The new 20 So people ask how does it feel? I reply, how does what feel? Well... turning 30? I think in my head that it is pretty much the same as when I was 29 years and 364 days old.
However usually my answer is that I am not a big birthday guy... and thats true. Growing up birthdays were always low key, I always spent them up north for Labor Day Weekend and I brought a friend. In college no one was ever around for my birthdays since it was usually on Labor Day Weekend and people went home. So usually it was just a few friends out for dinner or something.
So my 30th is low key... here at work my department decorated my office early this morning before I can in to work. They hung a few banners and put a cake on my desk. One card they gave me was especially funny... outside says "Don't worry. 30 is just a number".... on the inside "You would still totally blend in at a frat party. Happy Birthday!"
In historical fashion Labor Day weekend was my birthday celebration. Novali and Heather baked me a delicious cake and Novali painted a plate for me. We had a lot of fun... we went to a South Bend Silverhawks (minor league baseball) game, went to Michigan City to the beach, went to my swimming pool, and just hung around enjoying the last weekend of summer.
Thanks to everyone so far for the birthday wishes, and the facebook posts and myspace comments. Its a busy day but I am enjoying my day so far in typical low key fashion. Ciao!
Quick Updates So its been a while since my last post... I try to get into regularly posting but life and work gets busy and I fall behind and blogging is the first to go. Today was one of my busiest, I worked 13.5 hours today with no lunch break. I ate on the run in between meetings. However I wanted to blog this week so here it is, just a few quick notes.
Novali - well she starts second grade in a little over a week. We have had some fun weekends and last weekend did her back to school shopping that was fun. We got nearly everything she needs and will finish up a few items next weekend before she starts. It was a fun summer... I had her for five days last time and she came to work with me for a couple days. She was a trooper at work and even helped me with some programs.
Family - My mom started teaching at a local school, my dad is now in the construction business with some heavy machinery he invested in with my uncle. Miguel and Kate are getting ready to go back to teaching and Javi is about the size of a four year old. Andres and Saloumeh are planning their next trip to the Midwest and enjoying a new car (so jealous). Raquel is doing well and enjoying her job, but not enjoying that summer is nearly over.
Work - School starts at IUSB next week... this week students moved into our new residence halls and so I did some fun programming for them thats going on right now. Next week I am doing twice as many programs as have ever been done here at IUSB. On top of that my department is short staffed and I am going to be teaching a class. So talk about busy... but I earned a nice raise after only 6 months on the job so that feels good and I really love it here. Not to mention the new Student Life Website... let the 2008-2009 school year begin!
Fraternity - On August 9th, 2008 I was sworn in as the International President of Sigma Lambda Beta. I have been serving as president since January 1st but that was an interim appointment. I am now duly elected and ready to begin a two year term. I am very excited. Our convention was a great time to see old faces, meet new people, and enjoy the company of my Brothers. It was equally nice that Heather came and enjoyed my convention with me.
Wedding - Heather and I have picked a date (I think) and are now looking into places. We want a casual fun outdoor event. The problem is a venue... do they allow tents, catering and insurance requirements, do they allow music, does it have power, enough parking, easy to find, South Bend or Michigan... all these questions swirling around. To top it off the busy hunt for wedding location we are starting to do some home shopping. the market is stellar right now for buyers. It would be nice to get in while its good... but so many things going on its hard to focus on home buying. It would be nice to have our house purchased and ready to go so when we get married we are all set. Maybe even a rehearsal dinner in our backyard under the stars... I mean if we do a wedding in South Bend.
Racing - Well I won another AutoX. This time I won my GS class at a South Bend region race. Thats awesome because I didn't think I would win an event with my club because of the higher competition here. I might race next in the Chicago area on Labor Day weekend. Novi said she wants to see me race again... but she barely even watches so we will see if we do that or not. The season is coming to a close and I won't be going to nationals so I have to get in a few good races before putting the winter wheels on the Spec.
So thats it from me... hopefully I will have time to post some photos and new stuff soon. I have been planning to overhaul Novali's site and my personal site... but time time time is at a premium these days. Soon. Either way thanks for reading and come back soon.
Driver Weekend This weekend I had no trip, no work, no conference calls, no fraternity work... just a weekend for myself to relax and get stuff done. So how did I spend my weekend? Driving... what else did you think?
Saturday I volunteered to help at the Tire Rack program called Street Survival. I figured they would have me helping with registration or other odd jobs. To my surprise when I showed up they had an Instructor poloshirt and said that I should be a driving instructor. I was flattered and then nervous... me a driving instructor? It was not a performance driving school, it was a driving safety school so I figured I would be fine.
