Blogs of the Month for December

Hey there. I'm a little late on announcing the winners this month. Sorry about that. Nevertheless, here we go.

Big changes in this month's listing. For several months, Picture to People held the top spot but was finally dethroned by Septagon Studios Inc. Congrats to our new top blog. Please feel free to check out the new top blog listing. 500 ECs to all the winners. Many thanks friends. Later!

Happy New Year

Hey there. Out with 2008 and in with 2009. We spent the evening at my aunt's house to celebrate the incoming of the new year. As many family gatherings that night, there was more than enough liquor to go around. It was kinda funny, actually. I called my aunt earlier in the day to ask what dish to bring in, you know, a desert, chips, or whatever. She said that she's asking everyone to bring a 30 pack of beer or a liquor bottle, you choice. lol I laughed at first but then she said that it's better that way cause she doesn't want anyone driving in the middle in the night looking for booze. Good idea, I'm sure cops were going to be everywhere patrolling the streets looking for a quick and easy DUI citation. My aunt said, be there at 6... sharp. We're of hispanic origin, you know that 6 really means 7:30 ish, lol. We end up getting to my aunts at like 7:30 or so, my wife thought that we were late. My aunt was just taking a shower and we were the first ones there. lol

I love the 2009 sign they had up. Looks like even the sign was hit by the bad economy. lol Just look at that crafty 9.

It was fun. We all chatted and then danced the night away. My cuz brought some Lambrusco wine and we had us some of that. It was funny cause my aunts had no clue what it was. They were calling it things like, "El Muslo", "Chamuco", or "El Busto". They didn't like, they considered it "pretty strong", which made me laugh since they were downing Hornitos and Cazadores.

My wife and I ended up dancing the night away. Our daughter was up dancing with us. Before long, it was 2:30 or so and our kids were knocked out. Time for us to go. Good times, good times. Here are a few pics of the night.

The dance floor was rockin'.

Here we are with our daughter after a short break from dancing.

Here we are with my mother and brother.

This is one funny pic. The ladies got together to take a pic. But what's this in the back??? My uncle snuck into the picture! That's him in the back. The man is hilarious. lmao

Here is my babe dancing with our daughter.

My aunt got up to dance and asked me to hold her seat for her. She meant it literally, look. lmao

Here is my babe, giving me a kiss as the clock strikes 12.


I wish all my friends, virtual and otherwise, a very prosperous new year. Most of us had a pretty rough 2008 so here's to a better 2009. Later!

Forced Vacation

Hey there friends. We are on "forced vacation". We won't be back at work until Jan. 19th. We usually tend to take our vacation when the kids are on vacation so that we can spend time with the kids and do activities with them. Well, this time, that's not going to be the case. Work pretty much told my wife and I that we have to much vacation time and we need to take it now. That's great! A much need break from work. But wait, also bad... The kids will be back in school soon so we won't be able to sleep in since we will need to get up at 6 ish to get them ready for school. We also didn't plan anything since the vacation was just sprung on us. I'm so not used to the time off. We accumulate about a month vacation over the course of the year but because we're needed at work, we only take a week or two a year and anything left over, we cash in on. Well, at least this way I can get to some much needed yard work done. Which brings me to yesterday morning...

I was out, cleaning up my lawn when I get an Email from The Admin at New Dilemma, wishing me a good holiday and asking if the Mexican Mafia got to me, since I disappeared after posting the Accordion Hero game. I laughed. I wrote back, from my phone, saying that I used to do most of my posts at work (I'm a very productive employee, as you can see) and since I'm not there, I need to get used to doing them at home. I also mentioned that this one mariachi band has been circling my house, giving me ominous stares so maybe it's a good idea that I stay on the down low for a bit. lol

It's about 9:30 AM now. I'm still in bed, looking out my window. I'm going to have me some breakfast in a minute and then go back outside and get a little more work done. Since I'll be home for a little over 3 weeks, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to get to some projects that I've had lined up since forever. No more excuses now. It's showtime. Later!

Accordion Hero!!!

Hey there. This is for all of you friends out there that are just not into the rock movement. lol

On a Mission: Looking for Bikes

Hey there. Last night as we were driving home, my wife and I had a conversation about Christmas spirit. It just seems to be lacking this year. We haven't decorated our house, the tree is not up, gifts still need to be obtained, and we haven't wrapped the ones we've already bought! We've just been caught up in work. We're leaving later and are more stressed out, especially over all the negative news we've been getting in regards to our pay...

Nevertheless, I made it clear to my wife that all we need is each other to have a good Christmas. We've already gotten our kids "small" gifts and we still needed to get their "main" gifts, BICYCLES!

