Another year winding down. Friday night got home, unwrapped some goodies, an Elgato Turbo.264 and an iLift. Gabe and his friend Eric came over before heading out to Sai and meeting up with Tracy's other brother Mike. Great food and company. I love that place. Also got a new piece of nigiri to try, the sweet shrimp. Saturday cleaned a bunch after heading down to the Gap where we picked up some wool pants. Found out the gathering at Tony's was a potluck, so decided to make some meatballs, mashed sweet potatoes, and some cookies. Headed over there, hung out for a bit. Always good to see people, even if it doesn't happen very often. Lisa and Ryan crashed at our place afterwards. Sunday morning Tracy and I had to head up to Niles to meet up with my family at Filipiniana Restaurant, my cousin and family are in town visiting. After that, headed home and stayed on the couch, watching football. Had to bring Knocked Up back to the Redbox in front of the Jewel, and while renting on Saturday afternoon was a pleasant experience, returning on Sunday night not so much, and I remembered why I don't like renting. There was a group in front of me trying to find a movie to rent, and there was a line forming, and the couple behind me was getting quite testy about having to wait. And that was annoying. Anyway, continuing to transcode DVDs for the Apple TV, but actually might start running out of space, and might have to move things around. Or upgrade the drives in the firewire enclosure to some 500 or 750 GB drives. That'd be nice. Headed up to Lisa's friend's place way up north for the evening, not coming back until tomorrow.

Had to stop by CVS to pick up some prescriptions last night, and originally was going to take the el and get off at Wellington and walk over, but then got tired of waiting and found out I could take the 134 Stockton/LaSalle Express and walk over on Barry, but then I just missed it, so I just hopped on the the 135 and walked down from Belmont. I actually like taking the bus better than the el right now. Tracy made crabcakes for dinner, watched The Office, 30 Rock, Private Practice, Studio 60, and some more Two Guys and a Girl. That seems like a lot of TV, but it actually wasn't. I've also decided to continue ripping/transcoding most of the DVDs in the DVD changer, so that's a pretty big task. Supposed to get some sushi at Sai with the brothers-in-law. Lisa and Ryan are supposed to be in town, some partying in store on Saturday night, also for Carlo's birthday, and no idea if I ruined any sort of surprise there.

Gotta love that week between Christmas and New Years. Nice and quiet downtown, easy to get to work and back, not really any lines for food. Last night finished up Love Actually and watched some live reruns, Pushing Daisies and Private Practice and some Two Guys and a Girl episodes. Talked briefly with Jessica Jenkins on her layover at O'Hare. Had a leftover cornish hen for dinner. Did some exercises, and added jump rope to the routine. And, of course, my calves are sore today.

Christmas came and went. Christmas Eve left work a little early, had dinner (Cornish Hens) with the parents upstairs, then headed out to a Great Mass with musical prelude at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It was pretty good, but long, we were there for about 2 1/2 hours. Then bedtime because Tracy had to work on Christmas Day. I got up with her, though, and started laundry. Had breakfast with the parents. Finished up laundry, iChatted with Al and Nicole, took a nap, watched Ghost Rider, then headed out for Christmas Night at the Argaos. Good food and company. Then eventually back home again, bed, and back to work. Should be nice and quiet this week. Bus again was pretty empty, and actually took me 15 minutes from home to LaSalle this morning, which is about 1/3 to 1/2 the time it usually takes. Awesome.

Here at work. Awesome. Bus was pretty much empty on the way in, and took me 30 minutes since there wasn't any traffic. Pretty nice. Except that Specialty's was closed. I was kind of looking forward to a breakfast pastry of some kind. Anyway, Friday night Tracy brought back some Filipino food from her work potluck for dinner. That was nice. Saturday had to go in to work. Had some Spam and eggs and rice for lunch when I got back, before heading downtown to Macy's on State Street for some last minute Christmas shopping. Pulled that off and headed up to Fox & Obel to splurge on a holiday dinner. Actually bought a black truffle for Tracy for Christmas, which she shaved a little onto our American Kobe New York Strip that we split for dinner. Yum. Tracy also went with a fruit tart while I went with a milk chocolate tart for dessert. Watched Dreamgirls with dessert and coffee. Sunday went out and saw Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story at the Ghetto Plex with Russell. Had corned beef hash, eggs, and rice for dinner and watched Irish Jam after doing some exercises while waiting for Tracy to get back from hanging out with her family. Continuing to transcode DVDs for the Apple TV, this time using Xenon, which is nice. Also pushing my archived emails up to the new abando.com Google Apps mail server, except I need to slow it down because I got the "Lockdown in Sector 4" error message. My parents are coming out today for dinner and mass, and we'll be headed out to the Argaos tomorrow night. And it's pretty cold outside.

