It's the end of another year. There were many ups and downs, as usual with any year, in 2003. I'm about to recap the year that will soon pass.

Shows attended in 2003: 4
Shows that weren't Hey Mercedes: 1

Resumes sent out in 2003: 91
Interviews: 10
Teaching jobs: 2
Teaching jobs that were permanent: 0

# of times the word "fuck" appears in a blog in some form(not counting this one): 13
# of times the word "unemployed" appears in a blog: 3
# of times the word "splendid" appears in a blog: 0

high point of 2003: getting accepted into grad school
low point of 2003: losing my grandfather. I still miss him dearly
biggest investment of 2003: vacation
favorite tv shows of 2003: Scrubs, Family Guy
least favorite tv show of 2003(that was actually watched): Married to the Kellys
favorite movies of 2003: Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Nemo, Italian Job
least favorite movie of 2003: The Matrix Reloaded
favorite book of 2003: A Winter Haunting
least favorite book of 2003: All the Dead Were Strangers
favorite cds of 2003: Loses Control(Hey Mercedes), Two Conversations(Appleseed Cast), Blink 182
least favorite cd of 2003(that was purchased): Welcome to Poppys(Fun Lovin' Criminals)
goals for 2004: gain weight, get strait A's in my grad courses, get a Jeep

Ok, I'm back. After our disastrous trip to SC this past summer, Kim and I decided not to go on vacation this year because of our lack of funds. However, we also realized that we would be working our tails off in school this coming semester and working. Yeah, we won't have a ton of money, but as we get older, we still won't have a lot of money to go away with, because we'll take on more responsibilities as we earn more money. My brother had said this to me as well. If we don't go and just say frig it, then we'll never go. Yeah, we may not be swimming in our coin like Scrooge McDuck, but if we can't have fun when we're young, then when will we? So we have a bunch of ideas brewing, but do understand we can't go overboard. Sure we'd love to go to Italy or Hawaii, but in reality, that's a bit too much. We could probably do Arizona or possibly even Florida, depending on the Disney packages available. Heck, we briefly discussed going to the shore, but we'd end up spending just as much down there as we would elsewhere, and it's already been done. I did some preliminary research on flights, and found Phoenix to be not so affordable at $350 round trip, and Orlando at $225 round trip. Disney packages are quite snooty, but I ordered info so I can decide which aspects we can do without. I don't mind either trip, but we would probably go in May, so we could avoid the dead of summer in both instances and not die in the desert or the Magic Kingdom. More details to come as they come to me.

With one meaningless game in progress, the NFL playoff brackets are official. I looked back on my preseason predictions and strengthened my beliefs in my not betting on sports. Here's what I got right...
Surprise team: Seattle(had them finishing second behind St. Louis, but missing playoffs)
AFC Playoff teams: NE, Tenn, KC
NFC Playoff teams: GB, Philly, St. Louis
AFC Champ: Tenn over NE
Super Bowl: Tenn vs. Philly

OK, so I didn't do very well, but that's fine. The Bengals put a serious damper on my outlook by losing a poorly-played, must-win game. I digress, however, because they weren't even supposed to compete this year, and Marvin Lewis gave them 6 more wins than last year. 8-8 is not a bad starting point. In other playoff related news, Minnesota choked again, which is pretty sad after the start they had. Here's what next week looks like...

Tenn @ Baltimore
Den @ Indy
Sea @ GB
Dal @ Car

I'm going against my word and picking. I'm going with Baltimore(unless McNair plays), Denver, GB, and Carolina.

If this holds true, the matchups would be...

Den @ NE
Balt @ KC
GB @ Phi
Car @ St.Louis

I would take NE, KC, Philly, and Carolina in those games. Then Philly and NE in the Big game, with NE winning because of Philly's injury problems and NE being a complete team.

Merry Christmas boys and girls! I hope Santa was good to all y'all. I got many nice and needed things:
*a new coat!
*belt
*wallet
*two dress shirts with ties
*3 shirts
*one bear
*Alias Season 2 DVD
*Simpsons Hit & Run for PS2
*a cold
*my car leaking even more than before

I think that's everything so far, but I feel like I left something off...Hmm. Anyway, plans for today include Kim's house for dinner with her family. To my Grandmother's house(Nanna) for dessert and more gift exchanging, then home to get depressed about another Christmas going by too quickly and having to work tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day. Hopefully I'll be talking to all of you.

