Danny & Family

The Saturday Morning Post - Final Edition

2011-02-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

After nearly five years of on-and-off blogging, the time has come to say goodbye. I simply do not have the time to do this any more. My life is just too busy to do everything I want to do. As a result, some of the things I enjoy (like reading blogs and writing in mine) I no longer have time to do.

I want to take this time to thank the few of you who stopped by from time-to-time to read and comment: Laura, Randall, and Sage. Thank You! As time allows, I will continue to visit your blogs, and leave an occasional comment.

All my best,

Dan

The Saturday Morning Post - December

2010-12-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is December already, and I just realized two things: I never finished the update of my last post, and I didn't post anything in November. That's just another indication of how busy I am, and what little free time I have. So, belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I spent my Thanksgiving weekend as I have for over 10 years now - in the desert with our off road club, the D.O.M. We had planned to go as a family, but our plans changed when the weather forecast took a turn toward cooler temperatures. Originally, all of us (all of us meaning everyone except Brady - so that's me, Laura, Nina and Jordan) were going to leave for the desert right after Laura got home from work on Wednesday evening, the day before Thanksgiving. Yes, that's right, the heaviest travel day ever! It would have been such a fun drive pulling a trailer in stop-and-go traffic heading the same direction as several hundred-thousand commuters. But we changed plans due to anticipated cold weather, and Laura stayed home with Nina and Jordan. I opted to leave Thanksgiving morning when I knew there would be significantly less traffic - and I was right! But I wasn't alone - I took our dog Jordy with me.

I arrived at Charlie's Place, a popular open riding area for off road vehicles (officially named by the BLM as Wagon Wheel Staging Area) around noon. The club was in the usual spot, and I had an opportunity to get the last front row spot in the circle around the center of camp. The very center of the circle is where we have the nightly campfire. I didn't like that open spot because it was not level, which is probably no one else parked there. I took a 2nd row spot instead. here it the view looking out my front door:
I promise this is the least scenic picture of this post. I have more scenic pictures to share below, that illustrate my adventures over the next three days of our club ride. On the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, the club had a potluck and we all ate together (in the center area of camp). I was impressed that one of the people coordinating the potluck had everyone wait until all the club members arrived at their tables, and then said some words of thanks. In effect, saying grace.

On Friday, there was a huge club ride to the pinnacles. I've been there before (twice) and it's a very long ride. The other issue for me is that a large group of riders means a very slow ride. Riders of lessor ability and people driving full size 4 wheel drive vehicles (and even some of the sand buggy type vehicles) are not able to traverse the trails as fast as quads or motorcycles. There's also the possibility of someone breaking down, and the whole convoy has to stop. I went the opposite direction - alone - to Randsburg. (In previous years, large group rides to Randsburg are just as slow, but at least the destination has more options for fun and activities vs. the pinnacles). Once at Randsburg, I ate lunch and drank a beer (or two) at the White House Saloon:
Then, it off to The Joint. The Joint is a bar across and down the street from the White House Saloon. I've never been in to The Joint, but I have seen it from the outside. After reading a post from blog friend Sage, I had to check it out to see if Olga was still alive. I am happy to report that Olga is alive, but I didn't get a chance to personally meet her. According to her daughter, who was tending bar during my visit, Olga is doing fine for a 99-year-old. She said Olga no longer tends bar, but does visit often, and planned to come down later in the day. I drank a couple of beers at The Joint while chatting with Olga's daughter, who was trying to eat her lunch before the rush came in. The Joint doesn't serve food, but she got take out from the General Store (a few doors down). A few patrons at the bar ordered take out as well. Just as I was finishing up my 2nd beer, a large group of patrons entered the bar, and it was clearly the beginning of the rush. Outside, I could hear more and more motorcycles driving by, and I knew it was time for me to leave. Here's a poor quality picture of the exterior of The Joint:

Note to readers: all of the pictures in this post are taken from a disposable camera that still uses that 4-letter F word (film). The quality of the prints were very poor (in my opinion). When I had the film developed, the store clerk also put the images digitally on a disc, which is how I was able to upload them on to this post. What I found is that when the camera was pointed toward the sun, as in the picture above, the image is poor. There is also a faint line that appears in center of nearly every print, which you might be able to see in several of the pictures below. Next time I'll bring the digital camera from home.

On my way back to camp, I took a few scenic pictures. This first one was taken just outside of Randsburg, looking west towards a dry lake. This is also in the direction of Garlock and Goler Gulch, where I would be visiting the following day looking for Ralph's homestead and Sam's homestead, as described in Sage's Travel Tip Thursday post of June, 2010.

Along the trail back to camp, I came across this old structure:

About half-way back to our camp, I passed through a popular camping area that our club is familiar with, and where we have camped many times before. There is no official BLM name for this site, but it is easy to get to - there's a turn-off from U.S. 395. Our club calls it Schiller Gulch, and it was named by a former club king and queen (that's what the club calls their leaders). My picture was taken from a vantage point showing the entire camping area, and depicts hundreds of RV's. To me it looks like a bunch of white Legos thrown in a grassy sandbox:
I returned to the D.O.M. camp at Charlie's Place safely, and found out that the large group ride took equally as long (nearly 4 hours), moved at a glacial pace, and had one vehicle break down. Sounds like fun to me (sarcasm intended).

Friday night I went out to the campfire for a while. It was pretty cold, and my dog Jordy cried in the trailer. When the people in the campsite next to us began shooting off fireworks (big 4th of July type) I had to go in to keep Jordy calm. He shook for over an hour as I held him in my arms while relaxing in the warmth of my trailer.

On Saturday, the club had a poker run. This is an event where participants ride from one spot to another, and perform a silly stunt which allows them to pick a poker card. The participant with the best poker hand wins. This is actually a fundraiser for the club; members buy an entry card for $5, and the proceeds are divided up between winners and the club. Participants all pick one card (from a regular poker deck) in camp before leaving on the ride. The card picked is noted on the entry card. The group rides to the 1st spot. The silly stunt this time was to take a small plastic ring and toss it several feet to "ring" an orange safety cone. This did not take a lot of skill. The participant then picks a poker card, updates their entry card, and moves on. At the 2nd stop we had to blow up a small balloon until it popped in our face. Things were taking too long, so at the 3rd stop we just drew cards. The 4th stop was back at camp, where we picked our 5th card. As in year's past, I didn't win. Below it a picture taken from our 1st stop. You can't tell, but just beyond the front-most vehicles, the trail drops steeply to the bottom of the hill that we were on. Most of the riders would not have been able to traverse this, so we all turned around and went a back the way we came. In the background is the city of Ridgecrest, and way in the back are the southern most mountains of the Sierra Nevada range:

After the poker lunch on Saturday, I went into Ridgecrest to fuel up my truck. I don't like stopping on the way home to get fuel, and it is much easier pulling in to a gas station without a trailer than with one. Besides, everyone and their brother stops along the way home, and with all the Thanksgiving travelers crowing the stations; I don't want any part of it. After getting fuel, I drove over to the Garlock area to try and find the areas described by Sage in his post. I had re-read his posts regarding the area, and even printed pictures he posted to help me locate Ralph's and Sam's homesteads. I'm not sure if I was successful, but below are several pictures I took of the area that I thought was the right spot.

From what I can tell from the maps I had, these pictures were all taken in the small town of Garlock. My map also showed an area called Goler Heights, but I chose not to try and access it because I would have had to drive off road. Except for my dog Jordy, I was alone, and I was not going to go into unknown areas without someone else with me. These first few pictures are all of one large property with several buildings, and was clearly inhabited by someone. The pictures are in sequence moving counter-clockwise around from the west side of the property to the south (front) of the property along the paved road. There was a well-maintained area fenced in and guarded by a dog. Adjacent to this was a building that looked abandoned, but had a mannequin standing in front dressed as a cowboy, and a large sign on the top of the building that read "Garlock". Adjacent to that was a dirt road leading to other buildings further up the hill. I did not go up the dirt road. The large "Garlock" sign was clearly visible from the road for hundreds of feet away:

I like how the owner wrote "USA" in the chain-link fence:

It's hard to see, but the dog is in this picture below. It's at the fence towards the right (above and to the left of my mirror)

Down the road (west of the above property) about a quarter mile, was another group of structures. These all looked abandoned and run down. In my mind, I could picture a once vibrant desert ranch. These are also in sequence, left-to-right, the first one had a large sign against the building that read "We The People Say Impeach All Of Them":

This structure was further back between the other two:

This structure was on the right, and there was a water tank in back:

Between the two properties I visited, there were a couple of stand alone structures - one on each side of the road. The one on the north side had what appeared to be an outhouse in the back:

The one on the south side of the road was a concrete structure:
I had seen all I was brave enough to explore and decided to go back to camp. We had another potluck scheduled that late afternoon, and I needed to prepare my food. I also wanted to start packing things up, because I intended on leaving early Sunday morning to beat the traffic.

Saturday's potluck was delicious, and I capped the evening off with a few beers standing with friends around the fire. The wind had been picking up since the day before, but now a storm blew in. It actually rained on us, so we all went in to our own trailers and called it a night. I got up the next morning and continued my packing up. I left just after 8:00 a.m. behind some others, and before most of the club. I had no traffic on the way home, and only stopped a couple of times to relieve Jordy. My last picture is taken about half way home, from where U.S. 395 meets I-15. The mountains are the range are the back side (desert side) of the San Gabriel mountains, which I can also see from the basin side of L.A. and Orange Counties:

See you next month on a Saturday morning . . .

The Saturday Morning Post - October

2010-10-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. I only got as far as selecting a few pictures, and uploading them to my blog. I didn't get around to writing about them, or what our family has been up to since my last post. Please enjoy, and I'll update later.

All my best,

Dan -

UPDATE:

This Saturday morning, we're at the timeshare in San Clemente. Laura's grandmother loaned us her timeshare again.

TIME TO GO TO THE BEACH. UPDATE TO BE CONTINUED. . .

The Saturday Morning Post - September

2010-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, it's been a while since I've posted. It's also been a while since I've read any blogs. I have such little time to spend on the computer, and the two lowest priorities for me are Facebook and Blogger. Anyway, here's my post -

Today, my thoughts and prayers are for victims and families of the September 11th terrorist attacks. It's hard to believe it's been 9 years. I can only imagine the sad memories the family members must still have reflecting back on that day - remembering saying goodbye to their loved ones as they left for work, or boarded their plane. I hope the family members find peace in remembering the good times and special moments they spent with their loved ones before this tragedy occurred.

Today, my thoughts and prayers are also for those affected by the devastating fire in San Bruno, California. I find it eerily similar to the people in the Word Trade Center: no warning, just an explosion and fire, followed by an evacuation. From what I hear on the news, this type of explosion could happen almost anywhere given the thousands of miles of gas pipelines running below us.

Today, my thoughts and prayers are also for those affected by the wild fires in Colorado, the floods and severe weather in the Midwest (remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine), and for people in other parts of the world, such as Haiti and Pakistan. There are a lot of people in a lot of places that need help. All I can offer them is a prayer.

Here at my home, everything is the same as it's been. We just keep going day-to-day, week-to-week, etc., doing the same routine things we've always done. I know it doesn't sound exciting, but it's our life, and we're grateful to have it. Below are some recent pictures of my family that I would like to share.

I can't get any more recent than this one - taken yesterday afternoon - "The Kids". This one didn't make the "cut". Laura chose one where Jordan (the baby) was looking at the camera, but that picture didn't include Jordy (our dog). The chosen picture was enlarged, duplicated, framed, and gift wrapped for Grandparents' Day (this Sunday).

Jordan will be 6 weeks old this coming Monday. He is doing great: eating on a fairly regular basis, sleeping for hours at a time during the over-night period, and is not as fussy as Nina was. Here's a picture of him getting his first bath:

Laura had a doctor's appointment, and naturally took Jordan with her. Here he is in his car seat:

Several weeks ago, Nina went to the La Habra Corn Festival with her grandmother. As they were walking around, they came across a booth run by an organization involved in pet rescue and adoptions. Nina was moved by what she learned and decided that she wanted to help raise money for the foundation. It's called The Fuzzy Pet Foundation. Nina came up with the idea of having a bake sale, and donating the proceeds to TFPF. TFPF happened to have a pet adoption event at a PETCO in a nearby city, so Nina, her friend Rosemary, and yours truly, sold cookies, cupcakes and rice crispy treats to store customers. Here are the girls at their table:

Last week, Nina celebrated her 10th birthday. Nina's birthday always falls during the first week of school. On the week before, Laura and I took Nina and her friend Bethany to Disneyland:

Last Friday night, at the end of the first week of school, Laura threw Nina a birthday party and sleep-over. One of the highlights was for the girls to watch the premier of Camp Rock 2. The girls didn't make it to the end of the movie, but not because they were sleepy -

They wanted to have a dance party:

Brady also celebrated a birthday since my last post, but he didn't have a birthday party / sleep-over / dance party. We just went out to dinner to a restaurant of his choice. I don't have a picture of that to post, but I leave you with a picture of his mom holding his brother. Here's my honey-bunny, Laura:

See you next month on a Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Welcome Baby Jordan

2010-08-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Baby Jordan Carlos Aguirre was born this past Monday morning, August 2, at 8:03 a.m. Please enjoy these pictures of him before and after his birth.

Before:

An ultrasound photo

After:

First I cut the cord

Then they weighed Jordan

Then we saw the results (8 lbs, 1 oz)

Then we got to see him up close

Then they washed him

Then we fed him

Then we got to admire him

Then the kids bonded with him

Then he got to admire us

Then he slept

And slept

See you next month on a Saturday morning

The Saturday Morning Post - Late July Edition

2010-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well it can't get much later in July than this.

Greetings friends, just a quick update on things. I'll have a lengthier post next Saturday morning.

In the baby department, Jordan Carlos will be here on Monday. We know this because Laura's C-Section is scheduled for that morning. We have been preparing for some time now around the house. Jordan's space will be in our bedroom. His bassinet, crib, and dresser/changing table have all been assembled and decorated. Laura has been very busy preparing for our new arrival, particularly since she's been off of work these past 3 weeks.

The domino effect from the changes to our bedroom is that (1.) my dresser is now in the garage, and (2.) the large office desk on which the family computer rests is now in the living room. These, in turn, have created other space/functionality issues.

My co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower. Here are a few pictures:
Laura posted these and other pictures on her Facebook page. One of her friends commented "tooo cute, didn't know guys had it in them...bravo..." I didn't have the heart to reply to that comment that my co-workers are all women. (the only other male in the department is our boss).

In the dog department, Jordy had an acute reaction to over-the-counter flea medication, and had to be taken to a pet emergency clinic. He had to stay the night, and after much attention from the medical staff, was returned to us the following morning a healthier dog.

In the older children's departments, Brady has been doing his cheer thing, Nina has not been doing much of anything. I don't have a picture of Brady doing cheer stuff, but I do have this recent picture of him wearing a cheer shirt while reading a book to Jordy.
And here's a picture of Nina and one of her school friends who came to spend a day (and a night) with her for play time and fun.

Until next Saturday morning -

The Saturday Morning Post - July

2010-07-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

My fellow bloggers, welcome again to this occasional gathering.

Wait a minute, that sounds too stuffy.

Hi y'all. What's the haps?

That doesn't sound right either.

Let me just say that I'm happy you're back for a visit. I hope you are well, and that you enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend. I know I am overdue for a little R & R, and a little of it is all I will get. Due to Independence Day falling on Sunday, I get Monday off as the paid holiday my employer grants. This makes for a 3-day weekend where I don't have to burn a vacation day. On Tuesday, it's back to the hectic job.

I don't want to dwell on this, but lately it's been really busy at work - and not in the good way. I can't get in to detail, but we (i.e., the company, but realistically, me in my capacity as HR manager) are dealing with an government agency investigation, and a nasty civil matter. Both of these issues have been taking up a tremendous amount of my time and energy. On top of that, I had to put together a training presentation for newly hired managers - and then present it to them. I'm a little rusty in public speaking, but I was told I did fine.

Well I intend on doing better than fine this weekend. I intend on firing up the BBQ, popping open a can of beer (or two), and enjoying the pool I've been cleaning for the past 3 weekends. But first I have to finish the chores. There's also the monthly "Daddy & Nina Date". That's right, on the first Saturday of every month we attend the Home Depot Kid's Workshop.

In the baby department, preparations continue for the arrival of Jordan. Laura is doing fine except for a nasty rash. She's itching like crazy. Unfortunately, despite medication, there's no relief. She had this same condition with Nina, but this time it's worse. Laura's baby shower is next Sunday, July 11.

In the cheer department, Brady is practicing with his squad every weekend, and his friend Jason is practicing with his own squad. (They are on different squads this year because Jason is older and the squads have age limits). Lucky for us, Jason drives Brady to practice, which is 75 miles away. (Brady does not yet have his drivers license).

I leave you this week with my tribute to our wonderful country . . .

To all of those who helped (and continue to help) make this country what it is, thank you!

May everyone enjoy this holiday safely.

God Bless America.

Not a Saturday Morning Post

2010-06-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I'm here today to express some frustration. As I wrote on my Facebook status: "I'm still upset about last night's dinner. (details published elsewhere)." This blog is my 'elsewhere'. So what am I so upset about? The price. Let me give you the whole story . . .

Yesterday, as I do nearly every Saturday, I was working my ass off in the backyard. I started by cleaning the swimming pool. Our pool is currently empty, and is in need of serious cleaning before we fill it with water for this summer's fun and enjoyment. I've done this routine before - the serious spring cleaning that is necessary after the pool has been sitting empty since the previous fall. The only thing I've done over the past several months is drain the rain water that accumulates.

I have to balance multiple duties each weekend. The reason is, if I only do one thing - something else equally as important will not get done. So I take a break from pool prep duty and switch to yard work. I tried to finish the hedge that I started last Saturday. I'm still working on one of the taller portions of the hedge, which means a lot of climbing up and down on my ladder carrying the trimmer. I get done with this section of the hedge, and realize that I have to start watering. We only have sprinklers for the lawn in the backyard, so all other watering must be done by hand.

About an hour later, I'm done with what I can do for the day, and my wife asks if we can go to Taco Nazo. Taco Nazo is a Mexican fast food restaurant. I'm agreeable to this since (a.) I'm hungry and tired, and (b) Laura is in no mood to cook dinner. (Here's a secret that I've never shared: Laura is NEVER in the mood to cook dinner).

So off to Taco Nazo we went. They have a dine-in area, but there is no waiter service. You place your order at the window, find a booth or table to sit at, and wait for your number to be called. Then you eat. Laura ordered two shrimp tacos and an order of ceviche. Ceviche is some concoction of shrimp and vegetables served in a cup that you scoop on to a tostada shell. I ordered a carnitas burrito. Each of us order a soft drink. The bill comes to $41. FORTY-ONE EFFEN DOLLARS!! FOR WHAT?? Of course I didn't yell that, but I did ask about the price. That's when Laura tells me her ceviche is $24.99.

