So tonight is Kim’s work Christmas party. Not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but it is partially happening at our apartment. That means we have been cleaning the apartment all week, and it actually looks really good. If only we could keep it looking like this. We are going to have drinks and appetizers at the apartment and then go watch “A Christmas Carol” at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Perhaps I’ll have some pictures to post before too long!

So yesterday at lunch I went out and got a new camera, the Nikon Coolpix 3200. The phone call in to get the gift card number worked just fine. I didn’t buy a memory card since I was trying to compare and they only had a few left. I’ve decided to get the gig card though, it is so cheap right now. I think I’m gonna go out and pick this up today. It’s one of the few cards they have left, maybe because it is the largest. Pretty nice to get this whole package for just over $300 (with a service plan and new batteries), especially when the card was worth around $300.

Last night I got all of the tracks for NOW 2004 finalized and normalized. The only thing left to do is finish the back cover. Hopefully it will all be done by the end of the weekend. Then I have to mass produce them, woohoo!

Last night after work I setup our new 6 foot Christmas tree. We bought lights and ornaments but forgot to get hooks, so for now we just have the lights on the tree. Doesn’t look too bad at all for $16. Afterward, we went up to the Brooksider to watch some of the Chiefs game. Haven’t seen some of those guys in awhile (even Todd). We decided to get back together this Sunday since we haven’t done it in so long, I forgot about my hockey game though, I wonder what time it is at. A guy named Brian is in town from the Cincinnati Great American office to setup some stuff for Kim, Doni and the rest of the Kansas City office. I guess that was the reason we were out on a Monday, we had to entertain a guest…

I’m thinking about heading out to Circuit City today to finally get a new camera. After three unsuccessful attempts to deliver a gift card, I’m going to have the store manager call some corporate office to get the gift card info over the phone. I don’t feel like waiting anymore. The worst part is that I’ll likely end up buying another protection plan for the camera, I just hope I don’t have to do this again…

Friday night was a relaxing night. We made spaghetti and watched some of Kim’s Sex And The City DVD. It actually isn’t a terrible show like I was expecting. We were a little tired from the night before, so didn’t stay up too late. We also needed to rest up for a big Saturday…

Saturday was our shop till you drop day, and I think I dropped a couple times. We got just about everything done though, so at least we won’t have to go back out. We started before noon and were still out at 7 or 8. Later that night we had Kim’s friend through work Amanda and her boyfriend Joel over to our place for some cards and drinks. It was a very fun night, hopefully we can do it again soon…

Sunday we finished up a couple more shopping things that we needed to do and I got my Christmas present from my parents, new tires for the car. Later on my hockey team beat the previously undefeated team in our league. The game ended in a shootout, which we dominated. I had a couple beers with the guys afterwards, and then that was the end of the weekend…

Oh yeah, I almost forgot and I’m not sure how. Kim and I checked out a two bedroom apartment in our building and fell in love with it. I think they want $825 a month for the two bedrooms, but we told her $700. She is supposed to get back with us, hopefully sometime soon. I’m ready to move into it now, it has everything we have now and even more. There is a dishwasher as well as a washer and dryer. Also has a security system, but I’m not sure if that is something you have to pay for or what, I’m not familiar with them. The kitchen in this unit is amazing, there is even a bar built in! The storage space is definitely more than we have, and with an extra room we can have our own office. I’m already sold on it no matter what price they say, I’m just trying to get it as low as possible. :)

It has come to my attention that I missed a very important event from this week. Monday we went to Doni & Phil’s to celebrate Doni’s birthday! The girls made cookie trays for work, while Phil and I watched football on their new bigscreen TV. We also had some Breckenridge Brewery beers that were quite good.

The show last night was a great time. I was really impressed by Megan Slankard. What a voice and she plays guitar as well. Oh yeah she isn’t bad looking either. :) Mission19 were great as well. Talked with one of the guys for awhile after the show. We stayed out later than we should have, but it was worth it for sure. We made it until 11PM, aren’t we crazy?!?!

This week has been pretty typical so far. Monday we just relaxed from the weekend, and spent most of the night working on NOW That’s What Ed Calls Music 2004. I’ve got just about all of the songs selected, and last night I started to work on the artwork. I’ve got a few ideas that I’ve been playing around with and I think I’m about done with the front cover. I’m hoping by the end of this weekend I’ll have it just about done. Then I need to make a bunch of copies of it. If you want one just email me, but I’ll also have it online for you to download, just like the ones in the past.

Tuesday we attempted to workout. I felt like I hadn’t done anything for a month. That actually isn’t too big of a stretch. With our week in Cincinnati, a week being sick, etc. I haven’t done very much. I struggled through 2 miles and decided it was enough. We are going back again tonight, so hopefully it is a little easier.

