Now that July is almost over, can somebody PLEASE tell me where my summer has gone?!?! It seems like just yesterday that the softball season was starting and I was planting my tomatoes. Now softball is over and I’ve got plenty of tomatoes to eat. So what happened?

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Happy Birthday, Sue!

What? I’m IT? I didn’t even know I was in the game?!?! I was tagged by Pete, so here goes:

Rules for this 8 interesting things post:

• Each player must post these rules to begin the meme.
• Each player starts with eight random facts or habits about themselves.
• People who get tagged must blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I absolutely love playing team sports. I played church slow-pitch softball last night (played shortstop) and while we lost I still had a great time. There’s nothing like playing as a part of a team!
2. I’m a “movie-holic”. I’ve got friends that call me “a walking IMDB“. While I haven’t seen every movie, I have watched a lot of obscure stuff. I especially enjoy indy movies that Hollywood hasn’t put it’s money-grubbing hands on.
3. My wife and I play a kind of twisted game. You see, I’m completely and passionately in love with her, but I still look at women as they walk by. When she catches me gawking she asks, “So what…. 7? 8?” And I’ll usually answer her honestly. (Of course, she’s the only 10 I know!)
4. When driving on the interstate highway for any length of time, I silently play the “Alphabet Game”. It’s a game we played when the kids were small and we drove to a vacation spot. You have to get words from signs and other vehicles that begin with each letter of the alphabet. (Hey, it helps pass the time!)
5. In high school, I was a geek much like I am now. When the film projector broke down it was always me that the teachers asked to fix it.
6. I’ve rebuilt an engine. It was in a Ford Econoline van that we bought in an auction. It needed a ring job and a head gasket desperately, so I did it myself. While I did have to get more new parts, it ended up running like a top. All I had to go on was a Chilton manual and common sense.
7. When I was in high school, I was in band. REALLY in band - marching band, concert band, jazz band, etc. I nearly made all-state band; I got a recall but didn’t quite make it. When I went to college it was a toss-up to be in band or go out for sports. Sports won.
8. My dream vacation will take about 6 weeks and involves watching a baseball game at each of the major league ball parks in Major League Baseball. (Even the wife would like this!)

And now, for the eight people to tag:

• Busy Mom - I hope she isn’t too busy!
• Deltus - He’s been leaving comments…
• Murph - He needs something to write about.
• Jason - I helped him with the initial setup of his blog
• Aprille - A fellow Iowa blogger whose style I like
• Christine - Another great Iowa blogger
• Sara - Yeah, looks like I’m trying to keep it in-state
• Mikey - He took some time off this year

Did you miss me? Work has been dominating my life lately. What with trying to rewrite some of the scripts that I had created last year and also helping to do my part for my team at work and the real-life things like church softball and the day-to-day chores and such, the blog has been taking a hit. Lately at work it’s been ITIL training. While it makes sense for the company I work for to have its managers trained in ITIL, I hope it helps that us worker-bees are as well. I’ve got to study tonight later and also take a practice test. Hopefully I’ll pass the test tomorrow and be ITIL certified. That is one of management’s goals for us, so I’ll help them reach that. I also hope to meet my goal of MCSA before the end of this year. I’ve got two more tests to take. One test should be pretty easy, the other I’m not so confident.

Right now we’re in some heavy weather. Lots of lightening and thunder as well as a generous dose of rain. Hope it clears up so we can play a softball tournament this weekend, but I’m not so optimistic about it. On the bright side, it’s great for my tomatoes!

So I’m over in Pella, IA. It’s a nice little Iowa town. My brother-in-law Eric is getting married today. The rehearsal was at 10am this morning (never been to a morning rehearsal!) and then the rehearsal meal was a brunch. The wedding will be at 5pm and the reception will be at 7:30. I have been asked by Brenda (the bride) to go around at the reception and take a bunch of candid shot pictures. I take this seriously - I even went to WalMart and got a new 1 Gb SD memory card! You’ve got to have the gizmos!! So later, I’ll be taking snapshots at the reception - ought to be pretty cool.

As for the rest of today, I’ll be taking pictures during the time the professional photographer will be taking them, although mine won’t be the “formal posed” pictures. It will be a lot of fun for KC and I as ZDog and J will be here in time for the pictures and even Breezomatic has cleared her schedule and will join us. This sounds like a perfect family photo op!!

Happy Birthday, Helen!

Happy Independence Day, America!

I am simply stunned by the results of this study. Who would have guessed that spending more time playing video games gives you less time to read and/or do your homework?

Happy Anniversary Adam and Angie!