Tag: doug
Happy Birthday, Doug!
June 4th means that it’s Doug’s birthday today. I’m sure that Ruby and Carson are wishing their Dad a happy birthday this morning. I just wanted to add mine:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOUG!
Hope you have a great day!
He comes home a winner (Las Vegas, Day 2)
Yesterday was a long day and today felt even longer. You already know that yesterday (Sunday) started at about 6 AM for me, when I headed to the gym for a light workout (arms and shoulders). Well, eventually, Jen and Jason got up and we all scrambled off to First Breakfast. I had a massive waffle with a hunk of whipped cream the size of a softball on it. After breakfast, we went back to the room, but with Doug still sound asleep, we figured we needed to be elsewhere.
Saturday surprise!
[Written on May 27 and backdated to May 26]
Saturday was a long day! I was up at 5 AM because I couldn’t sleep any longer. I packed up the remainder of my stuff and headed off to LAX to catch my plane to Las Vegas. There were no lines. I checked in at the Premier check-in counter, went through the premium security “line” (there was no one in line) and was at my gate 10 minutes after arriving at the airport.
I had some time to kill so I watched the season finale of Heroes which I hadn’t seen yet, and which I thought was terrific! I made sure I was the first person on the plane because I didn’t want to run into Mom and Dad, who were taking a flight about 2 hours after mine. Mom was still in the dark about the big surprise in Vegas. She thought I was flying home today.
The flight was short and uneventful. So short, in fact, that I couldn’t complete the crossword puzzle in the magazine. When I got to the gate, I found that he11o_sunshine and jkashlock‘s flight was getting in early, so I walked over to their gate to meet them. We then headed to baggage claim so I could get my bag. We were also able to check into the hotel. All that was left was to wait for Doug.
His flight got in early but we couldn’t find him and he wasn’t answering his phone. Finally, at close to 11 AM, Jen spotted him wandering around upstairs. We found out that his phone was broken and he had been wandering around looking for us. We caught a taxi to the hotel, checked in, and then headed to another hotel for lunch so that we didn’t run into Mom and Dad prematurely.
Finally, around 2 PM or so, Dad called and told us to meet him at the Bally’s sports book. We walked over there (in the near 100 degree sun) and met him. He led us to where mom was sitting at video poker. He told her he had a surprise for her, while we all hung back. She closed her eyes as instructed and we all stood around her. Then she opened her eyes. From her reaction, I think she was pretty surprised!
Lots of activities the rest of the day. We had drinks at a bar in the Bellagio. Then we decided to go to the pool, which we did. I would be remiss to mention the fact that at one point, I was spirited away by a bunch of bachelorettes, as a part of a bachelorette party, which Doug and Jason would have no part in. I didn’t mind. After, I went back to the hotel room to rest for a little while. At 6:30, we headed to Emeril’s for dinner. More drinks. And excellent food. Doug and I shared some tuna steak tartare for an appetizer and I had–you guessed it–the copper river salmon for the main course.
After dinner people wanted to go gamble but I was beat. I headed back up to the room and went to sleep. I don’t even remember Jen and Jason getting back. But I did hear Doug come in just before 3 AM. He had lots of beads and he said he’d lost $100 all told. It was a fun day.
Killin’ time
I’m done with work for the day, but hanging around until happy hour, which will begin around 5:30, so I have some time to kill.
I talked to Doug on the phone earlier today and it was good to hear from him. He sounded like he was as ready to get out of the office for the week as I am, although I have to say this week went by surprisingly fast.
Ah, the weekend! What to do? Reading, certainly. Spring cleaning, too. I still have the guest room closet to finish cleaning out. The kitchen floor could use some mopping, and I need to clean the bathroom. The entire house could use a good vacuuming. And the yard is starting to look like it could use some work too. I’d like to, perhaps, squeeze in a little bit of writing this weekend if I can. And there’s the Italian lessons. But I don’t want to overdo it. I need some time to just relax.
Baseball season starts up next week and I’m looking forward to that, although I’ve opted out of ordering the MLB package this year. If I ordered it, I’d just stay up late watching Yankee games and I have to get to bed at a decent hour, old man that I’ve become. Besides, I’m looking for some ways to cut back on my spending and the two hundred dollars or so that I save by forgoing the games is a step in that direction.
As part of the spring cleaning, I’m thinking about reorganizing my LJ tags, which have proliferated wildly out of control. To do this efficiently, I’d need to wrote a little PHP program, but I already have the PHP-LJ library so it’s just a matter of writing code and remapping tags. I haven’t decided yet.
Grandma’s birthday
My diary reminded me that today would have been my Grandma’s 85th birthday. It’s been nearly ten years since she died. I’m not the only one who forgets from time-to-time. It happened to Grandpa too. Probably more than once. But the last time on record was January 17, 1997:
I called Grandma to wish her a happy birthday. Grandpa answered the phone and said, “Oh she’s not home for another half our or so.” Then he paused and said, “Oh boy! Is today the 17th? I’ve got to go and–uh oh–get her something!” Needless to say, I spoke to Grandma later and wished her a happy birthday.
