Craziness.

Us with the Italians.

More to come.

George F*&$^ing Lucas!

We're here for the Rose Parade, checked in to the hotel and got all our materials, and already met a ton of great people. How many times do you get to put actual faces with the names you see on message boards, ones you know live half a world away? It's the greatest, and it's all thanks to Uncle George.

. . . who showed up at our Welcome Dinner tonight.

And walked past us, about five feet away. And shook 13's hand as he went by on his way out.

Once in a lifetime, man.

I'll do more later, but as Legion Founder Albin says, "You're all in a room with people from all over the world, and you losers are tapping away on your LAPTOPS?"

The man has a point.

This will become important later.

I'm totally working on Parks Boy to start costuming as Obi-Wan. He would be *so* great.

I can tell that I've got a long way to go to get there, though.

Today had ominous undertones from the start.

I just knew the vibes were getting weird, but I'd already committed internally to going in to work early. Just to properly prepare myself, I dressed in unrelieved black from head to toe--an outfit that says, "Be careful, I bite."

Stopped to get an adjustment and have my chiropractor shake his head in mute disappointment when he looked at how long it'd been since I was in. When he started feeling my neck, he was quiet for several seconds before he just said, in some amazement, ". . . Wow . . ." Electrical stim for me, and I fled, but not before he told me to decrease my stress. Okay.

Got to work and realized that one of the departments at work that drives me the most insane made a mistake that makes us all look like a pack of idiots to everyone in their field. That pleased me immensely. Not.

Also realized that I will be further delayed being able to barbeque a particular ass in molasses at work, which further frustrates me. I need to lay the smackdown on that kid.

And then it was email day too. Yahoo.

I was reduced to sending out emails to a couple of my friends at work, asking them to "stop by my office and meet with me on a non-urgent matter", just so I could see a friendly face--one that didn't want anything from me. Unfortunately, everyone I *wanted* to see was busy working or out of the office or something else equally nonhelpful to me. Bastards! :)

People are starting to notice my patterns at work. Yesterday I went to lunch with IT, which was hilarious. The service, however, sucked nut sweat. I waited over an hour for sugar for my tea, and we waited considerably more than an hour for our food. I had to speak with the manager because it was abysmal, and after that, he came out himself to check on our drinks and stuff. After he brought me a new tea in a fresh cup and I smiled sweetly at him as he walked away, the guy next to me says, "You're still raging pissed and you're being super nice to him to avoid reaching up and choking the shit out of him, aren't you?"

This is why I scare the piss out of people, and why, the more people know me, the more afraid they get.

I forgot someone . . .

. . . in the list of people who kept my week from being abjectly hellacious.

I've had a lot of friends, and many of them I've known for many years. A few make deep love and loyalty a habit, and can be depended upon to be your go-to guy or go-to girl in a pinch. This chickie is one on a short list. I'm going to have to think about what your alias will be on here . . . Mrs. Varitek?

Before I forget.

I'm still getting used to the finer points of having a son. Girls don't ask if they can pee on the Christmas tree.

Boy also walked around the corner and stood there naked but for a pair of white socks, looking at me, and Hank the Hound wandered over, sniffed Boy's unit, and went to lick it. Me shouting at him to stop was all that kept Hank from continuing.

I realize that I don't have a unit and don't have to be constantly on alert as to where I am and am not authorized to pee, but jeez.

Continuation of "Week from Hell" post.

It only lets me add so many pics at once, so the order will be wrong, but it may post in order if I can do it right. Maybe. I think. I'm also really fried, so it's also possible that it will make no sense at all.

2035 and Pirate Chickie. With these two around, I feel like I can handle anything.

Beautiful, charming, shameless GQ Sith. It's like having a real action hero be part of the family. Oh, and once you're family, we're never going away. Just so you know. :)

The Week from Hell

Sometimes, you get to the end of a week and realize that, but for the support of some of the people you're lucky enough to have around, you would have been hauled away to the looney bin. I have those weeks with some degree of frequency, but this past one took the cake. Sleepless nights, toy drives, early mornings, a holiday party committee, Brownies, a dear friend (my age) having cancer surgery, helping write and rewrite and rewrite a resolution that will help shape the future of the Town . . . email review . . . contract review . . . marital strife that went nuclear . . .

In any case, today I feel it necessary to express appreciation to those who help me keep it together.

My wife, The Dark One. Just look at her--who wouldn't want to marry this woman?

Frankentrooper's greeting as we waved him in off of 32nd Street for the toy drive. I *love* this guy.

My loyal hound, Hank. Sometimes he can just tell when I need to snuggle.

The wife and Hot Ben as Spidey. Solid new talent in the Garrison, I'm happy to report.

CIP Boy.

FYI, my standard greeting for you now (in perpetuity, as far as I can guess) is going to be, "What the hell do you want?"

And by the way, stay out of my office. :)

Parks Boy. You have no idea how much I needed the stress relief that dorking around with you the other night provided. Thanks.

"They're really, really nice ladies."