Brett H Perkins - Murfreesboro, Tennessee » Holidays

A Look Back :: A Look Forward

bretthperkins — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:51 +0000

So… here we are. A new year is, literally, on the horizon. Today is the end of one of the best years of my life. I am honestly quite sad to see it go!

A Look Back :: What Made 2009 So Great –

· Promotion at Deloitte: The year began with a move up for me at my previous job. It really was, in my opinion, quite an accomplishment to move up as quickly as I did at Deloitte. Granted, I have since moved on to other things, but I am still quite proud of what I did there.

· Wicked: I went up to Indianapolis to visit Tai and see the Musical Wicked. It is an amazing show, and I recommend seeing it if you have not already. I also had a great trip up to see Tai in Indy.

· American Idol: In the summer, Eric and I took a road trip to Orlando, Florida to audition for American Idol. It was a fantastic trip full of nothing but happiness and leisure. It wsa a HUGE break from my, then, stressful job. We met some incredible people, I met Eric’s friend Charlon, and we got to sing… in front of thousands of people. (Sort of).

· Epcot Center: On the trip to Orlando, I finally got to go to Disney World. I had never been, and I have still not been to a big chuck of Disney World, but I did get to go to Epcot with Eric, Charlon, and a couple of other friends. It was great!

· Moving in with Eric: I love David and Daniel like brothers. We lived together for about 6 years. That is a huge deal to me and they will forever be a part of my life… but the time was right for us to take our separate paths. Daniel has moved in with his partner Vinny and David has moved on to his own place. They are both doing very well. I do not want to live alone, so Eric and I, after talking about it for several years now, have finally moved in together. And I couldn’t be happier. We are such a perfect match and living together has, so far, been nothing but awesome!

· New Townhome: Moving out from the 3 bedroom townhome into a 2 bedroom was SUCH a great move! I got a bigger room, the place is nicer, decorated, and it just feels like home! It is in the same compex as my old place, but in a different section. I love that townhome, and I know that Eric and I will be there for at least another year.

· New Job at Kroll: I know that the first thing on this list is a promotion at my previous employer, but that is only one thing. I have since moved into a new job with career aspirations that are incompatible with the entity at Deloitte to which I was affiliated. So moving to this spot, for me, makes the absolute most sense. I am still very excited and forward looking into this job, and hope that it turns into several years of good work, a path up, and happy times!

· Weight Loss: I started thinking about my weight again last year in December… I even wrote a letter to myself. But, I did not have the discipline to follow through with a weight plan. Well, that is all different now. I have lost 23 pounds and still counting. I look better than ever and I am really excited about the coming year.

· Figuring Out More About Me: I am complex… and in that complexity comes ambiguity and question. I still did no really KNOW who I was… and to be honest, I think that I will continue to change and figure things out until I am gone… but I really starting thinking about who I REALLY am and what REALLY matters to me. I became a bit more focused on myself than I have ever been before, and you know?! It has really made a huge difference. I am still a considerate friend, but I am out for ME now. No one else!!! My friend Deana put it best when talking to her husband about a difficult situation. She told him that “I love you, but I love me more.” And that is SUCH a profound thing to say and realize. I had to learn to LOVE me more. And to be honest, I think that because of that, this year has been SO great!!!

A Look Forward :: What To Expect From 2010 –

Honestly… I haven’t the foggiest idea what to expect. I learned long ago that expectations are quite the paradox. They are good and they are bad, they are right and they are wrong… and sometimes, expectations are the HARDEST things to manage. Life is not scripted, and not everything is planned in advance. You can never know what will happen, nor should you. So with that in mind, I look into the next year with excitement and wonder. I hope that 2010 will be as great, if not greater, that 2009.

With that, I close out this year on bretthperkins.com. I am working on a decade retrospective, but I won’t have that ready for a few more days… so look for that.

I hope that everyone reading this has a safe and memorable holiday today, and if you choose to drink or otherwise party, please use good judgment and be safe! The last thing anyone wants is for 2010 to begin with tragedy.

May the new year bring happiness and good fortune to you all.

-=brett=-

Yay!! Christmas With The Family

bretthperkins — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:52:29 +0000

First off: I hope that all of you reading this have had a great Christmas! (And to those that do not celebrate Christmas, I hope you enjoyed some time off!)

