At the start of the decade I was finishing up my Associates Degree at Middlesex trying to decide if I wanted to go get a job or go to a four year school and get a Bachelor’s degree.

In September of 2000 I returned to UMass Lowell after a nine year absence. I took a lot of classes, did a lot of projects, didn’t learn nearly as much as I had hoped I would, and in May of 2004 graduated cum-laude.

In July of 2004 I started a job. On December 31, 2009 I am still doing that job.

In 2001 I was best man for my friend Larry. I gave a toast that got rave reviews. I still have no idea what I said. I made it up on the spot. In 2004 I was best man for my friend Mike. I planned the toast that time and I think it was a bit of a bust. In 2006 I was best man for my brother John. I prepared the toast way ahead of time and then while walking into the reception I scrapped it and came up with a new one. It was okay. Nothing Earth shattering.

Late in 2006 I started talking online with a very nice, pretty girl from Salem. On April 5, 2007 we went on a date. In July I was a groomsman in my sister Lisa’s wedding. I took that pretty girl, Jen, as my date. In September we went on a couple of trips together and I was introduced to her two kids.

Not long after the start of 2008 I was living in Jen’s apartment. In mid-April we moved into an apartment together in Methuen. One month later, on May 20, 2008 I got down on one knee and proposed to Jen. One year after that, on May 30, 2009, we were married.

In between those two dates, in October of 2008, I was a co-best man for Larry’s second wedding. Also, in July of 2008 I became an uncle for the first time when my sister had a baby. In October I became an uncle for the second time when my brother became a father. Earlier I had become an honorary uncle, in November of 2006, when Mike became a father.

In this decade I got married, both of my siblings got married, and my two best friends got married. There were also a few other friends getting married as well. One might say that the 2000’s was the decade of weddings. I prefer to think of it as the decade of Jen.

I am looking forward to seeing what the 2010’s will bring. It’s all up in the air right now, but I am hoping to become an honorary uncle again in January 2010 when Larry becomes a father.

Happy New Decade!

Well I set out all of our plans for the weekend the other day and they’ve all gone to hell.

New Year’s Eve we’re staying home… at least we’re staying home as of right now. It could still revert back to the old plans… we’re flip-floppy like that some times. The current issue is two fold. First, the weather is going to suck a little tonight and we’re not sure driving an hour plus to the north is going to be terribly safe. Add in the obligatory influx of drunken New Year celebrating schmucks on the road and it becomes less safe. Second, neither Jen nor I are feeling all that great. We’re both starting to come down with something. Yippee. I am a little better than yesterday thanks to a decent night’s sleep, but I’m still really tired. The kids may have a better shot at making it to midnight tonight than I do.

So… as of this moment (still subject to adjustments) I think we are staying home tonight, just the four of us. We’ll play some Rock Band, watch some Harry Potter, eat some Chinese food, and watch the ball drop.

Tomorrow the primary goal is still to watch the NHL Winter Classic. Both teams won easily last night. Philly beat the Rangers 6-0 and Boston beat Atlanta 4-0. We watched most of the Bruins game and it was a thing of beauty. If they play like that tomorrow they will win. Of course, Atlanta’s goalie going in the tank against us for the second time in a week might have had something to do with all the fun.

In further Bruins news, four players (so far) have been named to their nation’s Olympic Hockey Teams. Zdeno Chara will play for Slovakia. That is what we in the hockey world refer to as a no brainer. Marco Sturm will play for Germany. Again, pretty much a given seen as there aren’t many NHL caliber players from Germany. David Krejci will play for the Czech Republic. I’m not as up on the state of the Czech national team as I was a few years ago, so I don’t know if that was an obvious choice or not. I do know that it was a good choice. The pleasant surprise was the addition of Patrice Bergeron to the Canadian team. He was not invited to their orientation camp and no one expected him to be named. All he did was play at the top of his game all year. That’s what it took to earn a spot. Congrats to all of them, but extra congrats to Bergie. Nice going.

