X-mas

I feel like Charlie Brown. Christmas is too commercial. I have a large family, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, 3 kids of my own (2 right now, but another one on the way and even though he won't know one way or another I wanted to get him something), 2 nephews, wife, mom, dad, in-laws and buying presents for all of them has cost me quite a bit. And that doesn't even mention the Christmas parties that we will go to and the friends that i wanted to get gifts for.

Now, I am not complaining, ok, I am, but this is what this blog is for. I wanted to buy those presents, i like to give gifts and i really don't enjoy getting gifts, but man did it cost a lot.

So what is the point of this, who knows, i just feel like i needed to get that off my back, and i did, so there.

and really, the more money i spend on christmas, means less money i can spend on myself, so that is probably the real reason.

PICKTASTIC!!

a buddy of mine and some friends of his have put together this new site called picktastic. it's a site where, after you register, you pick the outcome of various sports games, if you win you accumulate points based, then you can wager those points against other "pickrs"

The site is in it's beta, but so far i am having a good time, it's fun to be able to see how well you know teams and wagering your points against friends.

i'd like to congratulate tim and his friends, i think that they designed a great site that looks good and is pretty easy to use, i think you guys have a winner on your hands.

I'm gonna be a dad... again

So I have known for a while now and I just haven't blogged about it ( i know bad blogger). So what does this mean for my life? Other than the responsibility of raising another human being to be a productive and contributing member of society that accepts and follow our laws and decides to not kill people, not a lot. Some might think that this is a large burden to bear, but not for me, I'm just going to let the public school system do the job =).

just kidding.

It's hard being a parent nowadays (like it's ever been easy), but things have changed a lot since I was raised. spanking is bad, you have to worry about doctors wanting to prescribe drugs for everything, you will worry about the parents of other kids that your child will interact with, laws are more strict, mischief is punished harshly. But we will try our best and ask for help when we need it. that is really all you can ask.

It's a boy, I didn't mention that before, which is why I am mentioning it now. Tyler Lowell is the name we have decided to bestow upon our little bundle of joy, I've always liked the name Tyler and the middle name is in honor of my father.

Naming a kid is a big decision, it's one of the first decisions that you make that will effect (or is it affect, I can never remember) the rest of their lives. My mom told me that she almost named me Levi, gross. So my son, I hope that you like the name that your mother and I (I choose it though) have chosen to impart upon you, i hope it serves you well, If it doesn't, blame your mom.

Work in Progress

This blog (like many others) is a work in progress. I 'm just messing around to see what you can do here with a blog. So if you came here for insight or gems of knowledge you came to the wrong place, if you came to read about the shit I like to bitch about, then sweet, because I do a lot of that.

More posts to come

I <3 fast food

And who doesn't? It's fast, it's food & it's bad for you, it's got everything. But you want to know what I don't have? In-N-Out. Fat burger & just about every other fast food joint that everyone always says "ah man, have you ever had ", I always have to answer "no =(" and then I start to cry.

I live in Oregon, for those of you that got your education here in the states, we are the one above California and below the one named for our country's first president (Washington). Here in Oregon we have one, count them, one Sonic, no In-N-Out, and no Fat Burger. We have Burgerville, it's good, I love it, but alas there is not one close to where I live, but then again there is nothing close to where I live.

Now I'm not saying that fast food is the end all, be all, but it's like forbidden fruit, because I can't have some of these places, I want them. Now that there is a Sonic in Oregon, I can have it, but at a price. The drive to Hillsboro.

I paid that price last weekend. but it wasn't just for sonic, a buddy was getting married in forest grove (grats guys). So I took the wife and headed up to Portland, and we had Sonic and then went to the wedding.

*whew* i got a little off track there...

anyways, I'm talking to a friend of mine from California and all of a sudden In-N-Out pops in my mind and I can't do anything about it. So here i am in Oregon, thinking about driving to Washington just so i can get some Fat Burger. I can already tell you that I won't.

So what purpose does this post have you ask? Why, Oh Why, can't I get some cool fast food places here in Oregon? They don't even have to be close to me, Portland (our largest city) or even better, Salem (our second largest city), would suffice. If by any chance that someone reads this and knows anyone from these fine establishments, let them know that Oregon has fat, unhealthy people too, and i am sure they would make some money if they opened one of their restaurants here. there is even a casino or 2 around if that helps close the deal.

Pretty Good Money

I get told that I make "pretty good money", which is a pretty subjective statement, but what is pretty good money. Now I'll never be able to buy a private submarine, or spend more on a car than i could on a house, not because I'll never make that much money, but because I don't think I could spend it on something that I think is ridiculous.

To me making "pretty good money" is being able to afford a home, car and family vacations on one salary, which not a lot of people can say that they do. Anything less than this is not "pretty good money".

One other aspect of making "pretty good money" is the ability to make your living at a job where you get to do what you feel is "right" and not having to compromise yourself, wouldn't that be sweet.

Who likes Family Reunions?

I happen to love mine. Some people seem to think of them as a bother, but i have fun every year.

Next weekend will be the first one of the year (we have 3 annually) and i am looking forward to it, in fact it's all i can think about; swimming, camping, bbq'n, drinking and hanging out with family and friends, what's not to like.

I love my family and i consider myself lucky because your family is one of the most important aspects of your life. I especially like how big of a family i have, my father is one of 8 children (4 girls and 4 boys) plus all of our friends, so we usually get a pretty large turnout. look for pictures next week.

I guess i should set up a Flickr page.

What, did you watch "Goonies" too many times?

Maybe? but who can really say how many times are too many.

Honestly, the reason i choose this name was because i have always really liked my name. why? no one knows, not even me, i just do. i can remember the first time that i saw "Goonies" and i heard Mikey talk about the pirate that his father had told him stories about and i thought "wow, a pirate named Willie with only one eye, brilliant". Ok, i probably didn't say brilliant, but the point is i thought it was cool.

later in life i would be told that there are 2 types of people in the world, ninjas and pirates, and then i was told that i was a pirate. I figure that ninjas are probably stealthy, i am not stealthy, so i guess i'm a pirate, it's a good thing i like rum.