Mom and dad welcomed me with meatloaf, english peas, carrots, and homemade mashed potatoes, and I just consumed about half of the pound cake and ice cream about 5 minutes ago. Again, it's great to come home.
The weather is amazing. I just walked outside, and it feels SO good. To add to the temperature, a near full-moon is out, and with clear skies it shines through all of the trees surrounding our house, illuminating patches of the freshly-cut lawn all over the place. It really is gorgeous. Hell, all the windows in the house are open to give us some natural ventilation. It's really nice; the only audible noises are the crickets chirping, Jay Leno's squeaky voice in his monologue, and the clicking of my laptop keys. Again....it's great to be home.
and this just in from the Matriarc herself: french toast will be served for breakfast tomorrow morning!! Do I really need to say it again? Yes. I do. Home kicks so much ass.
Sadly, things aren't so great in the home park of my beloved Sox. They just dropped 2 out of 3 to the Jays, but tonight did have some positives. Foulke was impressive in his 2 innings(bout time), and the Sox showed they could come back in the bottom of the 9th. It's still early, but the Sox have squandered a masterful lead on the Jays and Yanks the past two days. Let's hope a visit from the Mariners(thank God we don't have to face Felix) this weekend can get us back on a winning streak.
Speaking of the Sox, Trevor and I bailed on our softball game on Wednesday to watch Papi and the boys battle the Blue Jays. We felt bad that we missed the game, as we had only played one game so far, but we rationalized that since the Sox don't come on tv that often we were allowed to take part. Trevor fixed his famous cheese/chili/spicy dip, and Trevor, Aaron, and Adam joined us. Minus the losing part, the night was fun. After the game, we all went to Polliwogs to meet the rest of the group and hang out on our last day before break.
Sticking with the sports topic, the Avalanche are on the precipice of one of the most monumental playoff push collapses in recent memory. Just 3 weeks ago they were battling Calgary for the top spot in the Northwest division, which would have put them in one of the top 3 seeds in the conference. Now(and especially after they lost tonight) they are very close to being bumped out of the top 8 by Edmonton and Vancouver.(Vancouver is currently beating San Jose). Two more games remain in the season. Com'on Avs! The Avalanche have been in the playoffs every year since I began watching them(2001-2002), not to mention the years before then too, so they can't stop now.
I don't have much planned for this weekend. I'm prolly going to battle the crowds at the mall tomorrow to go find a new dress shirt for Mal's chemistry banquet next friday. My red shirt had to be retired long ago, so maybe I'll fill that hole in my color repertoire. Not sure yet about the pants to wear. Black really isn't "springy," so I may go with my new set of khakis. I also have some studying to do over the next few days, but I'd also like to run some, as well as hang by the pool to try to catch some rays. I also brought my volleyball to practice my jump serve. It's the one aspect of beach volleyball that I am almost completely oblvious to. I hope to at least get the basic mechanics down while I'm here this weekend. Speaking of volleyball, it was a PERFECT day to play today, but Trevor left early this morning, so we were unable to play Dan and Aaron. Arrgh.
It was a roller coast of feelings for me last week. It was tax time, so I had to finally sit down and do the damn things. I was ultra elated after calculating my federal income tax, as I was due about $1200 back from Uncle Sam. Then of course, I am reminded by Jason that we live in Mississippi, and they have an income tax of their own. Damn. So I do the numbers for the MS government, and it turns out I OWE them about $900. WTF. So I sent both sets of papers off a few days ago. Then, I am online, and I'm talking to John via AIM. He mentions that he is working on his own taxes, and I tell him about the gayness that is Mississippi. He then proceeds to tell me that I may not actually have to pay that money to the state. He was rather certain that since I worked more than 6 months out of state(I worked close to 9), and in a state with ZERO income tax no less, I should be entitled to that money, NOT the state of Mississippi. He was so sure because he did the co-op thing as well, and he remembered going through the same ordeal. I passed all this information along to dad yesterday, and he is going to ask our his accountant about the matter. However, dad's gonna wait until after the tax deadline has passed to give the guy a breather. If it turns out that I am due that money, all I do is file a income tax return correction, and that money comes back to me:)...no whammies no whammies...
Less than two months until the big TWO-ONE, folks! June 11, people. Mark it down :)
On the Houston front, plans have begun to get things in order for my return. I've contacted Trey and Bryan, and it seems I wont get into the group I wanted to; they just don't have enough mentors and floor space. The group I was eyeing was GNC, which is shuttle group that works with the (G)uidance, (N)avigation, and (Control) systems. He says that ADCO(my last group) is really all that's open, so I'm to return there. No worries though. I love the ADCOs; I had a blast with them in the fall. They like to have fun, some of them have Mississippi ties, and above all, the majority of them love baseball. That's a perfect group for summer if you ask me.
A slight problem has arisen with my lodging logistics in Houston. I plan on starting work at JSC on May 15th(Monday), but since Walker(my soon-to-be roomate in H-town) lives in Tampa, he can't just stop by home on the way to work like I can. He's going to take a few weeks off before venturing down to the heart of Texas, so that theoretically leaves me living in/paying for a 2-person apartment for 2 weeks. Not cool. Enter Eric Maeir. For those of you don't remember, Eric is one of my boyz in Houston. He and Colin are full-timers at JSC. Anyways, Eric has been gracious enough to offer to let me stay in the guest room in his house until Walker arrives. Awesome! Eric is cool as hell, and Jennifer(his wife) is also a blast. Remember, Eric and Jenn are only 25-26, so they still have the college youth mentality, so I don't think it'll be a problem at all. I even asked if it would be in any way an inconvenience, and Eric said not at all. So that's the plan so far. My last exam is on the 11th of May, I'll go home that night, spend a day here, and then head out to Houston Saturday morning, arriving JUST in time for Colin's party bash at his place that night.
Well as I mentioned before in earlier posts, Eric, Colin, and I purchased 2 season tickets for the new MLS team in Houston, the Dynamo. With a new franchise like this, season tickets go on sale on a first-come first-serve basis. It goes without saying that Colin was definitely first to get served...HAHAHA...anyway...he got ticket choice at the very outset. He took pics of Robertson Stadium a few months back and sent them to me. [Note: Robertson Stadium, used by UH, is the home field of the Dynamo until an SSS(soccer specific stadium) is built, and from what I hear, officials are well under way with getting Houston an SSS. ] Back to the tickets....so yeh, I get the pics from Colin, and I look at them and think, "Egh, these are OK. But jeez, I thought we had preference!" Here's the picture:
I thought our seats were at the place from which the picture was taken. Not THAT amazing. As it turns out, our seats are the ones ALL THE WAY DOWN, on the FRONT ROW, and MIDFIELD!! Colin was trying to take a pic OF our seats and not FROM our seats. How f'in awesome is this?!?! Colin, Eric, and I had a draft for the tickets earlier this semester, and they are divided up accordingly. I am slated to go to my first Dynamo game with Eric on May 20th when the Chicago Fire come to town. Other notable games I will see are the L.A. Galaxy, the Columbus Crew, Chivas USA, and the New England Revolution. I can't wait to get a Dynamo jersey, some face paint, and a drum. I finally have an MLS team to root for! Woo hoo!
Trevor and I made an addition to our apartment this week: an uber soft loveseat! We also hung many of the pictures and frames we have been storing in odd places. The living room has really livened up!
I've registered for classes, but this post is already too long. I'll talk all about my geeky classes next time.
I'm gonna watch some Conan and Baseball Tonight...
-Henry
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