Where'd November go?

man that month just flew by.  i been neglecting this thing again I know.  well lets see... Gramps has been in and out of the hospital.  just dosent seem to be making any pogress.  probably mainly cuz he refuses to do what the doctors tell him he needs to do.  he wont do any chemo.  which in his already weakened state, i can understand i guess.  but he also wont do the simple stuff, like not sitting in the hard straight backed kitchen  chair all freaking day reading the Bible.  its very detrimental to his circulation.  if he keeps on, he could possibly lose his legs.  but he is very stubborn.  he is trying to cling to the way things used to be.  he is a very routine oriented person.  he likes to do the same thing every day, at the same time.  well unfortunately, he cant do that anymore and he wont accept that.  so he is back in the hospital again.  will be spending thanksgiving in there.  at least this time hopefully gran or his doctors will make him stay so he can get better.

aliyah is on the swim team now.  she loves it and is doing pretty well.  they have won several meets.  i dont know what their record is so dont ask me lol

as for me, i'm doing pretty well.  doctor has me on some anti-inflamatory so my knees feel better.  Lots less pain.  Also I'm back on my diabetes meds.  Metaformin i think it is LOL  I just feel better with my body regulated.  no more highs and lows.

the job is still decent.  nothing real exciting to talk about.  Broke up a chick fight in the parking lot the other day LOL  Wasnt much of a fight.  2 girls beating a lone girl.  Nobody realy got hurt.  The victim was pretty battered but nothing broken or bleeding.  

Its cold.  and theres slush on the ground.  Yay.  i soo hate winter.  cant wait for spring already LOL  the only good thing about winter is thanksgiving and Christmas.  Period.

Anyway.. thats the update.  I'll post some t-day pics prolly this weekend.

I can't believe it didn't rain!!!!

Last night was the FIRST halloween that i can remember that it didn't rain or snow!!  and I can remember back at least 10 halloweens...it was surreal how nice it was... nearly 60 degrees.  i know you non-michigan folsk might not appreciate the significance of this but trust me... it was an event LOL

Aliyah went as a killer clown.  i made her clown suit.  the whole thing actually came off as pretty creepy and she got more than a few "oh my gosh!" when she appeared at their front door!  I quote one lady, 

"OOh a clown!!  Are you a good clown?  ...no....no you're not. You're a bad one (as she backed away from the bowl of candy)...help yourself...  Don't look Jenny!!"

:)

Enjoy the pics...

Boo...

Rain...

Well its a rainy, dreary day at work and I'm bored. Bad weather adversely affects my traffic flow so its gonna be a slow day.

September was an interesting month. Got to spend alot of time with Aliyah. Did a lot of just wandering around trying to find new stuff to get into. Her mother just purchased a new house, which I am very glad of. She needs some stability in her life. Its a nice little house in a very nice, quiet neighborhood not too far from Aliyahs new school.

Speaking of her new school, she loves it. Aliyah is on the basketball team and so far they are 8-1 i believe. She's so proud of her school, she's got everything: t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, etc. LOL I remember being gung-ho about school at that age too. Her grades are awesome also.. she got all A's and one C-. The C- is in Science. It's mostly a comprehension thing. The teacher is a fast, low talker that hates to repeat herself. I plan on having a talk with her soon.

SO as far as me, I'm still at the apartment complex. Still loving my job. Oh it has its moments, believe me! But its still one of the best jobs I've had in years. Lost my boss thoitugh. She got promoted. Good news is, my new boss is the girl that trained me in the first place! She is really cool, and we have a great relationship so everything is very good! She even brought a fellow regional manager to my property to show me off LOL

Man it is raining like it is never gonna stop. I dont mind rain usually but I hate cold, grey rainy days. I'm a spring/summer rainstorm kinda guy.

