New York Christmas
Christmas 2005 was spent on Times Square in NYC with Andres and Saloumeh. Surprisingly I have never been to the Big Apple. All my travels, trips, conferences, work... never took me to the City that Never Sleeps. It was a perfect day for a trip. Lets recap my Christmas trip.

Friday (12/23) I went out to Chicago. I did some last minute shopping with Novalí. We got gifts for her mom and abuela, she wrote in their cards and even licked the envelopes. Saturday I had my flight to Philly, flight from Midway, to Detroit Metro, then to Philly. I really like sitting in airports, people watching, working on my laptop, eating junk food, and reading my car magazine. Very relaxing and stress free. Just sitting and waiting.

Christmas Eve was at Andres' new Condo. He has a great place, the kitchen is amazing, if I had a kitchen like that I might actually cook! Granite counter top, new cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and beautiful tile work. His place is great and makes me very jealous... my next place, I want to own. Andres had two friends from work over and Saloumeh made some great dishes for dinner. We had wine, lamb, dill rice, chicken, chorizo tapas, and lots of dessert. Good conversation, more wine, and a lively discussion on who, how, and when to tip... everyone has their own take on the crazy world of gratuity. A little after midnight we all called it a night.

Wood floors, high ceilings, huge windows a balcony. Great open floor plan.

His kitchen is all new... stretched cabinets, noveau lighting, steel appliances... very cool!

Christmas morning we got ready while the Christmas Story played on TV. Can't be Christmas without that movie playing 24/7 on TBS. We booked a room in NYC on Time Square, packed an overnight bag, and hit the road. We NYC at 1 PM and the Big Apple trek began. We walked 8th Ave to our hotel which was in Times Square and only blocks from Central Park. The rain never let up, but at least it was not cold (got to see a positive in everything). We got a day pass for the subway and saw all the sights. I got to see all the sights I always wanted to see and do; Statue of Liberty, took the Staten Island Fairy, walked Central Park, Madison Square, Times Square, Rockafeller Christmas Tree, Empire State Building, Former Trade Center Site, Broadway, we walked and saw everything! We got soaked but it did not matter. We ate all day! Chicken KaBobs in the street, snacks, a lunch dinner with HUGE wings, coffee all over the city, and end the night with tapas and sangria at midnight. The yucca hit the spot, and the sangria put us to sleep.

We arrived in Times Square at our Hotel.

The open skyline, and huge underground subway.

Heavy rain welcomed us to Central Park.

New York City Hall.

Former World Trade Center Site.

The lights, the traffic... the City That Never Sleeps!

Radio City Music Hall.

Andres and Saloumeh in front of the Rockafeller tree.

On Monday we got our free breakfast, walked Broadway to see Lettermen's studio (but disappointed to not find the Hello Deli) and then hit up the fancy shops on 5th Ave. Wow... Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Tiffany's... we saw it all. Then a quick stop at a street vendor for some "I Heart NY" gifts, I found the Belvedere Gift box I have been searching for in Michigan, and a stop at the famed Grays Papaya. Finally we hopped the train back home. The NY adventure ended with the perfect hot dog and a relaxing train ride.

Late Show... but no Hello Deli!

Shopping on 5th Avenue.

FAO Swartz keyboard.

The grand finale.... NYC Hot Dogs!

The city was an adventure. It was smaller then I thought, but had more things packed into it. The styles and fashion, the litter, a great metro (despite the smells), array of restaurants, many cultures, any language, rude pedestrians, ruder cabbies, and did I mention the litter? I would never want to live there, but I loved being there... so how do I describe it? The city had everything you want to see, and everything you don't. It was the most amazing compilation of mediocre sites in the world. Does that make sense? I loved every minute of it... I mean even watching TV in the hotel was more exciting... it was a strange nexus.

Back in Willmington, some left overs, my pj shorts and Albion tee... and we relaxed the night away. The most action packed 48 hours ever.

Centellas Family Christmas
Another installment of the the famous Centellas Family Christmas series is over and done. This past weekend Christmas came early, because my parents will be in Bolivia enjoying their new home they just finished building in Santa Cruz. The early Christmas was great everyone was able to make it, and Heather and Kate fit under our roof as well... it was a full house.

We took family pictures in the snow, ate a lot, opened presents, ate some more, went sledding, ate some dessert, played games, and drank a lot of sugary coffee. Some long conversations, watched season one of Lost, I caught up on sleep, and we just bummed around the house a lot. It was great!

Our picture together.

The Centellas Clan.

Grandma and grandpa love their two grandkids.

Novi and Valerie played really well together.

They even went sledding together.

Novi is becoming more of a Techy everyday....

