I'm Still Here

It's really weird seeing my kitchen without tables and chairs and stuff. My dad and I are sticking around here until the bank and the people buying the house are done doing what their doing. I don't really understand mumbo jumbo bank language, but it has something to do with the buyer's bank not paying my dad's bank. Anyway, I was surprised to find the internet still working today. So I guess it was time to make a post. My dad's been taking me into the city this week to show me all of the jobs he did while we were living here. In case you didn't know, my dad is an engineer and owns his own construction business. It's really interesting to see how a building is actually constructed from the ground up.

I can't forget to post about the recent trades. I can't believe the Yankees picked up Pudge Rodriguez and got rid of a live arm like Kyle Farnsworth. They have a knack for picking up aging veterans. Not to mock Ivan Rodriguez, but the Yankees need starting pitching. Jose Molina was doing a really nice job in place of Jorge Posada. He may not have the bat Jorge has, but the guy can throw out Speedy Gonzalez. I was impressed by the pickup of Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pirates though. That was a smart move.

Hiatus

I will be on hiatus from my blog for a few days. Tomorrow we will no longer have internet access as it is being turned off. I will have access to my e-mail though through my dad's phone.

The party yesterday was awesome. We held two tournaments. A water volleyball tournament, in which my team lost miserably. And of course the grand finale guitar hero tournament. Dan just got the Aerosmith one the other day and the song selection is a little shaky but it's cool. I kept messing up Walk This Way. But in the end, I still reign as champion.

Getting Ready

I'm ready to go. A lot of my stuff has been shipped off to Ann Arbor. My bike fortunately is staying with me till the bitter end. I've been on it everyday except today due to torrential downpours. I have been extremely busy this week so far. I got my grades in the mail and I did extremely well on all my tests. I'm proud of myself considering the situation I was in this year. I've been hanging out with everyone under the sun as well. We held a Guitar Hero tournament at Chris' house yesterday and I took everyone to town. We are holding the final tournament on Saturday at the pool party. It's been just my dad and I for a week now so we've been eating out a lot. I took the above picture tonight on the way home from dinner. I'll have fond memories of this road since I must've paced it a thousand times. A good eye can spot the fairly new cyclist friendly lane over by the shoulder.

End of Week Update

This was really a great week. It of course started with my dad and I going to the homerun derby and the all-star game. Before anybody asks, we did stay until the AL won it in the bottom of the 15th. We got home at 3AM so Wednesday was mostly spent in bed for me. The pre-game ceremony Tuesday night was a baseball lover's dream come true. To be in close proximity of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, etc. was mind boggling. I have so many photos and videos of that night that I need a few days just to sort through them.

Thursday was my final session of physical therapy. I can honestly say I am 100% healed. No pain, no aches, no nothing. I am ready to return to normal activities.

I am almost completely finished packing my bedroom up. The only thing remaining is my computer, my television, and my Playstation 3. My mom has been in Michigan since Monday finalizing whatever it is they have to do with the house we're moving into. I'm a little sad about this. I know I've been really excited about moving back home, but I really am going to miss certain things about New York. My friend Dan is throwing me a goodbye pool party at his house next Saturday. He's taken the liberty of inviting all of my friends and the whole junior varsity baseball team too. That should be cool and sad at the same time.

Lack of Posts

This has been a long week and I haven't been very attentive to my blog. I have plenty of updating to address and I'll do that either tonight or tomorrow.

Two Down, One To Go

I had a lot of fun last night at the home run derby. The display Josh Hamilton of the Rangers put on was unforgettable. I don't think anyone expected him to continuously blast 500 foot homers. He hit the wall behind the bleachers which I don't think anyone's hit before. Tonight's All Star game is said to be a highlight of Yankee Stadium and not about the players. It's a shame this place is going, it really is special.