Thinking about getting another pet. I gave my homie David his cat back, as his baby girl was missing it. Now Aliyah is missing it, so I need to replace it with something. Don't know if I really want another cat though. Kinda nice not having to sweep up cat litter LOL Was thinking maybe a lil dog. Something like a Pug or Chiuaua or maybe a small terrier type. I haven't decided. I really would like a dog, but then again I don't know if thats a comitent I want to make right now. The daily care isnt a problem really, unless I want to go somewhere. I'm used to just picking up and leaving. WHen I had a cat it was easy... just make sure the litter was clean, and there was food/water available and I could be gone for 3-4 days no problem. Cat would be fine. Can't do that with a dog. DOg has to be let out multiple times a day. Dog cant self manage food. Dogs bark when they want attention. ANd so on... So its a quandry. I'l decide before winter here anyway. Either way I'm getting the pet from the HUmane SOciety or ANimal Control. I'm all about rescuing strays. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY!!!

Is It Fall already?

Man.. where did Summer go? Halloween in 3 weeks? WTH? Oh well.. here is some of what you missed...

labor day week end 2 - int'l jazz fest

labor day weekend

some pics from the holiday...

slackin..

yep thats me... slacker. lol i havent been purposely ignoring my blog but life has been a bit fuller than usual, so i havent felt the need to fill my downtime with posting *wink wink* but now i feel like i'm neglecting an old friend so i'm back. i think this thing is evolving into more of a photo blog, than a blog in the "pure" sense. i am going to make a concetrated effort to be more prolific in my blogging..well at least this one. think i'm gonna kill a couple of my other ones. that being said... huzzah for i have returned! lol...

Just some pics...

Is it strange that i like hospitals? I

Is it strange that i like hospitals? I mean i like the environment. The smiling faces, the aura of caring, the technology, even the food lol Its just too bad you have to be sick to stay there ;)

pics from the 4th

i finally got it!

here it is...my new baby...

secsi aint it? lol

no, its not what i had in mind when i arrived at the dealership, it just kinda grew on me during the 6 hours we were there. And the test drive cinched it.

so now i'm mobile again. that also means that i now have to contend with the gas price debacle that I had largely been ignoring up till this point. i'm not too worried about it. i have a zero mile commute, and the truck is a small 6 cylinder. 2000 GMC Jimmy 117k miles. Power everything, push button 4 wheel drive, cd, new tires, hitch, factory dark tint windows. my first suv lol

so tomorrow i get to go buy stuff for it.. floor mats, frgrance, vanity plate lol i think its gonna say "SXYCANI" ;)

ramblings...

hey. just droppin off some stuff on my plate. i havent been posting much lately, but its not becuz nothing is going on lol

where to start... well, the job is still going good. no real issues to speak of. getting bonuses pretty regular, at least one each check so the money has been great! i report to the regional property manager, which is cool cuz she's like never here since we have brand new properties in florida and illinios. i wouldnt mind here job. she's always flying off somewhere. plus she's a really laid back easy going type of person, i think we get along very well.

been spending alot of time with my kid. she's turning 13 this year so i want to make sure i'm there for her whenever she needs me. i know the teen years can be rough, so my goal is to be available for her whenever! she's currently at sumer camp, which is a first for her. i can't wait to here about it when she gets back. the camp is run by a christian organization, so thats cool also. they have a website thats pretty interactive. you can email your child and see pics of them taken daily. the only catch is they cant email you back, which was kind of frustrating. over all i'm sure it has been an awesome experience for her. i think i'm gonna have her for the fourth, so i need to start planning eh lol

oh yeah... i still have Kitty. she no longer in heat, but she's found other ways to be equally annoying lol she has decided that i must give her my undivided attention the second i walk in the door from work. if i don't, she makes it a point to get in the way of anything else i may be trying to do. if i try to use the bathroom she'll plant herself in front of the toilet, if i go in the kitchen she'll lean against the fridge door, if i sit on the couch she'll jump up in my lap and head butt me in the chin lol once i finally give her some attention, she'll dismiss e and go somewhere and sleep for an hour or so. then its the same routine over again. this goes on until i go to bed lol good thing i love cats *grin*

...begats cellphone...