Today was fun! I woke up late, which for me is just 8:00… but it was nice! Did some stuff on the computer, watched some TV, then headed out to Hardees to grab some breakfast. Yum! I finished wrapping up some stuff then headed to Mom’s. I got there and she and I swapped gifts. I got her a new TV for the office and she got me Band Hero! I can’t wait to play it! I have Rock Bands 1 and 2 but Band Hero has MUCH better songs!! After that, I headed to my Dad’s where we swapped gifts and visited a bit… and I installed Windows 7 on their computer. After a bit of chit chat, I headed back to Mom’s to help her finish up the food and pack up to go to my sister’s. We always go to my sister’s for dinner where the various families all get together and visit, have dinner, and swap gifts.

I look forward to the holidays and birthdays because it is the only time our family really gets together, and my family has always gotten along very well. I love spending time with them, playing games, playing with my 8 nieces and nephews, and just visiting. I love my family, and I have always loved how close we all are… Unfortunately, some situations earlier in this year have challenged that closeness and I am having a really difficult time. I hope that everyone can find the strength to forgive what needs to be forgiven, forget what is not worth remembering, and find comfort that beyond any situation, we are a family and we all love each other.

Anywho… back to the day. I got my little niece Isabella (Ryan and Amber’s daughter) some My Little Pony stuff and she was SO excited! My sister Staci and her husband Doug have 4 kids, all of the age that I really don’t know what they would want, or what store they would shop, so I went with Visa gift cards. That always works! I got my other nephews Dawson and Landon (Vance and Julie’s) various toys of the stuff they are into (Pokemon and Bakugan), and they’re baby brother got some clothes. The grown-ups (my brothers, sister, and their significant others) do dirty santa and I scored an Outback gift card. Woo! My mom made me wait until we did gifts at my sister’s before I opened the other gift from her. She got me art from an elephant!!! This super cool elephant actually PAINTED this art!!! It’s so cool! I have been wanting something to hang over my desk at home, so this will be PERFECT!

I am looking forward to this weekend, I am taking my Christmas money to Target and getting a Keirug coffee maker. I am SO excited.

Saturday is Opry, jerrica, and Tribe. Can’t wait!

-=brett=-

Opryland 2009 – The Best EVER… so far!

bretthperkins — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:01:49 +0000

So… as I said yesterday, Eric and I made some ad hoc plans to head to Opryland Hotel for pictures. He invited Victoria and Chris and we all met at Opry Mills. After a few minutes of parking mayhem and some shopping, we headed to the Hotel. It was, as expected, VERY pretty this year. Victoria and Chris had never been, so it was awesome to introduce them to the place. It really is a magnificent hotel! We went to some pizza place in the Delta, an area of the Hotel, where we had some dinner and started the picture taking fun!!!

It started with a few risqué pics on a light pole and move onto some very nice pics of some other areas. We were going to go to the water-fountains show, but we missed the last one, so we will have to catch that another time. We walked through the Hotel, taking routes we had never taken before. See, usually, we do the same thing every year. We get there, hit the water show, then walk around, go to the spinny bar (a bar on a round platform that rotates very slowly) in the Cascades, then take pics around the Sky Garden and other areas before heading outside to play with the Three Wisemen. Well, we changed that up this year, and QUICKLY learned our lessons. We kept hitting dead ends!!! So, we went back to our old route, which seemed to work much better, anyway.

We walked through the hotel and finally got to the Cascades areas of the Hotel. We took a seat in the Spinny Bar and had a drink. It was funny, though, when we sat down, V and Chris were surprised… They were like, “Are we moving.” Awesome! After one full rotaion, our typical duration of the spinny bar, and some fun picture taking with the drinks, we hopped up and went through the Sky Garden. In the Sky Garden area, there is a Jack Daniel’s restaurant… so we took a picture with the sign there when a few girls asked the hostess a very obvious question: “Do you have a bar?” I CRACKED UP!!! I was like, really? Why would you have to ask if there is a bar at a Jack Daniel’s Restaurant. The more appropriate question would be “Hey, do you have to be 21 to get in here?” Anywho… we moved onto taking pics with a lit up bear that was next to the restaurant. Or did we do that before the question? Oh well… that was fun. We then did something new, we went out in front of the Hotel. They do a REALLY good job of lighting up the trees outside of the Hotel, and they have some really pretty sculptures, nativity scenes, light poinsettias, etc… I was able to get a LOT of really good pics of the lights, so I will be able to use them in art for next Christmas! W00t! We got some pics by the lit trees and then moved back inside to finish the night. We took some great pics by this REALLY big fireplace in the main lobby of the Hotel then headed back to the Delta to get pics in front of the large Christmas Tree. Unfortunately, during those pics, Victoria slightly injured her foot. She jumped down off of a platform and a sharp pain travelled up from her foot. She was down for the count and couldn’t walk for a bit. We headed out and I grabbed the car to come pick everyone up. Luckily, her injury was short-lived as the pain went away pretty quickly. Thank goodness for that!! I was worried.

