House Update

We had our inspection on Saturday. It went very well. There are a
couple of issues that we are going to have fixed but the house is in
pretty good condition. We are still on track to close on January
24th.

Spaghetti Night

Christmas has come and gone and my wife and I are back home. It was
nice to see all of our family but it is definately nice to be back at
our place on our own schedule.

We are having one of my favorite meals for dinner, gluten-free
spaghetti. We use rice spaghetti for my pasta and my wife makes a
batch of regular spaghetti for herself. We use Prego sauce and add
ground beef, canned mushrooms, and a generous amount of garlic powder.
Top it all off with mozarella chees and you have one tasty
gluten-free meal.

LAN Partay

On Thursday my brother-in-law and I went to his coworker's house to
play computer games. We have done this for the last three or four
years and it was a blast as always. We played Counter-Strike,
Call-Of-Duty, and Quake 3 Arena. We ended up playing for around 12
hours (7am to 7pm). After we were done we ate at a chinese buffet.
There was nothing there that didn't have a noodle or wasn't breaded so
I ate what I thought would have the least gluten. My usual immediate
symptoms were not present last night but I am tired and congested
today, so I'm positive I was exposed to at least a little.

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone has a safe and blessed holiday.

--
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Restaurant Review - Olive Garden

My wife and I were taken to Olive Garden this afternoon by our
realtor. We have been there before but when I presented my Celiac
rant to the waitor, he asked if I would like to see a gluten-free
menu. We were pleasantly surprised by this. Granted, they don't
offer gluten-free pasta, but at least they presented us with
easy-to-order options.

--
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Happy Hunting

My wife and I have been looking for a house the last month or so.
We've looked at 10 houses in the last three days. We found one that
we liked but it was a smidge out of our price range. We went ahead
and made an offer on it but it wasn't what God had in store for us.
After that fell through we submitted an offer on the second house on
our list. We ultimately accepted the counter offer. Which means we
have just entered into a world of pain.

We love this house and it was cheaper than the first house we tried
for. It's no farther away from work than I'm used to but it's closer
to church and family. It has a nice yard (we need to fence it in) for
the dogs and plenty of space for future additions to the Willis
family.

--
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Movie Review - License To Wed

Liz and I had a "movie night" last night and went to Blockbuster to pick out a movie. We picked out "License to Wed" with Robin Williams, John Krasinski, and Mandy Moore. It's a romantic comedy about the perfect couple who decide to get married. Robin Williams plays a priest (go figure) that encourages situations that open up lines of communication for couples intending to marry.

Your typical romantic comedy hilarity ensues and the movie unfolds. It is very predictable but it was definitely worth the $4.00 to rent the movie. I would suggest this movie to anyone who likes the romantic comedy genre.

It's That Time of Year

I am just getting over a pretty bad cold. Between the Nyquil and the
Tylenol Cold though, I'm getting through it. Liz actually got sick
before I did. We're not sure if I brought it home from work or if she
brought it home from school. But we both got it out of the way for
Christmas.

Tylenol Cold is some pretty good stuff though. It definitely made me
a little loopy, but it eased my sore throat and eased my congestion.

--
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The Wii Initiative

After being completely unsuccessful last week in obtaining a Wii, I
have decided to end my active quest. It truly is a shame that
Nintendo hasn't increased production in order to accommodate the
demand.

I will get one eventually.

--
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Movie Review - I Am Legend

I went to see this movie with a few friends from church (the husbands saw the movie while the wives saw "Enchanted" or just went to the mall). I must say, it was unlike any movie I have ever seen before.

Will Smith plays a character that is in charge of leading the scientific attack on a cure for cancer gone wrong. This cure that was supposed to save the world ended up mutating humans into these perceived un-human zombie creatures (technically they are not zombies because zombies die, then come back to life: thus they are "un-dead"). Since this "cure" was most prevalent in New York City, it was "Ground Zero" for the research to fix the affected humans. This is why Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) feels he should stay and find a cure instead of fleeing the city.

It's not scary but there are a couple of points in the movie where something jumps on the screen and will most likely startle you. It is interesting watching a movie with only one actor for a majority of the film. Will Smith does inject some of his trademark humor to lighten the mood at certain times. I won't go into anymore detail about the movie as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I would definitely suggest that you see this movie.


Disclaimer: Please forgive this review, as I am not a professional movie critic.

Upon Arriving Home

After achieving a technological milestone in my life (blogging from my Blackberry), I arrived home to my lovely wife cooking me dinner. She happened to be making a gluten-free favorite of mine, bacon and eggs.

Last night she wasn't feeling well before her planned shenanigans and it was extremely apparent that she was sick. After having a rough night (at least until the Vicks Nyquil kicked in) she felt better this morning. So much better, in fact, that she decided she would go Christmas shopping. She soon realized that no matter how well you feel, if you are sick, you should never go Christmas shopping.

By the request of the church choir director, we also had to find replacements for us at tonight's Living Nativity. We were to play Mary and Joseph as they received the news that Mary was great with child. As Liz is singing a solo in the choir concert on Sunday morning, he felt it would be best for her and her voice if she was not outside in the cold for 3 hours this evening. We greatly appreciated his conclusion in the matter.

By the grace of God, we were able to get some friends from our Sunday school class who were willing to fill in for us tonight. Hopefully, Liz will be feeling better tomorrow and (barring bad weather) we'll be able to take up our rolls as Mary and Joseph.

Technology is Amazing

So I just sarted blogging last night and by today I am blogging from my Blackberry. I must say that I am quite impressed at Google's efforts on making this so easy.

1st night of blogging...

My wife had a few friends over for a "cookie decorating party" tonight. We live in a one bedroom apartment so needless to say, I was in the bedroom for most of the evening. I was watching the History Channel and ended up falling asleep (which gave me a more positive outlook on the evening in general). The fact that I was more tired then usual stems from my obsessive search for a Nintendo Wii.

I am currently waking up at 5 AM every morning and calling our local Walmart (we live about 2 minutes away). I also pass within 3 miles of another Walmart on my way to work, so I make a brief stop and check the electronics section. Tomorrow will be day 5 for quest.

But I digress... I was discussing with a co-worker this morning my desire to start a blog. That's when he pointed me to Blog spot. Basically, I would like to share my outlook on life to anyone who will listen. I also have Celiac Disease and I would like to create awareness as well as share my insights (recipes, deserts, etc.) to make life better for other Celiacs.

I'm a new blogger

I'm officially joining this revolution to post your life story for everyone to see. I hope to use this as a vehicle to share my knowledge with others so that they can learn from my mistakes, share my successes, and possibly be entertained by the sitcom that is my life.