Saturday is also down the tubes. There will be a game night, but it is starting too late for us to go. We have the kids and have to be able to get them home and put them to bed at a decent hour. The game night will be starting too late in the evening for that to work. We would drive 45 minutes to get there, then stay for an hour, then drive another 45 minutes home. It’s just not doable. Which means we miss another game night. We both really wanted to go to this one. We both are getting a little tired of things not working out for us in the game night department.

The plan for Sunday remains the same… sleep. I think I can do that.

For all of you going out celebrating tonight, be safe and have a very Happy New Year’s Eve.

Nine.

Nine degrees.

It was nine degrees out when I left the house this morning. It was 13 degrees when I left work last night. In both cases there was enough wind chill to make it feel like -145727 or so.

It’s only been winter for nine freakin’ days and it’s already like this? Is it June yet? Please?

Yesterday I had a tooth ache wake up. I’ve been all right for a couple of months. I took some meds before bed and it didn’t help at all. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me awake all night, but it was bad enough to wake me up every time I fell asleep. I am exhausted. Lack of sleep plus the weather also has me feeling congested. Happy flippin’ New Year, eh?

I took another dose of meds at 7:15am and they still haven’t kicked in. It’s 9:38am now. This bites.

Last night on the way home from work I saw three deer crossing route 126 in Wayland. The doe bringing up the rear had best learn to run faster as she almost had a close personal meeting with the front of my minivan. I stopped in plenty of time, but she was cutting it close. Pick up the pace doe!

I am a mess today. I am going to need to go to bed very early tonight. I need a good rest so I can make it to midnight tomorrow. Saying that is all the proof you need that I am now officially old. Happy New Year!

My mother found a picture of my Uncle Johnny and gave it to my brother in law, Ken, who cropped it, had it printed, and framed it. My mother then gave it to my father for Christmas. It made my father cry.

It was sure nice to see him at Christmas again.

We miss you Unc.

Thursday: I go to lunch with my group at work sometime in the early afternoon and then leave work two hours early, thanks alt time! I go straight home, pick up the wife and kids (and a Rock Band guitar controller?) and pile into the van and head up to Jen’s mom’s for a New Year’s Eve of Beatles Rock Band and maybe some Chinese food. Because of the whole New-Year-starts-at-midnight thing we will be sleeping over. That probably means Robbie is sound asleep at 12:01am.

Friday: Get up and do the holiday morning stuff but make sure we’re on the road home by 11:30 so we can get to the television in time to watch the NHL Winter Classic game between the Boston Bruins and the philadelphia flyers at Fenway Park. For months people have been asking me if I tried to get tickets to this game, as it may be a once in a lifetime thing. The answer of course is no. Let’s see… an outdoor hockey game in January in Boston. Brrrrr I think not. Having said that, the forecast calls for a high of 41 degrees with a chance of rain. Not quite the weather I was afraid of, but probably just as bad. After the game… I don’t know what. There was talk of making Indian food for dinner. That sounds great!

Saturday: There is a chance of snow on Saturday but I am hoping that it won’t interfere with our scheduled Game Night. During the last Game Night (which we missed due to Jenny’s back problems) it was decided that a regularly set day should be chosen for the festivities. The first Saturday of each month was the day settled on. If people can show up, that’s great. If they can’t, that’s all right too. Everyone is busy and setting up a good date has turned out to be the biggest Game Night hurdle. So, the next one is this weekend. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully the weather will be okay. If it snows a little I might take my new camera outside for some winter wonderland type of pictures. We’ll see.

Sunday: Sleep late and hang out at home in our pajamas. Ahhh the holidays!

We got a flurry of snow today. Also this morning I installed an update to camerabag on my iPhone. The two occurences combined to create this pointless picture:

You are welcome.

Just about noon on Thursday I left work and headed home. I stopped to get a camera cleaning kit so I could get the horrible smudge off of my lens and avoid the crap that you may or may not have noticed in the Enchanted Village pictures.

Once everything at home was ready, including a big plate full of freshly baked cookies that Jen and the kids put together while I was at work, we piled into the van and headed up to Jen’s mom’s for the Christmas Eve party.

