Life Updates

Whew. It was nice to take a little bit of a breather on Sunday. It’s been a crazy little stretch for the Kraft clan, but we seem to be weathering it nicely.

After a quick trip to LA the previous weekend for Elizabeth’s wedding reception, we managed to spend Father’s Day with both of our Dad’s which was nice. Keds had a random illness pop up on Monday – including a 103 degree fever. That curtailed our activities through Thursday. Unfortunately, it also meant we needed to cancel dinner plans with our friends Vegas Princess and her husband Charming, her folks and my parents. We tried to make it up, but more on that later.

Thursday was a really tough day. It appears that my new company likes to have “cutting the fat” exercise about once a quarter to twice a year. It started with the VP who hired me getting let go first thing in the morning. Having just started, and losing my last job in a “financial restructuring,” I did get a little nervous. OK, I was a lot nervous; especially when two people that I worked closely with were let go. But in the end, it looks like there was a strategy to cuts and there will be some good things that come out of this. We seem to be banding together as a division and are focused on service our customers.

Friday was highlighted both with a night out at the 51s game and getting out of work early. We were all ordered to leave at 3:30 as our office was being sprayed for bugs. From there, Keds and swung by and grabbed Dad then picked Mom up from work before heading to Cashman. Our plan was to try and watch the game with Princess, Charming and their families, but we weren’t able to get tickets close to them. Plus, it was like 100 degrees in the shade and the 51s got their butts kicked.

Saturday was a little crazy. First, I went canvassing for Dina Titus and Andrew Martin as part of the coordinated campaign. I was paired with a relatively pessimistic retiree, and knocking on doors in 100 degree heat was not all that fun. But we were able to leave some literature and spoke to some people who had never heard of Andrew, which was pretty cool. The lunch afterwards was pleasant, but it was reinforced that I need to keep my mouth shut when I start listening to idiot conspiracy theorists. After babysitting my favorite toddlers for 30 minutes (OK, they were both napping), Keds and I got ready for a dinner party at our favorite loan officer’s house.

Mind you, prior to last week we hadn’t received the invitation, and if I had checked our mail it may have been in there, but we were both a little miffed when we realized the point of the evening was not exactly as advertised. It was billed as a birthday party for our friend’s boyfriend to be catered by a professional chef. Turns out, it was actually a financial planner’s marketing event. At first, I was really annoyed and felt like we had been duped (I’m sure Princess knows how this feels J), but it ended up being a nice evening. The Financial Planner actually didn’t even try and push his services on us. We happened to have a couple of questions, and he answered them. We may end up using him for somethings in an effort to diversify. Also, our current guy, while good, is in LA so any deposits need to be mailed to him. Plus, since he was Leni’s guy, my concern is that he is almost like an uncle, and not in the good way – especially with money. Plus, we made friends with the field manager and his girlfriend, and the financial planner’s wife is actually a Registered Dietician. So, it ended up being a productive evening.

Sunday was much more laid back. The lesson learned, though, was to keep an eye on the pool temperature. No matter what the temperature, 96 degrees is not refreshing. Mom made stew meat and gravy for dinner which was uber-yummy. But it ended up being a much-needed relaxing day. Plus, the A’s won, which made it even better!

So what’s new with you?

What a week!

Sorry I've been away for so long sports fans. Having to get up and having to gasp drive into work has cut into my blogging/surfing time.

My first week at work was interesting. While I understand the process of project management, getting into the world of affiliate marketing is something completely different for me. So I've spent most of my first week trying to wrap my head around the industry. The one thing I hate about starting a new job is that initial feeling of non-productivity. You don't really have work of your own yet, so you are dependent on your boss to get you up to speed. That, and since I am brand new, I don't have a badge yet, which means that I can't get in and out of the building on my own.

I have managed to create my own morning routine, though. I get my coffee pot ready the night before, the alarm goes off once at 4:51 and again at 5. I get myself a cup of coffee, take a shower and get dressed then eat breakfast before leaving the house at 6 to get to the office by 7 since the office is across town. Keds has been nice enough to get up most mornings and make me breakfast, which is definitely appreciated.

So work is good. Everyone is nice and for once there is a clear induction program so that I don't feel totally lost and don't feel overwhelmed. Plus, this place promotes a healthy work-life balance which is a plus. They like to keep total hours worked in the 40-45 hour per week range.

