HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE DAVID!!!

Today is my Uncle David's aka Dale Earnhardt look a like's Birthday!!! 

Have a great day DS!!!

To Carry or Not To Carry Pads

After Cowboy's practice on Sunday, Roy Williams started the rookie hazing process and asked newly 1st rd. draft pick Dez Bryant to carry his shoulder pads. In the disrespect of the NFL and its over 70+ year hazing history Dez denyed to carry Roy Williams shoulder pads. Dez stated after practice that "I feel like was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

On one hand I feel like Dez should have swallowed his HUGE EGO or pride however you look at it, suck it up, and carry his pads. This is the NFL tradition and he should embrace it and not act like he is too cool for school. He has got the Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin BIG HEAD already and he hasn't even played a single game yet. It makes matters worse that Jerry Jones gave him Irvin's number 88 as well. On the other hand, I feel like Roy Williams has no right to ask a rookie to do anything since Roy is lucky to be starting or even on the team for that matter after his WEAK performance last year and after we traded 3 pics for him and gave him a huge 5 year deal. If it was Miles Austin asking Dez to carry his pads, I would have been ubber pissed since Miles is a BEAST. I love the tweet that Shawn Merriman sent after he heard this he said Roy should have thrown him in the cold tub.

But in the end I think he should have just carried Roy's pads even though he'll be starting over him come game 1 against the Redskins anyway and just let his playing do the talking for him. They are only hazing him out of tradition, to create team unity, and lastly it also shows they have respect for him which if they didn't they wouldn't pay him the time of time. Hopefully the media is just blowing this out of proportion and he doesn't alienate himself from the team like TO and become a cancer to the team especially in the year that we are hosting the Super Bowl. I hope he produces this year or otherwise we'll have a nice young little Randy Moss on our hands. I suggest he shut his mouth, participate in the hazing, and be lucky he has a second chance at football.

Blackout Sunday

Today, started off so well, MPP & I woke up early as MPP's sister J left after visiting for the weekend around 9:30. We had some breakfast and watched some Mad Men. Then I went to play some basketball outside in the 104 degree temperature with some friends for about 1 hr and 1/2 and then it was back to the crib for a shower and some lunch. As we sat down to eat our lunch and catch up on the Brickyard 400 that I had DVR'd when it decided to shit storm outside. Just then as lap 1 was almost in the books and a wreck occurred when the power decided to go out and this was around 4pm. So needless to say I was pissed b/c there was no race last weekend and this week the storm knocks out the power which cancels out my recording. All I want to do on my Sunday's is chill on the couch with MPP, relax, and watch racing and then later that night Leverage, TrueBlood, and Entourage.

You don't realize how much you miss TV and anything electronic until your power goes out. This took us back to the Snow Blizzard of 2010 where we got 32 inches and lost power for over 8 hours. Of course today was the total opposite of that day since it was over 100 degrees outside. Luckily I had bought MPP a Netbook earlier this year for her birthday and she had power left, so we ate lunch and watched some episodes of Mad Men. I guess due to the lack of A/C, the heat of the house, and the heat of outside all of sudden I just passed out for like 2 hours. Next thing I know MPP wakes me up as she is going stir crazy so we got dressed just to get out of the house and get some fresh A/C in the Cube. As we leave the neighborhood we notice that the lights at the intersection are still on which means the other grid is up but ours is not which was so weird. So we ended up in Barnes & Noble where the power was ON but it was flickering when we get a call letting us know our power is back so we decide to go back home. As we pull into the neighborhood, we notice that the outside lights are not on but the lights on the other side of the street on the other grid are still on. MPP walks inside and still NO POWER! Thanks a lot Dominion Power!!!

So instead of going stir crazy all over again we drove to Shirlington to go to Capitol City Brewing Company for a quick bite to eat. We order some beers and 2 app's. As we are enjoying our dinner, when all of sudden the power on the whole block decides to go out and the alarm in the building starts going off. So by now we are like what the F is going on since everywhere we go the power is going out. After sitting there for a couple of minutes, our waitress comes over and gives us two options: (1) Leave our credit card number to charge for later or (2) leave without paying since it would be awhile before they got the power back on and there was no way of telling what our bill was plus we didn't have any cash. We decided to do the OR option since we planned on paying with a credit card and we didn't have nothing but a couple of dollars in cash which we decided to leave that on the table for her. We didn't want our credit card number left on the table for anyone to take so we put the money on the table and dipped. As we are driving back into our neighborhood we notice that all of the lights are off; the neighborhood is completely BLACK. When all of sudden we turn onto our street and notice that our outside lights are on the street lamps are on as well. This was around 9:30pm; 5 and 1/2 hours later. We were immediately relieved and so excited to see the lights on. Thanks Dominion Power! But the funny thing was that now the other grid was out and our grid was up. It was good for us but not so good for everyone else in the neighborhood who was still in Black. It's still amazing to me how just a 10 minute hard rain can cause a Bruce Willis Die Hard 4 "FireSail" throughout Arlington. I also felt since we watched so much Mad Men today that we were in an episode of Mad Men with no A/C, computers, or cell phones since during the blackout AT&T decided to stop working all together. But now I can see CLEARLY NOW THE LIGHTS ARE ON!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!!!

