Well, I'm off

Today is kind of a big day. I'm leaving in a few hours for my first trip to India. I'm really torn on this trip. On one hand I'm really nervous and a little sad. I nearly cried when Amy left for work this morning, even though I'm going to see her in a couple of hours. I know she's sad about the trip.

It's 40 hours of travel and the transit hotel at the Singapore airport was fully booked. I'm hoping they have a cancellation or something for when I get there. I would just like to lie down for a little bit once I get off an 18 hour flight and while I kill 14 hours in an airport. Also, the client visit isn't exactly going to be 100 percent pleasant as we didn't have a particularly good quarter.

On the other hand, I am kind of excited. I have a defined purpose for this trip and I will get to meet a lot of people that I talk on the phone with. That will be cool. Plus, Chris is going to try and upgrade me on the way back. Woo hoo!

I think my mother is going to be a little emotional today. My sister and her husband are on a 1:30-ish flight back to Albany and I am leaving around 4. It was good to see them while they were here. I am dog tired now - I'm not used to going out every night for four or five nights.

Anyway, I'll try and post updates will I'm in India. It should be interesting, if nothing else.

Who knew?

Who knew that shaving could be considered an art form. I've been shaving for say the past 16 or so years of my life. I've used all sorts of razors and they all had their issues. Either they didn't get close enough or the irritated the hell out of my skin. Well, as part of my Valentine's Day gift this year, Amy got me an appointment for "The Art of Shaving" at Mandalay Place. All I can tell you is that I have a new-found respect for having. The shave was the closest I've received in years and it was kind of nice being waited on a little. And yes, I did end up buying some product there. I've used at home once now and I was able to replicate the experience. Yeah, it's a little extravagant and indulgent, and a little girlie, but still - it was pretty cool and I learned something. Plus I heard the Queen of Madagascar had some shop shut down in Mandalay Place. I don't know about you, but I had never heard of the Queen of Madagascar, and in doing a quick Wikipedia search, turns out Madagascar is a Republic with no monarchy.

The point is, it was a cool experience and I think I'll be going back.

In other news, my sister and her husband are in town this week. I haven't seen her since July and it's good to see them. I just wished that had taken an earlier flight or theirs got in on time. Amy and I did not need to be driving to the airport at 2 a.m. Monday morning. Oh yeah, and I leave for India on Friday afternoon.

Amazing

What a great couple of days. First, Amy and I shared our first Valentine's Day together. I'm sure she'll share everything I did for her on her blog. You should check it out - leave a comment if you'd like! For me, she got me the most amazing gift - a trip to The Art of Shaving at Mandalay Place. Yeah. It's a little indulgent, but this is something that I've been wanted to try for a long time. The best part is, I never ever mentioned anything to Amy about. How cool is that? Then, she made the most amazing dinner. A rib-eye steak butterflied to look like a heart, with pasta and veggies. She also baked a cake for dessert. Yummy. To top it all off, she's taking me to the hockey game on Saturday night. I've not been to a Wranglers game yet - considering I am a hockey fan and I'm from Buffalo, you would have thought I'd made to at least a couple of games so far. I have the best fiance ever!

Today was great too. Amy and I had our frame orientation today. The construction superintendent took us through the house and pointed out all of the frame features of the house. He then pointed out all the outlets, wiring and plumbing, along with the HVAC. It was very educational and Amy and I got to ask a ton of questions. I can't believe how fast this is going. It was just barely two months ago that it was still just a dirt lot. Now there is a house on it. I'm still a little in awe.

I realize this is a bit smaltzy for some of you out there in blog-land. It makes me a little sick too, but I can't believe how happy I am these days. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Besides, I had to suffer through it with some of you out there, so now it's your turn.

