Next big purchase: The iPod

So, my buddy George and I are at the YMCA on Monday and he brings his iPod. I have to say that I was more than jealous and in awe. Deidra has been wanting one for a long time now, but I have not really thought much of it. Truth is I didn't know much about it. After seeing one first hand and getting to play with it I see why she wants one so bad. The only way to go is to get the 80 GB version so that is what I intend to do. I am so serious about it that I have already downloaded iTunes and have been downloading songs and movies and podcasts pretty much non stop since yesterday. The iPod is not only for music. You can watch shows or movies on it and also keep a bunch of photo's on tap. The memory on these things is just plain sick! Just click "HERE" to see the specs. It is truly a fun toy to have. A bit pricey, but Deidra has worked hard for it and has never asked for anything of her own.

February 2007 almost over!

I just can't believe how quick these last two months have gone! Deidra has a couple more weeks of her clinicals and then she will be able to enjoy a weekend again. She has busted her butt the last couple weeks and has not had a day off since she started her clinicals. We are going to celebrate her first full weekend off by heading off again to an undisclosed location (cuz we know not where, as of yet) with the kids for some more r&r pool and hot tub time. As soon as it warms up, we are planning to go camping for the first time this year. We will probably do that on the trip after next. Spring is almost here! For those of you who have been keeping up with this blog since its beginning in 2005 you know I love the winter and usually am upset at this time of year cuz we never get any snow. This year has been different. For the first time in almost a decade we have had a real winter! Some good snow fell and the temp fell to a reasonable "winter" degree. I am ready for the spring for the first time in a long while. Those of you close to me know how much I love the spring and early summer thunder storms. This year I plan on taking some pics of the weather here in Missouri for our memories of this ho hum state. Some of the good things this state has to offer is great fishing, nice camping, good wine and an occasional cool thunderstorm. Hopefully this year will have a few good storms.Welp...on to the last week of February 07. I can see March on the horizon. 1/6 of the year is almost officially over! One more step closer to our goal. Woo HOO!

Great end to a great day!

Just got back from the "Heart Ball" at the Capital Plaza. We had a great time! Our good friends Stacy and George (in the pic above) and their parents invited us to join them for the night. We had a blast! The food was great as expected. As you can see from the pic above, they served great drinks and assortment of flavored butters. Spare no expense! Check out the cheese cake in the pic. Man was that great! We got to spend some quality time with our friends and some alone time with each other. Its great to be with the kids, but we also enjoy these times we spend just us. Deidra looked as beautiful as always. I can't tell you how lucky I am to have such a wonderful beautiful wife.

Just got back from St. Louis...

We had a great time in St. Louis. We got some much needed r & r. Deidra and I spent most of Friday night shopping at the mall, and came back to the hotel for some late night pool time and well deserved hot tub time. The kids had a blast in the pool. Taylor almost has the underwater swimming thing down. Just like his dad did at his age...learning how to swim using a diving mask.In this pic the kids and Deidra are looking at some weird ball slide contraption at the Science Center. Lots of cool stuff for the kids to see. We learned a heck of a lot about plastic in some sort of program. I never knew what the triangle and the number on plastic bottles and such was for...now I do.
These pics were taken at the Science Center. In the top pic above, the kids are putting together their very own "St. Louis Arch". In the bottom pic above...pure satisfaction after the destruction.
Here, we are in what appears to be our own space craft of some kind. We look as if something went way wrong and we are fighting to get control of the ship. All was not lost as RaeAnn pulled the correct switch bringing us to a safe and secure landing.
You may be thinking...."nah...they can't be at the...zoo?" but in fact we are. We decided to head to the zoo and check out the penguins and polar bears in a more comfortable climate they are more used to. They were more active than I've ever seen them in the summer. I will definitely go back in the winter again. It was awesome!

This was just the beginning for us this year. We made the final payment on our car and consolidation loan Friday afternoon. For the first time, we didn't have to worry so much about money during a fun trip. We took the kids to the "Build a Bear Workshop" at the zoo and had them go nuts. Taylor made a tiger that he named "Bryant"...can you believe that! Tears at my heart strings. RaeAnn made a polar bear named Kellie. Taylors tiger is sporting a St. Louis Cardinals jersey complete with baseball pants and stirrups. Ray's bear is sparkling in a complete pink ballerina outfit.

I can tell this year is going to be our best year yet!

Fun weekend planned:

Well, we are off to St. Louis! Have a fun weekend planned. Will be staying in a Hotel in StL. and then tomorrow its off to the Science Center! Tonight I plan on soaking in a hot tub with Deidra and the kids and swim a bit in the pool. Ill have pics of the vacation tomorrow night. My bud George has invited Deidra and I to go to the "Heart Ball" on Saturday night. I plan on having pics of that too. See ya in a day or two!