Today, we celebrate my BIG brother, Nick's, 32nd Birthday. Happy Birthday Brother Man! Celebrate it in style. Make sure to slip out of work early today or what the heck take the whole day off, line up a babysitter, and go Hard today/tonight. You might want to take off Wednesday as well. Enjoy! Do It BIG in Chuck-town! Check out the picture below of him and his beautiful princess, Libby:

Sunday's For Racing, But Not Today (Bye Week)

Yesterday, MPP and I were out running some errands when we stopped by Dollar Tree to see what we could find in that wonderful cluster of a store. As I was going down the kids toy isle to fulfill the kid inside me when I came across a stock Jimmie Johnson toy car, where you had to attach the stickers to it and it was one of those pull back and let her rip kind of toy cars as well. I immediately pulled it off the shelf and it was right into the basket it went. I was so excited. This lifted me up since NASCAR was off this weekend which meant there would be that little emptiness in my heart on Sunday. As I got home, I shred the box and plastic apart and started to put the stickers on right away. After a couple of minutes, Jimmie Johnson was styling and profiling and ready to race. Jimmie might have been off today but he was still practicing (on the kitchen table that is). Check out the pics below as I took Jimmie from ashy to classy in a matter of minutes and then he was off RACING:

Last Weekend Wrap-Up (Chesapeake Style)

Last weekend, MPP and I took the Rubik's Cube for its first journey/road trip down to visit her parents and sisters in Chesapeake, VA. After much VA/DC traffic and about 4 and 1/2 hours of driving later we made it there just in time for bed. We woke up Saturday and it was LET THE GRILLING BEGIN. MPP's sister J had woke up earlier that day and seasoned the Pork according to The Neely's Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich recipe in The Food Network Magazine and had it smoking for an hour before we even got up. After about 2 or 3 times of lighting and re-lighting the coals the meat was finally at its 165 degree temperature which meant it was FULL COOKED and ready to be pulled apart. As we let 14lbs of meat rest for minute then MPP & I began picking and pulling apart the pork. It was great b/c any pieces we dropped Brody was there to the rescue assuming the role of the doggie vacuum cleaner. After about 30 minutes or so the pork was finally PULLED and ready to be chilled for some good grubbin' later. Needless to say while I was pulling I was eating as well so I already had an appetizer before we went HOG wild later when we all had it for dinner.

On Sunday, we woke up early, ate some pancakes for breakfast and then in the spirit of it being Sunday and Sunday is racing day we decided to go Go-Karting at Motor World in Virginia Beach. First, we started out on the family track, where even if you pushed the pedal to the metal you were only going about 10-15mph which was a good start and ease in to a day of racing. Next, we moved up to the medium course, The Grand Prix, and this course was filled with so many turns that it mirrored a NASCAR road track or INDY track. MPP & J were a little scared on this one but me and Mr. Friend were like little kids in a candy store as we sped around the track going about 20-25 mph passing the twins (MPP & J) several times over. This track was interesting since you were going so fast that you actually skidded through most of the turns. At the end of the 4-5 lap race we pulled into Pit Road and MPP had a little trouble getting unbuckled and out of her car, check out the pic of her getting stuck below:

After this race, we took a little break and then it was off to the Speed Track. As we entered the cool (temperature wise) hut to by our tickets, the lady let us know the price and that the Speed Track really was speedy since the cars go up to 45 mph and immediately MPP & J were out that was too much speed for them. But me and Mr. Friend we felt the NEED 4 SPEED. So we paid and then we were asked for to sign a waiver and give a racing name so we knew they weren't messing around. Next she handed us the ski masks, neck braces, and helmets as if we were about to hop into a NASCAR race. They also had jackets as well but I guess that was only when its cold outside. It was almost 100 degrees out there that day so no jackets were needed. Out the hut we went to get geared up and mentally prepared for the race and also snap a few quick pics for memories before we got all hot and sweaty and didn't look our normal SEXY selves.