The pictures all came out really good!! I got about 90 good pics. They are all posted on my Facebook, so you should head over there and check them out!!

We’re going to get dressed up on Saturday and head back to take more pics! I can’t wait!!

-=brett=-

Woo!!! More X-mas Traditions!!

bretthperkins — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:09:45 +0000

So, every year starting about 4 years ago, my friends and I go up to Opryland Hotel at Christmas time. We don’t do much, just take a lot of pics and act stupid with all of the statues and lights that they have set up for Christmas. It is REALLY fun!!! So, Eric texted me earlier that we did not get to go this year, and I was like, well… let’s go tonight! So we are. He, Victoria, Chris and I are going to meet there at about 7 O’Clock and we’ll do our thing. I’ll make sure I post lots of pics!!

I’ll have a lot more about which I can blog once the trip is over.

-=brett=-

Yay!!! Xmas is almost here!

bretthperkins — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:55:42 +0000

After MUCH procrastination… I started, and almost finished, my Christmas shopping yesterday. I went to Walmart, the Avenue, and some other places… Kendra and I spent much of the day together. I got gifts for Vance and Julie’s kids and for Ryan and Amber’s daughter Bella. I also grabbed up Mom’s and some gift cards. I still have to get Staci and Doug’s kids’ gifts, and Dad and Carolyn. But that is about it. I also picked up a few “gifts” for myself too. You know… some sweater vests and a couple of pairs of Sketchers. It was awesome. Yesterday was also my very first “Cheat Day” on my diet. Like, I have had little “cheats” here and there, but yesterday, the gloves were off!! I had Mexican for lunch, and it was SO good. I did feel terrible after, though… My stomach is not used to that kind of food anymore. It was go greasy and cheesy… and SO FRIKKEN GOOD!!! Anywho… Went home, put stuff up, and then threw on a new sweater-vest thing and my new shoes and headed out. Last night was Victoria’s annual Christmas dinner. Although she usually cooks and we go to her place, the circumstances of this year didn’t unfold to that effect, so we went to Macaroni Grill.

!! O.M.G. Alert !! – Romano’s Macaroni Grill was TERRIBLE last night!!! – We got there and well, you know how it goes… we were seated, and the server took a drink order. The bread was brought to the table pretty quickly, and well, that was ok. Then the night started going south. Fast. We discussed what we were going to order, and Victoria asked me about some appetizers and if they would be good for an entrée. To that I said that the cheese sticks were good… and you get a lot. We all continued discussing the menu before ordering. The server guy was OK, I suppose. Nothing special, nothing bad… just OK. He took our order and then after what seemed like an eternity, the food finally came out. Remember when Victoria asked about the cheesesticks and I told her that they were good and that you get a lot? Well… They must have changed the menu because the cheesesticks she got were SAD… If memory serves, the last time I got cheesticks there, there were like 6 of them, and they were HUGE. Yeah, not anymore. For an Appetizer, your party gets to share a whopping 2, yeah folks, I said that right… TWO (2) cheesesticks. What the eff kind of place gives you 2 cheesesticks?! Anywho… that was not all. Jerrica and I ordered the lasagna. I thought it was good the last time I got it, and she wanted to try it. Now… I get that sometimes in a restaurant setting the portions don’t always come out the same way, even with the same entrée. I get it. But the lasagna that we ordered… were 2 completely different sizes. Her portion looked like it could have been my portion’s little baby brother. It was ridiculous. So Jerrica commented to the server that it was quite obviously a difference in the sizes of the portions, and that she was not happy. Of course, Jerrica was not mad or bitchy with him, but kinda half-joking/half-serious, and in the most polite way possible, she brought it up. To that, the server said, and I quote: “Well, it’s the luck of the draw!” *chuckle chuckle*. Then he scurried away. We were dumbfounded. Not only was that NOT funny, he COMPLETELY did not address a REAL issue. Come on, it is not rocket science. Portions should be comparable. Sheesh… anywho, I digress on the lasagna… Eric ordered this Alfredo Pasta stuff, and he said his tasted like crap… and well, the food experience was just not where it usually is at Macaroni Grill. We expected better. To top it off, though… when he brought out the checks, they included a “suggested tip”. Now, I understand and accept that some parties of “[insert number here] or more” are usually charged a standard gratuity and that it is automatically included in the bill. I have NO issue with that. At Macaroni Grill, it is a bit different. They suggest a tip, then say that you can “increase or decrease the amount” as you see fit. So, with the server being a douche and the food being sub-par, I was not inclined to give a good tip. So I wasn’t… until I saw the checks. The jack-ass actually WROTE his tip in for us. Can you believe that?! Like I said, if the system puts it on there because of some kind of rule, that is one thing, but this place does not have that rule… I found it completely RUDE to write your tip in when one is not mandated! It’s bad enough to leave a little tip, but what he did would have made me REALLY look like an ass because I would have had to scribble his tip out to make a new, lower tip. I just said to hell with it and signed. I didn’t care anymore at that point. Then… after he took the checks and brought back the receipts… He vanished. You know, sometimes, people like to just sit around after a meal and talk. Dinner service does NOT stop after the checks are taken. No refills, no more bread, NOTHING happened after we paid. I have received better service at a White Castle. This was total crap. I know that I will not be going back to that place for SOME time. On the plus side, though… as usual, the bread was OFF THE CHAIN!!! I really LOVE their bread. kk. !! END O.M.G !!

