This AM I got up, made smoothies, fed mason, and was at work at 9.

I like eating lunch in, since I don't really care about the food options around me, and damn is it hard to eat a decent meal out that is remotely healthy. I mean, au ba pon (sp?) has low calories, but like 50% of the daily sodium. ok. Subway 6inch veggie patty is ok. The tofu teriyaki is good, but I can only eat that so much. Not to mention all of those cost $4-$6. So I have been making pb&j sandwiches and eating some fruit. I figure that is better, and infinitely cheaper, even when I am using whole wheat bread, real peanut butter (list of ingredients: peanuts. thats it.), and fruit spread (it is hard to find a jelly/jam/preserve that doesn't have corn syrup in it).

So yeah, I figure that is better than what I was eating.

Work, tonight is garage. Maybe I'll work on the car? who knows.

mason: doing great.. talkative (but just no in english) and almost always in a good mood. he is always smiling and can be so easily entertained. As I type this he is scooting around on the floor playing with a piece of paper he pulled off an empty box. Funny stuff. He is pretty social, and he still sleeps really well. We are beginning to ween him and we have started giving him formula as well as the solid foods, and he is all about that. He is also getting big enough that we need to get him into a normal car seat, as we aver overdue. He isn't crawling yet but he scoots around on the hardwood on his belly, which is fun to watch, primarily because he can only really go backwards.

house: we are making progress on the house, in preparation for mason's first birthday party, which we will be celebrating on 10/28. We have hung a bunch of stuff on the walls that we had been meaning to get up, and we got some black tile for the basement bathroom. Unfortunately, I haven't finished pulling up the glue from the linoleum yet, which is a pain, but is coming along. We have a grocery list of stuff that we need to finish though, amongst them is tile for the front entry, which will likely be a slate. Should be super nice.

cars: I have been busy enough that my free time hasn't been spent at the garage, which is too bad. the jetta is really close to ready... check out that blog for more on the project. The Audi performed very well Blackhawk Farms with the ACCCC last month and it was great being on the track. I have a short video that I stole from josh and edited down to just the part I am in, which you can watch if you want, even though it is long... check it (warning, 20mb). I have only been driving around in the city lately, not pushing the car much. I had noticed a few thunks in the rear lately, I assuming it was stuff in the back of the car rolling around. I happened to be driving the camry home the other night and as I pulled behind the audi, I noticed something hanging down. Sure enough, the swaybar was BROKEN. Kinda nuts, I'll get some pics tonight. but it is odd. Needless to say, the camry is doing fine. I'll likely buy some better tires for it next summer, as I hate these RE92s, and one has a slow leak. But whatever. I am still impressed by the gas mileage for a car of its size.

computer stuff: I still think my macbook is dope. still very happy with it. The move to the intels was a great move by apple. I also got a nice case for it that fits in my backpack, very nice.

side stuff... I have been inspired a bunch of times readin the MAKE blog and I have a few little projects I am going to work on, but I have been so busy with side web work and other shit I haven't had time to play. I finally got around to learning layout with CSS vs. tables, and that has worked out well for me. I am by no means an expert, but I am getting the hang of it. I don't know why I had such trouble figuring it out in the past, it is easy. I think I just wasn't motivated enough.

Other than that, nothing super amazing to make note off... off to hang some more stuff on the walls. or back to the basement bathroom. And I need to go to the garage to talk with dylan about websites we are working on. And I have some work to do for work work. awesome.

After the autox, I got home, washed the car (it was filthy). I like it clean. And it is so easy to do... it just looks so much better. Mental note: wash the car more than once every 6 weeks.

Then I drove over to meet Rebecca and Caroline at Yitca's house. Yitca's baby Ellie (sp?) is 3 weeks older than Mason, but she is like little super developed baby. She started walking last week (so at 8.5 months). She talks (mommy, daddy, shoe, etc). She waves, etc. Crazy. But good for her. It is weird cause you can't help but to compare your own kid to other kids... and it is such a weird macro view of time at this point. You need to relax, and let some kids walk before others. In 2 years, you won't care what month your kid walked. In 10 years, you won't even remember how long it took. But now, in the 6-12 month range, it seems to be SO important. It is not indicative of anything in the future. Got to remember to leave the charts and graphs alone, and focus on the baby. He'll figure it out on his own in due time.