I hardly spoke a word throughout dinner. And was generally [more] grumpy [than usual] the rest of the evening. I was still upset when I woke up this morning to get ready for church. That's when I decided the only way to get over this was to let it out for all the world to read. If I put this on Facebook, I knew Laura would be even more upset with me than I was about dinner. Besides, this is too wordy for Facebook. This way I can write as much as I want, and I will not embarrass her. (Laura is very sensitive of what I write on Facebook if it's anything negative). So that's it. I've vented and I feel [marginally] better. Thanks for letting me share another example of Laura overspending.

The Saturday Morning Post - June

2010-06-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Blogger friends. I hope you all are fine. Here are a couple of updates on people and events going on in my life.

The Baby

Jordan is about two months away from being born, but if you look at my wife Laura, you would think she is either having twins, or that she is 9 1/2 months pregnant. Here is the most recent picture of Laura:
Laura has developed a nasty rash, similar to and worse than the one she had when she was pregnant with our daughter Nina. Hang in there honey! In other Laura news, she recently completed her initiation into the Catholic church. Laura was baptized as a child, but her parents didn't enroll her in catechism to make sure she received her other sacraments. After we got married, and with encouragement from me and her grandmother, she enrolled in the adult program at our church. She has now made 3 other sacraments: Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation. Here's a picture from Pentecost Sunday, when she received her first communion and was confirmed:
Brady

Brady and his all star cheer squad did not keep their world championship title. They finished 2nd, and the squad they beat last year retook their title from the year before. Brady's squad was understandably disappointed. I don't have any pictures from the Worlds competition that was held in Florida because we were unable to attend. This picture of Brady and some of his cheer friends is from the competition in Irvine, CA:
In other Brady news, he attended the prom this year. He and a large group of friends pitched in for a limo. The photo sessions conducted by the parents took place in multiple locations and lasted nearly two hours. I'll make the sharing a little easier for you and only show one image:
Nina

Nina is running for vice president at school. I'll report next month on the outcome of the campaign. Later today, we will participate in the next installment of the Home Depot Kid's Workshop. Last weekend, we went to the Colorado river and stayed with some friends. Here is a picture of me and Nina on our friend's boat:

A couple of months ago, my post included a piece about Angel's Flight. As promised, I have pictures of how it appears today. But just to take it one more step, I borrowed a picture from the web of how it looked over 100 years ago. Let's begin there, with this photo taken in 1903:

In the photo above, you can clearly see the 3rd Street tunnel and the train car at the bottom of it's run. In this next photo, which I posted previously, you can't really see the tunnel, but you can see the top part of the retaining wall. I suspect this photo was taken from the roof of the Fay Building on the corner of 3rd & Hill:
Below is the intersection of 3rd & Hill, taken on Fri. 6-4-10, the same intersection where the two pictures above were taken. Below, you can barely see the 3rd Street tunnel with all the buildings surrounding it:
And finally, a few hundred feet south of where it once stood, Angle's Flight as it appears today. I was fortunate to have the car at the bottom of it's run as I drove by:

Well that's all for this month's post. See you next month on a Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - May

2010-05-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Is it May already? Where does the time go?

Yesterday was anything but a typical Friday for me. I took a vacation day to help my sister move. Well, she actually has already moved in to her new place, but had several boxes that needed to be re-located into a storage facility. She rented a small moving truck, and we loaded up the boxes and drove them to the storage facility where we loaded them into a unit the size of a coat closet. How we got them all to fit in there I don't know. After she treated me to lunch and we said our goodbyes, I began to drive home.

I didn't have anything planned for my afternoon. I knew there were a few things I could do around the house. I was thinking of taking all of our recyclable bottles and cans to the recycling center. (It's a mad house on Saturdays, and I had been putting this off for several weekends).

So as I was driving home I received a phone call from my wife Laura. Laura tells me 'I don't want you to panic, but I'm leaving work to go to the hospital.' She explained what happened: she leaked some fluid, and felt what she thought were contractions. She called her doctor's office, who told her to go to the hospital and check in at labor and delivery. So I remained calm, told her I was on the way home from my sisters, and that we could go to the hospital together.

We each arrived home separately, and shortly thereafter left together for the hospital. We checked in a little before 2:00, and the monitoring began. I'll spare you everything that occurred over the next 7 hours, and just fast forward to the end - everything ended well and we were released just after 9:00. All tests came back fine / normal, there was no break in the baby bag, the two ultrasounds that were done showed normal healthy levels and activity. We just have a very active baby in Laura's belly.

Other updates:
Brady's squad did not retain their world champion title in the Worlds Cheer Competition. They finished second, but they're still number 1 in our hearts. Next week, Brady will tryout for the same squad. Jason, Brady's friend and our house guest, is now too old for that squad, and will have to move to a different level. Jason has found a coaching job at a different gym, and Brady has also applied there too. Laura and I told Brady that we can't afford to pay for his cheer fees, and if he wants to continue he has to get a job and pay for them himself. After we told him this, he immediately began job hunting.

Nina and I went on our monthly daddy-daughter date last Saturday - to The Home Depot's Kids Workshop. This month's project was a wood stand holding a flower pot, which is also for Mother's Day. I was not able to post a picture on Facebook because Laura would have seen it and that would have spoiled Nina's surprise. I can post a picture here though, because Laura rarely reads this blog.
The picture above is taken before the project was complete. The Home Depot only supplied the basic pieces, but paint, decorations and the plant to go in the holder has to be supplied by us. Nina and I bought a small paint set at an arts and crafts store. Nina painted it all on her own, and the nearly completed project is pictured below.

Today, Nina and I are going on a hike. Laura was originally going to join us, but in light of yesterday's events; she's going to stay home and rest.

I'll be visiting blogs later this afternoon to check in on what's going on with you.

Bye for now . . .

The Saturday Morning Post - April

2010-04-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

Greetings.

Things have been so busy for me lately that I haven't had the time to post, read posts, or spend much time on Facebook. (Yes, I know this is Blogger, but I'm on Facebook more than Blogger) I haven't even been checking my personal e-mail account as regularly as I should. The last time I let that go too long I had over 100 new e-mails. So let me update you on the highlights of my life.

The Baby

We picked his first name: Jordan. We haven't decided on a middle name yet. I was actually surprised when my wife Laura suggested Jordan. Jordan, you see, is also the name we picked for the baby that Laura lost nearly two years ago. One of the reasons we picked it then was because we knew it would work as either a boy's name or a girl's name. Laura suffered the miscarriage before we knew the gender of that baby. Laura is 5 months along now, and as of the last ultrasound, all is well.

Brady

He and his cheer squad continue practicing for the world championship in Florida. This event begins Friday April 23. Just last weekend, he had a competition nearby in Anaheim (literally across the street from Disneyland). I didn't get to see him perform, but Laura did. That particular competition was not their best performance. They did better in Dallas and in Palm Springs during February.

Nina

She has a new best friend (Marley), and has enjoyed multiple play dates, and a sleep over. She was also recently awarded student of the month in her class, and was recognized at the 4th grade assembly in front of all her classmates. Mom and dad were in attendance too!

Jordy

He and I walk nearly every morning before I leave for work. Well, he runs down the street with me in tow. We move at a slightly slower pace as we return up the opposite side of the street. He stops and smells everything, and when he urinates against a tree, he usually hikes the wrong leg.

Laura and I have discussed the possibility of the confusion that may occur after the baby is born because of the names Jordan and Jordy being so similar. Time will tell if that happens, but confusion is no stranger to this household.

The Mustang

My mom found a buyer for my dad's 1966 Mustang. An old friend / band member from high school, Steve Howe. Steve actually graduated the year before my older sister, Diana, which means he was a senior when I was a freshman. Anyway, he was in to Mustangs then, and my mom feels much better about the car going to someone she personally knows. Steve will also take good care of the car.

My Finger

Two Saturday's ago, while working in the yard trimming the hedge, I nearly severed my finger. Okay, well I'm exaggerating. I seriously cut the tip of the finger. This was the most painful injury I have ever incurred. I have always said (to close family and friends) that I have a high tolerance for pain, so when I say this was the most painful injury, I assure you it hurt like a mofo. I actually felt faint, not because of the blood loss - I controlled that quickly - but from the sight of the blood (more than I am used to). I'm better now, but I will probably have a scar forever.

Angels Flight

I found the picture below at my mom's house. I've recently been going in to downtown Los Angeles for business, and I saw the Angels Flight where it currently operates (not where it's pictured here). I have no idea when this picture was taken, but I would guess it was in the late 1960's. In it, you can barely see the top of the 3rd St. tunnel. Today, in this very spot, you can hardly see any ground; it's all buildings. I'll post a picture at a later date so you can see it as it presently looks.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you visit back on another fine Saturday morning . . .

The Saturday Morning Post - March

2010-03-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

I never met my paternal grandfather; he died before I was born. If my memory serves me correctly, my mother told me she only met him once. I'm not sure whether that was before or after she married my father. I also don't know whether or not my paternal grandfather (Juan) had any brothers. All I know is that he had two sons; my father (Carlos) and my uncle (Alfred). Each of these men had one son; me and my cousin (Patrick). My cousin died of cancer at the age of 17, and that left me as the only male in my family to carry on the family name. This fact was brought to my attention numerous times as far back as when I was still a child. I don't think there was any intention to put pressure on me, but it just felt a little like that. I'm sure it was only my parents' good intentions to make me aware of this fact. But I sure did hear throughout my teen years and in to my early adulthood that I was the only one who could carry on the family name.

Fast Forward to 1998. I met a nice young lady at work and invited her to lunch. It was probably during that lunch date that Laura told me she had a son who had just turned 5. That fact didn't matter to me. That lunch date led to an exchange of phone numbers, and then to a phone call or two, and then to a first date. When I picked up Laura on that first date, I met Brady for the first time. Our first date led to a second, and to a third, and so on, and so forth. Somewhere along the line we fell in love, got engaged, and got married.

Less than a month after our wedding, we conceived. This baby was due to be born in September of 2000. Well before the ultrasound that would prove me correct, I predicted the gender to be a girl. Here was my thinking: on both sides of our families, the girls out number the boys, and most of the time girls have been the first born. Some examples of the 'first born' are my mom, my older sister, two of my nieces, Laura's mom, and Laura. So I figured it was more likely than not that my first child would be a girl. The fact that Laura already had her first child, a boy, didn't change my prediction. Brady, as a first born male, was one of the few exceptions on both sides of the family. I was correct, we were going to have a girl, and we decided to name her Nina - a combination of my mom's name (Norma) and Laura's mom's name (Tina).

Fast forward to 2007. We were surprised to learn that we conceived. We had, by this time, decided to not have any more children. However, we still considered this a blessing, and began preparing for another baby. For reasons only God knows, we lost this baby after only about 8 weeks.

Fast forward to 2009. We were surprised to learn that we conceived again. We again considered this a blessing. Maybe God was trying to tell us something. Just because we thought we were done making babies, didn't mean that we were. Soon after we learned we were expecting, I added in to my regular prayer routine a request that God help Laura deliver a healthy baby, and that Laura get through her pregnancy without complications. Something I've not said out loud to anyone, including Laura or my mom, is that I've also prayed that this child be a boy. The thoughts about being the only one to carry on the family name undoubtedly came in to my mind when we found out we were expecting.

What about Brady, you might ask. Well, yes, Brady is a boy and now has my last name. I adopted him a few years ago, and he has long called me dad anyway. We don't even discuss his biological dad, who has long been out of the picture anyway. Nina doesn't even know, but occasionally asks questions because she's smart, and sees pictures of Laura, Brady and me - only from a certain point forward, and nothing older. If someday, Brady is to have a son, then yes, my family name would carry on, and it wouldn't matter to me or anyone else that he's really not my biological son. Just like it doesn't matter now - all of us consider him my son.

So what about this baby, you might ask. Well, Laura had an ultrasound this past Thursday. Just like with the ultrasound when she was pregnant with Nina, I was right by her side. She and I heard the news together from the technician informing us of the baby's gender. This time, it's a boy. Naturally, we are both happy. From what the technician told us, everything looks good with the baby. On the viewing screen, Laura and I watched along as the technician examined the baby's organs, and took measurements of the head and body. It was a wonderful experience watching our unborn baby's heart beating. It's truly a blessing.

I've already incorporated in to my regular prayer routine a thank you to God for improving the chances of my family name carrying on.

More updates as the journey continues.

See you next time . . .

The Saturday Morning Post - February

2010-02-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

I thought I should post something before Blogger drops my account. I guess I should check my account more often. I've received no less than a dozen comments on various posts going all the back to 2007. No thanks, I'll pass on the bargain prices on the prescription drugs. I also don't care what you think of my posts, as described in your broken English. I probably should have checked my own personal e-mail account since February 3 (that's the last time I actually checked it). 300 + junk e-mails later, I found the notifications from Blogger that I had comments. Now that I've deleted all those bogus comments, and turned on comment moderation - I can begin my Saturday chores.

In a few weeks we will know the gender of the baby. Laura is doing well. No morning sickness. No strange cravings at odd hours.

See you next time . . .

The Saturday Morning Post

2010-01-30T07:05:00.000-08:00

Bless me readers for I have sinned, it has been several weeks since my last post. These are my ramblings:

I've been too busy with work and family life to spend much time on the Internet, whether that be Blogger, or Facebook, or even my personal e-mail account.

My Facebook friends will notice regular activity on my account, but as I've explained there - it's not me, it's my daughter. Nina uses my account to play various "games" that Facebook has.

Laura and baby are doing fine - well, Laura is tired a lot, but that is to be expected. At her last doctor's appointment, they did an ultrasound and we were able to see the baby's heart beating. It's still too soon to determine the gender.

Brady is gearing up for another competition, this time in Palm Springs. As with the two previous competitions (Irvine and Las Vegas), this one is close enough to drive to, but due to other things going on in our lives, we will not be able to attend to watch Brady and squad.

We're not sure we'll be able to attend his competition in Dallas either. The reason is strictly financial. This cheer thing is draining us.

I realized that I never posted the pictures from the last Home Depot Kid's Workshop that Nina and I attended. Here they are:

A calender (how clever)

Nina already changed the date from the 2nd to the 3rd. Next Saturday is the next workshop. How time flys (or is it flies)?

Finally, I've stopped numbering these posts. I don't know why I started doing that anyway; maybe it sounded good to me at the time, but I think it's silly. So from now on, it will just be The Saturday Morning Post. I will make no promise that will post every Saturday morning because that's a promise I can't keep. I'll do the best I can to check in when I can.

Bye for now

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 22 - And Baby Makes 3

2010-01-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

I think there's a song or a saying with those words ". . . and baby makes three." What it means in my case is my wife and I are expecting another baby. This would make our third. We found out a few weeks before Christmas, so Laura came up with this creative way to let our family know: we gave picture frames decorated with baby-themed items, and instead of a picture we wrote "We've been Blessed, picture available August 2010".

Laura has now undergone an ultrasound, and we've seen the baby's heart beating. It's too soon to know the gender, but we'll find out at a future ultrasound. We don't care if it's a boy or a girl because we already have one of each; we just want a healthy baby. By the time the baby is born, our son Brady will be nearly 17, and our daughter Nina will be nearly 10. As of the date of this posting, Laura is about 10 1/2 weeks along. The due date is August 9th. (I like the sound of 'eight-nine-ten' as a birth date).

I'll keep you posted. See you next Saturday morning. . .

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 21 - Ride to Randsburg

2009-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

We begin our journey on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving Day. At about 10:30 a.m., I set off for what I know will be about a 1-hour ride on my quad, heading southwest from Charlies Place, to the town of Randsburg. I've been told it's 17 miles from members of our club who have odometers on their motorcycles/quads, but it seems much further. I know that if you drove the roads/highways from our camp to Randsburg; it's just under 20 miles. The roads, however, do not follow the same direction as the trails; the trails are more direct, and the roads wind around.

I've never posted so many pictures at one time, so I'm going to write less and get to the pictures. This first one shows a valley that I had just crossed. The dirt road in the center is quite wide, and follows a pipeline for many miles. It is heavily traveled, and boring in terms of scenery. You can see the many trailers/RV's to the west of the road. Our camp is beyond the ridge where the road seems to disappear.

Along the way I drove through an area known as the punchbowl, which was named for the colorful pink rocks. It looks much better in person than in this picture. Some people like camping here, as you can see.

I found this sign as I was leaving the punchbowl area. It reminded me of the sign in the TV show M*A*S*H. According to the sign, I have less than 7 miles to my destination.

Train tracks and even old train cars can be found throughout the area. Here is a tunnel, and you can barely see the light from the other side. We have camped on the other side at a spot known as Searless Station.

I had to pass by a valley that our club named Schiller Gulch. We have camped in this same spot. I noticed that this group was having some type of race event.

This is taken from the same spot, and is just another group next to the one above. This is how our club, and many other groups of people camp out in the desert. They "circle the wagons" around the campfire, and ride their desert toys on the trails around their camp.

Along the way, I stopped at this old shelter. I assume it was a home that someone carved into the side of this hill, and was probably from the mining days around the turn of the century. The stones at the top that are squared up is a chimney of sorts. You can look straight down from there into an area below. You can get to that area by entering the hole in the hillside in the center of the picture. It's obvious that people had fires burning in there.

This is the same structure, but from a different side of the hill. You can actually get from one side of the structure to the other because it tunnels under the hill.

The car in this picture is traveling north on US395, and is about to cross the train tracks. You can barely see a power line in the distance (in the center of the picture). I have to reach that power line to catch a trail that takes me in to Randsburg.

This is taken nearby to the picture above, but looking back from where I just came. The trail hugs the tracks for a couple of miles here. Note to Sage: this is very near to the mining area that you might have been referring to in you comment in my last post. A bunch of people were mining in a designated area just to the left (north) of those tracks on a gentle hillside. Sorry, I didn't take a picture - I guess I'll have to come back:)

This is also looking back from where I just came. You can see US395 in the center of the picture. I began my ride way off to the right (northeast) beyond the ridgeline. I am now standing at a road that leads in to Randsbugh, but that I can't legally take.

Here is the road that I can legally take. A rocky, dusty mining road that goes up over a steep hill and descends into Randsburg.

And there it is, only a few hundred yards away. In the background, you can see Red Mountain; one of the highest peaks for miles around.

This is the only stretch of paved road that I am allowed to be on. The last few hundred feet from where the rocky, dusty mining road ends and dumps into town. As you can see there is a presence of law enforcement. It seems that over the years some of the residents have complained about the noisy dirt bikers that come into town. I don't know why they complain, the dirt bikers SPEND THEIR MONEY in the town's shops and restaurants. We use to be able to ride in on the main road, but that is illegal now and you will likely get a ticket. I will not chance this, and ride on the dirt road around to the back of town.

From here, you can clearly see the White House Saloon, where a cold beer (or two) awaits me. Oh, I'll have a cheeseburger and fries too.

