Zyriek Family Christmas Card - 2005

Christmas 2005
Dear Friends and Family:

We can’t believe the holidays are already here. It seems like time has gone by so fast this year and of course the Zyriek family has had a very busy year! Our daughter Anna is 2 1/2 years old. Christmas brings new traditions and fun when a child is in the house and we are learning that first hand this season. She has her “list” that she tells us about daily to ensure that we remember exactly what she has in mind for “Ho-Ho” to bring her. She began attending a new preschool in June, Harding Academy, and really has been learning so much. They have twice-weekly Spanish lessons. Gary has decided he needs to enroll in a Spanish class this spring so that he can begin to understand the songs and words Anna recites to us!!

Anna is getting to be very tall, which we can’t imagine where she gets that from!! She is quite the traveler and has accompanied us on many trips again this year, beginning in January when we all went to Austin, TX for a long weekend with Gary’s mom. Lisa taught a week-long training course there for Deloitte and everyone else joined for the weekend. In May, we had a whirlwind trip to celebrate two graduations. Lisa’s brother Blair graduated from Auburn (War Eagle!!) and her brother-in-law graduated from Stanford law school within 2 days of each other. Anna went to Auburn with us and then Gary and I had the pleasure of a sight-seeing trip to San Francisco after the ceremonies at Stanford. We walked a lot and saw so many famous sights. The trip ended with a stay at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel. Anna and Lisa spent almost a week surrounding July 4th in Dallas, TX with her two sisters, brother and their families; Gary joined for the long weekend. Anna and Lisa spent several days in Atlanta in early August with Lisa’s college friends and their children. Anna had a blast swimming in the pool and enjoying the Children’s Museum. We all visited Brewton, AL in August to see Gary’s grandmother, aunt & uncle and his mom was able to fly in, as well.

Lisa went back to Dallas in late August to welcome her twin nieces, Madeline and Estella, who were born 8 ½ weeks premature to Jennifer and Matt. They stayed 50 days in the NICU at Baylor Hospital, but with good news to report, they went home in mid-October and have not stopped growing and learning new things yet!

The Zyrieks were loyal Auburn fans again this fall traveling to Auburn for 4 games. Anna has become a true-blue Auburn fan learning the cheers and enjoying following Aubie, the mascot, around the stadium. Every time she sees a football game on television, she is sure that it is Auburn playing! We will be traveling to South Dakota after Christmas to visit Gary’s mom. We are dreaming of lots of snow and hope to show Anna what a white Christmas is all about. Our Weimaraner Ally is Anna’s companion these days and has become accustomed to Anna hugging her and sitting with her on the couch. Ally will be six in April.

Gary is a full-time employee at ILS (Inventory Locator Service), after spending a year and a half working with them on a contract basis. ILS matches buyers and sellers of commercial aviation equipment. Gary traveled with a friend in late June to Park City Utah for the National Cycling Championships. He placed in the top 20 for his age category even while battling chronic fatigue. He took quite a bit of time off the bike to recover and is running and slowly easing back into cycling for the winter months.

Lisa is still working with Deloitte & Touche in Memphis. She still participates in a work arrangement with Deloitte that allows her flexibility to work fewer hours and spend more time with Anna, primarily in the afternoons. Lisa still enjoys keeping in shape and traveling to see her friends around the country!

This year seemed to have its challenges but our family made it through all the tough times. Lisa’s uncle Frank died in January unexpectedly, Gary’s grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has relocated to a specialty facility in Bay Minette, AL, Jennifer’s twins were born prematurely, and several extended family pets were lost. With many challenges behind us, we are anticipating a fresh start in 2006!!

We hope this year has brought joy to you all. May the spirit of Christmas be with you all throughout the entire year. We hope to see many of you in the coming year. Keep in touch and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Random Musings

When I go to the bathroom in the upstairs of our house, I always pull the shower curtain back to make sure no one is hiding back there a la Psycho.

I fear someone will one day figure out how much I love Madonna. Okay, I guess my wife already knows that.

99% of the time, when I ride my indoor trainer, I'm listening to Motley Crue, GNR or 80's music. The other 1%, my iPod is broken.

