I HAVE THE BEST GIRLFRIEND EVER!!!! EVER!!!!!!!

I had a crumby day at work so she gave me birthday gift early.

To say the least my jaw is someplace on the floor currently.

I'm still alive! Life has been busy to say the least. I'm officially on first shift (7am-3pm) now and I love it. I wake up every morning between 5-5:30am and I'm in bed usually no latter than 10pm. I really am starting to seem like an old person now. HAHAHA!!!! It is nice though to be out of work at 3pm and able to go do something with my evening if I so wish or just be lazy and do nothing.

Thins are still going very excellent with the lady. We just got back from having brunch at Americana and are both stuffed and chilling out at her place. Not a whole lot to talk about though. We are a bit of homebodies really. Last night was the first time in over a month that we went to a bar. We had fun but I think we have more fun at home being a couple of goof balls.

I've got a movie date with my niece next weekend. We are going to go see the new Studio Ghibli film The Secret World of Arrietty. We'll get a big tub of popcorn and cherry icee's. I've been watching their other movies with her over the last year. She told me after we got done watching Spirited Away that the movie was magical. Norah is so damn adorable. She dropped a cheeto on the floor the other day and I told her to pick it up and throw it in the trash and she picked it up and exclaimed "3 SECOND RULE!!!" and scarfed it down. I was totally caught off guard by this and proceeded to laugh my ass off.

Going to see Reverend Horton Heat later this month and I can't wait. He's so good live! That's it for now. I hope to make more posts in the future. Life has just been too busy that I don't get to log in for very long these days.

Here is the trailer for the movie I'm taking my niece to.


Here's a little of what I've been listening to these days.

Well this new year has brought some change at work. The 3rd shift lear operator was let go, most likely for lack of production, and another guy quit because she was fired. My guess for why he quit is he didn't want to run two machines at work like he was supposed to be doing and the lead that was fired never made him. WHat does this mean for me? I'm going to 3rd shift for a few weeks while the get some new hires trained. They wanted me to work it longer but I stood firm with I'd help cover 3rd till the 27th of this month. There also seems to be a lot of talk and speculation that I'm going to be offered the 3rd shift lead position. The only way I would even consider it is if they offered me a large sum of money. I'm not talking an extra grand or two a year, I want almost 10k more a year if I'm going to throw my life upside down again and take on a ton more responsibility. I think if they are going to offer it to me it'll be at the end of the month. See if I can hack this month of helping them out. I'd like to make more money but it'll make trying to spend time with my girlfriend a lot harder IMHO. Also 3rd shift where I work gets dumped on a lot. You get left all the crap jobs nobody wanted to run earlier, you get called off first when it's slow and I can keep listing other things about how 3rd gets crapped all over. The more money is tempting but I don't think it's worth not seeing my girlfriend as much or the added stress.

I'm going to the WWE Royal Rumble later this month. It's down in St. Louis this year. I was kicking around buying tickets about a month ago and I was trying to see how close I could find tickets. The closest I could originally find weren't that close at all. I had thought about getting a pair of cheaper tickets but found myself talking myself out of buying them. I decided the other day I was going to look again and see what I could find as I really did want to go as this PPV has been one of my favorites over the years and that this would most likely be my only chance to go to one of the WWE's big four PPV's. So I logged into ticketmaster and came across to my surprise 2 fourth row ringside seats! I thought about it for a whole two seconds before I decided to buy them. I had to put them on my credit card I just paid off but I figure it'll be paid back off in 2-3 months now that I don't have a car payment. I think my girlfriend thinks I'm crazy for paying this much for wrestling tickets and she may be right but I figure this is one of those once in a lifetime chances to do something and the cost doesn't really matter. It's kind of like when I went to Nashville last year on a whim with Nexus and another friend to see Hank III play twice. That trip is still one of my favorite vacations I've ever taken. So here's hoping this one is just as awesome.

Here is some of what I've been listening to lately.

Sorry I haven't posted or checked up on anybody as of late. Between working a whole hell of a lot and trying to spend a good deal of my free time with my girlfriend Sara I haven't been logging in for and keeping up on SG. Had this whole weekend off. FINALLY A FULL WEEKEND OFF WORK!!!! I was just as shocked as anybody else. We got Christmas day off the weekend before but it was only one day and we had been putting in a lot of OT lately at work.

Things are going very well so far with my lady. I watched her cats for her over Christmas when she went back to her home town. It felt a little odd being in her place without her being there but I did my boyfriend duties in feeding the cats and cleaning their litter boxes out. She's currently knitting me a stocking cap like Jane Cobb from Firefly had. She also got me a 10th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver pen for Christmas. I think she's pretty rad to make and get me such nerdy gifts. I picked her of a fancy wine set. It has all the things for properly serving a bottle of wine. I also picked her up a gift card for Victoria's Secret. She had been complaining about her bra's not fitting properly since she had started losing weight so I figured I'd help her out with the gift card. I figure I'm going to benefit as well from her going shopping for new bra and panties.

