us of an hour of sleep. (This is by far my least favorite day of the year.) Once we shook off the lost sleep, we headed for downtown to participate in the 21st annual AIDS walk. I think everyone had a great time and it was for a good cause. Luckily BC is too young to understand innuendos or else I would have been very upset with one slightly inebriated participant with his comments to a police officer. I think I am slightly scarred from it. We walked over 4 miles. Lisa would have probably complained about the walking, but we walked with my boss's wife, who is 9 months pregnant, and she did not complain once. Although Lisa could play the pregnant card, she was trumped by someone that was more pregnant (not sure if there are levels of pregnancy since it is an all or nothing thing)
Later that evening after BC took his nap, we took him and the dogs for one last walk of the weekend. Although Tysie has lost a good amount of weight, the Vet says he needs to lose more via exercise (walking). BTW, Tyson has been recovering very well, and the vet said that his level of recovery without surgical intervention was 1/1 million (One caveat is that they told us that he had a 40-60% chance of recovery with rest versus 80% chance with surgery last I checked, 40% is about the same as 1/1 million).
So as a recap, we walked a good 8-10 miles this weekend.
Anyone in Houston this past weekend can't argue that this was the best weather weekend of 2010 (Twenty-Ten, not Two-thousand-Ten . . . get it right). I joked that big Houston Companies should plan their recruit's trips to Houston in March, any other month would scare them away. Now if they wanted to be cruel, they would wine and dine them in March and then set their start date in August.
Back to our weekend. On Saturday we got up early and headed to the Livestock Show and Rodeo/Carnival. We walked a good 3-5 miles around the Reliant Complex. BC loved the animals, especially the pigs. He even called one of the spotted ones Tysie (I don't think Tysie would appreciate it since he has lost 13% of his body weight since going on a diet). We also saw some cows, sheep and other livestock.
We then went to my parent's house to visit them and my sister and their kids, including the newest addition Bobbie Bess (3.5 weeks old as of our visit). The kids played outside next to Clear Lake.
Sunday morning started horribly since Day Light Savings time robbed us of an hour of sleep. (This is by far my least favorite day of the year.) Once we shook off the lost sleep, we headed for downtown to participate in the 21st annual AIDS walk. I think everyone had a great time and it was for a good cause. Luckily BC is too young to understand innuendos or else I would have been very upset with one slightly inebriated participant with his comments to a police officer. I think I am slightly scarred from it. We walked over 4 miles. Lisa would have probably complained about the walking, but we walked with my boss's wife, who is 9 months pregnant, and she did not complain once. Although Lisa could play the pregnant card, she was trumped by someone that was more pregnant (not sure if there are levels of pregnancy since it is an all or nothing thing)
Later that evening after BC took his nap, we took him and the dogs for one last walk of the weekend. Although Tysie has lost a good amount of weight, the Vet says he needs to lose more via exercise (walking). BTW, Tyson has been recovering very well, and the vet said that his level of recovery without surgical intervention was 1/1 million (One caveat is that they told us that he had a 40-60% chance of recovery with rest versus 80% chance with surgery last I checked, 40% is about the same as 1/1 million).
So as a recap, we walked a good 8-10 miles this weekend.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bye-Bye Curse . . . Hello Zoom-Zoom
If you have talked to Lisa or I in the past month or so or read the blog, you would know that the Mercedes was having a tiff with Lisa. Well since the Mercedes doesn't have a vote, and Lisa has 1.5 votes, we decided to get rid of it and get a new vehicle with a third row. A week or so ago we got a new Mazda CX-9 from Austin.
Why Austin? Because none of the dealers in Houston could get the vehicle we wanted, and we didn't want to wait for one to come in eventually. I learned a lot about how Dealerships work and which dealers are straight forward and which are sketchy. My only advice is to talk to multiple dealers and make sure you get them to clarify anything that is vague. Also we decided on the price with the sales manager before we even visited the dealership. The process of getting the car was by far the easiest when you don't have to haggle on the price. I felt bad for all the other patrons that were going back and forth with their salesman for a price.
Now that we have the car, I don't really miss the Mercedes, but there is an added benefit that I wasn't aware of. The Altima is officially mine. Before it wasn't clear whose car was whose and the maintenance of both vehicles suffered. Lisa always seemed to want to switch cars once hers was out of gas. Now the Mazda is Lisa's and the Altima is mine.
Amazingly, Lisa has let me drive her car a couple of times (but only when she is in the car too). It is pretty nice and I am glad that Lisa is happy with it. It is an SUV so it doesn't get the best mileage, but as Lisa put it best "Just had my first date with the Mazda. He took me to the gas station, he's not a cheap date! At least he didn't order the most expensive thing on the menu like that punk Mercedes"
Why Austin? Because none of the dealers in Houston could get the vehicle we wanted, and we didn't want to wait for one to come in eventually. I learned a lot about how Dealerships work and which dealers are straight forward and which are sketchy. My only advice is to talk to multiple dealers and make sure you get them to clarify anything that is vague. Also we decided on the price with the sales manager before we even visited the dealership. The process of getting the car was by far the easiest when you don't have to haggle on the price. I felt bad for all the other patrons that were going back and forth with their salesman for a price.
Now that we have the car, I don't really miss the Mercedes, but there is an added benefit that I wasn't aware of. The Altima is officially mine. Before it wasn't clear whose car was whose and the maintenance of both vehicles suffered. Lisa always seemed to want to switch cars once hers was out of gas. Now the Mazda is Lisa's and the Altima is mine.
Amazingly, Lisa has let me drive her car a couple of times (but only when she is in the car too). It is pretty nice and I am glad that Lisa is happy with it. It is an SUV so it doesn't get the best mileage, but as Lisa put it best "Just had my first date with the Mazda. He took me to the gas station, he's not a cheap date! At least he didn't order the most expensive thing on the menu like that punk Mercedes"
Monday, March 1, 2010
At the wire
Short post today. Everyone can sleep easy now. We have finally put all the Christmas lights away. They were finally stowed and put in the attic with less than 5 hours to spare before March. That was a close one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)