So I just got back from my first interview. It went well and really was an interview with a recruiting company prepping me for the first interview with their client - a major hedge fund company. As I look to the future it is very cloudy. Right now I am in the process of getting an offer from LM to go permanent at a much lower rate than I contracted for. The money is just not right for permanent positions. However, the hedge fund company comes very close to meeting contracting money even though it is a permanent position. I am stuck trying to figure out what to do. Should I interview more and find a contract? Should I go on these hedge fund interviews(they want me to do 2 half day interviews)? Should I just accept the LM job and stay at a comfortable easy job that has a so-so environment for the rest of my days?

So why is contracting better than permanent? Money. Let's just make up numbers. Say I am making $73 an hour contracting at the Boy Scouts. That equates to $146,000 a year if I take no vacation and work 2000 hours a year. Most of the time I end up taking off 2 weeks, or 80 hours a year, which would put that total to 1920 hours a year or around $140,000 a year. Pretty good. Now to see how much that is after taxes you have to factor in my Motivium salary of 48,000 a year with around 12,000 for payroll taxes(federal and social security). So really the net is around 128,000 a year provided the business spends it all in business expenses, like last year. If not it is likely an additional 10,000 in corporate taxes, putting the total net at around $118,000 a year. Now say LM gives me a permanent offer of $110,000 a year. Take out regular federal taxes + social security of 23,000 and you are looking at a net of $87,000 a year. Now add the monetary value of the vacation days (15x460=$6900 ) + medical (200 month = $2400) and you get 9300. Add other benefits and you probably can get to $12,000 in benefits a year. This turns the total net of the LM offer into $99,000 a year.

So with a permanent LM position we are looking at around $100K net and with a contract position at $73 and hour we are looking at $118K net. That is $18K a year or 1500 a month loss. But my current contract is ending so the current market rate would likely be lower at 60-65 an hour. However most jobs want you to work 50 hours a week instead of 40 which means more money for contractors so it'd still be the same on another contract. Although, when I work 40 that gives me time to go home and work on RideSearch and other ideas. When you work 50+ you don't want to work at home. The hedge fund company would be a permanent position with a salary of $120K, but 50+ hour work weeks in downtown Dallas.

Everything is going to happen next week. I will have to make a decision on LM soon. I know I can do better elsewhere as I am a coding rock star, but it is all unknown. With LM I know exactly what I am getting into. However it was easy to overlook the bad environment making contractor dollars. I don't know how hard it would be to overlook things with a permanent stake in things. Plus Motivium Consulting would basically become defunct. That's my baby. I know LM wants me back. I know the Boy Scouts are still trying to keep me on by finding funding and I know that I can get any job I interview for. What would you do?

Well tomorrow is New Years. I always look with fondness at the new year because it brings a new hope. As long as we don't have an empire that strikes back, like the financial system. Hopefully we won't have a return of the gas prices, even though it is good for business. I suppose that makes me a phantom menace, always looking for gas to go higher. I hope my health gets better in the new year, otherwise I might be looking at a heart attack of the clones. Then I would have to get my revenge, revenge of the Sith. Somehow sneaking the word Sith into everyday conversation is hard...

Let's see. Driving. And lots of it. Holly drove to Wichita Falls and back on Tuesday to pickup mom (240 miles). She, of course, ate lunch with mom at her favorite restaurant, iHop. Christmas eve we drove to Weatherford and back (120 miles). The day after Christmas we drove to Crowley to see Grant (60 miles) then to Wichita(150 miles) then back on Saturday (120 miles) - for a grand total of 540 miles in one week. Luckily they were in 1 to 3 hour increments at a time. But there was alot of driving, so we were both tired most of the vacation.

Christmas eve we went to our candlelight service at 2PM and then afterwards went to Holly's Grandparents house and they had a smorgasborg of food. The ribs were pretty good as well as the sausage bread(Holly's mom's Christmas dish). I got a iGo - a watch that measures your heart rate while you are working out. That should be useful after New Years. Holly's mom, Sandra, came over Christmas morning and we opened presents. Got a lot of candy. Dad got me a shiatsu seat massager. It is pretty nice. We went to iHop for lunch. Then we hung out around the house. I am getting used to mom's TV schedule - CBS and NBC and sometimes Lifetime. We watched the Christmas Deal or No Deal. That show is always frustrating. I could play it in like 3 minutes and they stretch it into an hour show.