After a few instructions from the Track King/Worker, it was "GENTLEMEN START YOUR ENGINES!" which was really just us putting our foot on the gas while he pulled the cord and started the car like we were about to go cut some grass. We agreed before we started that we would do one lap and then we get side by side and then it was RACING time. So we did our first lap getting a fell for the course and the gas/brake action and the sliding into the turns. I was already having a great time into the first lap and I wanted this feeling never to end. As we pulled out up side by side, we almost did a one-two-three countdown and then we were off to the races. Mr. Friend took the early lead and lead for about 3-4 laps and then one wrong turn and I was in the lead. I held him off for several laps until the last two were I skidded out a little too much in turn 3 and it was all she wrote and Mr. Friend went on to take the lead. As I tried to storm back I quit using the brake and it was on and off the gas for the last two laps as I tried to catch up, which ended up being a wise choice since they were my two fastest laps of the race. At one point, Mr. Friend was going so fast that he is neck brace came completely off. As he went onto to take the checkered flag and his victory lap, I relished my last lap and then it was on to pit road to unbuckle and be on our way. The Speed Track was awesome and at no point during the 14 laps did I feel out of control. As we went back inside the hut to return our gear the lady gave us a print out of our lap times and results. I ended up winning the battle with the fastest lap time but I lost the War in the end. As we looked at our lap times, we noticed that the leaders were running in the 21 second range and we were in the 30 second range and their RPMs were in the 3500s and ours were only in the 1200s. We got some work to do but we'll be prepared for next time. I can't wait to go back again. This experience would be perfect with about 10 of your friends on a Friday night. The track is small with about 7 turns but I think 10 would be the perfect number to go racing. Until we meet again Speed Track stay smoking!!! Check out the pics below of the race: (Mr. Friend 1, Ryan 0)

THE CHAMPION: D.H. FRIEND!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. FRIEND!!!

The BIG Weekend Recap

This three day weekend was one of the BIGGEST and BEST weekend's of my life. It all started on Saturday when I went and took my CompTIA Security+ 2008 certification. This was my second time around taking the test and needless to say I was a little nervous (since I don't have an IT background at all but I'm trying to get into IT) but I felt way more prepared this time. I went in there and knocked that certification right out of the park. I ended up getting an 832 out of 900.

Next, MPP had a 1 o'clock appointment to go for her first test drive ever as she was test driving the 2010 Nissan Cube at Brown's Nissan in Fairfax, VA. We first test drove the S model and that one felt good but not just right (as papa bear would say) so we drove the SL with the preferred package (backup camera, bluetooth, automatic temp. control, 16' alloy wheels, and upgraded sound system with a Rockford Fosgate sub) and the CVT and that one drove JUST RIGHT! MPP was immediately in love with the little Cube and wanted to take it home right then and there. Then came time for negotiations where she played hard ball with the salesman like a champ; she was making him sweat throughout the whole negotiation process. But after several trips back and forth from the table to the manager, MPP got the amount she was looking for so the deal was done as she signed on the dotted line making her the proud owner of her first car, a 2010 Mid-night Blue Nissan Cube. Needless to say I was ubber jealous. I got my new car, the 2008 Scion TC, back in December of 2007 but still I was very jealous of her new car and that infamous NEW CAR SMELL (Sniffing sound)!!!

On Sunday, we celebrated America's 234th Birthday by hitting up the pool and relaxing. After committing the cardinal sin of not putting on sunscreen when it was 100 degrees outside and getting sunburnt at the pool, we decided to go out and see the fireworks. So instead of fighting the crowd to go into DC we decided to watch them from afar. So we drove to Reagan National Airport and parked in the parking deck and walked to the top of the deck where about 50 people were standing and watched the fireworks that were shot off from the Capitol. The 30 minute firework show was awesome and we didn't have to deal with any traffic except when I wanted some ice cream and we went down to Old Town Alexandria, where it seemed like everyone flocked to that night since the streets were packed.

 

On our day off on Monday, we just chilled since it was 100 degrees again and ran some errands. We ended up at MPP's favorite spot, Home Goods, and bought another bird feeder to even out our shepherd's hook in our backyard since it was starting to lean with only bird feeder on the right side. Of course shortly after adding the bird feeder and bird food I looked out back and what do I see but a DAMN squirrel in the new feeder with his tail hanging out the back of the feeder. First of all I don't even know how he got in there since the hole for the feeder isn't that big. But now the squirrel has pulled way ahead of outsmarting me with the score being Nature 3 and Man 1. That DAMN squirrel got me again.

Overall I had a great weekend. MPP made a big purchase in her life by buying her first car, the Nissan Cube, and I made one GIANT step forward in helping change my career from recruiting to IT.

All Hail the Queen!!! Happy Birthday Kelsey!!!

Today, we not only celebrate America's Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, but in the spirit of Great Britain and the queen, I would like to wish a very special happy birthday to MPP's sister, Queen Kelsey. Enjoy your day Queen and feel free to think the fireworks are for you today as well.