Big Updates
Well here are some well overdue updates...

June 2008 Pics
I blogged several times about my parents trip to the states in June. Well I finally got the pictures done. Some of the pictures are from my dad's camera and during times that I was not with them so noted them as best I could. Enjoy folks!
Click here > Pics

Its Official
After dating for a few years and lots of discussions about the future and planning what life would be like married... I made the big step and asked Heather to marry me. Novali approved and I even talked to her father about it so everything was legit. I know it was a long time coming and many people were wondering if it would ever happen... I knew it would happen and I just wanted it to be perfect and I think it was. I am excited as we now more officially beginning the planning stages of a wedding, buying a house (with a garage), moving in together, settling down and having kids! Wow... Novali is excited to be a big sister someday and this is going to be great.

Happy Couple.

Heaher and Novali all excited.

Lots of weekend activities including the pool.

We made Jello Jigglers, Ice Cream... always something to do in South Bend.

It was a fun weekend and I posted a few pics: 08 July Big News

Team PLP
This week I also took the plunge... for race tires. I found a killer deal on some used race tires that I could not pass up. The timing was perfect as earlier I was deciding whether I keep saving for race tires or get other modifications done to my car. Well I decided to keep saving for race tires, and then this deal came up so the timing was right. Hopefully for my July 20th race I will be ready with race tires and really put down some serious times. ALSO... this is cool, below is a video from my last race, it is of my best time and you can see in the sweeper my car on three wheels! I love it.


Well folks... I hope everyone is excited about the engagement and we will keep everyone posted on wedding planning. We are looking at 2009 so it will be coming up quick.

Pull Out the Batmobile
Fourth of July weekend was tons of fun! Heather visited on Friday and we just laid out at pool and relaxed. It was a great day of lounging... no work... nothing but just relaxation. Then off to Jackson to get my SpecV and we headed to GVSU which would be the site of a two day race event with my old car club (Furrin Group).

The Saturday event was called a Test and Tune so it was not for points. I had a great event! There were 10 cars in my class (GS) and I finished 2nd, and then overall on the index (PAX) I placed 6th out of 54. My highest PAX ranking ever!

We went out and celebrated later. That meant some Red Lobster and met up with a friend of Heathers from college for dessert. It was fun catching up and just relaxing again.

Sunday we went out and Heather helped get the car ready and settled into a comfortable outdoor chair and magazine. I got to work timing and waited for my run group. I was stoked about my Saturday times and hoped I could have a repeat performance.

We got four runs. The guy that beat me the day before was off to a good start. I was off to a solid start on my first two runs... then on my third run... BAM... nailed it taking the lead in my class by nearly a full second!

Pic from Saturday afternoon leaning hard into a turn.

Sunday afternoon... flying towards the finish.

No one beat my time in my class! I ended up 1st place out of 15 in GS! There was a total of 91 cars running and I was hoping I would get a top ten finish... well at the end of the day this guy placed 5th out of 91 cars! Another cool fact... only one car there on street tires beat me and that was a newer model Audi TT.

So Team PLP is doing well... I am looking forward to my next event and really hope I can keep this fast streak going!

Hittin Homeruns
So I am still behind on updating and posting photos. I did get this video posted of Novali from Memorial Day Weekend. Heather and I played baseball with her... we watched The Sandlot with her which quickly became a movie she loves now. So we thought she should learn how to play. Its hard to play with just three people but we made it happen.



She had a lot fun and got tired out from all the running around the bases.

$4.19 a Gallon
So June was the month of the driver... I made two trips to Gladwin, MI to visit my parents and grandparents, one trip to Saginaw, MI to visit my parents when they first arrived, I made a trip to Bad Axe, MI for Heather's HS reunion, and two trips to Chicago to get Novali. Then... I made a trip to Jackson, MI for a wedding, to Lansing, MI for a car race, and back to Saginaw to pick up my car that I loaned my parents.

All in all during the month I drove over 2800 miles! Most of those on my SpecV since thats what I had while my parents were in Michigan. Now I bet with my parents driving one of my cars that equals over 3000 miles on my cars combined! Ouch...

