Jeremy's soccer team has been doing really well. He doesn't complain about soccer and he likes playing. He usually plays ten minutes in goal and ten minutes on defense. He's getting the hang of defense positioning but he needs to be more aggressive in cutting off the ball and trying to get the ball from the offensive players. His team won 10-0 today or something crazy like that. His coach is really good and teaches the kids right. They have a scrimmage this Tuesday against one of the best teams in the area so we'll see how they do. I'm sure if they lose Ed will be working with the kids to try to get to that skill level.

Every Thursday is overcast with some rain but not enough to cancel practice. I missed practice last Thursday because I wanted to go to hockey and this Thursday it was drizzling and cold when we got there but it cleared up. Since they moved back practice to 5:30, I'm going to see if I can coach for about an hour and then leave and have Holly bring him home. I'll get to hockey a few minutes late but it's better than missing it. Marco and I played open ice hockey a few times. We played once on Friday morning and it was great, plenty of ice time and there were just enough to give you a lot of skating. However, guys seemed to have quit pretty early and the session ended early, which I can't complain because I got plenty of time. I never sharpened my skates and they're in dire need of it. We played last night and I played like shit, considering the dull skates and a new stick that should have been cut down about an inch. Tried to sign up for the ice hockey league after I met a guy at open hockey that said his team needed players but took a week to get a call back from the rink and the phone call didn't really answer any questions. Big Wheel starts next week and I hope our team can perform. I always liked the guys on black and I thought they had more hockey sense and were smarter than some of the guys on the old team.

Been hanging out with Marco. Went to see Jimmy and hung out at his house bullshitting for a few hours one night. Marco has been here a few times, just hanging out.

Computer is at Velocity Micro and still waiting to hear back about the cost. They said the motherboard wasn't good and they were nice enough to offer to replace the motherboard and Ram as long as I replace the processor. Should be about 200 at the most. Hopefully the fucking thing works well when I get it back. There are some games I feel like playing like Starcraft which doesn't work on the laptop the right way and there are tons of games coming out that I need the PC for. There are also plenty of new releases for the consoles that I'm considering getting like Gears of War 3 and Resistance 3 but I don't know how much I would play them. I know the 4 big games I want are Dark Souls, Battlefield 3, Rage, and Elder Scrolls. Just a matter of spending all the money on games when we have Florida coming up.

Holly's birthday is coming up and I still have to order her presents and try to get her a surprise. I don't know what the hell to get her.

Mom and Dad are looking at houses and they found something they liked and tried to put a bid in but Matt took his fucking time like the retard he is and the offer wasn't in enough time. I told them not work with him. You would think one of Chris's best friends would be working hard for them, especially with the commission on the line.

Played tennis with Ryan last week. Started off slow but started to get into the groove in and almost went into a playoff on game one, losing after a few deuces 6-4. Next game we started 2-2 but then got a phone call from Chris about going out to dinner because he got out early and it fucked up my whole game and I sabotaged myself, losing 6-2, 6-1. Got some shitty greasy pizza afterward.

Been getting back into comics, mostly because of Chris. Ryan lent me a bunch of stuff. I've read:

Akira
Crossed 1&2
Ultimatum
Days of the Future Past
Red Hulk 1-5
Astonishing X-Men 1-25

Going to focus on the stuff Ryan gave me first and then start reading some stuff I downloaded. I bought some Hulk Comics to catch up with the series a bit and then bought Morrison's JLA 1-50 for a good price and Sandman which I paid a bit more than I intended but I really wanted the series to read again. The resale value on both of them should be decent, especially Sandman.

One week left of summer. I decided to assistant coach Jeremy's soccer team against my better judgment. I don't mind doing, except that it falls on Thursdays and there has been open hockey on Thursday. Plus the last few Thursdays have been iffy weather wise, with last Thursday practice getting canceled halfway through, forty five minutes late. Plus Jeremy has already started to bitch about not wanting to go to practice and that's really not too fun to deal with. Feel like I'm wasting my time forcing him to go when he doesn't really want to.

Marco moved back. Went to Sunday hockey and he was there talking to Nick. Been hanging out with him since he came back. We went to Bethlehem a few times to skate at the outdoor rink, which is actually pretty nice. I just don't want to fuck up my wheels or sticks too bad. The first time we just passed the puck around and the second we played a small ball hockey game. He came over the house a few times to hang out.

