LOST returns.....

Hey People. Where to begin??? I'm probably gonna bounce around a little, but bear with me. I am SOOOO Happy right now because LOST is returning tonight. I watched the special enhanced version last night and learned a lot of things I didn't know. I have been patiently waiting for tonight. I don't even know where to start to think where they are going to take us with this show now that they are introducing us to future scenes. It's the fourth season and we have always dealt with the past and present. I'm sure I will be blogging alot about it because we only get 8 episodes since the Writers Guild started the strike in December '07. Hopefully that strike will end very soon. On to other news, work is great. I am about to hit my 90 days and I am looking forward to a promotion. I've been getting up at 430ish in the morning to go to work. But, it's nice getting off around 230 in the afternoon. I filed my taxes and I am getting a nice refund check that I plan on using wisely. It's part of the the few surprises I have spoken about in my last blog. I'm not gonna disclose them just yet, but so far at least one of the two seem to be falling right in place. I will know for sure in the next few days, and as soon as it does, I will be sure to blog about it. Let's just say, it's par for the course for me. I'm sure you won't be surprised. One of my co-workers made a comment saying she wished she were as "adventurous and ambitious" as I am. She knows when I get a burr up my ass, I do what it takes to make it happen. (Get your minds out of the gutter!!) I think I have always been one to go all the way when I put my mind to it. Well, I am going to log off for now and get ready for LOST. I will post more soon enough. Peace out!

A Work in Progress....

Yo, wassup people. I figured I would give an update as to what is going on. I am glad that the slow season is over with here in Daytona. I have officially been made a bellman at work. Which is actually interesting considering that in my 14 yrs of working at the many jobs I have had, I have never worked for tips. I can say that I am happy about having money in my wallet everyday now, rather than living paycheck to paycheck. It seems I am budgeting money better now than before. But, I can tell you, that I do enjoy being a bellman. Since my employment began back in November, I have DROPPED 20+ pounds thus far. Which is something I am glad to say, that just by me working my ass off. I'm used to being lazy at work. Standing behind a counter or sitting at a computer on the phones. With all the lifting, pushing, and pulling I do now, it's slowly starting to pay off. But trust me, it's the only work I do. I would say on average, I walk 5 miles a day on a slow day and if we are busy, I can easily walk 12+ miles a day. Granted I walk to and from work. It also helps that I have extremely cut back on my drinking habits as well. Of course living with Missy I drank way more than I should have, but no matter what, we always had a great time. I can say I haven't even drank a case of beer since the beginning of the year. There have been many days that being a bellman have paid off (taking home almost $200 a day). I have had several guests write letters to management in reference to the service I provided them. I also have put forth my knowledge and have been working on a concierge book for us to use at the bell stands and the concierge desk. My managers are thrilled that I am I as outgoing and flexible as I am and eager to do whatever it takes to keep the guests happy and satisfied. They have really tried to get me to go back behind the front desk, but that is not going to happen. I REFUSE to do that again for a long time. On the home front, my bedroom is finally finished. I actually got the projector and it's shelf hung on Monday. I got tired of waiting for someone to help me and I just did it myself. I had to hang a white sheet up to cover the wall since the projector didn't like projecting on the orange wall. I was very impressed with how well the sheet actually worked. I swear I will post some pics of what it looks like. Either my friends are lying to me or they agree with me that considering the colors I chose to paint this room turned out much better than anticipated. I do want to let you all in on a secret....but I am not letting the cat out of the bag just yet. I foresee some exciting changes in my future within the next couple of months. For those of you who know me well enough, you all know that when I put my mind and willpower into something that I really want I usually get it. I hope that is the case this time around. There are going to be at least 3 major developments occurring in the next 2-3 months. I will tell you just one of them though, in March when my insurance kicks in, I will be getting me a prescription to the Chantix. I have talked to several people that have taken it and it made them stop smoking. I am determined to quit for good. Our insurance actually pays everything but $20 for it. I think that is a helluva bargain considering its about $160 a month. So you all can wish me luck on that adventure. I plan on doing what I did last time (joined the gym) when I quit smoking and that was reward myself with something in a similar fashion. Maybe just buy a weight set and bench and work out at home. I am shooting to weigh 170lbs by my birthday in May. So, if quit smoking and continue to drink lightly (which are two things that I actually enjoy), I think I will be able to be healthier and happier with who I am striving to be. It's all just a work in progress. I will keep you all informed of course. Who knows what the future has in store for me? I can only hope and try to make sure it's all positive. Well, have a great weekend. Peace out!