Well, thanks for coming along, and I hope you enjoyed the ride - well the pictures at least. See you next Saturday morning . . .

The Saturday Morning Post, Vol. 20

2009-12-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings, holiday shoppers! Santa is on his way, Chanukah has seven more nights of celebration, and Kwanzaa is just two weeks away. All is good in my world. I hope all is good in yours as well. If only the Colts and Saints can remain undefeated until they meet in the Super Bowl . . .

Anyway, last Saturday morning, Nina and I went on our monthly father / daughter date to The Home Depot, where we participated in their Kids' Workshop. This month the craft was a wagon. Here are some grainy pictures taken with my Blackberry. I much prefer the cell phone and e-mail functions over the camera, but it works in a pinch. Here are the results:

Nina's work in progress

Just after Nina finished, Santa showed up to spread holiday cheer. Here he is posing with Nina

Later, after we returned home, Nina painted the wagon (well, painted a little bit of it), and I put the toys in the cargo area to enhance this work of art These Home Depot dates are fun. We both look forward to them every month. We only found out about them by accident. We happened to be at Home Depot one Saturday morning and saw what was going on, and joined in on the fun. Now we're there at 9:00 a.m. sharp the first Saturday of each month.

It's raining here in Southern California, and apparently will be all weekend. I guess I'll have time to blog more. Maybe I'll start putting together another post with my pictures from Thanksgiving weekend when I took my quad to Randsburg. I'll also have time to visit, read and comment on other people's blogs.

See you next time . . .

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 19 - Nothing New

2009-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm just going to give two quick updates this morning. Then I'm going to read a few blogs to catch up on what you're doing.

Following up on my last post - it was colder out in the Mojave than in years past. It rained this time too, mostly Friday over night, and a bit on Saturday too. Laura, Nina and I didn't even go out to the campfire at night because we were too cold. I didn't take any early morning rides, and our one family ride was cut short because it started raining harder. Overall, we still had fun. I'll post my pictures at a later date, including a series I took on the way to Randsburg.

Following up from the previous post, I still need to post some pictures of Brady's cheer competition. My wife shot video of the squad's performance, but I'm not sure I can post that on Blogger. She posted it on her Facebook page. Maybe I can link it somehow. Anyway, Brady and his squad are now practicing for a competition later this month in Las Vegas.

Finally, I've been very busy at work, even bringing some home to do at night. Between that, and other commitments, It's hard to find time to sit on our home computer and visit blogs and leave comments. I'm also in competition with my wife and kids for use of the home computer. So I'm going to spend some time right now, early on this Saturday morning, to visit a few of your blogs, and check in with you.

See you next Saturday morning . . .

The Sat. Morn. Post - Vol. 18 - Turkey Weekend

2009-11-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! Thanks to the magic of Blogger, I'm publishing this post today even though I'm far away from my home and my computer. I wrote this before leaving home on Thanksgiving morning, and scheduled it to publish on Sat. 11-28-09 at 7:00 a.m.

My Thanksgiving tradition is to meet up with my off road club out in the Mojave Desert and celebrate with friends out there. We have a pot luck dinner on Thanksgiving day complete with a turkey, and we ride all weekend long in the open riding areas about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. Around the time this post is published, I will be taking a Saturday morning ride on my quad with a couple of other dedicated morning riders.

I'll be sure and post pictures in the weeks to come. I also have to post an update on Brady's cheer competition from last weekend. I will tell you this much now - his squad won 1st place in their division.

See you next Saturday morning . . .

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 17 - Brady's 1st Competition

2009-11-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Later today, Laura, Nina and I will be attending Brady's first cheer competition. I've referred to Brady's co-ed cheer squad in an earlier post when we celebrated Brady's 16th birthday at San Clemente beach. Brady and his squad have been practicing now for months, and we will see them perform for the first time this afternoon. This is the first competition for the Senior Unlimited squad as it defends its World Champion title. I'll be sure and post some pictures. In the meantime, here are some pictures of Brady tumbling in our backyard:

See you next Saturday morning . . .

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 16 - Recent Events

2009-11-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

Hi friends. I finally found some time to post something. Here are some recent events in my busy life that also show - despite how hectic things are - that I still have fun with my family.

My wife Laura and I were invited to a Halloween costume party on the Saturday before Halloween. We had a lot of fun, and enjoyed spending time with our friends. I dressed as a 60's hippie, and Laura was a referee. I've only posted a couple of pictures here, but many more were taken of our friends in their costumes.
This is one of those self-photos Laura is fond of. As you can see, the top of my head was cut off, but this one was the best of the bunch. Peace, out.

On the Friday night before Halloween, Nina and some of her cheerleader friends came over to our house to carve pumpkins, decorate cupcakes, and otherwise create much noise and a huge mess. Nina is in the back on the left.

This past weekend, the cheerleader conference competition took place. All of the other cheerleading squads from within the conference compete against each other by division. This is the highlight of the season for the girls. Here is Nina (2nd from the left) and some of her friends before competition started.

Inside the arena, parents, family members, and some of the football players (the boys that the girls cheer for during games throughout the season) watch the competition and cheer for their girls. Teams typically sit together in a group wearing their team colors. Here is our group from La Habra, and yes, that's me holding a sign for Nina. The La Habra sign is actually 3 signs being held (crooked) by 3 people.

After each division is done, the girls go into the stands and get flowers from their families. The girl to the left of Nina is our squad's best cheerleader in both ability and attitude. Unfortunately, she fell during the routine, but immediately got up and continued as if nothing happened. What a trouper!
Well, that's it for this week. I'll try to post again next Saturday morning. Take care . . .

It Won't Be Long

2009-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

No, not the Beatles song. It won't be long before I return to semi-regular blogging. Things have been so busy and hectic that I haven't had time to read or write blogs, or otherwise surf the web for fun. I haven't checked my personal e-mail account in over a week, and I'm barely able to spend much time on Facebook. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll Be Back . . .yes, that's a Beatles title too

No New Saturday Morning Post Today

2009-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Too much going on and not enough time to write a post. I don't have anything to write about any way. I would like to shout out a "Thank You" to my two regular visitors, Randall and Sage, for stopping by and reading and leaving comments. I'll try to come up with something to write about for next Saturday morning, and I'll try and stop by your blogs to read and leave a comment.

I hope you have a good week.

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 15 - Laura's B-day

2009-10-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

My wife Laura celebrated her birthday this past week. She wanted to spend the day at Disneyland, and considering the folks over at Disney are allowing people to enter free on their birthday - the price was right. Earlier this year, I was able to take advantage of this wonderful offer on my birthday, as was our daughter Nina on hers. The other nice thing about the cost of admission (which by the way, is $72 per person for one park - either Disneyland or California Adventure) is that because our credit card points count towards purchases of anything Disney-related; we only had to pay $25 out of pocket. Only $25 for two people to get in to Disneyland. I think that's a bargain.

The down-side of this story is that it was a short day. We had to wait until the kids went to school, and then Laura wanted to go to breakfast. So we didn't get there until around 11:00 a.m., and we had to leave by 4:30 p.m. because Nina had her religious education class at 6:00 p.m. We couldn't miss this particular class because it was her turn to share something about herself with her classmates. It was also my turn to help out the teacher in the classroom. We made these commitments before we realized the date was also Laura's birthday, and before Laura told me she wanted to go to Disneyland.

On to the pictures. This one was taken just after we entered the park, and is on Main Street. I should mention that the whole park was decorated for Halloween.

The first ride we went on was the Pirates of the Caribbean. I didn't notice any Halloween decorations on this ride; it looked the same as always. Then we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, which was obviously given a face lift in honor of the upcoming holiday. Then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. While sitting on the ride (basically, a roller coaster that looks like a mining train) Laura had me take a picture of the two of us. You know this pose, I've show it before. I hold up the camera and point it at the two of us looking cozy. The problem is it's hard to aim, and I end up taking 4 or 5 shots to get one good one. Since I was unsuccessful in my attempts while sitting on a train - which began to move, making the attempt more difficult, we tried again after the ride. This time it was a success:

On the way over to the next ride, we stopped at a hat shop known as The Mad Hatter. Laura picked out a hat for herself, which is not pictured here, but will be shown in an upcoming post. Laura had me put on the hat pictured below just for fun:

We then headed over to It's A Small World. This past summer, Disneyland re-opened this ride after they had given it a full makeover. The hype was pretty big. I remember morning TV news reports covering the grand re-opening. The morning radio show I listen to broadcasted their show from the attraction the day it re-opened. I didn't see many changes at all. It was basically the exact same ride with those little dolls representing every corner of the world and singing It's A Small World in every language. There were a very few additions, some Disney characters added in where appropriate. Here's a picture of two:
After that attraction, Laura wanted to eat lunch. I wasn't that hungry since we ate a big breakfast, but it was her birthday and I didn't want to put up a fuss. She wanted to eat at the Blue Bayou, a restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean. We didn't have reservations, and the wait was over an hour. We opted for a nearby restaurant in New Orleans Square. After lunch, as we were headed to Main Street, we stopped and took a picture with Aladdin and the Princess Jasmine.
We then had to make a decision. There was only enough time to do one more thing before we had to leave. I had suggested going over to Tomorrowland and riding on Space Mountain. I had heard radio ads that this was really fixed up scary for Halloween. Laura wanted to find the place where Disney sold annual passes. Guess what we did?

Annual passes turned out to be a bargain. One current offer allowed you to use the same day's paid admission as payment toward the annual pass, and Disney would bill you over the next 12 months for the balance. The least expensive pass was $144, and when you consider we have already paid half of that today, the monthly payments are $6. We were thrilled to find out that Disney considered the free admission to the birthday guest (Laura in our case) as a PAID admission. We also took advantage of the pre-paid parking. To get our money's worth on that $79 fee, we would have to visit the park 6 times in the next 12 months. That seems easy to do even with the blackout dates our passes have. So the bottom line is I will be billed $18.53 for the next 12 months for the privilege of entering either Disneyland or California Adventure as many times as we want and NOT ever having to pay for parking. That works for me.

Laura had a great birthday, and we had a rare daytime date together without any interruptions.

See you next Saturday morning.

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 14 - Papa's Mustang

2009-10-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Is it Saturday morning already? I guess I missed posting something last week. Actually, I've been so busy with work and things going on in my personal life that I didn't have the time to post. That works out fine, because I didn't have anything to say anyway. I give a lot of credit to the people that can post daily (some of whom are linked on my side bar). I can't imagine how you come up with things to blog about. I guess that's how boring my life is. Anyway, I've hardly had time to read blogs either, and I miss that.

This week's post is about something I've never written about before: my dad's Mustang. Back in 1966, my dad (Papa, as we all refer to him) bought a Ford Mustang GT. He loved that car, and so do many other people - including me. Sadly, Papa Kirk left this world 9 years ago and is likely playing the back nine at St. Peter's Country Club.

I was lucky enough to drive the Mustang daily for a few years in a row - while I was still living at home - during my senior year in high school, and while I attended Jr. college. By then I had saved enough money to buy my first (used) car. Today, I'm the only one who gets to drive it. Once a week when I visit my mom after work, I also start up the Mustang. I alternate driving it every-other week with just idling it on the opposite weeks.

Well I guess I should show it to you:

These pictures were taken in my mom's driveway a couple of years ago. If you're interested in purchasing this classic car, it was appraised at $12,500 a few years ago. My mom will accept nothing less than that price. I wish I could buy it, and I also wish no one ever does.

God willing, and if I can come up with something else to talk about, I'll see you next Saturday morning.

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 13 - Nina's Birthday Party

2009-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Nina turned nine a couple of weeks ago, and just as we've done in the past, we threw a birthday party for her. Since her birthday always falls near Labor Day Weekend, we opt to move her party to the Saturday after Labor Day. We learned years ago that few people show up on a Saturday of a 3-day holiday weekend. Our plan for this year was to have a backyard pool party and BBQ. We did this last year too, and it worked out fine. It also fit our budget, which is even more critical this year.

Well, our pool didn't cooperate. I guess I should say I wasn't diligent enough in cleaning the pool since we re-filled it back in June. We have an above-ground pool, and cleaning it is not as easy as a large built-in type that that has a large filter and vacuum system. The water is clean, and I keep plenty of chlorine in it, but it's the dirt that has fallen to the bottom along with the algae growing on the bottom and sides that make it look . . . less than desirable to my wife Laura.

Our kids didn't seem to care, as they swam with the little green stuff mixed in the water. But as Laura put it: "I wouldn't let my kid swim in a pool that looks like that if we were invited to a pool party." I therefore have to assume that all of the moms of the girls we invited will think the same, and the girls would then be trapped in our backyard with nothing to do.

So what did we do, you ask? We had the party at the new water park that opened in the city next to ours. Splash! is it's name, and it has a pirate theme. There are pools, slides, a lazy river, and all sorts of things to climb on - in and out of the water. There are tables with umbrellas throughout the park, and plenty of chairs - both the regular type, and the ones that recline back like a deck chairs. They even have an area for parties where you and your guests are covered by a canopy. So that's what we did - reserved a canopy for the day. After the morning football game was over, all the little cheerleaders played in the water park and celebrated Nina's birthday. It only cost a little more than what we planned, because we did not provide food - only a birthday cake and bottled water. Enough of the chit-chat, here are some pictures - this one is of the whole park:

Here's the birthday girl:

Here are most of the girls taking a break from splashing about to pose for a group picture:

This was a popular spot all day long, not just with the kids from our party, but many others. There must be something about steering a ship's wheel . . .

One of the many breaks from swimming to take pictures:

Drying off in the sun before presents and cake:

We're all in our places with bright shiny faces:

I was pleased to find the peace sign is still popular with the kids. So are High School Musical-themed gifts (the small bag in the center). Nina also likes McDonald's, the color pink, and journals to write in. Her friends know her well.

We gave her The Beatles Rock Band. Nina loves The Beatles, and she and Laura have been playing non-stop since last Saturday. I am a huge Beatles fan, and I am so happy that Nina has fallen in love with their music. Our son Brady, on the other hand, is not the least bit interested in the Beatles. That's his loss.

Did I mention this was a SpongeBob-themed party? Well maybe you noticed the party hats, table cloth and sand pail "goody bags" in the pictures above and figured it out on your own.

Here are some of the parents who attended:(l-r) Mina, Laura, Suzie, Amber (seated), and Michelle. Not shown is Nina's dad (me), because he's on the other side of the camera.

Oh, there I am, with my Honey-Bunny!

See you next Saturday morning.

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 12 - No Topic

2009-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

I got nothing.

I thought about writing a post on President Obama's speech - particularly Rep. Joe Wilson's "You Lie" comment.

I thought about writing a post in honor of September 11th, 2001 - sharing my memories of that tragic day.

I thought about writing a post about what I'm doing this weekend, but then I will be repeating what I intend to write on my Facebook page.

So I guess I'll only write a couple of sports-related comments:

Go Bruins!

Go Ohio State! (I'm not necessarily an Ohio State fan, I just root for any opponent of USC)

Go Halos!

Go Chargers!

Go Rams! (The last two seasons the Rams were a Los Angeles- err, an Anaheim-based team, I had season tickets. My heart was broken when Georgia took the team to St. Louis)

See you next Saturday morning. Maybe I'll have more to say.

The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 11 - San Clemente, part 2

2009-09-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

Continuing from my post last Saturday morning . . . our family was on a vacation and we were celebrating my son, Brady's, 16th birthday. We took a weekend trip to San Clemente - a beach city in south Orange County, CA, about an hour away from were we live in La Habra, in north Orange County. As a matter of fact, our two cities are on opposite corners of the county. Enough of the geography lesson.

Brady is on a co-ed cheer squad called the California Allstars. Brady and his friends all met this year, and all (including Brady) are new to the squad. Last year, the squad won the 2009 World Championship. Brady only invited friends from his cheer squad to his birthday party (he did not invite any of his friends from school). The first to arrive were (L-R) Julian, (Brady), Tyler and Kiara.

Not too long after, a couple of others arrived: Chris and Jaylen, who are brothers, and who both cheer on the squad. They are new to the squad this year too. Once all the guest arrived, we took that long walk (nudge-nudge; wink-wink) across the street to the beach, and hung out for a while.

The older kids tumbled on the sand, entertaining the people on the pier above. My daughter Nina, her friend Alyssa, and Chris and Jaylen's little brother and sister made sand castles and waded in ankle-deep water. Here the kids make a pyramid thing in the shadow of the pier.

Just the boys on the beach goofing around. I'm sure you don't recognize it, but the white house on the bluff above Brady's head was the a home of San Clemente's founder, Ole Hanson.

After much fun and sun, we were ready to come in to open presents and eat cake. One of Brady's gifts was several dollar bills taped together like a continuous string. Brady loved this gift a little too much.
Here are all of Brady's party guests (L-R) Chris (holding his baby sister Mya), Tyler, Julian, Kiara, Jaylen and Brady:

Here is Brady's birthday cake. Albertson's makes a great cake, and my wife Laura loves to order this particular one. We have ordered this same cake for several birthday parties - sometimes filled with fresh strawberries, but not this time.

We had a great weekend, and everyone who attended Brady's party had a great time. By Sunday morning, we were all pack up and ready to check out, and in about an hour's time we were back home.

Moving up to the present time, it's Labor Day Weekend, and that means I have labor to do around the house. Oh, that's right; I get to do that every weekend. Well at least this weekend I can watch UCLA play football, and I'm one week away from NFL football. It's the most wonderful time of the year. See you next Saturday morning.

The Sat. Morn. Post - Vol. 10 - San Clemente, Part 1

2009-08-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! This Saturday morning I'll reflect back to last weekend: our family vacation to San Clemente, where we celebrated our son Brady's 16th birthday. Thanks to my wife Laura's wonderful grandparents, Bertha and Gil, to whom we owe so very much. Bertha and Gil have a timeshare on the beach in San Clemente. They graciously allowed us to use it for the weekend to host Brady's 16th birthday party. If it were not for Bertha and Gil, we could not have had this wonderful family vacation and birthday celebration.

And it couldn't have been a nicer weekend. It was not blazing hot as it sometimes is in late August here in Southern California. And we didn't have to travel far. Brady's guests didn't have to go far out of their way either. Lets look at the pictures, shall we?

First up is the view from the balcony of our room looking straight out (west). This is San Clemente Pier:
This picture was taken from the same spot, but with the lens pointed a little to the right.
What you can't see in either of the pictures above, is the train tracks. Amtrak, Metrolink, and Coaster all share the tracks, and trains run frequently between 7:00 a.m. ish and 7:00 p.m. ish. It doesn't take long to get use to the bells at the crossing (which you can barely see in the top picture), but the train horns are somewhat louder.

Also, the two pictures taken above were actually taken on Sunday morning, the last day we were there. All of the remaining pictures in this post were taken on Friday, the first full day we were there. The morning cloud cover was so thick you would think we were experiencing June Gloom.

