It's been a busy couple of weeks for us.  Just about two weeks ago I got word that a good friend of mine from High School, Jan Millard, had passed away.  So last week a bunch of friends flew in for the services and some of us made a trip down to Blacksburg VA, home to the VA Tech Hokies. Jan went to college down there and really got into following their football team. Jan's dad had extended an offer to any of us who wanted to go down there to celebrate the life of Jan, Hokie style. So thats what we did. Despite the circumstances it was a good trip and gave a few of us some time to catch up with on another.  Situations like this really suck but I think the trip down to VA was a good thing for us, as well as for Jans dad. Since a lot of you who read this did not know Jan I won't go into too much here. For those of you who read this and did know Jan you already know how much of a great friend he was and how much he ment to all of us.

The weekend before the VA Tech trip was on our annual Fishing Trip.  This was I believe our 4th year out with the crew from the Miss Atlantic City. This year we were on a new boat, the Captain Collet. A much nicer boat, a great day as far as weather goes and all the Sea Bass we could catch.  Here are a few random shots from the trip.

I think we may be joining the mac world.  I've been checking out the new iBooks.  Really nice machine. A little more versatile since it's a lap top and lately I have been really impressed with the software and hardware that Apple has been offering. Plus I found out that Steph can get the educators discount at the Apple store in KOP.

Had a good weekend. We went down to Baltimore to visit our friends Mike and Jenn as well as their new little addition, Petra.  Got down there on Friday night, order in some Chinese and basically hung out with Jenn, Mike and of course Petra...both her and Elliott hung in there for a while.  Saturday morning Steph, Elliott and I got up and headed over to the Baltimore Aquarium. The whole ride over to the Harbor it really wasn't raining at all. Of course when we got down there it started to pour. None the less we had a great time. Elliott really seemed to enjoy the Aquarium and by the afternoon the rain had stopped.

While we were outside the Dolphin area Elliott took it upon himself to make a friend. Didn't really get too many good pictures because I didn't know how the girls parents would feel about me taking pictures of her. But he just went up to this little girl and started to hug and kiss her. The pictures below show him checking out her backpack and then fleeing the scene. For lunch we grabbed a bite to eat at the ESPN Zone. Cool concept, but the food wasn't too great. Probably should have went with the Hard Rock or someplace else.

Saturday night we went back to Mike and Jenns and they have a few of their friends over for some Poker.  Below is a picture of Mike and Petra (sorry Jenn, I didn't get a picture of you and Petra...next time). Oh and Elliott in a Dumbo costume. He didn't seem too happy to have it on. But we all wanted to see what it looked like, it was a costume Jenn and Mike had and that does not quite fit Petra yet.

I did ok at Poker. Did not make it to the 2nd table, last one out before the two tables merged. But I got about 3 hours of play in, which was my whole goal...to not be one of the first people out and play for a while. Tom and Joey G showed up in their best as you can see below. I didn't get many action pictures from Poker, too involved in my game. The middle pictures below is when the final table was getting down to just a few and the final pictures shows the big winner (guy with the shaved head). The winner was the neighbor of a guy from Mikes work. Nobody knew who he was besides the guy who brought him...so the jury is still out on if we were set up or not :)

Last night we had Mike, Amy and Nate over for the bike Eagles game. What a nice Monday Night win.

Today I picked up the new Green Day album "American Idiot" during my lunch break. I've only gotten through the album about two times so far, but it sounds really nice. Catchy, great production, great hooks, vocals sound solid. Should be one I'll have spinning for a while.

Wes Andersons new movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is finished up. Release date in US theaters looks to be December 24th. Can't wait. Just watched the trailer here. Here are a few still shots from the film.

Painted our bedroom on Saturday. Turned out nicely. Home Depot has this painted made by Behr that is really good. Goes on nicely, only one coat needed and the color selections are good. Plus it's rather cheap, like $18 for a gallon.

Football season is in full swing. Eagle played incredible and at least this weekend, McNabb and Owens lived up to the hype they have been getting all pre-season. If the offensive weapons the Birds have this season can stay healthy they could be an extremely tough team to stop.