So much to cover on today's version of the blog. Let's start with the past first. This weekend was a pretty enjoyable one. No work, ate good, and had fun. Saturday involved me, Kim, Liz, and Kim's mom going to Red Lobster to celebrate the birthday of Kim's mom(which is actually today). Planned time to depart was 1pm. Skepticism arose on my part because it was a Saturday, and the last Saturday before Christmas, and Red Lobster is on Route 46, just before the mall. I feared sitting in a parking lot of traffic and waiting for hours to get a table. Surprise, surprise! Not much in terms of traffic, and when we got there, it was pretty empty. We ate some dirty seafood and dessert and left for home around 3. We dropped of Kim's mom and then took Liz home because we had to prepare for day 2 of the weekend. P.S.-Sorry I missed your call Den, but as you can see I wasn't really home. I don't believe the game went to 3 OTs...Anyway, I needed some warm, wool socks, which I'll explain in a minute why. Consensus said to go to Kmart. We went and they didn't have any wool socks, so I just got a pack of worker's socks with extra padding. We return to Kim's place so she can pack up some stuff and back to my house so I can get my previously packed things and we're off to Point Pleasant. (Tomorrow we are going to the Eagles-49ers game at the Linc.)

We arrive at about 6:30 and talk for a bit before going to eat. Dinner was so-so, and we went to the video store to get a movie since it was still early. As usual, there was nothing good available, so we rented The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, because Rachel had said she wanted to see it, and because there was nothing else. The movie was pretty horrible. Not much sense was made of it by me or anyone else in the room, but at least it made us tired. Sleep.

We woke up on Sunday morning and got ready for the game. Forecast was upper 30s, so we dressed in many layers. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there, and it was early still. We ate our sandwiches and walked around the stadium, which is really nice. As we were walking, we noticed all the tvs had the Bengals-Rams game on, because I was the only one in the stadium wearing a Bengals coat and they knew I was cool. Actually, the game was important to the Eagles because it represents home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Bengals are down 17-10. We see bits as we walk from tv to tv. Kitna has no time at all. Rams drive and kick a FG, up 20-10. More walking, Bengals get ball back and start running. Nice drive going. Roughing the passer on the Rams, move the ball. Tony Stewart with a nice reception. Ball down to the 2. Bengals try corner route to Kelley Washington. Intercepted in the endzone. Old Kitna must have tied up the new Kitna in the locker room. That pass was terrible. Behind the receiver. Ugh. Rams know this is the end. They drive right up field and score a TD. 27-10. 4th quarter, at St. Louis. Game over. Shit. Kev and I grab some hot chocolate for the 4 of us and I grab 2 "hot" pretzels for me & Kim. They were hot when I got them, but were cold by the time we got to the seats.

Pre-game lineups are pretty nice. After every 49er's name is announced, the crowd collectively adds "sucks" to the name. (i.e.-"at cornerback, #31, Mike Rumph"..."sucks" "safety, #33 Tony Parish"..."sucks") Funny. Game starts with a deaf child singing the National Anthem(?). Is that possible? So that's what it seemed. Pretty incredible. 49ers lose toss. Eagles receive. First play, McNabb looks down field and is picked off. Wow, not the best way to start a game. 49ers drive, but the holder muffs the snap on a FG attempt. Game remains 0-0. I won't continue with the drive-by-drive coverage because it's boring. Just know that Kevan Barlow could not be stopped and Brian Westbrook is awesome(returned a punt for a TD). 49ers scored a go-ahead TD with 1:58 remaining. Eagles drive and Todd Pinkston makes a nice catch in the endzone. Extra point good. 28-28. On the kickoff, 49ers get caught at their own 10. Eagles hold them on runs and stop clock, but with :01 left, the 49ers call timeout. It's 4th down, and Garcia takes a knee. End of regulation. OT toss-49ers lose and Eagles get kickoff. Crowd erupts. Decent return. First play of OT-McNabb intercepted. A collective "Fuck" arises from our section. Game over. Niners kick a field goal to win 31-28 in OT.

Past is covered. Now for the future...The 26th would be a nice night to get together. I have to work until 5, but anytime after that would be fine. If anyone has any fancy ideas, feel free to share, otherwise, we'll spend the night deciding where to go. Hope to see everyone. And in case I don't talk to you beforehand, enjoy Christmas!

I registered for my classes today. I have class on Monday and Tuesday nights from 5:30-8. I don't know what to do about work. I'll be working Wed-Fri 9-5, but I would like to have off either Monday or Tuesday, and I don't want to work Sundays. I have to figure it out so I can get 32 hours to keep benefits and stuff.