Laura loves taking pictures of the two of us, but by holding the camera herself - as opposed to allowing someone else to hold the camera and take the picture of us. She took 8 of these pictures, most of them cut off the top of my head from just above my sun glasses. This is the best of that bunch of 8 (in my opinion). I chose one where both of us had a nice smile, but doing so I had to pick one that didn't show what was written on my hat. I will not spell out the whole name, but the initials are UCLA.
Our daughter Nina brought a friend with her: Alyssa. Here they are sitting on the back of the life guard's jeep. We took a walk the Friday evening out on to the pier, and along the beach. It was noticeably cooler than during the day, and that June Gloom cloud cover only got thicker.

Here we have me and Laura taken by Brady. (see, my hat isn't chopped off). Laura is holding up my beer belly, as I am sucking in.

And here without me having to move an inch, we have the birthday boy, Brady, and Nina.

So this concludes the "family" portion of our vacation. The part 2 portion of my post will focus on Brady's birthday party. See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. ??

2009-08-22T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation this weekend, and not at home like on some of my previous vacations. I didn't bring my computer, so I'm writing this post using my cell phone, and the Internet access I have through my cell phone provider.

I'll be back next Saturday morning with pictures and a story.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 9 - More on The SMP Vol. 8

2009-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I played golf. Last week was the La Habra Corn Festival. Last weekend started as if I was on the road to H-E-double hockey stick.

I've written before about the golf tournament named in memory of my dad, and about the Corn Festival and Parade. Last week, for the first time since the golf tournament was established, the two events took place on the same weekend. The thing that complicates this is that the weekend also coincided with the start of my daughter's cheer leading season. That means it coincided with the start of my wife's cheer coordinator season. That means it all added up to stress, tension, anxiety, unpredictable expenses, and emotional moments that I would prefer not to have experienced.

So what happened to make it such a challenging weekend? First, the background information: every year, the boys and girls of La Habra Pop Warner Football and Cheer get to march in the La Habra Corn Festival parade. The little girls - those on the flag squad - get to ride on the float. Last year, the float was awarded a prize. This year it's the 40th anniversary of the La Habra Pop Warner Football and Cheer's existence, so something special was supposed to happen in this year's parade - the 61st annual. Well the person in charge of the parade for the league had a personal crisis, and bailed on her responsibilities of coordinator, and of towing the float.

My wife finds out about this on Thursday - two days before the parade - after all the little girls were told they would be riding on the float. But all is not lost: the coordinator dropped off her trailer (the would-be float) at our house on Thursday evening. My wife and some cheer coaches and cheer moms decorate the float on Friday. I get home from work Friday night and opt to hook up the trailer (float) on Saturday morning before I leave for my golf outing.

Saturday morning comes and I find myself struggling to hook up this trailer (float) only to find my hitch is not compatible with the trailer's counter-part. The owner of the trailer is contacted and arrives to assist. Also assisting in this effort is my wife's grandparents (our next door neighbors). Between all of us - we can't hook our truck to the trailer / float. And, by the way, I am overdue to leave for the 1 & 1/2 hour drive to the golf course to play in the tournament.

I was already worried that my wife would be towing a trailer (float) loaded with 5-7 years olds, while my daughter marches nearby. Did I mention that my wife has never towed anything in her life? My nerves were shot. Not the best frame of mind to be playing golf - that is if I arrived in time for my start time.

Well all worked out fine. It was decided that the trailer had some problem with the device that attached to the hitch of our truck - so no towing (or driving in the parade) would take place. All the girls - disappointed little ones included - would have to walk the mile and a half parade route. I would have to drive like a maniac for an hour and a half to get to the golf course. I would take my first swing at a golf ball on the first tee - approximately a year after I took my last swing at a golf ball on the 18th fairway. I shot something that I would be more proud of if I were bowling. I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures to share. And my wife forgot her camera too, so I have no pictures to share of the parade.

So you are left with reading another boring post about my mundane life, and all I can offer is a few links to previous year's post's of a similar topic. See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 8 - Golfing Today

2009-08-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm playing golf today. I used to be a semi-regular golfer, but now it's just an annual outing. Today, just as in the past several years, I'm playing in a tournament named in the memory of my father. I'll post more about the event and maybe a picture or two - next Saturday.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 7 - Family Pictures

2009-08-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

This Saturday morning, I thought I would share some pictures of my family. After all, the name of my blog is Danny & Family. My wife Laura is the keeper of the pictures. That is to say she has the digital images on our family computer under her login, and she set up folders to categorize them. She also has a box of photos in our closet taken from our older camera - the one that used film. I don't have the time to look through the box and pick out any, and don't really want to scan them and put them on the computer. There are plenty to choose from on the computer right now. So below are some fairly recent ones.

I'll begin with a few taken on my Birthday back in January. Laura and I, along with our daughter Nina, went to Disneyland. Disney has this offer where the person celebrating their birthday gets in free. My birthday also happened to have fallen on Martin Luther King's birthday, so due to the holiday and so many people being off of work and school, the Magic Kingdom was quite crowded that day.

I don't remember why our son Brady didn't join us at Disneyland, but he did go to dinner with us at the Olive Garden. Here I am getting ready to blow out my candle on a piece of chocolate cheesecake I was given, and Brady decided to be a goof.

Next stop on our picture tour is right next door. Literally. Our next door neighbors are my wife's grandparents, Bertha and Gil. On Easter Sunday, we also celebrated Gil's 80th birthday. Here's the birthday boy, and his lovely wife:

Also taken on Easter at Gil's party; Laura with her sister Sara and her brother Sean:

Pictured here are four generations: Bertha, Tina, Laura and baby Olivia.

Here's a better picture of Olivia:

And finally a picture taken about a week ago. Laura e-mailed it to me at work, and the subject line said "Our Kids"

Well that's it for this week. See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 6 - Ridin' the Bus

2009-07-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

This summer, just like last year, I've been taking to bus to work on occasion. This year I've succeeded in taking it more frequently as compared to last year, where I was averaging about one trip per week. This summer, with the exception of the week where the Fourth of July fell, I've taken the bus at least twice a week. I'm likely to increase this to 4 times per week beginning next week.

Why am I doing this? Because I believe it's the right thing to do; it's good for the environment. Last summer it was more of an issue of saving money, considering the price of gasoline. This year the prices are not as high, but I can still save a little bit of money - and some ware and tear on my car. But more importantly, it's one less car on the road creating pollution. I wish more people would join in the effort - it's really not that much of a sacrifice.

I want to share an observation from my travels: last week on the way home, I saw a lady and her daughter board the bus I was on. The first thing that caught my attention was that the little girl looked to be my daughter's age (8). The part that seemed out of place was where she and her mom were getting on the bus. This was a commercial / light industrial area where there are a lot of businesses and no residences. I also noticed that the mom was carrying a suitcase. That lead me to believe that the this was not a situation of a "bring your child to work" day. I figured that these two got on the wrong bus somewhere, and ended up here.

They asked the bus driver something, so I figured they were lost and were trying to find a route that would get them to where they wanted to go. They ended up getting off the bus at the same stop I did. I crossed the street one way to catch another bus; they crossed the street the other way. While I stood at my bus stop waiting, I could still see them diagonally across the busy intersection. I figured they were going to head to the bus stop nearest them and go the opposite direction I was heading. But then they crossed the street - walking in the same direction from where the bus we were just on came from. I felt bad for them, because they were clearly lost. I thought about my daughter, and how she might deal with this situation if she were in it. This little girl seemed to be oblivious that she was lost, and just kept walking beside her mom where ever her mom walked.

So out of sight they went, and I kept waiting for my bus. Some days I'm at this stop for just a couple of minutes; some days for several minutes. This particular route is not very consistent, and on this particular day I was waiting several minutes. So as I'm still waiting - here comes the mom with her suitcase in one hand and the little girl holding her other hand. But not to my stop, back towards the stop where I thought they were headed to begin with. So they walk in that direction, and walk right by that stop and all the people who were waiting there. Up the street they walked headed for who knows where. I thought to myself: I hope they find their way.

So how did this turn out? I didn't give it much more of a thought once my bus came along, until this week. On my ride home Wednesday, there they were again - mom, suitcase, little daughter, and another girl (presumably another daughter), who was a teenager that looked to be about my son's age (15). This time they were sitting at the bus stop that I go to when I start my trip home. My place of work is in an area where commercial and light industrial businesses are adjacent to a densely populated residential neighborhood, so it's not uncommon to see people at the bus stop who do not appear to be commuting workers. We all got on the same bus and down the street we went.

They got off at the same bus stop I did, and again crossed the street in the opposite direction that I did, and the three of them walked away - suitcase in hand - right past that other bus stop. Who knows where they were going, but at least they didn't look lost; they seemed to know exactly where they were headed. I'll look for them next week. I do see the same people quite a bit, especially on the morning commute. Well that's it for this week, see you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 5 - Jordy the Puppy

2009-07-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Introducing Jordy the Puppy. Earlier this year, we were blessed with a new puppy - Jordy. My wife Laura has wanted a small dog for some time now. Small enough that the dog can sit on her lap. She finally got her wish by getting this cute little guy. Here he is in one of the earliest pictures we have of him.

In mid February, we went out to the desert to do some off-road riding in our quads. This was Jordy's first road trip. Here he is next to my quad in the cargo area of our trailer.

On the trip home, he slept on the counsel between the two front seats of our truck. That's my sexy right elbow pictured.

Jordy is in a litter with 2 other males, and one female. Here he is with his two brothers, Toby and Dusty. Jordy is on the left being held by my daughter Nina. I don't know which one is Toby, and which is Dusty.

A couple of months ago, Laura took Jordy out for a series of pictures in the back yard. It took quite some time for Jordy to settle down and have his picture taken. He loves to run around - mostly in large circles around the lawn. Here he is taking a break.

Aren't all puppy's curious? If I had to guess, I'd say he's thinking 'Why do you keep pointing that thing at me?'

Here he is napping in one of his favorite spots - where the hallway meets the entryway. This spot is in the center of our house, and when the front door and back doors are open, a cross-breeze is created keeping Jordy cool on these late hot afternoon summer days. That fluffy little thing behind him is his favorite toy - a lamb.

That last picture makes me want to take a nap. I hope you enjoyed our pride and joy. See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 4 1/2

2009-07-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

I had intended on writing a post about our puppy, Jordy, but I slept in this Saturday morning. I rarely sleep in, and today I was able to sleep all the way to 9:30 a.m. For some people, that's not sleeping in at all. I suppose for some - that's getting up early for a Saturday morning. But for me, who gets up on weekdays at 4:30 a.m., and at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays (to go to early Mass); I typically wake up about 6:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings.

So, I'll get all of my puppy pictures together and write some captions to go along, and post about Jordy next Saturday morning. See you then.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 4 - The 4th of July

2009-07-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today, July 4th, we Americans celebrate Independence Day. This is a day commemorating the anniversary of winning our independence from England on July 4, 1776. This, of course, is not breaking news, but I think this detail is sometimes forgotten by some people. It seems to me that too many people think the Fourth of July is another excuse to party, and this party includes fireworks.

I try to instill in my kids that there is an important reason to celebrate today: our freedom. We have the freedom to do so many things, our human rights are protected under the law, and we can live how we choose to live; all because of the actions that our Founding Fathers took, and that our elected officials have continued to protect. I remind my kids how lucky they are to have freedom, and I point out current examples where such freedoms are not so abundant (Iran, North Korea).

I am grateful for our teachers who continue to educate our children about the revolutionary period of our history, and the fight for freedom fought by the colonialist. I am grateful to all of the people - our military especially, but also our politicians and our private citizens - who have taken steps to preserve our freedom. And most important to me, personally, I try to remember to thank God everyday for allowing me to live in this part of the world, and in this period of time.

I hope your Fourth of July is enjoyable in whatever you plan to do. We are having a few friends over for a barbecue and swim party. Later this evening we will watch the fireworks show at the high school. I'm sure it will be a good day!

See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 3 - A Work Story

2009-06-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

One of the aspects of my job includes investigating major policy violations committed by employees of our company. When managers first become aware of these policy violations, they are required to report them to me, and then I do my thing. The conclusion of my investigation will include a directive of what action will be taken with the employee. So with that background for the benefit of those reading, and as promised in my kickoff post of this Saturday Morning Series, here's a story of a stupid thing done by an employee:

A manager of one of our facilities called me one fine Monday morning this past spring to report that he found an empty beer can in an office on a file cabinet. This manager was opening up that facility this particular morning after it had been closed for business the day before. This manager knew one of his subordinate supervisors was responsible for closing up the facility the day before that. By the time the manager had called me, he had already reviewed the security surveillance video. He described to me that there were two employees in the facility after the close of business, and that one was the supervisor responsible for closing up.

None of the video that the manager viewed showed either employee drinking anything. The video the manager viewed spanned the time frame from when customers and other employees left to when the motion-triggered cameras stopped filming (as there would be nothing to film if there are no employees left in the building). There was, however, one piece of video that appeared to show the supervisor holding something in his hand and bringing it up towards his head, but it took a lot of imagination to conclude that he was throwing back a brew. The lack of video evidence tells me a couple of things - they weren't drinking, or they drank somewhere out of the sight of the cameras.

In discussing the situation with the manager, we acknowledged that the video evidence was weak, so I had the manager interview his supervisor and report back to me afterwards. I told him to ask his supervisor if he knew about the beer can, and whether he or anyone else had been drinking on the premises. When he did, I fully expected to hear that the supervisor denied all knowledge of the beer can, or of at least knowing how it was found on a file cabinet in an office within the facility. Just when I thought I had heard it all . . .

The supervisor told his manager that the beer can was his, and that he intended to throw it away. The supervisor explained that he didn't drink it at our facility, but that he drank it at his other job, and didn't want to throw it away there. The manager and I discussed this shocking revelation further. He knew that his supervisor had a second job, which he worked on weeknights after completing his day job at our company.

So if there's an ounce of truth (or 12 oz's) to the supervisor's story, he would have worked at our facility on Friday, worked his 2nd job on Friday night - at which time he consumed at least this one beer, and then worked the closing shift for our company on Saturday. His explanation begs some questions: why didn't he throw the can of beer away after leaving his 2nd job on Friday night? Why didn't he throw it away at home? Why bring it to his day job, where he holds a position in management? Even if he brought it to our facility, there's a dumpster outside of the building. Why bring it inside and put it on top of the file cabinet? Was it there all day during business for customers and other employees to see?

Due to the lack of evidence in this case, we did not take any action against the supervisor. However, his credibility with his manager, regional manager, and yours truly - has tanked. I can advise management on what discipline to carryout on employees, I can help management craft a development plan to help their subordinates improve in their performance, but I can't fix stupid.

See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 2 - Year One

2009-06-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

This morning I've decided to review the movie Year One. Year One opened in theaters yesterday, and if you are a fan of Jack Black, or like watching silly comedies, you will probably enjoy the movie - but not that much. My wife and I went on a rare date together, and saw the movie at our local theater. We like Jack Black, and had also seen Nacho Libre on opening night a couple of years ago.

Year One is funny at times, silly at times, dumb at times; not as funny as Nacho was, but basically met my expectation. From just watching the trailers online over the past month or so, I figured I was watching all of the funniest scenes that the movie would offer. But now having seen the it, there were a couple more funny scenes. Keep in mind, what's funny for me is probably not funny for you. Even my wife and I don't agree on that. She's drawn more to this type of a silly comedy than I am.

The audience in our theater seemed to enjoy the movie. There were times when the laughter was hearty and widespread, but not as much as I recall with Nacho. Overall, I would recommend it - if you like movies such as Monty Python's Life of Brian, or Mel Brooks' History of the World Part 1. But if you prefer cutting edge topical humor - you will not find any in Year One. If you are offended by any humor directed at the bible, or if it's important to you to have historically accurate facts, then this movie is not for you.

I'm not an expert on the bible, but I'm pretty sure the stories of Adam and Eve, Cane and Able, and Abraham nearly sacrificing his son Issac - didn't all take place at the same time, let alone during the time when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where thriving cities. All of this comes into play in the movie, as Jack Black (a hunter) and Michael Cera (a gatherer) in a pre-historic tribe, leave their tribe on a journey.

I'm not going to tell the whole story, but in short the pair travel, share several experiences, and there's a happy ending for both.

See you next Saturday morning.

The Saturday Morning Post - Series Kickoff

2009-06-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make another attempt to post on a regular basis. My numerous and faithful readers might have noticed a lengthy absence from my own posts and from the comments I leave on their blogs. True, until about two weeks ago, I hadn't posted anything since Dec. '08. I've only been reading blogs on and off since then, and commenting very infrequently. You see, it all comes down to time. Specifically the lack of time I have to spend blogging due to the other things in my life that have a higher priority. I've realized that have to do something for me: something that I enjoy doing. So I'm going to post on my blog on a regular basis.

I'm an early riser on weekdays due to work, and even on Sunday morning due to church. The one day a week that I "get" to sleep in is Saturday. Without setting my alarm clock, my body clock still wakes me up around the time my alarm would, but I usually go back to sleep with no problem. However, I find it hard to stay asleep past 6:00 a.m., even if I've gone to bed later than normal the night before. So for me, Saturday mornings have been a quiet time that I can do whatever I want, which has usually been something on my computer. Many times that's been work, i.e., doing work for my job that I've brought home, but there have been times when I've done fun things on the computer - like blogging, updating Facebook, visiting various web pages, etc.

So today I kickoff an effort to write a post every Saturday morning during my quite time alone, before my wife, kids, and our puppy wakes up; before I start doing the many chores I do on weekends, and before I do the work that I brought home. The subjects will vary, but will be similar to previous posts. I know those subjects are very interesting to my numerous and faithful readers. Please note my poor attempt at humor. a co-worker gave me an idea for a post subject: talk about some of the stupid situations I deal with at work. Now I've mentioned my work on previous posts, but I don't think I've shared specific stories about real situations.

For those who don't know or have forgotten, I am a human resources manager for a medium-size company. My job is employee relations, and I spend much of my time advising management at all levels of the company on how to deal with their employees when they have problems with either performance, conduct/behavior, or policy/procedures. I'm also the HR contact person for all employees when they are having problems with their co-workers or supervisors. I also conduct internal investigations when serious allegations are made, such as racial discrimination, or sexual harassment. I spend a great deal of time documenting many conversations, which is why I frequently bring work home.

I can easily share with you many stories of the STUPID things employee have done that management has to report to me, for which I advise them of appropriate action. Just when I thought I heard it all . . . . can be the beginning of many of my stories. So next Saturday I'll share one of those, and rotate those type of stories with other things in my life - like the new puppy we got a few months back. Please check back.

The Best Christmas Present Ever

2009-05-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. I know, it's been a while since I've posted. I wish I had the time. I can barely keep up with reading blogs. I rarely comment on them now, and even more rarely post on my own blog. But I'm always here, and God-willing, will not go away for a long time.