So Wednesday night, I miss the bus going home. Fine. I wait for the next one. Let it go because I know there's probably one behind it that's got available seating. Wait some more. Traffic's bad. I get on the next one. We get to LaSalle and Lake, and it stops, like the engine dies. Tries to restart. Doesn't work. Everyone gets off. I walk back to the bus stop at LaSalle and Randolph and wait for the next one. No problems with that one. All in all, waited 45 minutes before I got on the bus that took me home. Thursday night. Get on a bus going home. Exit at Belmont. Bus stops. Gets restarted. Bus stops again. Gets restarted. Bus stops as we're making the turn from the exit ramp onto Belmont. Coast under the underpass. Finally gets restarted and stays running long enough to get me to Cornelia. This morning. Just miss the tail end of at least 2 buses. But another one's coming. Pretty empty, I get a seat. 30 seconds I notice I'm sitting in a wet seat. Awesome. Seriously bad bus luck. Anyway, had a real dinner last night, Tracy made chicken and orzo. Watched Journeyman, some other TV. Talked to my brother. Not much planned for the weekend. Probably some eating. Supposed to pick up a really good steak from Fox & Obel for dinner tonight. Might be going to Wilde Bar & Restaurant tomorrow night. Might see Russell on Sunday. Probably should finish up the Christmas shopping. Also need to install RAM in Xenon, and move Argon into the second bedroom for the time being, before I get all my old email transitioned over to Google Apps.

Well, no real problems breaking the Master Cleanse. Had more soup for dinner. Bok Choy is so good right now. Tracy made nilaga, no beef though, for dinner. Good stuff. Watched Private Practice, House, and tried to watch Notes from the Underbelly that was recorded at 1:30am, except the sound mix was off, so the vocals were really low and the background music overpowered it. We tried watching with closed captions, but at some point even that was out of sync. Tracy also found out about Xenon, since I snuck that purchase in under her nose, but it was refurbished. Anyway, I'll be able to get ride of the Cube. I'll also finally turn on Time Machine, so I'll get to see what that's all about. Need to resync the Apple TV with Xenon instead of Argon. Also would be a good time to clean up the rats nest of wires in the corner of the living room. All about streamlining. Next step at some point is to switch out the iMac G5 and go with an all Intel Mac house. But that's way down the road. But everything seems to be back to normal after the cleanse. Although I did manage to lose another pound yesterday. Odd.

Ok. So the Master Cleanse is over, and now I need to ease myself back into eating solid foods. Exciting. I'm supposed to do nothing but orange juice on the first day, but I'm cheating and I might start with some soup either at lunch or at the very least dinner. Just mostly broth though. Can't wait to taste something salty. Still haven't had anything solid to chew on yet. So looking back, it was OK. I did feel a little better. The old ankle injury seemed to not hurt as much. I don't think I fully detoxed, because I still have a tongue coating. Didn't have any mucus for the 10 days either, which was nice. And I managed to lose about 10-12 pounds. The real question is if I can keep it off. I'll try and stay away from overly processed foods, but I imagine that's gonna be difficult. I also should try and stay hydrated, as that's something that the cleanse definitely made sure of. Never gonna do it again. Watched some TV last night, reruns mostly.

Yippee! That's right, today's the last day of my 10 day Master Cleanse. Just get through this last day of lemonade. Had my last laxative tea last night, my last SWF this morning. Might need to pick up enough lemons for dinner tonight, but that should be the last lemons I pick up for a while. Breaking the cleanse is a whole other story, that I won't be looking forward to. Last night watched the Bears lose. Awesome. My Big Ten team beat Carlo's Pac-10 team in SCFFL, which is good. Got a couple more movies from Amazon along with the Jabra EarGels which were the reason for the order. Basically they're for the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, which doesn't fit in my huge ears. I've also been watching Studio 60 on the iPhone while doing the SWF. Such a good show.

Day 9 of the Master Cleanse. So close. Only 1 SWF left. Awesome. Not too much going on. Saturday, actually left the house and went and saw I Am Legend at River East. Not bad. Did get to see The Dark Knight trailer, which was pretty awesome. Totally looking forward to that one. That and Jumper. Dropped by Fox & Obel, Tracy wanted to see if there were any gift options there, so we picked up some. Of course drooled at all the food I wanted to taste and eat. Might pick up some American Kobe Bone In strip steaks for dinner for Friday. Also managed to finally watch Catch and Release which was pretty good. Sunday made it out to see Juno, a very cute flick, with the Russells at Landmark. Good to see them. Did some more Christmas shopping, or trying to anyway, on the way home down Broadway, and stopped off at Jewel for the last lemon pickup.

