Hiphip HOORAY!

Hiphip HOORAY!

Jen has been kicking ass with our financial goals. We no longer have any balance on our personal lines of credit. Meaning, we just paid off the wedding =P The only debt we have is Jen's student loan. Granted, it's a chunk-and-a-half but we're going to try and pay that baby off by the year's end.

After that, we'll REALLY be able to stockpile money for a house and retirement. Our goal of buying this April is looking really good. Pending the market of course but I don't see the housing market improving by then.

I could never manage the finances the way Jen does it. Give this girl a cookie!

He had a checkup this past Friday and all his test results came back significantly worse than his apt 6-months prior. His numbers were either way too high or way too low.

Ever since his seizure, he's aged 10+ years. He's lost the pink in his nose and is more frail than I've ever seen him. As the last trooper from Pennsylvania, he's lived an incredible life but Jen and I aren't going to be selfish and push his life past his own comfort.

Please keep our little old man in your thoughts this week.

Jen and I headed to Ripon to see Lisa's friend Cynthia, who is a photographer. Lisa kindly bought Jen a photo shoot during her pregnancy and again afterward once the baby has arrived. It turned out really great too. Jen posed in 3 different outfits against 3 different backgrounds. I can't wait to see how they turned out.

Much to my surprise, I ended up getting in a couple shots too. To be better integrated in the shots, she asked for me to take my shirt off.

"Ummm... OK"

Thank god I shaved.

Thank god I cut my hair.

Thank god I cut my nails too!

No hotel? you say... Nope. Figured what's the point. Given that I have a little monster on the way, pulling all-nighters "for fun" will be a thing of the past. Might as well go out with a bang! I may take a small bag, but doubt it... clubs make you check them before entering so again, what's the point.

I'll be going to Vegas with whatever fits in my pockets. Never flown this light before.

(anyone really like what they're seeing from Rodgers? Clearly this guy can maintain control under pressure. Should be fun to watch him this season.)

I hate how people are blaming the Packers camp for not welcoming Favre... Hey folks, news flash: Blame Favre! He's the dusty, old fart making ridiculous demands and slandering names publicly! Give the Packs a reason to take you back and maybe they would have!

I was never a Favre fan but I respected his talent and the numbers he put up. Seeing his immaturity during all this has solidified his place in mind -- an arrogant athlete past his prime that's too selfish to be part of any team.

Good luck in Tampa/NJ, Favre. I hope you break your leg and go out with your millions of fans remembering your childish antics.

To everyone that said "I told you so" ... yea, I know. You were right.

With that said, my focus on my own business is now stronger than ever. In the two weeks that I've been back plugging away, I've lined up two new clients; one of which is going to be a monumental paycheck month after month. By year end, I want to have polished up the company message and start going after a higher class of clients; bigger names to build bigger and better portfolio examples.

To also give a better perception for new business, I've been checking out office space. I looked at some executive suites that give the "impression" but it feels kinda sleezy, like I'm cheating. I've been casing downtown Pleasanton and downtown Walnut Creek. The spaces in Pleasanton are OK; more abundant but definitely feel old and outdated. Walnut Creek has proven to be expensive and limited in options but they're sexy offices. Both have their pros and cons...

I just walked through one place today that was really cool. Plenty of space to grow in, big private offices with existing built in furniture, windows with views of downtown, a private conference room; all within a historic Victorian house in the downtown area. The space is 1,000 square feet and is $320 per sqft... $3200 per month with a 3-year lease agreement. That's pretty steep but it has everything I would need.

As much as I love it, I may have to walk away and wait until year-end -- after baby and after a quick accountant consultation. The thing about office space (and perhaps this the same as house hunting) is property moves FAST. It's one of those things that is "act now or lose it" ...how do you know when to jump on a good deal?

Today, we have an all-day event at the San Ramon hospital for a birth class, Lamaze, hospital tours and lord knows what else. 8am to 4pm... that's a LOT of baby-ness. We both opted to get it over in one crammed day versus spreading it out over weeks of 2-hour classes.

A while back, Amazon had a promotion where if you created a baby registry on their site and from that had over $250 worth of merchandise purchased by the end of September, they would credit our Amazon account with $250 to be used towards Seventh Generation diapers. We could purchase the diapers over time or all at once - it is simply a credit to be used within the year.

Jen and I knew we were going to order the Stokke Sleepi crib from Amazon (Free 2-day shipping with Prime - Thx Timmy!) so we figured, we could just suck it up, buy the crib early and score some free diapers out of the situation...

So we did. And we did!

The crib arrives early next week and I just got the confirmation from Amazon that a $250 credit for the diapers has been added to my account. Granted, these diaper aren't cheap normally but hey, they're FREE!

Tim has his reservations about the idea though. He thinks a tattoo has been this extremely well-thought out, meaningful design that the whole world is going to see. So let's come up with something for him so he has no excuses when we're there.

My proposal is simple: the letter O on his back in a super gothic/urban font. Can be small too, nothing crazy.

Please post your ideas!