We had a great NYE. We went out to eat at Americana here in Des Moines with a few friends of ours. Americana is a little pricey but totally worth it. It was a little difficult to decide on what to eat because it all looked so good. We ordered the seared baby brie and chicken livers to start out. I thought the chicken livers were amazing. They were better than when my grandma used to cook them up and the maple mustard sauce to dip them in was out of this world. It started out sweet and then you got a little bit of heat from the mustard and then it was sweet again. My girl really liked the brie but I didn't like it as much as I would have if there wasn't pineapple on the plate. I can't stand pineapple! I don't know what it is about it that I don't like but I just don't like the stuff. To be fair though I tried it and did my best to not let my bias on pineapple get the best of me but I just didn't like that appetizer. Sara ordered the Duck & Eggs Benedict and I ordered the Iowa Pork Loin. That pork loin may very well be one of the greatest things I've ever eaten. I tried a bite of Sarah's food and it didn't even compare to how good that pork was. All I can say is this place has some killer food. If you're looking for a place to go with your special someone here in Iowa you need to take them here. I was told the menu changes often with the season so if you go check online to see what they are serving. I think I'm going to take Sara there again for V-Day. OH! I almost forgot what he had for dessert. I ordered their Peach Cobbler with Goat Cheese Ice Cream. That cobbler was to die for and I had never had goat cheese ice cream and it couldn't of been better. Seriously for those of you here in Iowa you need to go eat at this place.

I'm going to bring it down a bit here now. Some of you knew about my moms battle with cancer. She had been cancer free for some time and when she went back for another of her check ups they noticed "new" a mass on her kidney. When my mom called and told me all this I started to lose my shit. My mom is one of the strongest people I know and if she died I know I'd eventually get past it but I'd be a wreck of a human being for a while. So my mom was letting me know that she was going to go in for and MRI and some other tests leading up to Christmas and if the mass on her kidney was cancerous they have to schedule surgery to have it removed. I started asking my mom some questions and she told me that they had noticed the growth last year at one of her check up and didn't inform her about it. This pissed me off to no end. You'd think that common sense would dictate that if you are checking a patient for signs of cancer and you noticed a small mass on their kidney you'd fucking let them know about it. They said they waited to tell her about it because they thought it was fatty tissue. I'm not a doctor but that seems like a pretty bullshit excuse to me. Once you've had cancer you're at risk of having other cancers so why wouldn't you let your patient know? I really hope whoever the fuckwit was doesn't ever see me at any of my moms future procedures as I'm going make them wish they chose a different line of work. From what I understand it was the size of a pea when they first noticed it last year and now its the size of my moms thumb. Luckily my moms tests came back negative on the kidney mass and her kidney doesn't need to be removed. She is having a biopsy done tomorrow though on her lymph glands in her pelvic area as they noticed some growths there as well. If that turns out cancerous they'll remove them on the spot and then my mom with have to start chemo. I've got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed hoping everything turns out well tomorrow.

Not much else springs to mind about what's been going on in my life. So here is some music.

MY CAR IS FINALLY PAID OFF!!!!!!!!! It was a great feeling to call my bank today and tell them to just pay off the last of what I owed them. My credit card is essentially paid off once the check goes through. I'm debt free other than my rent and whatnot. I just need to find a new job with the quickness! An incident involving myself and another co-worker has made me come to the realization I no longer want to work for the company I work for. It's becoming a more increasingly negative place to work and I've got all these great and positive things going for me outside of work that I don't want that negativity being brought home with me and possible ruining what I've got. So I've applied at one place so far this week and plan to apply at a few other this weekend. I think I'm going to have somebody try and snuff up my resume a bit. It's a really basic one and probably doesn't look the most professional.

Things with the lady keep getting better. I spend more and more time with her at her place as of late and less at my place. She is cooking for me again this weekend. She is planning beef and barley soup with beer bread. I've had beef and barley soup before but beer bread is something new and I'm excited to try it out. She is also knitting me a Jane Cobb hat from Firefly for Christmas!!!! I'm super excited! I have a feeling I will wear it even during the summer.

I'm not working this weekend and I'm kicking around the idea of taking her to go see Brian Setzer this weekend but the tickets are really pricey if you want good seats. Has anybody seen him before and can tell me if $64 plus all the ticketmaster fee's is worth it? I'm not all that familiar with anything he's done besides the stuff with the Stray Cats.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and wish me luck and cross your fingers for me finding a new job.

So things are going very well with the new girl. I crash at her place most of the week with a few days at home so I can do laundry and whatever else I need to get done. I'd almost worry about gaining a bunch of weight from all the food she cooks for me but we've been finding way of working that off later. She's pretty rad so far, but I have got a voice in the back of my head telling me no woman is this awesome and not taken by somebody. Not letting it bother me though and enjoying the time we spend together which as I said is almost every day.