We got there first and spent time playing tick tack toe, and watching the Norad Santa Tracker. Once the rest of the guests arrived we piled into the presents. The kids played Santa and handed out gifts to everyone. My in-laws got me a nice shirt and a very cool looking Red Sox triva game. Game night anyone? I also took pictures.

We left the party kind of late, the kids had already left with their father, and headed home. We put out the cookies and milk for Santa, and some celery for the reindeer and hurried off to bed. We turned out the light at 11:52… just in time to get to sleep before Santa arrived.

Christmas morning we hurried out of the house as fast as possible to get to Mike’s to see the kids getting out of bed. I took 1000000000 pictures, as usual, and the kids are in almost all of them. There are only a few I can share here, so here is the best one. Easily the best one.

After the kids destroyed the wrapping on all of the gifts Santa gave them we had breakfast and played with a couple of the new toys. Then we packed up again and headed to our house so the kids could see what Santa left there.

After the kids finished with their Santa haul Mike and Yvonne left for a while and we exchanged our family presents. We all made out like bandits with all sorts of great presents being opened.

We then ripped into a few of the new toys and spent a couple of hours playing. Barbie, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hot Wheels, and Toy Story were among the first toy brands played with. We all had a blast.

Eventually Mike came back and the kids went with him to have dinner at their Aunt’s house. Jen and I jumped into the van and drove to my sister’s house where we had Christmas dinner, exchanged gifts with the extended family, and watched the two toddlers run amok. It was a great time.

I, of course, took another 1000000000 pictures and once again they all have kids in them. I did get one cool one of the tree lights bouncing off the wall.

Eventually Christmas day came to a close and a very tired Jen and Rob went home and fell dead asleep. It was a really wonderful day. Our third Christmas together. Our second Christmas living together. Our first Christmas as a married couple. It was perfect. Thanks to my entire extended family, the kids’ entire extended family, and most of all to my loving, lovely wife Jen without whom the whole thing would have been pointless. I love you sweetie.

There was a theme to the day after Christmas, Boxing Day where applicable, and that theme was: Waiting.

We cleaned up the bomb site that was our kitchen and living room. We had to dig through Christmas debris in order to find the floors, but we some how managed. We then went to a little breakfast joint in Salem, NH. We’ve gone there a bunch of times and it is often busy. This time we had to wait 10 minutes or so to get a table, and then we had to wait AN HOUR to get our food. They were out of control busy and short handed to boot.

We then went to Best Buy to take advantage of some of those after Christmas deals and get a couple of things we had promised to each other. We had to give our names in one department and wait for some one to be available to help us. The 25 minute wait turned into an hour. While waiting for that item we went to another department and waited 40 minutes for some one to help us check out. We ended up spending about 90 minutes in the store. It was insane.

From there we went home for a while before going out again for some food shopping and dinner. Once we got back to the house we stayed there for the rest of the weekend. No more waiting in lines for us, damn it.

Sunday was spent relaxing for the most part. We watched a few Christmas gift blu-rays and played a few Christmas gift video games. We also did about three weeks worth of laundry. Clean clothes for everyone!

The only downside of the Christmas weekend was that it ended. Three days was really nice, but four or five or six or twenty would have been even better.

Next up is New Year’s Eve. The current plan is to go to Jen’s mom’s again for a Beatles Rock Band marathon. The holiday season is in full swing and there is more celebration to come! If only we could do something about the four work days still to go.

I got a new camera. Just testing it out. Here is one of the first tests… obviously it’s Jenny.

This ornament has been the highest one on every Christmas tree I’ve had (with the exception of the star, of course) since 1977.

Here is the star on top of our tree.

Here is our entire tree, complete with the open gifts underneath. Merry Christmas!

The official Christmas Day and Christmas Eve picture post is coming at a later time. This is just Robbie playing with his new awesome camera.

Until next time…

It’s a blu-ray Christmas. Last night it was The Hangover. Right now it’s Star Trek. Later it might be Galaxy Quest or maybe The Half Blood Prince.

Also, in the Christmas miracle department: the laundry that’s been waiting for weeks to be put away has been put away.

Yeah, The Beatles Rock Band is a keeper.