Day One Hundred Twenty One

Dear Readers,
      Quick update on my wife's blog from the other day.  She talked about a young child that went into a seizure and was taken to the hospital.  First of all, thank you for all the prayers out there, it sounds like they made a difference.  Raina called the school today to find out any news on the hospitalized child.  It turns out that the kid was unconscious and on a respirator for the weekend.  Then early this morning, he regained consciousness and was asked a variety of questions by the doctor to see if he understood enough about where he was and what was going on.  He responded well to the questioning and it has been said that it is a miracle he is doing as well as he is.  So again, I say thank you for the prayers on behalf of this miracle child.
      It is pretty late, so this is probably going to be short.  Why do I get stuck doing this so late sometimes.  This gets pretty difficult to do everyday at times.  The day just goes by too quickly, and before you know it you are about to run out of time.  Anyways, we went to our friend's house for dinner tonight, Chris and Liz.  Raina and Liz do some side work decorating for parties and weddings and making candy stations and that sort.  It has a wonderful name, Raina Liz Party Biz.  Doesn't it have a nice ring to it?  Well, Raina and Liz had some work to do for some upcoming parties, so we went over.  Usually what happens is Raina and Liz get to work, while Chris and I get to killing some bad guys.  Whether it is some Call of Duty or Gears of War, it is time for us to do work.  Gears of War has a certain game mode that Chris and I have been trying to beat since the game came out like six or seven months ago.  We have tried and tried, over and over again.  We have come very close a handful of times, to no avail.  Well, all that hard work finally paid off.  We finally beat it.  Most of you aren't going to understand, but those of you who play video games will get it.  It had been so frustrating to get so close and not accomplish the goal.  Over and over and over again.  There is a certain sense of relief and satisfaction for a gamer when everything finally comes together and you accomplish the goal.  I know it is just a video game to most of you, but for a gamer such as Chris and myself, it was much more.  Just another thing for us to geek out about a little.  Luckily, there were no calls from work to interrupt.  Hopefully none for the rest of the night, unlike last night.  Getting woken up in the middle of the night and then having to work the next day is the worst part about being on call.  It doesn't happen very often, just enough to make you dread it.  Praying for a restful nights sleep.  Goodnight everyone.

This Day In History: 1939
The New York World's Fair opens on 1,200 acres at Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, featuring futuristic technologies such as FM radio and fluorescent lighting.

Born This Day: 1933
Willie Nelson - American singer/songwriter

"Politics is not a bad profession.  If you succeed there are many rewards.  If you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book."

-Ronald W. Reagan

Yup, the Dark Knight Beard.

Day One Hundred Twenty

Dear Readers,
      Why do we as husbands feel the need to lie to our wives, all in the "need" to protect them from something?  Sometimes, Raina will ask me something, already knowing what the answer is.  Just to know if I will lie to her.  At first instinct, this might make some of you upset.  It even makes me a little upset, until I realize how much I fail.  Our instinct is to say that we are doing it for a good reason.  Usually in the name of protection.  Protecting their feelings or their self image.  Does that make it right though?  I would say no.  In our interest as husbands of protecting our wives, we are actually doing more harm then good.  I can't tell you how many times in the thirteen odd years that I have been with Raina, that she has told me that the lie is what hurt her more then what I actually did to wrong her.  Why am I such an idiot?  Things could be so much better if the truth were always our first instinct.  I still make so many of the same mistakes that I did when I was younger.  Sure, there are a lot of improvements, but the fundamental things I still fail at.  I can admit, this is something I have struggled with for a long time.  Wouldn't life be so much easier if we could learn a lesson and then live by it?  Am I that forgetful?  Well, I actually am very forgetful.  Another trait I am sure Raina would like to see gone from me.  That isn't the point though.  I am just saying, why can't instinct be changed?  How long will it take to change such a bad habit as simply as lying?  This is my newest challenge that I am praying for help with.  I obviously can't do it on my own and would appreciate any prayers in support.  I have just really come to the realization that I don't want to ruin something as wonderful as my marriage, with something that seems so small as a lie.  Which is not a small thing indeed.  I mean, forget even ruining a marriage.  I just don't want to be the reason for my wife being hurt in any way.  Maybe this isn't a big problem for many husbands out there.  Maybe this is only me.  Either way, I don't want it to be me anymore.  Thank you in advance for any prayers on my behalf out there.

This Day In History: 1992
An all-white, suburban Los Angeles jury acquits four police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, thus triggering three days of rioting.

Born This Day: 1863
William Randolph Hearst - American publisher

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."

-Duke Ellington

Even Kurt Russell sported an awesome beard.