We did in and out of car instructing.
We also taught them how to check tire pressures and know more about their car.
I had fun with my two students. I hope they learned a lot and it was fun watching them get faster and more confident on the skidpad, slalom and pushing their car hard and keeping it under control. I can't wait until Novali gets old enough and she can come to a school I teach! (I am sure she will love papi being there...)
Sunday was an Autocross. This week I got some used racing tires and was waiting anxiously all week to run race rubber for the first time. It would mean that I would have to arrive early and change my wheels on site (you shouldn't drive on the streets on race tires). I was looking forwarding to learn how to drive on them and move my skills up to the next level.
I got there early for set up and got a spot right in front.
Just changed my wheels... First run on V710s coming up!
I was surprisingly nervous running on my first runs on the tires. We were getting 6 runs and I figured it would be good seat time to practice the new wheels. It is supposed to be very different and yes it was. Well my first couple runs I was a little off and hitting cones but getting a little faster. At the end of the runs I was feeling great... my times were solid but I stilled end up in third (behind the usual suspects). Sounds like the tires didn't make a difference right? Well usually I am over a second behind the guy in 2nd, and then 1.5 or more seconds behind 1st place. The final times put me only a few hundredths of a second behind 2nd, and less then half a second behind first. So winning is in sight now! I ended 6th on the PAX Index and first in my class is in sight!
It was a great "Me" weekend... very relaxing. I am looking forward to this upcoming weekend because Heather is visiting and we will have Novali. Heather has a busy week at work so hopefully we can have a fun relaxing weekend as well. Til next post. Ciao.
Big Updates Well here are some well overdue updates...
June 2008 Pics I blogged several times about my parents trip to the states in June. Well I finally got the pictures done. Some of the pictures are from my dad's camera and during times that I was not with them so noted them as best I could. Enjoy folks! Click here > Pics
Its Official After dating for a few years and lots of discussions about the future and planning what life would be like married... I made the big step and asked Heather to marry me. Novali approved and I even talked to her father about it so everything was legit. I know it was a long time coming and many people were wondering if it would ever happen... I knew it would happen and I just wanted it to be perfect and I think it was. I am excited as we now more officially beginning the planning stages of a wedding, buying a house (with a garage), moving in together, settling down and having kids! Wow... Novali is excited to be a big sister someday and this is going to be great.
Happy Couple.
Heaher and Novali all excited.
Lots of weekend activities including the pool.
We made Jello Jigglers, Ice Cream... always something to do in South Bend.
Team PLP This week I also took the plunge... for race tires. I found a killer deal on some used race tires that I could not pass up. The timing was perfect as earlier I was deciding whether I keep saving for race tires or get other modifications done to my car. Well I decided to keep saving for race tires, and then this deal came up so the timing was right. Hopefully for my July 20th race I will be ready with race tires and really put down some serious times. ALSO... this is cool, below is a video from my last race, it is of my best time and you can see in the sweeper my car on three wheels! I love it.
Well folks... I hope everyone is excited about the engagement and we will keep everyone posted on wedding planning. We are looking at 2009 so it will be coming up quick.
Pull Out the Batmobile Fourth of July weekend was tons of fun! Heather visited on Friday and we just laid out at pool and relaxed. It was a great day of lounging... no work... nothing but just relaxation. Then off to Jackson to get my SpecV and we headed to GVSU which would be the site of a two day race event with my old car club (Furrin Group).
The Saturday event was called a Test and Tune so it was not for points. I had a great event! There were 10 cars in my class (GS) and I finished 2nd, and then overall on the index (PAX) I placed 6th out of 54. My highest PAX ranking ever!
We went out and celebrated later. That meant some Red Lobster and met up with a friend of Heathers from college for dessert. It was fun catching up and just relaxing again.
Sunday we went out and Heather helped get the car ready and settled into a comfortable outdoor chair and magazine. I got to work timing and waited for my run group. I was stoked about my Saturday times and hoped I could have a repeat performance.
We got four runs. The guy that beat me the day before was off to a good start. I was off to a solid start on my first two runs... then on my third run... BAM... nailed it taking the lead in my class by nearly a full second!
Pic from Saturday afternoon leaning hard into a turn.
Sunday afternoon... flying towards the finish.
No one beat my time in my class! I ended up 1st place out of 15 in GS! There was a total of 91 cars running and I was hoping I would get a top ten finish... well at the end of the day this guy placed 5th out of 91 cars! Another cool fact... only one car there on street tires beat me and that was a newer model Audi TT.