The velocity micro broke once again. It hadn't been running all that great. I had problems a few weeks before that miraculously just fixed itself. The computer wasn't really freezing, although I wasn't playing too many games on it besides Starcraft. I went through their customer service, they couldn't do anything for me and then wrote a bad review on a review site and someone else got back to me trying to help me. She's proven more knowledgeable than the previous techs and even offered to fix the computer for me for free with me only paying the shipping cost (The previous offer was the standard I pay both shipping costs, plus 99 dollars an hour for labor plus parts.) The Bios may be corrupted so I'm expecting a call back tomorrow to see if they have a software update for me. If not, I'll send it back.

Started playing ice hockey and it's been great fun. I go on Friday Nights and it's an older crowd. Starting to get more comfortable on the skates and I'm looking forward to playing this upcoming season. I have to figure out exactly what I'm doing with that in the next few weeks because I don't want to miss a cutoff to sign up. There's also a big ball hockey league in ALlentown and I'm intrigued to play there. The weather is one reason I wouldn't want to. We'll see what happens.

Chris and Marco are going to play roller this session so those are two people I'm going to be playing with. I don't know if I'm going to play on the same team or try something else. Warren had a few additions for the team and while they're nice enough people, I don't really like how they play.

Went to Aunt Mare's for a few days. We left on Friday morning. Chris was nice enough to come here and pick us up. The drive wasn't so bad. The first night was the best, with nice weather and us hanging outside the whole night barbecuing, swimming, eating, making smores, etc. Jeremy had a blast in the pool the days he was there. We went to play tennis the first day and I've never seen such shitty tennis courts. You're also supposed to get a pass if you want to play on any tennis court in the city. We didn't do it though. I thought Maria was going to annoy the hell out of me but I actually liked her. She kept getting into fights with her husband. The second night the weather was shitty with rain so we just hung around and watched 127 hours. The air mattress we slept on wasn't too comfortable and kept deflating. Chris and I were sort of planning to go gambling on the way there or home or go into the city but it just didn't work out; was just too much of a pain in the ass. We went home on Sunday. I wouldn't have minded staying another day. Jeremy stayed until Wednesday.

Been playing Starcraft 2 and picked up zerg. I'm not good at the game and lose some games I really should win but I think I'm slowly starting to learn things about the game. It does take a while to get used to everything but my decision making is not all there. Like today I lost all three games I played and I could have won at least two of them. Should have won at least two of them. A few different decisions like placing spores at my expansion or being more aggressive would have won me the game.

Started reading comics again a bit. Still reading Infinite Jest. Chris started getting into comics like the day after I started reading them. He bought the Captain America and Astonishing Xmen 25 issue editions. He gave me xmen today. I picked up Cerebus a bit and might go to the invisibles which I never finished.

Chris came down yesterday. We went to the school to play tennis but the courts were asphalt. We went down 248 and played a few games. There was only one court but luckily no one was there. Felt decent playing, my serve was starting to get on and i learned how to cut my follow through in order to return the ball in the court. I think I won 3-0. Chris played better after he got the smaller racket out of the car. We shot around the basketball for a few minutes after that and then went to super buffet and played neuroshima. Still don't quite understand all the rules of the game.

I went to mom's last Monday to play tennis and for some reason Chris wanted to go to Mt. View and then we met up with Padhe and it kind of ruined things. He's a nice guy but we had to include him in the games, plus the courts were reserved from 430-730 on Monday and Wednesday. Ridiculous that the day we go there it happens. Should have just stayed in PCp and played.

Had another soccer game two Fridays ago. The field was soaked and I debated until the last minute if I was going or not. Didn't want to get stuck in a storm. Was nice all the way down there, then hit the rain when we were there. There was a steady rain and then it poured for a while but after that it cleared up. We didn't have as many guys as the first time but it was still decent.

Haven't had luck with the bike. Went down to Holly's parents for the mom's birthday and I tried to ride to the house but I got a flat tire right on 209 at Country Junction. Was ridiculous. We stopped at Dominics to get pizza for their parents and I tried to fix the flat then but had no such luck. Haven't really biked on the mountain bike the last few weeks. Went to take it out to Trexler and saw the front tire was flat. Put the tire on from the Trek but the wear on that tire made riding a bit difficult. Was going to go to Bethlehem on Sunday morning (rain on Saturday) but didn't feel like driving and went to bed late. I'm in the mood to go down there and will probably try for this weekend and then when mom takes Jeremy I can go during the week and not have to worry.