The biggest ouch here is the gas prices. Seriously whats the deal... in one week here in South Bend the prices went from 4.25 to 3.94 and then back up to 4.19. Why can't the price just remain one steady price? Is that too much to ask? If you do the math on my miles and the average cost of gas... in the month of June (assuming 25 mpg and 4.10 average gas cost) for all my driving I spent $462 on gas!!! Thats crazy, that could buy me half a flight to Bolivia!

So was it worth it? OF COURSE.

I had a great time with my parents and they are now back to Bolivia and I am looking forward to the next visit. We had some good times... fishing, cooking, racing, sitting on the deck, napping, bowling, talking politics, eating Bolivian food, gutting a catfish, and just enjoying the company and the long weekends. I got to see Javi and Kelly's girls again, saw my grandparents, raced with Andres, and enjoyed a car show and an elephant ear in Bad Axe. June was busy and tons of fun. I know I know... pics pics... they are coming.

Couple of fun updates.

Yes Novali is now a second grader. I think once you have a kid in the 2nd grade you are officially old. Not to mention that I will be 30 this year... its a scary year.

This past weekend I had a race again. This one was with the West Michigan Region (WMR) of SCCA. It was held at the MSU commuter lot. It was a good lot, but small so the course was mega tight! They only had 37 cars there but a fun group of regulars. I took 2nd out of 3 in my class... but I was 9th out of 37 overall! I was the second fastest car there on street tires, and I actually had one run that I thought made me the fastest of the day... but I hit a cone! ARGH. Either way good race day...

Well this upcoming weekend... you guessed it, more driving. Heather and I are heading up to Grand Rapids to visit some of our old stomping grounds and I have a race at GVSU. Its always fun to get to GR and see all the changes. That city just keeps on growing and the campus is also growing a ton as well. Have a happy fourth everyone!

Photos
Yes it is true... as your kids get older you take less photos. I remember when Novi was younger we took photos of everything she did... sneeze, cough, smile, roll over, sometimes even of a funny blink... well now we take less photos and unfortunately I am even worse about getting them posted. It has been a busy time but I am getting caught up. I was reminded of the tons of photos I used to take when Miguel and Kate brought Javi to Michigan and the immediate barrage of photos being taken of him upon walking in the door. Good times.

Anyhow I have two new photos galleries folks.

First from this past weekend... My parents are visiting from Bolivia. Last weekend was chill and we just hung out and welcomed them back. Well this weekend Andres and Saloumeh were in town and it so happened there was a car race in Midland. So I got Andres signed up and planned a fun day for the family at my race. I packed up my canopy tent, chairs, my grill and we made a day of the event. It was also fathers day so my dad got a few rides around the course as a fun gift from two of his sons. I posted times and place details on the Team PLP Site (link below).

The Barstow Airport in Midland is a great venue and attracts some cool cars.

Long list of Porsches, Jags, BMWs, Corvettes, and even a Ferrari.

Andres on his first run!

Yes thats right... as usual I am on three wheels.

Fathers Day Race 2008: Photo Gallery

Well now these photos are long overdue... photos from Memorial Day weekend in South Bend. It was a fun weekend and we packed tons of activities into a few short days. I wrote some details from the weekend on the photo page so check out all the pics on the link below.

Playing in the park

Petting animals at the zoo

Chocolate covered pretzels!

Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day 2008: Photo Gallery

Well enjoy the photos... look for photos soon from my parents visit to Michigan. Hopefully those won't take as long as these photos took to post.

Milestones
Today (er this Month) is a day of milestones.

June 11th, 1985 my little sister was born. We were fresh American immigrants, my mom came over pregnant and my dad didn't speak English. It was interesting this last weekend to hear my mom tell Heather the story of being in the hospital giving birth to Kelly... they had no money, no health insurance, but they managed and made it through without $5 aspirin or $6 box of tissues. The first American born of the Centellas clan. She has over come a lot and has two beautiful young girls who were extremely entertaining this past weekend.