Day One Hundred Nineteen

Dear Readers,
      My day with Justin Bieber.  Okay, not the real Bieber, just Raina's Godson, Micah.  He is staying the weekend with us while his parents celebrate their wedding anniversary.  They took a trip to a far away land called Costa Mesa.  So here we are watching the kid.  Although, he isn't such a kid anymore.  We have watched him grow up to a full grown boy.  He is in high school now.  Just another way of showing me how old I am.  I was his age when he was born.  Anyways, he has a Bieber hairstyle, which is why I call him that.  Also, while walking around the Block in Orange today, he heard a lady calling him Justin Bieber.  Plain proof that he has the hairstyle. 
      Raina woke up early this morning to make breakfast.  A healthy portion of eggs, potatoes, and delicious bacon.  The potatoes had El Pato sauce on them, making them tasty.  Add in some tortillas and salsa, you get party for your taste buds.  After taking care of some work calls and computer work, we left for some time wasting at the Block in Orange.  Actually, I am wrong.  They are now the Outlets at Orange.  I guess a name change will bring more customers.  I don't understand, that place is still really busy.  There is never any place to park remotely close to the entrances. 
      We had an exciting day of bowling at Lucky Strike.  The three of us were able to fit in two and a half games of bowling within one hour.  Speed bowling is always a good idea.  It eventually became a game of who could bowl the ball the fastest.  They had an indicator to tell you what speed the ball was going down the lane.  Micah was able to get his up to 19.5 miles per hour.  Pretty good for a small guy like him.  I am considerably bigger then him and I was only able to get an extra mile on that.  Micah totally worked us the first game and I was able to squeeze out a victory in the second game.  Raina and I were headed towards our best game, until time ran out.  Of course. 
      The absolute best part of the day though, was watching Micah squeeze into one of those little kid rides that are usually outside the front of markets.  You know, where you stick your kid in and a quarter and let them go for about one minute.  Except now I am guessing that it is closer to a dollar now.  It was really funny watching him trying to get in there and then have so much trouble trying to get out.  He is like a pet sometimes, around for my amusement.  I am guessing he will do at least one more thing to make me laugh before the night is out.  I will have to think about what I can convince him to do before the night is out.

This Day In History:  1967
Boxing officials yank Muhammed Ali's world boxing title for refusing military service.

Born This Day: 1926
Harper Lee - American author(To Kill a Mockingbird)

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing."

-Harper Lee

Some pictures of our day, including Micah(Bieber) doing his contortion job.

 

Here is also a soundbite of our friend Liz doing her rendition of the them song to Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.  On Hey Tell.  Fitting, don't you think?

    

Day One Hundred Eighteen

Dear Readers,
      My dear wife, Raina, is guest blogging for me.  She had an eventful day and I thought it would be great to hear about what happened to her.  Enjoy the story.
     
      What a crazy day I had today.  It started with the 5:30 am wake up call to substitute for a 1st grade classroom at one of my favorite schools.  I was pretty tired this morning after a rough night of sleep.  David fell asleep upstairs and no matter how many times I tired to wake him to come to bed he did not budge.  I find it hard to sleep without him next to me.  Sometimes I find it hard to sleep with him next to me.  Those of you who have heard him snore, I'm sure, can understand.  I know, crazy.  But anyways, I digress.  When I arrived at the school I was notified that today was going to be an easy day, the teacher left me lesson plans and there would be an earthquake drill in the morning as well as an assembly later that afternoon.  At about 10:20 the earthquake drill started and then after about 5 min someone comes on over the intercom saying the drill was canceled.  No big deal.  During the drill one of the girls, who came to school with a smashed nail, told me her nail got hit going under the desk and it was bleeding.  I sent her to the office.  She immediately came back and told me that they told her to come back to class and she could come back later.  I thought that was really weird that they didn't even give her some ice for her finger that was swelling up a bit.  Since the teacher assumed we were having an earthquake drill, I did not have any work for the students to do to fill the 45 min of open time.  I rummaged through some of her drawers and found a couple of worksheets we could work on.  I hope she wasn't saving them for anything special.  Shortly after I got a phone call from the office saying that there was a student medical emergency and that I would probably see teachers and students really upset and to try and carry on as normal as possible and if my kids had any questions just tell them that a kid got hurt and left in an ambulance.  I was thinking WOW he must have really been hurt.  I then took the students to lunch and while in the teachers lounge heating up my food I heard the whole story...well at least bits and pieces of someones interpretation of the story.
      Apparently a student in a fifth grade class was talking to his neighbor next to him saying that his veins looked weird.  Then the earthquake drill started.  As this kid was going down, he had a seizure and hit his head on the desk.  One of his classmates got the teacher and she ran over there to see what was going on.  She immediately realized that he was unresponsive.  He was pale, you could only see the whites of his eyes and he wasn't breathing.  I do not really know any more details of how she got a hold of the office or what I just know that a Pregnant RTI teacher was also in the room, or near by and she quickly divided the remaining students up and sent them to other classrooms.  She was also running around like crazy making sure the paramedics were coming etc.  (Ironically this same teacher was in the lounge this morning talking to the principle about a mock injury during the earthquake drill.  And the principal said to the teacher, Are you sure your kids would know what to do if you were to play injured.  She said yes of course we have talked about what to do in an emergency) I did hear that the student was unresponsive for 10 min while the principal was giving the student CPR waiting for the ambulance to arrive.  Eventually the student started to vomit into the mouth of the the principal, she would spit it out and continue on with the CPR because he still was not breathing on his own.  As the RTI teacher explain it, he would vomit in her mouth she would spit it out and go back in, then he would vomit in her mouth she spit it out until the paramedics finally arrived.  The paramedics needed to use a defibrillator to shock his heart back to start.  As I am listening to the story, watching the teachers crying around me, my heart is breaking. As I was leaving for the day I dropped by a classroom of one of the teachers to drop off some materials she let me borrow to do something during the assembly time, and she told me she heard the student was going to be OK, still in the hospital but OK. This teacher apparently had his sister in her classroom and he comes from a great family and would be well taken care.  Praise God, I thought, as I was walking to the office to turn in my key.  I walked through the lounge and heard teachers saying they heard they found blood in the students brain and he may have had an aneurysm, the Secretary told me she hadn't hear anything about the student but he wasn't breathing  for 10 min and how its not good for the brain.  I do not know what the real status of this student is but as I left, there were still unanswered questions and a lot of concerned classmates and teachers.  I left with my heart broken sadness surrounding me, this is an 11 or 12 year old child whose parents sent him to school this morning just as a routine and they end the day in the hospital with a child whose heart stopped.  I pray that this student is OK and that the principal as well as his teacher would be revered for their heroic acts.  It is not easy being a teacher, and they do not get enough credit rightly deserved to them.  The state wants to put more kids in a classroom to fire more teachers to save money for the budget.  Meanwhile out of the ordinary events occur and it is harder to pay attention to 38 children in a classroom.  It is all just so so sad. 

