CaseyAndKelly.Com

After almost a month of delay, pictures from Christmas/New Years/family visit are now posted in the gallery.

We got our taxes finished this weekend. I’ve been waiting (impatiently) all month for all the necessary forms and finally got them all on Saturday. We learned last year that Jackson Hewitt, etc. are a crazy expensive scam. While we’re not getting quite as big of refund as I would like (I don’t think we’ll ever get that much which in my mind would be a 100% return), we are receiving a pretty big refund or so I’m told. This weekend we also replaced all 4 nubs (which were once tires) replaced on the car and got almost everything finished on the house (no more tiling for Casey!) – we’re almost there!

Watched a bunch of DVDs this weekend. Most we didn’t like – The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Salem’s Lot (2004), U.S. Marshals, Beautiful, and Only You – and one we did – The Sure Thing (gotta love John Cusack). Plus the entire first season of the X-Files (the only one we have).

I love to sleep – I live for naps, sleeping in, etc but it’s only 8:20 and I’ve been ready to pass out for hours now. I’ve spent the good part of the day (more than 5 hours) stuck in the car in traffic (ie. not moving) taking Casey to and from the airport. I’ll let him elaborate if he wants to on that. I admit that I have fits of road rage but driving here I’m in a permanent state of it. This is a plea to the Virginia D.O.T. to do something about the traffic situation before I go insane!

All the family went home last week, John on Tuesday and my parents on Saturday. We have a nice and relaxing holiday vacation with each other and as my mom says enjoyed *presence* instead of *presents*. I must say it was a lot less stressful this way and more enjoyable. It’s now time to get back to our normal routine of driving Casey back and forth to the VRE (which has seemed to be turning into driving him to or from the Sprinfield metro more and more as of late), cleaning, getting ready for my final semester, and catching up on TV and movies. The third season of The L Word (really good show) premiered on Sunday but I have yet to see it. ABC is on a kick with their recaps of their new and top rated shows playing hour long recaps to catch up new viewers with the last 2.5 seasons of episodes. And at long last there was finally a new episode of Lost! I know many of you will disagree but Wedding Crashers wasn’t as good as we expected it to be. The 40 Year Old Virgin was also funny but predictable and not worth buying. The title kinda says it all if it’s a comedy about a 40 year old virgin, he’s going to lose his virginity by the end of the film especially if it’s unrated. Today I watched The Life of David Gale and was surprised by how good this movie really was. It surprises me that I hadn’t seen this movie before nwo with its talented cast and unexpected twists (that weren’t disclosed to me by other viewers).

Blah, that is how I feel right now. I’m way out of shape and never get enough sleep. I’m currently on my way home on the train, and writing this on my blackberry. I can’t tell yet if I like this thing or I hate it, it keeps me up to date when I’m not at work (good), and it keeps me up to date when I’m not at work (bad).

I just went back to work this week after having about ten days off, I really didn’t want to, but I have to pay the damn mortgage payment. We did get quite a bit done on the house though. One more bathroom got tiled, railings got put back up, remaining outlets got fixed… Hopefully we can get the house up for sale the week after I get back from KC. Joe was telling me today that there is speculation that interest rates will go down again this summer, and could cause another surge in housing costs. But if I don’t get out of this house and move closer to work I’m just going to snap and go into murder suicide mode.

James finished his MCSE yesterday, and surprised himself with an XBox 360 for passing it finally. I remember only a few short months ago we were at the same part in our testing, but he has surged ahead and left me in the dust. I really need to get it done, it will make my resume that much more impressive. Management is not for me, so if anyone out there has a job for me let me know.. Especially if it has anything to do with lawncare or beer tasting (hopefully both).

I’m still torn over my iPod video purchase, I actually had it in hand the other day at the Apple Store, and I put it back down. I was worried about the cost, even though I received more then enough from both christmas and my birthday (thanks everyone). Maybe this saturday Kelly and I will swing back by Tyson’s Corner and pick it up.

I should wrap this up, my thumbs aren’t cut out for this much typing, they have become weak and frail from lack of XBox…..grrrrrrrr. Not to mention the guy sitting next to must think I’m out of my mind for typing so much on this tiny ass thing.

1. SELL HOUSE!

2. GRADUATE!

3. LEAVE VA!

Happy Birthday, Casey! At 27 he has entered into his late 20s and is now sensitive to the old man comments – show him some love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! We have family out here until after the new year so updates will most likely be rare. Here’s to 2006 – a year of health, happiness, and success!

I finally finished all of my assignments for the fall semester on Wednesday and the semester was finally over on Friday. Grades won’t be posted till Thursday so I haven’t a clue what I’ve gotten in four of my five classes because my finals and research papers haven’t been graded yet. The one grade I do know is (thankfully) an A. I’ve already been busy getting some much needed cleaning and catching up on other random things done. Now I don’t know what I’m gonna do wtih the rest of my break because I’m so used to having the pressure of deadlines there. Good thing my parents and Uncle John get here on Wednesday to help us celebrate the holidays and bring in the new year.

Other than that we haven’t been up to much. A bit of advice for all of you readers is: happy hour is your friend. Sit in the bar area and you don’t have to wait for a table, get prompt service, free appetizers (depending on where you go), and discounted drinks – it doesn’t get much better than that.

We had our measurable snow on Monday and it has been freezing ever since. People here do not know how to drive when it’s dry let alone if it’s snowy or icy. The weather has made being outside pretty unbearable and all Stoli wants to do is stand outside for prolonged periods and eat the snow. I guess I can’t complain too much about the cold though. It’s -2 in the Springs today and they’ve closed schools because of the extreme cold. Other than that it’s been the same old thing around here, not too much else to say.