Accent

So we have noticed a small problem with our daughter's name...many people in Albany say "Aubrie" like Long Islanders...Auwwwwbrie. Think annoying LI girls from college...it just grates on you after a while.

Santa

What a difference a year makes. Aubrie is no longer afraid of Santa. She still won't look at him when she talks, but at least she will sit on his lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas...Dora and Princesses of course!

GoodNews, Bad News

The Good News: Yay...we have internet at home!

The Bad News: We don't have heat at home!


Updates to follow (when I don't have to type with gloves on)

Strange Albany

So, we have been here for about a week (not counting our trip back 'home') and we are starting to find our way around. A few things are very strange though.

I have mentioned before that the grocery shopping situation is awful...no Wegmans or Tops. So far we have tried Price Chopper (really expensive) and Hannafords (really small). The one thing that they had in common, was that they expect you to bag your own groceries. All the cashier does is scan them and send them down the belt to the back counter area so you can bag them yourself.

Another really strange thing here is the garbage. We knew coming in that we would have to arrange our own garbage service, as not many places have government pick-up like Buffalo. What we did not realize is how expensive it is. The alternative, mentioned by the people we bought our house from, is to take the garbage to the dump yourself. This is what they did and said most of our neighbors do. It costs $1 a can to dump off regular trash. So on Saturday we loaded up the SUV and drove to the dump. For a total of $2 we got rid of three cans and all of our packaging boxes from the move. Very strange and inconvenient but cheaper in the long run.

Albany

Well...we are here...not unpacked yet, no Internet service yet (scheduled for Dec 8). So anytime I need to check email etc, i need to head to somewhere with free wifi. I am currently at Perfect Grind Coffee Bar.

Aubrie has already decorated our new house with her crayons. All over the white walls in the basement rec room. I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

more to come....

Getting Ahead

This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint...it goes like this:

What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that while hard work and knowledge will get you close, and attitude will get you there, it's the bullshiT and ass kissing that will put you over the top.

Happy Halloween

Good Weekend

Since wins have been hard to come by recently, this weekend's results are definitely worth posting...

Believe it or not, Buffalo's sports teams went undefeated! That right...

Bills won 13-3 over the Jets and are almost back in the wildcard picture!
Bulls won 26-10 over Akron and are leading the battle for a birth in the MAC title game!
Sabres won (2x) to get back to .500!

And for Justin...

BC beat Virgina Tech in dramatic fashion and remains ranked No. 2 in the country
...and the Red Socks won the World Series.

Hmm.

Little Butterfly

It was Halloween at Dance Class today!

Polish Humor

An elderly Polish man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death. He suddenly smelled the familiar aroma of his favorite pierogi with fried onions wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs.

Downstairs, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen, where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were hundreds of his favorite pierogi.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? He threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the pierogi was already in his mouth. He gathered his last ounce of strength and with a trembling hand he reached up to the edge of the table, when suddenly he was smacked with a wooden spoon by his wife.


"Back off!" she said. "Those are for the funeral."

Grandma Steck

1915-2007

Congratulations

Congrats to Daryl's brother Justin and long time girlfriend Jessica on their recent engagement.

Halloween Pics

The proofs from Aubrie's Halloween pictures :)

Milestones

Aubrie hit a few major milestones in the last week :) On Saturday she got her first hair cut. As you can see, she was a bit concerned but overall was fine. She now asks when she can get her hair cut again.
Today, Aubrie had her first preschool class without Mommy. She will be attending preschool 2 days a week for an hour and a half each day. Much to my dismay, Aubrie did not care that Mommy was leaving and was in quite a hurry to go play with all the toys while the other kids clung to their parents and cried. I can't really complain, now I have 3 hours a week to do what ever I need to do by myself.

Albany's Home of the Bills

So this is my first week working in Albany and I'm flipping through the radio to find a station that I like and I hear a promotion for Buffalo Bills tickets (HUH). Turns out that I stumbled upon "Albany's home of the Buffalo Bills!"

