going away party

Thanks to everyone who showed up to our going away party @ O'Greenberg's.
It was great to see everyone and I hope you all had as much fun as we did (despite the absence of the elderly drunks)..
Here are some pics..enjoy:

<--prev pic::::next pic-->

in perspective

I had dinner last Sunday with a very animated couple who are part of my extended family and who happen to be Hungarian immigrants like my father. They got on the subject of how they came into the country with all the drama and life lessons of a Dickens novel. What got me thinking was how many people on both my mother's and father's side of the family who have taken incredible risks to come into this country. Not with the intention of having a leisured "working holiday" like myself, but with the intention coming into the States and staying here. I have no reason to seek any kind of asylum in another country like they have but if I did I'd like to think I would show the same amount of gutsy-ness that rest of my family has...
-Jon

moving is hard

Do you ever have those miniature nervous breakdowns that only seem to come while you're lying in bed and tend to keep you up forever? You know the kind, where the dark side of your mind takes over and steam rolls every opportunity for rational thought. Eventually every little thing in your life becomes the biggest problem with no solution in sight.
Well it sucks and I've averaged about two per week the past couple months, revolving mostly around the trip and all the stuff I have to do before the trip. Lately my mind has been hard @ work trying to convince me that I'll never get anything done before our August 3rd lift-off date. I'm determined to prove it wrong...
-Jon