XBOX 360 vs. Playstation 3

Well, I have to say that when I first bought the 360 I did have my doubts as to if I purchased the best next gen gaming console or if I should have waited for the PS3. There has been a bunch of name calling and finger pointing at both consoles as to whether or not they are worth the high price tag. Some people are die hard XBOX fans or PS fans but I am a "good game" fan. I could give a rats fat backside as to who's dad can beat up who's dad. All I care about is what games will come out on which console and will those games be worth my money. The future is online gaming so I better get games with that capability. First of all, I have to admit that the PS3 does have some nice things to offer but most of those things have little to do with games. As I read the 13 page attack on the PS3 in this months issue of EGM I have to admit that it seems that the console seems to be getting quite the negative response since launch. I find it hard to swallow a $600 price tag for "future possibilities". Its like spending 100 grand on a sports car with a huge engine compartment and the seller telling you "We hope to fill that space with a great engine in the near future, but hey, at least it runs". My feeling is that you should get what you pay for, and $600 to be able to play blue ray (which you need a great TV to take advantage of anyhoo) is not a great deal. Especially when you look at the games to come out this year for the PS3. Who cares about Final Fantasy XIII!? Who cares about Virtual Fighter 45!? Or Metal Gear Solid 104!? You pay $600 biznones for the future of gaming, it better have AWESOME games, superb graphics far exceeding those of the other consoles (not just on paper but actual visual differences that knock my socks off) and a special glowing button that when I push it, out comes a virtual gorilla named Jeeves that will play games with me and will go get a juice box and nachos for me when I tell him to.

I think that the PS3 has lost some huge ground and is no longer the gaming juggernaut that it used to be. Its hold on game makers for sole rights on great games has become a thing of the past. Its huge moneymaker "GTA" is no longer theirs to brag about. If you want to be a great gaming console, you need to make it playable online. That is the "future of gaming" and XBOX holds on to that title. XBOX Live is the best online gaming experience 2nd to actual PC online game play. Although it has a monthly fee, I have played online on PS2 and it is a sub par online experience to say the least. They have a long way to go to reach the arena of XBOX Live, and if and when they do, I doubt it will be free. You get what you pay for. Unless you purchased a PS3.

So did I make the right choice? YES. Will I ever buy a PS3...probably, but only when it is worth the price. Want to know the secret to how to get people to buy your games? Its about great games people! Not who has the prettiest pictures! Its nice to finally have more than one big kid on the block making games. After all, competition brings better product. As a product buyer, that is a great thing.

HALO 3 This Fall?

For those of us who are die hard Halo fans, bungie has announced that Halo 3 is slotted to come out in the fall. If you are like me, there is no better shooter out there and multiplayer online is unbeatable. For those of you who are "what is all this Halo stuff" people....scroll down to the bottom of my blog and click on the video to watch a short hair tingling video that shows just a small tease of Halo 3 to be launched later this year. If you hear a song playing right now, it is already playing on the bottom of this blog. (I tried to turn off autoplay but I can't get it to work...just click on the stop button on the player and it will. I will take it down later this month so you wont keep having it pop up for much longer. Just thought it was pretty cool.) If you have not bought a 360 as of yet, better start saving soda cans and donating body fluids to save up for one because Halo 3 will be the best game ever to grace the gaming world.

"YOU'VE GOT MAIL"

My best friend in the whole world: CJ "Bone Thug" aka "who's yo daddy" aka "sidekick to big guy" aka "Babaganoosh" Johnson and his wonderful wife got me this DVD collection for my birthday. It came in the mail Friday and I have to admit this is one of the best gifts I have ever received! I have only watched about 30 minutes of it due to a sick little girl, but my boy and I enjoyed the heck out of those 30 minutes! I will have to watch the rest of it tomorrow.

Well, another week in 07 is in the books and Deidra is in the process of taking her mid terms. She is doing great and now we are officially on the down hill slide of her schooling for the year. She starts her clinicals next week and pretty soon she will be done completely.

I watched the Pro Bowl today and our AFC won! Not that is was a big surprise. The NFC is not really a hard team to beat as is evident when you see that a couple St. Louis Rams made the cut. The score was 31 - 21 AFC....true, the score that you may read in the paper or see on the TV was 31 - 28 but anyone watching the game could see that Rams Steven Jackson did not make the TD that they got credit for. So the official score "for realzies" was 31 - 21 AFC. Would have been a blow out if we would have taken the onside kick seriously. Anyhoo, #24 Broncos Champ Baily got 2 picks and the devastating NFL hard hitter #47 Broncos John Lynch got several tackles and helped in a sack and stopped the running game of the NFC with ease. Go Broncos!

Football season officially over....

Well, the season is over. The Colts are the Super Bowl champs beating the Bears 29 - 17. I have to say it was a game riddled with crazy turnovers and great football weather. As the rain came falling down on Prince during the halftime show while he sang "Purple Rain" I realized that for me 2007 has officially begun. You see, football season is a big deal in my life, and my year doesn't officially start until after the season. Now that it is over I can start to look to next season and a great year with our new team leader and rookie QB phenom Jay Cutler. With the Colts winning this year, maybe the NFL and the press can shut their pie holes now about this team and this guy. Time to turn the page on the whole "Manning" era already. We have all heard enough of the media and their Manning love. Time to remove the Colts from the NFL teat.

Taxes...Taxes...Taxes....

Well, here it is tax season once again. For some it is a horrible day, riddled with confusing paperwork and the fear of being audited. For us, tax season is awesome! We get a pretty big chunk o cash each year for whatever we deem spend worthy. This year, most of our taxes go to paying a debt we have had for over 6 years. The car and a consolidation loan. For most of our marriage we have payed a monthly bill that took a hell of a chunk out of our paycheck....NO MORE! We did our taxes tonight and we will make our final payment after we get our return in about 9 business days! We have been waiting so long for this day. Time for me to take the family to St. Louis for some party time. We will blow a weekend sometime in the next month on great fun and great food!. We hope all of you have as much fun with this tax season. As for the rest of the year, I say...bring it on!