Da Bears

Can you believe it, Division title for the Bears!!! Woohoo!

At the beginning of this season, I was pretty sure the best we could hope for was a 10-6 record. Depending on how we play Sunday, it could end up being 12-4! Of course, since the game is meaningless for the play-off picture, Lovie may not play the starters throughout and thus we may not win. But, I for one, think the game does mean something. If the Bears can hold out and win, they will have swept every team in the Division. That is an important goal for the subconscious of the team, proving that we have the skills to do something we haven't done for too long. So, I'm going into Sundays game (wearing my kickass new jersey my wife got me for Christmas) hoping to see all of the starters play a good solid game.

Christmas

Tis the day before Christmas, and all through the house, we are getting ready for the yearly travel to see the relatives. Hopefully, this will be the last year we have to travel all over hell and back, next year, if we are lucky, we can host. Until then, there is just one thing to say...

Merry Christmas!

Almost 10 Years

I've been with my wife for almost ten years (married 4+). We met on New Years Eve 1995. I told her that night I wanted to marry her. And while, things started out very rocky, we've been quite happy for the better part of the last decade.

Something very normal happened tonight when I got home for work. Something normal that really made me smile, after words when I thought about it. She was in the kitchen, and I came up behind her and started kissing her, just to say hello. Within moments we were hot and heavy, making out like teenagers.

I love that after almost 10 years we still do it for each other. Damn I love that woman!

Esquire Cover Gallery

I caught this over on Boing Boing. Very cool stuff. Great to see the artistic climate of any given year from the '30s to now.

New Interface (Again)

Not one to leave well enough alone, I've redone the interface, again. The only real reason for doing so was to do it. The look and feel that I had before was about 1/2 my own, and 1/2 taken from an open source skin.

This one is all me, done 100% in CSS, except for the parts that Blogger inserts and I can't control. Thoughts, comments?

24 Ways to Impress Your Friends

With the countdown to Christmas, a group of developers has come up with 24 ways to Impress Your Friends. There are some very cool one listed already, like Easy Ajax with Prototype and CSS Layout Starting Points.

Merry Christmas!

Adobe Formerly Macromedia

Well it is finally complete. Macromedia is now officially part of Adobe. I know a lot of MM developers are worried that Adobe is going to "ruin" the MM product line, but I just don't see that happening. The same concerns were voiced when Macromedia purchased Allaire, but MM only made ColdFusion bigger and better. This time Flash is the target product (at least that's my guess) for a merger; and when combined with Photoshop and ColdFusion, you have a complete solution for web application design.

Sadly, one of my favorite MM products, Fireworks, may not survive. I love Fireworks and would hate to see it replaced with ImageReady, which I see as a very weak product when compared. Overly, I'm excited about the possibilities of the new Adobe. Congrats to both companies! :)

New Interface

I'm not sure if I like this new interface or not. I've noticed that it is missing some of the blogger features, and it is a bit tough on the eyes. Any thoughts?

UPDATE: I hated it, so I came up with a totally different one! :)

8 is GREAT!

For awhile yesterday, it looked like the Bears may not pull it off. The defense was not playing it's normal game; and it looked as if once again, Favre would beat us on the home field. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Tillman and Vasher are my heros of the game, with one pick each and yet another touchdown for Vasher (he is just amazing!).

The best part of the game for me was watching the Bears defense go over to Favre at the end of the game and shake his hand, give him a pat on the back, etc. There was a lot of respect shown for one of the greatest to play the game - just as there should be.

Now on to the Stealers. Early in the season, I wouldn't have said there wasn't a chance the Bears could win. But now, the Bears 'D' is super-hot, and the Stealers are having some issues. With the Vikings only 2 games behind, we can't afford to lose this game.

Weekend

Brother, Sister & Me

Getting to spend a weekend with my brother and sister, his wife and her boyfriend was amazing. For many reasons that I won't get into, I haven't been able to see them for years. It was completely amazing.

The last time I saw them, both were just kids. I feel so lucky that I got the chance to see them now, and to start getting to know them again.

For me, this past weekend was Christmas, and I couldn't of got anything better.

Family

My brother and sister are coming down from Minneapolis as I type. I'm a bit of a nervous wreak, because I haven't seen them in five years. Crazy.

I'm sure it will be a good time, now I just have to figure out a way to pass the time until they get here...

Not Quite

OUCH!!! I didn't pass the MCP exam. But I don't feel that bad about it, just frustrated. The exam was supposed to be on SharePoint. However, most of it ended up being about other MS products that I've never used. Thanks MS! The good news, I still almost pasted and now I know what to focus on for next time.

Microsoft Certified Professional

In about two hours I am taking my first Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exam. The exam is on SharePoint, which I've been working with pretty extensively for the past several months. I'm a bit concerning about the exam, since I have never taken a Microsoft test, and don't know what to expect. With any luck, I will be a MCP by 3pm today...

ExternalInterface, CSS, & Tooltips, Oh My!

This is just bad ass! Eric Dolecki, lays out a clean way to use JS CSS and Flash to create clean Tooltips. I've added this technique to my toolbox , and can't wait to start playing with them. Thanks for the info Eric!