Where was I? Oh… I know: To my surprise, I was informed that Jerrica was going to join us. I got SO excited!!! It’s been like 6 months sense we have all hung out, so it was really nice to see her! We caught up some and cemented our plans for this Saturday. Her mom is making her kick-ass meatloaf, so we are going to go there for dinner, then hit Tribe after. Can’t Wait!!! It has been SO long since I have gone out!

I am still liking work. Still going through code tutorials… and I am hoping they will start tasking me with defects and bugs soon. I want to learn SO much!!!

I think that I am going to go through my music at home. I bought a new iPod, and in the process of getting everything into iTunes, I have discovered that my music is terribly unorganized and I have all kinds of duplicates. Gotta fix that!

See you later!

-=brett=-

Tis the season…

bretthperkins — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:23:51 +0000

So today was decorate day!!! That was fun. Usually, at least for the last 6 years, decorate day was a bit of a wash… It was fun, and I really enjoyed it, but my previous roommates were not really the decorating type, so it was usually just me putting up the tree and the other stuff, making bows, hanging garland, and making it as festive and pretty as I could. If I was lucky, Eric would stop in to help, and that was always great… This year, I was REALLY looking forward to it because it is mine and Eric’s first Christmas together (roommates) and since we both love decorating for Xmas so much, and we always did great work together in Garden Center when we both worked together, it was going to be a million times better… Unfortunately, timing this year prevented us from having the amazing time decorating together that we would have liked… There is still a lot left to do, so all is not lost… but it does make me sad that we didn’t get to do this together. I did, however, have some help. Medardo was over and he and I did a lot of the decorating together. We hung up lights and garland outside, put lights in the bushes, went to Lowes and Walmart to get more decorations and ornaments, put up the tree, shimmied cardboard into the tree stand to make it NOT crooked, and hung up lights and garland inside. I kind of went all out this year… I would have done more last year and the previous years, but my last two townhomes did not have a good place to put lights outside, so I didn’t. This townhome has wooden trim around the door and window, so I was able to do more. The others had brick… and staple guns go not work well with brick.

Anywho… I am really happy with the work we did and the lights, I’ll post some pics later… was going to do that now, but my phone is being a bitch!

Big THANK YOU to Medardo for helping!!! U rock!

-=brett=-

A gr8 day… and night.

bretthperkins — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:12:46 +0000

So, today started off slow, but quickly became one of the most eventful days I have had in quite some time. I woke up planning to just get Xmas up and clean a little. I took a trip to Wal-Mart to get storage thingies for my xmas stuff and got a few things for the house while I was there. I got some honest-to-God drink glasses and some more regular glasses and some bits for the kitchen, then I drove EVERYWHERE to find a rack to put my stemware on, and NO ONE had it. I eventually went to Pier 1 and they had them for 8 bucks each, so I grabbed 2. My glasses are so pretty hanging from my kitchen. Anywho. . . Eric came over and we played with his schedule some and I got ready for my date.