So Team PLP is doing well... I am looking forward to my next event and really hope I can keep this fast streak going!
Hittin Homeruns So I am still behind on updating and posting photos. I did get this video posted of Novali from Memorial Day Weekend. Heather and I played baseball with her... we watched The Sandlot with her which quickly became a movie she loves now. So we thought she should learn how to play. Its hard to play with just three people but we made it happen.
She had a lot fun and got tired out from all the running around the bases.
$4.19 a Gallon So June was the month of the driver... I made two trips to Gladwin, MI to visit my parents and grandparents, one trip to Saginaw, MI to visit my parents when they first arrived, I made a trip to Bad Axe, MI for Heather's HS reunion, and two trips to Chicago to get Novali. Then... I made a trip to Jackson, MI for a wedding, to Lansing, MI for a car race, and back to Saginaw to pick up my car that I loaned my parents.
All in all during the month I drove over 2800 miles! Most of those on my SpecV since thats what I had while my parents were in Michigan. Now I bet with my parents driving one of my cars that equals over 3000 miles on my cars combined! Ouch...
The biggest ouch here is the gas prices. Seriously whats the deal... in one week here in South Bend the prices went from 4.25 to 3.94 and then back up to 4.19. Why can't the price just remain one steady price? Is that too much to ask? If you do the math on my miles and the average cost of gas... in the month of June (assuming 25 mpg and 4.10 average gas cost) for all my driving I spent $462 on gas!!! Thats crazy, that could buy me half a flight to Bolivia!
So was it worth it? OF COURSE.
I had a great time with my parents and they are now back to Bolivia and I am looking forward to the next visit. We had some good times... fishing, cooking, racing, sitting on the deck, napping, bowling, talking politics, eating Bolivian food, gutting a catfish, and just enjoying the company and the long weekends. I got to see Javi and Kelly's girls again, saw my grandparents, raced with Andres, and enjoyed a car show and an elephant ear in Bad Axe. June was busy and tons of fun. I know I know... pics pics... they are coming.
Couple of fun updates.
Yes Novali is now a second grader. I think once you have a kid in the 2nd grade you are officially old. Not to mention that I will be 30 this year... its a scary year.
This past weekend I had a race again. This one was with the West Michigan Region (WMR) of SCCA. It was held at the MSU commuter lot. It was a good lot, but small so the course was mega tight! They only had 37 cars there but a fun group of regulars. I took 2nd out of 3 in my class... but I was 9th out of 37 overall! I was the second fastest car there on street tires, and I actually had one run that I thought made me the fastest of the day... but I hit a cone! ARGH. Either way good race day...
Well this upcoming weekend... you guessed it, more driving. Heather and I are heading up to Grand Rapids to visit some of our old stomping grounds and I have a race at GVSU. Its always fun to get to GR and see all the changes. That city just keeps on growing and the campus is also growing a ton as well. Have a happy fourth everyone!
Photos Yes it is true... as your kids get older you take less photos. I remember when Novi was younger we took photos of everything she did... sneeze, cough, smile, roll over, sometimes even of a funny blink... well now we take less photos and unfortunately I am even worse about getting them posted. It has been a busy time but I am getting caught up. I was reminded of the tons of photos I used to take when Miguel and Kate brought Javi to Michigan and the immediate barrage of photos being taken of him upon walking in the door. Good times.
Anyhow I have two new photos galleries folks.
First from this past weekend... My parents are visiting from Bolivia. Last weekend was chill and we just hung out and welcomed them back. Well this weekend Andres and Saloumeh were in town and it so happened there was a car race in Midland. So I got Andres signed up and planned a fun day for the family at my race. I packed up my canopy tent, chairs, my grill and we made a day of the event. It was also fathers day so my dad got a few rides around the course as a fun gift from two of his sons. I posted times and place details on the Team PLP Site (link below).
The Barstow Airport in Midland is a great venue and attracts some cool cars.
Long list of Porsches, Jags, BMWs, Corvettes, and even a Ferrari.
Well now these photos are long overdue... photos from Memorial Day weekend in South Bend. It was a fun weekend and we packed tons of activities into a few short days. I wrote some details from the weekend on the photo page so check out all the pics on the link below.
Milestones Today (er this Month) is a day of milestones.
