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.

Seems to be a pretty regular cycle going on around here these days. Mason gets sick at daycare, he comes home and gets us sick, about the time we get well he gets sick again from daycare, etc. I think we’ve been sick for two months straight now. Usually we go through Cokes and snacks pretty regularly around the house … this week, it’s been Kleenex and nose spray. While Susan did some Christmas shopping today, I finally moved the PS2 upstairs and messed with getting online play to work. I wished I hadn’t a few minutes later, when I got my ass kicked 113-22 in NBA Live 2003. It’s 8:55pm on a Saturday night — Susan and Mason are asleep, and I won’t be too far behind them I’m sure.

For those interested, I got my cell phone turned back on — same number, but I’m paying for it now instead of work. Free nights and weekends. Who knew “”evenings”” started at 9pm?

OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyIt’sFridayIt’sFridayIt’sFridayIt’sFriday! It’s the weekend before Christmas, and you know what that means kids? TIME TO START CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! Woo woo! Can’t wait! I like to give people as much time as possible to get their Christmas lists to me. Heh, that’s one way to look at it anyway. Right around the corner from Christmas is New Year’s. I’m working on making a list of resolutions and then whittling away the ones that will take any real effort.

Man oh man, do I love this new “”updating”” script. I can just log onto the website at anytime and add a note. It’s great. “It’s like a miracle to me, even though I was in on it’s creation.” – Mark Hamil, commenting on Star Wars. On less happy news, my sister Linda’s boyfriend passed away earlier this week due to complications with leukemia. So, I’m tying my tie right now, getting ready to head out to another one of “those” meetings. Seems like I go to more and more funerals these days. This kid was 26. Wish I had some deep quote or something to add here but not much you can say — you show up, show respect, and then go to lunch afterwards.

Had a typical Monday night last night. Monday nights are Susan’s school nights, which means it’s just me and the Mase-Man. Unfortunately, lately he’s begun crying uncontrollably every time either one of us leaves the house. So, Susan left for school at 5:30pm, and Mason cried until 7pm. Not even the power of the Teletubbies video could stop him. Finally he cried himself out and passed out, goldfish crackers in one hand, empty sippy cup in the other. He did eventually wake up and we had fun after that, playing on his Spider-Man “”scootah”” (as the Teletubbies say) and on his Rock, Ride and Roll tricycle. When mommy finally came home, Mason and I both took a well-deserved nap.