      What a crazy day Raina had and I hope you all keep this student in your prayers.  Hopefully that kid is going to be okay.

This Day In History: 1981
Xerox introduces the first computer with a mouse and point-and-click interface, but it failed to catch on, perhaps because of the price: $16,500.

Born This Day: 1822
Ulysses S. Grant - 18th U.S. president

"Labor disgraces no man, but occasionally men disgrace labor."

-Ulysses S. Grant

The boys are hanging out playing the old Xbox.  They were called to duty.

Don't they look like they are having way too much fun?

Day One Hundred Seventeen

Dear Readers,
      This week is my stand by week.  I am stuck staying close to home for a whole week.  Just hanging out at the house waiting for the phone to ring, and for two nights there wasn't any ringing.  Which can be both good and bad.  Good, because at least I didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night to shut off a fire hydrant that has been ran over.  Meaning standing under a waterfall to get to a valve and struggle to run it down.  Bad, because I am stuck at home without getting paid.  I figure that if I am going to have to limit what I can do for a week, I might as well be working more to make some overtime.  At least it has finally picked up today.  One call to go pick up some broken glass in the street, which can totally suck sometimes.  I have had multiple instances where the glass has been spread all over a major intersection due to the traffic running over it.  Meaning the cops have to basically shut down the intersection while I sweep it all up by myself.  That is always fun, trying to hurry up for traffic and dodging the little traffic that is allowed through while I work.  Especially with all the bad drivers here in Garden Grove.  There are a ton of bad drivers.  I find myself dodging traffic all the time while working on the streets. 
      My other call for the night was a call for water leaking into the street.  It turned out to be a simple fix.  Just a couple of bad gaskets for a water meter that needed to be replaced.  While I was there, I got to talking with the owner of the house.  It was an older Hispanic man who started asking about possible job openings where I work, which then led into how his English isn't as good as it could be.  Which then led to him telling me about how he came here to America while a young man of about twenty.  Coming to work and then go back to Mexico to help support his family.  He would come over for ten months to work and head back home to Mexico for two months to take care of business.  He did that for five years before becoming a permanent resident here.  Working and learning English to become a citizen.  Raising a family of at least two daughters that he told me about.  He told me about his dream to come over and go to school and learn to improve himself.  Work took precedent though, and he never got the opportunity he wanted to go to school and learn.  Instead learning life lessons while working and supporting a family.  Which makes him that much prouder of his daughters who are now teachers.  He did become an American citizen at least.  His name is Manuel and his story is similar to my own fathers.  Which is what most of our conversation was about.  He talked about himself and I talked about my dad's story. 
      My dad grew up in Mexico and came to America in his late teenage years to make money to help the family.  He did that for a number of years, crossing the border illegally many times.  My dad told me about all kinds of jobs he did back in those days.  The common ones you would think of, such as strawberry picker and grape picker.  Taxi driver.  Tortilla truck driver and many others I can't remember at the moment.  He worked hard to help out his family and eventually support his own immediate family consisting of him, my mother, myself and my two sisters.  Eventually my dad came to stay in America where he met my mother.  My dad worked very hard for many years to make ends meet.  Eventually getting a job working for Los Angeles County as a street maintenance worker.  He worked hard paving streets for many more years and eventually worked his way up as an inspector for the county.  He didn't get to go to college, he learned on the job and improved himself any way he could.  My dad is an amazing example for me to follow.  A hard worker, a loving husband, a supporting father.  If I can do half as well as my father has done, I will count that as a success. 
      I guess I should have saved this one for Father's Day.  Oh well, it is what happened to pop in my head and my fingers just kept typing.  I was just planning on talking about Manuel, until it led into me talking about my dad.  One funny thing about this guy Manuel, is that he told me to say "Hello" to my dad, because his story was the same as his.  Which made them part of the same kind of brotherhood or something.  Whatever you want to call it.  I can't remember the word he used, but he made a connection to my dad because of the conversation he had with me.  You never know who you might meet or talk to.

This Day In History: 1986
The world's worst nuclear power plant accident occurs at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union when an explosion blows the lid off a reactor vessel.  Fifty tons of radioactive material billowed into the atmosphere, thirty two people die within days, thousands more over the long run, and millions of acres of forest and farmland are contaminated.

Born This Day: 1933
Carol Burnett - American actress and comedian.

"A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence."

-David Hume

They really, truly are.