I never had a bicycle as a kid. I don't know how to ride one. I had a scooter as a child... yes, a scooter and I don't even think my dad bought it for me. Why? Because when he brought it home... IT WAS PINK! lmao I don't know if he found it or stole it or whatever but it was pink and I remember him telling me not to worry about the color. It was something that a little spray paint couldn't fix. lol That was my dad for you. He was in the upholstery business so he made a living of fixing and modifying things. There was many a time when he would come home with some beat up couch or whatever and he'd strip it and make it is own. He was damn good at it too. Anyways, we ended up spraying the scooter this neon green color. That was months before he passed away... many, many moons ago.

So we get home, and I sneak out of the house, on a mission to get the bikes. Now, I know it's a few days before Christmas so I figured traffic is going to suck, especially around the mall area, so I take all the small roads there. I get to Sears and parking is not too bad... Only spent about a minute or two before I lucked out and parked right in front of the entrance. I walk in, briskly, and look for the "fitness" section. I see a very small display of bikes. I figured that was just the ones on "sale" so I went off looking for the bike section. There was no bike section... at least not anymore. CRAP! I go back to that little display of like 4 or so bikes. They had a princess one and a Little Mermaid one. Loved the Mermaid one for our little one, but it was too small. Only 12 inch wheels. She'll out grow that by tomorrow... so I ended up getting her the Princess one. No 20 inch bikes in sight, so I needed to get out and go elsewhere for em. Back in the car and off I go.


Parking for Toys R Us was a complete nightmare. Cars honking, parents cursing, cars dodging left and right trying to avoid hitting each other. I was surprised that there wasn't an accident. I spent a good 10 to 15 mins looking for parking. After circling for what seemed like an eternity, a monster truck, yes... monster truck, pulls out of a spot right in front of me. I stop, signal, and hold off traffic while this guy exits. Finally... I get in the store. As I walk in, I'm texting my wife about the experience. I erase what I was writing and simply sent, "I just walked into hell..."

The place was standing room only. Shoulder to shoulder. People looked like sardines, just barely able to move. Damn... and I need to get to the back of the store, that's where the bikes are. I swerve and make my way to the back. Finally the bike section... and this is what I see.


NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I sent that pic to my wife saying that the bike section is anemic. Damn near non existent if you ask me. They had absolutely NO boy bikes. All gone. CRAP!!!! But they did have some pretty nice girl bikes. Girly girl bikes too, the ones I know that our daughter will love. So I grab the ticket and off I go to the line. Luckily, a cashier just opened as I happen to be passing by so I was only like 3rd in line, instead of like, 15th! I pay for the bike and wait for them to bring it to me. 10 mins later, no bike... 20 mins later, no bike... What the hell?!?!?! I go over the service desk and ask the lady what's taking so long. She calls the pick up guys and they tell her that they do not have any more of those bikes in a box, only pre-assembled ones. Ugh!!! I don't have a truck, I have a car... I'm limited in space, I cannot fit a bike in the car. I tell them that I need one in a box and he best goes look for one. After a min or two of waiting for a reply, I go back to the bike section. I measure up the bike, hoping that maybe I can fit it in the back seat or something. I decide that maybe it'll fit. I'll MAKE IT FIT. So I go back to the service lady and tell her that I'll take it assembled. They tried to get me to pay the extra $10 for the assembly. Bullshit! I argued with her saying that I wanted it in a box and you don't have any. Someone should have told me at the register that there were no more and then I would've made another selection (that's a lie cause they didn't have a selection... lol). A manager rolls by so I call out to him, "Hey guy! I just bought this bike. Now I'm being told that they don't have any in a box and I'm being forced to pay extra because of the store's mistake." The manager spoke to the lady there and after a min or so, he tells me that they'll waive the fee and I'll get my bike. So I go and grab my bike and leave.

I did struggle to get it in the car... holding up traffic again since someone was waiting for me to get out to take my spot. After a lot of twisting and turning, SUCCESS! Tired and frustrated, I went home, a little disappointed that I couldn't find a bike for our son. I would've rather of taken care of it all in one trip, considering that it's shopping hell right now. I get home and the kids are still up, so I leave the bikes in the car. Our little one is a little sick and she couldn't sleep until close to midnight... Once I knew she was asleep, I get up and go to the car and bring in the bikes and stash them in the closet... along with all the other gifts that we've gotten. We have a walk in closet but it's more like a one step closet right now cause of all the boxes and what not. I park the bike inside and position the other along the back wall, semi hidden, and hope that we can keep our kids out of the closet for a few more days.

2 bikes down, 1 more to go. Now, the real mission begins. Keeping it a secret from the kids. Later!