We've been playing a lot of open hockey at least once a week. It's nice to have that extra day to play. Val said he could get me into open ice hockey and I might take him up on it this week, as I don't have hockey on Sunday. We lost in our playoff game and tai had the shutout on us. I feel weak in hockey the last few weeks. The fitness just isn't there.

Been wanting to get the new treadmill and think I'm going to do it very very soon. It's too bad the back of the jeep doesn't open or I would've gotten it yesterday. However, the warranty cost between Sports Authority and Walmart is so great that I'm better off getting it from walmart. Wouldn't mind saving the sixty bucks shipping but oh well.

Jeremy joined the camp and has fun there. He only went twice last week. A few of the times were partially my fault because i was tired but he did oversleep at least one day and the weather was overcast with like a 50% chance of rain. The same thing occured today and it's a bitch because I can't go back to sleep then.

Dinner for dad's birthday was pretty decent. The Olive Garden's food isn't bad; isn't great either. Mom had a 50% off coupon for Borders so I decided to get a book with it. Infinite Jest. The fucking book was still cheaper on Amazon when I checked later that night. Dropped into Best Buy afterward just to browse but then I felt like getting home. I want to buy a flip recorder sometime in the near future. Funds are tight with this vacation on the horizon and our constant spending. We do need to cut down.

Chris actually got the soccer game together and we had a great time. There were about 12 guys. We moved the nets in closer than they were and it worked out fine. Play that twice a week and you'll be in shape in no time. The running was incredible. We were all sore the next day. Hopefully we can get another game together every other Friday or basketball or something. After soccer we went to Barley Creek. The food was decent, a bit overpriced because of the location. I got a Reuben sandwich. Chris's friend got sushi, which I was jealous of because I didn't see it on the menu. Been on a sushi craving since then. Miles hosted poker at his house that night and mom didn't really want Jeremy and I to stay at the house but I weaseled my way in because I really wanted to play. Poker was a lot of fun, we didn't play a tournament but instead played house games/random games and the variety kept things very interesting. I lost twenty dollars, made some bad plays and didn't analyze enough but next time I will. I'd like to go down there the next time he hosts it, even if it's a Friday night when I'm not in the area.

Jeremy finished school yesterday. He did well on his report card. Dad came down to test the boat out. He forgot the keys and didn't have a bin for the motor. Thank goodness we were able to start it up with a screwdriver. I didn't want to see him make a wasted trip on his only day off. There was open hockey yesterday. The heat in there was pretty bad but still had fun, even though those guys on my team didn't pass. Got hit in the face with a stick by one of the Chinese kids. Mike from my team said that his girlfriend overheard that Tai was going to recruit me for his team during the next session. We'll see what happens. Hit horrible torrential rain on the way hockey, with sizable hail chunks. Was a real pain in the ass to drive in. Plenty of people were pulling over. Once I hit 33 things cleared up but it was sketchy driving for most of the way.

My team lost to the Jokers pretty badly. I thought that we would have a chance in that game. We beat green and green beat red so I figured by default we could have a chance but nope. Andy was trying to get on my nerves the whole game and was giving me small cheap shots so when he fell in back of the net, i cross checked him in the back of the head. Not a huge, hard one but just enough to be a dick.

Been attempting to run almost every other day. The day after my run my shin bone hurts so I stay off it. Was trying to hit the goal of three miles the other night and was just about there at 2.8 when the treadmill turned off. When I turned it back on, it started beeping continuously. I had to run outside the other night. Tried to get the pedometer to work but I was too aggravated to toy around with it. Turned the treadmill on yesterday and suddenly it was working again. We'll see what happens with it but I have a feeling we'll need a new one soon. I'd like to get one because I love the convenience it provides. I always tell myself I'm going to get on a better schedule and wake up early and run on the road but I hate doing it. Plus the bowels always flare up when I'm running and that makes things very uncomfortable.

