Monday, April 30, 2007

Wonderful Family Filled Weekend.

I came home this weekend. I got in on Friday and spent time with Mom, Dad, Kris and Brooke.

We got up on Saturday and all of us girls went for a chilly walk/run together. Then Andra Buchan's 4th birthday party was at 3:00. It was fun getting watch Andra open her very cool gifts and spending time with family. After the cake was served, 7 of us play a round of Texas Holdem. I came back from a certain loss to be a huge chip leader due to two remarkable hands. Sadly I got a bit over confident and Dad ended up with all the glory and spoils.

After cards it was off to the next party, John and Katie's Engagement Party. Mom, Dad and I were over 4 hours late but thankfully we still got to see The Roberts Family and the happy couple. Katie is nothing short of adorable and the two make a beautiful pair. I am so excited for the wedding in 53 days (thanks, Katie, for the countdown).

The weekend finished with an intimate gathering in celebration of Grammy's 80th and Uncle Michael's 45th birthday. It was a wonderful weekend. I am very glad I was able to be there for it.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Hello Again

Well its been along time since I have updated this blog. I will attempt to correct that right now. I've been really busy,(the likely excuse)with work and studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering test (FE exam). I recently took the FE exam, and I have to say it was the hardest test I have ever taken, 8 hours of pure calculation hell. Anyways to better understand this test I will explain why I took the monster. The FE test is the first out of 2 test in attaining your professional engineering license (PE). This is a highly regarded license which not everyone gets, due to it's difficulty and prereqs. are pretty stiff also. After/when I pass the FE which is offered twice a year, I will have to wait until I attain 5 years of engineering work experience to sit for the PE exam (which of course is 8 hours also). For me the PE is not required it is more of a personal goal and will look good on my business card.
If by the luck of God I pass the FE (which would have required outstanding guess work on my part) then I plan on starting my Master's in Material Science Engineering at NC State University. They have a distance program which should be nice. After that I should have enough time in the company to pursue my next goal which is getting an MBA at Duke university. It's pretty expensive so, I would try to get work to pay for it. After that I would be right around the time I can sit for my PE exam, and that will be all the schooling I will ever want in two lifetimes.
On the work front I have been involved in some fairly interesting things, mostly hydro plant work (supports the nuclear sight) and pressurizer weld overlays. To wordy to explain those in details here. Anyways, it's been busy. I will start working day shift at Catawba nuclear station as the welding contact for the pressurizer overlays. It will be a long two weeks, I work a 6 to 6, six days a week, and will have to miss most of Thanksgiving. I don't feel too bad though, most of the workers will have to work the entire outage and might miss Christmas.

Besides all of that I have been riding on bicycle on the indoor trainer that I bought. It works really well. Paige has been busy at school and playing intramural soccer with her classmates. She is trying to get her 1 month clinical this spring in Gastonia which is right down the street. That would be really nice, I would like her to be back at the house with me again. Hope all is well, send my love to everyone and I'll talk to you soon.

P.S. Milfab investment idea, how about a beach house somewhere? I think it would see some use.......

Nick

Monday, October 09, 2006

'Lost' Weekend



Jason and I began watching the television show "Lost" when we bought the first Season on DVD. We loved the twists and turns in the story line and couldn't wait for Season 2 to begin. We also passed our copy of season 1 on the the Bryants who were equally as impressed as we were with it. Having a new Brooke and working often resulted in a spotty viewing of Season 2 for Kris and Jay. With Season 3 beginning last week, we all decided that a Season 2 marathon was in order to prepare for the newest season of 'Lost'.
We watched a total of nearly 18 viewing hours, from Thursday night till Saturday at midnight when we finally finished Season 2. We had such a good time. Brooke was a perfectly behaved baby. She slept at night and was so patient with the grown-ups glued to the tube.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Busy

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since I made a blog. I have been very busy recently. I have been down at Keowee Hydro station in South Carolina trying to help out with their broke generator. Hydor plants typically do not get this much attention from the nuclear side of the house. However, since this hydro plant is one of the emergency power supplies for Oconee Nuclear Station, it is very important. So anyways, I have been down there since Tuesday morning. I will have to go back again soon, I suppose. I've probably worked 60-70 hours this week, and it will only get worse going into back to back outages. I have been asked by one of our Welding SPOC'S (Single Point of Contact)to work their outage. Which their outage runs through December into early January. Not sure if my boss will approve me going out there for a month. If he does, I might not get a X-mas break. I hope I'll get to make it home. Talk soon.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Comment Spam Issues

I wanted to let you all know that I have changed our comments settings.
I has come to my attention that our little blog is getting some Spam attention. This means that our comment section is being used for junkmail or marketing. I don't want this to keep happening. So, now we will need to sign in when we leave comments. Hopefully this should take care of those pesky spammers.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Tree frog and Corn flower


Tree frog and Corn flower, originally uploaded by GR8Fits.