Greetings and salutations. I realize Christmas is a mere 8 days away, and still don't know if I have to work on Christmas day or not. I guess I will be a little bummed, but I don't think it will be all that bad, as long as I'm not working all day. I'm also still waiting for an "official" letter from Montclair State about my acceptance. The semester starts in a month, so I hope to get things done asap...Yesterday at work, I had a Clerks moment. Some old lady asked me where a certain candy was, and like the smart-ass I can be when it's 5 minutes before I leave, I say "probably over by the rest of the candy." Then I left. Oh well.

Kim and I are going to the Eagles-49ers game on Sunday with the brother and sister-in-law. I haven't been to a pro football game in quite some time. I think I went with my brother a few years ago to an Eagle game, but I'm not sure. Otherwise, it was many years ago when Boomer was on his last stint with the Bengals at the Vet. My brother's been hooking me up with some sports festivities lately. I like it a lot. Maybe next I'll be able to see Monster's Inc on Ice or something. Hooray for Mike doing a triple axle.

I have a plan for the future. When I talked to the comm professor at Montclair, he said NJ doesn't really have a good school to pursue my doctorate in comm. I've always wanted to go west(i.e. Arizona or even Nevada), so I may just move out there while finishing my education just to get away for a while. I did a little research, and found that Arizona State has a vast variety of programs that suit my interests. I intend on looking for UNLV, Nevada, and Arizona as well. I think it will be an awesome experience, plus I won't be breathing in pollution as much as I am here. The only thing would be that moving out there would require me to have a place to live. Lots more research to come...

Is anyone coming back to NJ for the holidays? Kindly share your ideas. Sorry I don't AIM anymore. I'm not home during the day, and usually do stuff at nite. This blog is already staying past its welcome. Good day!

With the holidays approaching rapidly, I figured I needed to bring some Christmas spirit to this blog. So I'm gonna post my Christmas list. Here's what I want for Christmas:

*Rachel's mom to be fully cured for good. No more worries.

These are the things that would be nice as a bonus, but don't come close in comparison to priority #1:

*a Bengals playoff berth
*a new Jeep sitting in my imaginary driveway in my imaginary house in Arizona
*stop hearing about Paris Hilton
*no more snow until maybe February
*an overhaul of my music collection(I have too many cds I don't ever listen to)
*to pay off my credit card(actually I'm almost there)
*Alias Season 2 DVD
*a winter coat
*spend time with Kim, my family, and friends, and not have to worry about crap for the time that I'm with them.

So that's it. Feel free to share your lists amigos.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It's been six days since my last blog. So friggin' sue me. Not too much has occurred in my life this stretch of a hiatus from the blog. The weekend was rather uneventful because I was snowed in on Saturday. Sunday, I was able to see Kim at least, and escape my house for a few hours. I couldn't tell you what I did on Monday other than work since I can't remember. Tuesday I saw Kim again and we watched the previously mentioned Alias. Last night I went to see the Rangers game with my brother. Enter new paragraph.

Despite being a fan for my life, I had never been to the garden for a Ranger game. Sad, I know. Anyway, my brother, who is the best brother in the universe, got tickets from a co-worker to see them against Montreal. My brother had to work last night, as did I. I worked until 5, and his last report was at 6:45. The game started at 7. The positive was that he works in Rutherford, and I in Carlstadt. The drive was not taxing to say the least. He decided it would be best if we drove into the city since we were close to route 3, and we figured if we took the PATH, we'd probably get there even later. His friend gave him a shortcut thru Hoboken to bypass the winding road leading to the tunnel, which probably knocked a good 15 minutes off our wait, but we still had to go thru the tunnel. The tunnel was a very slow crawl. We ended up missing the entire first period, with the Canadiens leading 1-0, but listening on the radio en route to the arena. When we got into Manhattan, there was surprisingly a crapload of traffic and stupid people crossing on red lights, etc. We parked not far away, and walked to the garden. (Side note: the only Rangers jersey I have is an old one of Niklas Sundstrom. Ironically, he's on the Canadiens now)

Upon entering, we walk towards tower "D" which is the gate listed on our tickets. Then some guy tells us everyone has to enter thru tower "B." Unfortunately, we circumnavigate the arena, passing long-ass lines at the snacky stands before arriving at our section, 72. Usher guy tells us to go around to the other side to our seats, and when we do, we find people sitting in them. We proceed back to where we first came in and ignore the usher and sit in close by but empty seats. We sit down and Chris Simon and Darren Langdon begin beating the bloody hell out of each other. Nice way to start the second period. A few minutes later, people show up who have tix for the seats we're in. We go back to our real seats and make the people there move. Now we're stuck in the middle of the row. Neither of us had eaten dinner and we don't feel like going thru ten people to get to the stairs or waiting in line for food. Chris Simon scores the tying goal in the second, and the Rangers fall apart in the third to lose 2-1.

