Nicotine's Ash: January 2009

blue skies at tower of terror

blue skies at tower of terror, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Amazing blues skies in Orlando (yesterday) make it hard to be upset I lost my job today. Luckily, the severance package is good so I should be ok and I'll find a job soon, but thought you'd want to know.

Mickey Pumpkin

Mickey Pumpkin, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Yesterday (thursday) was my birthday. I took the day off and went to Disney parks. I even took the backstage tour at The Land at Epcot. I always wanted to so I just did it (solo). Here's a Mickey pumpkin grown in a shaper to look like our favorite mouse. Today, I find out if I have a job still. 12+ years with the same company so at least the severance will be good if/when I get cut. I'll keep you posted...

Day 18: Happy Birthday

Day 18: Happy Birthday, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Her party was the day before this, her actual birthday is the day after this. It's a birthday weekend. This is at California Pizza kitchen getting her free sundae after her meal.

Day 17: Sunset

Day 17: Sunset, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

This is one of the reasons I moved to Florida from Ohio. Sunsets (the photo doesn't do it justice). Almost every night, there's a great view of the sunset, with so many cool colors. In Ohio, we didn't see the sun enough to have a sunset...

Day 16: With Grandpa

Day 16: With Grandpa, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

My parents arrived from New Jersey today after driving down. This was shortly after we all arrived home. They are in town to visit us but came a few days early to be here for my daughter's 7th birthday. Her party is tomorrow. My son turns 2 next weekend and my birthday is shortly after. January is a busy month.

Day 15: Before Bedtime

Day 15: Before Bedtime, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

I was home sick today and when everyone gets home, there's usually chaos. This was a nice moment when the kids were being nice to each other.

Day 14: At Day Care

Day 14: At Day Care, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Not a great quality photo, but sometimes the blackberry does that. I had a meeting all day and got out in time to pick up my son. He was pretty happy about it and ran to meet me as usual. He and the other kids gathered around when they saw me and wanted to see the photos as I took them.

Day 13: At the dentist

Day 13: At the dentist, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

They use sunglasses to protect your eyes while they clean your teeth. She went before me and did very well. She remembered that I had taken a photo last dentist visit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicotinejones/2631973270/) and thought I should do it again. Then, as I was going to take the photo, she posed. Pretty funny at the time.

Day 12: Pipes

Day 12: Pipes, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

I saw these near my daughter's school. They've been working on a road, expanding it from 2 to 4 lanes. Adding the (sewer?) pipes must be one of the final steps before final paving. It looked cool so I took the photos from my car while I was in a parking lot across the street. This seemed to be the best shot...

Day 11: In the Dinosaur's mouth

Day 11: In the Dinosaur's mouth, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Today, I found a new playground not far from my daughter's Sunday School. After dropping her off, my son and I enjoyed this friendly dinosaur. He spontaneously put his hand in its mouth. I missed it the first time and asked him to repeat the act. This is the result. I like his playful expression. He had a good time and I think I helped tire him out enough so that he napped well today. By the way, I'm still very sore from the half marathon, but recovering well.

Day 9: Disney Marathon Weekend Expo

Day 9: Disney Marathon Weekend Expo, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

This was taken while I was waiting for my cousin to arrive from S. Florida to pick up his number and race materials. It was crazy at the Expo with tons of people and booths. After he arrived and picked up his stuff, we went to Olive Garden to carb up with some pasta. I passed out in the hotel room by 9:30 or so. This was good since we were getting up at 3:30am for the race.

Disney 1/2 Marathon

Disney 1/2 Marathon, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Mid-Race...

Day 10: Disney 1/2 Marathon

Day 10: Disney 1/2 Marathon, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Woke up at 3:30am to get to the starting point at 4:30am. Ran with my cousin from S. Florida. Both of us out of shape but determined to finish the 13.1 mile race. It certainly helped to have someone to run with. We finished it and only walked a minimal amount. The time wasn't great, but our goal was to be able to walk after the race. And we were pretty much able to do that (with some discomfort, of course). I feel pretty good about it and we've already talked about doing it again next year.

I was tagged: Me at the end of a long day

Me at the end of a long day, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Stinkypaw photo tagged me...

Rules:

1. Take a picture of yourself.. riiiiiight.. NOW!
2. DO NOT change your clothes. DO NOT fix your hair.. Just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.
5. Tag 10 people to do this!

I tag anyone of the few people (besides Stinkypaw) who read this blog. This means you, Tara, Annanke, etc.

Day 8: Marathon Expo

Day 8: Marathon Expo, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Today, I stopped by the Disney Wide World of Sports near the theme parks to pick up my number for the Disney 1/2 Marathon that I'm running on Saturday morning with my cousin. Actually, running is probably the wrong word. I'll be the one jogging slowly and walking fast. I think there's around 15,000 people doing the half marathon. Should be interesting for someone like me that's not in peak shape (understatement). I'll be taking my wife's new camera with me for some action shots to post Saturday. Wish me luck!

Day 7: Sunny Florida

Day 7: Sunny Florida, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

In Florida, they say if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it'll change. This is a shot of the sky near the coast of Melbourne, FL. The winds had picked up and it had already started to rain a little (see the left side of the photo). It didn't rain much, though it looked much worse than some of the tropical storm weather I've seen. As I drove back to Orlando, blue skies with a some clouds. Weird weather is the norm here.

Day 6: A Small Plane

Day 6: A Small Plane, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

I'm a sales rep and part of my territory is on the coast of Florida. I enjoy the view from the offices I go to, often seeing dolphin, manatee, palm trees. One of the offices is right next to a small island airport. I always get the coolest view of the airplanes taking off or landing. Years ago, when I was new to this company and living in the Cleveland area, one of my customers took me up in a plane like this for a few hours. It was the most interesting experience. Like a flying lawn mower without radar. He asked me a few times to look for "traffic" as I was helping him go in for a landing. And he was serious...

Day 5: Chewie dog

Day 5: Chewie dog, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Almost forgot to include Chewbacca, also known as Chewie. He's our 10 year old schnauzer. He's extremely good with our kids. He knows to be nice to them and take some abuse - and that he can take out his aggression on me. He's also an Ohio State fan (as you can see from his bandanna). All in all, a good dog (in need of grooming). We got Chewie first, thinking if he survived - maybe we could handle kids. He survived and we had a few kids...So the experiment worked out, I suppose.

Day 4: My wife

Day 4: My wife, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

I had a few other photos for the day that I wanted to use, but I had yet to show my wife and she's a little picture shy. So to not only get her in a photo but to catch her smiling is a big thing. This was at lunch today ending almost two weeks off for the whole family. I think we're all looking forward to getting back to our normal routine. We have a busy January so it should be interesting. Three birthdays (the two kids and mine) and my company is having layoffs so we'll see how that goes...