New resident.

Meet our Neighbors


This spring, on our anniversary, the flowerbeds received a facelift courtesy of Dad ('father, Chris'). He pruned the shrubs, added soil and planted an assortment of perenials and annuals. The difference was so astounding. We promised to faithfully water and take care of the new plants. It has been a little over 2 months and with few exceptions the promise has been kept.
As a result our flower beds are fertile and exlploding with life. Today I met the newest resident, a green tree frog a little bigger than the size of quarter.

In the past week I have also made acquaintance with at least 3 females and 1 male praying mantis. For whatever reason, there is a quasi infestation of spiders. I am indifferent towards most of them but this one spider is particularly creepy and dangerous looking. I don't know what type he is but I check on him regularly.

Hope this post finds you all well.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Hello

Hello everyone and Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Milicia, Mom and Dad for making a donation to the MS 150. I had my first group ride with my team yesterday. We did 43 miles of hills and flats. It was a rude awakening, I've never experienced my legs completely worn out and cramping. The last 6 miles were hard. We were averaging around 17-20 mph on the flats, which I could keep up no problem. The hills killed me. Anyways, it was refreshing to see 2 of the riders (guy and girl) at least 47 years old, and I was the guy dragging. So to anyone that says they are too old, I don't buy it. Anyways, trying to spend time with Paige before she goes to school, studying for my exam in October, training for the 150, and going to the gym. I'm busy with things to do. Thanks again for everyone that donated.

Nick

Monday, July 17, 2006

Taking time to reconnect

I have no great excuse for my lack of blog posts. Sometimes the inner hippie takes over and I just want to 'Tune out' the firt thing to go when that happens is the technology interface. In addition to needing an escape from Chapter 11 of my accounting book, I think it is time to reconnect via family blogging.
Happily, the past month has been filled with several family gatherings. The first big one was the pig roast. Then the week following was 4th of July spent with the parents, Nick and Paige. Later that week, I got to spend more time with Dad, Nick and Paige we biked and watched movies. It was such a great time and I was so happy to be together with family.
In spite of all that happiness, I am left feeling a void. I remember, when I was younger and living with Dad, Kristan and Nick would come for visits. They totally dissrupted the balance that Dad liked to keep. Shoes were everywhere, there was noise and there were fights. It was chaos. Then, they would have to leave for Cleveland. I would go back to being a psuedo only-child again. It was TOO quiet. I missed them so much. I guess my point is that being with family can be chaotic and in fact often nuerotic, but it is also very the best sweetness there is.
I am planning to come home in August. I am really looking forward to it. I love my family!!!

Sunday, July 09, 2006

MS Bike ride

If the post doesn't show up here is the link

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/NCP/personal/default.asp?pa=55160225&pd=NCP1EMS120060916CHN

MS 150 Bike Ride

Hello everyone,

It has been quite awhile since I have posted. Paige and I just got back from a vacation in Ohio, visiting the Columbus area relatives. We spent 4 days with Paige's mom in Dayton, and the rest of the week with the Columbus and DeGraff relatives. It was really nice to see everyone.

Currently, I'm in training for the MS 150 bike ride. It is a two day event that covers 150 miles. If you are interested in donating to the event, my personal goal is $500.00 dollars. They have a bandana that you wear, that signifies that you are riding for someone with MS. Of course, I will be riding for Ang. I will have to get her to sign it for me. (Some people ride for people they don't know, the MS person signs it and they meet at the end of the ride.) I am riding for the Areva team, (Duke doesn't support sport teams, so I'm riding for one of our vendors). Here is the link to my page for the MS ride, you can make online donations etc.



Thanks for any support, and hope everyone is doing well.

Nick

Friday, June 30, 2006

Seattle

We are in Seattle till Sunday for a tech conference. Jason attended last year and met lots of people. Seattle is a really neat place. Just wanted to share some images.