December: Parties, Xmas, New Year's Eve, Cold Ass Weather, Beer ...

This is the 3rd picture taken with my new Canon P2 IS I call it, "The Coke Can" :) A glimpse into the death of summer. Very cold again this morning, but guess what? I think I have finally whipped the sinus thing! Ya-frikin-hoo!!! We’ll see. I don’t want to get too excited. After all, I thought I was better the day I left Washington/Oregon. Tomorrow will be the true test. I woke right at 530am as desired, and I didn’t do any clock watching through the night either. My body just knows when it’s time to rise! I almost immediately began processing the day’s agenda in my head. It would be a busy one, and in typical Jimmy fashion, busier than I’d probably prefer. I did my usual work out and then my walk. Come to think of it, most work day mornings are carbon copies. And mine, by design. I don’t think I’m much different than anyone else though. The more routine we make it, the less time is wasted thinking about it. Pack lunch, make breakfast, shower, play guitar, take a picture or two, head out the door. Work wasn’t quite as busy as it has been of late. I took advantage of it and addressed some personal things while still keeping a watchful eye on the day’s events. I narrowed my search for a new digital camera and pretty much decided on the Canon P2 IS. After my lunch time run I headed over to Best Buy to pick it up. Their online price was not as good as Circuit City but I knew that they would likely meet it or beat it, and they are much closer to my office. They did. In fact, they beat the price! I got one heck of deal!! After leaving Best Buy I headed to Kroger in Dublin on West 161 to pick up the necessary ingredients to make a Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie & my famous Sauerkraut Balls for Mindy’s Holiday open house Friday evening. Mindy is a busy woman. In fact, she’s a really busy woman with home, career, and small kids, yet she finds/makes time to have fun and do special little things for her friends without selling any one, or any part short. I like that about her. My afternoon was busier than my morning. I had a couple big issues to deal with but nothing too nasty. As is usually the case, I was pressed for time on guitar lesson night. It’s almost erry how often this happens. But to that end, I was finally able to leave the office at about 520pm. I got home with enough time to address all of my nightly chores as well as unload the day’s haul before Josh showed up for my guitar lesson. The key was wasting no time. Josh arrived right on time! We hadn’t done a lesson in about 5 weeks. And while I had been playing almost everyday, I hadn’t been practicing timing at all, and it showed. Despite my ineptness, I think I started getting it towards lessons end. In addition to the two songs we’ve been working on, we began a new one too: Pigs on the Wing, Pink Floyd. As soon as Josh left, Ashley called to let me know that she was on her way over. We were planning to get her Columbus State financial stuff in order for winter quarter. She arrived within about 20 minutes. I didn’t waste anytime either. Before she arrived, I began making the party treats for tomorrow. They would take a good three hours all totaled. Plus, the sauerkraut balls make a huge mess, but being the neat freak that I am, along with being a seasoned sauerkraut ball veteran, I was able to manage the mess throughout the process and pretty much clean up as I proceeded. That always makes Jimmy a more fun, more palatable guy! While I tended to the treats, Ashley began the FAFSA process. For whatever reason, this has been a struggle for her all along (lost passwords and PIN numbers, as well as other issues which I won’t go into here). I asked her to start over. We’ll see how it goes. I also stopped what I was doing and took a few minutes to get her her winter quarter fees paid. That should provide Ashley with the comfort and peace of mind she needs. All she has to do is show up and perform. I know she is capable of being a great student and accomplishing great things. She just needs to believe in herself and realize that there is no easy path. She left soon after and told me that she plans to drop by Mindy’s holiday open house for a short visit. That’ll be nice. I want her to be part of my life and share in my relationship with Mindy. I spent the next hour wrapping up both my delectable treats, then I called Mindy. She had been running around all evening too. As we spoke, I opened up my new camera and began prepping it for action. I was able to get the batteries loaded and the SD card formatted. I also took a few practice pics and read some of the important “getting started” details. Within a half an hour, I was taking quality pictures again! But it was getting late, and I was very tired. It’ was a long day. I headed to bed at 1230am. Night! Song of the Day: Pigs On the Wing, Pink Floyd Pigs on the Wing (Part One) (Waters) 1:24 If you didn't care what happened to me, And I didn't care for you, We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain Occasionally glancing up through the rain. Wondering which of the buggars to blame And watching for pigs on the wing. Pigs On The Wing (Part Two)" You know that I care what happens to you And I know that you care for me So I don't feel aloneOf the weight of the stone Now that I've found somewhere safe To bury my bone And any fool knows a dog needs a home A shelter from pigs on the wing