i think i'm the only non-retail person in the world working today...drag! actually, it's not so bad. there's an opportunity to really get some things done with the building as empty as it is...notice i said "opportunity" :-)
i forgot to mention...i got to go to the mn wild hockey game last saturday, for free, which is the only way i can actually afford to go. $65 seats, 11 rows off the ice. they got schooled by detroit, but it's a fun experience anyway.
got a good jump on the holiday shopping. now just waiting for some stuff to arrive. the apparent theme this year is "downlpay" the gifts. it's been tried before. we'll see what happens this time.

back as promised from a couple of days off. managed to complete everything on my to-do list, so i was productive with my time.
starting to feel a little of the holiday stress creeping in. there's a lot to do, a lot going on, and lots of demands of my time. course i am not alone in this area, but this is my site, so it's all about me :-)
started my christmas shopping. not a lot of progress but it's a start. some day my dream is to be done by thanksgiving but that's not a reality this year.
i'm trying to burn my holiday mp3's to cd at the moment and it's frustrating because i've made about 4 shiny coasters so far. it seems like burning a cd should be pretty straight forward but for some reason, it's more like burn and hope for the best? it's not rocket surgeory but it seems like it sometimes. i have about 600 tunes ripped, between 3 & 4 gig so far.
one more day of work tomorrow and then another day off. yay!

interesting article on how to not get fired because of your blog. yes, i may take an occasional minute or 2 to post a blog while on the clock. similar to sending a personal email, which surely everyone else has occasionally done while at work. guilty as charged. it just makes more sense to do it here, quickly, with access to a high speed T-1 line, rather than dialing in (yes, i still dial in) and posting a "blog". if it ever becomes an issue, i'll post at home only which will no doubt detract from the number of times i will actually bother to post. 'nuff said.
i'm on a temporary high at the moment because i'm at the beginning of a looooong weekend (friday and monday off). don't look for any new posts until after that (see above paragraph). also, next week is a short week anyway due to thanksgiving. i do, however have to work friday, which is traditionally a slacker day anyway.
it will not all be fun and games this long weekend however. things to do this weekend:

- finish the last of the raking (snow coming saturday) and last trip to compost pile
- hang the out door christmas lights (snow coming saturday)
- oil change for taurus + 2 new air filters
- begin paint project in basement (optional but likely)
- misc. household chores
- continue to rip holiday discs to mp3's
- afix heating element coils to roof of porch to prevent ice-damning (damning? damming? damns?)
- other projects, which i have already documented on the fridge at home but cannot recall at this time

signing off until next time...

a fairly average weekend at the price's. it was hard on the checkbook however. after many fruitless trips to various furniture stores, we purchased a couch for our family room. it was nice to finally get something, but a downer when the reality set in that we had actually spent the money.
saw a wicked scary movie this past friday night called 28 days later. be warned if watching\listening with surround sound, you may come out of your skin during certain parts. fitful sleep was not achieved that particular evening.
our mighty vikings dropped their 4th in a row this sunday. if you remember, it all started with the giants game i went to a month ago so i take full responsibility.
starting to slowly ease into the holiday spirit around here. according to the wife however, christmas music may not be considered until november 28th, the day after thanksgiving, and then only christmas music may be listened to until april 1st. ok, just kidding on that last part.

nothing earth-shattering to report. trying to make it through to the end of another week. feeling more tired than normal....i need to start getting to bed earlier. i'm averaging 11:00 pm these days which is too late. also, trying to shake a head cold that has me slightly out of sorts.
noelle has a pre-school program tonight. not really sure what to expect, but it'll be good to finally see the inside of her school.
no big weekend plans yet, which is a good thing after last weekend. had some snow flurries yesterday and it was windy and cold, but a lot more mild today. i'm sort of ready for the first lasting snowfall so i can put an end to the leaf harvesting in my yard.
signing out til later...

did i mention, i'm extremely happy with my new web host? it's free for 3 years and then we'll see after that. hey, i won't worry about it until then? still have to renew my domain name every year, but i may transfer it in may of next year, we'll see. i just love the lack of advertisements...should have done this a long time ago.
had a busy weekend. had a busy social calendar for a change. this weekend i did more than stay up until 1 am xboxing. the wife hosted a bunco party for 8 of her gal friends and then we were invited to a dinner party, sort of a "welcome to our cul-de sac" party thrown by one of our new neighbors. they are nice people and a good time was had by all. we were sans children which was a nice break for us for a change.
i forgot my satchel of cd's today which led to my discovery of an online streaming college radio station found at ohio university. so far, so good.
we're hosting the price version of christmas day at our house this year, due to lack of space at my folks. it'll be something new for us and we're looking forward to it. something like 16 people including various toddlers and infants.
more later...

oh boy, the moment of truth..if you can read this, my host switiching is done. if there are no pop-ups and ad banners then my mission was successful. this is a test...more to come.

ps. if you still see ad banners than go to thirdthoughts.com and change your bookmark.

i'm going to proceed forward and try to make some changes on the web-hosting side of things. it may cause this site to be "down" for a couple of days. if so, that's what's going on. i think i can redirect my domain name to the new hosting servce without having to change registrars...anyway, i'm going to give it a go. if not, i can always revert back to angelfire. anyway, fair warning. see you on the other side!

we're well into november now...time for a post. i posted a couple of halloween pics but i didn't go crazy this year. just a few looks to give you an idea. didn't even get one of my pumpkin this year. we received our first dusting of snow this past monday. didn't even get the last round of leaves off the front yard yet. maybe still time? it's running short. took the trial run with the fireplace. it even works! not at all like our old one..got plenty of wood so i plan on burning lots of fires this winter. more to come...