Holly is going to visit her parents on Saturday and I am going to attempt to ride to their house on my bike. This is the perfect time to try it, my only concern is the weather which is 50% chance of thunderstorms yet again. Of course. Haven't ridden the bike this week and only got on it once last week for a quick ride at Trexler. I definitely want to get a ride in on Sunday if Chris isn't off.

May 25th

Today is dad's birthday and I'm going down there for dinner. I was hoping they would have made it for tomorrow, so I didn't have to miss out on open hockey but I'm not going to force the issue. Don't know where we're going yet. I really wouldn't mind Red Lobster but anything down that way is fine. Still waiting to hear back from that guy about the hockey league. He said there was one guy that was interested that he was waiting to hear back from. I don't know what I want to do at this point.

Rained here for more than a week straight but I think it's finally starting to clear up. Was supposed to rain today but it looks sunny and yesterday turned out to be a sunny day as well. I went to Salsibury on Saturday but the conditions were too wet to really enjoy. I was nervous to hit any of the obstacles and climbing up some of those rocky sections was impossible. It was kind of upsetting but at least I got out there for a few hours. Went to Trexler last night and have to say I enjoyed it a lot more this time around than the first time. They've recently put signs up at some of the trail intersections which made it a lot easier to recognize where you were going. Holly stopped at Sports Authotiy on the way home so by the time I made it down there it was 7. I rode until 8 and then came home. Getting in a good hour ride like that is fine with me whenever I can do it, especially as I understand how the trail system works there. Maybe I can do that once a week after she gets home (if I'm not playing in that other hockey league), just to keep in shape. I do like it there more than I did the first time. Definitely a different kind of experience than Salsibury, with Salisbury being more epic and difficult. I think I'm going to try those clipless pedals again. I'm pretty scared of them but I can see where they would help. Going to start riding the road bike as well. I should've taken it out this morning after I dropped the kid off but I was pretty tired. I have to start going to be early, something I've been saying for months now.

Went to Old Country Buffet on Friday night and got a pair of sneakers, some biking underwear, and biking gloves. I got the zigtechs, still haven't tried them on. They're still on the counter.

Our next door neighbor cut down the tree in front of the house.

I haven't been running on the treadmill much and I really need to step up my game. Doing it in morning or afternoon first thing might better my chances as actually completing it. I get tired at night and don't feel like doing it.

Have to weed the side and front of the house. Holly bought some plants to put in.

Starting watching the Larry Sanders Show. I like it, pretty decent. Started playing with Uncharted 2 again as well, it's not great but not terrible. Only a few more weeks until Jeremy is done with school. Think we're going to sign him up for a sports daycamp that runs a few weeks in June. Give him something to do for a few hours a day and get him out of my hair. I don't know what I'm doing about coaching that team. I was hoping there would be enough people and that I could just try it out in an assistant coach position. I guess I'll see what happens with that hockey team and then decide.

Semester is over!!! I got a D in college algebra, fucking 68.5, cunt couldn't give me the additional 1.5 points to bump it up to a C. I got A's in the remaining classes. I'm happy I get a break from doing the work for a while and that I don't have to take the a summer course, even though I don't like looking at the D. It drops my whole grade point average. Oh well. I went to mom's for the day to play racquetball and to have a birthday dinner and Holly bought a "congrats graduate" sign for the door and a balloon.

My birthday was good. Dale and Shirley came down to bring me my presents. I got a drill, some screwdrivers, and a flashlight from them. Cindy got me a card with a 20 dollar scratch off ticket, which I lost. Chris, Aunt Mare, and Mom gave me cash.
Holly got me a couple of pairs of pants, a Cartman figure, and The Beatles guitar strap. I told her I didn't want it when I opened it up and she got upset. We went to Boca Di Bepo for dinner. I thought the food was good, didn't like the whole family portions things. Chicken Carbanara, Proscuito Cutlets, and calamari. We were bored after dinner and were going to go to the movies but nothing was planning at that time. We tried to go to the sports stores or kohls to kill time but nothing was open. Went home and watched "The Hangover" with Holly. Watched "Leaves of Grass" with her the next night. Started planning our Disney vacation. Want mom and dad to go with us but mom won't fly. Also have to start planning a couple of day trip to NY to see Aunt Mare, go to the museum, etc.

Played racquetball with Chris and Ryan yesterday. Did terrible. Was starting to blisters on my feet at the end as well. Ran on the treadmill last night and started to get pain in my leg. I hope it's not shin splints, because that's what it feels like. Just wish I could do things without being injured.

