Most of this past week has been a blur, but a much needed distraction. First, Nikki's side of the family came to visit for the weekend. Everybody arrived in time for dinner on Friday night. As usual, I loved subjecting people to my cooking, so the menu du jour consisted of slaw, BBQ bruschetta, Jerk wings, scalloped potatoes, a corn/zucchini medley, and gumbo. Nikki made a frozen banana dessert that stole the show.

Saturday was the feature day of their trip. Our plan for the day was to go to Carowinds, our amusement park here in the Queen city. I can say we all had a blast. The lines were short, the weather pleasant, and the crowds were fairly sparse. I had never been there, but I am sure we will all go back as soon as we can. Its fun to be a kid at heart.

From the park, we continued the fun into the night by heading into Uptown for a BBQ/Blues Fest. We were able to meet up with a couple of my friends which added to the fun. The crowds were a little more annoying here, but it was a great way to wind down the day.

Sunday we had a quite filling breakfast and then we gave them a quick tour of the Whitewater Park. So I have been there twice, but yet to actually do anything besides hike. I know the third time is the charm.

We loved having Nikki's side of the family down and like I said it was a much needed break for the both us.

The second half of the family week revolved around me using up some of my accumulated air miles to join up with Amanda and Glenn in St Louis for a day. Nikki couldn't make it because of commitments with school. I liked the nature of the quick trip over there and it was good to see a couple games and to spend some time with my side of the family.

You can see why the week was a blur, but a needed distraction. The worst part about losing my job has been us cutting back our traveling. (After living across the pond for over a year anything was going to be a cut back). These couple of days sure hit the spot and will tie me over until our big trip next March. I am so glad that we have 2 good sides to our families. I know we are truly blessed to have so many fun characters on both sides.

All is well, especially here sitting in my chair. Nikki is back in school and well Coop is still maintaining his 18 hours of sleep minimum for a day (or there about). We had a good relaxing summer of just catching back up on little things we have missed out on over the last year. I thought back to last year and it dawned on me that we were about to get our stuff stolen in Portugal tomorrow one year ago. If I could only rev up the Delorean and go back to warn us that something was about to happen. Ha. The truth is, we handled that situation mighty well and it was just a little speed bump on our trip. I guess it shows our character a bit, plus it taught me to back files up a little more often and to never think that keeping a blackberry and our extra cash hidden in a computer bag was a good thing. Like I said, it was just a snag.

No real, concrete news on the job front for me, but there appears to be some momentum picking up with one group that I have been talking to for a very long time. I haven't felt this comfortable with a group of architects in a long time. I recently read where 40% of all architects in Charlotte are laid off, plus firms are still laying people off and I have even heard of some potential firm closings. Times are tough, but I think I am in a good position for when firms get the green light on hiring. This firm that I have been dancing with for a while submitted my name with theirs as an expert consultant the other day. It made me feel real good again to see a team that values my expertise when others tend to forgot the ones they rode to get them where they are. I have no animosity to that former group, because I knew what I was dealing with all along.

Happier tunes. Cards are running away with their division. 31 straight games without losing ground to the Cubbies. That's a new MLB record and an amazing one at that. I predict major changes in Chi-town this off season. It looks like their fans would give up on them after 101 years of losing.

I just heard the band Elbow last week. I know they have been around for awhile, but I am slow at times. They instantly became one of my new favorites.

And with those mindless nuggets, I leave you a few pics.