Day One Hundred Sixteen

Dear Readers,
      I know everyone out there has a cool phone with a bunch of apps on their phones.  You probably have tons that you used for a while and then just forgot about.  Everyone seems to go through these cycles of cool new apps and wearing them out.  My wife has gone through a good amount of apps on her phone, but hers are still minimal compared to most people out there.  For my wife, the latest one is "Hey Tell".  It is this app where you can speak a message into your phone and it records you.  Then it takes your voice and depending on the preselected settings, will change your voice a variety of different ways.  Whether it is robot or alien.  Raina's seems to be the alien voice mode.  It speeds up your voice and raises the pitch to make it sound like you are a chipmunk.  Her and our friend Liz are sending message back and forth all day long.  Then my sister got in on the action.  All day long I get to hear Liz and Yoli talking in chipmunk voices.  Who needs text messaging when you can send a chipmunk version of your voice to someone else.  Even the laugh sounds just like one of the Chip and Dale chipmunks laughing.  Liz's husband, Chris, is now calling them Rescue Rangers.  If you don't know what that is, it is an older Disney cartoon from the early 90's that involved Chip and Dale.  So while our chipmunk wives chat away the day, we get to listen and laugh.  I wonder how long this app will last.  It doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. 
      One other app that Raina has decided to make good use of, is a whip app.  Yes, it is an app that when running, will make a whipping sound when you actually whip the phone.  Just like the old Indiana Jones movies.  So I had the pleasure of having my wife tell me to do something, promptly followed by a whipping sound.  Just what my wife needs, another way to make me feel like I am whipped.  Sometimes she will go on for a while with it too.  "David, get me some water!"  "David, drive to Yogurtland!"  "David, take out the trash!"  Raina thinks she is just soooo funny.  She actually is.  Just one of the many reasons why I love her.  So, be careful around Raina or she might just "whip" you into shape.  Ha ha.  I crack myself up sometimes. 
      Well, tonight was another softball night.  I am thinking this was the final game.  Not sure though.  Either way, I have had a blast playing for the first time.  It just showed me how much harder actually playing baseball can be.  I am a backseat driver while watching games sometimes.  Thinking I know exactly what they should have done and how could they do some of the things that they do.  I was just playing winter league coed softball, and it was difficult for me to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.  I shouldn't say figure out, because for the most part I do know.  It is just putting all that knowledge into action is plenty hard.  Easier to say then do.  I still have yet to catch a fly ball.  I just can't judge them correctly.  At least I have the hitting down.  That shouldn't be too hard, considering it is slow pitch.  So, if it was the last game, I ended on a good note.  Three at bats, three base hits and five runs batted in.  As a team, we really did get a lot better.  Considering we won five out of the last six games after losing the first five games in a row.  It was just a blast getting out there and throwing the ball around.  Getting to swing a bat for the first time in years was great too.  It was an awesome feeling to see that ball fly off the bat and then watch teammates come around to score.  Brings back the old competitiveness from the younger days.  Hopefully this won't be my only time playing on a team.  Summer league is coming soon.

This Day In History: 1792
The guillotine is used for the first time, in Paris, to execute highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier.

Born This Day: 1918
Ella Fitzgerald - American jazz singer celebrated for her interpretations of Gershwin and Cole Porter songs.

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

-Edward R. Murrow

He is able to do that because of the beard.  The beard has powers.  You should grow one out just for the powers it grants you.

Day One Hundred Fifteen

Dear Readers,
      I really have to thank Mark, my father in law, again for being a guest blogger.  I really didn't think he was going to do it as quickly as he did.  I had asked him two days before, thinking I would eventually get an email with his blog in it.  Especially since I hadn't heard from him since I asked him.  Then, out of the blue yesterday, I got an email with his blog.  He never called or texted me to let me know he was going to do it that day or to ask if I got it.  That is just how Mark rolls.  Thanks Mark, I really do appreciate it.
      Since I am on the subject of Mark, I have to tell you about him just a little bit.  Every time I see Mark, he always asks how my friend Josh Kimura is doing.  He doesn't call him Josh though, he calls him Joshy.  He always has for as long as I can remember.  Which is kind of interesting, considering he met Josh and I while we were in high school.  You would think it was when he was a baby or little kid, giving reason for him to call him Joshy.  You would also think that he would stop calling him Joshy once he was a grown man, married and working at a law firm.  Nope, still calls him Joshy.  One of Mark's favorite stories is how a couple of years ago, while helping Josh get some plumbing finishings, Mark had called him Joshy.  Josh promptly responded with "You know, you can stop calling me Joshy now that I am a grown man".  That is one of about ten or twelve stories that Mark likes to bring up. 
      These ten or twelve stories are just another reason why I love Mark.  He loves to tell the stories over and over, and every time he tells them, he laughs just as hard as the first time he told them.  He talked about one of these stories yesterday.  The one about me playing football and getting sat on by the opposing football player.  He loves to tell that story and I am guessing that if he is reading this, he is probably cracking up thinking about that story. 
      Another story he loves to tell goes back to the days of when I was in high school with Brandon, his son and my brother in law.  We used to go on these summer missions trips with the church we were all a part of.  We would take off for three weeks in the summer doing skits and dramas all over the place.  RV's were our mode of transportation.  Which meant that they had to be dumped pretty routinely.  Just think about all the stink from twelve to fifteen high school boys that is created.  On one particular trip, Mark and Brandon were designated the dumpers for the RVs.  Mark loves to tell about the time when they were dumping and Brandon was shimming the hose to get all the chunks to go down into the dumping tank, when the hose broke apart.  Brandon got sprayed with waste and it got all over his hands.  Pretty awful isn't it.  Mark still talks about the look on Brandon's face when that happened, and it still makes him laugh to tell that story.  Poor Brandon has to relive that moment over and over again.  Thanks Mark for making me laugh with that story and so many others.

