Thanks to everyone who made my birthday super awesome (most notably my lovely wife who is the greatest). For everyone who wasn't able to make it, you missed a good time, and I am sure you are properly saddened such that I need not shame you any more.

Unfortunately, due to my continual lack of camera cord (I know, I know) there were few pictures from the party. Though even if I had my camera, by the end of the evening it probably would have ended up in someones beer, or the toilet, or maybe one of the stray cats in the neighborhood. For those who have a desire to be terrified, Paul actually managed to surreptitiously take a photo of myself in my awesomely-terrifying costume (I was the tooth-fairy). I swear, I was not posing for this picture, and I will pester Paul until it has been burned. But until that time, enjoy! A word to those who might have small children, I suggest that you direct their eyes away from the screen before clicking.

And just in time for the actual Halloween season, I am (by stealing) providing a costume everyone can wear this year! The link to the website is http://www.brandonbird.com/halloween_treat.html

As of 12 minutes ago, I am now officially closer to 30 than I am to 20. Crazy.

Aww...friends

This is Mike showing that he can dance much better than I can. Thanks, Mike, for showing me up.

It's almost my (John's) Birthday...and that means, as most of you probably know, we are going to be having a costume birthday party. Hopefully by now everyone has gotten their costume together, unlike myself, and is ramping up to party. It's a big weekend for parties (I know of 4 others that weekend) so everyone needs to bring their A game.

For those out-of-staters reading, I know Utah might be a long distance to go just for a costume party, but I will remind you that it is NOT a long way to go to see me. So Friday evening I will expect to see each and every one of you.

Bonus trivia: What was Michael Meyer's mask made from? (I gave false information recently not because I didn't know the answer but because I wanted to fool people)

So I still don't have my camera cord, so there are still no new pictures. I'm still rocking on the house, finally moved on to the kitchen. Katie finished painting the hallway and putting the hardware back on, so really the last place to need to overhaul is the kitchen. I've put in a couple new cabinets already and they look lovely. Next will come countertops, updating the plumbing and putting a dishwasher in, painting, and a new floor. I should be done by March maybe.

As everyone knows (do they?) I love fall and Halloween. It totally trumps, Christmas, Chanukah, May Day, Robonukah, all put together. It's just lame that it's only one day instead of the month long celebration it deserves to be. So because of that, we need to celebrate...with costumes and perhaps some alcohol. Where is the party at? Probably not at my place since it's still a construction zone...but it's gotta be somewhere. At Terri's birthday party Tristan promised to be a retired American Gladiator for Halloween, so if any of you want to see him in some spandex coveralls you best attend.

The real reason for this post is in honor of my sister's homecoming. She is on fall break this week from Duke Law, where she is doing well and making us all so proud. However, being a Terp, I (like most everyone else in the country) hate Duke. Everything about them speaks "I'm compensating for something" from their Cameron Crazies to that midget Mike Krzyzewski. So it is in her honor that I post this video (which I just figured out how to do btw). Enjoy!

Okay, so I've gotten a lot of slack for not posting the blog recently. Couple of things have been going on that have made it difficult for me to post things. (**SPOILER ALERT** The following contains lame excuses)

I can't find the power cord to charge my camera. It's been lost somewhere in the mess of our house that is still pretty much in a state of unrest. So since I can't charge my camera, I can't take any new pictures, and if I can't take any new pictures, I can't post any new pictures...and I figured, who wants to just listen to me rant about losing my camera power cord? I'm trying to find a new one, but I suspect that Casio will be a bitch about the whole thing. You never know though, I suppose.

Katie and I went to Chicago for her friend Sarah's wedding. It was pretty sweet. I had never been to Chicago so it was pretty fun for me to go. I dragged Katie and Alex (Katie's college roommate) to some buildings that I thought were cool but they thought looked like every other building they've ever seen. I pointed out that it was because these ones came first and were so influential that everyone else copied them....though they seemed unmoved regardless.

The pantry is done, shelves in, painted and everything. I am currently painting the hallway between just about every room in the house (right outside the pantry/kitchen/bedroom1/bedroom2/bathroom) and it's a pain in the butt. There is almost no wall surface, but about a billion things to paint around, so the whole room is basically cutting in.

But that's where we are in life. Kona just keeps eating and getting larger. At what point do they go from "still growing" to "morbidly obese?"

Projects continue to roll on. I finished putting a new light, switch and outlet in the pantry, and a new light fixture in the hallway. This task involved a lot of above-ceiling work, moving insulation, etc. As a result, I spent most of the day completely filthy...this lovely picture shows the state in which I spent most of the afternoon.



Unfortunately, I think I bear a passing resemblance to this guy.

The stand-in for our child (the cat) is still cute and does not enjoy all of the construction. She had to go to the vet to get her rabies vaccine (which I am told was a traumatic experience for her, the vet and Katie). When she was there she got weighed. She is 350% times larger than when we first got her...only 4 months ago. That would be like me gaining 5 and a half pounds every day for 4 months. I'd be dead. She, on the other hand, is still cute.

I'll put some pictures of the house up soon. Despite all the work I've done, it really doesn't look any different or better. Some (Katie) might say it looks worse.

It's been a busy weekend. As you can see from the pictures below, I spent most of it attempting to hang a door. First came the demolition, which was incredibly messy but also incredibly fun. Nothing beats putting a hammer through a wall just for the hell of it. Cutting in the hinges was alright, but I don't think I am destined to be a wood carver anytime soon. But now that the door is 80% in, I think we can all agree that it's going to be killer. And, just for those of you keeping score at home, that jamb is balls on plumb.

Here you can see the start of what the kitchen will look like with the relocated door. The stove will be against the new wall, with a small counter next to it, some upper cabinets with a microwave. Should be killer. We've got the technology, we can make it better, faster, stronger. Now all we need is time.

So apparently there has been some confusion over my allegedly shaven head. Rest assured, I have not shaven my head...not yet anyway. I am not quite that bald yet and until that time I will be keeping my flowing locks. Note the picture of me below taking a well timed (and staged) bite of a donut as proof positive of my hair-ed position. Also check out the post painting pictures. The job looks so good a professional could have done it.


Mmmm....dooonut...and hair


Sweet action

Ah the joys of a group painting party. Honestly, why would you spend your Saturday any other way? We got a bunch of friends together (thanks everybody!) and knocked out the living and dining rooms in one fell swoop. Soon, it will stop looking like a construction site and start looking like a home (Katie is quite pleased about that concept.) Honestly, we can't thank everyone enough who lent their skill and labor, it would have taken us literally all weekend to do what everyone working together did in about 2 hours.


It's the simple pleasures in life, really...


Despite his pleasant looking face, it's clear Tbone is not pleased with his saturday.


It's chopstick, not beige.


Way to go Goldie.