Anyway, I came across a picture of a Christmas present that my daughter Nina gave me this past Christmas. I honestly feel that this is the best Christmas present that a child could ever give his or her parent. She loves us so much. She wanted to give presents to me, her mom, and her brother, but she wanted them to be from her, personally. For me, she blew up a balloon and wrote the following words on it: "Marry Cristmas Brady 2008". She wrapped it on her own in a box with a ribbon and a bow. When I opened it on Christmas morning, I thought it was such a wonderful and thoughtful gift, but when she saw that she wrote her brother's name (Brady) on it instead of mine (or Dad) she was heartbroken. Naturally, it broke my heart to see her in such an embarrassing state. I immediately took a Sharpie and crossed out Brady's name, and wrote "Dad" in its place. It took a lot of tears on her part and attention diversion on the part of me and her mom, but in the end she recovered. I've held on to that balloon for months now, and decided to take a picture of it to preserve it for as long as a digital image lasts. This is not the first time Nina has given me a balloon as a gift, and the last time - it shriveled up. This time I took a picture of it. Here it is for you to see:
Thank you Nina, for the best Christmas present ever. I love you so much - more than anything in the whole world. Love, Dad.

Thanskgiving '08 - Charlie's Place - part two

2008-12-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Continuing from my last post - our family spent Thanksgiving out in the desert with our off road club, the D.O.M. This is the way my family (just my wife and kids, that is) traditionally spends Thanksgiving.

On Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, the club had a poker run. A poker run is a game where you draw five cards and the person with the highest hand wins. And so there just isn't one winner, the pot is split with the person with the lowest hand. Since this is a fundraiser for the club, the "split" is divided up 3-ways with the high hand getting the biggest cut, the low hand getting the second biggest cut, and the club getting the smallest cut.

Also, since we're an ATV-riding club, the poker run requires participants to ride from one location to another on a marked trail. When you get to a location you draw a card from a deck. However, just to make it interesting, you have to perform a feat in order to earn your card. You do this a total of four times. The fifth card comes at the end of the run, and you get to draw your last card for completing the whole series.

With the exception of the first location, which we forgot to photograph, here are some pictures of us doing the various feats. At the second location, we had to suck the juice from a lemon wedge. Laura didn't like this at all, as you can tell by the sour face:

At the third location, we had to paddle a Superball back and forth 5 times. It took Nina and Laura about 5 tries before they could reach 5 cycles of back and forth. Here they are with their success smile:

At the fourth location, we had to spin a Hula Hoop around our body 5 times. Nina did this with ease:

Laura couldn't spin the hoop around twice. I learned from last year that the easiest way for me to do this is by spinning it around my neck:

Just in case you were wondering, none of us won. Also, just in case you were wondering, at the first station, participants had to blow a bubble with bubble bum until it popped in their face. And finally, just in case you were wondering, Brady is not in any of the pictures because he was in a group with his friends. He's too cool to hang with his parents and sister.

Later on Saturday afternoon, a few of us went on a ride to one of the mines in the area. On the way back, we stopped at some rock formations that look really weird. I'm sure Geologists or Earth Scientists know how these rocks are formed, and probably know the name of the formations. I just think they look cool. Here's Nina sitting on one:

That's all for this post. Bye for now - Dan

Thanksgiving '08 - Charlie's Place - part one

2008-12-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

Our family spent Thanksgiving the same way we've done for the past few years: out in the desert with our off road club, the Dirty Old Men. The D.O.M. goes out to a location known as Charlie's Place. This is my personal favorite place our club goes to because of the variety of riding and the sights to be seen.

Our family was originally planning to leave on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving day, but that turned out to be too busy. Not only is it one of the worst days to try and drive out of the Los Angeles area in any direction, but my wife Laura had unfinished "cheer" business that had to get done. I can write an entire post just on Laura's involvement in La Habra Pop Warner and Cheer, but I'll bore you with that on some other occasion. This post is about our Thanksgiving weekend. So, we left for the desert on Thursday morning at about 7:30 a.m.

We arrived just about 3 hours later, which is pretty good time in my opinion. Our destination was only about 160 miles away, but we had to take the Cajon Pass out of San Bernardino. This is a steep climb along Interstate 15, and gets slow for those of us pulling a trailer. I'm sure many of the people speeding by us were hurrying off to Las Vegas. Once in our camp area, we quickly leveled our trailer and unloaded our quads, and we otherwise transformed the cargo area of our travel trailer into our living space. We spent the rest of the day visiting with friends and getting ready for the Thanksgiving potluck that the club traditionally has. The club provides the turkey, and all the members bring side dishes and desserts.

The members who want to eat together near the potluck table bring their own tables to the area. Nina put this place-holder on our table. It says: "Reserved for Danny Nina Laura Brady or whom we let"

Here's Laura and Nina eating their Thanksgiving dinner. Laura has a Margarita, Nina has pink lemonade in the Margarita glass. You can also see the people standing at the potluck table in the background. (the dog with no legs did not get to eat off of the potluck table)

And here's me and Nina eating. It was such a beautiful sunny day with no wind, and warm enough to keep our jackets off until nightfall. This picture was taken at about 4:30 p.m.

Since Nina finished all of her turkey, we let her have a big piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Laura and I had pumpkin pie. Brady ate with his friends in their motorhome, that's why he is not in these pictures.

That evening, we stayed in our trailer and watched a movie. We had not quite adjusted to the cold temperatures at night. Besides, we still had two more chances to go to the campfire over the next two nights.

On Friday, I took a lone ride to Randsburg. Randsburg, an old mining town that is now a tourist attraction, is about 17 miles away. I missed out on going there last year, which you can read about here if you want. This year I was going no matter what, and selfishly I didn't want to have to take a group of other riders. It took me just about an hour to get there on my quad, and I grabbed a seat at the bar and watched some college football. I ate a cheeseburger and an order of fries, and I had a couple of beers to wash it down. Then I returned for our camp via a different route. It was very enjoyable, but I don't have pictures to share. The camera stayed with Laura.

While I was gone, Brady joined the big group ride to the pinnacles, and Nina stayed back at camp and played in the sand. Here's she is along with a birthday cake she made:

Also, just like during our first ride of the year, the Ice Cream Man came out to the desert again! So even though Nina and Laura didn't go on a long ride on their quad, they did get cake and ice cream.

Part two to follow in a week or so. Bye for now.

A Tree in Memory of my Grandmother

2008-11-21T20:01:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago, family and friend gathered at the park at the end of the street where my mom lives to plant a tree in the memory of my grandmother. My grandmother, Ofelia, passed away back in April at the age of 96. She was a member of the Women's Club of Artesia and Cerritos. The WCAC has a tradition of donating a tree and having it planted in the memory of their members after they have passed on. It was a spectacular morning - clear and cool.

The City of Cerritos sent a couple of their maintenance workers to dig the hole and place the tree in it. Several shovels were also provided to add in the dirt, which was piled to the side. Before we began, my mom greeted all who attended, and then said a prayer. My sister Donna then read a poem she wrote, which was previously included in the funeral program. Here's Donna reading. Her husband Louis is to the left holding their baby, Jonathan. Our nephew Jacob is in the foreground:
Here's a shot of the tree. The family didn't get to choose where it would be planted; that decision was made by the city. It's a little too close to this baseball diamond in my opinion. It didn't help that there was a girl's softball game going on. Most of the spectators of the game split their attention between us and the girls on the field.
The first shovel-fulls of dirt were put in by my mom and her sister, my aunt Dolores. No one calls her aunt Dolores; she's known to all as Nina Lolita. No one calls my mom Norma; she's known to all as Mama Norma. Anyway, here they are:

Everyone who wanted to got a chance to shovel in dirt, and my wife Laura took several pictures. I'm only going to show a couple more - Brady and Nina (with their cousin Timothy in the foreground):

And me:

After we were done shoveling in dirt, we moved to the shaded picnic tables and had sweet pastries, juice and coffee. We talked and visited with each other. My mom introduced all of the family to the WCAC members. Decorating one of the tables was this flower arrangement and picture of my grandmother:

One of my grandmother's favorite songs was Sunshine on my Shoulders, by John Denver. What an appropriate song for the day, as it was beaming down on all of us. My sister Denise sang the song for us while playing her guitar:

More visiting and conversations continued until it was time to go. Laura had me pose with my mom and the kids before we left:

It was a beautiful day, and a great way to honor my grandmother. Her favorite tree was a Magnolia, and we were so grateful that the city granted the request by the WCAC to have a Magnolia planted in her name. If you are ever in Cerritos, you're welcome to stop by Frontier Park and visit Grandma's tree.

Oak Glen - Part 2

2008-11-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well here I am again to bring you part two of my family's outing to Oak Glen. The event took place nearly a month ago, and part 1 was posted about 3 weeks ago. Well, what can I say? I have nothing but time on my hands, and I forget to work on my own blog. Yeah, right.

Oak Glen is picture opportunity heaven, if there is such a place - at least in my wife's opinion. Before we headed up the road to visit another area of stores, restaurants and attractions, we made sure we took plenty of pictures. Here are Zoe and Mia goofing with Brady:

And here is Mia kissing her cousin:

Please note: it was still cool enough in the morning to have the littlest one covered up in a sweater, with gloves and a beanie. Later in the morning, it warmed up nicely. Here's Nina's friend Frankie basking in the sun and resting on some pumpkins:
We decided it was time to move up the road so we packed up our stuff and left. Once we arrived at the new location we had to find parking. That was a challenge, but once that was done we were on our way to explore. The place we went to had more attractions compared to the area we came from. There was a museum, a petting zoo, an area for kids to play - which included a jumper, and an open area for people to eat while listening to a band. There were also more places to shop, including an open mart similar to a swap meet.

Reanne and I took Nina, Frankie, Zoe and Mia to the museum, while Laura, Brady and Laura's grandmother (Bertha) walked around the swap meet area. Laura's grandpa (Gil) stayed with Mimi (their dog). I saw more dogs than I saw signs saying dogs are not allowed. I guess they weren't enforcing that rule. After the museum, Reanne and the kids took a train ride. Here they are:

With all the walking around, we got hungry for lunch. Our plan was to go back to the park where we started, but it had gotten so crowded there, we couldn't find parking. We decided to leave the Oak Glen village, and drive down the hill to Yucaipa. We had passed a huge park on the way up the hill, and thought that would be a better place for lunch. We were right. We found some empty picnic benches, and set up our stuff. The kids went to the playground nearby, as the adults fed their faces. Here's one of many pictures Laura took of the kids playing in the playground:

All-and-all it was a wonderful day. We had a great time, the weather was perfect, the company was pleasant, and the food was terrific. We took many pictures, only some of which I've shared in these two posts. We even decided to use the family picture that you saw in Part 1 as our Christmas card this year.

I'll leave you with a picture Brady took of himself. He would have a fit if he knew I posted it, but he doesn't read this blog, so he'll never know. I'm not even worried about Laura telling him, because she rarely reads this blog. All my best -

Oak Glen - Part 1

2008-10-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Oct. 12, we renewed something of a family tradition by going up to Oak Glen. Oak Glen is a community in the hills above Yucaipa and is known for apple orchards. For those of you familiar with the Los Angeles area, Yucaipa is off of the 10 freeway between Riverside and Banning, and you'd pass it if you were heading out to the Morongo Casino or Palm Springs.

Oak Glen has several areas where stores, restaurants and attractions are grouped together. If you had time you could visit all of them. These different areas are not necessarily within walking distance to each other; you have to drive up the road from one to another. If you're going up hill; it's a steep winding road, and because of how popular the area is, it gets very congested with traffic. Parking can become a challenge, but it's well worth it.

As a family, we've gone to Oak Glen a few other times on-and-off since Laura and I have been married. Laura's family has gone there a few other times years ago. What we did this past Sunday, and what we've done on the other occasions since I've gone, is to start by having breakfast in the park. One of the areas of stores and restaurants happens to have a small park where there are picnic benches. We got there about 10:00 am, and with the help of a Coleman Stove had hot coffee and a hot skillet in no time. Laura's grandmother cooked us Quesadillas. Oak Glen is a great place for us to take lots of pictures, and this trip was no exception. Here's one of the whole family:

Laura made sure we all wore something that matched. This picture turned out the best of all the family ones we took. I'm not thrilled with my smile - it almost looks like I didn't want to be there, but actually it was the only one where Brady was not making a funny face (on purpose). In the other pictures my smile was better, but Brady had a silly face. After we ate breakfast the kids played for a while. Joining us on this trip was Laura's grandparents, Nina's friend Frankie, and Laura's sister-in-law and two of her three daughters. Laura's brother opted to stay home with the baby. Also joining us was Laura's grandparent's dog, Mimi:

Here's Laura's sister-in-law, Reanne, with Zoe on the left, and Mia on the right:

Laura's Grandpa, Gil, loves all of his grand kids and great-grand kids. Here he is making his great-granddaughter, Mia, laugh:

Here's Nina and her friend Frankie. This was Frankie's first time to Oak Glen, and she had a great time.

Here's me and my Honey-Bunny:

After the kids played for a while, we went shopping at one of the stores near the park. We also walked around some of the other souvenir stores nearby. Then we drove up the road to one of the other areas where there are a lot more shops to visit. There is also a museum there, along with other attractions. We also have plenty more pictures, but I'll save them for my next post.

Obama vs. McCain

2008-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

I watched this debate too.

McCain - what a bag of hot air. I learned four things: (1.) He likes Joe Lieberman; he mentioned him at least 3 times. (2.) Ronald Reagan is his hero. (3.) Teddy Roosevelt is his other hero. (4.) I'm his friend (but so are you and everyone tuning in, because he said "my friends" about 100 times.)

What do you think Michelle will wear to the inauguration ceremony?

Biden vs. Palin

2008-10-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

I watched the whole debate and here are my thoughts:

Biden did a better job of answering the questions.

Palin didn't answer some of the questions, but did a lot of talking about the subject of the question and about other issues.

One question regarding the economy was answered by Biden. Then on Palin's turn she didn't talk about the economy - she switched the topic first to the energy issue, and then next to the environment. Even Gwen Ifill, the moderator, picked up on that switch of topics by Palin.

In my opinion Biden focused too much on what McCain does wrong, and how it's not too different from Bush. I understand this is a strategy, but it started to get old. Even Palin picked up on it calling it "looking back". I wish Biden would have focused more on what he and Obama will do better.

I think the same type of strategy hurt Kerry in '04 when he criticized Bush too much, and didn't promote his plan or solution enough. I like how Biden pointed out he hasn't heard McCain's plan.

I think it was a good debate, and I think Biden did a slightly better job.

D.O.M. Ride to Lucerne Valley - Sept. '08 (part 1)

2008-09-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

The 2008-2009 D.O.M. season began last weekend, and we were there to kick it off. I actually wasn't planning on attending due to a couple of things. First of all, Nina is only about 1/2 way through her cheerleading season. In the past two years since Nina's been a cheerleader for Pop Warner football we haven't missed any of her games. We just didn't go riding until the football season was over. But since Laura is not the team coach this year, neither her nor Nina's absence is critical. The other reason I wasn't planning on going is financial. Laura is not working, and it doesn't look like she will return soon. More on this in some future post.

I didn't take vacation on Friday before the weekend, and Monday after the weekend like I would normally do for a club ride. This makes it all the more difficult to deal with. Hooking up our truck to our trailer and all of the last minute packing had to start after I came home from work on Friday. This takes hours to do. It did help that Laura was home. She did some early packing and cleaning up in the trailer in the days before Friday. She also did all the grocery shopping for the trip. These are some of the things I would do on the Friday before we leave - if I was on vacation.

By the time everything was hooked up, tied down, packed up and ready to go, it was about 9:30 p.m. I knew we would have about a 3 hour drive before we were in camp, and I knew once we got there I would have to find a place to park. I know this location - Lucerne Valley - is notoriously not easy to level; the place where the club camps is on the side of a hill, so there's a slope. It would be 1:30 a.m., pitch black, I would be exhausted, and I would still have to unload the quads from the cargo area just so we could make beds to sleep. That sounded like too much work for me, so we decided to leave for the desert on Saturday morning.

After a good night's sleep in our own beds, we were up early and off to the desert. We were in camp by 9:00 a.m. The fun began as soon as we unloaded the quads. Laura, Nina and I missed the "group / club" ride. I was barely able to get Brady's quad gassed up and ready to go in time for him to join the group. I didn't want to hold them up by having them wait for the rest of us. Besides, Nina is slow and gets tired easily. I didn't want to hold them up during their ride either. Brady went with the group, and Laura, Nina and I went on our own ride. Everyone had fun.

Later in the afternoon, it starting getting hot. Too hot to ride for a while. keep in mind that we wear riding gear including helmets. All of that clothing and equipment makes it uncomfortable to ride in when the temperatures start climbing. So we hung out in front of our trailer under our awning eating chips and salsa and drinking beverages. I drank beer. Lots of beer.

Enough words for you to read. How about some pictures? While we were sitting out trying to cope with the heat we heard a somewhat familiar sound. The happy tunes of an ice cream truck. Now we've heard these tunes many times at home as the ice cream man comes rolling down our block, but we've never heard this out in the desert. Well someone from the nearby town of Lucerne Valley must have known that if they came out to the off-road areas with an ice cream truck, people like us would buy lots of sweet frozen goodies. See for yourself:

While sitting outside of the trailer there's always something to look at. Sometimes it's off in the distance. Here, I borrow my binoculars back from Nina for a minute to take a look at something.

Here's the happy couple posing for a picture:

And here's Nina with her game face:

And here's a picture Laura snapped of me after I succumbed to many beers. What's not fair is that I fell asleep after Laura did; I just quietly sat there enjoying my beer and the afternoon while she slept. I didn't take her picture. Okay, next time Laura, next time.

After my nap it was cool enough to ride again, and luckily there was still daylight. So Laura, Nina and I went on another ride, but I'll save that story for my next post. Happy trails . . .

Time For An Update

2008-09-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

Summer is nearly over, and there's been some changes around the household. Laura is no longer employed, but continues to seek a new job. This causes a financial challenge, as we were already on a tight budget. Laura has a little more time for her volunteer position as cheer coordinator for La Habra Pop Warner Football and Cheer leading.

Both Brady and Nina have celebrated birthdays recently, and have also started school. Brady, now 15 is in 10th grade, and Nina, now 8 is in 3rd grade. Both attend a tumbling class once a week, and both will soon begin religious education classes. Brady is less than a year away from receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

In other birthday news, we recently celebrated numerous family birthdays at my moms house with a good ol' BBQ & pool party. Those celebrating birthdays included my mom, both my kids, a niece and a nephew (who are also brother and sister), and another nephew. Absent, but not forgotten, were another niece who lives out of state, and an uncle who took ill and couldn't attend.

Nina is also cheer leading for La Habra Pop Warner. I enjoy going to the games to watch her cheer, but also enjoy watching the games themselves. Today, the boys beat their opponent 39-6. Before the cheer and football season began, the city held it's annual Corn Festival and parade. The cheer leaders and football players marched in the parade again. In order for me to get the prime front row spot on the parade route I got there at 4:30 a.m. I was surprised to see people already holding their own spots along the route.

