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While resting a little this afternoon, Kev had me look up the date for Worms 2: Armageddon getting released for the XBox. July 1st can’t come soon enough!

Yes, that’s right – Worms 2 Armageddon is coming to the XBox Live Arcade. There were many LAN parties in college where this game would be the star of the show. Sometimes Quake 3 or Starcraft would be the game of choice, but Worms 2: Armageddon was definitely a favorite. From the sheep to the banana bomb… the ninja rope (damn those ninjas!)… to the holy hand grenade… killing worms has never been so fun!

We’ll definitely be getting this – and we hope some of our friends join in on the fun!

In all this craziness of staying busy, did you really think I would forget?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Here’s to another year wiser, another year of shenanigans! I love you with all of my heart!

Last weekend, Kev and I stayed busy with family – his sister got married on Saturday, and we had her family, her husband’s family, and some of the bridal party together for yum cha on Sunday. On Monday, Kev and I hosted a small gathering at our house. We kept quite busy, but as usual, we took pics while we were there. With the wedding alone, Kev took over 800 pics, so it’ll take us awhile to sort through them and post them.

We’re slowly getting our pics uploaded, and as we get them up, I will update their links. Eventually, these will all be linked:

• Khyle and Ray’s Rehearsal Dinner
• Khyle and Ray’s Wedding
• Yum cha with the Dutkiewiczs, Wilsons, and some of the bridal party
• Memorial Day Picnic with Uncle Dereck

My Nana always called me Sarah Badera, or just Badera. I don’t know why she called me that, but that’s what she did.

So let’s play the bad news, good news game. First off, the bad news… we’re not growing a garden this year. Kev and I both have busy schedules from the end of April until October. Both of us travel, mostly for friends and conferences (which are with friends). When we’re home, the last thing we really want to worry about is a garden of veggies that has been picked at by deer, raccoons, possum, and other animals. Some herbs are still back there, but otherwise, I’m clearing out the garden area and hoping to put low maintenance food sources in next year.

Even if we had time at home, Kev would be the primary caregiver for the garden, as I could only help with light tasks. My health isn’t getting any better, unfortunately. My medication only helps me get so far, and I’ve not stabilized enough to do heavy yard work. So Badera’s garden isn’t growing. However… I was lucky enough to have good weather and determination to lead to the good news.

So the good news is that I’ll still have plants this year – including my roses on the side flower bed in the back again this year. I’ve got to replace one plant, but I count on having to replace at least one each year, thanks to our wonderful location. Once the lawn gets mowed, I’ll be able to finish reclaiming the side bed, removing weeds, and planting the new rose. Then, I’ll lay mulch in the rose bed.

But, wait, there’s more!

A couple decades ago, there was this girl who remembered these flowers that grew along the neighbor’s garage. They were these cornflower popcorn ball flower things, and they enchanted that girl. She was determined to have her own popcorn ball plants once she got a place of her own.

Well, she got a place of her own, but she (and her then-husband-to-be) bought it as she was planning their wedding. So the closest she was getting to the hydrangea would be her wedding bouquet (done by her Aunt Dawn):

Ah… but here we are, 5 years later, and that girl has not given up her dreams on having a hydrangea plant of her own. And yes, I’ve finally got my hydrangea this year. I’ve finished ripping out the last of what was there, and Kev and I went on an archaelogical dig and came up with pottery tilled the front flower bed and planted new plants. We’ve planted 2 burning bushes, a hydrangea, 2 mini rose plants, and some marigolds. I’m definitely looking forward to keeping up on that – I love how the color looks against the house!

So long story short, no garden but I’ve still got some flowers to play with.

Oh yeah… and the side note… provided we don’t get some fresh venison stew or venison jerky from our yard, I may hopefully get more hydrangea! However, if they eat my hydrangea, it’s open hunting season in my yard.

I know it’s been quite awhile since I said anything here. I’ve been very busy since Easter, so I haven’t had a few minutes to post here.

So what’s going on?

I’ve had to speak at two conference events since Easter – one down by Dayton-ish and one in Kalamazoo. Those were back-to-back weekends.

The following weekend, Kev had a few 5K races come up – down at the Clinic on the 2nd, at Holy Name on the 3rd, and in downtown Cleveland on the 5th. On both the 2nd and 3rd, he ran his 5K under 25 minutes, setting a new personal record.

Last weekend, I was down in Columbus for a programmers’ event and then spent some time with friends down there. I stayed with Brendan, and it was good to see him again. I wished I had felt better than I did on Saturday morning – I missed out on going to CPK with him and his friends, thanks to a sinus headache. But staying back and resting was the key to getting through the headache so that I could go out that night.

I stopped by my parents’ place on my way home Sunday, and then it was time to get home.

In these past few weeks, we sent our XBox in for repairs, and when I came home Sunday, I got to play the XBox again! Right now, my XBox games of choice are Castle Crashers, Meteos Wars, and Rock Band 2.

And in this period of insanity, I almost forgot that I had a dress to get altered. However, I remembered the alterations place near my house, and so I had them alter my dress for Khyle’s wedding. I’m super excited about this dress, now that I’ve tried it on a few times and realized that yes, I can do a strapless dress.

Kev’s down in Dayton with Matt, and I had a full weekend of plans – group meetings, a night out with the ladies, and getting some yardwork done. But apparently someone caught wind of my plans and decided to change that. Instead, I am stuck resting and fighting bronchitis/sinusitis. Thankfully, I got in at my doctor’s this morning, and I now have drugs to put my sinuses in their place. This makes me sad, since I had to cancel my plans. But I’m determined to get better since I have big plans next weekend.