June 2003 I started this little blog. WOW! I clearly don't blog like I used to... for example I still have not posted all the pictures from the visit in South Bend from Novali and Heather for Memorial Day weekend (coming soon I promise). I am trying to post at least twice a month so hold me to that folks!

June 2004 I was offered a job to work at the University of Oregon. Great pay and possibly the best professional development experience I could have asked for out of grad school. I turned it down, opting to stay closer to family, Heather, my friends, and of course Novali. I did go out there and worked for the summer in an interim role until the Albion job brought me back to Michigan. Well now I am the Director of Student Life, potentially starting classes again, and I am glad I made the right choice.

June 2007 I went to the doctor and weighed in at 212 pounds. I had been gaining weight since grad school and hadn't worked out in years. Well today... after work I ran 5 miles in 50 minutes. I usually try to run two miles twice a week, and I just got some small weights to lift at home while I watch TV and do work at home. I decided to push myself today and I also jumped on the scale afterwards. My gym scale said 191 pounds, not as good as the false hope my uncle Ed's scale gave me this weekend (188 pounds) but it does mean I have lost over 20 pounds in 12 months. Not bad.

June 2008 I was out in Baltimore for the second time in six months. This time to visit for my Brother Andy's graduation from University of Delaware with his MBA. Thats a big milestone. Also this month my older Brother Miguel moved to Baltimore to start a new tenure track teaching position at Mount Saint Union. To top that off, Kate my sister-in-law is getting her PhD. On my top of my parents visit this mouth... its clearly a busy time and we are less than half way through the month!

Well there are some of my recent milestones. Ciao.

Summa Summa Time...
Ladies and gentlemen... the semester at IUSB is over so that means work is slowing down a little. My busy fraternity travel time has wrapped up, and now it is summer time. As the Fresh Prince said...
Drums Please... Summa Summa Time...

Now there are a lot things I love about summer: Novali will be out of school soon. That means more time to hangout, go places, do some fun things, and juts enjoy relaxing long weekends. It also means vacation time away from the office. I work a lot... luckily I love what I do so I don't mind so much. However everyone needs some time away from the office. I am not sure what I have planned right now, but I just need some time to relax and not working (that means no consulting, no IUSB, no fraternity, nothing). My parents and both my Brothers are coming to Michigan in June. Its gonna be great.

One passion of mine in the summer, and the thing I can not do in these cold winter months is RACE! Racing season is in full swing now and I love being close to so many events now! I blogged about my race on April 20th... well I did one on May 10th in Grand Rapids with Furrin Group and just finished one on May 18th with my South Bend Region (SBR) Sports Car Club of America.

I was thinking at my Furrin Group race that it was their first race of the season... I remember their first race of the season four years ago when I skipped my graduation to go and race. I need to look up the old pics of that day but I did find my blog post about it. Check this link for two posts about the NX: April 2004 Blog

While looking I thought I would compare my times. Times for AutoX are done in two ways. First is the cars are broken into categories by class. This is by engine size, types modifications, tires (Street or Race), and other items (too many to list). With my NX I an in STS (Street Tire Class that allows lots of mods) which is usually a big class with lots of cars. Right now I run GS (G Stock which means very few mods are allowed but you can run race tires) which doesn't have a lot of cars, but the class is very competitive and in SBR some of the top drivers are in my class. Second is all the cars are classed and put in a class index to rank all their times together.

Well here is my comparison over two different Furrin Group Season Openers.

April 2004 - in STS placed 9th out of 12. Overall 44 out of 64 on the Index.
May 2008 - in GS placed 2nd out of 6. Overall 19 out of 83 on the Index.

So as you can see in a couple years I have really moved up the rankings! I am having a ton of fun and its is a huge stress reliever for me. I like coming home the days before a race and getting the car stuff ready, packing a lunch to take to the event, and then just hanging out with car guys. It has been a little sad lately cause all three events this year I have done alone. I miss having someone come and watch me and just enjoy the day.