The day after Christmas we went to Crowley to see Grant and his family. Dillon got a Tony Romo t-shirt. I feel sorry for the guy having a quarterback idol who loses the big games. I am trying to wipe yesterday from my mind. Hopefully we will get a new team next year. I am thinking Texas Tech players.

Then we drove back to Wichita. Saturday dad came over and took us all out to iHop at mom's request. I am really liking their bacon and egg cheeseburger, although that day I had the chicken fried steak. We got back into Carrollton on Saturday night, a little wiser to the workings of mom.

I like the iHop closer to my house as opposed to the one in Wichita. In Wichita all of the waiters have a screw loose or something, getting orders messed up and forgetting silverware and drinks. Although at the iHop near my house they like to smoke right outside the door. So I went 3 times in one week and Holly went 4 times. Welcome to iHop! May I take your order. Mom get's the sugar free syrup on her pancakes and a glass of milk with her meal. WITH her meal, not before. She goes between the eggs benedict and the breakfast sampler. I get the bacon/egg cheeseburger. Holly gets some kind of wrap thing with pancakes sometimes. Mom likes to stare at people eating, especially when they stare back. Holly likes to notice peoples tattoos. Me? I like to eat really fast and analyze the service. And that is my iHop Christmas.

How was your Christmas?

Merry Christmas
to my friends and family.
Jesus was born today
So we can live
tomorrow!

So who is this Santa feller anyway? Holly and I have been discussing what we would tell our kids about Santa. Some friends explain to their youngest - Santa is a fictional character. Others go full throttle into the shtick and are like - "I hear hooves on the roof!" I remember being fooled as a kid up until age 7. Then I did some detective work of my own. My sister was actually a lot easier to convince to believe in Santa, probably because my dad broke his wrist on Christmas eve one year and made up a story about getting up on the roof to help Santa with his reindeer. Pretty believable given that he had a broken wrist the next day and had sleigh bells to prove it.

This goes into a lesson I have learned this year - honesty can be brutal. So the question is, is it OK to be dishonest when being honest hurts someone else? My boy scout motto self would always be brutal, but I have learned to have temperance. For instance, why tell a kid Santa is not real, especially if they already believe? What does it gain both of you? Sure, the truth, but not a good truth. A kid has a fire of imagination and with the knowledge that Santa is real has many dreams that could come true in his mind. A kid without this fire ceases to be kidlike and then becomes an adult with his head out of the clouds.

As an adult I realize I was lied to alot growing up. We all were. By our parents - "we can't afford that toy","Santa is real", "don't eat that or you'll ruin your dinner." By our doctors - "keep brushing your baby teeth", "this isn't going to hurt at all". By our teachers - "of course this test counts","getting past this grade will get you into a good college","you will need to know this when you grow up." As I sit back I realize how many lies we are told in our lives by others. The amount is inconceivable.

So just because others lie does that mean we should? This year in a fit of honesty at work I did the proverbial "throw someone under the bus" by telling the truth about how things really are. Quite frankly I was a jerk. But I learned something. Brutal honesty is brutal first and honest second. I vow to not be brutally honest again. I would rather be joyful - a fruit of the spirit - than honest causing pain. So to all you kiddies out there... Go to bed early, or Santa will leave coal in your stockings!

ho ho ho....

So what did we do this weekend? Let's see. Holly is off of school finally. On Friday we went to Holly's mom's house and had dinner. I helped setup a quilt rack. That trade is foreign to me. I don't think anyone on my side of the family has ever quilted. On Saturday I slept in again, I think till 11 this time. Then we did Christmas shopping all over town. As a I guy I am always a little tired of shopping. I remember as a kid writing a poem about how I hate shopping. I also remembering karma getting me for lying to the coach about going Christmas shopping and then having to do bear crawls because of it. Saturday night we watched the Cowboys decide to lose. They have some serious offensive line/quarterback problems. Add that to a defense that lets the Ravens run all over them and you have a loss. I actually watched the ending ceremony of all the greats closing out Texas Stadium. Troy Aikmen was notoriously absent. Apparently Emmit Smith breaking the all time leading rushing record was the best play in the stadium. I have actually marched in Texas Stadium with my high school band. I also have worked the concession stands for our church. Even though we lost, if we win next week against the Eagles we go to the playoffs. That'll be a big game. In other news, I got some kind of cold this weekend and was thankful I had two sleep apnea masks, one for my nose and one for my face. I kept on sneezing and was congested. So Sunday I basically slept around the house, watched TV and did nothing, while my lovely wife went out and did grocery shopping. It's good to be married. How was your weekend?