(In that same diary entry, I mentioned the fact that Doug came over along with his new 1997 green Nissan truck. He also had his tongue pierced only a month earlier. Just wait until Ruby and Carson are old enough to read that.)
Building a house
I have decided to build a house, and I have Doug and Rachel (and Ruby and Carson) to thank for it. Doug, who works in the home loan industry has made this incredibly easy for me, supplying me with everything I need to get the job done, with absolutely no paperwork.
Free day
Today is my free day–no workouts and I can eat whatever I want. I slept in until 9 AM, which is late for me and then I had a quick breakfast and headed out to the grocery store to do some shopping. Since then, I have been working on the book collection and reading database applications and have made good progress in converting the old formats to the new data model. I should be able to start writing actual code soon.
I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd all day. So far I’ve listened to Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, and Dark Side of the Moon. I’m now in the middle of listening to a live version of the Dark Side of the Moon album.
I talked to Doug earlier today. Their power has been restored and they should be able to go home today. (They live in Seattle and were affected by some of the storms there.) I also talked to jen_ashlock briefly. She and jkashlock are in San Diego this weekend and take the red-eye home tonight.
I’m off to treat myself to something good to eat.
Dinner at Daniel’s
Doug had to work most of the day yesterday and he finally got home around 5 PM. Shortly after he got home, he, Mom, Dad and I headed out to the Keg to have some drinks and sit around chatting, while Rachel, Ruby and Carson got a break from our hijinks. We then headed over to the restaurant around 7:30 PM. We had to take two cars and we dropped Carson off at Theresa’s house on the way. Doug was playing Richard Cheese in the car and Dad was in the back seat and Doug managed to leave the car at the worst parts of “Baby Got Back” and “Badd”, leaving me to fend for myself.
Daniel’s in Bellevue is on the 21st floor of a hotel and when we were seated, we had a pretty nice view of downtown Seattle in the distance. The food was really good. I had a 13 ounce fillet mignon with a peppercorn brandy sauce, and a baked potato. I had some clam chowder, too. Ruby was with us and was very well-behaved. She had a hamburger and fries, and some root beer, all of which are among her favorites.
It was a very nice dinner and a very nice evening, and we were all wiped out by the time we got home last night. Now it’s 8:30 AM (PST) and I’ already hungry again! My flight leaves Seattle at 5 PM this afternoon.
Black Friday
I was up at 6 AM this morning after falling asleep almost instantly last night, and sleeping soundly through the night. Doug had to go into work this morning and he left around 6:30 AM. People finally started getting up around 7:30 AM. We had some bagels for breakfast and spent most of the morning just lazing around.
I upgraded my return flights home tomorrow night. I am wait-listed on the flight from Seattle to San Francisco, even though it looks as though there are plenty of first class seats. I am confirmed in first class on the flight from San Francisco to Baltimore. I have a 4 hour layover in San Francisco, and I plan on having a good dinner somewhere in the airport there to kill some of the time. (You know what would be a good idea: movie theaters in airports. I could go and see the new James Bond movie or something to kill the time while I am waiting for my flight.)
Doug is going to try and get off work at 2 PM. Mom and Rachel just went out to get some lunch for us. We are having dinner tonight at about 8 PM at Daniel’s Broiler in Seattle. I am very much looking forward to that meal. For some reason, I’ve felt hungry day.
Mom wants to go shopping and Rachel may want to go too, but I’ve been trying to convince them not to. It would be insane to be at a mall today. You’re liable to end up crying.
Thanksgiving dinner
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, courtesy of Doug and Rachel. Rachel’s sister Theresa and her son Alex were over to have dinner with us as well. We had a turkey, some delicious mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, new potatoes and onions. It was all delicious. After dinner, we had a birthday celebration for Ruby, who will turn 3 years old on December 1. We had pumpkin pie and birthday cake, and Ruby got to open some presents.
We also had an iChat video chat with jen_ashlock and jkashlock since they were in New York and couldn’t be here for Thanksgiving.
I am both stuffed and exhausted. I was ready to go to bed at 7 PM (after having gotten up at 1 AM PST this morning)! But it looks like I’ll be off to bed in the next hour or so.
In Seattle
My flight got into Seattle on time, and since I arrived at Doug and Rachel’s, about 4 hours ago, we’ve been hanging out, and talking while preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I finally got to meet Carson in person and he looks just like Doug did when he was 8 months old. It’s uncanny! Looks like we’ll be having our dinner around 4:30 or 5 PM. Then there is a video conference with jen_ashlock and jkashlock later on this evening.
Technology!
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