I fear that someone will discover how much Madonna, Taylor Dayne or 2 Live Crew I have on my iPod.

I fear that, while shopping, someone is going to frame me for shoplifting-- didn't that happen in "Desparately Seeking Susan"?

Because one of my dogs died in this manner, I fear standing too close to passing traffic because a car's bumper might be sticking out too far and take my legs off.

I went to a Village People concert-- and disco had been dead for over 20 years when I went.

I love the smell on my hands after a round of golf.

I have attended Loverboy, The Hooters and Chicago concerts and they were not in a casino or at the State Fair.

I can't buy presents from VictoriasSecret.com because the models are so hot I completely lose focus on what I'm doing.

Many Saturdays after my long bike ride I'm tortured because I'm too tired to do anything but too bored to sit still.

I'm still looking for the idea that's gonna make me $1 million.

I fart... a lot.

I love finishing a hard bike ride at 7.30 on a warm, humid summer night.

My daughter, Anna, does something everyday that absolutely amazes me.

I wish I had a British accent 'cause those cats sound cool.

If Anna does not go to Auburn her college will not be paid for by me. I will use the money to buy my Corvette.

If Anna goes to Ole Miss, I will refuse to pay for college and drop "Zyriek" from her name as she has disgraced her mother and I.

A woman's butt looks best in a nice fitting pair of jeans. If it doesn't look good there then it has no hope.

My first real girlfriend was Cindy White. Our song was "The Greatest Love" by Whitney Houston.

I went to a high school that had racially-segregated proms and I still think that Memphis is the most racially divided place I have ever been.

I'm so glad I was born in and live in America.

Why do people spend so much time, energy and money trying to lose weight when they could spend less of all the preceeding by just making smarter food decisions?

Anyone who finishes a sentence with "boy" and then spits scares me.

I'm amazed that I made it out of my youth without getting hurt badly or killed.

I have nightmares about snakes and needles that cause me to scream a lot in my sleep; my wife does not find this amusing.

I peed on someone's car because they "buzzed" me on my bike one day.

I've never been in the Champagne Room so I really don't know if sex is or is not allowed in there.

A $20 / 3 minute lap dance is only a good ROI (return on investment) for one of the parties involved.

My iPod only holds a charge for 8 hours so that helps me remember when it's time to leave work.

I phucking hate going to parties where people tell me their job then tell me how good they are at it.

If I strongly disagree with you, I'll either not say a word or scream at you until veins pop out on my forehead. Either way, you'll know I don't like what you're saying.

I hate stack overflows.

Sometimes, I'll hold a grudge so long that I end up forgetting what I was mad about.

The first concert I went to was Hall & Oates / General Public. The last one I went to Motley. In between I hit everything from Chicago to Ozzy Osbourne to Tesla to Poisin.

LP and I ate live goldfish in college.

Of the thousands of holes of golf I've played, I've never eagled or aced a hole.

Why would anyone ever have an affair? I can barely handle the ONE woman I have.

And on that note, I'm glad I turned down the invitation for the "evening on the Lake" that Daunte Culpepper sent me.

I had about 20 horrible blinds dates before I had a good one. I married her.

I once hit my nads so hard on my bike's top tube that I saw flashes of light and felt a bolt of lighting shoot down my arm.

I love warm blankets, couches and college football-- all at once preferably.

I'm still sad that Anna never got to meet my dad but I realize now that I must fill the role of getting her hooked on Harley's, Corvettes and NOS powered speedboats like my Dad did to me.

I love the first day of fall.

I love the first day of spring.

I love screaming so loud and for so long at Auburn games that I can't speak afterwards and have a headache.

I don't understand the following about Memphis driving:
>> Why do we pull over for funeral processions but not for ambulances?
>> Why do people who are getting pulled over stop in the middle of busy traffic and not try to find a safer place to stop?
>> Why can't people turning left stay in the left lane and people turning right stay in the right lane? Do you have to cut across every lane available to you?
>> Why can't people move their cars out of traffic for simple fender-benders?

Why are the most obnoxious fans the ones who never even went to the school for which they cheer?

I love it when a plan comes together.