I'll admit that I haven't been really good the last couple of weeks in watching my nutrition and getting my happy self into the gym. This week was just bad. With Annie and her brood in last weekend, I didn't get to the gym and didn't feel like going on Monday. I really worked my legs Tuesday, which was good until I remember that I was going to be doing some cardio-based stuff on Thursday with Andrew.

Let's just say that Thursday was one bad decision after another. First, I scheduled my appointment at 7. When I got home, we decided to go out for dinner, but I didn't really have a lot of time. Then we had Mexican. While the food was decent and we got to see our favorite neighbors, I was kinda full when I got to the gym. So my measurements were a disaster and the workout was less-than-pleasant. I could barely breathe, my legs were still sore from Tuesday and I was exhausted. Andrew was disappointed that I quit. And I did. But there was good reason. I just need to get back into the habit of working out and going to work again.

This weekend will be good. Saturday is the reconvened County Democratic Convention. Keds and I are both delegates, so we'll swing by the Thomas and Mack and vote. We then have reservations at Mesa Grill, sort of a combination celebration/belated birthday dinner. Tomorrow we'll go to church and the gym, but take the rest of the day off before craziness sets in for the rest of the month.

How was everyone else's week?

Updates and Tidbits

First, thanks to everyone who stopped by on either this blog or Keds' blogs to wish me a happy birthday. I had a great day. It was followed by a rather pleasant Easter Sunday, ironically with a lot of the same people from the night before. Keds outdid herself again making an amazing feast and enlisting some help with side dishes. For dessert, we had a Costco Carrot Cake that doubled as my birthday cake. Unfortunately, we didn't pack enough of it off and we are still finishing it up. But it's still uber-yummy.

Keds and I are gearing up to start the adoption process, once my employment situation is stable. In the process, we are working through some pre-adoption child-raising issues so that we have a game plan we can talk to during the process. My Uncle Mick has been helpful, and we are going to be talking to some others in the coming week. Unfortunately, this is once again one of those areas where I have now jumped in with both feet and want to get it resolved.

Speaking of employment situation, the hope is to have this sorted out soon. I am expecting a job offer today (why won't the phone ring?!?) and have a couple of more options that look promising. I'm just getting frustrated. This waiting game is the worst. I just want it to be over...

I am pretty excited about some things, though. I signed up for recurring deliveries of coffee beans from Peet's Coffee. It's owned by the guys that founded Starbucks, because they remember getting really good coffee there while they were students in Berkeley. The coffee is roasted in small batches and then shipped direct to customers. I enjoy quality coffee and this will be a nice little treat when each shipment arrives.

I also bought a new solar blanket for our pool. With the weather unseasonably warm, I'll turn on the solar heat and hopefully the pool will be ready to go by the end of next week. How exciting!

Next week, Keds will be in LA helping a friend redecorate her master bedroom, and we have Annie and Jason visiting at the end of the week. Life just keeps getting better, if not busier as we get into April!

Update - The offer came in higher than expected. Needless to say, I took the job...

Weekend Update

What a difference a few years makes. A couple of years ago, I would have spent this past weekend on the couch watching College Basketball and obsessing over my bracket. Not so much this year. Did I watch some basketball? Of course I did. I did miss the one game I wanted to watch, but I caught the last three minutes of the UNLV game and got to see them punch their ticket to the Big Dance.

Rather this weekend was filled with lots of running. On Saturday, I let Keds sleep in as she was really sick and was up most of the night hacking. I was able to spend most of the morning watching the History Channel, which I never do anymore. It was quite the interesting program on the Apocryphal books of the Bible. Took me back to my sophomore year New Testament class, only without have to talk about the Gospel of Q. I did find it ironic, though, that the Virgin Mary gets more mentions in the Qu'ran than in the New Testament.

After lunch, we headed out shopping as I needed a new suit, for a couple of reasons. First, all of my suits are simply too big. My navy suit is the closest to fitting, but the pants are still a little big. Second, I am out interviewing for a new job. I have a second interview on Wednesday, and wanted to make sure I wore something different. I know that sounds a bit girlish, but I did and I'm not afraid to admit it. Our first stop was the Outlet Mall on Charleston.