After the game, we drive back into Weehawken and hit up Houlihan's for some post-game dinner. Good nachos and a chicken sandwich do me well, and then it's off to pick up my car and drive home. End night.

I really had an awesome time. The atmosphere at the garden is filled with energy. It gave me hope that I can get to more games from now on. May blog this weekend. If not, enjoy the snow on Sunday again. Godammit!

Pizza nite! And a blizzard ensues. This crazy weather. It's probably snowed about 5 or 6 inches I'll say, and it's supposed to continue through tomorrow night. The good thing about it was that I went to work early with Kim's mom, and was able to leave early, at 3:30. It had started to accumulate, but not as bad as if I left my normal time(5 or 5:30). I woke up this morning at 6, because I had to go in early, and turned on the tv. I noticed that route 3 was shut down at Passaic Avenue, just the place I had to drive to. So I find out that someone was speeding at 3 am and hit a utility pole. The road was closed until about 9 I think. Traffic was diverted thru Clifton and Nutley for 6 hours. That's a pretty poor job considering it's a major highway leading to the city. Anyway, that's the story of the morning.

Since my next two days are shot, I'm probably gonna shovel tonite and clean my room. I helped my dad put up Christmas lights tonight already, but it's still only 8! Man I'm bored. I'm chatting with Kim and Liz right now, so I'm gonna go. Enjoy the snow.

If you already read Kim's blog from earlier today, or if you happen to read the blog backwards, then you know I have good news. I met with the professor from Montclair State, and he told me he's going to have the school write me an official letter of acceptance into grad school! Dude, I can't even tell you how happy I am after hearing that. He was really nice and helpful. He explained the three paths in communication I can take, and recommended the first two classes to take. He also said that I may have a good chance of gaining a teaching assistantship since I have some teaching background, and a communication background. I am so psyched. So that's the good news of the day.

My appointment was at 12:30, and I was done by 1, so I decided to do some Christmas shopping since I took the day off from work. I finished shopping for Kim, mom, dad, my brother, my uncle and his girlfriend. All that in an hour and 15 minutes. I got to the mall at 1:30 and left at 2:45. I beat traffic home as well. It was a pretty sweet few hours.

Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow in a blizzard, or so I hear. I'm not ready for snow yet. If it's going to be a big storm, then this is one of the earliest big snowfalls I can remember. Usually they hit in Feb or March. Anyway, that's winter for you. I think if I feel adventurous, I may tinker with my webpage today. Kim's at school, and I don't have anything else to do.

Welcome, December. Man am I happy this year is almost over. Hopefully it will mean I am thisclose to beginning grad school and even closer to leaving job x. It's Monday, and that means the late shift at my crappy job. Gotta be there at 2:30, so I still have some time. I haven't mentioned this on here yet, mainly because I don't know what to do about it-my sister in law's father found a job for me. It's in a private school in Brick as a computer teacher, which will allow me to work 3-4 days a week, with the option to pay into benefits. The job is mine if I want it, since they really need someone. My brother and sister-in-law have made their home available to me the days I would work there, so that's great and I wouldn't have to commute over an hour every morning. Obviously I also want to start grad school, and I don't know the final decision because I have to interview hopefully this week at the school. Anyway, I wanted to find out the decision before making a decision about the job, because it would be difficult to do both, unless I knew my schedule for work and classes. I mention the job yesterday to one of my family members, who later in the day tells another family member, and the latter family member decides to attack me and basically question why I would even consider the job. That really pissed me off because it has nothing to do with this person. It's my choice to make for something I need to do-work in my field. I still haven't made up my mind about it and say this, but I'm still questioned because it "doesn't make sense." I guess I know why I wonder about my confidence so much. People shoot down my outlooks by overemphasizing the negatives and not even seeing the positives for me.

Anyway, fuck that shit. Bengals won another awesome game yesterday, shoving it right up Pittburgh's ass. Next week is the battle for the AFC North. On a related note, Kim asked me if I thought the Bengals could get to the Super Bowl yesterday. After initially smiling, I realized that lately in sports, anything is possible. Remember the year the Pats won the SB, Rob? Who was in the SB last year? Oh right, they're both awful this year? Cuse won the NCAA, the Marlins won the series, the Spurs won the NBA. Stranger things have happened, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself. If they made the playoffs, that would be simply amazing in itself.