Please visit Novali's site, I just posted pictures from this weekend and Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Well this week is relaxed at work. Just catching up on a lot of things and wrapping up a few projects before taking off next week. I have a fun week ahead of me. I head to Chicago on Thursday for two days, then off to Philly for five days, and then back to Chicago... still working on New Years plans...

Empty Nest
All my students are gone! In record time today we cleared out the fraternity houses. So now it is peace and quiet... it made for a long day of checking people out, and checking rooms... but now it feels good. Yes, I worked from 8:30AM to 10:15PM... but now I for five weeks I have no night meetings, no interruptions, no emergencies to cover, and just time for me to work on projects!

I also wanted to post that on Tuesday the newest Brothers at my Chapter at Western came to my house for dinner. It was great to have them over, and Rudy was able to tag along as well. I am very proud of those guys and I like calling them the Resurrection Remix. They made up the name since they are going to bring the chapter back into the spotlight and make it better then ever! I am excited to see what these guys are capable of at WMU. Expect big things from the WMUBetas.

Well I have a lot more work to do before this weekend... and then I will be doing a lot of driving. Friday driving to Chicago to get Novali, and then driving all the way back to Saginaw. Fortunately Miguel and Heather will be helping with the driving. Oh and today I did find a short break in my day... and I bought my ticket to fly to Philly to see Andres for Christmas! Can't wait to see his condo.

Terminal
It has been a while since I blogged from an airport. This year I really did not travel a whole lot... only one trip to the west coast, and most of my other trips involved me driving (Chicago, Indianapolis, and Michigan trips). So to welcome me back to the life in an airport... I am stuck in the ATL Airport for 5 hours. Fun... it is not my fault, I was up in time to try and fly stand by, but some other people made me late, and I missed getting on the 9am flight by 5 minutes! So now I am waiting until 2:30PM... tons of fun, at least I have internet.

Anyhow AFA (Association of Fraternity Advisors) Annual Meeting was awesome! It was my fourth conference and I had a ton of fun. Some highlights... seeing Stevan Veldkamp my undergrad Greek Advisor and continued Mentor, hanging out with the Beta/Gamma crew and the famed Mary Peterson was fun as always, seeing old friends, and making new friends. It is just a good time to fellowship with people who do the same thing I do... so we all speak the same langauge, but here at the conference we don't talk about it. We talk about kids, hobbies, funny stories and just relax and enjoy the good company. It is a like a little pep up at the end of the year and I am glad I came.

I did the WRGLC DIsplay again and that turned out well, I love being in the association and I am very excited for our upcoming conference this year. I know it will be the best one ever! Another good thing was that I did not have to travel back with our red display tube... WRGA paid to ship it for me. A big surprise to me was that I was nominated and accepted to serve on the Board of Directors for Gamma Sigma Alpha. It is an honorary society for fraternity and sorority members who get high GPAs.

FedexKinkos shipped the Big Red Tube.

Gamma Sigma Alpha

Atlanta was not what I had thought it would be... it never got hotter then 60 degrees the entire time we were there, but we had a good time. We spent a lot of time on a rooftop bar at the Hilton which had an amazing view of the city. One night we went to the nightlife area... and the first club we tried to go to was $60 per person to get in... WOW! Needless to say we did not go in, but found a cool little bar in an old house converted into a club. For 5 bucks we got in and chilled in the living room. Fireplace, Christmas tree, ornaments, and some conversation. Good times.

Well the next two weeks will be a little hectic in Albion. I have to catch up on missed work, and the students are getting ready to leave campus for their break. I can't wait! Until then I will be a busy little bee. ADIOS!

Give Thanks
Some years are better then others, some years go the way you wanted, some years things just seem to go the wrong way... but either way there is always things we can be thankful for at the end of the day. Family, friends, food on the table... all the big things we take for granted when little things go wrong. I like the Thanksgiving Holiday because it is not about gifts, or going out of your way... it is just about being with family, eating (my favorite part), and thinking about all the things for which you can be thankful.

Well here is my 2005 Thanksgiving story: Monday before Thanksgiving I worked late and then hit the road to Chicago. I took Tuesday off so I could drive back to Michigan with Novali. It made for a very long Monday, but I got it done and made it through the long day. Seeing Novali always makes the long drive worth it, and reminds me why I spend countless hours in my car on I-94. Tuesday we got up and took our time, got dressed, put pigtails in her hair, and packed the car. I got her Madagascar on DVD and she watched that in the car and let me drive. We arrived in Albion and this Papi was dead tired... we lounged in the apartment, or more I mean I lounged and she ran all over taking out all her toys and crayons and making a mess.

