Back to the Grind

Well it's the day after Christmas and I think I was the only one driving into work today. My usual 30-45 min drive took 15 min, and I got to work to realize that I have nothing to do today. This will be interesting. . . I'll recap Yesterday later on . . .

Annual Christmas trip to NYC

Saturday was our second annual trip to NYC. We took one of Dad's buses up to the City. I think there was about 25-30 of us that went.

This year My father-in-law made a phone call and got us tickets to the American Museum of Natural History. (That place is huge.) Only 5 of us went to the Museum, Dad and Mom Brynan, Becky and Me, and our friend Amanda. We walked for hours, and still only saw a fraction of the Museum. We had picked out a few select portions of the Museum that we wanted to see. Mom and Dad had just watched "Night at the Museum" and Mom wanted to see the T-Rex! Unfortunately it's tucked away in the corner of the fourth floor not in the main rotunda like in the movie.


We also had to make our way to the Pacific Islander Section of the Museum to see this guy:

"Hey dumb dumb, you got gum gum?"

After the Museum we caught the subway back downtown to catch up with the rest of our group down by Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.

Becky and I almost got a ticket before we boarded the subway. We both purchased a subway pass and Becky went to go through the "gate" first. She swiped her card and then pushed the gate but it locked before she could get through. So, we just decided to swipe mine and go through at the same time. Apparently, there was a cop watching us do the whole thing and then approached us when we started to walk downstairs.

"Excuse me!", he said, "what did you guys just do?" and then we tried to explain and then he said . . . "I know what you did." My question for him is? "why the heck did you ask us what we are doing and then tell us you saw what we did?" Anyway, he told us that it looked like we were trying to steal a fair on the subway. IT'S TWO DOLLARS!! why would I want to steal a two dollar ride on the dirty subway. He said that we should have went and bought a THIRD ticket! Just because the City of New York has a bad subway gate design. Mom bolted as soon as she saw the cop walk up to us "thanks mom" and Dad came back to talk to us, too. Well, we didn't get a ticket and nobody was arrested for "stealing" a subway ride.

From the Museum on 79th we took the subway to 42nd and walked to Radio City & Rockefellar Center.

"Becky and JT"

From there the 5 of us went and had dinner at Rosie O' Grady's and then it was back to wait for the bus. The poor bus driver got stuck in traffic for 30-45 min trying to get back to pick us up, but it was a good time to take pictures while we waited. Amanda took a couple of Becky and me I'll post them once she sends them to me. But here are a couple others . . .

"Little Man, JT"

"Me and Nicky"

Getting the Xterra Detailed

When we bought the Xterra it was only on the lot for 5 days so they never had a chance to detail it. So I'm dropping my baby off at the Nissan dealer tonight so that she can get detailed. They are going to give me a loaner while they clean it, and I should have the Xterra back by tomorrow night. It's going to be weird I have become quite attached during the past week and a half. I actually drove my dad's Taurus last night. It felt really weird and low to the ground I defiantly turning in to a SUV person very quickly. I'm very curious as to what kinda of vehicle they are going to give me as a loaner?!?! hmmmmm

Well, I found out last night that our friends had to cancel their Christmas Party that was going to be on Thursday be cause there is some sort of "plague" going around their house. Good news is they are going to try to setup a "rain date."

Update: I got a Mazda Tribute as the loaner. They are terrible vehicles I feel like I'm going to break it. It feels like plastic. Anyway I'll get my Xterra back Thursday after work!

Hershey Park, Hot Chocolate and an Eagles Victory

Saturday we went to Hershey Park with our some friends of ours. (Jason and AnneMarie Yocom their two children, 'Goose', and Jason's sister and her son.) The kids love to ride the rides even when it's 20 degrees outside, but the Hershey hot chocolate makes everything good for the adults. You have to love Hot Chocolate made with fresh Hershey's Cocoa!!

Me and my business mentor


My wife and I in Hershey

On Sunday my In-Laws had a Christmas open house. It was basically anther excuse to get together, eat food and watch football. My brother-in-law and I are almost positive that Green Bay is going to go to the Super Bowl vs. the Patriots. Win and Favre will be able to retire with a Super Bowl Ring and step down with his head held high.

After the Green Bay game we jumped into the new Xterra and drove up to Reading, PA to watch the Eagles/Dallas game with the Yocom's. Of course the Eagles pull of a great win once it doesn't matter anymore. Even McNabb showed up to the game and played like he used to when he was "young." It was exciting to be able to rub a Eagle win in my brother-in-laws face who is a huge Dallas fan.

So I'm starting a blog

This is my third attempt to start a blog. I seem to get excited about it for a few weeks and then I get bored. Or I feel like I run out of stuff to blog about. So getting started, My wife and I purchased a new car a week ago yesterday and we love it. It's a 2006 Nissan Xterra. When we purchased it last week it had 8,700 miles on it, and looks brand new. I've already put close to 350 miles on it since we bought it last Saturday.
It's the newest car I've ever owned. The last car I owned was a 1996 Dodge Avenger and it was 8 years old when I took ownership so needless to say I'm pretty stoked about the new vehicle in our driveway.