So having Princess Leia live with us has been an adjustment. She was very quiet when she first came to live with us and now that we have brought her back to health she has become neurotic. What is funny is that she has this bone and keeps on trying to bury it in the furniture. For instance I will sit on the couch and notice her bone is in between the cushions. Sometimes when I am sitting on the chair she will start to dig in the side of it and place her bone. The funniest part happened this morning when I felt this bone underneath me. Apparently while I was sleeping she got up on the bed, did some digging and placed her bone under my back and then proceeded to scratch me.

Another funny thing, I think her previous owner was single and called to her by making a kissing noise. So every time me and Holly kiss the dog starts going crazy and jumps on us. Sometimes she even barks. Maybe she is jealous? I don't think I have established my alpha maleness as she likes to leave little presents on my shower mat and clothes on the floor. We are currently putting her in a cage during the work day and when we go to bed. I am going to invent a mini-cage for the head so she will have room to move. I am thinking a wire mesh ball I can put her head in so she can run around and not chew anything.

Now she had a barking problem but I solved it last night. There is a cool little iPhone app called Dog Whistle that has a bark detecter and a dog whistle. Basically it is a decible meter tied to a high pitched squeek. So whenever she barks or makes noise the whistle will blow. At first it looked like it wasn't working, but eventually she figured it out and ... silence... The iPhone did it again. Now if they could only make an app that declares me the Alpha Male.

Have you ever thought of a decision that a person should make and knew that if they had any ounce of logic in them they would make that decision? And eventually that person does make the decision but it is too late sometimes or sometimes it takes weeks and months to come about. I see that all of the time. It is like that sometimes at work, at any work really. It starts off with them saying no let's not do that or no we don't need you and ends up with - oh, maybe we should do that and well I guess we need you. It's like a chess match, business, coding and design decisions I can see 12 moves away, but I have to wait for all of the other players to see it. The waiting can be frustrating. Sometimes, like today, I tell a manager what is going to happen and they don't like that. So I have to start at the beginning and let them make the moves to eventually come up with the right outcome. I suppose that is what my genius sister does when she talks to other doctors. Anyways, its frustrating. But I digress. How's all that for vagueness?

In other news, do you know I update my Facebook account alot and my LinkedIn profile alot? Below are links to them:

So, more news on the job front. Looks like I have been granted a reprieve, for one month, if I desire. So now my job ends on January 31st. All I know is I have started the job search and will keep at it. But it is good that I know I can keep getting paid. As I look at my updated resume I think I have maxed out on my skills as my languages known has jumped from 25 to 30. I have already nixed my CEO experience because no one wants to hire a developer who was a CEO. Looks like I need to get rid of some of my experience. Anyways at least I can go really slow in the job search and be able to scrutinize jobs. In other news last night my business coach showed up at the house. I forgot all about it. And yes I am still keeping her. She has helped me in understanding what it is going to take to get this thing off the ground. Otherwise I would be some guy who has a dream who has no idea how to fulfill it.

We went through my business goals and next steps for RideSearch. There is so much on my list:
1. Do accounting for end of year
2. Continue development of 3.0
3. Make a newsletter
4. Make a sales presentation which includes demographics and target companies
5. Make price points for the 3.0 version
6. Spin RideSearch off into an LLC
7. Research IP Protection and start the process
8. Get non-disclosure agreements made for businesses that want to learn 3.0 before release

I put it here so I can remember it all. Sometimes I forget all that goes into running this thing. It is a real business, even though it makes no money. So my job is to find a job and do my second job and do my first job. Eh, maybe I need a vacation.

So I am busy working. Got a call from a recruiter in Denver. I said not yet. I always give myself at least a month of looking before I would even consider moving. Technically I activated my resume last night so now I am on the hunt. I noticed a bunch of new jobs posted on the 15th. I think businesses have budgeted some geeks for the new year. There is some psychology in play in dealing with techno-pimps. They always make a profit off of you and you have to gauge just how much you can get more. For instance say my rate is $73 an hour, well the recruiter is actually charging the client $95 an hour for my services. That means every hour I work is $22 in the recruiter's pocket. Boy, I got in the wrong business. Recruiters though need the connections to many companies and need to have the business sense to bribe and become friends with managers. I even remember when I was hiring people a recruiter tried to get me to go to a Mavs game and sit in their skybox. A key chip in the recruiter game is to have many offers. Then you can play the offer game - "I got an offer for 70 from so-and-so so your 65 won't cut it" "How about 73?" "done." Anyways, hopefully this time around I will get more than one offer. I've got some leads with old jobs but always want to play the field. Let's see what happens.

