Holidays are over...
Well it was a great two weeks! I had Novali for 11 days and had a fantastic time. Spent a week in Chicago and shopped, visited with friends, shopped, and hung out with Novali. I spent Christmas in Chicago with the Gomez family and that was nice and relaxing. Andy flew into Chicago on December 27th and Novali and I picked him up and then drove to Albion. The following day we rolled to Gladwin to see my folks.

We had a great time at the lake. It meant sleeping in, or at least trying to with Novali waking up early. We relaxed, made trips to the store, did some ice skating, opened lots of presents and just had a good time with family relaxing and hanging out. Raquel came up with the girls and Dennis and we just enjoyed talking and hanging out. Novali and Valerie were really able to play together a lot, even with the extremely different energy levels!

I got to spend New Years in Bad Axe with Heather and Greg. We lounged, ate at Big Boy and just relaxed and rang in the near year on the sectional. I was looking at cars online and dreading the end of break and the fighting the weird desire people have to dream of great resolutions.

Below are a few pics from the holiday break. I posted a full gallery on Novalis website: Novi's Pics

Here are pics from the mosaic table Novali and I made:


Another project over break was building a bookshelf in her room:


In Gladwin we spent time with the Centellas family. Everyone was there but Miguel and Kate. The girls got tons of gifts!


Grandma planned a trip to take the girls skating. Valerie got frustrated, Novali went really slow but finally picked it up a little. It was a lot of fun.


After Novali's success at skating... we thought maybe she would like watching some hockey. She was slow to catch the game... but she loved the snacks.


Valerie's birthday in Jan 3rd. Everyone had to be back to work then, so we planned a birthday party for the 1st... unfortunately she caught the flu! Party was canceled...


Its sad that break is over. On the 2nd my parents drove out to Philly area with Andres and I took Novali back to Tamara. On the 3rd I had to be back to work and life would be back to some type of normalcy. This weekend my parents flew back to Bolivia (I still have not heard from them). We are working on plans for their next trip... and the potential for the first big Centellas gathering in Santa Cruz, possibly next Christmas. As we get older it is harder and harder for all of us to be together in one place... especially with us living in four different states and two countries.

Here's to the next Centellas Christmas Spectacular... and to hoping we can all be there.

The Traveler
This past weekend Heather and I went to Gladwin on Saturday. We met up with my Uncle Ed, Aunt Cyndi and my parents. We had dinner and it was a great time to catch up. During dinner the subject of points came up... (my family is big on collecting points, Speedway, Hilton, Best Buy, etc.). My uncle asked me about how many nights a year I spend in hotels. Off the top of my head I said maybe about 30 nights per year.

The following day we went to Saginaw and visited with my sister and her new baby Ayanna. Went to church with my folks and had a nice family dinner where my Uncle Bob and Aunt Genie joined us for some delicious Lone Star. Man I love steak... Anyhow the Saturday convo got me thinking... how many nights per year do I spend in hotel rooms? More importantly... how many nights do I not spend at home?

Well I did a quick look through my planner and realized in 2006 I spent about 60 nights in a hotel! So I tried to make a rough count of days spent in Chicago visiting Novali... not double counting business trips to Chicago that I stayed extra, I had nearly 50 additional days gone to Chicago. Then I looked through my planner and thought about weekend trips to visit friends and/or family and that was around 25 days. So if you total that up in 2006 (I did count my projected time up until New Years) I spent nearly 135 days on the road! That is more then 1/3 of my year, so 1 in every three days I do not spend at home.

Wow. So when I blog about being on the road again... really I am just back to doing what I do best and most often... So like I always say....

"Thats what I do."

Big Wedding
This past weekend was Miguel's wedding. It was a great weekend... Andres and I were in the wedding, Novali was a flower girl, and everyone had a great time in downtown Chicago.

The weekend started poorly for me. My flight to Chicago was canceled and all flights grounded into town... I was so distraught that I might miss my Brothers rehearsal dinner that I nearly started crying. Seriously it was that bad. I luckily was able to land a flight into Midway on another airline and had to get a one way ticket... after a fun cab ride to Ohare from Midway... getting lost in Des Plaines... I made it to Evanston for the dinner. Relieved to be with family, I ate and just had a great night.

At the wedding Novali was a doll, Kate was beautiful, and us Centellas boys looked dapper in our tuxes, and my mom had a sweet hat (and Novali complimented her on her jacket). We had a great time and my dad made an awesome toast! Little teary again.... maybe. Then we ate, drank and danced the night away! Novali was a terror on the dance floor and I think danced with everyone in the wedding party. She was the life of the party and I think half the reception video might be of her... hope she didn't steal the show.

Sunday we had a great brunch and packed up. My parents and Heather and I went to lunch with Novali, Syed and Tamara before hitting the road to Michigan. Hit some snow on the way home but made it back to Albion safely. I hate to make this short, but I have been out of my office for nearly two weeks and have a ton of work to do. I did find some time to post two new galleries on Novali's website.
Please check them out in her Pictures Section. Novalí's Site.

Today my parents arrive for a three day visit in Albion. I am looking forward to spending more time with them since we were so busy at the wedding. The students leave town this weekend and then I get a break for a little while and can catch up on paperwork and reports... fun fun fun.