Anyhow... no more races for a couple weeks. I am hoping to do a race with the Saginaw Valley SCCA club while my parents and brothers are in town. We will see... well here are pics from my first three races of the year: 2008 - April and May AutoX

Pics of my car were taken by photographers at the events, other pics were taken on my Treo so not the best quality but enough!

Whats the Haps
So what's been happening since my last blog? I thought March was busy... Well April was as well and its been four crazy weeks... in the last 5 weeks I have had three fraternity trips. One for my Board of Directors Meeting just outside of Chicago, one to Washington DC for the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) House of Delegates Meeting and Congressional Reception, and this weekend I was in Houston for the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) convention.

All of those trips were a ton of fun. I wish I had some pictures to share. In between those trips I was also very busy. The weekend between SLB and NIC Meeting I went to Michigan for a regional fraternity meeting in Ann Arbor and then up to Saginaw to spend some time with Raquel, her girls and my Uncle Ed and Aunt Cyndi. Despite the busy time traveling and driving spending time with family and just relaxing on the couch catching up is very nice.

SLB Board Meeting at the Hyatt Schuamburg, IL.

My Desk in April... Argh...

Hippies in Ann Arbor

Valerie hard at work

Just before my NIC Meeting I went to Chicago for the night. It was just before Novali's birthday. Tamara and I went together got her a bike. Friday night we went out to Chuck E Cheese and had a great time. Back home we put her to bed, and then Syed and I put her bike together for her... in the morning we surprised her with the bike in he living room. She was excited and I hope she does learn to ride soon without training wheels and we can ride around South Bend this summer. I missed her kid party on Saturday... but it was fun just doing a family thing with her.

Novi's birthday presents!

Ready to ride.

Chuck E Cheese

In DC... the pencil.

Simon Boliviar

The Blossoms in DC

In between my NIC and NALFO trips was an even busier weekend here in South Bend. Here on campus we hosted a dance marathon on April 19th. It was a 24 hour Dance for the Homeless. Our campus worked with a local agency here to raise money for their homeless shelter. It was a HUGE event... we even had Regis Philbin on campus come and do some announcements! He talked about our event on his show twice, on Monday April 21 (Monday show) he talked about the Dance Marathon and showed photos. It was a ton of fun... and a ton of work to pull the event off but we did!

Also... like that weekend... like it wasn't busy enough was the first autocross for my new club here in South Bend (South Bend SCCA). I didn't want to miss the event, and despite the lack of sleep I went out to compete. I slept in between heats and even nearly missed my driver meeting cause I was napping. Anyhow... bad luck of the draw, in my class I have two drivers who compete nationally! Man... so now I really need to get good in order to start winning. I took third in my class which was good (behind the two fast guys) for my lack of sleep. Total times for the event from all 86 drivers put me in 25... not too shabby for a guy operating on a couple hours of combined nap time.

IUSB Dance Marathon!

Live with Regis

AutoX at the Tire Rack

Rim Heaven...

#86 G Stock ready to roll

TeamPLP

Houston trip... so so... it was a fun city, the meetings were grueling though. My Brothers in the area took us out both nights I was in town and it was a good time. We had some adventures and it will be on the list of places I need to visit again some time. What was fun about this and other trips... being close to Chicago I go out there the day before my flight and spend some time with Novali, and get to see her after the trips as well. Its great.

Speaking of Novali... yesterday after my return flight we of course went to BDubs (her favorite place to eat!). they call it Buffalo Wild Wings in Chicago for you non-Michigan readers. Afterwards we went and got her a haircut. She wanted her bangs cut again and her a little shorter. It was cute and she was very good and patient while the lady cut her hair.

Haircut time

The bangs are back!

Then it was back to South Bend... more work... this week is a tad hectic. I have another big event this weekend so things aren't slowing down around here at all. It has been nice being able to see Novali more regularly even though it was for shorter times. I will have her this weekend here in South Bend. I hope the weather get a little better.

