“Here’s a picture of the new, exciting GTO that was unveiled earlier this week.

Wow. Nothing inspires nostalgia like … a Dodge Intrepid with a GTO sticker on it.

102 degree temperature yesterday at daycare, which gets you (A) sent home (Mason, not me) and (B) banned for 24 hours. We’re starting to learn that when you have a kid, your “sick leave” isn’t really for you, anymore.

On a different subject … what in people’s nature makes them think that they don’t have to wait in line like everyone else? There are three intersections I travel through daily that have an area where two lanes merge into one. How hard of a concept is that to understand? You know it’s coming, MOVE OVER. But no. People decide that THEY DON’T HAVE TO, THEY CAN DRIVE IN THE LANE THAT’S GOING TO END AND GET AROUND THOSE OF US WHO MOVED OVER. Argh!!! Well not any more, sister. I’ve been watching COPS and think I can pull that PIT maneuver off.

Sigh. Halfway through another week. How long until Christmas? Or at least summer, that would be nice.

Haven’t done anything interesting in the last couple of days. Susan went to class Monday, and my mom came over to visit. We ended up going to Souper Salad for dinner and then hitting a dollar store. Neither were great, but it was a good way to kill an evening. Susan has class again tonight, so maybe me and Mason will brave out on another adventure — or maybe we’ll watch Toy Story again, who knows.

Last night I watched Inbred Rednecks. If you like two and a half hour long movies about cockfighting filled bad acting, no budget, and tons of stereotypes, then this is the film for you. Otherwise, skip it.

The weatherman said it was going to be 75 degrees today, so I rode the motorcycle to work. Turns out, that 75 degrees doesn’t necessarily apply to 7am, which is when I rode in. Hopefully it’ll be nice when I leave.

So, I’ve switched from the “low cal” diet to the “”low carb”” diet. I love diets that start out like this: “Make a list of everything you like and KISS IT GOODBYE, FAT ASS!” All this darn genetics cloning and they still can’t make a vegetable that tastes like a jelly doughnut. Stupid science.

Susan’s school starts back up this week so I am babysitting Mason Monday and Wednesday nights by myself. Remind me to feed him lots of cheese on Sundays and Tuesdays to keep him from pooping on my nights. He’s getting to be a handfull (even more than before), but it’s always fun in the end. You just have to remember that when you’re, well, not at the end yet.

1500 calories sure aren’t very many. Sure sounded like a lot this morning. Lettuce sucks. So does Diet Dr. Pepper. “That sound is just the sound of your stomach eating itself.” – Chief Wiggum, Simpsons.

Besides all the cool stuff I raked in during the holidays, I picked up a couple of other side items for myself this week. Namely, a remote control truck, and a DVD burner. The truck is still charging batteries, so I can’t comment on it yet. The DVD burner is pretty cool, although it seems like the technology for simply putting a movie in the drive and copying it is still a ways away. Still, it’ll be cool to do what I can, and put some home movies on DVD as well.

It’s too cold to ride the bike this week, so the trailer to Biker Boyz will have to hold me until it warms up.

2003 starts out with a bit of sad news. After 4 years together, we had to say goodbye to Gidget the Midget (our pet pot-bellied pig). Things just weren’t working out between Gidge and Mason. We flipped a coin, and decided to keep Mason and get rid of Gidget. We met some really nice people through the Internet who live in Colorado Springs who came and picked her up. The people used to run a pot-bellied pig rescue farm, and now have 13 acres for their pigs to wander around on. So… end of an era I s’pose, but for 2003, we’re pig-free.

New Year’s Eve kind of sucks when you get older and have a kid. Mason went to bed around 10pm. Susan made us up a pitcher of strawberry daqueries which we drank, and then we sat around struggling to stay awake until midnight. My dad dropped by shortly after midnight, and it was all Susan and I could do to keep our eyes open until he left. Woo, parrrrrrrrrty.

Susan and I have started out the “new year” with “new diets.” My guess is it’ll last a “new week”” but we’ll see. I’ve got to do something to meet my goal of losing 100lbs this year. I’m thinking about sawing off a leg or two. So far today I’ve had a Subway 6 inch turkey on wheat, some Olestra-filled chips, and a diet Dr Pepper. Total calories so far, 420. If I can stick to this, I should still have enough spare calories to fit in a package of Zingers or two before midnight.

30 more minutes until quitting time. The last two days at work have been completely pointless. I think today we received less than ten calls (split between six people). I spent the majority of the day dreaming about new possible paint jobs for my Geo Tracker.

This year was my first “real” Christmas as a parent (Mason was only two weeks old last year). Someone earlier asked me what I got for Christmas, and I really had to stop and think about it. Times have really changed. I could tell you just about everything Mason got (and trust me, it’s a pretty long list). When you’re a kid, it’s all about “”what you got.”” Then, as an adult, Christmas became a time to “buy cool gifts for loved ones.” And while of course Christmas is still about both of those things, this year it was really all about Mason for me — what he got, what he liked, what other people got for him …

All the Christmas get togethers went really smooth this year. Everyone seemed to like their gifts; I know I did. I got a lot of awesome clothes, some tools, some toys, some DVDs, and a refrigerator for my upstairs den… all the essentials! Susan got the drill, tent, and chair she wanted, plus some other cool “toys” (the combo binocular/digital camera looks interesting), and as previously mentioned, Mason got everything he could’ve possibly wanted and more. There’s pictures of our neices and nephew, my dad, and lots of Christmas aftermath in there.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Who says procrastination doesn’t pay off? Got some great deals on Christmas gifts last night! Of course, I paid the price with my nerves. No matter how good prices get, starting Christmas shopping on the 23rd is a bad idea. But (luckily), things seem to have worked out this year — and I have a whole 24 hours left for wrapping! (14 hours, actually). Our families are coming over tonight for snacks and gifts, should be a relaxing evening for all.