Novali Vacation
So this is the longest amount of time I spent with Novali in a while! I came on Thursday morning and stayed until Tuesday afternoon. Not only was it a lot of time in a row, but no school, no work, no places to go... nothing but hanging out! We watched movies, went shopping on Black Friday, played at the park, went to the emergency room, read together, and tried on shoes for the wedding. Wow... I am tired just thinking about all of that! Needless to say there are some funny Novi stories in this long weekend. Here are a few highlights:

Toys 4 Tots
On Black Friday I took Novali shopping. We went to Kmart and I wanted her to pick out a gift for Toys For Tots. The night before we talked about it and what it means to give to others. She related it to a can drive her school did for Thanksgiving. Wow, they are teaching kids early these days about service. I told her we would not buy her anything since she would get presents for Christmas, but that we would buy something for someone who might not be getting anything. She said it was a nice thing to do as we walked into the store. In the store it was a little harder, she kept asking, "Can I get that... or this...", but she did not carry on or beg... she picked out two nice toys and we took them to the service counter. After we paid for them, I told her how proud I was of her and how nice of a thing it was. Her reply... "Can I get some pizza?" I said yes... she said, "With Crazy Bread?" I said "Yes, and I will even get the sauce", she said, "I don't like the sauce."

It was great. We sat and ate in KMart and talked about the toys she wanted for Christmas. Then later at Circuit City they had a Toys 4 Tots booth set up. As we are walking out Novi stops me... I think we should give for these kids to right? How can I say no? Another $10 out of my pocket and we headed home.

Movies and Macy's
Saturday we went see the movie Flushed Away. The movie was a little over her head, and at times scary. Half way through the movie she stood up, looked at me and said, "I don't like this movie, lets go home now." The funny look in her eye nearly made me crack up, I asked her to give it a second chance. She waited through the movie, and as we walked out she said, "I should picked the other movie." We left the theatre and walked next door to Macy's. One of the missions for the weekend was to get her wedding shoes. Man finding white shoes in Chicago in November is not easy.

Well in Macy's we hit the jackpot. They had a display pair on clearance, it was her size and a very cute off white pair of Kenneth Cole girls shoes with a little rose on them. She tried on the display and it was perfect... it was the only off white pair they had. Well guess what... they could not find the mate! Two different people looked. They kept asking us to white as they looked... NOTHING. When the last woman came to break the news to us for the third time that no one can find the shoe.... Novali told her, "How can you not have the other one?" It was not snobby or mean... very matter of fact. The lady apologized, and I think Novali's career in management just started.

I have problems
Sunday Novali awoke crying. The night before she had a slight nose bleed and complained after that her ear hurt. She took some medicine and went to sleep. Well in the morning it was worse and she was crying from the pain so Tamara and I took her to the emergency room. She has an ear infection... reminds me of when I used to have them all the time as a little boy. Must run in the family. Well on the drive home the topic of being good came up. Tamara asked Novali if she is always good for her papi, Novi said yes. So Tamara asked, "Why aren't you always good for me." Novi replied "I try, but sometimes I can't help it." Tamara asked "Why can't you help it?".... to which Novali responded, "Because I try and try, but sometimes I just have problems." Tamara and I cracked up... she said that because when she does act up Tamara asks her, "What's your problem?" Hence she internalizes it as when she is misbehaving she is having problems. Too funny...

Cheaters never win
Sunday night Novi was feeling better and after shopping all over for white shoes we went to the park. We played on the Tic-Tac-Toe board. Well Novali was cheating and taking more turns. I told her that she was cheating. She said she wasn't, but I told her that not letting me take my turn was not fair. She said, "Well it might not be fair, but its not cheating." I asked her what's the difference, she replied, "Not everything is fair, I didn't win because I was cheating." Such the young philosopher.

School
Monday I took her to school. It meant I had to get up horribly early. Its been a while since I had to be up that early, I can't believe that when I worked at JCI in Holland I was at work each day before 7:15am. How did I do that! Anyhow... back to Novi's school... I got to meet her teacher, and see all the other little kids in their uniforms. It was really cute and her teacher was great. After school I was outside waiting for her and she ran out, waving bye to her friends and asked to go to the park. So of course we went. We played, ran around, pretended to be on a pirate ship, and watched a big Dalmatian chase a little squirrel.

It was a great time! Tuesday I took her to school again and then I packed and went to the airport. I had a great time in Chicago as always. Now I am in New Orleans and I have back to back business meetings for the next 48 hours. Tonight I got to relax on Bourbon street and now its back to work. Its been a good week so far, and to top it off I finally got my new phone... and this post is brought to you by my new Treo 700p. I finally got a Palm Pilot Phone... its been five years in the making! I can't believe I was this patient. CIAO!

Thanksgiving
Wow... its been nearly a month since my last post. I really fell behind. Its been a busy couple of weeks. I spent the first two weeks of November dealing with my insurance company. Luckily everything from my car theft was covered, even a rental car to get around with while my car was in the shop.

Work is finally starting to slow down... so what does that mean? I start working on more consulting work, yep... life never slows down for this guy. I have a few new projects I am working on and some exciting programs coming up.

November 7th was a big day in Michigan. The voters passed a proposal to eliminate affirmative action, we re-elected a governor who clearly has done a poor job, and Heather got one year older. We went to a fancy dinner in Jackson and enjoyed some random political celebrations, wine, and a just time to be out and relax.

Yesterday my parents returned from Bolivia. I am glad they made it back without problems. The political situation down there is less then stellar again. We will have a fun holiday season traveling around and seeing each other and catching up with my family.

Tomorrow I head to Chicago for Thanksgiving. I will be in Chicago until Tuesday when I head to New Orleans for a conference. Then next Friday I fly back to Chicago for my Brothers wedding. Its going to be a busy travel time (nothing new for me) and some fun family get together. I am really looking forward to Miguel's wedding... the first of us to get married. Kinda crazy... we are all grown up now.

