Emerging from the silence.

Hello, bloggers--it's been quite some time, hasn't it?

Work has been CR-AZY. Plenty of long hours, working a bit on weekends, and taking the bulk of the load to try and secure new business. I feel I've been doing some quality work but with wage and hiring freezes, of course, I don't really get rewarded or acknowledged by my bosses. To put it in perspective, by the time two of my colleagues celebrated their 2-year anniversary they had been promoted twice (and I still have only received a diddly prorated raise for my first 6 months of service). Don't get me wrong; I understand these are different times and there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't mind putting in 60 hour weeks.

So, besides work, what else is new?

I can't even tell you the last time I had a weekend to do absolutely nothing. Weddings and bachelor parties up the wazoo, the annual birthday bash and "camping" trip, and now we'll have a Brewer game or two to finish up the month of August (all of which are uber-fun). But it will be nice to get a weekend to do absolutely nothing (whenever that is), even though I'll complain of boredom when it does occur.

And to finish this post up (for now): Wow, trying to shake up the clubhouse a little bit? (Edit: and this too!) Molly and I are going to the game tonight (yeah, we're crazy driving up on a weeknight, but we had to take advantage of the Home Run Derby promotion--$28 tickets for $5... thanks, Prince!) and now I'm really interested to see how the team will react and perform. I have no delusions that we'll make it into the postseason, but having a winning record would be nice!

-KP

Randomnicity (04.12.09 Edition)

1. Attending the Brewers' home opener for the first time was an interesting, and mostly fun, experience. It definitely was an incredible finish--with the Brewers overcoming a one run deficit and scoring the winning run with a hell of a play at home plate. Yet, the tailgating experience was unlike any I've ever witnessed. I had suspected that people would be drinking more heavily than usual (is that even possible in Milwaukee?) but the aftermath was just ridiculous. The parking lot looked like a landfill. There was so much garbage and broken glass that it was a bit hazardous finding my way out of the parking lot. I'm glad most games aren't as crazy.

2. I'm watching the Brewers game on ESPN right now. I really hate the number of Cubs fans that show up in our park... I should not be hearing, "Let's go, Cubbies" at Miller Park. Also, Jeff Suppan: *sighs*.

3. Last night, we went with Frank and Maria to see Rent and it was pretty amazing. I have a lot of respect for the cast members, who still infuse their performances with so much enthusiasm and energy.

4. I realized something the other day that I find utterly fascinating. Sites like Facebook allow us to flaunt our individuality in a completely different way than we could have previously (e.g. profile pictures, photo albums, numerous sections to detail our personality traits to the online world). Yet, I've noticed a trend among new parents in that profile pictures and status updates become entirely about their child and no longer about them (with regards to profile pics, I'm talking here about kid-only pictures, not parent/child pictures). It's almost as if they have done away with their own sense of individuality and have replaced it with that of their kid's. To the sociologist in me, it's completely fascinating. Personally, it sort of frightens me.

5. As of today we have completely eliminated our credit card debt! I wrote the final check today and it will be in the mail tomorrow. Now the only debt we have remaining are our student loans and my auto loan. That is a pretty liberating feeling.

6. We essentially skipped Easter this year. After driving up for the Brewers game and then back down for Rent, I just didn't feel like making that round trip again on Sunday. Not quite sure how the parents felt about it, though.

7. I was getting bored with The Office in recent weeks but thought the two episodes last Thursday were pretty hysterical.

8. You may have read stories here about the obnoxious kid living above me (he liked to run around, jump, fall, and generally just give me grief). Thankfully, that family moved out. But what did I wake up to Saturday morning? A newborn wailing at 5am in the master bedroom directly above me. New neighbors--fun. *sighs*

9. We're drinking wine to celebrate being credit card debt-free. I'm going to go get another glass. Ok, I'm back. Mmmm.

10. I really don't want to go into work tomorrow. I like vacation days. I wish having a job was more vacation and less working. That'd be nice.

-KP

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. - Wayne Gretzky' - Michael Scott"
-On the dry erase board, The Office