for the geek on your holiday shopping list

And now for something a bit different. Did you know that today is Small Business Saturday? A day to do some shopping to help out the non-Walmarts and non-Targets of the world.

My good friend Jason has just opened up his very own t-shirt shop, Sudsy McBones. He’s designed apparel perfect for the geeky gamer in your life. And you know we all have at least one of them in our circle of family and friends. I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I love the Insert Coin design. It takes me back to visiting Pizza Hut as a child and playing the Pac-Man game located just to the right of the salad bar while waiting for our pizza to arrive. So check out Jason’s store, unleash your inner geek, and support a small business at the same time.

What’s on your holiday wish list this year?

 

how we rang in 2010

This was the first year, in many, that I didn’t have to stay at work and run the First Night Akron events in our building. I worked during the day to make sure that everything was set, and then quietly walked out the door to my car at 5:05 pm. Confident that everything was in good hands. It was wonderful.

Greg and I headed over to Michele’s house to spend the evening with friends. There was lots of great food (Kathryn, your brownies…delightful!) games, and even a little Jersey Shore. Paula brought some Chilean New Year traditions to incorporate with the celebration.  They included walking around the block with your luggage (supposed to bring you the journey of your dreams). Eating 12 grapes before midnight (to promote health and prosperity). Placing a ring in your glass of champagne (love in the new year).

New Year’s resolutions for me? I’m not sure that I really have any. I just want to get through my list (3 down, 34 to go). Greg has resolved to no long say, “two thousand and” when refering to the current or future years. He’s now a “twenty-ten” kinda fella. I’m not sure that he could be any cuter.

Here are a few pictures of our slushy New Year’s walk around West Akron. It, of course, ended in a snow ball fight.

my 36th birthday

We celebrated by birthday last night at Bricco in downtown Akron with a small group of friends. It was a really fun evening.

Major props go to Greg for surprising me with my gift this year. You see, I'm a bit of a snoop. Greg devised an elaborate scheme that the C.I.A. would be proud of to keep me off his gift giving trail. It's no secret that I've been wanting a new camera.  Greg, my C.F.O., had me under the impression that I needed to save my money for a new camera, then when the tax refunds came in early '09 he would get me a new camera. In the mean time, I had been doing a little camera research. A couple of weeks ago at work, Patty mentioned a camera that she was checking out. It sounded like just what I was looking for. Little did I know that Greg was doing his own research and had actually ordered that exact camera several weeks earlier. He had it shipped to David and Marc's house and quickly changed our on-line banking passwords so that I couldn't see the purchase. Oh the trickery. It's a good thing that he changed the password and that I give up easily. One morning I tried to log on, and couldn't. Greg said that he was able to get on, but was booted off pretty quickly. Eventually, I just  gave up trying to log-on. His secret was safe. So at the restaurant, Greg had me open his "gift" first. It was in a gift card box, the gift card had the following printed on it, "OK, that was fun. Now, please open my actual gift that David and Marc were nice enough to bring with them…" And then, there it was my new Canon Powershot SX10 IS.

I'm so fortunate to have great friends that were in on the surprise and shared such a fun night with me. After dinner, we all braved the pouring rain and went to Michele's to partake in the beeritas and play a game of Apples to Apples and some Wii Rock Band…that was something…Michele really rocks the guitar, Marc, Greg and David are great on the drums (loved the spins Marc) and Megan and I rocked the vocals. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Off to get a memory card and case for the new camera this morning. We've got friends coming over for a movie night tonight. Today also marks our 8th anniversary. It's no secret that I think Greg is the greatest guy. I couldn't ask for more in a partner. He loves me and my quirkiness. On top of that, he gives the best hugs. These eight years have flown by, I'm looking forward to the many more years ahead.

Here are a few more pictures from dinner.

the weekend that just was…

…wonderful.

Saturday we got up early and met Megan, Michele, Ryan and Kathryn at Wally Waffle’s for breakfast. It was delicious (french toast, good) and we had the best waitress ever. She was friendly and seemed to be enjoying her job. As a bonus, she managed to get all of quite complicated orders correct. Bravo!

After breakfast we journeyed out to the local recycling center and disposed of all of our plastics, metals and papers. Then Greg and I went to the cinema to catch a screening of the Sex and the City movie. It was really wonderful. Reminded me of how much I enjoyed the show on HBO. And it made me tear up quite a few times…I’m a very sensitive guy…

We capped off our Saturday with a game night of wii at the homestead. Our friends Tom and Brett and Dave and Marc came over. Dave was really talking up his wii bowling skills before the get together. His score wasn’t quite as high as Greg’s or mine, but it was still respectable. Brett served up, his now famous, cherry martinis. Side note: we may all be joining a real bowling league this fall.

Sunday was quiet. Sleeping in was required. Called my Dad in Florida and wished him a happy Dad’s Day. We met Michele for lunch and checked out some new bathroom fixtures for her soon to be remodeled bathroom. I love spending other people’s money. On the way home we picked up some flowers for the front beds. Later in the evening, after the temps cooled down, Greg and I planted the flowers and did a little landscaping maintenance.

It was a wonderful weekend full of friends and relaxation. It’s too bad those two days went by so fast.