Some family updates... wow there has been a lot. Andres graduates with his MBA from UDel at the end of May, Miguel just got a new tenure track job at Mount St. Union outside of Baltimore so him and Kate are moving, Raquel is busy working and taking care of the girls, and my parents have planned their summer visit. So lots going on...

I posted a link to these pics in larger format. Pics

Easter Bunny
It has been my busiest travel season to date... was in Bloomington, then Chicago, this upcoming weekend Schuamburg (IL), next weekend off to Saginaw and Ann Arbor, then off to DC and wrapping up April in Houston... oh man.

What is great... being so close to Novali so no matter the travel I can get trips and times up to see her. Well this past weekend Heather and I went up there and had a fun weekend planned. Using my leverage with Hilton (I stay about 60-70 nights a year at their hotels) I snagged a very cool family suite (living area, couch, tons of room) at the famous Drake Hotel. We had access to their executive lounge (proper attire required) with beautiful views of Chicago and Lake Michigan and hot cocoa for Novali.

Luckily the weather behaved for us on Saturday and we enjoyed a walk. Lots of interesting things happened on our walk, one was as we walked Novali needed to tell me a secret. She said, "Remember that guy back there, with the cup of change? Well we should go back and give him money because he is homeless." I explained that next time we would help. We walked the The Magnificent Mile, made it down toMillennium Park and spent the afternoon at the Chicago Children's Museum. It was a ton of fun and we all got tired and caught a cab back to the hotel. We alll tried fighting it... but before we knew it nap time struck and we all passed out.

We woke up barely in time to run off to the movies to watch the remake of Horton Hears A Who. It was a late show... so afterwards we grabbed some Chipotle and headed back to our weekend home, The Drake. We ended a long fun day getting ready for Easter and getting ready for bed.

Sunday we woke up early and planned on the 9:30 am service at the Fourth Presbyterian Church right on Michigan Ave and two blocks from the hotel. We were told to get there early... we arrive at just a little past 9am and there was a line around the block! News cameras and the church had people handing out coffee, hot cocoa and tissues to people in line. Once inside we warmed up and enjoyed the beautiful sanctuary. The priest was very good and it was a gorgeous service. When it was time for offering I explained to Novali how giving to the church is like helping the homeless man on the street, because the church helps them as well. I gave her a bill and she happily put it in the coffer.

After church we went back and packed the room and then met Syed and Tamara for brunch at the The Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice fun weekend... we lived like kings at The Drake (Royalty and Celebreties stay there... but I am sure they pay more then the killer deal I got) and hopefully we started a fun tradition of spending Easter downtown (last year we did as well: Easter 2007)

I posted some photos on her website: Easter 2008

I am trying to post more often... stick with me folks.

The Novi Quotes
I had Novali this past weekend. Heather and I hung out with her in South Bend. It was a fairly typical weekend for us... Novali asking for Buffalo Wild Wings and Sprite, some arts and crafts project (this weekend it was painting pots), and movies (she is now a Sandlot fan).

Well the weekends are also usually filled with hilarious quotes and funny antics. Novali does not fail in the entertainment arena. I think I should start on occasion posting some of her memorable quotes. This one was actually emailed me to by Tamara.

This was yesterday at Alma's mass, during communion.

Novali: Mami, what are they drinking?

Me: They're drinking wine

Novali: Why are they eating bread and drinking wine?

Me: Well, that's what Jesus Christ gave to his people to eat and drink

Novali: Who's Jesus Christ?

Me: You know Jesus, the son of God

Novali: Oh Jesus! Yeah I know who Jesus is. I didn't know Christ was his last name.

Finally... the Visit Post
Man... January and February flew for me! With moving, starting a new job, two consulting gigs, and my parents in the States... HECTIC. It was a lot of fun though and here is the long time coming recap.

Weekend of January 18-20 kicked it off. My parents flew into Chicago, and right away living in South Bend worked out well. It was quick to get Novali and meet my parents. We got some hotel rooms and Heather also drove out to meet us. We had a good time just lounging around and spending time together. The hotel had a cool pool area and of course Novi went in like twice each day!

