Just as I was making claims on my frequent updates… It’s been almost a month since the last update, because it’s been a month of absolute chaos. In the last 30+ days, we’ve only been home for 3 or 4 nights because:

House sitting round 1:

Consisted of watering tomatoes and sitting in hot tubs. Not a bad way to comehome from work, to what is essentially your dream house and just hanging
out. And, all a convenient 5 minutes from our own house.

House sitting round 2:
This time at my parents’ house which also included a pool, but not much time to spend in it because it also came with a black lab and a cat. Surprisingly no catastophes on this round.

10 days in Sarasota:
We pushed our luck with Ernesto, but made it out unscathed. It was mostly relaxing since we just sit on a beach all day, but Tara and I got nuts and decided to hit 4 Disney parks in 2 days. We hit the Animal Kingdom where we had never been, and it was pretty cool. We always have to go to the drive-in restaurant at MGM, and we had our other dinner at the Polynesian hotel where I felt like I might explode. They keep bringing steak and all sorts of other food as many rounds as you can handle. They gave us enough food for four people. We walked some serious miles and ended up with some big blisters, but it was definitely fun and worth the effort. We even snuck in a round of mini golf on “the most difficult mini golf course in the country.” That sucked, because yes, it was impossible. While we were there, Vin got married and hopefully everything went smooth. Shem sent some great photos. That same night was when Chuck Liddell kicked Renato Sobral’s ass in 1.5 minutes. We drove to every sports bar in Sarasota to see if anyone was showing the fight and no dice, and I finally just got a chance to see it a few days ago which is one of the
perks of being part of a cable company.

House sitting round 3:
We came back from Florida and resumed watching the animals. As much as we like them, we are definitely not getting a dog until we have a kid and are on lockdown.

The Germans and the beach:
Ernesto made its way up the coast, producing reports like this that only show
up once or twice a year:

I went out to the beach on Labor day to get a piece of this (the day after this report) and it was still pretty good. I really need more time in the water with all this crap going on. Tara’s grandmother’s sister is here from Germany with two friends, including a very loud and flamboyant 70 year old guy. We showed them around and had a good time.

Work:
Non-stop chaos that never slows down. We’re doing nothing but huge presentations left and right and operate in a perpetual state of putting out fires. Quake is what keeps everyone sane, and since we started playing, the skill levels have shot up and the games can get pretty heavy with a good share of carnage.

Freelance:
Built out a portfolio website for Jennifer and some business cards for other friends, with a bunch of other work waiting for my attention…

I’ve also been trying to get the Chevy out whenever the weather is good. Driving it makes everything good.

I also need to send out a belated salute to Ryan Coulter’s enormous balls.

Now, I just made it to New Hampshire and we’re out at the coast in Karen and Brent’s new house. Tomorrow we head for Beaver Island for the big wedding.