Busy busy.  Meli and the kids have been in Cali for a few days.  This has coincided with a busy period at workso I am not sleeping more, but I am relaxing a bit more so that is good.  My friend going back to middle school, Jaime, visited Vegas this week with some friends in town for a kickball tournament and a bachelorette party.  It was fun.  Free limo to Hustler club where we played beer pong on the roof. 
I ran a wedding at work today and this went very well.  My confidence running banquets is at a peak there and that is exciting while thinking ahead to my future.

So great, now the it turns out that the ditz running against me actually has experience?  That's great.  Great great great great great.

Dropped the kids off and went in this morning without too much drama.  I sat in on a tasting.  It was funny because the position I am going for came up because one of the people who is my competition was in the restaurant eating.  They were quiet around me like I'd be uncomfortable.  Whatever.
The car battery died with Melissa went to pick up the kids but the babysitters son was nice enough to jump the car.  I finished my workout and came home and gave the kids baths.  Nothing too exciting.

Long days at work are wearing me out!  Fortunately they have been good days.  Also I got to meet Liz Phair and Jon Spencer which was cool.

At home, Mia still doesn't feel good.  TC decided he would rather hit and he got sent to bed early.  I think Meli is getting worn out between working hard and the kids so I am trying to help as much as I can despite my recent 12 - 13 hour work days.

Work was long with the boss on vacation.  I got a lot done.  Still talking to people about the job.  It's starting to feel like a long shot.

The dog we adopted, Lucy, ate my favorite Mark Nason boots.  For some reason I'm not angry.  I guess since I left them out its my fault.  Meli ordered me a new set.

Mia is doing better but it took awhile to get her to sleep!

Today has been pretty much all work.  Got the kids ready to help Meli and headed out.  Work itself went smooth.  We had a charity event for the local food bank tonight.  Over 800 attendees sampling cuising and having a good time.  We were represented well and my team did a bang up job.
Learned I have some unnecessary competion for the job I am going for.  Someone very high up is recommending someone with little experience in the field.  Her qualification?  From my viewpoint that she is hot.  That is it.  If I get beat by someone that is more qualified than me than I can accept that.  I really am not fond of the idea of busting my ass while someone who knows and does less than me gets paid a lot more than me.  Again.
Got home and Mia is not reacting well to vaccinations.  Her legs are swollen and she is running a temperature.  Tylenol, feeding and some TLC and she seems to be calming down.  I hope the lack of sleep doesn't hurt me as I have some long shifts over the next few days while the boss is out of town.  I get free coffee though so I am confident I'll pull through.  I also found out I finally get a day off with my wife and kids together!  It sounds insignificant unless you realize that it hasn't happened since Meli was on maternity leave.

2 days later and finally a chance to catch up!  I finally got an interview for the catering spot I want.  Not sure where it is going but the interview went very well.  It popped up on the last day of my vacation.  Not one to pass it up, I brought TC with me and took Mia to the sitters.  I left TC in my office with snacks and a scooby doo DVD. Thanks to my interesting AGM, my son somehow got on the restaurant floor and sat in on the second half of my interview.  Fortunately, Jason has a sense of humor.

Yesterday was my first real day back to work.  I had a lot of energy and enthusiasm about it so I guess I needed to step away for a bit.  I need to make sure to take some time off at a minimum of every 6 months just to maintain sanity.  As I was winding down, Geneva, a friend since I worked the WSOP, asked for help moving since I had a truck.  I arrived and she had little prepped.  I actually had to take her bed apart to load it onto my truck.  She was gracious though and it was fun to spend some time with her and her friend Chris.  They also have an adorable pug named Dexter with huge bugged out eyes.  I got home to find Meli, TC, Howie and Lucy all piled onto my bed.  Mia's acid reflux was not holding up well and she could not sleep.  I put TC to sleep, chatted with Meli, grabbed a quick snack and hit the sack.

Vacation is over!  The morning was spent prepping for the trip back to Vegas.  With rain pouring down, we waxed the last of a delicious Park Pizza and hopped on the Northeast extension and headed for Philadelphia.  We stopped at a Panera near Villanova (a beautiful campus) and then TC and I prepped for our 5 hour flight home.  We bid mom and dad farewell, heard the speeches n how we live too far away and then waved by and went through security.  Once home, it was nice to see Meli, Mia and the dogs.  Mia isn't well though and apparently hasn't had a "movement" since lat Thursday so she is very fussy.  That's kind of a buzzkill but I understand she is in pain.
Leftovers, late dinner and bed.

Sunday, September 26th - 1st Day of New Blog

This is the first post on the daily dump.  I wanted to call it the daily deuce and the mental daily dump but those titles were taken.  Great minds think alike.  This blog is a first because I am writing it for my own enjoyment, unlike my previous two blogs which I wrote for the enjoyment of others.  Basically, I want to track what I do, what I thought, my perspective on what others did and be able to reflect on where I am now against where I was a certail time period ago.  My goal is to write at least once a day in true journal fashion but without the sissy "Dear Diary" feel to it.  So, before I begin...the main characters:

Me
Meli - my loving and adorable wife
TC - My 3 year old son
Mia - My 10 week old baby girl
Howie - My boy Dog
Lucy - My girl dog
The Restaurant - Where I work
The Hotel - Where the restaurant is
My Dad
My Mom


Today is my last full day visting Pennsylvania.  My brother just got maried yesterday to Megan and she and her family are awesome.  It was also fun to see my family again and to see TC interact with them.  Tomorrow, we fly back to Las Vegas where I live with my family and work at the restaurant as a manager.  I am currently trying to get a promotion to catering manager.  I am not sure I have the experience to get this job but I have the desire to do that kind of work and need to start somewhere.  Meli told me that when going for previous new jobs and promotions, I have not been aggressive enough so I am plugging away hard to get this one.  I came up with a stellar marketing plan for the restaurant along with a plan on how to get new customers.  If I don't get this, I will have been passed over for three promotions.  Fortunately, I do love my job and merely want a bigger payday for how much I work.

I find that I get more homesick these days merely because I see my family only a few times a year and rarely all together.  When we are all together it is very fun.  My sister and her two daughters are amazing and it is always fun to bond with my brother.  My relationship with my parents is a good one.  Not without conflict, but very loving and there is always something to talk about.