Bowl-A-Thon

This past weekend Marc and I participated in the Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon at the FunFest in Harmar. The Bank of New York Mellon (where Marc works) was holding the event. Our team was comprised on Marc and myself, and our three friends Ang, Kevin, and Brian. We got to bowl three games for free and we were treated to soda, beer, and pizza.

We had such a good time! I think my bowling skills are improving. It has been awhile, but in the three games I bowled, I had 10 strikes and 9 spares. Don't ask me how I did it. I think the 10 strike was a freak accident, and it will be awhile before I see that again! Marc still beat me in all three games, though. This didn't bother me much because Kevin knocked him off of his high horse. Kevin won all three of our games. His scores were around 200 (usually over that).

After the bowling, we went to Smokey Bones at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall for some drinks. This was a cheap evening because Marc and Brian collected as many coupons as they could from their outing to the Flyers/Pens playoff game. However, what started out as a very good time became a little frustrating towards the end. We all ordered our food at the same time, but Marc's came about 15 minutes after the rest of ours. We all ordered appetizers because we just wanted to munch. We soon realized that the waitress waiting on us at the bar were consuming a little alcohol of their own. I don't think this should be done "on the job."

It took this girl about 45 minutes to figure out our bills, and they weren't even right. I was so frustrated that all I wanted to do at this point was go home. I paid my bill, and Marc and I waited outside for everyone else because the weather was so nice. It was 11:00 at night, and no coat was needed. I love that kind of weather.

It turned out to be a pretty decent night (minus the stupidity of the bartender at Smokey Bones). I don't think we will be going to that restaurant anytime soon, but we foresee another fun bowling night in the future!

IT IS OVER

Tax season is officially over, and I could not be in a better mood! I don't have to look at another 1120S or 1040 for a good month or two! Although it was my first ever "busy" season, it was not what I was expecting. I was only putting in about 45-50 hours a week, and I was expecting more along the lines of 55-60 hours. I can't complain though. I did not have much of a social life, but that is expected.

Now, that I am back to normal, I can spend more time with my friends. No longer to I need to plan things based on whether or not I need to make an appearance at the office on the weekend. Last night, my roommate and I went to Max and Erma's to celebrate. It was good to spend some quality time with Laura because we don't see each other that much.

I also decided that I am going to purchase a membership to LA Fitness. It may be a little more expensive than some of the other gyms that are around me, but they have a pool. That was a major concern. Because I still have problems with my knee and lot of impact (probably because it never got fixed...) swimming is my outlet to relax and get in a good workout. Swimming 1,000 yards in a session is the minimum!

I can also catch up reading more often. My list of things to read has grown immensely. I decided to start by reading the first book in the Stephanie Plum series. The series is by Janet Evanovich. I have heard some mixed reviews, so if anyone wants to leave his/her opinion, please do!

I have some upcoming events planned, so I am hoping that my posts become more frequent! Keep checking for updates!

Kegs for Cancer

Kegs for Cancer held its annual event in Pittsburgh for the first time this past weekend. It has been a success in Philadelphia over the past few years, and we hoped that it could be as much of a success in Pittsburgh.

The event was held at Archie's Bar in the South Side. People paid $25 for a two-and-a-half hour open bar. I would say that throughout the night there was a good sixty people or so. The bar donated about $100 as well. All the money raised goes to the American Cancer Society for cancer research.

It was a pretty fun night, but the bar was not so great. We won't be having it there next year. Hopefully, we can find a larger place and have more time to promote the event. It's just beginning here in Pittsburgh, but next year we hope to have T-shirts for sale and some raffles going on.

Weekend Adventures

Last weekend Marc and I took a trip to Ocean City, Maryland. His dad just bought a beach house in the area, and we went down to help him with the renovations. I spent a good part of the weekend with a paintbrush in my hand. Once we got to the new house, it was great. Getting there was sort of the hard part.

We left Pittsburgh around 3:00PM last friday. According to mapquest, this was about a 6.5 hour trip. The trip was going well. We got off the PA Turnpike at Breezewood and stopped at the Sheetz for a quick dinner and bathroom break. We got back in the car and continued on our way. I fell asleep somewhere after our stop, but only for a quick 20 minute nap. When I woke up it was starting to get dark and we were getting ready to get on Route 50 in Maryland.