The Corn Festival was fun as always, and this year we brought home more goldfish. Two actually, that Nina won, and one other that her friend Frankie won. Nina's fish died by the next morning, and Frankie's died a few days later. They were buried in our back yard.

The D.O.M. ride season begins next week. We will be attending, but the days of going out on Friday morning are long over. We don't want to take the kids out of school, and I'm too busy at work to take a vacation day right now.

I'm still taking the bus once a week to do my part to help the environment and save fuel. I'm pleased that gas prices are not as high as they were when I started riding. I have changed my route to 3 different bus lines compared to what I used to take. This way it's slightly less expensive, and I get to leave work 1/2 hour earlier. I have yet to see knitters on the bus, but I still keep looking for them just to be able to report that to LA and Diane.

As far as sports go, I played golf for the first time in one year. In August I played in a golf tournament along with my mom, uncle and cousin. This is an annual event named in memory of my dad. And for my spectator sports (the ones I watch, not participate in) the Angels are doing great by winning their division; the Bruins started off better than I expected by beating Tennessee, but got SPANKED today by BYU; and the Chargers lost their first one, but will hopefully win tomorrow against Denver.

Finally, my prayers go out to the families of the commuters who lost their lives yesterday in that horrible train wreck in the San Fernando Valley.

Things Missed - Part 3

2008-08-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Continuing my series of posts called "Things Missed" - this series is about important events in my life that took place during the time I was not posting on my blog. I'm calling them "Things Missed" because I missed the opportunity to share them, and you missed the opportunity to read them. This event was a sad one, but I hope you appreciate it.

Grandma passes away

My maternal grandmother passed away on April 10 of this year, less than a month shy or her 97th birthday. The pictures below are the ones used in the her funeral program, with the exception of two: one that I linked, and the last one. I always referred to my grandmother as "Mama Grandma". She was referred to as "Nana" by some of her grandchildren, and all of her great-grandchildren. Ofelia was born on May 6, 1911, in Mexico. She came to the U.S. with her mother, brothers and sisters in 1928 when she was only 17 years old. Here is a picture of her taken that same year:

Tragically, Ofelia's mother (my great-grandmother) passed away a year later in 1929. The siblings were left to care for themselves, including the youngest child Grace, who was only 8 at the time. They persevered though, and all eventually married and raised families of their own. My grandmother met Joseph, and they got married on June 24, 1934. Here's a picture taken of my grandmother on her wedding day:
The original of the above photo, which of course included my grandfather, was displayed at my wedding reception. This was my wife's idea, for which she received many accolades and compliments. Also on display were pictures of her grandparents on their wedding day, and each of our parents on their wedding days. It was so nice to see all of these pictures on display as our guests entered the reception hall.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This picture was taken at my youngest sister's wedding reception in 1998. My grandmother personally selected this picture (well in advance) to be placed on her casket at her funeral. We also used it as the cover photo of the funeral program:

In this next picture, which was taken with my mom standing behind my grandmother, better resembles how my grandmother looked in recent years:

Here's a link to to an earlier post I wrote, which was in honor of my grandmother's 95th birthday. It shows pictures of Ofelia's two children, five of her six grand children, and eight of her then eleven (later twelve) great-grandchildren. Also, here's a link to a picture of Ofelia and her sister Grace. This next picture was not included in the funeral program, but I wanted to include it in this post because it was taken less than two years ago, and includes my two kids:

In closing, I'd like to share a poem that my sister wrote about our grandmother, which was included in the funeral program:

Nana

Diminutive in stature
Yet her strength of will
Dwarfed her petite size
When filled with joy
Her radiant smile
Outshone the sun
Those who knew her
Cannot deny the power
Within her small frame
A remarkable life
That nearly reached
A century long
She was impressive indeed
To be so small
And influence us all

Things Missed - Part 2

2008-08-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing my series of posts called "Things Missed" - this series is about important events in my life that took place during the time I was not posting on my blog. I'm calling them "Things Missed" because I missed the opportunity to share them, and you missed the opportunity to read them. Please enjoy.

Baby Jonathan is born

In March, my sister Donna gave birth to her second child: a baby boy named Jonathan Toshi. Jonathan was 7 lbs., 7 oz., & was 20" long. Here are some newborn pictures of him. First up - sleeping like, . . . well, . . . a baby.

And here he is smiling to something off camera:

And here he is with big brother, Timothy:

It didn't take long for Jonathan to go to his very first Angel game. There were a lot of people there for the first time too, because this was taken on opening day. Here he is with mom, brother, and cousins Erynn on the right, and Justin on the left:

And here's one from their seats:

Unfortunately, the smiles turned to frowns as the Angles lost their home opener to Texas 6-11. And now moving upward to the Heavenly Angles, here's a picture of Jonathan being Baptized:

I'll leave you with this one of Jonathan taken about a month ago. To me, it's as if he's looking over his shoulder and saying: "So long for now."

Things Missed - Part 1

2008-08-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start a short series of posts called "Things Missed." This is the first entry of that series. The purpose is to share some important events in my life that took place during the time that I was not posting on my blog. Most of these events were happy, but one was not. I'm calling them "Things Missed" for a couple of reasons: the first reason is that I missed the opportunity to share them. Sharing these events and the few pictures I take of them is something I like to do; it was one of the reasons I started this blog. The other reason is that you, the handful of readers of this blog, missed them. Some of you readers are family and already shared these events with me in person. But to those of you who only know me through this blog, I want to share these events with you too.

Nina's First Communion

In the Catholic faith, Communion, or more appropriately, receiving the Blessed Eucharist, is one of the seven sacraments. If one is raised in the Catholic Church as a child, they typically receive their First Communion at about 7 years of age. Nina has been attending religious education classes for two years now, and has been learning about Jesus, and learning her prayers, and learning all the other things about the Catholic faith that is taught to children. When I went through it - it was called Catechism. In other faiths, it's sometimes referred to as Sunday School.

After much preparation, the day finally came when Nina was ready. Here are a few pictures we took of the day. First up is Nina and Brady. (yes, Brady does have a piercing above his eyebrow. This was a birthday present we granted him when he turned 14)

Here we all are squinting in the bright May sun light. We received many compliments on Nina's dress.

Here she is by herself:

The church frowns on lavish parties for First Communion recipients. They actually have several rules particularly with regard to attire. The girls' dresses must meet a certain standard, and are required to be approved in advance. During the parent meetings that took place in the months prior to the big day, we were instructed on what is appropriate. I recall the coordinators telling us "these are not bridesmaids". We (err, Laura) planned a party, but kept it appropriate. Her big thing is decorations. Here is a gift bag from the party that was given to all the child guests, complete with some religious articles:

And here is our backyard with the borrowed EZ-ups and rented tables and chairs. Thanks to our friend Liz for the butterfly decorations and the purple ribbony stuff you see. (I don't know what it's called, I'm not in charge of decorations)

So that's it for my first installment. Please check back when you are bored and have run out of interesting blogs to read and maybe I'll have another Things Missed post for you.

Vacation Pictures (sort of)

2008-07-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

Despite my best efforts, this is the only [useable] picture from our family vacation in Las Vegas. This was taken on Saturday night, June 28, while the four of us were at a Latin Music club called Luna Y Sol. L-R are Laura, me, Elaine and Frank. Frank is having a better time than his expression indicates. At the same time this picture was taken, several stories up in our hotel room, the kids were having a good time too.
The four of us, and our kids, plus a bunch of other friends and relatives also had a fun time at our backyard pool party and BBQ held this past weekend. This next picture was taken during the party, and is of Casey & Kenny. They are our friends from our off road club, the D.O.M.
This next picture was taken later Saturday night, also during the party & BBQ. These are our friends Terry & Robin, and their beautiful daughter Ellie. Elyssa actually, but she's affectionately called Ellie. (I hope I'm spelling that right)
When Terry, Robin & Ellie were leaving, we gave them the Barbie Jeep that Nina used to ride when she was Ellie's age. We hope that Ellie has as much fun with that Jeep as Nina did.

This last picture is of Kira (Nina's cousin), Krisha (Kira's mom / Laura's sister), and Nina. This was taken late at night during the party / BBQ.

So that's it for my vacation pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't take that many. Maybe Brady has some from Las Vegas. If I find some from the cruise that Laura and I took, I'll be sure and post those.

Our Family Vacation(s)

2008-07-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

We returned home late yesterday afternoon from our family vacation. It was just a weekend trip to Las Vegas, but it was great fun and fairly relaxing. I say fairly relaxing because we did a lot of walking. However, I was able to take a nap each day over the weekend, and that I find relaxing.

We spent the last two days with our friends Frank and Elaine, and their daughter Frankie. Frankie and our daughter Nina are very good friends, and love to spend time together. They've been on the same softball team and cheerleading squad for two years now. Frank was the softball coach this past season; Elaine and my wife Laura were his team moms. On the cheerleading side of the equation, Laura was the cheer coach, and Elaine was her assistant.

Anyway, the two families had planned this trip to Las Vegas a while back. However, Frank and Elaine's son Jared decided not to go at the last minute. We were counting on Jared and our son Brady to watch their little sisters on Saturday night when us parents were planning to go to a club. So Brady invited his friend Joey. We are also good friends with Joey's parents, and know them from our off road club (the D.O.M.). So Joey joined us and helped out Brady by watching Nina and Frankie. Us old folks made it to our club and enjoyed great Latin music and refreshing drinks.

We stayed at the Circus Circus where it's kid-friendly. They also have this huge fun zone covered by a dome. It's called the Adventure Dome, and there are several rides and a lot of games for children of all ages. We bought one-day passes for all the kids. The boys really got their (our) money's worth: they rode the roller coaster over 20 times. Nina hardly went on any rides, as she is still scared from the incident nearly two years ago at Sea World. Frankie went on a few rides by herself after Nina backed out. All-in-all it was well worth it, and everyone - especially the kids - had a great time.

Between the arcade games in the casino and the ones at the Adventure Dome, the kids also brought back several stuffed animals. Playing these games was really the highlight for Nina, as she just doesn't enjoy the rides. The swimming pool was also a treat for the kids. I forgot to mention that we stopped at State Line on the way to Las Vegas, and again on the way home. The boys got to ride Desperado - a really tall roller coaster at Buffalo Bills. The girls got to play more arcade games. And finally on the trip home, we stopped at the outlet mall in Barstow. Laura got a Coach purse, and was very happy.

This was actually the 2nd of two weekend trips that Laura and I took. Last weekend, she and I went on a cruise together. No kids, no friends, just us. We had a great time! That trip was really relaxing, because we didn't have to break up any fights between Brady and Nina, and we didn't have to cater to any of their needs. We took in a lot of sun, and got a lot of sleep.

Next weekend is the fourth of July, and our third consecutive long weekend. Good times.

Commute to Work - Day Two

2008-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well I stuck with my plan to take the bus at least once a week. That's right, I didn't give up and go back to driving my car every day. And depending on my schedule, I might even be able to ride the bus twice a week later in July and August.

This week's ride was almost out of necessity. On the way home from work Wednesday, my car started overheating. Steam was billowing out from under the hood. I reduced my speed for the rest of the trip home, but when it started looking worse (the gauge kept climbing) I parked the car and walked the rest of the way home. I was only two blocks away by then, so no biggie.

So this week my bus trip was on "Ride Share Thursday". That's what I hear it called on TV and the radio. Well the trip was noticeably more crowded on the first two buses. Since my car had given me trouble the night before, I got a ride from my next-door-neighbor to my starting bus stop. That first bus, a Norwalk Transit bus, was picking up more passengers along the way than what I observed last week. I also rode it one stop further than last time because I discovered that the next bus stop is shaded. Either of these two stops will allow me to catch my second bus. I would rather sit in the shade than in the morning sun - especially on the way to work. On the way home I wouldn't care.

When I got onto my second bus, a Metro bus, my intention was to purchase a one-day pass, which would allow me to ride the rest of the day on Metro without paying any more fares. Well the machine that takes dollar bills was broken, so the driver allowed me to ride for free. (Not just me, everyone who needed to purchase a fare using bills). There were passengers with bus passes, and some who paid with coins, but they were not affected. So when I got to my next bus stop, I just paid for a one-time fare for that last bus that would take me to work. I figured that I would need to pay 3 one-time fares for the rest of my day, including the ride home. That worked out to less money than if I were to have bought a one-day pass.

Things got even better on the way home, because the first bus I got on ended it's route before I reached my destination. This was my oversight for getting onto this bus; I should have waited for the next one which continues further east on the same route. The bus driver graciously gave me a one-day pass for free so that I could continue my trip when the next bus came along. So my net cost on Metro yesterday was $2.50 (instead of $5.00). I'll put that towards the cost of fixing my car, which my mechanic estimated today at just over $300. Oh well, at least I feel better about doing the right thing by taking the bus. Maybe I'll bring my camera on the next trip.

Dump the Pump

2008-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Did you Dump the Pump on Thursday? You know, leave your car behind and use some kind of public transportation to commute to and from work or school. Did you even know there was a public awareness program to do so? I didn't hear much about it before hand, and I watch the news daily. I heard more about it after the fact.

Well I don't feel guilty about not participating - because I took the bus to work on Wednesday! Yes, that's right. I've taken the first steps into a Greener world, and I survived. I feel good because it was the right thing to do, and I saved some money (on gas) and wear and tear on my car. I also avoided some stress on myself, and it really only cost me some extra time.

Just in case you don't believe me, here's my bus pass for Wednesday, June 18:

Allow me to share a little background. 1. Gas prices have been rising for a while now. 2. The company I work for has a Green Initiative, and has recently been promoting ways to conserve energy and otherwise do things that are good for the environment. 3. Gas prices have been rising for a while now. 4. One of my colleagues at work was tasked with something regarding the Green Initiative, and felt it was important that she also personally participate in public transportation. She provided me and other employees with information and feedback regarding her commute to work using the bus. 5. Gas prices have been rising for a while now. 6. I decided to give the bus a try.

Months ago, I commented on someones blog in response to their topic of taking the bus to work. I think I said that it wouldn't be feasible for me because I would have to take several buses and it would take a couple of hours. Well after researching numerous bus lines, routes and timetables; I found a route that worked for me. It only costs me $6.20 in bus fares, and takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to my office. The down size is that I have to leave a little earlier and arrive little later than normal, and there's the possibility that I will miss a connecting bus. That will further delay me.

The up side is that I am saving money. When I drive my car to work, it's 16 miles one way, and takes me 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic volume. My unofficial conservative estimate on gas mileage for my car is 15 miles to the gallon. At JUST $4.60 per gallon, I figure it's costing me at least $9.00 per day to drive to work, + wear and tear on my car, + stress from all the A-holes on the road.

So for now I'm saving about $3.00 per day, and I'm only getting home about a half hour later than normal. Not too bad, and worth it to me. More stories of future commutes to follow with pictures, of course. All my best, Danny.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. It's been nearly 6 months since I've posted anything on this site. I guess I never really went away. I stopped reading blogs for about a month, and then slowly started reading blogs that I've always liked to visit, and finally dropping comments on them again. I've posted occasionally on my off-road club site, but those posts were few and far between - until recently. And I'll be posting there more often over the next couple of months as I share pictures of our last club outing.

I figured it was time to post something on this - my family blog site, and why not in honor of Father's Day? After all, I'm a father, and I should be able to do anything I want to . . . today. It's also a day that, in the past, I've posted something in honor of my father, Carlos Aguirre, or as everyone in my family affectionately called him: Papa Kirk. If you care to read my earlier post, posted on Father's Day 2006, it was dedicated to him.

In another post, not having anything to do with Father's Day, but one that was also about my father, reader LA wrote me a nice comment, to which I replied and promised a story about how Papa Kirk got his nick name. Here's that Earlier Post in it's entirety, and here are the comments I just referred to:

LA - "Bittersweet indeed. Anniversaries are hard, but it's nice to memorialize our loved ones. That's a sweet picture of you and your children."

"Sometime will you explain why you called your dad Papa Kirk even though his name was Carlos?"

Me - "LA, I'd love to share the story of how the name Kirk came about. It will be in a future post."

Here's the story:
When my dad was born, he was named Carlos. In his young adult years, he hung around with a group of friends. They were the ones who called him Kirk. I really don't know why, and neither does my mom. My mom met my dad after this nickname came about, and my dad's family had a different nickname for him: Chali. (Chali, roughly translates from Spanish to English as Charlie.) So no big mystery, his nickname Kirk came from his friends; the boys he used to hang with before he met my mom, more than 50 years ago. Here's a picture of them:

My Papa Kirk is the short one in the middle of the back row. Sorry for the quality of this photo. It's a digital image of a restored photo. Here is a close up of him thanks to the zoom feature on our digital camera:
Now the "Papa" part of Papa Kirk came about after my parents met and got married. Their first child, my older sister Diana, is responsible for the "Papa". When Diana was learning to talk, she added that to his name. Similarly, she added "Mama" to our mom's name, Norma. To this day, my mom is referred to as Mama Norma by all of her kids, grand kids, and many nieces and nephews. And up until his death in 2000, and in fond memory of his life, my dad was and is referred to as Papa Kirk.

If you're a father, I hope you had a great Father's Day. (I did). If your father is still with you, I hope you wished him a Happy Father's Day. And if your father is no longer with you, I hope you thought of him today. Thanks for stopping by and reading this. All my best, Dan.

Farewell Fellow Bloggers

2007-11-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Dearest friends of my blogging world, Goodbye.

This is not an April Fool's joke like I posted once before.

After carefully thinking it over, I've decided to quit posting. I'm disappointed with my decision, but I've come to the conclusion that this is for the best. I honestly think this is the first time I've ever quit anything. I will miss sharing my long-winded stories about my family adventures, and the poor attempts of photography that sometimes accompanied them. There was so much more I wanted to share in the past year and a half, but just never found the time.

I would like to personally thank all of you who have read my blog, and especially if you took the time to write a comment. So, to my sister Donna, to my cousin Michelle, and to all of you who are book-marked on my blog roll: GetFlix, V, Ffleur (who stopped blogging a while back), Jenster, M-M-M-Mishy, Frank, Sage, LA, Diane, Norm, Prunella, Valette, Bean, and Carmi; my sincerest thank you, and my best regards to you. May God bless you all.

posted pictures - just because

2007-11-25T05:49:00.000-08:00

Our family Christmas picture for 2007

Me on Dec. 31, 2008

Nina, 2008 D,.O.M. Annual - Barrel race

Me and Laura at the D.O.M. campfire - 2008 Annual, Cal City, 2008

Update On My Last Two Posts

2007-11-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you, my blogging friends. I finally updated my last two posts. I promised that I would post pictures of the family outing we took - a weekend trip with our off road club. If you want to read the long-winded stories that go with the pictures, click on the links below.