Albany has a home of Buffalo Bills...WAHOOOOO!

http://www.wqbk.com/events.php?page=events&id=1623

Walt Disney World

Pictures from our Walt Disney World vacation are finally online-only took 3 weeks to get them uploaded :)

These are just some of the ~500 pictures that we took.

http://www.zbrzeznys.com/Disney%20Pictures/

Getting Fat

Obviously it's not my fault that I'm gaining weight...it's everybody else...

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=606718

36 Hours in NYC

We made it though our whirlwind tour of New York this past weekend:

Saturday morning we flew into JFK, arriving at 7:15 am. We took the Airtrain and then the subway into Manhattan. We got slightly lost trying to find our hotel but managed to find it and drop off all of our luggage. Right out side our hotel was a street fair where we got breakfast (chocolate and strawberry crepes) and knock-off sunglasses. We then headed to lower Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Unfortunately, much of the subway in lower Manhattan is under construction and thus closed, so we had to take the bus, which was quite packed. We also went to the Skyscraper Museum. Too much over my head, but Daryl enjoyed it. After we left the museum, we headed to Little Italy for lunch. We ate at an outside cafe which was very good. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to check in and take a nap before the Turner Annual Dinner.

The Annual Dinner was held at Chelsea Piers and was amazing. Quite possibly the best banquet food I have ever eaten, with the best service. Each table of 8 had 4 waiters so they were never trying to balance the plates and everyone at the table was served at exactly the same time. Desert was a chocolate/hazelnut mouse cake...again amazing.

On Sunday we went to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was very nice. I don't think that i have ever been to a mass with so many people or priests. The cardinal said the mass, but there were 4 priests assisting him and during communion, another 10-15 priests came out. After mass we saw the "Gay Pride" parade, which went right down 5th ave. Quite an eye-opening experience. We were still uptown, quite a bit away from the village and it was still crazy. Daryl video taped the "Big Apple Corps" and we will post the video later. After the parade we headed to the UN for a tour which was interesting and we finished up with some shopping around Penn Station before heading back to JFK to catch our flight home.

All in all, a very good, albeit exhausting mini-vacation.

SOLD

We accepted an offer on our house today...guess we should really start looking in Albany!

Congratulations to Kevin and Lindsay,

who were married this past Friday, June 8.

Aubrie Balboa

My first shiner...

Thanks Anna

Dance Class

Aubrie finished her first year of Dance Class...she may not be the star ballerina yet, but she had fun.

Party

Kitchen

We have finished our last major project on this house...on to the next one!

BEFORE
AFTER

Let's Go Buffalo

Aubrie and Morgan are ready for the Sabres Run for the Cup.

Easter Bunny

We sure hate Santa, but the Easter Bunny is pretty cool!

Daddy's Little Helper

Aubrie helping set tile in our foyer

What an improvement

Birthday Party

Pictures from Aubrie's second birthday party and trip to Build a Bear are now online.
http://www.zbrzeznys.com/Images/Aubrie%27s%202nd%20Birthday/album/

Birthday

Thank you to everyone who helped Aubrie celebrate her second birthday...overall it was a success. Aubrie got to hang out with lots of friends and family and she enjoyed her Lamb cake.
Aubrie's 2 year old picture
Aubrie spent some of her birthday money on a "Build a Bear" experience. (in this case, Build a Ba). Although fun, I think picking out clothes for Ba was a bit overwhelming. Aubrie is also very concerned about the heart that she put in Ba, mainly, how can she get it back out!
Aubrie and her new Lamb from Build a Bear.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day (a bit late). Love Aubrie

Aubrie modeling her new Valentines Day jewelry from Mommy.
An early Birthday present designed and built by Daddy for all of Aubrie Little People and other toys.

Gymnastics

Aubrie had her first gymnastics show today and even though she was quite distracted by daddy's presence, she did very well. She bounced on the tumble track...
she swung on the bars...
and visited with her buddy Morgan after class.

Moose

Ever since Sunday night when Nater and Julie introduced Aubrie to the Moose, she has been obsessed. Moose and Antlers are her new favorite words and we even had to buy fruit snacks with Moose on them. Now she goes to the pantry and asks for Mooses.

Aubrie Ate Frosty

How cute...a Frosty cupcake...
...so much for Frosty's hat...
Frosty is no more!