No millions for me

I didn't win the Powerball jackpot last night. I didn't even match one number. Bummer. It's been crazy busy at work lately and I sure could have used a vacation. I guess it's back to the grind for me!

I'm ready to rock!

Tomorrow afternoon, Matt, myself, Carolyn and Damon will be heading to Tampa to rock out to the biggest hits performed by Cheap Trick, Poison and Def Leppard. Yeah, it's gonna be an awesome show. I personally am looking forward to Cheap Trick the most because I think they have the most original music out of the three.

This summer, this type of tour seems to be the norm. I know that Styx and REO Speedwagon are also touring together. That would be an interesting show to see as well, but I've spent far too much cash on concert tickets already. I think we're done for the year (unless someone really awesome comes along at a price that we can't turn down!).

I think we're done spending money

I didn't realize how much money a house requires. Since we've moved in, it seems like our bank account is constantly bleeding. There's paint to buy, small items to repair, rugs, major appliances (we had to replace the dishwasher and oven), furniture (because we couldn't just have a futon in this nice living room), tools, yard tools, pest control, etc etc etc. I think we're just about done spending money in large quantities. All that I really have left to buy is a new mailbox and that's easy enough to get. We do have longer term plans (like a multi-game table for the den early next year) but for now, we're focusing on paying off bills. I've got quite an aggressive schedule and if we can stick to it, we'll be in pretty good shape in about 5 years or so.

And every day we wake up or come home, we both think to ourselves how much we love our new house. :-)

That sucks, Mom :(

Mom,

I just found out that you had to have Mocha put down. I almost started to cry, not because I'm sad for the dog, but because I know how close you were and I can almost feel how much you must be hurting. When I think about what it will be like to have to say goodbye to my cats someday, I start to tear up. It's a horrible thought that I usually repress. I plan on calling you tomorrow, but please remember that I'm always here if you need to talk. :(

Green Day concert

Matt and I went to a Green Day concert last night in Orlando. We had an awesome time. We've both been fans of Green Day since high school, but in the last five years they've really emerged into an artistically grown-up band. Their last two albums, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, can both be described as "concept art" and really need to be listened to from start to finish. Yeah, they've both got their catchy singles, but the entire albums are pieces of art.

And those boys know how to put on a show. The concert started kind of late (8PM) and they didn't play until about 8:45 (Kaiser Chiefs opened for them). They played for almost 2.5 hours and did a nice mix of their old and new stuff. Matt and I had floor tickets, but only because I couldn't get seats. However, we found two girls in the front row of the seats that wanted to trade, so it worked out. We didn't end up using the seats, however - we were on our feet the whole time jumping and singing and screaming. I am dog tired today, my throat is raspy and sore, my ankle and knee are yelling at me and I have a blister on my hand from clapping - but it was all totally worth it.

Back in Florida

Last week I was in Phoenix for a work getaway. It was kind of like the Real World - seven of us stayed in one very big house. We got a lot of work done and had some very productive brainstorming sessions on ways we can make our company better. I was in the zone for two days and I couldn't seem to write the ideas down fast enough.

We also had some play time - we saw a Cirque d'Sole show, played some Rock Band, ping pong and pool, watched some movies and went to a dueling pianos bar. I got to know my coworkers better and think it was a great idea!