Funny how that happens

As we were getting up this morning, Amy and I were stressing about how we were going to plan our day. We each had appointments. Amy had her tax prep appointment and I had my appointment with my trainer at 11 - on opposite sides of town. We were then going to meet with one of the florists over by the airport at 2, then head over to meet with a videographer in the southwest at 4, then dinner with our friends Tim and Tammy at Green Valley Ranch Station at 6:30. Because of the starting appointments being on opposite sides of town, it was going to mean either one person did a lot of driving, or we had two cars for almost the entire day. We didn't really like either option.

Then some funny things happened. Amy called her tax person at 8:45 to confirm her 11 a.m. appointment. Turns out it's at 9. Oops. Then I called Dustin to confirm our appointment. He wanted to reschedule it for 2 p.m., but since I'm busy it's now pushed off until tomorrow on this side of town. Yay!

So now, I'm sitting here having mostly finished my taxes still sitting in my boxers (I know - an image you were all looking for), reading blogs and surfing the internet. Our transportation problems are solved and now we can take most of the day at a relatively relaxed place. Plus, we are going to Fado for dinner. What a great Saturday. Funny how it all happens to come together.

House Updates

It's been a little while since we've given you an update on the house. Well, aside from breaking ground before Christmas (and more than a week early I might add), we now have a foundation, a frame, a bathtub, our glass block windows and a fireplace. Oh yeah, and the internal HVAC units have been installed and it looks like the electrical and gas lines are installed. The windows are onsite along with the drywall. It's going up fast. Amy and I go every couple of days, and there is almost always something new. It's beginning to become real and we are both starting to get excited. We are really enjoying this part of the relationship and what the house represents to us. Way cool.

The building superintendent called this afternoon and want to set up a frame orientation. While our salesperson took the time on Saturday to walk us through and explain some stuff, I think this is a really good step. It's just one of those things that are good to know. I'm glad our builder is as thorough and customer friendly as they are.

BIG SCREEN!

I moved my first pieces of furniture last night. Thanks to Brian H., we were able to move the 50" TV and the entire home theatre system last night, just in time for the "Big Game." Last Friday, the cable guy dropped off the HDTV DVR box, so that's hooked up. Since I had DirecTV at home, the only time I got to take advantage of the HD capabilities is when I watched movies on the TV. We watched the end of CSI and all of ER in HD. That was awesome. I'll hook up the surround sound part between now and Sunday afternoon.

The one wacky thing when watching HD programs is the commericals. Since I'm assuming they aren't in HD, they shrink back to the middle of the screen. Too funny.

PS. We watched the Super Bowl in HD. That was FREAKING FANTASTIC. The surround sound was hooked up by then, so we had the whole Home Theater thing going on. It was pretty cool. Plus, it was a good game. While the Steelers pulled away at the end, it was competitive through at least three full quarters. All in all, one of the best matchups in a while.

The great gym debate

Noooo....Not whether you should go to the gym or not, but are you better off going to a place that is a high-glamour serious workout place with lots of beautiful people or a low-key type place where you can go in, do your thing and get on with your life. If you saw the movie Dodgeball, it's like the rivalry between Average Joe's Gym and GloboGym.

I actually belong to both (nooo....not the places in the movie). I have memberships to both 24HourFitness and Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC). Trust me - there are reasons which are perfectly valid, at least to me.

24Hour is a lot like Average Joe's - basically a neighborhood gym and some have nice bells and whistles like pools and basketball courts. LVAC is more like GloboGym. This is a little surprising, since while LVAC makes you sign a contract, it's actually cheaper to belong to LVAC on a monthly basis. I generally prefer going to LVAC. It's cleaner, and there is enough equipment that I don't end up standing around waiting to do an exercise.

I was finally able to check out the new LVAC on Rainbow and Lake Mead. Holy crap that place is huge! It makes the club in Green Valley look tiny. I'll admit that I was even intimidated walking in there. I was definitely uncomfortable, but because of the size, while the place was definitely busy, it didn't feel like it.

Anyway, I'm back to working out semi-regularly. I'd like to get to the point where I'm going 4-5 days a week again, with at least one day taking a spin class. That's where I'd like to maintain once I get back from India.