Sunday got up, picked up dylan, and we met scott and kieran at the old shop. Loaded up a ten foot uhaul box truck (that had NO brakes, likely due to the fact that it had no brake FLUID. We filled it up and it improved. A little) and moved a bunch of stuff to the new garage. Then we swapped the old truck for a slightly better truck and made another trip. The new shop is nice. We cleared out the little room in the basement and loaded a bunch of our stuff in it. Having storage in the basement rules. Once we get everything cleaned up, organized, put away, etc, the new shop is gonna rule. RULE. ROOL. I am excited, but since I am still sick of moving, I don't care about it. For now. Also big plus: MUCH closer to Mr. Salsa, so I will get to eat there more often.

Cali is still at the old shop, and I am hoping we can get her running soon so I can drive her to the new shop. We still have some stuff there, but it is all small stuff that can either fit in a car, or is required to finish Cali up.

Rebecca's brother was over when I got home and we hung out and chatted and shit... when I first started dating Rebecca, we didn't get along SUPER well, but I think we have both figured it out and now we can chat about this and that tech shit, it is pretty nice. So we hung out a bit, then I drove him to the metra station to catch the last train to glen ellyn... and man, was it pouring. I forgot how the tires on the camry aren't awesome in the rain (Bridgestone Potenza RE92)... but they were better then taking Audrey, which is on Rs still. That would have been hydoplane city.

So overall, things I learned. I hate moving. I forget that sometimes. I also didn't get to spend enough time with Mason, which sucked, I want to hangout with him more. Having a clean car is nice, wash it more often. Kids develop at different paces, and that is not a problem, no need to compare yourself to every kid on the block. Rebecca's brother is cooler than I had realized.

So Rebecca and I are planning on going for a walk this evening... which will be nice, I feel like I don't exercise at all. I did walk to work most of the day's last week...

Then we are hanging out doing something saturday night... and on Sunday we are moving all the crap from the old garage to the new garage. It will suck, but it will be really nice to have the new garage up and running... I would rather go there than the old one in skokie. So THAT day will suck.

Then a full week of work, then (hopefully) a 4 day weekend for the 4th. that will be nice.

Rebecca is feeling a bit better too, although she isn't thrilled that I am going to the garage again tonight to work on the jetta... but the jetta is SO close... check the jetta blog for more on that.

So back to work... feeling ok, but not awesome. This is going to be a long weekend, autox on saturday, and moving the garage on sunday. Ugh. I am really hoping that the july 1-4th weekend comes together and I have time to relax.

Oh, and I am an idiot and left the interior light on in the Audi last night, and since I got home late, I parked down the block... so I had to go to the car, realize the battery was low, go back home, get the camry and jumper cables, go BACK to the audi, jump it, put the camry back, etc... it was a great way to start the morning... but I did get into the office right before the rain hit though, so it wasn't all bad...

• Mason is doing great. He is smiling lots, has begun laughing on his own, and is eating like there is no tomorrow, so I would imagine another growth spurt soon.

• I got my new glasses. I don't have any pictures come to think of it, but they are nice. I am totally used to them now. They are dope. I picked them up on friday, 6/2. The place was nice, urban eyecare on milwuakee. Close, insurance covered them, and I like the glasses. Can't beat that.

• Gardening... so we planted some flowers. And by we, I don't mean me. Rebecca and her folks did the plant buying and the planting. The backyard looks great. I think we are going to do some new sod. I need to read up on what is involved, time windows, etc. I REALLY want to build an in ground sprinkler system, but everyone tells me it is over kill. Which it is. But I still want to build it.

• Outings... we went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens with Lisa, we have gone out the burbs a few times, hung out with Robyn a few times... been busy, but nothing too awesome too report...

• I am still not drinking pop... well, I have had like 4 cans in the last month...

• We worked on the house a bit... I may have mentioned it, but we did a bunch of touch up, I laid peel and stick vinyl tile in the laundry room, hung new lights in the basement hallway, hung some more shelves in the den, hung the projector screen in the den, bought the chair rail for mason's room, painted clouds in mason's room, etc... Slowly but surely...

• The jetta is getting close to done... the list of things to do is pretty small, and I am getting excited. Check the Cali The Jetta blog for more on the progress. Once I can drive that, the Audi goes to Al's at Chicago Performance and Tuning for the A/C repair. THAT will be nice too.

