Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo bufallo

So thanks to Robin and Wikipedia, the above grammatically--although not ecologically--correct sentence has been on my mind as of late. And as we all know, things on one's mind make fantastic blogging fodder. A few other things on my mind recently:

(1) Why do the raccoons insist on knocking over only our trash can on trash day, while leaving the other 7+ cans on the block untouched? (Seems to be worse the more used coffee grounds in the trash)

(2) Is it just me, or does Rafael Nadal's latest strategy for winning the US Open seem to be simply looking like Roger Federer? (ESPN2)

16 Grand Slams 8 Grand Slams

(3) Why is it that the "Like New" book I ordered from "Bob Smith" on Amazon Marketplace is in much better condition than the "New" book I ordered directly from Amazon? (Stern call to Customer Service forthcoming)

(4) Has every store always had a baby section and I'm just now noticing? (Home Depot Kids!)

A cute outfit from much missed friends!

(5) Why does Toby (the dog) have no problems sleeping in a metal cage but panics at the idea of spending 5 seconds in a "pop-open" travel kennel? (Seriously, it's like camping. What's not to love?)

Anything interesting on your mind?

To market, to market...

This weekend we finally made it out to a couple of local farmers markets though despite what my title might suggest we did not buy any fat pigs. We started out on Saturday morning visiting one in a church parking lot not too far from our house. It was a lot smaller than I expected, i.e. one farm and a group of Amish selling baked goods, but we still managed to make it out with some decent sized peaches, zucchini, onions and some samplings of musk melon.

On the way home we stopped at a furniture resale shop where a desk I’ve had my eye on was recently reduced in price. We seriously debated about the $45 purchase but in the end I didn’t feel like I could really justify needing a second desk right now. Why doesn’t being responsible ever feel as good initially as getting something you want? So to compensate we stopped at the bakery next door where I got some very tasty baklava and Aaron got a nut fudge brownie. Being responsible can be yummy.

A little later we went out to a market further away. This one was actually more of store that I think might operate year round. They had their own deli and frozen yogurt counters. Unfortunately we did not get any frozen yogurt since we had indulged earlier at the bakery pity stop. We did, however, make it out with an extra large cucumber, bananas, eggs and Jarlsburg cheese. It was a fun day and nice to be able to buy fresh local food. The peaches we got were tastier, bigger and cheaper than any I’d been able to find in the grocery stores this summer and the zucchini were at least twice the size of the ones I usually end up buying.

We stopped by yet another market on the way home from church today. We didn’t buy anything since we’d already gotten everything we needed on Saturday, but it was a bigger market and with the first one we visited closing for the year I’m sure we’ll be back to make some purchases in the future. Especially since they had both a bakery and a gelato booth…

our purchases minus a piece of baklava and a nut fudge brownie

Getting Things Done

In an effort to avoid copyright/trademark infringement liability, let me first disclose that "Getting Things Done" is actually the title of a book I read in college, forgot mostly, and am now reading again. The subtitle? "The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" Cue judgmental head shaking.

Let me also disclose that I am not writing a book review. For one, it will likely take me a month or two to actually get through this book (ironically, once I finish the book, I should know how to get through it in a week, stress-free). Second, it's been around for nearly 10 years, has likely been reviewed hundreds of times already, and is likely full of advice on not repeating already completed tasks. See, I've only read the first dozen pages and I'm already learning.

I'm reading the book largely because I find myself being far too reactive at work. Mostly, I think it's because I haven't yet crossed the line where constant emails go from confirming my "importance" to confirming only that the light of the end of the tunnel is indeed an oncoming train. Net, nearly every email screams "Read Now, Act Now!" and I end up stopping for a cup of coffee with four open reply drafts on my laptop (so far, I've managed to navigate the deadly shoals of "Reply All"). Since I've already had a few days where the messages were not crying wolf, I figured I should learn some system for telling them apart and leaving the bored sheep herds to the side.

Although I won't review the book, I will plan to pass along my favorite "Learnings" (a word I've added to my vocabulary since June) and let you know how they work when applied in the office.

That's for much later, however. This weekend, it's all about catching up on Leverage, Burn Notice, and season 4 of the West Wing.

thinking of dad

I love my dad!

This morning I was able to listen/watch my dad’s latest sermon at King Street Church in Chambersburg, PA where he's the senior pastor. It was, as usual, a wonderful God-inspired message and while it challenged me spiritually it also made me miss my dad. It hasn’t been that long since I saw him and the rest of my family but sometimes it can seem like an eternity between visits. I planned on texting him just to tell him that I was thinking of him and looking forward to our next visit, but I got side-tracked. Coincidentally while I was being side-tracked my dad called me and left a very sweet message. It turns out we were having very similar father-daughter thoughts today. Thankfully I was able to call him back not too long after his call and we chatted about a number of things over the course of about 30 minutes. It was great for us to talk and it just reminds me of what an awesome dad he is. I love him and more importantly I know how much he loves me. I can’t wait to see him and the rest of my family in only 2 short weeks, and what’s more I can’t wait for him to hold and love my son, his grandson, in the months to come.

How the VAIO Saved My Draft

So last night was the 12th annual SKNFL draft. For those not fortunate enough to know, the SKNFL is the fantasy football league that I've been in since . . . wait for it . . . high school. Although the league has evolved a bit over the years, adding and subtracting various participants, the core group has stayed fairly consistent. In addition to being a great way to up the excitement of football season, fantasy football has also been a great way to stay connected to good friends who are spread out across the country.

