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the picture above is one of hambone at quakecon.  as you can probably tell, he’s a little sleep deprived and out of it.  this face was typical of most of the participants at qc2007.  although i initially thought i was not going to participate this year, i wound up in between neo and jeromy on my laptop.  i spent the whole time editing pictures, but still enjoyed the company.  jeromy didn’t have as good of a time this year as in the past.  it could be his age and that he’s just growing up.  but mainly, i think it’s because he’s to the point in his life to where if he wants to gather with his buddies and play games, he can just do it (and frequently does).  so the lure of lugging his stuff to dallas to do the same thing that he could do at home probably lost some of its luster.  i don’t know.  i will say the event was larger and better this year than in 2006.  there were more vendors and such, so that was good.  i even scored a free shirt.

i just got home from a late night work out.  i have another training session tomorrow.  my food intake is going well.  i weighed myself at the gym tonight  to see if i’ve made any progress in the last two weeks and i’m pleased to report that i have.  hooray!

work is going well.  it’s always busy and frantic, but i can see more and more just how much opportunity i have there.  it’s great.  i have some traveling coming up, too.  i’ll be in el paso and san antonio next week.  then in late september, i’m going out to phoenix for a couple of days.  rawk.  i’ve never flown commercial and really haven’t been to many places, so i’m looking forward to expanding my horizons a bit.

things overall are going well.  jeromy’s been doing a lot at work and has been learning a lot.  he’s so insanely smart - it’s great.  he and i have just been busy, but despite our crazy schedules, we somehow manage to make time to just hang every now and then.  going to the gym together has been nice since it has forced us to carve out time for ourselves and each other.  i really appreciate all the support he gives me in multiple areas of my life.

i’ve been reconnecting with friends lately.  i’m such a flake and really don’t mean to be.  i love all of my buddies but i just have a hard time setting aside time for them.  for the last couple weeks, i’ve actually made dinner plans and have kept them.  each experience has been refreshing.  i have some friends going through some tough times right now, so i am motivated to let them know i am there for them in any way i can be.

at this time of august, i tend to reflect.   it’s amazing where paths can lead you.  this life thing is wonderful.  so many twists and turns to get you where you never thought you could be.  somehow, in the last year or so, i have been blessed with everything i didn’t realize i need.  there have been answers to unsaid prayers landing in my lap and i am truly humbled that god is so aware of this undeserving soul’s needs and desires.