As soon as we get to Albion she wants to stand on the peak of my front steps.

And don't forget the hopscotch on the front entrance.

Tuesday night Heather came over, and me, Novali, Heather and Jennifer from work went to see Chicken Little at the lovely Albion Bohm Movie Theater. Novali got scared at some of the alien scenes, but in the end said she liked the movie. Wednesday I went to work and Heather watched Novali... they played games, did an art project, and made muffins. Once I was done with work, we made a snowman in front of my apartment and then it was time to eat! Off to Cascarellis for some late lunch and then Novali and I hit the road to Saginaw. We left early enough and missed the major part of the snow and made it safety.

Wednesday we got some snow!

The beginning of a snowman...

Eyes and nose...

The first snowman of the year!

Turkey day is never really that normal at the Centellas house. Last year I cooked and did make a turkey, but normally we do something different. This year Miguel did something very different. He took the cooking duties and made a wide range of different foods. Too many to list here... look at the photos, appetizers, several course meal, leg of lamb, and mom covered the dessert. I of course ate too much and had it not been for Novi running all over would of snagged my traditional nap on the couch. Novi made a snowman with Grandpa, we played dominos, and my dad and I planned our shopping trip for tech gadgets on Friday morning.

In Saginaw Novi really wanted to drink Hot Cocoa in front of the fire.

Saginaw Snowman... scarf and hat and everything!

The beginning of Thanksgiving dinner... Novi loved the Salami.

Full table... wine, lamb, salads, shrimp, etc. Too much!

She learned Dominos quickly.

Playing Barbie with Grandma.

Watching Grandpa play tennis, she said her neck got tired from watching the ball.

Getting her hair trimmed... she was not too happy about it.

Friday... 5am start time. Yep... I was that guy. I like being that guy (bargain guy), and I have snagged some great deals on the day after thanksgiving, but I never did the 5am gig. The deals I snagged in the past were late in the afternoon, so this year we figured we rise and shine and get better deals. Well when my dad and arrived at Best Buy.... Longest line EVER! So we skipped it... then Circuit City was sold out of the stuff we wanted (15 minutes after opening)! So we went home, empty handed (well except for the door gift at JC Pennys). Whats funny is that we went back out at 4pm, and found two of the deals we originally had looked for, so no more early Black Fridays for me. Ever. Period.

In between shopping runs a lot of things got done. We got Novali snow pants and boots, the two of us got a haircut from my mom's hair salon, and we played a lot of games and ate a lot of food. Good times. Friday night I went downtown with some of my fraternity Brothers. Its funny cause I am not friends with anyone I went to school with in Saginaw, but when I am in town I go out with my fraternity Brothers who are in the area. Its a nice laid back time to catch up with some guys I only get to see a couple times a year.

Me, Oso (Miguel), and Angelo (Little Bo). Hanging out at Kelly O'briens

The Valtierra Sisters and Lisa (Oso's Wife).

Saturday it was rise and shine and finish my laundry. I had to leave at noon for a wedding in Bad Axe. I finally got to see the fabled town I heard so much about from Heather. It was pretty much what I expected, maybe a little bigger... I mean that Walmart was impressive. The wedding was fun, and the prime rib... oh yeah... this for sure was a weekend of good food!

Sunday.... long day on the road. The good thing is that Novali is really patient in the car and does not make a fuss. It also helps that I bought that car DVD player for her. It keeps her entertained so that I can drive. I need to go back through my planner and count all the hours I have spent in my car driving back and forth to Chicago. Kinda scary when I think about it... but each trip is worth it and she takes my mind off of all the tons of work I have to get done the following week.

So what is up this following week... Wednesday I fly to Atlanta for a conference. Really looking forward to that! But that means I need to get 5 days worth of work done in 2 days... lets see what happens. I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as I did. Sam signing out... CIAO.

I Can Hear You Now
I have been sick... I missed a day of work last week which is very rare for me... I don't miss work for being sick very often. It put me behind on work, and not to mention just in a bad mood. Mostly moody from being sick, but also because of the frustration over not being able to get my work done. I am still sick and trying to rest... not fun.

Some of my old readers might remember the trouble I had with Verizon when living out in Oregon... in short they were a pain and I decided I hate them forever. Lately my phone has been acting weird and needless to say I was not looking forward to trying to working with Verizon to fix it. On Friday I was in Jackson at the mall and stopped at a Kiosk to see if they could help... the girl was incompetent and had terrible custom service. I was not surprised...