Hopefully during this 10 days of non-stop traveling I will find some time to post again. I need to get some new photos up. Keep checking back... I will be updating this again soon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

NO!
Well it finally happened... the thing that would push me over the top and want to leave Albion. I can put up with a town with only two good places to eat, where everyone knows your business, that doesn't have anything open 24/7 (except McDs), and that doesn't have a good shop that I trust to take my car to... so what has pushed me over the edge?

I went to Grand Rapids this weekend... which reminded why I like living in a city with nightlife, culture, great food, lots of friends, different places to visit, not one but two malls and a TJ Max. Its great! Hermen was in town, I took him, Erin and Heather to San Chez for awesome Tapas... we went to a costume party... good times!

On Sunday morning I get a voicemail from Albion College Campus Safety and an email... my car got broken into over the weekend. They were not sure on the extent of the damage or theft since they didn't know what I had in the car. I got back to Albion and sure enough... they took everything! Well except my burned CDs and cheap sunglasses. They took my faceplate and my speakers, which during dinner tonight I did a rough estimate and total damages are going to easily be over $1000. Man I hope my insurance covers some of this... I am so mad.

My broken window... glass everywhere!

My empty trunk... many of you will remember all the posts of my car work on getting my system set up just the way I liked it.

Here is the real burn. Above my car... is a security camera... my car is parked 25 feet from the main entrance to a well lit building... guess what? Good lord... they broke out my side window and there is glass all over the place! They ripped all the wires in my trunk connected to my speaker system. What sucks the most is... knowing that someone targeted my car. Someone must of seen me around town, with a nice radio and figured they could take my stuff. Well they took my stuff... and there is nothing I can do about it. Why can't I do anything about it... cause that freaking security camera does not work. Booya!

Under Motivated and Over Caffeinated
Alright folks... so for the past two years I have really struggled to get motivated. I am still working a lot, and holding some different leadership roles, and doing well at Albion and with my fraternity roles. However, I have felt that I am just not doing the same type of things that I used to do and really getting involved in making a difference and a change.

Well as I wrote about before... I was involved in a key group of Brothers in my fraternity this year. Five Brothers came together to brainstorm what we thought the perfect future of our fraternity would look like, and what operational changes needed to be made in order to actualize those dreams. Well we created a document we called Proposition 86. It was a revolutionary document, and many Brothers said it would be impossible to 1. Get voted in by our House of Delegates, 2. Create simples steps for reaching the goal, and 3. A final actualization of the plan. Well this summer along with getting passed 52-1... and me getting elected to my International Board of Directors (IBOD) meant we were well on our way.

This fall has been a slow start for me... back to the under motivated part. I have just struggled to get into a big project and really move it forward. Its been on my mind a lot and my attention spam is shrinking as I am getting older, either that or something is lacking. What is it? Then this weekend came up... my IBOD had a retreat in Galena, IL. Now I am ready to roll!

We went to this small resort town in Northwestern Illinois. It was a small town with vineyards, golf, skiing (in the winter), water sports... very nice. We rented a big house there for the 10 of us and had a retreat. We spent time bonding, drinking, playing poker (I won money!), and of course meeting and talking about the fraternity and its future.

I was drinking a lot of coffee over the weekend... thats the over caffeinated part. We stayed up until 2-3 AM each night talking about recruitment, hazing, ritual education, leadership training, scholarship, programming... the history of our fraternity. It was an exciting time and I feel confident this board is going to do great things. I will be leading a few major projects in the fraternity and I am very excited.

So hopefully I won't need that much caffeine in a long long time... and also that now I can get motivated to tackle some of these big projects. I am very excited right now for what the future holds.

Edit - Bonus of the trip is that I got to stop and eat with Novali on my way home. She has another loose tooth.

Scratch That, Winters Here!
So in my last post I said Fall is here... well we just skipped right over there and now its winter. This morning I awoke to snow on the ground. Fun fun fun. Actually, no not really. I did not put on my winter coat in protest.

Outside of my apartment this morning.

I bet it is 80 degrees in Santa Cruz.

Moving back in with my parents (who now live in Bolivia) never sounded so good. They even have a spare bedroom... I call dibs!

Fall is Here!
So by the end of the week Albion will of had its first snow of the year... yep its that time of the year. BOO!

Speaking of Boo... its that time of the year as well. Where as I have never been a big Halloween fan of course Novi is and I spent the weekend out there. We bought a costume and Novali will be Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora). We went to a little makeshift Fall Fest in Chicago. The hayride was pulled by a tow truck, the horse rides were on a basketball court, and the pumpkin patch was a fenced in area with small pumpkins thrown around. All in all a fair attempt to bring the country to the city... but just not the same.

There was a petting zoo at the Fall Fest.

Novi looked through the patch, and found her pumpkin.

They had some inflatable games, those were her favorite.

She climbed over and over again.

We had some fun working on some craft projects Heather sent along with me again. I also got to help her with some homework as well. We went to the mall and looked at winter coats and shoes for the wedding. She is getting excited for her role in Miguel's wedding. It was a fun little weekend.

Decorating her candy bucket.

Trick or Treat!

She is working on tying her shoes now.

Some of her homework from school.

Well this week is Homecoming at Albion, so I am busy with that... and it is also Homecoming at WMU so I am trying to get over there as well to see some folks. Not too busy, just a lot of places that I want to be...

Novi Time
I hadn't seen Novi in three weeks... and hadn't talk to her in nearly two weeks. Each time I call they aren't home... busy time of year for everyone. So this weekend I went to Chicago. I arrived late on Friday night. I had to pack for my trip to Ohio University on Monday (I am driving straight from Chicago there) and then the horrible rain storm slowed down my a lot. I got there and she was sleeping at her Abuela's house. I picked her up to take her home... as she was walking up for me to take her to the car... she told me... "Papi, I learned how to read... finally." For those who keep up on my blog you will get the joke (if not read two posts below).