Day 6 of the Master Cleanse. Halfway there. I think it helps on the weekend, because we don't have much to eat in the house. Although I still have to get up for the SWF. Ugh. No sleeping in for me. Switched over abando.com email to Google Apps last night. Switched over my parents, hopefully my brother has no problems switching over either. This also means my Google chat is different, since I'm no longer signed in with my old gmail account. Oh well. But I do get to check email via my iPhone now, which is pretty cool. And I'm getting better at using the keyboard. Watched some TV last night, and for some reason Smallville didn't record, even though it was a new episode. Odd. Stupid DVR from RCN. Also did some exercises. Got a couples date for Sunday with the Russells to see Juno. Otherwise, might get out to do some more shopping.

Day 5 of the Master Cleanse. Don't ever go to a grocery store, especially one that has hot food self serve area, when you're on a cleanse. Awful. I had to pick up more Grade B Maple Syrup for the cleanse and so had to go to Whole Foods. Also, close to halfway done. And I'm never gonna do this again. I like eating too much. Even healthy eating, like celery sticks, sounds and probably taste, even that little celery taste, like ambrosia. At least right now. Anyway, picked up some bottle lemon juice, all organic, not from concentrate. It was pasteurized however, so it's not the same. And it isn't. It doesn't have the same tang as fresh squeezed. So I've got to pick up more lemons today. Which means another foray to the grocery store. Otherwise, watched Journeyman and Pushing Daisies. Also got some music on the iPhone. Also, all my transcoded DVD rips for the Apple TV? Unplayable on the iPhone. Annoying.

Yup. Activated. It's in my pocket right now. Got home last night, tried using the SIM card in the Sony Ericsson W580i from AT&T Wireless, no joy. Called in, they fixed something, phone starts working. Awesome. So now I'm with AT&T. I log in, register my number, and yup, there it is. Awesome. So, watch some Bones, do some exercises, then decide, oh, why not, let's activate the iPhone. Plug in the dock. Put the iPhone in. Go through the activation process which is pretty simple and straightforward, since I have a current AT&T number. And I'd say 5 minutes later, I'm done, the iPhone is on, and I've got all my numbers. Awesome. Put it on the wireless network, and I'm browsing away. I get to work personalizing all the widgets, adding my bookmarks. Had some issues pairing the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, just had to reboot the iPhone, and some other issues with iCal and calendars, and had to import exported .ics files instead of restoring an iCal backup from a previous version, and find some photos to sync up, but otherwise, it's awesome. It fits slimmer in the pocket. I do have to get used to the keyboard though. Not super easy with my stubby thumbs. Watched House and Notes from the Underbelly. And now on Day 4 of the Master Cleanse. 30% done.

Day 3. Still going strong. Haven't been hungry. Started losing weight. Definitely started craving food, and smelling food. I wonder if food will taste better after the Master Cleanse. That'd be pretty cool. Still, can't actually wait to eat something. 7 days away. And then orange juice. And soup. Awesome. Didn't get the package with the new phone and SIM card last night, instead got it this morning. Didn't work just popping the SIM card into my unlocked RIZR, so I left it, and I'll try it tonight. Or I'll try just activating my iPhone instead. Maybe that, so I'll have something to play with. Market Track holiday party at 10pin was fun. Bowling always is. My quads always hurt afterward though. Never got very consistent with a ball or a release point. Actually, might have gotten pretty consistent with my hook, so I always nailed the 10 pin only. Got home in time to pick up some more lemons. Also watched How I Met Your Mother and Samantha Who?.

Dinner was good on Friday, food and company was good, ambiance, not so much. Not that it's bad, it's just not, well, what I expected I guess. Saturday, haircut and some shopping down at DSW Shoe Warehouse, then home, and leftovers for lunch. Then we went out to Orland Square for some more shopping, Tracy was on a search for boots. Saw Bryan briefly, he was pretty swamped, but still managed to hook us up with an iPod Radio Remote for Tracy, (Thanks Bryan!). Headed over to her parents house to pick some stuff up, and went out to dinner with her parents at Joe's Crab Shack. First time heading up the 355 extension; pretty nice. Picked up some lemons on the way home. Sunday started the Master Cleanse. It's not bad. So far. This is only day 2. About halfway through day 1 I was already thinking about the things I'll be eating when it's over. Watched football and Elf. Monday was up early doing my part of the cleanse, and had time to upgrade Carbon to Leopard and all the other software. Also, SIM card and new phone should show up today, so my number should get ported. Which means iPhone activation should happen in the next couple of days. Finally. Market Track Holiday party tonight. Should be interesting since I can't eat anything.

Bus to and from work. Had to wait a little while for a bus on the way home after I just missed one. Traffic still isn't as bad as I remember it, but that may be because it's winter and no one is headed to the beaches or the parks this time of year. Had dinner with my mom upstairs, delivery from Joy's Noodles. Watched a bit of the Bears game. They really need to get a cable box, maybe even HD upstairs. Almost a waste of the TV without it. Finally took the iPhone out of the box and plugged it in so it'll be fully charged whenever I get my number ported, which looks like Monday or Tuesday at the earliest. Still more taunting. Dinner tonight at Gaylord India Restaurant. Hair cut tomorrow at Robert Jeffrey Hair & Skin Studio. And then Tracy and I are starting a Master Cleanse on Sunday. Exciting. Maybe I'll have time to do some upgrades as well.