2008 Is Here.

Happy New Year People. This was the first New Year that I was home and in bed by 10pm. I was sleeping soundly as it came into effect. Went out to dinner with Mary and Tommy at the Ocean Deck. Then we had a drink at the Streamline. After that Mary and Tommy left me behind at the Streamline and headed on down to Main Street for the block party they were having there. I was ready for a laydown by 930pm. Only had 4 beers and 1 shot. Finished painting my bedroom today (minus the baseboards). Got my new comforter set put on the bed and hung my pictures up on the wall. I have to paint one more wall back to white since I am going to put the projector in the bedroom. I have to it up for Jan 31st since LOST is coming back on supposedly. The writers' strike is affecting it as well, but we at least got 8 episodes a coming. Well, I am loving my job. I am looking forward to my changing of positions in Feb. Who knows, I may become a bellman. There is plenty of money to be made there, that is for sure. Well, I'm gonna finish the last couple of packs of cigarettes I have and try to stop smoking. My New Years' resolutions are the typical ones. I am determined this year to get down to 165lbs. I will stop smoking. I will get in shape. I will continue to be as happy as possible. I will get a vehicle this year as well. I see my future be bright and happier than ever. I hope you all have a prosperous New Year ahead of you and get everything you want out of it. Peace out!

Oh what a feeling...

Hey People. How's it going? All is just great here. I am glad to say I have officially moved. I am slowly getting settled in to my new home. It's a cute old house. I have a great roommate, whom I have known for about 6 years. He was looking for a roommate. I came and checked the house out and immediately fell in love with it. It has a huge living room, enclosed front porch, huge kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, fenced in front/back yard, and a pool in the back yard. I moved everything out of Missy's house and Mary's garage on Thursday. Missy was rather impressed that I didn't have that much stuff to move. I did downsize a good bit from having the yard sale. We actually made it happen with 3 vehicles in one trip. All I have done so far is set my bed up. I missed my bed. LOL. It's been a long, but great, 4 months without it. I can say, that I had a grand ol' time staying with John and Tommy. But, I do expect to have a great time in the new house. It is going to be a showplace when Clay and I finish decorating it and putting some TLC into it. It will be a great place to entertain others as well. Well, I am cutting this short for now, I have to be at work in a bit. Til next time. PEACE OUT and Happy Holidays!

Yep, I'm still alive...

Howdy People. I am still around. Not much to post about other than a few exciting things. Life is great. I have been in the company of my friends and we are making the best out of everything and having a ball while doing it. Let me update real quick on this while I am thinking about it. Remember when we held John's Bday Party at Stroh's? Well, 2 weeks after that, the Volusia County Motel/Hotel Association named John the Food & Beverage Employee of the year. That's an honor considering there are about 8,000 hospitality workers in Daytona. So after he went to the party and received the award with Mary E, Tommy & I met them at Stroh's to have a couple of celebratory drinks. We had a blast and John was in shock that he was even nominated. Wouldn't you know it, that 3 days afterwards, Stroh's CLOSED on us. That was like a favorite 2 blocks away hangout for us to go to. On to something else, I have left my old job once and for all. I have been working for a new company and I am really glad to be there. I also painted the majority of Mary D's interior house (minus the bedrooms) over the last month. I took my time and I think it looks pretty damn good if I say so myself. I helped with rearranging everything that we could and it looks snazzy. I also had a garage sale over at Mary's. We planned it for a week in advance, and we advertised in the http://www.newsjournalonline.com/ , along with the http://daytona.classifieds.floridapennysavers.com/CLASS/PClass.aspx , and I heavily used http://www.craigslist.daytona.org/ , too. You wanna talk about a comical time those 3 days were. We priced everything a week in advanced. We then woke up around 5:30am on 11-16-07 and set everything up in the driveway. By 7am we were pretty much setup completely. In the newspaper and pennysaver we had the ad say we were starting at 9:30a until 3:30p. Then when the ad came out first in the pennysaver, we noticed that a few other neighbors in the neighborhood were starting at 8am. The literally lived within houses of Mary. So, I then started blasting Craigslist to let everyone know that we were starting at 7:30am until ?. Our first customer (both Fri and Sat) showed up at 7:15. On Friday, Tommy showed up with some stuff to throw in for us to sell. He stayed til around 2pm. John showed up around noon. Well, on Friday, Mary and I were practically going non-stop with the customers. We served our last customer at 6:30pm. We had over 350 people stop by just that day. For the group we made over $400 just on the first day. On Saturday, we probably had about 125 people swing by. My Mom also was married on this day (best of luck you two). And on Sunday, (Mary and I were entirely over it by then), we might have had 50 people. On Friday night, Mary and I drank more than we should have, but we well deserved it. On Saturday, I didn't start drinking until about 2pm and averaging less a beer every 2 hours. We served our last customer this day around 6pm. Well, Mary decided to "pants" me after closing time around 8ish. Her neighbor Patty was aver and the kids just happened to be outside when she did it. I felt like I was in the cartoons, cause I just froze in my tracks and literally was sputtering words out of my mouth. About 3 seconds later I realized what she had done and yanked my sweatpants back up. We laughed bout it for about 2 hrs afterwards. Sunday wasn't as busy as we expected. We practically marked most everything down to $0.25 or less. I ended up bringing in almost $500 for the weekend and the other 3 came in with about $250. Not bad for 3 days work. Okay another subject, back in early October, We found out Josh Turner was coming to town. And of course, those who have read my blog over the last year might remember when I tried to go see him at the Volusia County Fair and his concert was already sold out. Well, Mary E, Tommy, John, Brandon, and I, bought our tickets. He appeared in concert with Danielle Peck on 12-1-07. The seats we had were great, but the persnickety old geriatric people that were there were ass holes. I laid into one lady because she was so rude. But, Josh sang the song (Would You Go With Me) that John and I wanted to hear first. His other songs were okay but we listened anyways and drank too. At intermission, we got up to use the rest room and decided we weren't going to watch the rest of it. Well, I had the keys to Tommy's truck, and he didn't want to leave until he heard Long Black Train. So he was pissed, but not for too long. He and I had decided to split 3 nights at the Streamline and stayed up there. You can see by the pics we had a great time though. But, later that night I was at the bar, and in rare form. Must have been the boots and hat. LOL. Woke up the next morning completely drained with no energy the entire day. Other than that most everything is the same. I will be glad to blog more when more happens. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday Season. Til Next Time, PEACE OUT!