Every season of fantasy football begins with the draft, where the 12 teams of the SKNFL divvy up the 150+ position players of the NFL among themselves. 6ish years ago, this ritual took place in my basement, with lots of frozen pizza, chips, brownies, and IBC Root Beer. We drafted by writing a draft order on the chalkboard wall, marking off names on a master list, and generally ridiculing one another for completely absurd picks (e.g., the perennial drafter of Mike Vanderjagt four rounds too early). Now that we've "grown up" and scattered, the draft takes place courtesy of ESPN and Skype, which actually makes things much more efficient, except for the inability to steal someone else's chips. Net, the computer keeps track of who I've drafted and who's still available, but I have to pay for my own food.

(Three computers may seem a bit much, but I had a lot to keep track of.)

But I digress. This year, we switched it up a bit. Rather than choosing players via a draft (i.e., with his second pick, Aaron selects Tom Brady, everyone boos because no one stopped being a Colts fan), we opted for an auction. In the auction format, everyone starts with the same amount of "money"---more real than Schrute bucks, but not quite Disney dollars---with which to bid on various players. The upside of an auction? Everyone has a shot at every player. The downside? Everyone has a shot at every player. The result was actually fairly entertaining, if one can live with the guilt of spending nearly two-thirds of one's budget on a declining running back who plays for a team that already runs by committee 90% of the time. Curse you DeAngelo Williams.

This year, however, I nearly did not have the pleasure of making my annual SKNFL running back mistake (2009- Larry Johnson, 2008- Darren McFadden, 2007- Travis Henry, etc.). Three minutes before the auction went live, I lost the internet on my desktop computer. This has happened before, and the only cure is a rather time consuming regimen of unplugging and restarting things. Not conducive to bidding on NFL superstars. Fortunately, I had the trusty Gateway laptop at my right hand. Unfortunately, I turned it on only to find that it had actually been waiting to install 8 Windows updates before shutting down from the previous time I used it---thanks Bill. I restarted, but given its ripe old age, the laptop takes ~6 minutes to go from cold to up and running. Too long. Fortunately, our friend Robin just moved in and not 10 minutes before had jokingly offered to set up her Sony VAIO to help complete the picture of nerd-dom that I was painting. Not one to be concerned about being over prepared, I had accepted.

When the LAN connection went down, the wireless stayed on. Robin's laptop, which was to serve only as the host for the Skype portion of the auction, was drafted into service. 2.5 hours later, I had successfully assembled a near-perfect 14 man roster. The only hiccup? When I briefly lost wireless connectivity, the "autodraft" function outbid my friend Steve and purchased a second kicker. One barely needs a single kicker, let alone two. Oh well. Two kickers is better than paying list price for Brett Favre.

And that's how the VAIO saved my draft.

I heart Ohio

I love Ohio, particularly this weekend. First, one of my very best friends did a very brave thing and left a city she loved and a job she hated for a new life here in Cincinnati, and she moved in with us! Second, Aaron, my in-laws and I got to love on the Cincinnati Master’s Open where we watched THE Roger Federer advance to the championship round. He went on today to win it all against a surprisingly fit and powerful Mardy Fish and though we weren’t there in person it made yesterday all that more amazing.

it's Roger (left pink tee) and Marcos (right blue tee)!

the giant tennis ball!

I attribute this and many other fun experiences to the fact that we now live in Ohio. For those who know me well you know that along with facebook and blogging I vowed to never live in or near the Buckeye state; funny again how things change. We’ve lived in Ohio for just over a year and in two of its major cities. Much to my surprise it’s been wonderful. Ironically my favorite thing about living in Cleveland was the weather, and so far there are many things on the list for why I like Cincinnati. We’ve been deeply blessed with great places to live and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little embarrassed about all the things I may have said about this state without really knowing what it was like. There is much more for us to discover about Ohio and all it has to offer and we look forward to all the new adventures we’ll have doing it. So here’s to Ohio and though I don’t think we’ve earned it yet one day I hope that even native Ohioans will be able to call us Buckeyes.    

Tennis Day

So after a tiring evening of moving our friend Robin upstairs (as in upstairs into our guest room until she can find an apartment), today is tennis day. Ever since we moved, we've been excited for the "Western & Southern Financial Group Masters." It's become one of the more played-in tournaments leading up to the US Open, eclipsing the tournament we used to go to in Indy (the RCA Championships). To help inaugurate our (hopefully) annual visit to the tournament, Mom & Dad are coming down for the weekend for the semi-finals. Much to Jath's delight, we're scheduled to see the Fed himself take on Marcos Baghdatis. We're hoping the rain stays away...it's been off and on all morning. Regardless, we're excited for the visit.

Preface

Well here it is: our blog. Just like so many things I promised I would never do, eventually I gave in. Like in jr. high when I swore I’d never wear sandals, high school when I wouldn’t be caught dead in  ¾ length sleeves or college when I said I would never engage in the intrusive life of facebooking, here I am again now in my mid-twenties reneging on a pledge I made to never ever be a blogger. I guess that’s what happens when you age, suddenly all those things you thought you would never do become good if not great ideas. Maybe it’s a way of rebelling without getting my nose pierced or maybe it’s just peer pressure. Either way I’m blogging. And to make me feel better about doing it and to add to its overall entertainment value and appeal, I have a partner. Aaron, who surprisingly enough had a blog of his own not so many years ago (Aaron: it was many years ago and let’s not remind everyone), will be joining me in this venture…it’s a team effort. So without further ado here are the everythings and nothings of our life together for those who care to read.