Saturday we played in the morning, she spelled words on my computer and watched some Sponge Bob. Then we got ready for a birthday party of Novi's friend Carissa. Tamara and I are friends with Carissa's parents (one of Tamara's sorority sisters and one of my frat Brothers). I took Novali because Tamara had class and was not able to go.

The Clown's "business card" was a picture with her number on it for kids to color and take home. Clever.

The clown at the party was great! This was Novi's balloon animal.

Novi got her face painted and a tatoo on her hand. She was mad that she was not picked to be a volunteer for the magic show. She got over it and enjoyed her hot dog and small glass of sprite.

Saturday night we worked on a light catcher. Heather bought the craft for Novi to do as a birthday present for Tamara (on Sunday). We got to work on that, and I got to enjoy how compulsive Novi is when working on projects. Everything had to be exactly perfect. Each grain of the plastic had to be in the right place. I was surprised though when she picked her own pattern for colors and not the paint by numbers they have on the box. I was more impressed though... when doing the second bug that she noticed that the color she picked would not be enough to do both sides of the wings, so she picked another color. Wow... I probly wouldn't of noticed that until half way through the project.

All set up and ready to roll.

It took two hours... grain by grain...

Bug number 2... grain by grain...

All done!

I think she really understood the concept of the plastic melting in the oven into glass (or glasslike). It was a fun project. Novi would surprize her mother in the morning with it.

Sunday was Tamara's birthday. Un benounced to me (I was still sleeping) Novi woke up and went into her Mother's room to surprise her with the gift. It's funny that I am sure it was the first thing on her mind to get up and give her mom the present. Kinda like when she yelled happy birthday to wake me up a few weeks ago. Tamara opened some gifts and we had a late breakfast that Syed prepared. Then I hit the road...

Monday I was speaking at Ohio University in Athens, OH. So I decided that on Sunday I would drive to Columbus, OH for the night. It was a nice 7 hour drive... ouch... but I got to a nice comfy hotel and prepared for my following days presentations. So Monday I awoke in Columbus and drove an hour and half to Athens. Wow it was a beautiful campus! Founded in 1804 it is an old school with lots of tradition. I was there to give a Hazing lecture to kick of their programs for National Hazing Prevention Week. I was more excited about the consulting I was hired to do working with their multicultural Greeks in starting a new council there. One more experience for OutSight Consulting.

Monday after the presentation I drove to Findlay, OH to spend the night. Another comfy hotel, some time spent in the hot tub before bed was just what I needed. This morning I woke up at 6:30am and drove to Albion for work. It was a lt of driving this weekend, and a lot of fun...

Common weekend site... coffee cup and my Siruis radio tunes.

4 days... nearly 1100 miles.

Back in Albion... well for a few days at least. FYI, new photos on Novi's page: Novi's Pics

Race Weekend!
Lots of fun things this weekend... it started with a drive to Allendale to visit the guys at GVSU. Nothing big planned, I needed a place to crash for my race on Saturday in Muskegon so it was perfect for me to crash with the guys. We got some drinks and watched football at Main Street Pub. I can't believe how big Allendale is now!

Saturday it was off to the My Import Auto Center in Muskegon. It was a smaller lot which is good for my under powered car. I have never been to this event, but this dealer is a huge import specialist. They sell all types of imports and they did a big event for our car club. They brought out some of their special sponsored cars, and had free lunch for everyone. I was excited coming off the Grattan event cause I knew on a smaller course I could compete a little more.

I love car shopping...

Numbers on... ready to go!

I had a smaller heat but did well... actually really well. Unfortunately I did not place... I fell one spot short in 4th. It was a great outing... I was running good times. I was keeping up in my heat and moving up spots slowly. As usual I had the smallest motor and probably the lowest horse power in my class... so gaining on faster cars takes work! Anyhow... we had 6 runs... after 5 runs I was in 4th and knew I needed to do a lot more to move up. My car was struggling coming out of the sharp corners... my tuned suspension handled the curves well, and my knew brakes helped cool my speed into the big turns, but my lack of power was costing me time coming out of corners. I figured if I down shifted into 1st in the apex of the turns I might be able to get a little more pick up out of corners. I knew this would redline my car and hit my rev limiter quickly... but it was worth the shot. I tried this before at races and it never worked well, but I thought this time I could do it and have it work. So I tried it...

In the first sharp corner of the course I pulled out of it in first... BAM... finally the pull I needed and I cleared the corner well. At the third corner I did it again... YES... OH Wait... whats all that smoke? I flew out of the corner... but in my rear view I could see nothing but white smoke. I didn't give it a second thought and pushed to finish the course, so I took the third corner the same way and it worked. I flew towards the finish and did it perfectly! Oh but wait, right at the finish line I hit a cone... just one of the ones that is there to slow you after you finish, but still counts against you. So that run was docked... so what about the non-docked time you ask? It would of moved me into a trophy...

This is corner two... nice slide.

The last straight away...

The car is okay... I think I have a gasket going bad... I need to have it looked at. I took my 6th run slow despite all desires to push her hard again. I drove home proud of the accomplishment... and they gave me a T shirt for biggest smoke out. Ha... FYI: for those of you out there that wonder about my racing and how I do... Let me list some of the cars that I beat on Saturday... I killed a 240SX Nissan, a Nissan SER, Honda Del Sol, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Pontiac Grand Prix, 2 different Mazda RX7s, some Miatas and of course a Honda Civic. I wonder how much better I would do with a better set up car for AutoCross... who knows... but I love racing and it was a good weekend.