The ice hockey league fell through so I called about the roller hockey league and there might be a spot available for me on a team. The guy e mailed me last night and I'm waiting for his response. We'll see how many days a week these games are. Three days is too much, especially with Big Wheel. Two days plus Big Wheel is even a lot at this point.

Took Dad's dremel so I can hopefully cut that chain link on the bike. It's been raining for like four days straight. I want to go riding pretty bad, don't know what the conditions of the trails are going to be when we finally do get a nice day.

We beat the green team at hockey two Sundays ago and I thought I played pretty well. My fitness level is starting to get better. We got a new defenseman who is decent. HOwever, we lost this Sunday to a team with only four guys. Pretty frustrating.

Have to get my act together and start cleaning this house, cleaning the garage.

Computer works now, I don't know what to do with it. So damn expensive to get professionals to look at it.

Last week of school. Trying to get everything done by Thursday so I can enjoy my birthday. Just finished up final speech paper. Have to write an International Relations essay, do computer project, and take math test. Math test due by Wednesday. Want to go out to dinner with the parents on Thursday but I want to play open hockey as well. There is also the question of whether Holly wants to come to dinner with us. Would've been easier if open hockey was last week so we would have this week open. Mom also has the job now and doesn't get out until 4:30 so that makes it difficult to have an early dinner. Holly also won't be able to get out early and she wouldn't be down in Stroudsburg until six at the earliest.

Got my new bike and tattoo. Tattoo was a pain in the ass, took almost four hours. I'm happy about how it came out. Would've liked it be a little darker and not as bright but I still think he did a nice job. It hurt when he was doing it and i was getting bored of laying on that table. I would go back to him again, especially because he does custom art and could do a hockey tattoo or heat or something for me.

Got my bike the same week as well. Went on that Friday all the way down to Jersey. Was right before the city. The ride actually wasn't that bad. I had been toying around the idea of a new bike and Holly allowed me to get whatever I wanted. She would've let me get a 2.5k bike or guitar or whatever. She's too good to me. As much as I wanted a nice, new full suspension, I couldn't see spending that kind of money on a bike. Each day I was set on a different bike. First a Specialized Camber, maybe 29, then a Giant Trance, then a Santa Cruz. Even 1.5k doesn't get you much a bike when it comes to full suspension and that was the price point I was looking at. I found the Rocky Mountain on the mtbr classifieds and it was a decent price with good components. I honestly didn't fall in love with the bike and it wasn't fancy at first look but it was a good value and had a lot of potential. I responded to the add the day the guy posted it and was in communication with him all week. I went down that Friday to pick it up. The full suspension is definitely different and I don't quite have it dialed in all the way. Chris has come down the last two Mondays and we've gone to Walking Purchase Park. It's awesome there, albeit pretty difficult terrain. The rocky uphills are a challenge. There are parts where we get frustrated because it's uphill and rocky and makes it really difficult to get through. But it's just challenging enough to give you a sense of accomplishment when you clear it. I went to the Trexler Animal Preserve on Saturday and broke my chain. I think we put the chain on inside out because my shifting was effected today. I didn't have such a good day on the trail today in the beginning. Rocky terrain, walking the bikes through, getting stuck on rocks, hitting my sack/dick trying to come off that tree section. The shifting/clicking of the bike was pissing me off as well and interrupted the flow of pedaling. But towards the end I got into it more and had a good day, although it felt short. We got sicilian sasauge and peppers pizza the last two weeks after riding. We also went to play disc golf near the house at the river and while the course is pretty shitty, it's not bad for five minutes away.

Been playing pretty good in hockey the last few weeks. Feel stronger and better. Not as fatigued. Just started running on the treadmill the other day. Treadmill has been running near perfect when I was using it but last night it was malfunctioning. Want to try get my ass in gear when it comes to training. We got a new guy on our hockey team to play defense and he's decent and helps our team. We beat Tim's team last night. I had a couple of goals, all of them lucky. But I did skate hard.

PC has been running shitty. Was getting stuck on Velocity Micro screen but then it worked for a few weeks. However, it's stuck at that screen once again and won't go past it. Have to take it in or try to do the work myself. Mack has been bit by ticks twice and I had one on me the other day.