Let's see. So this Friday we stayed in. Actually Holly had a final from 4 to 7 so she came home exhausted. Saturday I slept in till 12:45 in a feat that took me back to my college sleeping days. Then I got up and started watching those Bass/Rankin Christmas specials on ABC Family. Apparently the original Rudolph was so successful that there were a ton of spinoff's like Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July and Rudolph's shiny new year. Then there was the cartoon "The night before Christmas" about a mouse and a clockmaker saving their town by building a clock. Anyways we got all Christmassy. Later that evening we went and saw The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was Ok. They did pull a lot from the original classic movie, except Gort was 60 feet high instead of 6 and they had better special effects. One thing though, the magic words to stop Gort from destroying the world were never said,"Klatu Verata Nicto" I am guessing because "Army of Darkness" made fun of those words by having the main character forget the last one "Katu Verata Ne-cough-cough."

On Sunday we went to Sunday School, went out to eat with Holly's mom and then we went and saw our church's Christmas special "Gloria with John Tesh". Personally I think he is very talented and remember going to the symphony last year with Holly and seeing him play. Gloria was good, but I do remember the old Christmas plays our church did - a 3 hour long play with music and the story of Jesus with live animals like camels and a resurrection with a laser show. They sure could put on a show. Anyways I finished the evening by grilling burgers(since it was 75 out) and having some other couples come over to watch the game. I am glad we won. It looks like the Cowboys may go to the super bowl after all. How was your weekend?

So today is Friday the 12th. 13 more days till Christmas and 19 days till my last day at work. Seems so short. I told Holly things are going to get worse before they get better. Luckily we already had tickets to Gloria- our church's Christmas musical for Sunday afternoon. Hopefully that will get me in the Christmas spirit, this imaginary spirit that is supposed to give you good feelings from remembrances of Christmas past. Our tree is up and our lights are on in our yard. Actually I forgot to turn them off... Radio stations are playing Christmas music 24/7 now. For people who hate Christmas they must be frothing right now.

Sometimes I think I am just like Scrooge and say Bah Humbug, or the guy from It's a Wonderful Life" who says "what's the use?" and ends up saying "Merry Christmas lamp post!". Maybe if I say bah humbug enough I will be visited by three ghosts.

The ghost of Christmas Past would be like the early years opening a cornucopia of presents, followed by having two Christmases a day in my teens. Then it would show me getting sick on Christmas. Then mom getting sick on Christmas. Then it would flash to the past couple of years of me and Holly helping the homeless during the Christmas season. Then this last year when we stayed at home for Christmas. How we probably have become more concerned for ourselves than others.

The ghost of Christmas Present would show all of my friends how they spend their Christmases and all of their families. It would show my aunts and dad and sister and cousins and how they all spend their Christmases. It would show George and his family coming to our place on Christmas day. I suppose Dillon would be tiny Tim. Then the ghost would show me the two skeletal looking kids - ignorance and want, and I would be freaked out.

Now the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is what scares me the most. What could I be doing? Will I be out on the streets with Holly or will I actually turn into Scrooge? Will it show us sitting in a mansion with no friends or family coming to see us on Christmas? Will we put aside the welfare of humanity? No, say its not so!

Then I wake up from my bed with Princess Leia licking my face. It was all just a dream. I can change! I must stand on my head! Let's go get a turkey and have the biggest party ever!

or will I just say,"Bah Humbug!"

So what is happening? Well, I am exhausted and frazzled. Just in the past two days work has decided they needed 2 months worth of work done in 12 work days before I am booted. They did it in such a way as to make me crazy. I had to type a 5 page email yesterday just to lay out all of the bosses thoughts together and make something that makes sense. Finally this morning we were able to whittle it down to a 5 day task, something that is doable. I have updated my resume and will shoot it off tomorrow. I know everyone here needs me, but the execs don't have the budget for me. It is really sad. They have 240 hours of work needed and no one to do it. Top it off with Holly stressed about finals and unexpectedly not graduating till next semester and both of us not getting much sleep. It feels like my nerves are shot as my stress levels have increased. I wonder what a nervous breakdown is like. Anyways, I need a paycheck in February. So that means I need a job by the first week in January. Things are tight all around. On a happier note Princess Leia, our new dog, is providing us with joy. I've never had a dog that is actually that responsive to my presence. Like when I come in she is doing back flips to see me. She has this very weird sideways walk too. Her behind actually gets close to her head as she walks sideways most places. Kind of like a walking donut.