How was the rest of the weekend? Saturday night was a party at GVSU and that was fun. Hungout with the guys, ate some burger king, and just chilled. Sunday I went back to Albion for our Latino Dinner to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month events for our Organization for Latino/a Awareness. A few tamales, some rice and beans and the weekend was complete.

I better get some sleep... Ciao.

Novali and School
So Novali started school this week... it was fun. I called her on the first day and talked to her. She was excited about new friends and of course GYM!

Tamara sent me some pics of her first day of school, and her gym outfit!

She made it very clear to me... she wears a girl tie, not a boy tie.

Ready for gym... posing with a little doll.

So today Tamara emailed me a story from Novali on her way to school this morning. I had to post it:

So we're driving to school this morning and she goes, "I don't like school because we're not learning how to read and write yet." So I say, "Well, it's only the first week. You have to be patient." And she says, "I'm trying to be patient but every day I go to school and wait and wait and then the end of the day comes, and NOTHING!"

Its funny cause she is so literal about everything. I mentioned that in my last post. Also when her and I talked over the weekend about school I asked her if she was excited for school to learn things like reading and writing. So now she is expecting it... she is only in kindergarten!

Big Weekend!
So this was a big weekend! Not only was it a nice three day weekend, but I had Novali, it was my birthday, and I had my first race on a real track. So needless to say I was driving all over and keeping busy.... but whats new right?

I started the weekend taking Friday morning off of work. I met Tamara and picked up Novali and took her to work with me that afternoon. She is not as shy anymore and was a lot of fun at work, she talked to everyone, and even told Kristi that she needs to dust her office cause it was dirty... man! Novali has become very observant of things, like when I first picked her up she told me my car was fast and bouncy (I got new stiffer suspension). She picks up on everything and is very literal when you tell her things. Like on Sunday she got scared of a praying mantus... large bug... so I told her... "You aren't afraid of bugs are you?", she responded, "Nope... I am not scared of lady bugs and butterflys, those are bugs."

After work on Friday we hungout and went for ice cream with Heather. The weather was not as nice as I had hoped but we had fun at my apartment. Saturday was a fun day... we woke up and watched the Wiggles, had breakfast and then got ready for the day. First on the agenda was a trip to Cereal City. It was not what I expected... most of the display were for older kids. However Novali had a blast meeting Tony the Tiger and getting her picture on a box of Frosted Flakes. We did get to see how they make Froster Flakes and play some games.

After that was a trip to the mall... just hungout, she played in the kids place and we had a late lunch. Then it was off to Heather's place. Her parents came to visit so we got a soccer ball and some hot dogs and brats and grilled at her apartment. Novali kicked the soccer ball around, played with some of the local kids, and then we ate. It was fun just grilling and relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. Too bad it was too cold at night for the fireflies cause I had hoped to catch some with Novali.

Sunday was fun... it was my birthday. It was great, Novali came and woke me up... I was trying to open my eyes and asked Novali if she wanted me to put on the Wiggles. She said no... I need to tell you something... HAPPY BIRTHDAY she yelled. It was great that she remembered all on her own. We had some breakfast and went to Jackson to meet up with Heather and her parents. We found a little fair at Cascades park in Jackson. Not a big fair by any means, but they had a carousel and Novi always loves those. They also had a big 35 foot slide that she got the courage to go down... not once but twice! We got some fair lemonade (man they don't make it like they used to!), played at a little playground there, and took some time out to chat with my parents who called from Bolivia. Later we had a nice Birthday dinner and got ready to take Novali back to her mom.

I had a lot of fun with Novali and glad we were able to do some cool things. She enjoyed Cereal City and playing soccer and just hanging out. I liked learning some of the Wiggles songs and just lounging around with her. It was great. We dropped Novali off with her mom and then Heather and I went to Grand Rapids.

We arrived at Grand Rapids really late Sunday night because of traffic. We got some drinks and food to go from Bennigans and relaxed. Monday morning was a big race at the Grattan Raceway near Grand Rapids. It was too much fun! It was my first time on a real race track... so my first run I took it a little slow to feel the course out. We had 4 runs and on my first three runs I did better each time. I did 72 seconds my first run, 69 on my second run and 67 on my 3rd run and I was feeling good. I was in 8th out of 13 cars... some of the best STS cars in West Michigan were there so I was feeling good about the day so far.

On my fourth run I was determined to hit 66 seconds... which would move me up at least 2 spots. I pushed the GXE hard from the gate, the coming out of the second turn I lost traction and got my car almost completely sideways on the track! Not sure how but I was able to save it and not hit anything... needless to say the run was slower... but a respectable 68 seconds anyhow. I ended with 8th in my class, not bad being that my Sentra was the smallest motor out of the 13 cars. When I returned to the starting grid several guys congratualted me on holding the car on course... they all thought I was for sure gonna loose it and go off the course. So all in all it was a good outing.

On the ride home something was wrong with the Sentra... I might of torn my CV Boot and the race caused my CV joint to go bad... or worse yet it also sounds like my wheel bearing might be bad. The race I am sure did not cause it, but the high speeds and hard turning on Monday I am sure helped speed my aging car into more repairs. But Who Cares! I got to drive on a nationally known track.

The three day weekend is over... and this week is going to be busy. Tonight kicks off Sorority fall recruitment and this weekend is PARTY on PERRY! The big event I helped start last year and we got to keep it going... please hope for a good weather forecast for this weekend for us!

One Week Down...
The first week of classes at Albion College are done. Well nearly done, couple more hours left on this first Friday. It has been a very interesting week. Small flood at TKE, no sidewalk in front of DeltSig and SigChi, the Sigma Nus are sleeping on the floor... and sorority recruitment issues have already started. All in just one week.

