Don't miss:

This Saturday, 11:30 PM

NBC

Saturday Night Live season premiere

Featuring musical guests, the Killers

And hosted by..........







DANE COOK!!

Awesome baby.

I know I keep saying what an awesome baby we have, but we have such an awesome baby. She is so chill - sure she cries sometimes, but she is generally good natured, in a good mood, and just loves to look around and look cute! This past weekend was no exception. We took her out Saturday evening to dinner with friends, and she was awesome hanging out in her car seat. And I had friends come over yesterday, and she was definitely showing off - well behaved, letting people pick her up and cuddle her. Her neck muscles are stronger, she sleeps through the night, and she loves taking a bath (and we love giving them to her!) Here are some new cute pics of Olivia (with comments helped out by Red):


"I am Olivia. Now feed me."


"When I wake up, there better be a bottle ready and my diaper about to be changed. But keep the hoodie on. I look FANTASTICAL."


"Nobody puts Olivia in a corner. Except for a cute picture."


"Nah, I'm good. What's up with you?"


"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"


"Daddy, you are so going to spoil me rotten."

Celeb rant.

I know lately I've been mostly blogging about baby Olivia. It's hard not too... she is such a cutie. But today, while bored at work, I will discuss a topic on my mind this morning - celebrities I hate.

The place where I get my breakfast in the morning always has some trash mags by the counter. So while waiting for my bagel to get toasted this morning, i flipped through one. Now I've seen these many times before - US Weekly, People, etc. - and I just can't stand most of the people in them. I used to have a list of my top celebs that I hated, and I will have to rethink that right now. Here is a new list, not in any order, but they all suck:

* Paris Hilton. Is there anyone who has less talent and is also so unattractive? Why does anyone even give her the time of day? Because they know she will always make a fool out of herself?

* Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Poor Katie. I didn't really like her much before, but not enough to put her on a list. She got mixed up in the Scientology crowd. Suri is in for a lifetime of weirdness with those parents

* Britney and Kevin. Not that I care for Justin Timberlake, but Britney at least had more credibility when she was with him. K-Fed? Please.

* Lindsay Lohan. How many times do we have to hear about her partying, her dehydration, her fueds with other stupid celeb girls?

* James Blunt. Because he sucks.

* Jennifer Lopez. Even though she isn't in the news much anymore, she still sucks.

There are others, but that is the short list for now.

And as I was doing a little research on usmagazine.com, I remember what else I hated - the "stars, they're just like us" section. As if to remind us that, yes, celebrities are really people! They drink coffee! They pump their own gas! They jog! They actually do their own grocery shopping!

If they really wanna me "just like us," why don't they get a real job, and sit in a cube for eight hours a day for $40,000 a year? But then how would Paris be able to afford her exotic animals she wants as pets, her nasty clothes, all those drinks, and tons of In-N-Out burgers after getting pulled over?

I suppose, though, that having bad celebrities around is a good thing. Because then what would we have to rant about?

9/11/06.

So it's hard to believe that it's been five years since the attacks. It's funny how it took some time for people to get back to normal, to now where Paris Hilton and Tom Cruise make headlines for stupid crap. But thinking back to that Tuesday morning, and the days that followed, we didn't know if and when things would ever get back to normal.

First, I think back as to what could have been. What if Melissa and I stayed in NY? When the first plane hit, we both could have been on the subway somewhere. And it is possible we both could have been stuck in the city, or even on the subway under the WTC. Luckily, this was not the case.

But then that day... finding out what was going on while at work, trying to get through to my dad who was working across the river in Jersey City, and when I finally did get him on the phone, he was watching the towers collapse. When the two planes hit the towers, and then another hitting the Pentagon, no one had any idea how many others were out there. Work sent us home just to be safe, and Melissa and I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV watching what was going on.

And then the crap that followed. Bush declaring war on terror, but not capturing Osama Bin Laden. Accusing Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction and linking them to 9/11, and capturing Saddam Hussein. And Ground Zero is still empty with no memorial, with arguments still going on about the design of the new buildings.

But regardless of how I think the government is handling things, one thing I can say - I cannot understand why these terrorists think like they do. Melissa told me that these people were brainwashed while they were teenagers - living in areas with no jobs, no education, no purpose in life, so it is easy to sway these kids into something like Al Qaida. And I can totally see that. Even where i went to high school, kids were getting brainwashed into becoming all religious. I don't even speak to one side of my family because of their extremist beliefs.

And these terrorists love "Allah" so much, but why would "Allah" be ok with killing tons of innocent people?

Anyways, those are my thoughts today. It's a day I will never forget, as well as all Americans.

7 weeks.

Can you believe she is 7 weeks old already? She is really smiling more often and making cute little faces and noises. Here are some more pics of the cutie:

Smiling!


Cutie in baby blue.


Minutes later... unhappy!


Nothing cuter than a perfect little baby sleeping.

Olivia... da ta ta ta ta.

So what has been going on? The usual... work, baby, baby and baby. Work has not been busy at all - I am not complaining, but I get tired from doing nothing. Still much better than that other place. I still think about it sometimes, about how they screwed me, how they didn't appreciate anything that I did for them, and the whole situation with my boss' job. From what I hear, though, they are having problems getting the work done on time, and they still haven't replaced me. They deserve it. But no need to be bitter... I am in a much better position now.

And the baby. Olivia! She is awesome. And she is 7 weeks old today. She had a little bout with some dry skin, but it is much better now. She has gotten into her crazy screaming phase... for no good reason, she will just cry and cry. She was fed, changed, rocked, but still crying. It doesn't last too long, but it sure breaks your heart to hear her do that. Sometimes I can get her to quiet down by making her do this little dance and sing a weird "Olivia" song. Maybe she just quiets down because she thinks I am so weird.

And she is starting to try and smile now! This morning before I left for work, I went to check up on her in the crib, and she totally looked right at me and smiled!

But with all this going on, it will be nice to have a weekend away, which Melissa and I will do in November. Nice little hotel in NH, with massages... sweet.

And now, here are some newer pictures:

One of her first attempts at a smile.

Not happy to have that hat on.

Sticking her tongue out at the world.

Ahh, phooey.

Ed and Olivia.

How cute.

MBA.

So my grad school graduation was last night. Melissa, Red and Chillier all made it out to watch the boring ceremony with the weird guest speaker. But I was there, I received my diploma in person, and I can now move in from that part of my life.

Thinking back at the long three year journey, I can honestly say it was not fun. With the exception of a few people, I did make some good friends in the program. I am sure I will keep in touch with a couple of them. But here are some memories of things I will not miss:

- First semester, having to meet up at the school library and at Panera to work on group papers.

- The rest of the semesters, having to meet up at all for any group projects (and one, in particular we were at school until 1AM working on a paper that one of the group members ended up changing the whole thing anyway!)

- Wasting my weekends working on assignments, leaving Melissa to go out without me.

- Sitting through boring classes with some assy professors.

- Having to commute home after class by taking the T to the T to the bus (until Sue's fiance/now husband gave us rides home!)

- Either arguing with a group member about something I know they are being stupid about, or trying to pull up the weight of a member who wasn't doing anything.

- Finding out how one of my "friends" basically screwed me over.

There are countless other little things I am sure, but that's all I can remember for now.

We did have some fun... writing little notes in class to friends, quarters nights, popped collars. But whatever fun I did have, I am so glad that I will never have to go to class ever again.