so my kid is a technophille just like her dad. and she seems to have inherited my obsession with all things cellphone lol. having played with my new phone (see previous post i.e. helio), she instantly hated her Razr *surprise surprise* luckily, her new disgust with her phone coincided with her mothers desire to no longer pay for it LOL

so... long story short...here is my daughters new phone...


and here she is enthusastically enjoying it lol its actually a cool phone, one that I would carry myself, were i not a "helion" lol its a definate texting oriented phone. virgin mobile is the company. so far so good, decent rates, excellent signal (uses verizon towers). the phone itself was only $99. i love how you can do everything online. their website could be a bit more intuitive, especially since their target market is the younger demographic, but its still pretty good. something wacky is going on with her text messaging regarding how many messages she does/does not have, but I'm sure that will be fixed with a call to customer service.

bottom line is she loves it, so i love it...thats what count right?

living...

just some random pics from my life lately...enjoy..

summer breeze, makes me feel fine...

check it out... the storms of summer have arrived. yesterday we were under a severe thunderstorm watch for most of the day. periodically it was upgraded to a tornado warning, then downgraded, then upgraded again. we actually got some heavy rain for a bit, and some high winds, but nothing spectacular or dangerous. the clouds looked pretty wicked though, hence the pics lol

In a word...

babysitting. it is what it is. lol one of my closest friends, David, who lives in virginia, left his cat (Kitty) here in michigan with his in-laws. it's been like 3-4 years now. for some reason they can't (or wont) keep the cat any more and suggested putting her in the pound. David was understandably upset and against this action. as was i. i remember when he got kitty. it was during a "wild" time in both our lives. she's been a part of the fam for 9+ years. to let her go to the pound at this point would be cruel. all they would do is euthanize her since she is so old. so i volunteered to keep her until..... what ever. thats the kinda guy i am ;)

so anyway, ....she's in heat. i neglected to inquire if she had been fixed. apparently not. so now i have this hot and bothered old cat crawling around my pad, screeching and yowling 24/7. ah the joys of lifelong friendship LOL

Great weekend. Hung out with the kid. Di

Great weekend. Hung out with the kid. Did some shopping. She won a scholarship to a week long camp, so she needed a new swim suit. MAN i wont EVEN go into the drama that entails lolOther than that we had fun. Had chinese one day and mexican the next lol I promised her Red Lobster next time. Its time for crab legs!!Oh yeah, the zoo is open! We are so there next weekend! Oh wait, next weekend s my birthday ;)

Thought i'd ask the question...why do ge

Thought i'd ask the question...why do geese act like gangbangers? They are bullies.

i can hear the Ocean...

i upgraded!!! lol well the full story is i was seriously considering jumping ship from Helio to either ATT or Verizon. not because i was unhappy with Helio service, i get signal almost everywhere and the plan i have is awesome. i just HATED my phone. i did the typical consumer thing, buy jumping on the 'free' phone they offered during the holidaze instead of picking a good phone. caveat emptor right? lol

so anyway, i was all set to make that move, actually had the ATT Tilt on order when i decided to give Helio a call. they made me an offer i couldn't refuse. so here i am with my new Helio Ocean.
as you can see, it is a dual slider. full QWERTY keyboard on one side, dedicated keypad for dialing. the software is top tier. Helio really has made this phone their flagship model. It has totally intergrated the all of the popular IM, email, and social sites smoothly into the interface. total pocket communication. it also has a 2mp camera with flash and zoom. plays mp3s and videos. total web browsing. it can even stream Youtube videos. not much more i need in a phone lol

i'll post a more definitive review one i've had it a couple weeks... ciao!

Celebrations continued....

Look at the size of her sandwich!! Its as big as her face! LOL Eating at Joe's Be-Bop BBQ in Navy Pier.
Crystal Garden in Navy Pier. Notice the leaping fountains in the background?
Aliyah getting counseling from a piece of art in Navy Pier Park.
We're dwarves!! LOL
Finally heading home after a LOOOONG day of reckless merriment and father/daughter bonding :) On the train, relaxing for the 3.5 hour ride home.