I sometimes sneak out and pee in the backyard. Why? Because I'm a man and that's what we do.

I've traveled around the U.S. and a few places in Europe and I can say this for certain: the most beautiful women are in the Southern states. You'll find more hot women in Oxford, MS shopping on a Saturday afternoon than in the entire rest of the U.S. above the Mason-Dixon.

I once refactored some code that reduced a report's run time from 20 hours to 2 minutes. I still got a 3% raise at the end of the year.

I have been mean to a lot of ex-girlfriends. I'm sorry.

Linda Cohn is a hot amazon.

I miss college football so hard I usually end up watching the 1-AA and D3 championship games-- GO RAIDERS!!

In high school, I wore more gold than any other white person.

Drivers-- a merge lane <> cut off other cars. Merge. It's like the basic representation of working together. If you can't master this activity then I won't trust you in my caveman hunting pack.

I don't care if the Colts have a perfect season. I only want to see Peyon Manning win a Super Bowl.

I can't wait for the next Harry Potter movie when Hermone Granger is of legal age.

Arthur Andersen was the most kick ass accounting firm and I still get sad periodically about what happened to it.

I could go on with this list forever, but I'll spare you.

Kenny Bellau NOLA Update

Yesterday, I was speaking with my brother's father-in law. He was confused as to why it was taking so long to get things back to normal over there in Orleans and St. Bernard parish. He lives just next door in Metairie and he hadn't yet taken the tour. So many people think this was just a big flood. Please, if you have or have not seen what it is like in the flood zones, watch the video in the attached link. Imagine one of these is your mom's house, your friends house or your own. Imagine having to drive for 40 minutes from your house to get to electricity. Just imagine. Please send this link on. People forget too easily... or they just don't know.

Thanks,
Kenny
Click here

P.S. I mean no offense, but I truly believe that some local tour companies should be hosting respectful tours through the flood zones and maybe the MS coast this Mardi Gras. It would be nice to send some of the out of town partiers back home with some perspective. It could only help.

New Intern at ILS

I was told by Dan and Pierre that I'd be getting an intern starting next week.

I understand the competition was tough but here's peek at her interview video.

I Just Don't Get It... Christmas and Atheists

What really befuddles me at this time of year are atheists who celebrate Christmas. Well, I guess they're not "really" celebrating Christmas, but they're celebrating something.

Did someone forget to send out the flyer on what Christmas is? I'll give everyone a hint: look at the first 6 letters of Christmas. WHOA!! That spells Christ!! Amazing.

So I don't understand the crowd that celebrates a holiday for the birth of someone whose existence they don't even believe.

This rant could last for days, but I think I've made my point.

Photo of the day

From dannyRiley, the birthday boy.

Could we be any more disrespectful? I'm sure someone will think of a way by next year...

What Movie Was He Watching?

I got together with Zack and Kenny for movie night. It was fun seeing the homeez even if it was so cold outside that my ears almost fell off leaving the theater.

Movie: Aeon Flux

Verdicts:
Kenny: It sucked
Gary: It was horrible
Zack: It was pretty awesome

Huh? Did I miss something or was Zack huffing paint during the movie.

What a Break

I have been out of pocket- not really anything going on, just got a little sick and then tired and you know how it goes.

I'm trying to learn how to be more resilient and less emotional when I feel an injustice has been done to me. I'm also working to find a purpose in my life which I have finally come to the conclusion will NEVER happen from my own work. If it was based upon my own sweat, I would have come up with the answer years ago.

Right now, I'm just trying to get my arms around this one:
The 5 Purposes For Which God Made Each of Us:
1. We were Planned for God's Pleasure - Worship
2. We were Formed for God's Family - Fellowship
3. We were Created to Become Like Christ - Discipleship
4. We were Shaped for Serving God - Ministry
5. We were Made for a Mission - Evangelism

PETA... Still Out of Their Minds

From FoxNews.com

"[PETA] is producing comic books that portray fathers as homicidal maniacs.

The handout, titled "Your Daddy Kills Animals," features a grinning lunatic gutting a fish, and warns kids to keep their puppies and kittens away from Dad because he's "hooked on killing."