In case anyone else is out there reading this, the automatic upgrade feature within WordPress will stall if you are using  < php5. The same holds true with trying to auto-upgrade some of the plugins.

I know it’s been really quiet here, but lots of stuff has been happening…. like the Summer – for instance…. and Will’s Birthday… Oh, and my older sister Mel got engaged too….
Those are just the highlights. There were other things that happened, and hopefully I will get around to posting them… or at least, posting more often. We’ll see how that goes.

Soooo, Saturday, we treated him to Golden Corral and the 7PM showing of Star Wars: Clone Wars. He had been so psyched to see this movie. Since he first saw the preview for it a few months back, he has basically been counting down the days until opening day. Anyway, both boys really enjoyed themselves. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the movie, but the boys seemed to like it quite a bit.

Monday, we actually had his party… nothing fancy… just us, the grandparents, and Tita Angie. In lieu of an actual single birthday cake, Victoria made a cupcake-cake instead.

Then it was decorated with a ton of DragonBall-Z miniature action figures that Amy found on Ebay.

Everything turned out really well and fun was had by all. Will ended up scoring some great loot! Check the photos below to see what all he got.

• Will’s birthday was this past Monday. I need to upload pix.
• I have a couple of movie recommendations and a book too.
• School starts here on Monday.
• Facebook is slowly taking over my life…(not really)

Oh, and not to mention that I changed the theme of the blog… AGAIN.
Right now, I’m trying to un-clog one of the worst toilet clogs ever(ewww)! Wish me luck!

Some of the new features included in Brian-9.0:
Advanced intelligence
Ability to make more complex decisions
Increased energy
Ability to take on more responsibility(This feature has not been fully tested)

As one of the lead developers, I cannot begin to express my pride in this newest release. But we are not resting on our laurels. We are still on track for our most recent product, Will, to reach version 7.0 in August. And in September, be sure to look out for Victoria-19.0. We hope to make it our most stable release ever!

[tags]brian, birthday, victoria, Will, cousins, jen-and-terry[/tags]

So Sunday, I decided to go ahead and take William to see the boys and I could visit with the sis for a while. Poor Brian was completely distraught that he couldn’t go, but there was no way that I could risk him getting anyone else sick. I’m pretty sure that he understood… but I’m definitely sure he didn’t like it.

Well, Will and his cousins got along splendidly. They had a great time playing together and no arguments to boot! I think that could be a first with my kids!. Anyway, like I said, I got a chance to visit with my sister, and somehow felt a little better as I didn’t feel like I got enough time to talk with her(or any of the rest of my relatives) over the X-mas holidays.

In other news, I have officially reached PRO status in baseball, tennis, golf, and bowling on Wii Sports. All I have left is Boxing – and I have a looong way to go before I accomplish Pro. You may ask how such a lazy fatass …erm someone with such limited physical activity as myself might be able to score so well on Wii sports in such little time. Well, in a nutshell, it’s practice, practice practice. When we first got the Wii, I told myself that this thing was going to help get me in better shape – nothing amazing or anything, but at least I’ll be up and moving. I promised myself that I would play every other day for at least 45 minutes – and I have done just that… except it’s more like 1-2 hours(at least!). So you figure 1-2 hours every other day for almost a month… that’s a lot of play time!

But it has worked! I’m nowhere near as winded as I was the first time I played a 2 hour marathon of Wii Sports. And my scales told me this weekend that I had been consistently UNDER 200 lbs. for 4 days in a row! Of course, I probably ruined it by eating over at my Mom’s last night! Eating large portions of Filipino cooking just doesn’t go well with trying to lose weight.

Anyway, I figure if I can keep this routine up, and then purchase the Wii Fit game when it is released later this year, I will be well on my way to being a healthier, happier me.
[tags]wii, fitness, health, Brian, Will, cousins, sister, family, sick, wii sports, wii fit[/tags]

It was pointed out that this blog could be a source of motivation since I had recently published our Christmas Holiday Pictures online, and that perhaps some of my photos were not as flattering as some had hoped.

Well ladies, rest easier. I can assure you that these photos were all taken in the worst possible light and at the worst angle by the worst photographer – ever. In fact, the better quality photos were not taken by me at all, but by my youngest son – Will-6.5. I guess he and Victoria are just naturally talented at photography.

I’d also like to take this time to point out a new section in the sidebar of this blog. If you let your eyes wander over to the right – just under the “Recent Comments” section, you will find a new section called “My shared items.” –ok the title sucks. I’ll come up with a better one later. Anyhoo, This section is a list of articles from different blogs I read that I found interesting enough to share with others. They usually range anywhere from technology, to budget living, to personal productivity. The list only shows the 7 most recent articles I’ve shared through my favorite RSS newsreader, google reader, but you can click the “read more…” link at the bottom of the box to check them all out… There’s even an article or two on weight-loss and motivation!

[tags]pictures, Coats, weight loss, motivation, New Year, Will, Victoria, photography[/tags]

Each rune quest varies in the number of steps to complete and the difficulty of each step. Once a rune is earned, the magi then has the ability to cast a particular spell. So, if you earn the lightning rune, your wand can then cast a lightning bolt spell…. which could then be used much later in the “adventure quests.” The whole setup was impressive, and there are a ton of items spread throughout that the players can interact with. Both Brian and Will had a ball running around and activating things with their wands and earning runes. We agreed that the best way to tackle these things was to split up in groups of 2. Amy went with Brian, and I took Will. In the 2 hours that we spent there, we had completed all but 3 of the rune quests(different ones for each boy). They really had a blast and are excited to go back.

All that wand-waving had made us extremely hungry, so we decided to walk down to the Yamato Japanese Restaurant and treat the kids to a great hibachi show and good food. Unfortunately, when we planned this outing, we had forgotten that it would be Labor Day weekend, and there was a 2-hour wait!!! By this time, it was already late and everyone was so hungry that we decided to scrap the Japanese food and go to Chik-fil-A instetad…. Our boys LOVE some CHIKIN!!! Afterwards, I don’t think it took more than 5 minutes in the car before both boys were fast asleep – wands still tightly gripped in their hands.

The following weekend, was Teacher’s Appreciation Weekend for the Ripley’s Entertainment Group where all Horry County certified teachers got free passes to all of the Ripley’s attractions. Well, you know we were going to take advantage of that deal!!! So we loaded up the car and went to Ripley’s Aquarium. We realized that we hadn’t been there since Will was still a bald-headed baby, so the whole experience would be new to him. They had a blast going through the tunnel and looking at the sharks, and were shocked when their mom reached in the interactive pool, pulled out a horsehoe crab and turned it over, revealing its underside. But to see them at Ray Bay, petting the stingrays… I think the look on their faces was near priceless. I just wish I had remembered to bring my camera!

After the aquarium, we decided to take another stab at going to Yamato’s and this time, we were able to get in with no issues. I think everyone enjoyed the hibachi performance,(what is it with the males species and fire?) and both of the boys really liked Amy’s tempura appetizer, but I’m not to sure that Will was too keen on his hibachi shrimp. I think he was expecting fried popcorn shrimp. No matter – it made for a great Sunday snack for me.

Where was Victoria in all of this? Well, since school started, she has become the typical college student enjoying her newfound freedom. Football games, and visiting her friends in the dorms, and any other excuse to get out of the house. I can’t really complain, though. Her grades are good, and she hasn’t gotten into any major trouble. In fact, she has gone to Conway today to see if she can substitute at the elementary school on the days she doesn’t have class. Not bad….

[tags]Victoria, Brian, Will, Ripleys-Aquarium, Yamato, MagiQuest,[/tags]