This Day In History: 1953
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Born This Day: 1905
Robert Penn Warren - First American poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winning author.

"Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power."

-Shirley MacLaine

He is bad and he is bearded.

Day One Hundred Fourteen

Dear Readers,
      Tonight, we have another special guest blogger.  My father in law, Mark Piliavin.  There is no one I know quite like Mark.  He is a character all on his own.  I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark for many many years now and he has a way of making me laugh every time I'm around him.  Whether I am laughing because of one of his jokes, or he does something to make me laugh at him.  I am hoping you catch a little bit of his humor in tonight's blog.  Enjoy everyone.  Maybe you might catch some similarities between him and his son, Brandon.

      First off, I'd like thank my daughter's husband, the opportunity to guest on his Fear The Beard thing. I'm not to sure what I'm supposed to fear. I do feel something, however I can think of quite a few things when it comes to David. However fear is not one of them. I've known David for quite a few years now. My first real experience with him, was on an outreach that I had the privilege of being invited to. David, Josh and I had a definite sports connection, and we'd discuss quite a few topics along with fighting over a Smith & Streets magazine on college football. After the outreach, I went to one of David's football games when he attended Downey Calvary Chapel High. I was sitting with Art, David's father. I can't remember who they played, but it was after a touchdown, and David was on the kickoff team. The other team had this kid on their team that was over 6ft tall, and must have weighed 300 plus pounds. David, being a buffed out 150 or so, ran like the dickens, down the field toward the other teams player that received the kickoff. Art and I were watching David, and all of a sudden David disappeared. Art, being the concerned father, started to worry about what happened to David. Well, I happened to notice that David was underneath the guy who weighed over 300 lbs. The guy got up, and watching David stumble to the sideline, made my day. I was never too concerned about my daughter's relationship with David, figuring at some point he'd realize that marrying her was the best thing he could ever do. Now a few words about David's beard. I could say something about what it looks like, however that wouldn't be appropriate on this blog. For his sake though, I would seriously consider a trim. We played golf last Saturday. David has always had a pretty decent golf game. However, this last Saturday, he couldn't hit a straight shot for all the tea in China. I told him the beard was throwing his game off, that either side he hit from, the beard had a bad effect. He did shoot a little better than I did, which goes to say how bad I am. I did though expect more from him. I'm taking Brent, Brandon and David to a tournament I go to every year in San Diego this June. With all the people there, the beard should make interesting fodder. I do love David though, and consider him a valuable asset to my daughter. Love you both, Mark

Thanks again, Mark, for sharing a little bit of yourself and maybe a little insight into myself with everyone.  It really has been a pleasure having you as my father in law, even when you steal the Street & Smith magazine away.


This Day In History: 1934
Notoriously violent gangster George "baby Face" Nelson, while escaping an FBI raid at Little Bohemia resort in Wisconsin, kills agent H. Carter Baum, saying, "I know you bastards wear bullet-proof vests so I'll give it to you high and low."

Born This Day: 1564
William Shakespeare - It is impossible to be certain the exact day he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn.

"A pint of sweat saves a gallon of blood." 

- General George S. Patton

My bald and beautiful father in law. The one on the left.

Day One Hundred Thirteen

Dear Readers,
      Sorry about last night.  That must have been really hard to read.  Raina read it to me today and it was painful to listen to.  Hopefully you got a good laugh at my attempt to blog with half a brain, because that is what it felt like.  Not being able to concentrate and all.  Now I get to tell you all about our fun night yesterday, with a full brain.  Sort of.
      I have to tell you about the funniest part of the night, at least to me.  The two girls that Raina babysits are named Amelia and Janie.  Amelia is ten years old while Janie is five.  Amelia is one goofy kid and Janie is just as bad.  I think she takes after her older sister.  They happened to be telling us about a certain girl they had the unfortunate experience of hanging out with.  Talking about how she was a real cry baby.   Then Janie bursts out saying, " she is a real cupcake".  Yes, she called her a cupcake as her insult.  I couldn't believe what this five year old had just said to us.  Where she gets these thoughts and ideas from is beyond me.  So, for the rest of the night I kept joking around calling her a "cupcake".  She would then respond with how I was the "cupcake" and not her.  Then, as we were heading to toilet paper Chris and Liz's house, she kept asking how much longer it would take to get there.  So, to appease impatience a little, I told her we had to go to a far away land, called the land of enchantment.  It was great hearing her ask about the land of enchantment the rest of the time, including the fact that she says she now lives in the land of enchantment.  Since Chris and Liz live in the Cypress area, which is not really near Huntington Beach, I called her home south enchantment.  It is an off shoot of the main enchantment neighborhood.  She went along with it. 
      It was great watching those girls toilet paper a house.  They were having a blast throwing around the toilet paper everywhere and getting nervous about being caught.  Every little sound made them look up and around.  They kept imagining someone looking at them through the window.  Finally, after using up all eight rolls of toilet paper and a handful of forks that were stuck into the ground, we convinced Amelia to ding dong ditch the house.  She did it once and then twice and we ran like crazy.  All the way to the truck yelling for the girls to hurry up and run.  I told them to hurry up or they will come out of the house and chase us down.  I almost took off in the truck before the girls could get their seat belts on.  As soon as I realized it I slammed on the brakes so they could hurry up and buckle up.  Safety first. I am hoping the girls had as much fun as Raina and I did.  Between the Boomers and go kart racing, where I got slammed and made my head hit the back of my seat, and the California Pizza Kitchen and the toilet papering and the goofy girls it was a blast.  Janie was especially funny every time Raina and I kissed.  She promptly followed up every kiss with a loud "EWWWW!!!".  Kids.