Saturday was a fun trip to Royal Oak. Heather was going for a hair cut and hangout with her friends and I tagged along. I like that area and have always enjoyed my trips out there, and the CMU crew is fun. Well as we walked into a store I saw a real Verizon store... so I said why not and I stopped in. After I described the issues with my phone the guy said, "Okay, I'll get you another phone." I was shocked... no fight... no telling me no... no bad service... I actually got smiles, and what I wanted... good service. So now I have a new phone and hopefully this one will last me longer then my last one. For once, thank you Verizon.

Sunday I got to catch up on life... washed clothes, cleaned my apartment, went to Autozone, and did some shopping. It was a good day of catching up and just trying to relax and get better for the week.

Monday... well it was Heather's Birthday and I decided to do something I have not done in a long time. I cooked a full meal. I made Spanish rice, and black beans with chicken fajitas. It was fun cooking and cutting peppers and onions... mixing ingredients, marinating meat... I need to cook more! So included in my gifts was the gift of some Old Sam... the Old Sam who cooked. Happy Birthday Heather! 26 will be a ton of fun.

I'm a Techy!
I am still making plans and working on the new/old Sam. Some updates.

So some old me...

Last week I bought two old Macs. Two PowerMac G3 Blue and White (Yosemite Model) towers. These are an awesome backup machine, FireWire and USB, Built in Ethernet, and they can run Apple OSX. I had an old 9100 Mac at my house which I used for a back up machine until it died. So I robbed some parts from that, and then I robbed parts from one of the B&W Macs and made one sweet little back up computer. It was fun taking the computers apart and swapping parts... I miss being a techy!

It was fun... three computers opened up and being worked on in my apartment. It felt good!

I hadn't run an OSX.1 Computer in a long time... I need to install all the latest stuff on it!

So some new me...

Well I got my new rims, I went with the 16 inch Enkei MM2. That means the new me is driving on a smaller more conservative rim from now on. At first I thought I was gonna miss the cool 17 inch size, but I really am happy with how these rims turned out. I think the Sentra will get used to them quickly, we are both appreciating the smoother ride already.

I took these pics quick in the morning before work.

Soon I will wash her up and shine the tires and take some better pics for the PLP Page.

So some old me....

This weekend was WMU Homecoming. Old me... we reserved a section at Old Country Buffet and the Beta gang ate like kings. Then we went to the club, had a good time with the costume contest and betting on who could dance with whom. Jeff won the prize by breaking it down with the baseball cheerleader. Saturday morning was an alumni meeting, I have been involved for three years trying to get the group started. Years of pushing... and it looks like we finally did it. We have a small group now who is going to move forward on plans. I am excited.

Nothing like Betas and friends at Old Country Buffet!

Then we went to Cheek to Cheek... always fun!

Almost everyone made it out to the dance floor.

We left the club... where do we go... DENNY'S!

We had a great turnout for the Alumni Meeting.

Soon... there will be a Latino Society of the WMU Alumni Alum Assoc.

So some new me...

This year I took Monday off work to be in Chicago with Novali for Halloween. So right after the homecoming meeting I rolled out to Chicago. After battling some weekend traffic I made it there and when I asked Novali what she going to be she said, A Fairy! Novi was funny at Target and we found the perfect costume. Tamara had a list, and Novi pretended to read it, and would say: Halloween Costume - Check. Mustard - Check... and draw little check marks. I also noticed she is starting to sound words out... so I taught her how to spell pizza (her dinner).

She is always all excited to see me, I love it!

Chili - Check, Costume - Check, Leche - Check, Cute little girl - Check.

At home she wore the wig from her mom's costume...

Last time I taught her how to type her name, this weekend she spelled: table, dog, rat and chair! Not to mention Pizza the day before!

It is funny... she loves working on my laptop. So she entertained herself on that as she learned how to spell. She is pretty good at sounding out letters. I never realized how many letters have such different sounds in English. Its hard to explain to a 4 year old why Cat and Chair both start with the same letter, or Gym and Great... but either way she is learning!

Halloween! She dressed up as a fairy and was very cute. She got some sparkly pink shoes to go with it and was ready for the big day. It was great. She had a party at her Day Care at 3pm, which she was very shy at, maybe cause I was there, she said one of the kids costumes scared her... Ha! Then we went to the Mall and that was fun. Tons of kids all dressed up, Novi was shy at first, but then she warmed up to it and really had a good time and then did not want to leave.

The front of her Fairy costume.

Her little Fairy wings.

She loved saying Trick or Treat.

With her Papi after getting tons of candy.

As always the trip home was hard. I hate having to leave. It was a good weekend. Playing with Novali is so much fun, and she goes to bed so early now that I get plenty of work done as well. It rained the entire drive home and that made it worse.

Well, hope everyone had a good halloween and have a good week!