The following weekend I picked up Novali and we all met up again in the Saginaw area. We started the weekend in Jackson at Heather's apartment where Novi did some more cooking. She made us some homemade pizza that was delicious! Saturday we met my parents, my sister and her kids and the DeCourval's in Frankenmuth. It was their annual ice sculpture contest so it was busy. We walked around and enjoyed the little town and the girls all got to have fun with animals, riding horses, and running around together.


While my parents were in the midwest they used one of my cars. So having two does come in handy at times. It just took some coordination but it all worked out for them to get to visit and do all the things they wanted. After their two weeks here they flew off to the East Coast to see the Centellas family out there! We had a ton of fun with them here and we can't for their next visit, and even more so when I can get to take Novali to Bolivia!

I posted some photos. on Novi's site: January 2008

Life has been hectic... it might not slow down for a while, but at least now its a little more tame. I will try to start posting a little more on my blog. This past weekend I was in Chicago for a conference and got to spend all of Sunday with Novali. I like being so close that I can hangout and not worry about how late I will get home. This next weekend Heather is coming and we have Novali for the weekend and that will be a lot of fun! So more photos coming soon...

New Things for 2008
I learned a lot this year and personally feel that I have grown a great deal. I learned that nothing can cheer you up like a Coke flavored Slurpee, that the cheese on McDs burgers will kill you, Verizon wireless still sucks, I can no longer call myself a "techy", I still don't like reading, I drive too much, I need more personal time, I miss being creative, I really need a garage (I really don't want to buy a house, just a garage, can I do that?), my life will always include big phone bills, I still don't like the beach but pretend for Novali, nothing makes my day like washing my car, even though I am poor I give to charities, and Novali will someday argue with me over life changing things not just whats for lunch and I have to prepare for it...

There are a couple things I am really looking forward to already in 2008...

Family - Miguel and Kate had little Javier Enrique Centellas on Jan 2, 2008. We welcome little Javi (pronounced Havi) into the Centellas clan and finally the American Centellas Heir is here. I am already thinking of all the fun things we will get to do on trips out East. Javi Pics.

Fraternity - January 2008 started my term as National President of Sigma Lambda Beta. I am very excited and looking forward to my time in office. I believe in the good work my fraternity does in the lives of young men across the country, and even more so in the good they do for local communities through our fraternity. I hope that our fraternity can continue to blaze a trail of good work and positive personal development. I would like to say that through my work the work of others will be even better.

Professional - February 2008 I will start a new job. I accepted a position with Indiana University and start on February 1st. I will be the Director of Student Life for their campus in South Bend, IN. This position is a big step forward for my career, and more importantly moves me much closer to Novali. I have an apartment lined up and already started moving some items.

Consulting - I have some big things coming down the pike this year. I signed with CAMPUSPEAK and will be doing some facilitating for them. It could mean a lot more travel/speaking. I knew when I got into this that working for a college won't make you rich... so extra money is needed. I of course will still be doing some freelance speaking and event planning when I can.

Team PLP - well another positive of my move to South Bend is more car racing. My hobby is finally going to flourish hopefully since I won't always have to drive 2 hours to my races. South Bend has two nice tracks and tons of AutoX events. So hopefully more leisure fun will help keep my stress lower this year.

Those are just the things I am expecting... I really think 2008 will be a big year. I will be turning 30... so strap on your helmet and lets go for a ride...

2007 Holidays
When it comes to the winter Holidays the Centellas family has always had some quirks and things that made us different. I know Heather would always laugh cause we would pick a date for "Centellas Family Christmas" usually a few days before or after the actual date. With Andres in DE and Miguel in PA and my parents on the bottom half of the globe this year there was no Centellas Family Christmas Spectacular. My mom was very sad about it, but it of course is the not the first time the family was not all together during the holidays. In 2003 Miguel and I were in Bolivia, 2004 my parents were in Bolivia on a mission trip, in 2005 I was in Chicago... so we rarely are all together for the holiday and I for one am okay with the fact that we just called each other and mailed gifts. I mean the season is about more then just having dinner together as a family and opening presents... its about love and peace and goodwill on Earth right? And we can do that on different corners of the country or even world.