The date was ok, nothing major special. His name is Clay and he works in Nashville for a T.V. Station. He and I ate at California Pizza Kitchen, which is AWESOME, by the way… Anywho, we talked and whatever for about 2 hours until finally he had had enough and decided to leave. Of course, it is important to note that it was not me that he had enough of, it was his sinuses. The weather being what it has been recently has him in a torturous state, thus making it very difficult to breathe, blink, talk, etc, and I could clearly tell that he didn’t need to be out, so we ended kind of early. We have yet to make plans for another date, but both know that we want one.

After that, I met up with Eric and Tai at Coco’s. That was fun. Had a coffee, shared some pie, laughed at people, watched youtube, it was good times. Then we went to Tribe where much to my surprise, I was hit on. There is a first time for everything. It was an older gentleman, but not creepy old, and he was decent looking. Very pleasant to talk to. I had conversation and left it at that. It was quite a compliment, though. I had a Long Island Iced Tea, and apparently the alcohol was on a time-delay because it hit me about 20 minutes into the drive home. You should have seen me, I was a dancing/singing fool in my car all the way to Murfreesboro. I got home, took out the Xmas stuff to the closet out back, took out the trash, and then just for the hell of it I jogged, yes… jogged, a lap around the apartment. It felt good.

Now, I am here, and I am very much NOT tired. I believe that my diet is helping A LOT. I have more balanced nutrition and I just feel better.

I guess that is all that I really have to blog about.

Carry on…

-=brett=-

Merry Christmas!!!

bretthperkins — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:20:56 +0000

I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my family tomorrow. It is going to be a lot of fun, as it always is. As usual, I wish I had more money to spend on gifts but they all understand how it is in school and all… Next year will be quite different. I will not be at Wal-Mart, and I will have more money. I am looking forward to beginning my career search. I know that I want a career working with Application Development. I have good idea of how programs should be layed out to make it easy-to-use, and from what I have seen of the software out there, there needs to be more focus on that… anywho. *yawn* I know that is boring. Not much is going on with me. I got my X-mas present from my Mom yesterday. She helped me get a new T.V. for my bedroom. Its a really nice TV. 32″ HD 1080i. Its a decent brand, but nothing major. It doubles as a really nice monitor, too. I am blogging on my laptop right now, and looking at it through the T.V. Actually, to be technical, I am using the keyboard and mouse from my desktop on my laptop through the network, so I can use all my computers from anywhere in my room… I know, I am a dork… what are ya gonna do?

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas or for those who don’t do the Christmas thing, I hope you got your groceries today, cause you aren’t going anywhere tomorrow… cause it will all be closed. Well, if you like Chinese, I am sure buffets will be open. You can never go wrong with some Lo Mein and General Tsao’s Chicken!!! w00t!

*waves*

-=brett=-

WTF!? I’d like to sleep, please…

bretthperkins — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:17:27 +0000

I do believe that I am becoming and insomniac. . . My mind just races, I lay down and thoughts just go! Things from my Eric issues all the way to what I am getting my Dad for Christmas, then I think about my broken relationship with my dad, then I think about my mom, and how she is going to retire with no money. Then I think about school, work, and it all cycles again. I’m finding the only way to calm my mind down is through alcohol, and that is not a good thing. I am no alcoholic, but I don’t want to become one. I have to take 2 shots of Vodka to even relax!!! *screams in frustration!* Maybe I should go see someone about my mental overload?

I just want to SLEEP!!!!

-=brett=-

Just a Ho. Ho. Ho. away from insanity.

bretthperkins — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:31:27 +0000

Not too much to blog about… We all went to Chili’s for Shane’s bday dinner, and that was fun. A lot of peeps went out to the club, but I am broke and really didn’t want to be out really late when I had to be at work at 6:00, so Eric and I went back to my place and watched “Evan Almighty.” Cute movie, yet pointless, honestly. Anywho. . . Eric was tired and didn’t even make it through the whole thing and fell asleep. Cute.

This morning, I was again Santa at work, I was Santa yesterday, too. Being Santa is really fun, but after the 3rd hour, I was ready to go. The kids weren’t nearly as smelly as yesterday, I guess that is because parents make them take a bath before church. *shrugs* I dunno.

I overheard Eric talking to Sara about Jason, and it of course made me think of many things that I am not gonna blog about today because I have already blogged about all that like a million times. Still makes me sad. . . I digress.

I was going to nap, but I think I am going to watch some Charmed and throw some laundry in. I need to do that. *nods*

*waves*

-=brett=-