This Day In History: 1876
Baseball's National League kicks off its first season with a win for Boston over Philadelphia, 6-5.

Born This Day: 1904
J. Robert Oppenheimer - American head of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb.

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater." 

- Gail Godwin

You have to watch this video.  Just a small example of how goofy they are.

Here is some pics of our time with the goofy girls.

Day One Hundred Twelve

Dear Readers,
      It's late, I'm tired and I can barely concentrate.  It was too long of a day and too late of a night going out to have to come back and blog after all that.  This is the first time I have been home  for longer than an hour all day.  I guess being tired is just a byproduct of being out golfing the first half of the day and spending time with young kids the other half.  Including an awesome toilet paper job.  Yes, we went toilet papering.  Poor Chris and Liz had to pay the price and let the girls cover their small front lawn and shrubbery with toilet paper.  The girls that my wife babysits for are spending the night.  They have been a crack up, but have worn me out at the same time.  I keep dozing off while trying to type this up.  Misspelling words and letting my finger hold down the "f" button so that i have a thousand letters "f" all over the screen when I wake up.  I have to get to bed.  l can barely keep my eyes open.  I will have to get into all the details of my day tomorrow.  I can't think right now.  Goodnight everyone.

This Day In History: 1878
America gets its first firehouse pole, which was installed in New York City.

Born This Day: 1838
John Muir - American naturalist, co founder of the Serra Club.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
- Henry Ford

What a cool shirt.  So appropriate.

Day One Hundred Eleven

Dear Readers,
      Okay, it is another late night of blogging.  I should have started this a long time ago.  Too many distractions and procrastinating.  Not sure which one it is more of.  Raina and I had a great date night.  We ate some delicious sushi for dinner at Kabuki and spent some time at our favorite kind of store.  A book store.  I think we spent about an hour or so in Barnes and Noble just looking around at books.  That's my idea of fun.  Thankfully, Raina kind of enjoys it too.  After heading all the way home, I made a comment of how a Sonic's cherry slush sounded really good.  Raina then proceeds to tell me that I should just drive all the way out there in Santa Ana  to get one.  I called her bluff and did just that.  We drove all the way out there, just for a cherry slush.  Okay, and some tater tots.  How can you not get some tater tots?  It was just a great night of spending some time together driving around town.
      Funny story, for all of you maybe.  While at dinner, we actually got some desert.  The Banana Tempura is delicious.  A plate of tempura banana with caramel and a scoop of Vanilla ice cream.  So good.  The only problem with sticky sweets is getting it in my mustache.  It is getting harder to keep those kinds of things out of my mustache while eating.  It is starting to hang over a lot.  Needless to say, the stache got nice and sticky from the desert.  That kind of bugs me.  So I took a napkin and dipped it into my water to clean it off.  My wife then promptly starts to laugh at me.  So then I try taking a drink of water without the straw, thinking maybe some of the water would get onto my top lip and get rid of the stickiness.  It worked, but Raina noticed and started laughing at me again.  I was trying to do it all secretive like.  It didn't work.  So, at my expense, I hope you all get a good laugh imagining me trying to wash the "sticky" out of my mustache while at a restaurant with my water glass.

This Day In History: 1841
Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, first appears in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine.  The tale is generally considered to be the first detective story.

Born This Day: 1940
George Takei - American actor

"Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street."
- Elbert Hubbard

Yup, it is all possible because of the beard.  Not just because it is a video game.