So what all exactly did happen for my winter holidays? Lets do the usually travel recap.

Well for my avid readers my surgery went well. I recovered much faster then I was supposed to which was good. I still had cabin fever as I didn't leave my house for over a week. I was clearly stir crazy, and while the vicodin helped me nap away my boredom I still felt trapped. Heather was a very gracious nurse and took excellent care of me so I had that to be thankful for this holiday season.

The weekend before Christmas I had Novali. Heather drove to meet Tamara and Syed and brought Novi to Albion. We had a fun weekend together and I finally left the house! We did a ton of shopping and Novali as always was hilarious with her antics as we shopped for everyone. I won't recap everything here in the blog, but please check out the pics from her Christmas with Papi in Michigan. Novi's Pics

Sunday we open presents and then took Novali and met with Tamara and Syed. Heather and I relaxed that night and prepared for a trip to her hometown, lovely Bad Axe, MI. Monday morning we went up there and spent much time driving to see her family in Flint, and meet up with Raquel and friends of ours in Saginaw.

Christmas Day we went to Flint to visit Heather's family, but before hand we swung by and saw Raquel and Dennis and the girls. Ayanna now is walking around and Valerie is funnier then ever. We opened a few gifts and then called my parents. Everyone including Valerie talked to them and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. I talked to both my Brothers as well and the Centellas family though miles apart celebrated a Merry Christmas together. Then it was off to Flint to make some rounds with Heather's family and that as always was a lot of fun.

The rest of the week include driving from here to there... to Saginaw, to Ann Arbor, to Detroit, to Bay City... it was a whirlwind of visits with friends and family and enjoying out time off. I got over to Sterling Heights to visit Hermen, to Grosse Point for the Baker Family Xmas (my friend Megan), to Saginaw for shopping and visits with friends and sushi with Raquel and Ayanna. It was a great time!

For New Years Heather has the wedding of a friend we are attending. I am interested to see how a New Years wedding goes, looking forward to the excitement. I think its a novel idea. Then it will be back home and back to work for us... BOO.

Well that was my holiday in a nutshell... my parents arrive in three weeks and more winter fun is on its way! ciao.

Basketball on Ice
I made a last minute trip to Chicago this weekend. Friday I worked late closing the residence halls cause the students are GONE! Yeah... good times.

Saturday I came to Chicago. Just spent the day hanging out in their apartment. At one point Novi showed me out the window the United Center and how she went there to see Finding Nemo on Ice. I told her that was cool, and asked her if she knew that the Bulls play basketball there, her reply, "No, really? They can't play basketball on ice!" I was laughing too hard to try to explain to her how they cover the ice for other events.

We had a fun weekend. Sunday morning it was a short cooking lesson. Yes folks... I know how to cook, I rarely do it, but I do know how. Novali likes french toast and I told her sometime I would show her how to cook them. So we got up and prepped the kitchen. She also wanted a hard boiled egg like her abuela makes. Tamara helped by looking up directions and then we got to cooking. Novali and I make a good team. We made some french toast and hard boiled eggs, not the most common combo but she ate it all and was happy.

Sunday afternoon after lounging around the house we went shopping. Got some gifts for people at Target (Novi's favorite store) and then got some Puerto Rican food. After a feast of tostones, polo frito and arroz con gandules we went to Pets Smart. All her fish died this fall, so I wanted to score her some more fish, we start with just one. He is named after her past fish called Sky, so he of course is Sky 2.

Sunday night we chilled at the house, I watched a little football, made some dinner and got her ready for bed.

Monday I took her to school. I like getting to drop her off. I took the day off so I could take her to school, then drive to Michigan for my afternoon doctors appointment so not totally a vacation day but a break none-the-less.