Last night I had hockey. It was the last night for the pickup league, but it is starting again next week. My only problem now is how to pay for it.

Tonight we are going to go to a show. Mission19 is back in town and playing at the Grand Emporium. Should be a good time!

Remember that free ipod thing from awhile ago? Well I have 4 confirmed referrals and I only need 1 more to get a free ipod. Someone please complete one of the offers, if you do I’ll accept it as a Christmas present from you. :)

FREE IPODS!

What a weekend! I wish I had a new camera to share some pictures, but I’m still waiting on the stupid Circuit City gift card. It’s been like 2 months now.

Anyway, we get to Denver late on Friday night and go to pick up our rental car. We reserved a Dodge Stratus, but we ended up with a Jeep Liberty. Pretty nice little deal for the mountain driving we would be doing. So we head towards the mountains, with mapquest as our guide. We follow the highway to an exit for US 6, Loveland Pass. This small road takes us up a very windy snowy road up to the top of a mountain. We actually cross the continental divide, and then follow a similar course to the bottom of this mountain. Later on we realize that US 6 hits the highway in 2 spots. The other route makes you go further down the highway, but it provides a much easier and quicker route. This once again proves my theory that mapquest will get you there, but it won’t always be the quickest or easiest way. We did have a very scenic drive though, and since we weren’t in a hurry it wasn’t a big deal. After checking in we head out for a drink at a local bar. We soon realize that one of the great things about Keystone is they have free shuttle buses that run for all hours of the night. We enjoy a local band for awhile, but soon realize that we should be headed to bed for the big day of snowboarding ahead.

The next day we get our lift tickets for the two days and after a little time I get a snowboard rental for the two days as well. I guess the snow that they have been having isn’t very typical, so they weren’t very prepared. It took awhile to find the open stores, which were all at a different base than where we were staying. We then enjoyed the entire day on the slopes. Snowboarding must be kind of like riding a bike. At first I thought I was going to have to learn everything all over again, but I quickly remembered the basics and I was back to it. Keep in mind this is only the 3rd day I have ever snowboarded, and my first time ever in Colorado. The slopes in Colorado are quite intimidating, when all I am used to are the local Cincinnati and Kansas City ski areas. I took it easy at first, but after a while Kim was having a hard time keeping up with me. :) Actually she did say that I was riding at a level which took her a year or two to get to. Obviously she doesn’t take nearly as many falls as I do. After 4PM we headed back to the room to get changed for the night. We went to see The Swing Crew, a band that we had seen before with Doni. I guess they spend their winters in Colorado and their summers in Wisconsin (I think). Between the two seasons they play many shows along their route from the once home to the other. It was a really good time seeing them again, in a not so crowded bar. After they were done we headed to a local Italian restaurant for a big dinner and some wine. It was definitely one of the best restaurants I have been to in a long time. We headed in much earlier this night so we could be on the slopes for a full day on Sunday.

Although we were both sore, we spent hours and hours on the slopes Sunday. I don’t think I fell as often, but each fall hurt worse because of the pain from the day before. Kim was getting overly confident and was riding with the opposite foot in front. She actually caught onto it pretty well until one nasty fall ended our day on the slopes. She wasn’t really hurt, but the both of us had enough of it. We headed in and left Keystone even though we didn’t want to.

Hopefully we can get back there sometime soon, it was so much fun. I need to get Kim to work on a transfer to Denver. :)

Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday but I got infected with sars24 (what the OAR message board calls the illness that everyone seems to get when we get together). I took a sick day yesterday and slept for most of the morning. I woke up feeling a little better but still wasn’t ready to head into work. I mostly took care of some computer stuff that needed to get done. I got a little more done for the sonic site. Joe wants to get it all finished by the end of the year, and I should be able to do that. I just need to figure out what we should do for the menu. As always feedback is welcome…

Today I feel 100x better than I did the past couple days, so I’m really glad I took that day off. I can now go to Denver feeling good and enjoy our time there! I had my first job review today with my boss Steve. It went well, nothing too unexpected. He is pleased with the work I’ve done, and we basically talked about my goals for this next year. The financial meeting will come later in the month with the head honcho, let’s keep our fingers crossed for a raise!

We are off to Denver after work, so have a good weekend!!!

I experienced my first decent amount of snow for the year on Tuesday. While we were away last week Kansas City got around 5 inches one day and I guess that was the opening of the flood gates. I think there has been snow falling for about 50% of the time since we’ve been back. We got between 1 and 3 inches Tuesday morning, so I had to scrape off the car of course (I’ve actually had to do it a few times already). This just gets me in the mood to go to Denver, which we are doing this weekend! This trip actually snuck up on the both of us, but we had booked the flight awhile ago. We now have a reservation and lift passes in Keystone along with a cheap rental car. We are all ready, well besides the packing. It will be a short trip, but we’ll have two days of snowboarding fun!