• Been doing some more side work, which is nice money, I like money. I haven't gotten paid on much of it yet, but we are getting there.

• Rebecca and I both got sick, and it sucks. On Sunday AM we both wokeup commenting that our throats felt weird. Well, now it is wednesday and I am home sick. I am feeling a bit better, but rebecca is still moving along. I stayed home to babysit and recover so rebecca could get some sleep. Being sick sucks, especially when both of us get sick at the same time.

• Autox on saturday, and we are planning on moving all the shit to the new garage on sunday. Busy Busy.

• I hacked one of the tivos. I am still playing with it, so it is not 100% awesome yet, but progress is being made. It is cool.

I think that is all for now... I think. I will try to be more current with my posts, I swear.

Notes of late...

Last night we dropped the motor into the jetta. Still need to connect 1 axle, run the coolant, fuel, and vacuum lines (not tough) and run/connect the wiring harness. Then I need to tune it and get it rolling. I am excited. It is really coming along. Scott took some pics, as soon as I get them, I'll post them.

Last night driving home from the shop, I got on the expressway (94 inbound) and started heading into the city. Mind you, it was 23:30 on a wednesday night, traffic was light... I run into a group of cars, and I make my way up on the right... and about 7-9 cars ahead of me I see a state trooper, so I slow and stick with the pack. I was sitting there (actually saying out loud) 'someone is going to do it, c'mon!'... All the cars I had passed shoot by me, then hit the brakes a few cars up... wash rinse repeat... then this Lexus comes flying up, likely around 85... his xenons blazing as he weaves in and out... right around the time we hit the merge he shoot past the front of the group and floors it... and sure enough, the trooper pulls a 3 lane lane change, hits the light, and the lexus was stopped before the irving park exit. I knew someone was going to do it. Funny shit.

On the way into work (I took the bus, which is kinda fun sometimes, especially today, when I walked out the house, checked why I got a parking ticket (stupid parking too close to a stop sign, oh well), moved the Audi to a more legal spot, and walked the block to milwaukee.... and boom the bus was there, hopped on and off I went. Wasn't too bad at all.) ... so I am walking from the bus stop to the office and I see a small family, a father, son, and daughter, all riding on razor-esque scooters. Kinda cool. Some parents can be cool I guess!

But it was nice to make that, I like the sense of accomplishment. And I like getting paid. Soon I will call Al up and order that block and get the motor on Cali moving.

So what has happened since thanksgiving? Hmmmm... work is going ok, selling lots of stuff on ebay. The ebay thing is getting old, but we do need to move the stuff, and it is my job, so that is that. The boss is out of town tomorrow through end of the year, so hopefully I will catch up on all the little things that haven't been getting done. Not that it is huge, but I have little things I would like to implement that I haven't had time to work on...

I have a website project that I need to get working on... It is a site for a company that does something (I honestly am not sure what) but I am hoping to have the skeleton of the site done soon. There are some admin pages to control the content, so that will be kinda cool to work on.

Car related... the Jetta hasn't been touched, but the Suzuki Throttle Bodies came. Those are cool. I need to order the standalone engine management too. Oh and start building the engine. I have been thinking about painting the car myself, although we need a bigger compressor for that. The Audi is doing fine. Al got me a great deal on the AC compressor that I need, so that will be fixed by summer. I also put snow tires on the Camry, although I didn't replace the valve stems, so they leak air. awesome. Now I have to pay to get them fixed since we are driving to detroit this weekend and I am not risking that...

Mason related... I will post more on his blog, but he is doing good, although nothing super notable. He is smiling more, which is cool, but it is usually when we engage him. Soon it will be in general, which will be neat. He had some shots the other day, but he did quite well, barely cried and was fine since then. I am still waiting for him to be more exciting. It will come quickly.

Christmas is NEARLY here, which is kinda freaking me out cause I am not ready. We put the tree up, and there are pics posted of course... I also built shelves into the wall, which I still need to sand and touch up, but they came out pretty nice. I like them. Pretty modern looking.

I haven't got my shopping done, which sucks cause I haven't had time to think about what to get people. Time is slim now. And I am getting late in the season to shop online as I usually do. Grrrrr.

The xbox is cool. NES and SNES and Genesis games are cool. Old. But cool.

So there are more pics of Mason that everyone should check out. We are ending month 2. Word. He rules.