It has been a fun week though. We are getting ready for some of the more fun events of the year... Party on Perry, Briton Bash, All Greek BBQ, and of course recruitment! Good times...

Last weekend was one of the most fun ones ever. I was invited to a Bolivian wedding! It was a ton of fun, Heather knew the groom and the bride is actually the granddaughter of the ex-Bolivian national president (Siles). It was pretty cool and a handful of Bolivians were there. I danced a little Salle and some Chueka (sp?) with the other Bolivians there. It reminded me of my first visit back to Bolivia after we moved to the US. I think it was in 1989 when at a birthday party for my little sister that my abuelita took me by the hand and showed me how to do it... she had her scarf in one hand and showed me how to dance. It was fun meeting other Bolivians and I made some connections in Chicago as well I met some members of Renacer Boliviano, so maybe sometime I can take Novali to a Bolivian event.

There also was a lot of family happenings this week. Thursday was the birthday of my younger Brother Andy... who is now known to the world as Andres. I grew up calling him Andy and when I call him that now around his friends they wonder who I am talking about. I wish I could reclaim my Spanish name more... but whenever I write Samuel on something, it gets pronounced in English... HATE IT. Anyhow... I called (he is still Andy in my cell phone) to wish him a happy birthday but wish I could of done more or gone to visit. We roomed together growing up so we spent a lot of time together. We played soccer together, road to school together, did one spring break together, went fishing, I taught him to drive stick, and we really bonded. I still remember him jackin' up the guy who broke my knee when playing soccer in high school. Brotherly love, can't beat it. Happy Birthday Bro!

Another family happening is that news from my parents is coming in more regularly now. They are in Bolivia, doing well, have a phone now, and have been buying furniture for their new home and getting accustomed to life in Bolivian again. My mom blogged about Andres' birthday and their new life in Bolivia. Mom's Blog.

So despite all the crazy work this week was fun... it is always great to see my old students back and the excitement on the faces of the new students. There is nothing like the buzz of the first week of school. Tonight is a comedian at 8pm, tomorrow is the IFC xBox Tournament, and Sunday will be my day of rest. Welcome back students!

Also this weekend... I will spend some time working on the car. Once again some solo Team PLP action... but either way I have fun working on the ride. I wish I had a local car club or something I could join. Hermen we need to get the team back together! I will be installing my satellite radio and maybe some lights on my interior. Well... off I go. Ciao!

School is Back
Well the last weekends, to no surprise I spent outside of Albion. Two weekends ago I went up to Gladwin, MI to my grandparents lake house where my parents have been staying since moving out of their home. They were getting ready to leave for Bolivia so I had to run up to say my goodbyes. It was a great time, Heather and I ran up on Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday. We sat on the porch enjoying the sun, went on boat rides, played cards, ate tons of fish... and my dad and I did a lot of fishing. Kelly also came up for a little while and Valerie is always a trip. It was a lot of fun, and makes me wish I had taken more time to go up fishing. I really do need more of those relaxing weekends.

Valerie and Grandpa driving the boat.

Valerie and my parents waving by.

The fish my dad and I cuaght.

I like cleaning the fish... my pops and I cutting up our fish.

This weekend I ran over to Chicago. I went early on Friday and stayed with Novi while Tamara went out. Its fun just reading her a bed time story, saying her prayer and being there to put her to bed. Saturday we slept in a little bit, and then went to have lunch with Miguel and Kate. Went to a cool place on North Ave. called EarWax. Funny name... it was a vegan place with a circus theme. Surprisingly Novi tried something new and liked it. Then we went over to Wicker Park and she ran, climbed, swung, and jumped all over. After the park we went to Miguel's and played with their cats. Novi had a ball and I sat and chatted with Kate for a little bit.

Novi and I then went over to the Boriquen Lounge... my favorite Puerto Rican place to eat in Chicago. We just sat and ate and enjoyed a nice relaxing day. Then we went home and took a nap... some of Novi's new school uniforms arrived so Tamara had her try some stuff on. Too cute! Then Novi went to bed late and then I relaxed.

Tamara helping her try on her clothes.

Almost ready for school... one more month!

Sunday I had to take off early cause I have to get some work done on Sunday cause this coming week... the first of my students start moving in... Summer is over... Monday got cracking on fraternity move in. I had guys come in early to help get the houses ready. On Tuesday we had a large furniture order arriving and that was a lot of work... however I was extremely impressed. Not only did the guys work really hard, but they all helped each other out. No matter what house furniture had to go to, they all helped out and got it all moved quickly. The team work was remarkable, one of those times to make you proud of what I do... work with Greeks.

Thursday I need to unwind a little. Vic was coming into Kalamazoo from Chicago so we decided to go to Club Soda. Thursday is still Latin night there, something our fraternity started nearly 8 years ago. When we arrived at Soda it was cool, the bartender... hey, its the original salsa guys... man if it wasn't for you guys none of this would of ever happened. Then he hooked up the drinks. Funny to still be remembered there, and I have never been called the "Original Salsa Guy." It was pretty cool. We hung out, some Gammas came through, we danced, caught up with some old friends and just chilled. Good times.

Thats So Vic: Shirt Says, A little hard work never hurt anyone, but why find out?

Thursday Latin Night at Club Soda.

So needless to say today I am tired.... TGIF.

Winding Down?
Well as usual my post is on the return part of a trip. Since my Miami trip I have been to Troy, MI for an event for Albion, to Chicago for three days with Novali, and then my fraternity convention in Las Vegas. Needless to say all this traveling is turning out to be more stressful then relaxing... but the next few weeks will be much more laid back... of course I am still looking at possibly trips to Toronto, Buffalo and home to wish my parents off on their move to Bolivia. However, the rest of these trips will be more relaxing and less crammed (I hope).