Day One Hundred Ten

Dear Readers,
      Last night was my final softball game of the winter season.  At least so I thought.  I thought I was going out on a bang.  I had the absolute best game of the season last night.  It must have been the Clayton Kershaw jersey shirt I was wearing.  Funny that he is a pitcher, while I did well with the bat.  Hitting softball pitches seems really easy at first glance.  It actually is pretty easy to hit, it's the hitting it good part that's hard.  I shouldn't say that, because I think I managed to strike out about three times throughout the season.  So I guess it is hard to hit sometimes.  The problem is being anxious and not waiting on the pitch.  I just want to swing away.  I think I only had one walk out of the ten game season.  I think it was ten games.  That walk was my first at bat.  I was too scared of striking out the first time up.  So, after a season of being over aggressive at the plate and tipping the ball to an infielder half the time, it all came together last night, or I got pretty lucky.  My first at bat, I come up with bases loaded.  First pitch, I am swinging.  It was the longest ball hit for the season.  I actually came close to clearing the fence.  I don't know exactly how it happened.  I am thinking I closed my eyes and got lucky, hitting the ball on the fat part of the bat.  Maybe a little bit wind aided too.  I couldn't believe it.  It just kept carrying and carrying and landed behind the center fielder.  I only made it to second base though, because the girl on first hesitated, thinking the ball might have gotten caught.  Either way, I drove in all men on base.  I felt pretty good after that one.  Then, the hits just kept on coming.  I got at least a base hit every time up to bat.  I kept thinking how this was a great way to end the season.  Everything was going my way it seemed.  Until God decided to step in and let my ego deflate a little bit.  I should have known everything was going too well. 
      Playing the outfield is harder then it looks.  I have a really hard time judging where the ball is going to land.  So I back up and then run forward, then have to back up again because I ran in too much.  Then the ball usually lands somewhere behind me.  It happened last night.  I must look pretty silly out there trying to position myself for the catch I didn't have a chance at catching.  Yup, I blew our shutout.  By not catching the ball, I allowed the other team to score for the first time of the night.  I kept telling the guys that they are going to get one or the other out of me.  You can't get both defense and offense out of me.  That would be too good to be true.  Then you expect me to know the rules on top of all that.  You are asking way too much.  Yup, I almost made a vital mistake at the end of the game.  I guess I didn't pay attention when running home to score and missed stepping on home plate.  Everyone thought I did, but the umpire wasn't calling it.  Which led to a little confusion until one of my teammates started telling me to run and step on home plate.  So, before anyone but the umpire realized, I walked over nonchalantly to home plate and touched my foot to the plate.  Then the umpire finally called "Game!".  I almost blew that one. 
      So, back to the whole "thinking it is the last game" thing.  After the game, we found out we actually made the playoffs and we have to make up some game that we missed.  I don't remember missing a game, but they told us we had a make up game next week.  So, one more game and then playoffs with our "Bad News Bears" ragtag team.  Just like some of the World Series Champions out there, we are playing our best ball at the right time of the season.  Who knows what might happen.  Guess I better hit the batting cages up.

This Day In History: 1876
A Wichita, Kansas, commission votes not to rehire policeman and legendary gunslinger Wyatt Earp after he beats up a candidate for county sheriff.

Born This Day: 1903
Eliot Ness - American FBI agent whose " Untouchables" investigated Prohibition era gangland activities in Chicago.

"The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it."

-Dudley Moore

Some pictures of an almost perfect night of softball.  Dang fly balls.

Moving so fast the camera only catches a blur.

Day One Hundred Nine

Dear Readers,
      A quick little story about my wife, Raina.  We went to dinner with her dad and his wife at Claim Jumper.  Dinner was good, we ate and were able to catch up and discuss with Mark a little about what we should do for his big birthday coming up.  He is turning the big 6-0 next month and we wanted to do something special.  More than normal that is.  Maybe take a little trip, do some golfing, a little spa time, even some gambling possibly.  One or all or some combination.  Anyways, back to the story.  It is about my wife's name, or at least what her name could have been.  Scary to think, but Raina may have actually grown up to be Starla instead.  Wouldn't that have been something.  Isn't that something you would think would be a name for a stripper.  you have Bambi, Honey, Candy, and then there is Starla.  I don't know if I could even imagine what it would be like to be married to someone named Starla.  Ha!  That would be funny.  My wife the stripper.  Maybe she would have grown up very differently and that name would have pushed her towards a lifestyle that might have led her to actually become a stripper.  Weird.  I just have to say, I am glad she is Raina and not Starla.
      Raina and I have begun to pack.  Yes, we are moving out of our plush condo and cramping ourselves into one bedroom at my parents house.  The rental living is too much for us and we want to speed up the process of buying our own place.  Partially because we want to own sooner, have a garage, and partially because starting a family is becoming more appealing and would like to have a place of our very own before that happens.  So, our time here ends on May 31st.  We have really enjoyed living here and are going to miss having our own place and being able to host our own get togethers.  It really is better to host and not have to go anywhere.  At least for us.  So, here we are starting to pack way in advance.  There is the whole finding a storage unit that will hold all our extra furniture and maybe a few of my parents things to clear some space for us there.  Making sure the dishes are packed carefully.  My wife knows about packing carefully.  I think some of those boxes are more padding and bubble wrap then actual dishes.  Double wrapped and triple wrapped, with bubble wrap around the whole thing.  If something breaks, I may have to give her a hard time about it.  Although, it will most likely be because I dropped a box or something.  Then again, with all the bubble wrap, it may just bounce off the ground.  You may be able to dribble some of these boxes, like a basketball.  For the next month, we have to get used to living without a few things, because they are already packed.  Raina is a planner and everything gets to be done as early in advance as possible.  So, here we are over a month away from having to be out of here and we already have quite a few boxes packed.  Mostly books and movies and our China dishes.  It won't stop though.  At the rate we are going, I think we may actually move out about three weeks early because otherwise all of our stuff will be in boxes.  I can't imagine when we get our storage unit.  We will probably live without couches or chairs for a couple of weeks so we can make sure everything is moved with plenty of time to spare.  I give Raina a hard time, but I am glad she is a planner about these things, because I am definitely not.  I would probably just wait till the last week and move everything in a flurry.  I probably wouldn't have enough boxes and just throw things in the back of my truck to move them, without boxing them up.  Just a bunch of clothes and small kitchen appliances thrown loosely into the bed of my truck.  Thankfully, Raina is here to keep me in check.  That is just one of the many reasons why I love her.

This Day In History: 1775
Paul Revere makes his famous ride from Boston to Lexington to warn American leaders there that the British were marching toward the Patriot arsenal at Concord.

Born This Day: 1882
Leopold Stokowski - American conductor

"Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech."
- Martin Fraquhar Tupper

Sometimes it is safer to ride back into the yard in the passenger seat of a tow truck.