I actually got Thanksgiving off this year. I went over to a friends place for diner and had my first fried turkey and boy was that tasty. It was one of the best turkeys I've ever eaten and now I want to try and fry one up myself some year. There was so much food and it all tasted so yummy. My only mistake was going back for pie. I didn't actually throw up but I felt like I wanted to. Just way too much food that day.

Hope everybody is well and had a great Thanksgiving with their families and friends.

I love this opening scene.

So an update is due about the going ons in the wild and crazy life of me. Work is still super busy right now, but the "plan" is that we are working a ton right now so we can have the 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving. I am of the opinion that I'll believe it when I see it. I've told my family to just not expect to see me on turkey day that way they don't get their hopes up about seeing me. I need to find a job that actually respects the fact people want to see their families on the holidays.

Speaking of family. I took my mom out to lunch a few weeks back. We both had some fish and chips with some iced tea to drink. We talked for a while about all sorts of stuff. I think I'm going to try and get her the original Star Trek series or all the movies on DVD or the new Dr Who series this year for Christmas. I think she's enjoy them. I remember watching the old Dr Who with my mom as a kid so this will give us something to watch together.

As I had mentioned in previous post I had started seeing a girl. That all came to an end last week on Monday when she sent me a message on facebook about wanting to end things. Mainly because we work different shifts and it made spending time together difficult. I agreed that the hours we worked conflicted to much as well. Nothing bothered me about it till I really thought about the fact she broke things off with me via a social networking site. Not to my face, not by a phone call or text even. A social networking site! I'm not upset more just dumbfounded by it. It just seems so impersonal I guess. In the past I either ended things with a girl to the face or over the phone. Meh, whatever.

So three days later I got asked out essentially by another girl. She is somebody I kind of knew from our group of friends. She sent me a message via facebook, social networking again, with her number and inviting me to a party. So we started texting later that day and hung out the following night at a local bar. We had fun at the bar and I gave her a ride home. She invited me up and we talked for a few hours sobering up before any hanky panky started up. So things are going well so far. We had a weekend full of work and sex. I've told her that I work a lot and it didn't phase her. She said she did as well and is finishing her masters degree on top of working full time. She is making me diner tonight as well. Pot roast with red potatoes, carrots, turnips, onion sage, rosemary and sweet dijon mustard. Then homemade peach cobbler with homemade ice cream for dessert. I may have a winner here.

That has been my life in a nutshell since my last post. I've been trying to catch up with peoples blogs but work is so busy and making time for this new girl and my family. So here is some music to send you home with.


Been listening to this soundtrack a lot lately.

Well we got beat bad in that Halo: Reach charity tournament but it was for a good cause so I didn't mind really. The team that beat us went all the way to the finals so they weren't slouches at the game. LOL!

I didn't make it to the Polkadot Cadaver show that weekend but I did make it to see William Elliot Whitmore this week and it was a charity event as well. I didn't even know it was a charity thing until I got to the show. It was for COSC. I had never even heard of them before that night. Will put on one hell of a show for us. He played requests from the audience along with what he had planned for his set list. If you ever get a chance to see this guy perform you better do it. He was just awesome to see live!

Things are going well with this girl I'm seeing. Still taking things slow. We see each other 3-4 times a week. It's been almost a month and it hasn't blown up in my face which is still surprising me. LOL! I've told her that with work starting to get real busy I'm not always going to have time to spend with her and she says she understands. So we'll see what happens when she sees that I'll be working for the next two months straight without a day off.

That's all for now but here is some music from William Elliot Whitmore.

So it's about time for an update into the wild and exciting life I live. Work has been busy as of late which is good to a point. That point being that I've had very few days off. It beats the alternative of not having a job. Today was my first pay check with my new raise and it wasn't too shabby.

Things are going well with this girl I'm kind seeing. Nothing too serious yet. I'm kind of taking it slow with her and feeling it out if a relationship is what is best for me. So far it's going smoothly though. I enjoy spending what little time with her I can because of my job. She also works during the day so hanging out after I get off work, late at night, is a lot of her falling asleep on me. LOL!

I did get this weekend off though so I can compete in a charity Halo: Reach tournament or FLAG Tournament. FLAG stands for Fight Like a Girl and the money they raise goes to breast and cervical cancer research. Este, IAmAhab, ShadowDrgn and myself are playing in the 4v4 tournament on Sunday. If I can figure a way to upload video of the games to youtube and post them here in a future blog. A few of us are also playing in the Firefight tournament as well. I'd like to think we'll win it all but as long as we have fun and raise some money for a worth while cause I'm happy. Are there any charities you like to support? Hopefully the 4v4 tournament won't go too late into the day Sunday as Polkadot Cadaver is playing.



And maybe if we are lucky they'll play some Dog Fashion Disco songs.