So what is next for little ole me? Well, to begin with there is always hope. Sometimes I live off of it. I do not find it a coincidence that I go from RideSearch 2.0 which runs on Community Server 2007 and ARC Mapping to the Boy Scouts where they have projects with Community Server 2008 and Google Mapping. Let's just say that this whole thing has lit a fire under me and my vision of a profitable RideSearch is finally solid. Last night I started developing it and even stayed up til 2 working on it. This takes me back to a year ago before RideSearch was released. I have learned so much since then. Of course I wish I had the money I had when I started RideSearch, it would be so much different. But for now I will start with nothing and will build an empire from that.

One of the great things is that the time to develop it will not be a slow. The first version of RideSearch took 2 years to get down in my spare time. The second version took 2 months. I gather this version will actually take 2 months as well. See I realize something. That of all the ideas I have had, this is the best one. RideSearch is more successful than most internet startups out there. Not by money standards but by press and look and feel. This next go around money and popularity will be added to that mix.

On the job front there is still hope as well. Out of all the contractors they are letting go they deem me critical and are scrambling for funding for me. So I may get to keep my job. I told them I will start looking for a job next week so I will need to know for sure if they are going to keep me. I don't really fear a new job. I realize I will probably have to take another pay cut or get a permanent job somewhere, but you never know. In the meantime my second job is now back. Bring on the coding!

So I seem to be the one pro-active enough to try and stay in tune with their internal network. My project manager didn't seem to know much about it. I hear things around from people and put 2 and 2 together. And yes, they add up to 4. So I went to talk with my boss this morning and she said she would find out this afternoon. This afternoon I came back. Here is how it went down," So what did you find out?" "They are cutting funding are letting your contracting company know that everyone is to be gone by the end of the year, except we are trying to find funding to keep 2 people and you are one of them. I wouldn't count on us finding the funds though so I understand if you look for jobs. You do what you've gotta do." So I have been given notice. I told her I don't burn bridges and will work to get my current project completely converted before the end of the year. Well, it was fun. I gained some more experience to put on my resume. I will put it out there ASAP. Who knows where I will end up. I am not that sad about it though. I know I am one of the best and in competition with others for jobs will win out. Every time I look for jobs I have to turn down offers. Hopefully the budgets for other companies that get enacted at the beginning of the year will have room for a Software Architect or Internet Developer. Hopefully my next job will last more than 3 months.

Wow, did you hear we have lost enough jobs this year since 1974. That is amazingly bad. I am very lucky I am skilled so that even if I lose my job I will be able to get another one. I got calls from recruiters these past couple of days. I can't tell them anything cause I don't know. A word of advice in keeping jobs is to stay visible. My problem is, here I am invisible except for my resume which I know they have studied. Yesterday I don't think I said a word to anyone or anyone said a word to me. It is like I am wearing a sign called "dead man walking". Really this situation is awkward the whole way around. My recruiter said it was a 6 month project and could have known that it is actually a 3 month one. Even in business requirements I am listed as a risk because I could be gone at the end of the year. I can see why they won't tell me. They want to squeeze the last ounce of work out of me without me talking to recruiters and going on interviews. I think I will go right now to the bosses office and see if there is any news.... She's not there although a worker said they thought they approved my project. Guess I'll wait till Monday. Just talked with a project manager and wowed him a little by showing him what I have done. Finally some visibility, got a handshake. Apparently my project has been approved but they are still not sure about me. For Pete's sake... All I need is more time... Ok before I post, the boss was in her office. I just walked by and asked and she said her boss will let her know today. She says, I hope so cause we are hosed if we can't keep you. I shall respond to this post when I get word... stay tuned...

Hello, what? I say as my left ear is stopped up from a cold. It is weird how mucus just loves my ears. I actually wouldn't mind a hearing aid. Maybe it could look like the new Jawbone. That would be cool. As long as it connects to my iPhone remotely and super enhances my hearing so I could hear what people are saying in the other room. Then I would know if I have a job or not. The waiting is killing me. It was like that when Holly was waiting on DISD to make up their minds. Luckily she got to keep hers, her mind and job.

Last night at guys night we went to Chinese. Yes, I do eat one chinese dish, chicken lo mein, no vegetables. I got a fortune that in my mind is bad - you will recieve a big inheritance in the year. Technically in order to get one, someone has to die. Mr.Ts said, "exactly 3 months from now something exciting will happen." Peetey's said ,"you are a good listener" or something that is not really a fortune.

