Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

To all of my family and friend... I love you all and I'll talk to you soon!!!

Merry Seasonings

Well it’s taken until December 21, but I think I am FINALLY in the Christmas sprit!!! This may not be a big deal to some people, but you have to remember, I usually start counting down the days till Christmas back in October! I think my delayed spirit has a lot to do with the fact that I just started a new job and I am just trying to keep my head above water with that… but tomorrow at 7:00 am I leave for California, and home!!! I can’t tell you how much I have been looking forward to going back home for the holidays.

A lot of people have asked me whether it still feels like Christmas when there is no snow and it’s in the 80s… and the answer is definitely YES! Four years ago, when I had my first “Green Christmas”, I was worried myself, but really as soon as you step into my parents house it is impossible to not get into the spirit! And you can’t beat sitting out on the patio with a mimosa (or Hermosa Beach as they have come to be known around my house) and just soaking up the sunshine. But don’t worry all of you back in Michigan… I’ll make sure to take plenty of pictures :)

So in the spirit of Christmas, here are my top 5 “Christmas Vacation” quotes:

5. “Merry Christmas, shitters full”

4.
--“Don’t throw me down Clark”
--“I’ll try not to Aunt Bethany”
--“Is your house on fire Clark?”

3. “Merry Christmas, Holy Shit, where’s the Tylenol”

2. “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Kiss my ass, Kiss his ass, Kiss your ass, Happy Chanukah”

1. “Can I refill your egg nogg, drive you out to the middle of nowhere, leave you for dead”

Now It's unanimous :)

Let's go Red Wings!

Hey there! Well I am complete now... I have no seen all four of the major US sports live :) Yes that's right, last Monday I watched the Wings dominate the Penguins 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena. You can't tell from this picture but I was actually having a GREAT time! I love old sports arenas, and The Joe is certainly built like an old time hockey barn. The first thing you notice about the building when you walk in is the smell. It's a combination of hot dogs, pretzles and beer... smells like sports should.

Pregame warmups in action 

JT and I after a copule of "street fighters" :) Thanks again for hookin me up JT! 

A view from our seats. It looks alot higher than it is. The cool thing was, we were right below press row, so whenever there was a penalty or a goal, we could hear the press announcer update the writers. Plus, this is a great shot of the championship banners.  

Mooo!!! The great trek from "The Joe" back to the parking lot.  

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here...

Happy Holidays!!!

Hands down, this is my fav time of year… no doubt about it. In fact, I’m willing to overlook the fact that it’s cold as hell and there is snow and ice everywhere because it is Christmas time. Come January however, I have no time for the cold and we should just jump to spring.

Anyways, I’ve been having a serious debate with my roommate as to what the best Christmas movie actually is. But since I’m the only one with a blog, my list wins!!! :)

1. Christmas Vacation
Hands down, THE best holiday movie EVER!!! Not even the release of Christmas Vacation 2 last year could diminish how perfect this movie is. I could literally recite every line from this flick and on Friday night, Ryan Allison and I almost did (sorry Ruthie). The scene that sums up everything for me is when the family is arriving and you hear the doorbell go from a pleasant chime to almost a death toll. Yep, that’s pretty much the universal signal that family has arrived. “I’m going to go park the cars, and I’ll be outside… for the season”

2. A Christmas Story
Growing up, I didn’t have TNT in Canada… but we did have WUAB Cleveland! Why London, Ontario Canada carried a station out of Cleveland I have no idea, but this is the channel that showed A Christmas Story relentlessly. What I love about this movie is that it reminds me of when Christmas was simple… Not that I don’t enjoy it now, but when you have a “real job” it’s just not the same. I miss having two weeks off for the holidays… now they expect me to work… jerks. All I know is that Christmas doesn’t officially start until I sit in front of the TV with a huge glass of egg nogg and some cracking nuts to watch this movie.

3. Scrooged
This is my roommate’s vote for number one. It certainly is classic, but I just can’t put it above Christmas Story or Vacation. This was during the period where Bill Murray could do no wrong. What the hell happened? Yes he has reinvented himself as a mopy dramatic actor, but it just isn’t the same.

4. The Santa Clause
Probably the most controversial pick. It’s new, it’s a Tim Allen flick and has a less than spectacular sequel, but I love it!!

5. The Ref
I could have gone with “It’s a Wonderful Life”, or “Meracle on 34th Street”, but instead I go with The Ref. And why? I have no clue… it just became a tradition around my house to watch this at the holidays. Plus, it’s Dennis Leary… nuff said.

Honorable Mention
Die Hard
It’s a Christmas movie dammit!

HAPPY BLOG-AVERSARY!!!

Oh what a difference a year makes... One year ago this very evening, I started this blog. At that point, I was back in California, depressed and unemployed.

Things have really changed. I've had two jobs (one really crappy, and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed so far), I'm back in Michigan, and although I still feel like my life is a little crazy, but I am certainly in a much better place mentally.

The more things change, the more things stay the same... Last year at this time, I was bitching and moaning about the Lions... that hasn't changed... in fact I'm about to watch them suck on ESPN's nationally televised game. I can't even put into words the frustration that I feel being a Lions fan.

Well that's all for now... my posts are getting shorter and shorter, but hopefully I'll have more up soon!!

Catching Up With JAY

Hey there!

Well this has been my longest break by far! Sorry bout that. It's not been for a lack of thought, just lack of time or initiative. Let's see, what's happened since I've last blogged...

Right after I got back from my LA trip I officially left the law firm I was working for. It really was for the best. The stress and anxiety that I was having as a direct result of working there was just not worth it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED everybody I worked with, but my boss was just impossible. I know there will always be problems with people in authority positions, but this was on beyond acceptable. Not only do I not respect him as a lawyer, boss or manager, but I also have no respect for him as a human being. It came to the point where he literally made my skin crawl just to think of him. Best decision I ever made was walking out of that place. No doubt.

So after that, the first week of November I was unemployed. Never a fun time, but I was also trying to get over a large amount of anger directed at my former employer, which made it even worse. I don't know what I would have done without my family and friends (Robot Girl in particular). I just couldn't have done it without them... then again, there are very few things I COULD do without them :) So basically I spent that first week going out as much as humanly possible and just avoiding reality. By November 6th I had sobered up enough to really job search and sent out about a dozen resumes. That's when things really took off. I had two interviews the following week and two offers followed shortly after that. I had a choice between a bigger firm that had a very similar feel to the firm I just left (high volume, high stress, basically sweat shop law) and a smaller firm. Needless to say I took the later offer and could not be happier. I work with some great people, and in a great office. In fact, I went to law school with one of the other attorneys here! Sup JT!

It's amazing how life just happens around you... just when you think things can't get any worse, a door opens up and a fresh start is offered to you. I honestly thought for awhile that I would never get another job and would be a vagabond forever, but that was just how beaten down I was at the time. I couldn't ever see things getting better... but they did. Things are great!

Well I'll try and post more soon