Finally, finally, got an Family Plan account with AT&T Wireless. Took a while, and yes, had a bunch of hoops to jump through. Had to get permission for me to take financial responsibility of Tracy's number from her brother's family plan, then the usual credit check, which is probably the longest part of the process, then set up a plan, got an account. Then had to port my own number online, getting a new discounted phone in the process, and now have to wait for that to come in. So after my number gets ported, use that for a few days, then finally upgrade to the iPhone, which is sitting, in the box, on a table. It's taunting me. Seriously. Also got the software updates, family packs all, of Leopard, iLife '08, and iWork '08. I'll probably update the iMac G5 first, see how it goes, and then I'll do a backup on the MacBook, wipe it clean, and nuke and pave. I also want to try and clean out my .Mac sync, so that should be interesting. All things that might happen this weekend. Also got my replacement shaft drive from Dynamic Bicycles, so I can get Sprint back up and running and sitting on the bike rack for the winter. Mom's in town, and we'll have dinner tonight somewhere. Tracy made pesto stuffed chicken breasts for dinner. We watched Family Guy and Notes from the Underbelly.

Well, snow on the ground, and I'm not allowed to bike anymore, not that I was with the missing shaft drive and stuff. I do see people biking though, and I still get jealous. I even opened up the box of bike stuff I had ordered, new brake pads, cross levers so I can ride upright and still brake, and handlebar tape, and a balaclava, all in preparation for cold winter biking. Maybe it'll get warm enough for the snow to melt, and I can start again. But we'll see. Took the el home because of the snow yesterday, thinking that Lake Shore Drive would be slow and full of traffic. No idea if that was the case. Watched Heroes, Tracy made dinner. There's a chance I could get my Apple order in today, so I really need to call and setup AT&T Wireless tonight. Also, my mom is coming in tonight for a conference in the city for the rest of the week.

Took the el home last night, got off at Wellington, walked over to CVS to pick up Tracy's prescription and lotion, stopped at Argo Tea to see if they had any green tea with brown rice (Genmaicha) or roasted green tea (Hojicha). Picked up some Genmaicha and an infuser. Picked up dinner from Chipotle. All on the walk home. And it wasn't that cold out. I do notice all the bikers though, and I'm jealous. I should be getting slicks for the mtb tomorrow, although with all the snow we're getting might be better to just leave the knobbies on for now. The shaft drive should also be getting in tomorrow, so I'll have my choice of bikes then, and I can get back on the bike. I do miss commuting, but I am enjoying reading again. I'm now finally halfway through the first book in The Baroque Cycle. Did some exercises with Tracy. Watched Chuck and then the Patriots not lose to the Ravens, the final 5 minutes or so I was pretty anxious about. Gonna try and get home in time to call AT&T Wireless tonight, but should be interesting with the weather. And Tracy and I might have to find something else to do, as TV Shows are going on winter hiatuses, unsure of when they'll come back with the writers strike. Can always watch 24 or rewatch Alias, but would be nice to get those transcoded for the Apple TV.

Friday night Tracy made an asian/mexican pork tenderloin with asparagus and rice for dinner. We watched something on TV, maybe Heroes] and Pushing Daisies. Saturday tried to call and transfer Tracy's number and set up a new account with AT&T Wireless but couldn't because my full name wasn't on the permission left by her brother on his current family plan account, but Tracy was able to set up a new account, but couldn't set up a Unity account because the land line was under my name. So now Gabe has to call back in, leave permission to my full name to take financial responsibility for Tracy's number. Annoying. Although with the way things are working out, I might just end up activating my iPhone, which was finally ordered on Friday, instead of picking up an additional phone for cheap through AT&T Wireless. Tracy did go with her other brother to a meet and greet with Pete Sampras and Todd Martin at the Midtown Tennis Club. We didn't go to the FedEx Tennis Shootout because of the weather, and instead walked over to Kanok for dinner. Saw some beautiful looking ice covered trees on the slippery walk over. Stopped by Treasure Island on the way home and picked up some bubbly (on sale) and mochiko flour. Oh, made some espasol Friday night as well, a little gummy though. Watched some more TV, 30 Rock, Samantha Who?, Notes from the Underbelly, and Scrubs. Sunday was a quiet gloomy day with the weather and all. Grits, bacon, eggs and fried rice for breakfast/lunch. Watched some football. Did some work on the bikes, took the shaft drive out of the Sprint, moved the fenders to the mtb. Tracy made more pork and sweet potatoes and mushrooms for dinner.