Well my time with Novali was great at always. We watched the movie cars.... Two Thumbs Up! We went to a BBQ, out to burbs, and then I ended the trip by taking her to summer school on Monday. She showed me her class, I met her teacher, and then hit the road to Michigan. It was a great weekend and I managed to survive the record Chicago heat without AC at Tamara's place... wow. I uploaded some new summer pics to Novi's page, check it out: Novi's Pics

Then it was off to Vegas. I have been excited for the trip for a long time. I was running for a position on my national board of directors... and one of the authors for a proposals that will revolutionize our fraternal operations if it passed... I also was excited to get to visit with Brothers I had not seen in a long time... so how did the trip go? Here's the recap.

I arrived Tuesday night, I came in with the head quarters staff. It was nice to chill with them and talk with Jim and Mary Peterson. We had a great time just relaxing at this beautiful resort, Hyatt Lake Las Vegas. Wednesday it was chill day, most of the people would be coming in that day so it was nice hanging out greeting people as they arrived. I had dinner that night with Mary and some other Brothers who work in higher education. Sigma Lambda Beta has an exciting future ahead of it... that night we wound down with some gambling and lounging around.

Thursday the work started... registration happened in the morning and we started convention. We had 8 hours of scheduled business meetings... the most important part was the elections for the new Board of Directors. So I am proud to now say that I am the new International Vice President for Program Development for Sigma Lambda Beta. It is such an honor! I am very excited. That night we celebrated and prepared for another long day of business.

Friday was the real action day. It was when we voted on important proposals. We pitched our proposal, it was me and four former board members. Before convention we heard several districts were going to be voting down and we prepared to try and sway votes. Our house of delegates had 53 eligible voting groups (my chapter was not one of them!)... we pitched and debated and did our best. Final vote count.... 52-1.... IT PASSED! SLB will never be the same, and I am proud to say I helped make that happen. Now as a board member I have to help ensure the planning success. Needless to say that Friday night... we celebrated again and this time in the pimped out Presidents suite.

Saturday was chill day. We had a quick first board meeting, an alumni senate meeting, and then chill time! I ended up out at the pool, despite that I don't usually do pools. I was in full clothing, so I sat on the side with my feet in the pool... and I shoulda known better cause sure enough I got tossed in! I did manage to get my phone out of my pocket. Late we got ready to hit the strip and a big Beta party that night... I had to iron my money to dry it cause everything got wet!

The club was great... the first perk of being a board member is everyone buys you drinks so I saved some money. Unfortunately on the flip I lost a bit on the tables... but its Vegas so whatever. Sunday slept in, chilled around the hotel and then caught a ride from some Brothers up to the airport. There is free wireless here so I am just hanging out with some other Brothers who have flights in my terminal. It is going to be a long day of travel, I will arrive in Detroit at 12am, then drive home, and then work at 8am.... AH!

All in a days work.

- edit - I forgot to mention. I was inducted into the Presidential Excellence Group. It is the second highest honor a Brother can receive. In total only 12 Brothers are in that group, so needless to say I was extremely honored. Now I get to wear a white ribbon and large medallion to offical events from now on. Cool.

First Class
For those who did not know... I just got back from Miami. Orlando, one of my fraternity Brothers, is getting married and I can not make it to the wedding so I told him I would visit. Then Rudy, another chapter Brother just moved there, so I made plans and went down there. Heather was able to get some time off as well and her sorority sister Valerie just moved there so we made it a trip.

It started on Saturday morning. We went to Detroit Metro and we were connecting through Ohare airport. At Ohare they made the announcement that the flight was over booked... we would get $400 if we went on a flight 2 hours later. Figuring the money was worth it... we signed up. A few minutes before the flight they called us up... said they did not need us to switch flights, but since we were so nice and offered the switch... they bumped us to FIRST CLASS! It was my first time in first class... PIMP... let me tell you, free wine, hot towels, and lunch on a no food flight... very cool. I was pumped!

We arrived in Miami and went to Orlando's house. We stayed there for two days. That night we went out, Orlando was at a wedding so it was Rudy, me, Heather and Valerie. We went to Mango's in South Beach. It was great, they had models dancing, dance lessons, a live band, a Tango performance, everything! We danced all night and then got some fries and cheese cake to end the night. It was awesome because Rudy has a nice little condo he is renting three blocks from the Ocean in South Beach! Way to go Bro!

Sunday Heather and I ventured around the city on our own. Rudy had to work and Orlando was not back yet from the wedding. We figured out the local metro bus and rail system. We made it to Bed Bath and Beyond to get Orlando and his fiance their wedding present. Then we found a little place to eat and watch the World Cup game... boo that France lost, and the Zidane had to go out on such a bad note (he head butted a player and was red carded). That night Orlando and Cristina took us to a cool Cuban placed called La Carreta. His mom who I love! and his Brother Chris who is also a Beta met up with us. It was great to see all of them, plus I love plantains, yucca and spanish spices on food!

Monday Orlando and Rudy of course had to work and Heather and I ventured again out on the metro. Orlando was amazed we got around so well on the metro. It was really easy, and the for the most part we found Miami folks really nice and willing to help explain to us how things worked. So for a buck fifty we road downtown and walked all over. I was amazed at how much it looked like Bolivia with the little interior malls, internet cafe's and lunch buffets. With the exception of the Starbucks on each corner it was very Latin looking. We found a Brazilian place to eat and I had some Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) and it was awesome! After a day hanging out downtown we went and checked into our hotel. We booked a hotel room for the last night by the airport in order get a shuttle back for our flight on Tuesday.