Leaving My Mark

I wasn't feeling 100% in the car on the way to Yankee Stadium yesterday. I felt like something was coming like a cold or a virus of some kind. Whatever it was came at full force in the bottom of the 3rd inning during the Future's Game. I seriously felt like I was going to collapse. I don't know how but I managed to make my way to the bathroom just before I lost control of my breakfast and lunch. Yeah that's right I threw up. Oddly enough, I felt fine for the rest of the day after that moment. Maybe I was just sick of watching Team USA lose to Team World. I did manage to snap some photos off yesterday. The celebrity softball game was fun to watch. There were a lot of Yankees like Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez playing in it. Tonight's the home run derby, I can't wait for that.

Surprise Revealed!

I am now a true believer in the saying "the impossible is possible." On the way to the All Star Fanfest at the Javits Center this morning, my dad handed me a FedEx package addressed to me and said "surprise!". OK, I'm thinking to myself, what the heck can this be? He's made such a big stink about it for a month now. As I ripped it open, I was shocked to find the above contents. Just imagine the look on my face.

I've Been Tagged

It's time for me to divulge information about myself that not many people may know. For those not familiar with it, when you're tagged you have to share six things about yourself that are not common knowledge. It's very popular on YouTube, but in this instance I've been tagged by James Anderson on his blog. So here it goes:

1. I have three nicknames: dganger, doppleganger, and yes Mr. Under Armour. The nickname doppleganger was coined by my uncle Mike when I was 10. He thinks I have a split personality because I can be very competitive when playing sports as I appear to be two different people.

2. I grew up in northern Ann Arbor and moved to Long Island last July. I am returning to Ann Arbor permanently within the next month. Watch out all you Michigan motorists!

3. I play three instruments: piano, guitar, and the trumpet (only in school).

4. I am ambidextrous. (comes in handy when playing baseball and the piano)

5. I have a strong love for Italian food. I have been known to eat pasta at 8 am.

6. I have been banned from using the washer and dryer. LOL!

I have to keep the chain going, so it's my turn to tag people. Here are my picks:

Danny Williams
Jason Silverman
Chris Murphy
Ryan Manfre
Kyle Gallagher
Jen Fowler

Utter Stupidity

I'm at it again doing absolutely moronic things. This time it involves laundry. Being home during the day now, I was told I have no excuse to not take care of some of my own affairs (laundry). So, I did what I was supposed to do with the washing machine, but I "misused" the dryer. I didn't realize the dryer was set to "ultra hot" and let my colors stay in there for over an hour. Needless to say some of my nicer shirts shrunk and I don't know if it's possible, but it appears two pairs of cycling shorts shrunk too. I think the word is spazz.

Busy Weekend

I haven't been on my computer much this weekend. We went to a huge party on Friday night. There had to be at least 75 people there. It was pretty cool, there were plenty of kids there my age. We had a nice game of water volleyball going in the pool. I felt like a salesman asking all of these kids if they like cycling. I need to stop doing that. After eating we were treated to a nice fireworks display and then we went back and ate some more.

Today we went to another party. This was a birthday party for a cousin on my mom's side of the family. Out of 6 kids there, I was the oldest. Their ages ranged from 5 to 11. I am exhausted from having all of them jumping on me. One of them kept calling me Greff. I found myself correcting this boy over and over and then I just gave up since I don't really sim him that much.

Oh by the way. I don't know if this is part of the big surprise or not, but I saw tickets on my kitchen table to the MLB All-Star fanfest that is being held in NYC the end of this coming week. That should be pretty cool since I hear there will be a lot of hall of famers there signing autographs. I'd really like to go the home run derby and the all-star game but those are impossible tickets to get. We're approaching mid-July so this surprise has to be coming soon.

Happy 4th of July!!

Updates

I haven't posted to my blog in a few days. There's nothing really for me to write about. I'm still patiently waiting for my grades to come in the mail. That's a good sign that they haven't come yet. It probably means that I passed all of my exams.

I went to the beach yesterday with a few friends from school and got really burnt. I look like a lobster. Being of Irish descent it doesn't take much to burn my skin.

I'm almost done with my physical therapy. I only go twice a week now and have built back a lot of strength in my arm.