Help Us Name Our Dog

Close to our house is a very nice animal shelter that Terra and I have visited every saturday for the last couple months. Both of us have wanted to get a new dog, and have been disappointed by not being able to find that perfect dog for us. There were several times that one of us liked a dog, but not the other, a few times we both liked a dog, but the dog didn't like cats, and then once or twice we both liked a dog, but it was too big.

On Christmas Eve I decided to stop into the shelter to have a look around, and I saw the dog in my pictures. She was perfect! She liked toys, didn't want anything to do with cats, was close to the right weight, and was a beautiful dog. I liked her so much that I put a hold on her right away. I called Terra and told her she needed to drop what she was doing and come to the shelter. Terra too liked the dog, and after some trouble with our apartment complex we brought her home today.

Now here is the problem. What do we name her? Below are some choices we have come up with. Vote by posting a comment either on this blog in the comments section, on facebook, or on twitter. We will tally the results and our dog will be named.

1. Goldie
2. Kess
3. Kira
4. Uhura
5. Seven of Nine (Seven for short)
6. B'Elanna

Some of these shots were hard to get she hasnt stopped moving since she got home.

David and Marysol's Visit

So about a year ago my friend Marysol called me with an idea. Marysol is married to one of my best friends David. The three of us severed our missions together in the California Ventura mission. David was my trainer, and we have stayed friends ever since. So anyways Marysol called me with an idea. Davids birthday is December 15, and according to Marysol he has always felt his birthday took second place to Christmas. I can understand this because my sister has the same birthday and she feel the same way. So the idea was she and David would fly down for his birthday and it would be a total surprise to David. So for almost a year she and I kept this secret, and David NEVER knew. What was funny was about a week before he and Marysol were to be flying in I talked to David and he was telling me what his "plans" were for his week off. Little did he know those "plans" would not be happening.

So once they got here we had a great time. We spent a good deal of time in Seattle going to the aquarium and the Bodies Exhibit. I dont have any pictures of the Bodies exhibit because they dont allow cameras inside. Going to see Bodies was very interesting. What I found interesting was out of around a dozen full bodies they were all male except one female. When I pointed this out to Terra at first she didn't notice and then she also thought it was odd.

While we were at the aquarium we watched an octopus being fed and that was very cool. Terra really enjoyed the otters and wondered aloud if she could have one as a pet. After the aqaurium we had dinner at Fishermans. This was a great place to eat. Had some of the BEST food I have had in a VERY long time. Terra and I plan on going back as soon as we can. While we were in Seattle we saw several

Merry Christmas

So Christmas morning has come and gone. Well technically there is still 20 minutes of Christmas morning, but by the time I finish writing this post it will be afternoon. As usual I had trouble sleeping. I have never slept well on Christmas Eve. I love Christmas and am anxious for it to arrive. My very patient wife realized this when at 6:00AM I asked her if she wanted to wake up and go open presents. She said no and we went back to sleep. We finally woke up around 8 and went out into the family room, and opened presents. Terra got me some great gifts and I was very happy with my gifts, and she seemed very happy with her gifts as well. I got her a new Digital SLR camera, and I am looking forward to seeing what she can create with it. Now we are sitting out in the living room enjoying time together.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Ice Skating Trip

Terra and I decided to go ice skating a few nights ago. While we were driving there we passed by what looked like a neighborhood filled with Christmas lights. I love looking at Christmas lights, and did a quick u-turn. When we got back to the neighborhood we found out it was actually a park filled with all sorts of lights. We paid our entrance fee and spent about 45 minutes driving through the park looking at some very cool lights.

After we looked at lights we headed to the ice rink and had a great time. The ice probably could have used a smoothing over, but all the same it was fun. Terra tried to get me to fall down a couple times because as she said she wanted me to do something funny. I did not follow through with her request and stayed up the whole time.

Come January Terra and I are planning on taking some classes at the rink. Terra will be taking some figure skating lessons, and I am joining a beginners hockey team.

I have gone through my blackberry and camera and found a lot of videos and pictures that I took. Most of these pictures and videos I took for the purpose of my blog, but for one reason or another I never did. So I am starting at the beginning and planning on moving through all these videos and pictures. I hope you all enjoy.

The two movies below are two videos I took at Dragon*Con

Our Teenager of a Cat

So we have had to start keeping Spock out of the bedroom during the day. Spock really likes being in the bedroom underneath our bed, and he can stay there for hours at a time. While he is social with Terra and myself, he is not social with other people. So in an effort to help him we are locking the bedroom door and keeping him out in the main living area. He does NOT like this plan at all! He will sulk around the bedroom door pining away hoping someone will open it for him. It reminds me of a sullen teenager wanted to hide out in his bedroom all day because no one understands him. I am hoping after a few weeks Spock will get more comfortable being out of the bedroom, and hopefully be less skittish. We are only on day two.

This morning I was going through my normal Monday tasks, when I got an email advising me of a new standard going into effect January 1, 2010. With the new year right around the corner I decided to read the regulation. The regulation is on reporting equipment incidents to the FRA. In the regulation an incident is defined in the following words.

"A "rail equipment accident/incident" is a collision, derailment, fire, explosion, act of God, or other event involving the operation of railroad on-track equipment (standing or moving) that results in damages to railroad on-track equipment, signals, tracks, track structures, or roadbed."

Does anyone else see something strange about this definition?

So I need some suggestions a possibly some help. I know this is early, but I am wondering what my costume should be at Dragon*Con. See I have two of the three days taken care of. One is a surprise, and the other, well Terra convinced me to dress Ang from the The Last Avatar show. She assures me this will get some smiles from my nieces. She has been asking to paint the blue arrow on my head every day since then. I keep telling her to go ahead and she never does.

Anyways this leaves a third days up in the air. I thought my group was going as a Steam Punk Pirate group, but that doesn't seem to be working out. So here is my question what should I go to Dragon*Con as?

Nazi Zombies

So I have some friends over and we are playing Nazi Zombies. I have found that this game is very soothing. Mostly because I can take out my frustrations of the day out on mass quantities of zombies.

World of Warcraft used to fill the void of killing things for relaxation. One of my friends has never played this game, and I think they are hooked. On their second try they made it to level 11. Which if you have never played before thats really good!

Has anyone even been in a relationship that you want to express your emotions for someone, but the way you generally express your feelings is NOT how that person likes to receive affection? So if you express your feelings the way you generally would, that person doesn't actually receive the message you are trying to convey, thus making your actions mute.

Also if you express your emotions in the way they like to receive such things as love and devotion, there is a part of you unfulfilled because you feel you have not adequately expressed the message of affection you want.

I am curious if anyone else has had to deal with such a relationship and how you overcame such things?