Here are some pictures that can be found on Part One:

Here is a picture that can be found on part two:

The location is Dumont Dunes, which is in the California desert south of Death Valley. Anyone who has ever driven from the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas, Nevada, is probably familiar with the desert city of Baker, where the world's tallest thermometer is located. Dumont Dunes is about 40 miles north of Baker off Interstate 15, and on a clear night (which we didn't have on our trip) you can see the illumination in the sky to the northeast of Dumont Dunes. That illumination is caused by the casinos at the California-Nevada state line.

A Family Outing - Part Two

2007-11-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Since so much time has passed since my last post, you might want to go back and read part one of this two-part story – or not. Anyway, I left off at our lunch break. In addition to yummy sandwiches, chips and drinks, we decided to watch a movie and relax a bit. I was particularly tired due to little sleep the night before, and all the extra effort I had to put forth to tow Nina back from the North Pole.

Since we had to turn the generator on to watch the movie, Laura decided to plug in the crock pot and start to slow cook our dinner. This was a first. (Not Laura cooking dinner; that was a second – Ha!) This was the first time we brought out a crock pot to the desert. I’m normally not in favor of running the generator for hours on end, but I made an exception this time. While Laura and Nina watched the movie, I opted to take a nap. Brady had since returned from Competition Hill with the rest of the group, and immediately went to his friend’s motor home to play video games.

When I awoke, the movie was not quite over. I took a peek outside and noticed people were getting ready for a ride. This time the group was going to Sperry Wash. Laura was willing to go, but Nina wasn’t. Her thumb was still hurting from the earlier ride. Brady came in the trailer to get a towel, and proceeded to put his riding equipment on. By the way, Sperry Wash does have water running through it. It’s a small stream that comes from high up in the desert mountains, and the water is very refreshing to play in on warm days. This was still a warm day considering it was late October.

Laura told me to go with the group, but I stayed back with her and Nina. I’ve learned over time when to go play and when to stay. This was not a big boy’s ride of hard dirt trails and a rest stop for some beer drinking. That would have been okay to for me to go. This ride had wives and kids, and if I went without her, there would be attitude to deal with. So we watched another movie.

The group returned an hour and a half later and all was well. Brady said they found an area in the wash to play in where the water pooled. Next to our trailer was where the club King & Queen (Dan & Leslie) were parked. We noticed they were setting up tables for the Happy Hour festivities. People bring finger foods (hot wings, etc.) and the club provides drinks. It’s a fun and delicious way to socialize. We didn’t prepare anything to take, and it was later than usual for a Happy Hour event (nearly 5:00 p.m.). With our slow-cooked dinner nearly done, which we were looking forward to; we didn’t want to spoil our appetite with Happy Hour.

What happened next was unbelievable. Out of nowhere, a blast of wind came and nearly knocked everyone off their feet. We were in our trailer and it began to shake in the wind. The people outside enjoying Happy Hour were forced to flee inside the King’s trailer to make the best of things. The wind driven sand affected our visibility. We had trouble seeing the trailers across camp on the other side of the fire pit. The dunes and mountains in the distance could no longer be seen. It dropped about 20 degrees in temperature in about 30 minutes. We’ve experienced wind many times in the desert, but not like this.

We proceeded to eat dinner, and hoped that the wind would die down. All of the kids (not just ours) were looking forward to going Trick-Or-Treating. Yes, this was the club’s annual Halloween Ride (usually held a week or two before Halloween). This is a long-standing tradition where the kids get dress up in their costumes and go from trailer to trailer getting candy. Things didn’t look good this year.

The wind never let up. Darkness fell quickly, and things got worse. The wind somehow caused the awning on a trailer of one of our member’s to open up like a sail. There was no way there could be a campfire that night. I don’t think anyone could start a fire to begin with, but if there was one any trailer downwind would be in trouble. Visibility was so bad we couldn’t see any other camps of people around us. I had to put on my helmet and goggles just to go outside and secure our quads. I had to bring everything else inside (folding chairs, equipment boxes, etc.).

All night long that wind blew and our trailer shook. Laura, Nina and I continued watching movies. Brady was in the motor home next to us with his friends Joey and Amanda playing video games. Nina and Laura worried that our trailer might tip over. I told them it wouldn’t, but knew deep down it was possible. The thing that made us safe was that I never detached the trailer from our truck. The truck held us like an anchor. We went to bed, but did not get a good night’s sleep. The wind and blowing sand disturbed us. It was loud, and continued to shake the trailer until about 4:00 a.m.

Sunday morning came about and we awoke to calm clear weather. Here's a picture of the dunes from a distance:

Due to the wind, small sand dunes (only inches high) had formed around our trailers and vehicles. This was caused by the sand blowing against them all night and then dropping to the ground. Some people went riding, but I opted not to. We took our time packing up and eventually left by 12:00 noon. This locale takes about 4 ½ hours to return home from, so I wanted to get going before I got caught up in the traffic returning from Las Vegas and State Line.

We stopped in Victorville for an early dinner at Red Lobster where Laura’s sister, Sara works. She joined us during her break, and we had a nice visit. We continued our drive home. My mom had called worried about us because there was so much wind being reported on the news. Also worrying her were wildfires that had been breaking out everywhere.

The wind we experienced at the bottom of the Cajon pass was strong, but nothing like what we experienced at Dumont. As we got closer to home, we noticed the smoke from the fire that had broken out in Southeast Orange County – the one in Santiago Canyon. In the days that followed, the winds in Southern California fueled the fires from Ventura to San Diego. The smoke in the L.A. basin lingered in the air for days.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost their homes as a result of the fires. Our club ride that started off as great family fun and turned into a bit of a bummer pales in comparison to all those people who lost everything.

A Family Outing - Part One

2007-10-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well it only took 5 months, but we finally made it back out to the desert – as a family. If I haven’t made that clear in the past, let me clarify that doing things as a family is really important to me. It reminds me of my childhood, and when my parents took my sisters and me on family vacations.

So this past weekend, the four of us went to the desert and met up with our off road club to do some riding. As it turned out, we only went on one group ride, but it was a long ride. We went all the way to the North Pole!

No, really; the North Pole. You see, at Dumont Dunes, there’s a destination at the north-most point called the North Pole. At this spot there is a pole, and fashioned to it is a mailbox labeled Santa. I’m not making this up, there really is a pole with a mailbox on it, and all the kids put their letters to Santa in it. We took group pictures to prove it. Here's one of Nina writing her letter to Santa:

I hope she's asking Santa to give her daddy a brand new quad, but I'm guessing she didn't. Here's one of Nina putting her letter in the mailbox:

After a few refreshments, we got ready to ride back to camp. We took one last picture of the North Pole by itself (you can see part of a dune behind it). This dune was tiny compared to where we were going next:For those of you reading who haven’t checked out my club blog, let me explain that my daughter Nina is a novice rider. She’s only been riding her quad less than one year, but more specifically this is only her fourth club ride. She’s never gone on a long group ride before, only short family putt-putts. To make things more challenging, there’s a lot of sand at Dumont (thus the name Dunes). So poor little Nina in her little 50cc quad struggled, and slowed the pace down.

On the way there, Brady zipped along at a faster pace. He and other riders would sometimes take side trails or climb up small sand dunes. Brady had a good time, because he got to hang out with his friend Joey. Joey, his sister Amanda, and their parents Butch and Patty, are very nice people. We only get to see them a few times each year, mostly at club rides. Laura and I hung out at the back of the pack with Nina, but bringing up the rear of our group was Butch and Patty in their buggy, and Pablo and Carol in their sand rail.

The trip back was even more challenging because we took a different route. We headed straight back to Competition Hill, where the expert riders take their quads and sand rails high up the steep face of the dune. Nina couldn’t make it this route without assistance. I brought a tow rope with me just in case (I’ve had to tow her back before). She complained that her thumb hurt her too much to continue riding. She has yet to build up some resistance for holding her thumb against the throttle.

Everyone else arrived at Competition Hill before us. I knew I still had a ways to go to reach our camp, so the three of us continued back while the rest of the group hung out there. Some of the more experienced riders went up the face of Competition Hill. Everyone else just watched.

Once back at camp it was time for lunch. The weather was great at this time. It was sunny and warm (probably around 82), and there was no wind. So we changed out of our riding clothes and in to shorts and T-shirts. We ate, drank, and were otherwise merry. I knew there would be a later ride to Sperry Wash, which is a great place to go riding. I will continue with that part of the story in my next post. Please check back for more of the story. Thanks.

Posts Posted

2007-10-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've finally completed part two of my two-part post about my most recent D.O.M. adventure. If you're interested click here and here.

Coming Soon

2007-09-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Blog Friends,

I'm working on a post to recap this past weekend where I split my time between my off road club and being a cheer dad. It will appear on my D.O.M. blog, hopefully by this Saturday night.

I'm trying to visit y'all to leave a comment. I miss visiting more often. Looks like it's going to be an occasional week night / weekend thing.

All my best,

Dan

A New Arrival

2007-09-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Laura's Brother (Sean) and his wife (Reann) had their baby. We were very happy to hear the news, and I'm pleased to report that both mother and daughter are doing fine. I don't know what it is about our families and their pattern of having babies in August or September, but the trend continues. I guess it would be more accurate for me to say "I don't know what it is about our families and their pattern of conceiving in November and December, but the trend continues."

Lets have a run down, shall we: Niece Anna (8-21-1990), Nephew Timothy (8-21-2003), our son Brady (8-22-1993), my mom Norma (8-31-1938), our daughter Nina (9-5-2000), Niece Christine (9-15-1994), newborn Niece Ava (9-17-2007), Niece Kira (9-??-1999), my grandfather Joseph (9-16-1909), Laura's grandmother Bertha (9-25-1935), aunt Grace (9-28-1921), and uncle Gilbert (9-30-1942). There are also three family wedding anniversaries during the months of August and September.

Needless to say, trying to plan a child's party is very difficult because some of the kid's birthdays are so close that parties are sometimes booked on the same day. Here's what we started doing a couple of years ago. We have one family party where all the family attends and brings gifts for all the kids celebrating during the those two months. Then, each of us have a 2nd party so that each kid can invite their friends. (Family is invited too, but it's understood that they don't bring a gift to that party.) It's also understood if some of the family can't attend that 2nd party because they have another party to attend for one of the others celebrating a birthday. It's confusing, but it works.

Since most of the kids celebrating their birthdays are on my side of the family, my mom hosts the family party. She gets birthday presents too since her birthday is during this time period as well. If your birthday was in August or is in September - Happy Birthday To You!

For Those Of You Who've Left Comments

2007-09-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

The topic of today’s post will basically just be a response to recent comments left on my blog by readers. I’m doing it this way for reasons I’ll explain below. So let me get right in to the responses:

To all of you who wished my daughter Nina a happy birthday and/or left a kind remark about the picture I posted – Thank You!

But not to be too impersonal, let me respond in more detail to . . .

LA – Yes, Nina is the one on the left, her friend Frankie is on the right.

GetFlix – Grumpiness is the nicest word I could come up with at the time. Nina can be (and often is) a little stinker. She’s also sometimes a spoiled brat and a crybaby. She’s also learning the fine arts from her brother, Brady, of being disrespectful, not picking up after herself, and not listening to her parents. But Laura and I love them both. Sorry, I digressed. I have several pictures of Nina that capture a grumpy or grouchy look that she gets when she doesn’t get her way, or is upset with someone or something. We call this her Pooty Face.

To all of you who have offered congratulations on my recent Blogger Reflection Award, thank you. And thanks again to Sage for bestowing this honor on me.

V - Thanks for the words of encouragement: "As long as you're still blogging, that's all that really matters." The truth is that I'm barely blogging.

LA – I was actually surprised that Frank Murphy gave me a shout out. I too remember when Frank was K&B’s producer, and Mark & Brian’s before that. (I remember Poorman on Love Line too.)

So why am I responding to my readers’ comments here and not on the comment page where they left the comments? To tie it to an explanation of my personal blog reading and writing woes.

Here’s the thing: the company I work for began enforcing an internet use policy. This policy includes tracking of internet use by users without their knowledge. No, there is nothing illegal about this. As a member of our company's human resources management team, it would be career suicide to continue doing what I had been doing up until about two weeks ago - spending my lunch hour reading the blogs on my blog scroll and commenting on the same. Even though I would never go to a web site with content that is clearly in violation of the policy, the policy also covers using the internet for non-business reasons. There is absolutely no business related reason for me to be on any of my blog sites, regardless of the content or subject of the post.

Here's the other thing: my wife Laura really, really doesn't like my blogging habit. She has disagreed with my blogging since day one. So, since I can't blog from work, and I am very limited to when I can blog from home - basically when Laura is out of the house, like right now as I'm writing this (as opposed to when you're reading it); I can almost never blog. It pains me that I haven't read any of your posts for nearly two weeks. But as time allows I will catch up with my reading, try to leave a comment, and occasionally post something here for you to read.

All my best, Danny

Happy Birthday Nina

2007-09-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Nina turned 7 years old today! Here she is with one of her very best friends, Frankie. Okay, so this picture was taken months ago when she was closer to six than seven, but I thought it was cute how they were behind a planter. It captures the playfulness that she has. On some other day I will post a picture that captures the grumpiness that she also has.

Blogger Reflection Award

2007-09-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sage has awarded me the Blogger Reflection Award. Here it is for all of you to see:

I am very grateful for this honor. I originally started a blog so I wouldn't be anonymous when leaving comments on other blogs, and as a way to talk about the off road club that I'm in. My club posts are few and far between, and don't seem to interest many people. So I split that blog off onto it's own and started a second blog which centers around my family.

This is what Sage wrote about my blog:

Dan is a family guy with a motorcycle, but DOM doesn’t stand for Dan on Motorcycles. It's an acronym for Dirty Old Man (I see little evidence of in his posts, if that’s what you’re looking for, go read Herb's blog). Dan's posts are thoughtful, often reflecting on what he and his family are doing. He loves his wife. His recent memory of his father’s death was most touching. He’s emotional; he makes the rest of us men look bad by expressing his feelings in such warm and tender ways--kind of like Barry Manilow. Thanks Dan, may we learn something from you.

Thank you Sage, that was really nice. But let me just clarify one thing: I don't have the talent to ride a motorcycle, and I wouldn't think of insulting dirt bike riders everywhere by letting it be said that I ride a motorcycle. I actually ride an all terrain vehicle (ATV) called a quad. It has four wheels to help keep me on the ground at all times. I don't ride beyond my abilities; I have a family to care for and they care about me.

If any of you would like to read about my off road club - the Dirty Old Men - please click on the link in my blog scroll. We are a family orientated club, not a bunch of perverted old guys. The founders of the club (32 years ago) may have been dirty old men, but now-a-days, "Dirty" describes how we get after we've been riding in the desert.

Being honored with this award comes with a few rules, which I will make a decent attempt to follow. Those of you chosen have no obligation to play along.

1. Copy the rules for participation

2. Replace my bloggers with your five bloggers. Then reflect and write at least a paragraph about each one. (Don't worry, you wont get your wrist slapped with a ruler if you fail to complete this).

3. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.

4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they've been given the award.

5. Put the icon on your site.

Here are the blogs I have chosen for the Blogger Reflection Award:

These are in a particular order because my mind works in an organized and logical manner – sometimes to my advantage; sometimes to my disadvantage.

I hadn't even heard of the word blog before February, 2006. That’s when I heard on my favorite morning radio program about Bean’s Blog. For those of you who don’t know who Bean is, Bean Baxter is a radio personality in Los Angeles, and does a morning broadcast called The Kevin and Bean Show. You can read more about their show here and here. In January, 2006, Bean started a daily blog which became enormously popular. Bean had made a commitment to his readers that he would post everyday for a year. That was a tall order (albeit, self imposed).

I didn’t begin reading Bean’s Blog until about two months after he started his daily post, but I quickly realized how much I liked it. Bean told his readers about all kinds of obscure stuff, but still, some of it was interesting to me. Bean posted about the things that he personally liked: the Seattle Mariners, the Seattle Seahawks, the U.S. Post Office, his infatuation for anything Hello Kitty, the Planet Pluto, and the person who discovered Pluto, Dr. Clyde Tombaugh. Bean also posted about music and songs, and would often include running lists as part of a theme – songs about summer, songs with a number in them, etc.

It was because of Bean’s Blog that I came to enjoy blogging, and I started leaving comments on his posts. I didn’t want to be anonymous, so in March of 2006 I launched my first blog. From Bean’s Blog I discovered many other blogs, some of which are acknowledged below. Bean tried but didn’t quite make it to his one year commitment, but those of us who experienced his blog will probably not forget it soon. So I hereby posthumously award this Blogger Reflections Award to Bean’s Blog.

My second award goes to one of the bloggers I discovered while reading comments on Bean’s Blog. Once I started commenting on Bean’s Blog I would often click over to other people leaving comments and check out their profiles and blogs. I liked Diane’s blog and I think I was one of the first people to leave her a comment. I’ve visited ever since, enjoying many of the things she posts about. Her love for her two dogs is obvious in many ways; the blog title itself is the name of her dogs. Reading Diane’s blog reminds me of when I had my two dogs, but also when I had more time to do the things I personally enjoyed, and having the means to do it. I enjoy reading Diane’s blog, and it’s through her blog scroll that I discovered many other blogs. That’s how I discovered Sage’s blog, who awarded me with the Blogger Reflections Award.

My third and fourth awards go to bloggers I discovered while reading comments on Diane’s blog. V’s blog is well written and occasionally has topics that really get me thinking. Three recent ones are his posts on Troy Davis, the Jena 6, and the Katrina hurricane victims. I think it takes a special type of person to be able to call attention to human rights and human suffrages causes, and help remind people of injustices and such. V has also posted about documentaries that focus on important subjects. I would probably not have been aware of such issues had it not been for V.

Jenster’s blog I discovered while reading Prunella Jones’ blog, who I discovered while reading Diane’s blog. Jenster is a cancer survivor who writes about her family. She is a woman of faith and although I haven’t been reading her blog for a very long time, I took to it quickly and read it often. This short paragraph I'm writing about Jenster's blog doesn't do it justice. It’s also a good-looking blog, and I wish my blog looked so good.

My final award goes to Frank Murphy. I discovered Frank’s blog while reading Bean’s Blog. Frank posts everyday, and I think that alone is deserving of an award. Frank is a man of faith whose posts are many times about his family, sometimes about his town of Knoxville, sometimes about his life experiences and travels, and although I don’t often leave comments, I read it regularly.

Please take the time to visit each of these blogs. Maybe you too will find something that you like about them.

Due to many demands both in family life and work life, I will probably be posting less often. I will also have less time to read posts, which I have been doing during my lunch time (at work) for quite some time now. I am now limited to reading post from my home computer on nights and weekends, where I must share use of our computer with my wife and two kids.

School Days, School Daze

2007-08-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Last Fri. night I attended a high school reunion of sorts. It was not my graduating class reunion, but rather, a reunion of all band members of my high school during the years of our beloved band director, Mr. Haar. I attended Richard Gahr High School in Cerritos, CA, and graduated in 1979. Mr. Haar was the first band director at Gahr, which opened around 1965, and remained there until 1989. He was such an influence to so many students, and made an impact on so many lives, it was no surprise that a celebration in his honor was finally held.