Day One Hundred Eight

Dear Readers,
      Why is it that the better I get at my job, the worse things get for me there?  I don't want to sound like I am full of myself or anything.  I do know that I am really good at what I do.  For some reason, the more responsible and more knowledgeable I get, the crappier the jobs I get.  I also get to work with the more difficult people to work with on these crappy jobs.  Maybe they wouldn't be as crappy of jobs if I didn't feel like I was babysitting some of these guys.  I understand that they want to utilize the fact that I can get along with and work with anyone in our department.  I just don't understand why they have to make it as difficult as possible.  Sometimes I wonder if they are testing me.  Maybe it is just me, but I feel like it is unwarranted.  This is just my way to vent a little.  I don't let it affect my work and how I work with other people.  I try to keep it as professional and straight forward as possible while at work.  Don't let my emotions get the better of me.  I just have an outlet now, other then my beautiful wife.  I am sure she gets tired of hearing about it.  Even though I don't always vent to her.  I usually keep these kinds of things to myself.  I just wanted to express it in this forum, because I know I am not the only one that feels like this at times.  There are times where I almost wish I was just another one of the guys working on a regular crew with regular jobs.  It isn't in my nature though.  I like to improve myself.  Or maybe I just like the idea of improving myself, because I know I could be a little more disciplined about that sort of thing.  I just had to vent a little.  I hope this doesn't get back to work.  Oh well.
      The beard is getting a little out of control.  It likes to do it's own thing now.  I have officially been called a "lumberjack" and "Moses" by a couple guys at work.  The nicknames just keep on coming.  The mustache is just about long enough for me to flair it out like the Pringle's guy.  If you don't know what I am talking about, just look at a Pringles can and you will get the picture.  On thing I did notice that is a negative about the beard, is that when I am doing my runs after work, it is pretty stinking hot and I can't get much of a breeze on my face.  The beard deflects the breeze.  A small price to pay though.  I can only imagine what my face would look like if I shaved it in the middle of the summer.  I had a tan line last October when I shaved it.  Imagine after a few of the summer months when my face gets dark from the sun.  I would have a "Black and Tan" face.  Wouldn't that be funny.  Oh well, I feel better now.  Enough rambling.  Off to run.
      Looking back at what I have talked about, I sound really conceded.  I hope I don't come across that way.  Just trying to show my frustrations of work.  Oh well, I can't control everyone's opinion.

This Day In History: 1970
The severely damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns safely to Earth four Days after an explosion aborted its mission to land on the moon.

Born This Day: 1894
Nikita Khrushchev - Former Soviet premier

"Politicians are the same all over.  They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river."

-Nikita Khrushchev

Yup, we are hard at work.

Day One Hundred Seven

Dear Readers,
      Why does spice make food so much better?  Especially a hot sauce of some sort.  If you ask my wife, she will tell you that I have to have some kind of hot sauce or crushed red pepper on every meal.  It simply makes food better.  To me at least.  I know I am not the only one out there that feels this way.  It isn't always the same hot sauce for every meal though.  There are different flavors for different kinds of food.  Tabasco for breakfast items, unless I have homemade salsa.  Fire sauce for Taco Bell.  Fire sauce also works for homemade sandwiches.  Siracha sauce for most any Asian style meal.  Especially on top of my wife's homemade Pad Thai.  Which I happen to be getting tonight for dinner.  Can't wait.  We just got a new bottle, just in time.  Crushed red pepper for pizza and lasagna and other pasta items.  Then there is a special sauce for Peruvian food.  Different ones at different restaurants.  I can only get them there and I have been wishing I could find some to buy and bring home.  Well now I can, sort of.
      Yesterday, Raina and I had dinner at my parents house to welcome back my brother in law, Matt, and our niece, Kailee.  They had been on a missions trip to Peru for the previous ten days.  Going around helping the poor and destitute and spreading the word of God.  Sounded like they had a really great trip.  I am hoping to get Kailee to guest blog to tell everyone about her trip.  Back to the point of the story.  We had dinner and they told us all about their trip.  Then they gave out a few gifts.  They really know me.  They brought me back a couple of special Peruvian hot sauce.  Matt had some out with his french fries so I could try it without knowing I was getting some.  It was awesome and I was already thinking about where I might be able to find it online to have it shipped to me.  Now I don't have to, at least for a little while.  We will see how long these two packs last for me.  I am guessing not very long.  It goes great with french fries, chicken, rice and I can't wait to try it on other things.  It is called Aji Molido and if you can get your hands on some and like hot sauce, I definitely encourage you to try it.  Again, why is spice so good?  It is an addiction for me and food without it is so bland to me.  There isn't anything like that kick it gives to your food.  It is like a party for your taste buds, and my taste buds want to rock and roll all night and party every day.  My colon isn't always so obliging, but it is worth it.  At least while I am healthy and ulcer free I will enjoy my spicy foods.

This Day In History: 1881
On the streets of Dodge City, Kansas, famous western lawman and gunfighter Bat Masterson fights the last gun battle of his life.  No one died.  Masterson turned to newspaper work, and died at his desk in 1921, in New York City.

Born This Day: 1867
Wilbur Wright - American aviator who pioneered piloted, powered flight with his brother Orville.

"Failure is unimportant.  It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."

-Charlie Chaplin

Special Peruvian goodness.  Yum.