This is going to be an experience.  🙂

I just get back from the biggest blizzard in recent history, and still there’s more snow to greet me here in Colorado.  I just got done driving in what I can only describe as a Hell scenario… snow was coming down hard, winds blowing, low to no visibility… and I’m trying to drive down US 36.  Luckily we made it!  I’m going to enjoy the rest of the evening, warm and safe in the comfort of my house.  I’m going to vote for at very least a slow start to the workday tomorrow.  Who knows whether or not the Ozzy concert is going to go on or not!

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, just about the only day of the year when I watch football.  So far the game has been pretty good (it’s 21-17 Green Bay at the moment) but the halftime show was appallingly bad.  Slash must have squandered all of his money, because he showed up to play with the Black Eyed Peas… inexcusable!  I don’t really have a favorite, since I don’t follow the rest of the season.  Had the Bears made it this far, it would have been a different situation entirely.

The Super Bowl has had a checkered past with me… I’ve never followed football closely, and football players seem to me generally as low-brained cavemen and I don’t have much interest in their craft.  Watching the game unfold is fairly entertaining, and at least this one has been a close in score.  (Oop, so much for that… it’s 28-17 now.)  The commercials have been so-so this year, with Groupon putting up a fairly offensive ad about Tibet that has the Twitterverse steaming.

Aside from that it has been a quiet evening tonight.  More soon!

Last night I was up late working on some site revisions for my cousin’s business… it was one of those start after karate, blink and all of a sudden it is 4 am.  The changes came out great, and I’m glad to get one of my extra tasks checked off the “To Do” list.  That makes way for some fun today in the form of Tasha’s baby shower, which coincides with a small party that my friends are throwing for me.  I have opted for pizza, Xbox, and male bonding which should fit the bill nicely.

I’d best make this short so I can get some errands done before the festivities begin!  Later on tonight I will be continuing to plow through my weekend “To Do” list, which is comprised largely of two additional coding projects and preparation for a small website design that I am going to do on the side.

That’s all for now!

Tonight was a great workout, we started out with some basic punch/kick combinations to get warmed up, focusing for a brief bit on side snap kick.  After that, we moved on to partner training with the attacking side doing reverse punch, jab, then stepping out with the front leg and doing a backfist strike at the 45 degree angle followed by a reverse punch.  The defending side got to block everything, and then we got to race to the reverse punch at the end.  Talk about fun!

After a few rounds of that, it was kata time!  We got to self-train on a kata (I picked Gankaku since I’m bad at it) and after that I was tapped to work on Empi with one of the Shodans that was visiting the dojo.  After that, we did a few at full speed together and it was time for class to be over.  My Empi kata felt great tonight… snappy and powerful.  I suppose I can thank Kangeiko and a good week of R&R for that.  More soon!

Today was my last day in Illinois, I was ferried over the frozen wastelands to the Peoria International Airport.  I awoke at 5:10 am and arrived at the airport around 6 am.  My flight was supposed to leave at 8:09 am, but was delayed until 8:35 am due to mandatory pilot sleep regulations.  We ended up leaving around an hour late for the flight, but we made up much of the time while in the air landing only 20 minutes late.

Tasha was very happy to see me (and the feeling was mutual), so after grabbing my luggage we went and got some lunch before I headed back into the office.

My workday consisted of getting caught up on email, consulting on a Production bug, working on a second bug, and helping to merge some work from the previous week to a greater environment.  Not bad for a sleep-deprived handful of hours!  I’m writing this blog post up early, so Tasha and I can head out and grab some dinner before going to the start of our next birthing class (this one is the less crunchy hospital set of classes, so they are unlikely to produce as much enjoyment).  It’s going to be a tough run since I got up at what is essentially 4:15 am Colorado time.

That’s all for now!

Today was the definition of a snow day. Despite all this, I was able to remain productive by working remotely and tonight has been a very quiet evening of TV and cooking.

So far my flight is still on tomorrow, so it is back to CO for me!

We wrapped up our workshop today, right before the snowstorm set in. The ride that normally took 20 minutes took almost an hour, and I had a few dial-in meetings to attend before my workday was complete.

Now I am debating whether to brave the storm to visit with my cousins. They have a big truck to come pick me up with, so I think I am going to try it. Not going to lie, it is a terrible blizzard out there, but what is life without some adventure?

More soon!

I made it to Peoria safely enough last night, but I was quickly warned that there was a giant snow creature of epic proportions descending upon 29 states.  It’s icy breath is set to lay waste to the entire Illinois River Valley, depositing 10 – 20 inches of snow.

The roads weren’t bad on the way home from Mossville tonight, but I hear things are freezing pretty solid out there now and the snow is supposed to start overnight.  I opted to be a good company man and not rent a car, opting to borrow one of my parent’s cars.  With the weather being this bad, I have asked Dad to drop me off out there so I don’t wreck his Tahoe for him tomorrow.  I feel somehow better thinking that if the car is going to wreck, it won’t be me doing the wrecking.

I don’t know what my chances are for getting out of the Peoria Airport on time Wednesday morning, only time will tell there.  More soon!

Yesterday, after Kangeiko I noticed that my car was sitting at 99,999 miles right as I pulled into my buddy Paul’s driveway to drop him off.  A few blocks later, my car hit the 100,000 milestone (on Oak Street, if you must know).  My Saturn has been very reliable to me since I bought it in 2003, and it’s fun to mark this milestone.  I hope it lasts another 100,000 miles… heck, I’d be happy if it lasted another 50,000.

Speaking of being on the road, I’m about to head to the airport.  I’m going to Peoria for two days for a workshop, and I’m supposed to be headed into arctic temperatures and a lot of snow.  I’m supposed to be back to attend a birthing class on Wednesday, I sure hope I’m not going to get stranded in IL.  Keep an eye out here for more news as it happens.