Around 7:30 we were driving along on Route 50 when it happened. The road looked like the one in the picture above: a four-lane highway with a grassy area in between directions. Marc and I were in the passing lane, keeping up with the flow of traffic. The road had a speed-limit of 55, so we were going about 60 mph. All of a sudden, we see a car (coming the opposite direction) go off the road, into the grass, and landed in our lane of traffic. The nose of this car was basically in our way. Marc swerved his car to miss hitting the uncontrolled car. We ended up going into the grassy area.

Marc got the car under control, and we did NOT end up in the oncoming traffic. I guess you could say it was an accident, but no one actually ran into each other. The state police were called, and a tropped showed up about 10 minutes later. She got the story of occurrance from the two drivers and two witnesses that had stopped to see if everyone was ok. The car that lost control in the first place was fine, and she drove away shortly after. Marc ended up with a flat tire on the car, so there we were, in the middle of nowhere, with a State Trooper and a stranger, changing a tire in the middle of a highway where everyone was in a hurry to go nowhere.

No one was hurt, and we drove away from the scene about and hour and a half later. We made it to the beach house around 10:30PM that night. On the way home Sunday morning, we stopped to get a new tire. It was a one-of-a-kind weekend. The house is coming along, and the weather was beatuiful down there. We can't wait to go back!

Kindle...Continued

Since I received many comments about my new Kindle, I decided to throw out some more information about it.

I have had it for just about a week. I am almost finished reading my first book on it. I found it really easy to use. When I got it, the Kindle had some paper instructions about how to turn it on and basic things like that. Once I turned it on for the first time, there was a User's Guide already installed. I read the breif introduction, and I found myself learning how to use the device while reading the guide. It even talked you through buying your first book!

I haven't had any problems with it at all. I don't even have to worry about bookmarking a page because the Kindle automatically remembers where you left off. All I do is turn it on, and I select "Last page read."

I checked out the SONY E-reader that Target sells before making my purchase decision. I already had my eye on the Kindle, but I wanted to get a feel for it first. SONY was a little bit cheaper, but I just prefered the Kindle since my credit card gets Amazon perks! I also watched the videos about it at Amazon.com, and that helped a lot. I find myself stuffing it in my purse before leaving the apartment. It is very small and so lightweight.

I hope the added info helped!

My New Toy

Towards the end of last week my new toy arrived. I bought the new Amazon Kindle from Amazon.com. I have wanted one for awhile, so I finally broke down and got one. It is the new electronic reading device that has become very popular in the recent months.

I figured that I love to read, and now that my test is over, I have more time. It is the best escape there is! So, I live in a little apartment (with no bookshelves), and I have a few books here and there. There is so much that I want to read that there would be no room to keep them all. Since I bought the Kindle, I am able to keep up to 1,500 books in one handheld 7inX5in device.

It is so easy to use, and I can't put it down. It was a very good investment for me, and I'm super excited!

I Created a Blog!

So, I finally made a blog. I've never done this before, so just bare with me. I figured that most members of my family have their own blog site, so why not.

You are probably wonder why I am doing this in the middle of the week during working hours. Truth is I HAVE NOTHING TO DO! See, there are 16 workdays (not including Saturdays) until the first tax deadline of 2009. This would be March 16th. I am supposed to be busy, however, I am not. I can't help it that I haven't received any information.

So, today I have been sitting in my little 6x6 cubical studying away for my CPA exam. I decided I needed to take a little break (okay, more like a long break), hence the creation of the blog. I can only look at a textbook or a computer screen for so long, ya know. Since I have been sitting at work all week with nothing to do, I already did my own tax return. It is waiting to be filed because I am missing a small piece of information. By doing this, I discovered that I am entitled to a hefty refund this year (because I never had a real job, this is exciting for me). However, a good part of it has already been spent. I decided to splurge. More details later...

Marc and his brother are trying to organize an annual Kegs for Cancer event in Pittsburgh this year. He decided to start things of right, so two Pittsburgh Pens tickets were donated to him. We decided to have a raffle for them, and tickets for the raffle are on sale now if you anyone is interested. Your options include:

One ticket - $2

Three tickest - $5

The selling of raffle tickets began this morning, and it will continue to March 8th. The winning ticket will be pulled on that day. The Pens tickets are for a game on Sunday, March 18th vs. the Boston Bruins to be held at Mellon Arena. Contact me if you are interested! All proceeds are donated to the American Cancer Society.

Well, there is work to be done an studying to do. Stay tuned for weekly updates (they may be more frequent!)!