That night we went to Coconut Grove with Orlando and Cristina. The four of us at a cool Tapas place called Tu Tu Tango. The place had artists all around painting stuff, and then lots of their stuff hung up that you could buy. It was also Martini Monday so we tried a lot of their specialty martini's out as well. I love tapas (small plates served family style) cause we all shared different items and just caught up and talked. As we were leaving Valerie finally made it... she had been lost... at that point Orlando and Cristina needed to head back.

Valerie took us back to our hotel. On the way we stopped and she drove us around Miami's campus where she just started work. Beautiful campus, not sure how students can make it to class was so many great distractions around them. At the Hilton we got some drinks and went up to our room to hangout... now let me tell you about our room. I am a Hilton VIP now they upgraded us. Our room had two floors! It had a winding staircase between the floors. One floor was a full bath, big TV couch, bar and chairs and the office area, the upstairs had the master bath and a huge bedroom and TV. the far wall was lofted and had a window that spanned both floors! Man it was awesome... we ooggled over the room a bit and chatted with Valerie.

Tuesday it was off to the famous Miami beach. You can't go four days in Miami without hitting the beach... well I could, but Heather for sure couldn't. So once again we caught the bus for $1.50 and made our way to the beach. It was nice... the heat was a bit much, but we had a little light sprinkle of rain that kept us cool and we relaxed and read some magazines. Rudy picked us up from the beach and we went for a late lunch. We ate a nice little Cuban place and I had the best pork fricase I have ever had in the states... not as good as in Bolivia, but it was good. We ate and then Rudy dropped us off at the Hilton. We caught the shuttle to airport... our time in Miami was done.

So we thought we were on our way home. Our VIP vacation flying first class and staying in a pimp hotel room... then came to a bad end. We were grounded in Miami... we sat on our delayed flight for over an hour... then they took us off the plane not sure how long the delay would be... then they boarded us again... and we sat on the plane still stopped... so we finally arrive in Ohare to find out we missed the last flight to Detroit. So guess what... we get to stay in the airport! They were not providing hotel rooms since it was weather not the airline that caused the problem, they had cots set up in a terminal for us. What? Heather and I needed some rest (I had a long day at work the next day) so we ventured over to the Hilton in the airport. We left the terminal and walked over there to find out they were sold out... as well as all the hotels in the nearby area! Oh no... well back to the cots. But then we learned that the security check points stop working! We could not get back to the terminal to even sleep on cots! So we slept on chairs in the American Airlines baggage claim area... freezing cold... wrapped in our sandy towels from Miami beach. Sad end to a great vacation...

Our luck ran out... and ran out bad! We made it back to Detroit finally at 10am on Wednesday (12 hours later then planned). It was bad for me because Wednesday night I needed to be at an event for Albion in Troy, MI. I still needed to get back to my office to print out somethings for the event... needless to say my day was rough. I drove back to Albion printed my stuff (Jen from my office helped a ton) and then repacked and hit the road to Troy. I barely made it in time to iron my clothes and head to my reception that I was in charge of and needed to speak at... all this with no sleep the night before cause of those highly uncomfortable chairs. The event thankfully went very well!

Well today I woke up not feeling well, I had my wrap up meeting with our reception site (Hilton in Troy) and came to work. Today is nearly over... meetings back to back this afternoon... the stress from yesterdays event is over... now heading home to rest and unpack from my Miami and Troy trips... and prepare for my trip to Chicago this weekend and then Vegas next week. Maybe I will get a first class ticket again... Ciao.

Driving Summer
This is the Driving Summer... each weekend another adventure on the road. This time it was a full week on the road! Last weekend (June 24th) I was in Saginaw for Miguel's engagement reception. It was a lot of fun to see family I had not seen in a long time and meeting Kate's parents. I am really excited for Miguel and Kate. Then my parents had a pool party at the house... the last one ever at the Curwood house... they sold they house and are ready to move back to Bolivia. It was nice being home, chatting with mom in the morning, watching World Cup with my dad... just relaxing in Saginaw.

Sunday I went back to Albion. I just packed and then Monday morning I drove to Indianapolis. I had a day and half long Risk Management College I was attending for my fraternity and Albion College. Of course no one enjoys risk management and fraternal law like I do... so I did enjoy it even though most people there did not. I am intrigued by the Law, maybe thats why I am really leaning towards getting my law degree... hum.

Tuesday night I drove to West Lafayette, IN to Purdue University. I was asked to be a facilitator for the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority Leadership Conference. It was a lot of work and long days, but still a lot of fun. Got to network with other professionals in Greek Life and meet and work with a lot of great students.

I got a free room upgrade at the Hyatt in Indy... wish I coulda stayed longer.

My AXiD Sorority bag... I rocked it all week!

This Sunday (July 2nd) I had a race at GVSU. So I woke up mega early and drove from Purdue to GVSU. I was majorly lacking sleep, Saturday all the facilitators at Purdue went out to celebrate so barely slept at all. It was my worst outing to date... out of 8 cars in my class I took 5th. I really struggled on the course, it really highlighted my need for a new suspension.

I could not get into a groove...

On three wheels... I need better suspension!

Monday it was back in Albion for work... big week of driving. I clocked over 1000 miles again. Wow. I was the only one at work on Monday so I got to just catch up on mail, emails and return phone calls. Then on the 4th... it was just time to relax. Heather and I went to her pool, I cooked some steaks and watched the World Cup, and then hung out around the apartment. Tomorrow it is back to work. Busy week... meeting with the Dean tomorrow, parents visiting on Thursday, and then this weekend heading to Miami! Man summer is flying by!