Next week will be super exciting, as Khyle and Ray are finally getting married! I’ve been looking forward to this for awhile now. Those two are perfect for each other, and I’m so excited for them!

The last weekend of the month leads to my cousin Heather’s wedding and a motorcycle ride. I’m looking forward to both – it’ll be great to see family at the wedding, and I’m looking forward to catching up with some of our friends who happen to ride.

So if it gets quiet around here, it’s because Kev and I have stayed quite busy lately, and this busy season will continue through most of the year.

Wishing you many sunny days this spring….

As I finish up the pretzel torte for tomorrow’s gathering with our family, I think about the Easters past. I look forward to oplatki, paska (bread with golden raisins), Easter cheese, garlic kielbasa with beet horseradish… all sorts of traditional goodies. I miss my grandpa the most at this time of year – he’s the only one that I know who’d brave the beet horseradish with me. I look forward to spending time with my family and our friends. Most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing my goddaughter – the cutest 4 year old I know (Yes… she’ll be 5 this year. How time flies!)

To all of our family and friends who celebrate it, wishing you a safe and happy Easter!

When I woke up this morning, I was reading an awesome article on why Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here. I’d link to it, but there’s a part of it that really turned me off, so I won’t link to it on principle. The article states the facts but then talks about bands that came from “Cleveland Plus (Northeast Ohio)”.

Now I guess I can see why they would try to promote the brand. But at the same time, the area is the Cleveland-area, the Greater Cleveland-area, or just Cleveland. “Cleveland Plus” is a marketing brand and honestly should not be used to describe the area. Why not? Because they are lumping too many cities into a non-distinct brand.

Cleveland + Akron + Canton + Youngstown … how many miles does that include? Akron and Canton have always been lumped together on their own. Heck, they even have their own airport. What about Sandusky? It’s closer than Youngstown! (Or does it somehow belong to a Toledo+, which probably belongs to a Detroit+?) Are you seeing just how arbitrary that + sign really is and why I dislike it?

So I looked up some calculations… (calculations provided by the GlobeFeed US Distance Calculator)

The Distance between Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) and Youngstown (Mahoning County) is : 98.02 kilometers (km).
The Distance between Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) and Sandusky (Erie County) is : 84.54 kilometers (km).
The Distance between Cleveland (Cuyahoga County,Ohio) and Canton (Stark County,Ohio) is : 82.29 kilometers (km).
The Distance between Cleveland (Cuyahoga County,Ohio) and Akron (Summit County,Ohio) is : 48.76 kilometers (km).

Don’t get me wrong – I love the Cleveland area. I’m a die-hard Browns fan. I came back to Cleveland after college, despite the weakening economy. I’m the one running a site to promote Cleveland’s technical community. And I love that I can explore the east side and west side and find all sorts of treasures in NE Ohio.

But I cannot support a brand name that doesn’t seem right. “Cleveland Plus” – where is that? “Northeast Ohio” – I know specifically where that is. When people talk about “the Greater Cleveland area” or just simply Cleveland, people know where you’re talking about. When people talk about “Cleveland Plus”, they wonder if that’s a company or if it’s an attempt at labeling Cleveland and its suburbs or what “Cleveland Plus” really means.

So on all of my Cleveland-oriented sites, do not expect to see me using that brand. I will continue to promote the awesomeness of Cleveland, but I do not (and will not) support the “Cleveland Plus” brand.

This is yet another year of missing the parade and having to work. However, they’re feeding us lunch today and having a contest for the one dressed in the most green. After seeing last year’s competition, it’ll be interesting to see this year’s

But to those of you who are going to be out celebrating, be safe and have fun!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Once again, it’s 3/14, also known as Pi (3.14) Day. Happy Pi Day to all of my geeky friends and family who even acknowledge the day!

This past weekend was interesting, to say the least. It started with a special trip down to Columbus Friday night, as Jeff was having a bunny slaughter and Kev told me to go. So Kev stayed back home to finish packing for his trip while I went to play Killer Bunnies at Jeff’s with a few friends.

Late Saturday morning, I went to lunch with Brendan; we hit up California Pizza Kitchen at Easton. Before we left Easton, he showed me Teavana, a store all about tea. I came out with some pear white tea and some Irish Breakfast tea.

While we were heading back to his place, I asked him for directions to the bubble tea place, as Jeff had mentioned it the night before. One of these days, I hope to introduce him to it. Brendan and I ended up going to Fantasia Tea Cafe together, as he wanted to get bubble tea too. He got a honeydew smoothie, and I had a green tea smoothie with red beans and bubbles (tapioca pearls – not the same as tapioca pudding).

The more I think about it, I should talk the guys into getting together at MoMo2 – where we can introduce Brendan to the awesomeness known as Killer Bunnies (since there are tables to play games there) and introduce Jeff to the awesomeness known as bubble tea.

Anyhow, by Saturday afternoon, I passed Kev on the highway – he headed to the airport for his work trip to Arizona, while I headed home. Saturday night, I gave a presentation at Ignite Cleveland. The more I talk with Jon Stahl (one of the event’s organizers), the more hope I have for Cleveland’s tech sector.

Sunday, I was home for the most part, other than having to pick up drugs. The weather change has finally gotten around to beating me up, so I stayed home and watched Doogie Howser on Hulu. Unfortunately, I’m getting really beaten up and was up all night, coughing, congested, and just couldn’t sleep, so I called in sick today and tried to rest here at home. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when Kev gets home, when I’ll hopefully be able to sleep again. The meds are at least working and lessening the symptoms, but if I’m like this tomorrow morning, I’ll be home another day.

I’m sick of being sick… I wish it would turn to spring and just stay that way already.