As many of you out there know, I am something of a brand snob. I got hooked on Brooks Brothers suits before I moved to Vegas. They aren't too pricey at the outlet mall and they are cut really well. So that was our first store. After purchasing a brand new charcoal grey suit, three dress shirts, three ties and a belt I felt more than a little satisfied. Since it took way less time than we had planned, we decided to shop the mall for spring/summer clothes as we both need them. It was a productive day, and pretty much wiped Keds out.

Sunday started off with me picking up my Mom for church. She got the biggest kick out of it. She was so happy that we were going to Mass together, she could hardly contain ourselves. When I was a kid, I always had mixed feelings about Palm Sunday Mass. You came home with a present (a palm frond), but you had to stand for the Passion. When you are 8, standing still for like 20-25 minutes is a really long time. Some parishes let you sit now, but not St. John Neumann. We stood like real Catholics. One quick funny story - as Fr. Bede was coming around the Sanctuary blessing the palm fronds with holy water, when he got to our row, he "reloaded" and pretty much aimed for Mom. She was soaked. We couldn't help but chuckle (respectfully, of course, since we were in church).

I don't know why, but the Passion definitely effected me this year. As I was listening to it, I could see a little piece of me in each of the main characters. Definitely a learning experience. I enjoy the opportunity to grow in my faith and have it connect with my everyday life.

After church, Keds and I headed out to run some errands. They were all home-related and pretty routine. We rounded out our weekend with dinner with my folks, which was pleasant. I don't know what's up with my Dad, aside from his obsession with our carpet cleaner, he's been really, really cool lately. He hasn't hassled us, and is actually friendly and engaging in conversation. What's even more surprising, there are new stories!

On Monday, we had dinner with the Bowens. A traditional St. Patty's Day feast of Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes. I am personally not a huge cabbage fan, but the corned beef was awesome! Keds once again pulled together an absolutely fabulous dinner.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm sure I'll post something later on this week!

Weekly Roundup

It's been kind of a busy week this week. First, our friends Janell and George were here with their adorable daughter Madison. Keds really misses having Janell around and Madison is too cute for words. We are getting to know George better as well. George and I are both tech-heads, so we were able kill sometime at the AT&T Wireless Store and Best Buy. We enjoy having houseguests. Our house is pretty big and will continue to be until we have kids.

If having houseguests wasn't enough, we decided to have a Super Bowl party. About 10 folks showed up and it was the perfect sized crowd with the perfect mix of people. I really need to apologize to my Dad, though. He was the only guy rooting for Pats (sorry Vegas Princess). The rest of us were rooting for Giants. Well, not so much rooting FOR New York as much as rooting against New England. With each sack, I kept coming up with a new insult for Tom Brady. So, sorry Dad.

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. I didn't make it to church to get ashes, but we are giving up soda and had some yummy tuna for lunch and salmon for dinner.

Thursday night, I had the steal of the week. I got a pair of Levi's (size 34 mind you) for $4! That was so awesome. We thought the price tag was a mistake, but it certainly wasn't.

Friday night we had Casey's birthday party. We love spending time over there and we played Casey's favorite game Cashflow. It's a little bit involved and takes a little getting used to, but it is a fun game.


Saturday I spent most of the day in Pahrump at the quarterly meeting of the Nevada State Democratic Party Central Committee. My name was being placed in nomination to become a member from Clark County. It was an interesting meeting - a lot of post-caucus wrap up and some cheerleading. The mood was definitely lifted by an article in that morning's "No New Taxes/Less Government Spending No Matter What the Situation" Newsletter that showed continued momentum going into the Caucuses and coming through January without the new registrants on Caucus day. There were a host of initiatives to help ensure the momentum keeps going. Oh, and my nomination was approved so I am now a full voting member of the State Democratic Party's Central Committee. I'm already a member of the Clark County Central Committee, so I'm excited about being more and more involved.

Saturday night, we went over to Lora's house for dinner and spent time with her husband and her little Madison. Karl and I watch the Bud Shootout while Keds and Lora spent some girl time together.

Today is a whole lot of nothing. It's the first Sunday in a long time that we don't have to be somewhere, so we watched a little Food Network, ate breakfast, enjoyed some coffee. We might go do some cardio or just take the dogs for a walk later to help them burn some of their energy since they spent most of yesterday alone.

How was your week? Any exciting plans for Valentine's Day (or Friendship Day, depending on your PC perspective)?