A month already? ? ?

Hey Folks. I realized it has been a while since I blogged. I have been non-stop busy. Not too much going on in my world except being happy as can be and enjoying myself way too much. This past weekend was Biketoberfest here in Daytona. I for once got out from behind the front desk of the hotel and actually worked parking detail. I had such an enjoyable time socializing with all the bikers from all over. I talked with people from Alaska, New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Maine, California, Utah, Nevada, Illinois, and of course, Florida. I worked 40 hours in 3 days to help with the parking. Just watching the bikers ride up and down A1A was fun. I took many pics and some video. The video didn't do too well being from my cell phone. Some of the women though were fine as hell wearing their revealing tops and tight pants. The guys looked hot too. Nothing else really new on this end other than this. Enjoy the pics. Peace out!

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Hey People. It's been a great week. Mary D., Mary E., Tommy, and I planned a surprise birthday party for John. He turned 49 on Sept 17. He really had no clue that we were up to no good. We literally did some of the planning right in front of him. As you can see from the pics in this post we had a blast. We had it at Stroh's Sports Bar & Grill in Ormond Beach. It was at the perfect location directly across the street from the beach. We invited about 30 people with the logic that half would show up. We had Stroh's cook up 100 chicken wings and a veggie tray. We also had them put Happy Birthday John on the Marquee. We told John that we were going to go down to the Streamline since his birthday is the same as the owner, Eric. The Streamline always throws a party for Eric and they provide a buffet. We figured we could throw John off from thinking we were up to something since we usually always go to Eric's party. Mary E. called and told John that she was at Stroh's for a few minutes and having one drink and to come and get his gift. So he thought we were still going to the Streamline anyways. We pulled up at Stroh's and he didn't even notice that everyone's car was there. He did notice the Marquee but still didn't have a clue that the party was inside for him. He walked in and made one of his usual frowning faces in shock. LOL. Mary D. had Publix make John a photo cake. Tommy and I got in touch with John's family and they gave us some of his childhood photos and we found the perfect photo of him when he was 5 years old and dressed up as a pirate. I think you will agree it was a cute cake. The guests that showed up were, in no particular order, Mary D, Matt D, their 2 sons, Mary E, Larry, Rob, Jeff, Tex, Brian, Shannon, Bradley, Tommy, Brandon, and myself. We had such a great time. We had requested for our favorite bartended at Stroh's to serve us. Cindy did an excellent job. She kept the beer and liquor pouring for a good 4 hours that we were there. I can personally say I am glad to be back in Daytona, because having my friends around is the best feeling there is. My mom called me to inform me that she is engaged and getting married in November. As much as I would like to go up there, I don't foresee it happening since I am trying to get back on my feet. But, it would be nice to see my sisters and their families. I'm hoping to get this condo. It's been completely updated with beautiful tile, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and it overlooks the courtyard. It's on the ground floor as well. Time will tell. Not much other news going on other that. Guess I am going to log off for now. Ta Ta for now, PEACE OUT!