Never mind the grey poupon - you have bird poopon!

Yeah, I'd say Kristen likes the bird. After going through a bunch of names, the new family member has been dubbed 'Zoey'.

I don't cruise the web because I'm afraid I might meet the spider

Kristen and I went on the annual Jolly Roger H3 cruise as we did last year on a out-and-back trip to Cozumel. I'm not sure what it was, but I really wasn't as excited about this trip as in times past and though I had a fair time, it wasn't nearly as memorable as some of the other cruises. I did enjoy renting scooters and going around the island for a while, but in all things were just a bit off for some reason. Even though I got the wrong room, I should have gotten an outside or balcony, I really did enjoy spending some alone time with Kristen. The re-wedding of friends Jim and Kim was nice and it was good to see everyone in their formal best and looking good. We did pick up some good deals at the duty free alcohol shop on shore and even on the ship. I took my relatively new camera, however apparently the memory card was corrupted, so unfortunately most of the couple of hundred photos I took failed. I think I'm about done with cruising for quite a while without some substantial deal popping up or a better reason to go develops. I'd probably prefer using that time to spend with family or even visiting other places in the world with my girlfriend.

Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Kristen has always been intrigued and in love with birds and had a beautiful bird when she live in Bradenton that had to be given up. I knew that she very much wanted one again sometime and had been constantly looking on Craig's List and other sites for one. Knowing my dislike for noise and such, she was very sensitive in deciding on a species and wanted to want until the right opportunity came up. A week or so ago that opportunity presented itself when she found a listing where someone wanted to trade a hand-reared bird for a pool table. Knowing how important it was to her, I would have been willing to give up our pool table, but her enterprising mind came up with something even better. Through a lot of back and forth e-mails, she was able to find a pool table to the liking of the bird owner and arranged for us to go purchase a pool table from one person, dissemble it, transport it to the bird owner, and then reassemble it. Fortunately I had experience putting together the pool table at our home and leveling the table at her father's house and I had the tools needed to get the job done. Early this morning we headed up to Dade City and got to work. I was able to put the table together while Kristen spent some time with the new bird and talking to the bird's owner. As part of the deal, or maybe as a bonus, a large bird case was also included, so we were able to get everything loaded and still have room for a tree stand that we picked up on the way back home in the evening. It was a lot of work, but it was so worth every bit of effort as I could see Kristen was falling in love with the bird even in the short time. She's done so much for me that it felt really good to be able to contribute just this little bit towards completing the family and household. Now for a name.

Reporting in, sir. We have spotted and engaged the enemy ... the wedding is next Spring.

Our friends Jim and Kim had a lovely beach wedding on Treasure Island in St. Petersburg today and besides attending, Kristen and I did some photography. Besides normal wedding stuff, there was a special trial hared by the groom, so everyone had a pretty good time. It was a bit chilly, however I think things went quite well and am quite happy for the couple.

Can you swim in melted dry ice without getting wet?

After attending the Ground Zero hash campout, Jason, Kristen, and I went to the ICE! exhibit at Gaylord Palms. This was one of the first trips/dates that Kristen and I did together, so I wanted to maintain a sort of tradition and figured this would be the best chance to see it. I purchased tickets ahead of time, but was pretty surprised to see the extensive lines around, so after talking to the group, we decided to just purchase the VIP access pass that enabled us to skip the several hour wait. Although the event, with parking, is decently expensive, I still really enjoy seeing all the formations and designs and was glad to experience it again and will probably sucker myself into going each year. I was glad to have brought along the gloves and hats for everybody since the coats they provide don't have pockets and hoped that we got a few decent pictures.

Every day above ground is a good day.

Jason came down to hang out for the Christmas holidays and stayed through New Year's before he went on a hash cruise. We all went to the Ground Zero campout hosted by Orlando H3. Kristen came in a little after us since she had to work late, but we were able to have a good time. We brought out the laser machine that she got me for Christmas and a borrowed fog machine from her parents to add a bit to the festivities.

Just for a change, I woke my DOG from a sound sleep so I could go to the bathroom.

We got Kyra about a week ago and have been bit nervous about her behavior. We figure that she really hasn't had any proper training and had to pretty much fend for herself growing up, so recently she's been a bit snippy around other dogs or skittish even, but a little too dominating with Josie (Kristen's dog). After her mom had a grand idea, Kristen' got her brother's dog, Dakota, to come over to the house for a few days since he is young, energetic, and full of muscle. It was great to have had something with which Kyra could learn so appropriate behavior and not be so domineering. There is still a little bit of separation anxiety and she air snaps a lot, but I'm hoping that a good bit more training can resolve those issues.

We spent a good bit of Christmas at Kristen's parents home and had a really good time with my now accepted family. In attempts to better socialization skills, we've been taking Kyra along with us. She is doing a bit better, but I'm sure there is still a good bit of work ahead as there is with any young, untrained animal.

Every time you speak, your mind is on parade.

Last night Kristen and I took the dogs downtown to watch the Elves Overboard boat parade. Before she got her promotion, she had spent a lot of time setting up the event which consisted of two parades with last night's even being the biggest. There were probably 30 or so boats involved that ranged from small pleasure craft to an actual ocean-going tug capable of pushing around massive cargo ships. Many of them involved music being piped in, but one large boat even had a live band playing that continued on as many of them docked at the convention center. for the first time, members of the public could text in votes for their favorites, allowing a more interactive experience. The new dog was decently behaved, but still being her first day and tired from the afternoon runs she was still acting aggressively when we were sitting down, but not when simply walking about.

The value of a dog is its constant reminder of how much fun it is to be idiotic.

After still not having any contact from the Tampa German Shepherd Rescue, Kristen was able to find an adoption listing from a family in Deltona that had to give up their 4 month old dog as another child in an already overcrowded home was soon going to be added. After a decent call and e-mail exchange, we made arrangements to meet the family in Orlando near the IKEA to meet the animal. The initial meeting was a bit tense as the new dog was obviously quite frightened and was a little aggressive with Kristen's dog. We took both dogs for a walk in a nearby field and they seemed to do better, however the new dog does seems to be defensive/aggressive whenever we're sitting down, however when she's on a leash or running free (which we allowed at the dog park) there aren't any problems. I'm hoping that this is just due to being in a completely new environment and not having had the benefit of prior structured training.

When we got home I took her to a hash run and plan to take her out as often as possible to ensure proper socialization with people and other animals. We haven't decided on a name yet and thought we'd wait a little while to see why kind of personality develops as she gets acclimated to her new environment. She did show a bit of separation anxiety, so I'll need to figure out how to kill that habit very quickly and hope a couple of days of adjustment and routine will aid in her development.