Then we went to Best Buy and I got a wireless router for the house to replace our fios one that drops me every 5 minutes. Mr.T is now discovering the joys of orb.com. It allows you to watch your movies, listen to your music and read your documents anywhere there is a web browser, like a phone or at his office. There is a cool iphone app that you can get with it as well. I currently have 51 browser windows open. Thanks to Google Chrome I never shut any window down. It is very convenient. Anyways, if my ear were a nose it would be running. Gotta catch it.

Question of the Day:
What are your favorite web sites?

Christmas is fast approaching. Good tidings and cheer and all that humbug. Holly and I watched the George C Scott version of Scrooge the other day. Holly says that is the best one, but I think the Alister Sim version from the 50s is the best. It is the actual acting that is really good. I guess it is time to think about Christmas presents. In my view it is the thought that counts. What do I think the person would like? That is a hard one to answer. But actually putting thought into a gift is pretty good. That shows that you are paying attention to the person.

Money is still a good gift to those who need it, cause you are paying attention to their needs. Things they like are obvious, but you have to watch out or you will get them something they already have. If you delve into the things they like, you really need to know them and their hobbies. Gift certificates are good for acquaintances. You can't go wrong with that unless you give a Starbucks card to someone who doesn't drink coffee. Generic things sometimes are thrown away. Really in the end, just receiving a gift is good enough. I have found the best gifts are money and things that I didn't know I would use or like. For me, anything gadget-like is cool, as I am a techno-geek.

Then you have to think, what about people you should know better, but don't. That speaks volumes when you give your uncle a cellphone and they never leave the house. Old people and rich people are the worst to shop for. Because old people typically don't do anything and don't want anything or need anything. Rich people can get what they want and usually have it. The key to defeating this barrier is to find something they don't know they would like, or something better than they currently own. Like getting a mom a new TV or getting an old person some heated slippers and bathrobe.

It is hard to decide but fun. Or you take a chance and go to the mall on Christmas eve and buy all of the perfume you can find. Make sure you like the smell of it. That way all of your relatives will smell good to you. That's the ticket.

So last night I took some Tylenol cold medicine before going to bed. Awakening at 9:30 this morning I knew I was late for work so I decided to take the whole morning off. I then called Holly's teacher legal plan and was able to talk to a lawyer and get them to handle my stop sign ticket for free. Employee benefits can be good. Then I went to the tax accessors office and got a registration sticker for the Honda, which was 2 months passed due. It is funny how the officer didn't notice that when he gave me a ticket. I wonder if that would count against him in court? Anyways, I got to work at 12:30 and no one knew I was gone. I still think it is a 75% chance of me being gone at the end of the year, of course I wonder when they will tell me. We shall see. The workers admit they need me, but the budget might not be as wanting. In other news, it looks like Princess Leia might be here to stay. Maybe I'll let her go and if she comes back she's ours...

So I saw more dogs in my house last week than I did in the last 6 years I have lived here. First there is our new border, maybe soon to be adopted by us, the artist formerly known as Gizmo and now known as Princess Leia. Then Holly and her Mom's dogs stopped by to visit - Bridget and Oliver. Then Mr.T brought his humongous Beagle, Shiloh, for us to carpool back and forth to Wichita with. Then George brought over his dog for us to watch on the weekend while his family went to the mountains of Colorado. That is 5 dogs! Let's just say that I was surrounded and it was ok. Now the Princess is left and I have to say she is the best dog out of the bunch, no barking, lots of sleeping, easy to sleep on your lap. My kind of dog. Holly and I have pretty much resigned to keeping her if her owner doesn't answer the ads online. The responses from online has been, "how cute, if you don't want her we will take her."

Back to Thanksgiving. It was good. Just as I had imagined. Did a lot of sleeping. Woke up, watched part of the Macy's parade. It was funny seeing Rick Eistly singing. If you are not familiar with what happened google Rick Roll. Holly cooked the turkey for a long time. George came over with the family. Holly's mom came over as well. There were 5 adults and 3 kids there. We ate turkey and it was perfect. For dessert Holly makes these sugar cookies. Then she gives the kids candy corn and frosting and they decorated the sugar cookies into little turkeys. So naturally I ate about 5 cookies plus cake. So naturally I bet I gained 5 pounds this holiday season. Then the game was on. Seeing the Dallas Cowboys dominate an opponent was good.

The rest of the weekend we took care of dogs, watched TV, went out to eat, and did some work. Holly studied for her finals. I have started on the next phase of RideSearch. I will never be bored. How was your Thanksgiving?