June 11th, 1985 my little sister was born. We were fresh American immigrants, my mom came over pregnant and my dad didn't speak English. It was interesting this last weekend to hear my mom tell Heather the story of being in the hospital giving birth to Kelly... they had no money, no health insurance, but they managed and made it through without $5 aspirin or $6 box of tissues. The first American born of the Centellas clan. She has over come a lot and has two beautiful young girls who were extremely entertaining this past weekend.
June 2003 I started this little blog. WOW! I clearly don't blog like I used to... for example I still have not posted all the pictures from the visit in South Bend from Novali and Heather for Memorial Day weekend (coming soon I promise). I am trying to post at least twice a month so hold me to that folks!
June 2004 I was offered a job to work at the University of Oregon. Great pay and possibly the best professional development experience I could have asked for out of grad school. I turned it down, opting to stay closer to family, Heather, my friends, and of course Novali. I did go out there and worked for the summer in an interim role until the Albion job brought me back to Michigan. Well now I am the Director of Student Life, potentially starting classes again, and I am glad I made the right choice.
June 2007 I went to the doctor and weighed in at 212 pounds. I had been gaining weight since grad school and hadn't worked out in years. Well today... after work I ran 5 miles in 50 minutes. I usually try to run two miles twice a week, and I just got some small weights to lift at home while I watch TV and do work at home. I decided to push myself today and I also jumped on the scale afterwards. My gym scale said 191 pounds, not as good as the false hope my uncle Ed's scale gave me this weekend (188 pounds) but it does mean I have lost over 20 pounds in 12 months. Not bad.
June 2008 I was out in Baltimore for the second time in six months. This time to visit for my Brother Andy's graduation from University of Delaware with his MBA. Thats a big milestone. Also this month my older Brother Miguel moved to Baltimore to start a new tenure track teaching position at Mount Saint Union. To top that off, Kate my sister-in-law is getting her PhD. On my top of my parents visit this mouth... its clearly a busy time and we are less than half way through the month!
Well there are some of my recent milestones. Ciao.
Summa Summa Time... Ladies and gentlemen... the semester at IUSB is over so that means work is slowing down a little. My busy fraternity travel time has wrapped up, and now it is summer time. As the Fresh Prince said... Drums Please... Summa Summa Time...
Now there are a lot things I love about summer: Novali will be out of school soon. That means more time to hangout, go places, do some fun things, and juts enjoy relaxing long weekends. It also means vacation time away from the office. I work a lot... luckily I love what I do so I don't mind so much. However everyone needs some time away from the office. I am not sure what I have planned right now, but I just need some time to relax and not working (that means no consulting, no IUSB, no fraternity, nothing). My parents and both my Brothers are coming to Michigan in June. Its gonna be great.
One passion of mine in the summer, and the thing I can not do in these cold winter months is RACE! Racing season is in full swing now and I love being close to so many events now! I blogged about my race on April 20th... well I did one on May 10th in Grand Rapids with Furrin Group and just finished one on May 18th with my South Bend Region (SBR) Sports Car Club of America.
I was thinking at my Furrin Group race that it was their first race of the season... I remember their first race of the season four years ago when I skipped my graduation to go and race. I need to look up the old pics of that day but I did find my blog post about it. Check this link for two posts about the NX: April 2004 Blog
While looking I thought I would compare my times. Times for AutoX are done in two ways. First is the cars are broken into categories by class. This is by engine size, types modifications, tires (Street or Race), and other items (too many to list). With my NX I an in STS (Street Tire Class that allows lots of mods) which is usually a big class with lots of cars. Right now I run GS (G Stock which means very few mods are allowed but you can run race tires) which doesn't have a lot of cars, but the class is very competitive and in SBR some of the top drivers are in my class. Second is all the cars are classed and put in a class index to rank all their times together.
Well here is my comparison over two different Furrin Group Season Openers.
April 2004 - in STS placed 9th out of 12. Overall 44 out of 64 on the Index. May 2008 - in GS placed 2nd out of 6. Overall 19 out of 83 on the Index.
So as you can see in a couple years I have really moved up the rankings! I am having a ton of fun and its is a huge stress reliever for me. I like coming home the days before a race and getting the car stuff ready, packing a lunch to take to the event, and then just hanging out with car guys. It has been a little sad lately cause all three events this year I have done alone. I miss having someone come and watch me and just enjoy the day.
Anyhow... no more races for a couple weeks. I am hoping to do a race with the Saginaw Valley SCCA club while my parents and brothers are in town. We will see... well here are pics from my first three races of the year: 2008 - April and May AutoX
Pics of my car were taken by photographers at the events, other pics were taken on my Treo so not the best quality but enough!