The Doctor... well I have held off on posting it publicly for too many people but now I have to let everyone know. Tomorrow (Friday December 14th) I am having surgery on my back. I don't care to get into all of the details (its in the tailbone area) for my few faithful readers but it will knock me out for a few days. Anything on the back is hard and I am not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to less back pain in the long run. So wish me luck in a speedy recovery, more so wish Heather luck as she will have to take care of me.

I apologize this week for not getting back with everyone. Preparing for surgery, wrapping up work projects, fraternity projects and everything else to be out of it for a while was hard work. I tried to cram in gift shopping, never even got cards sent and now its the night before... I guess my attempt to break my no-card steak failed. Argh... hopefully I will heal quickly so I can get on with some shopping.

You Know What
Tuesday night Heather and I picked up Novali. First thing in the car... "you know what? my mami is allergic to cats." Then some "you know what I did at school today... you know that this..." Its funny how quickly a stressful day at work melts away when I am around her and the boisterous ramblings of a six year old. this was the beginning of the perfect holiday trip.

Tuesday we spent at a hotel near O'hare. We had an early Wednesday flight (to beat the rush) so a local hotel with a free shuttle would save us a lot of hassle. It worked... we woke up early, got breakfast, and took the shuttle to the airport. Novali was great and carried her own bag and didn't fuss through security. We boarded the plane and she wasn't scared and sat by the window. It was a great flight, she listened to music and besides a little ear ache on the way down things went smoothly.

Andres got us from the airport and we headed to his home in Wilmington, DE. His condo is very cute and I think its sponsored by IKEA and Archer Farms. He grows fresh herbs in the summer on his patio and complained of the lack of fresh herbs now that the seasons changed... I who rarely cook with anything besides my foreman grill did not sympathize much. His two cats Mona and Pumpkin of course were the center of attention for Novali. We enjoyed a walk around Wilmington with him and Saloumeh and rented some movies. It was a relaxing night of movie time, coffee, and good conversation.

Thursday we slept in... after the 5:45am wake up call the day before to catch our flight we needed the sleep. Andres and Saloumeh got up early to cook the Turducken... thats right folks... we had the fabled thanksgiving bird... turducken. Miguel, Kate and Kate's Brother Chris came as well so it was a full house. We spent the day playing games, catching up, and checking on the bird. We called the Coates grandparents, talked to our parents and had a nice chat with Raquel as well. Did I mention we checked on the bird a lot?

Dinner was great! The bird(s) made the day and Andres and Saloumeh are great hosts and cooks so it was a feast to remember. We were up a little late, read all the black friday sales and relaxed.

Friday we woke up early. Andres went with me to Sears as I wanted to land some great deals on tools. Who woulda thought I would get up early for a Craftsman sale! So at 6am we hit Sears, then got home and woke everyone and by about 8am we were headed to DC. A quick ride up and we hit DC. We checked in early at the Hilton, and Andres used the digital direction service to print directions to the museums. Well we get in the car, he hands me the directions to read them... I ask him, had you looked at these yet? He said no... so I read them out loud. Basically it said... don't drive downtown, parking is too hard, take the metro. At this point we were already half way there to we looped around a few times and finally made it into DC. It was a scenic tour none the less.

My fraternity Brother Alex met us downtown and it was a ton of fun. He was a close Brother to me in college and we kinda lost touch. I had not seen him in years and aside from birthdays and holidays don't talk a ton. He was a big inspiration for me in college so I was glad to get to introduce him to more of my family.

We enjoyed the museums, the great food (Tapas for lunch, Chinese for dinner) and walking around the sites. They dropped us off at the hotel and we repacked the bags and got ready for bed. The flight back was easy... we enjoyed some breakfast and a slightly later flight this time. We got to Chicago and traffic was chill, I was so glad I picked the dates we travel cause it worked out really well. Heather and I did some shopping before heading home... and that was the holiday.

Pictures are posted: Novi's Pics

Tomorrow I leave for Cincinnati for 5 days for a conference. Looking forward to connecting with a lot of friends and doing some more professional networking. I will have a several fraternity Brothers there and very much looking forward to having more Betas in Higher Education and more specifically another one in Greek Life (I was the first and only so far). Ciao.