So yes, I was a member of my high school band, and I'm proud of that. In the marching and concert bands I played clarinet during my first two years, and bass clarinet in my second two years. In the dance band (jazz, big band music, etc.) I played piano. My three sisters were also members of the same band, under the direction of the same teacher, Mr. Haar. The only difference is that Mr. Haar left Gahr H.S. after my youngest sister's first year in high school. Us three older siblings got four years of Mr. Haar.

There's a wonderful web site set up an run by one of the Gahr Band alumni, which I will link for you here. If you feel compelled to, please check it out. If you're looking for my goofy picture, you won't find it very easily. It's under the photo album link - 1979 - a few pages in. The only one I could make out was the band officers' picture, and the quality is pretty bad. I think it was scanned right out of the year book.

Back to the reunion story. It was good to see so many of my friends from so long ago. I have done a poor job in keeping in touch with them. In fact, there are only two that I've seen on occasion over the past couple of years: Janeen and Dorothy. Both were at the little Christmas gathering that Laura and I had last December. But several other band alumni who graduated in my year, and the neighboring years, were there Fri. night, and I hadn't seen them in years. All three of my sisters were there, including Diana who lives in Portland, OR. Diana is on the reunion planning committee, and was there with her husband Scott.

Even my mom, a band booster, and my grandmother were present. There were quite a few band boosters present. This was also nice, because I hadn't seen some of these people (parents of my schoolmates) since about the time we graduated high school.

Laura and I arrived fashionably late, and I started recognizing familiar faces. Laura had not met most of these people, so I made many introductions. (Side note: Laura would have met some of these people - the ones who graduated with me in '79, but we didn't attend my 20th H.S. reunion. It was held the week before our wedding, and we had too many things going on). We found Mr. Haar right away, and greeted him and talked for a couple of minutes. As the guest of honor, he was being sought by many former students.

Laura and I went through the buffet line and sat at our table. My sister Diana had arranged to have other people from my year with me. That included Janeen, accompanied by her husband, Bob; Janeen's mom, Liz; twin sisters Marci and Mary Jo - all the way from Colorado; Mike; and Dorothy (class of '80) accompanied by her mom. Russ (class of '78) squeeze in to make a cozy 11. We no sooner sat down when the video presentation began.

A stream of pictures were shown from all years of students, parents, and Mr. Haar, all set to band music. Some was concert music, some was marching band music, and of course the pictures matched. There was even a tribute to some of the students and boosters who have died since graduation.

Following the video presentation, the reunion chair made a speech honoring Mr. Haar. Then Mr. Haar himself made a speech. As the evening went on, people visited with each other (and Mr. Haar), browsed through old year books and various photo albums that people brought, and otherwise had a good time.

We took a few pictures, which I will post soon, as an addendum to this post. We didn't stay too late though. The following morning was Laura's and Nina's first game of the season; a scrimmage, and we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep in. Right now, cheer leading is running our lives.

I was okay with leaving the reunion anyway. I had visited enough, and I'm not really good in these type of social situations. I was not exactly blessed with the gift of gab; I don't easily strike up conversations about any hip topic, and don't have a lot to say about much anyway. Ask me about something I know about or I like, and I'm good for a couple of words, but other than that - I got nothing. So we left, but it was an enjoyable evening.

A Bittersweet Anniversary

2007-08-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that seven years has passed. It seems like just yesterday. Brady's 7th birthday party was taking place on a hot Saturday afternoon. Laura was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Nina. We were trying to keep our guests comfortable in our patio, but that's hard to do with little shade and a warm breeze.

The kids were playing in the backyard, alternating between our Dough boy pool and the jumper with slide that we rented for the party.

My mom (Mama Norma) and grandmother came to the party, but my dad (Papa Kirk) had to work. Papa worked at Disneyland, and on this particular day was working at the toll booths at the main parking lot entrance.

I remember that the party was pretty much over, although there were a few guests left. Some friends and relatives traveled quite a ways to join us, so they weren't in any hurry to leave. Most of the guests had gone when I got a call from my sister that something had happened to Papa at work, but she was not sure what. All we knew is what hospital he was taken to.

It wasn't until I arrived that I found out the sad news. Sometime during the following week the funeral was held, and during the reception after the Mass, several employees of Disneyland (co-workers and friends of Papa) made a presentation to Mama Norma. They had all signed one of Papa's uniform shirts, which they gave to my mom. And they presented Mama with a plaque to commemorate a stone marker which would be placed in the large open area between the main gates to Disneyland and California Adventure.

Every time any family member visits Disneyland, they stop at the marker to visit Papa. Here is a picture of the actual marker:
Luckily it's very easy to find, as it's at the end (or tip) of a large group of other markers. Anyone (guest or employee) can purchase one of these markers, and if you've ever been to Disneyland or California Adventure, you have to walk over hundreds of these in order to enter either park.

The date on Papa's marker (11/6/1994) refers to his date of hire at Disneyland. The initials PL (for Parking Lot) indicate the job group he was attached to. Papa performed several jobs, including toll booth operator, parking lot attendant, parking tram driver, and train conductor on the Disneyland train that circles the whole park.

The next time you visit Disneyland or California Adventure, do stop by and say "hi" to Papa Kirk. Here's a picture of me, Nina and Brady doing just that:

A Couple Of Updates

2007-08-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday's golf tournament (the Carlos Aguirre Memorial) was fun. I really enjoyed myself, and my mom, uncle, and cousin had fun too. It was not as hot as we expected; only 90-ish. I didn't shoot as well as I would have liked to. Out of embarrassment I will not tell you my score, but I will tell you it was over 100. Considering I haven't played in a full year, and the difficulty of this golf course, it's no surprise.

There were a couple of memorable holes that I will share with you: Number 5, a par 5, dogleg right with water at the beginning and the end. You need to hit a shot that must carry over water in order to land on the green. The last four years I did not play this hole very well. This time I hit a good drive and a good 2nd shot. I knew I couldn't reach the green on my 3rd shot, so I hit short of the water. My 4th shot needed to be about 75 yards to the center of the green. I purposely selected a club that would easily carry the water (I've been in the water 3 times before). Oops. Too much club. I flew over the green, and then my ball bounced on the cart path and flew over a block wall into the street. I took the stroke penalty (but not the distance as the rules called for). I still had to chip on the green and putt out. I took an 8 - ouch.

That was not the worst hole I played, but I wont bore you talking about them. A hole that started off promising - number 8, a par 4, straight and not too long, I actually landed on the green in regulation. (That means my 2nd shot landed on the green, and I was putting for a birdie.) Oops. I 3-putt for a bogey 5.

The 18th hole was one of my better ones. A long par 5, with an elevated tee; you must hit into a valley and work your way back uphill to an elevated green. Did I mention the water? A stream with little waterfalls and pools, descending from the front of the green to the fairway from right to left. I hit a good drive and a 2nd and a 3rd shot. My 4th shot was the approach to the green, less that 100 yards which had to carry the water. It landed on the green close enough for me to 2-putt. I took a bogey 6. In total I only had 4 single bogeys. No pars, everything else doubles or higher - ouch.

Laura continues to improve, and has been back to work for nearly 2 weeks. Thanks again for all the well wishes and prayers. She is coaching Nina's cheerleader squad, and they are practicing for opening day ceremonies. Laura had a run-in with a couple the girl's parents. 3 girls have been showing up late to practice, which affects the other girls on the squad. Laura talked to the parents after practice last night, and they didn't like it. It got ugly, and Laura had to call one of the league officers to step in. The bottom line is if the kids are going to be late (or absent) Laura wants to know before practice starts. Also, if the parents are going to briefly leave the practice area (parents are required to stay at practice at this age group) to go to the snack shack, or the restroom, or to stretch their legs; just let Laura know. That way if there's an emergency, Laura will know where to look for the parent(s). No big deal, but these bitches really gave Laura a bad time about this very reasonable request.

Brady is about two weeks from starting high school. He's also helping Laura plan his birthday party - a late night bowling party. This time of the year is crazy due to so many family birthdays. Complicating that is back to school, the start of cheer (football) season, and the start of our off road club riding season.

Finally, work has been very busy lately. I don't want to talk too much about work, but it does factor into my life. As I say on my profile - it's a necessary evil.

Golfing With My Dad

2007-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of the fondest memories I have is playing golf with my dad. Papa Kirk, as my sisters and I called him, and as he was affectionately know to many other relatives and friends, was an avid golfer. It’s because of my Papa Kirk that I learned to play golf, and learned to love golf.

These days, due to family commitments and a busy work schedule, I rarely play golf. However, this Saturday (8-11-07), I will be playing golf in a tournament named in Papa’s memory. This is the forth year in a row that I’ve played in the DWP Golf Club tournament at Temeku in Temecula, CA. I’m not sure at what point the DWP renamed this golf outing the Carlos Aguirre Memorial Tournament, but I’m proud to be able to participate. I will be in a foursome with my mom (Mama Norma, as my sisters and I, and many others call her), my uncle Gilbert, and my cousin Michael.

For those readers who don’t recognize the acronym DWP, it stands for Department of Water and Power. The golf club’s participants are employees and retirees (and guests – like me) of the City of Los Angeles - DWP. I participated with my Papa in many a golf outing with this club during my high school years and shortly thereafter.

But the DWP tournaments were but a few of the total rounds of golf my Papa and I played. For years we would go to La Mirada golf course early on a Sunday morning and play the back nine. I can’t tell you how many times we were one of the first foursomes to tee off on the back nine, often times before daybreak. I had to give up a lot of sleep back then, but it was worth it.

We didn’t just play La Mirada, we played other area golf courses too. In fact, I remember when the City of Cerritos (where we lived) completed their golf course, Iron-Wood Nine. We played there many times too.

Papa was so proud of me when I joined my high school team. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was quite an accomplishment. I had only started playing golf in the summer before my sophomore year, and by the spring of my junior year I had made the team. Unlike other sports teams at school there was only one golf team: varsity. So after the season ended I was awarded a varsity letter, and my parents bought me a letterman’s jacket. At the time, I was not as proud about this as my Papa was. From my perspective, it didn’t compare to a varsity letterman who lettered in football, or baseball, or soccer, or track, or any of those more physically demanding sports.

During my senior year, my game improved and I moved into the # 2 spot on the squad. It was during this period of time when I was at the best of my game. After all, playing nine+ holes three times a week (twice with the team, and then again on Sunday morning’s with my Papa) and going to the driving range two times a week with the team; I was as best as I had ever been. After high school I started working, and the following fall started college, and Sunday mornings as well as DWP tournaments were few and far between.

My Papa and I still managed to play on occasion. Eventually, after my Mama retired, she learned how to play golf too; Papa taught her, of course. The three of us had several golf outings together, and they too are cherished memories. On August 18, 2000, there was a DWP tournament at Temeku that Papa Kirk played in. In his foursome was my Mama Norma and my Uncle Gilbert. The following day The Lord had an opening for a lefty in the Big Foursome in Heaven.

So tomorrow I will proudly play in a tournament at the course my Papa played his last round of golf at. I'm sure we will have a great time, as we have the last three years. I'll post my score after the tournament. My guess is that I'll shoot over 100, and that's okay with me.

The Corn Festival Parade

2007-08-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

The first Weekend in August is when the City of La Habra celebrates it's Corn Festival. This event has been celebrated for many years, and a lot of people participate in various ways. There's a carnival with rides, food booths, game booths, craft booths, and vendors of many items (kind of a swap meet). This carnival begins on Friday afternoon, and continues to Sunday evening. On Saturday morning, a parade goes down La Habra Blvd. This year, just like last year, my wife Laura and my daughter Nina were in the parade. Nina is a cheerleader for the local Pop Warner football and cheer league, The La Habra Lions, and Laura is the cheer coach for Nina's squad.

Here's Nina's squad - Flag Blue - getting ready for the parade. The youngest squad of cheerleaders is the only one that gets to ride on a float in the parade. All the other squads of cheerleaders and football players have to walk the parade route. Nina is second from the right.
Here's a picture of the float the flag squad gets to ride on:Here's a close up of Nina (on the right) and a friend of hers, Isabel. Isabel was not on Nina's squad last year. In fact, there are six new cheerleaders and four returning veterans.Laura took this picture of the boys Flag Blue football squad as they headed towards the start of the parade route. These are the boys that Nina and her squad will be cheering for over the next several weeks as the games are played.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share from my vantage point on the parade route. Laura had our digital camera with her to take all these pictures (and more), and I wasn't going to use our old camera (the kind that takes a four letter word beginning with F). I did last year, and as you can see by reading my post from then, the picture quality isn't that great. What you don't get to see in this post is just how good my vantage point was. I will briefly describe it.

Towards the end of the parade route is the competition and judging stand. Across the street and a few yards west from that is the La Habra Community Center. In front of the center there is a strip of grass separating the parking lot from La Habra Blvd., and this grass strip is raised up like a grassy knoll (no, not like the one in Dallas). Because of the grassy knoll, I get to see over the tops of people's heads sitting on the sidewalk in front of me. Well this grassy knoll is becoming so popular, I'm having to get there earlier each year in order to secure a spot. This year, I was there just after 4:00 a.m. - and I wasn't the first one there. By 5:30 a.m. (4 hours before the start of the parade) all the available spots on the knoll were taken. Ten or 11 EZ-Ups side by side and dozens of folding lawn chairs, patiently waiting for their occupants, being watched by a handful of guys willing to give up sleep to secure the best spot.

An update on Laura. She's doing better both emotionally and physically. A few days ago, she underwent a surgical procedure that was recommended after someone suffers a miscarriage. In the days following that procedure, she's been in a lot of pain associated with the anesthesia. She has not been able to practice with her squad, and didn't think she would be able to be in the parade. She felt well enough to participate, but luckily she didn't have to walk. Her dad drove her in a small gas-powered cart and followed behind the cheerleader's float.

Thanks to all of you who left comments on my last post. Your kind words were very encouraging.

Sad News

2007-07-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

It was just over a month ago that I shared with you the good news that Laura and I were expecting another baby. It is now with sadness that I inform you of our loss; the pregnancy was unsuccessful. The first day was the most difficult, especially for Laura and the kids. But each passing day has been better, and with the love, support, and prayers of our family and friends, we will be okay.

Ensenada - Part Dos

2007-07-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Before I continue with my story of the cruise that my wife and I took a couple of weekends ago, I need to clarify something regarding the pictures on this post. Every one of them was taken by a professional photographer; an employee of Carnival. You see, even though we brought our own camera and intended to take lots of pictures - we didn't. Not because we forgot. It's just that there wasn't much to take pictures of.

There's something else I need to clarify. The weather was not clear and sunny as you would think considering this time of the year. It was really overcast, especially on Sunday. I'm talking major June Gloom. We only had two full days on this cruise, even though the website describes it as a 4-day, 3-night cruise. (The cruise leaves late afternoon / early evening on Fri., and returns early Mon. morning). So Sat. in Ensenada was overcast, but the sun kind-of burned off the clouds late in the day - right about the time we were leaving. Sunday was worse; the clouds remained all day.

All that to restate that there was really nothing to take pictures of in terms of scenery, and I'm not one to take pictures of strangers. So 3 of the 4 pictures I posted on "Part Uno" was it. That's all we took. All that film we bought wasted. . . . . . What's that Honey? Oh, we have a digital camera? Never mind about the film.

So I left off at the part where Laura and I were returning to the ship. But I forgot to show you two pictures that were taken when we got off the ship in Ensenada on Sat. morning. These were taken with an authentic local actor dressed up as an Aztec Indian.

Okay, now I'll resume my story. So Laura and I go through all kinds of security to get back on the ship, and then kill some time waiting for the early dinner seating. We go up to Lido Deck and listen to the Reggae band and watch people dance. But it wasn't just Reggae music. They had a little bit for everyone: Country line dancing, the Macarena, and some other dance that everyone (except me) seemed to know.

Then Laura and I got ready for dinner. Sat. night was the formal night in the dinning rooms. Everyone at our table was dressed very nice. I told you about our tablemates in Part Uno. On this evening one couple (Sauce and Angie) didn't show, but a new couple (Esteban and Norma) joined us instead. Towards the middle of dinner I began to feel sick. I saw out of the corner of my eye that the ship had begun to move out of port. I could also barely feel the ship move. By the time I got my main course I had lost my appetite. My tablemates noticed I looked pale, and I felt warm. The fact that I was wearing a tie didn't help. I felt somewhat strangled. Well I made it through dinner and it was time to walk the Promenade Deck and take pictures.

If you've ever been on a Carnival cruise, you would know that they set up photographers with various backgrounds throughout the Promenade Deck. We took pictures at several, and ended up buying three poses. The one that looked the best is this black and white close up.

After we took pictures, we went to the big room where stage shows are held. We wanted to get a good seat for the show that evening. They had a bingo game scheduled before the big show, so since we were already there waiting we played. Well can you believe that Laura won the grand prize of $500? How lucky is that? The show was really great - fantastic singers /dancers all in beautiful costumes, and performing to live music.

Sunday we were parked somewhere out in the ocean. There were only three things that could be seen the whole day: water, clouds, and the ship we were on. We listened to the Reggae band on Lido Deck for a while, we played bingo again in the big show room, and we watched a live show held by the cruise director that had 3 couples trying to guess their partner's answers to several questions. There was a newly wed couple on their honeymoon (married on 7-7-07), a couple who have been married 50 years, and a couple who have been married 25 years. It was a very funny show.

Dinner on Sun. night was casual, and the same tablemates from the night before joined us. After dinner we saw another great stage show in the big room. Same singers / dancers, but different songs / music, and of course, different costumes. I liked this show better than the first one, but both were great. I forgot to mention that after dinner (but before the show) Laura wanted to take more pictures. Of the 2 or 3 backgrounds we took pictures in front of, this one came out the best, and we bought the print: We woke up Mon. morning and found ourselves back home in Long Beach. After breakfast, we gathered our luggage and souvenirs, and off the ship we went. This is the quickest we've ever gotten off the ship. On the previous cruises, it took hours of waiting before you were allowed off. This time we had to wait in line at customs, but that takes place off the ship.

Laura and I had a great time on our cruise. Three mornings of sleeping in and no kids to bug us. More food than we should have eaten, and none of which we had to prepare ourselves. Time to ourselves without having to be somewhere or do something. Everything was on our terms, and we enjoyed every minute of it. It may be a long time before we can do this again.

Ensenada - Part Uno

2007-07-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my wife Laura and I went on our summer vacation - a cruise to Ensenada! This was planned way before we found out that Laura was pregnant. Originally, we thought it was going to be a "booze cruise". We talked about hitting a couple of clubs on the ship, as well as throwing back a couple of drinks at Papas and Beer in Ensenada. Well in the interest of Laura's health, and the health of our unborn child, Laura didn't drink alcohol. I did. Well I'm not pregnant.

This was not our first cruise, so you would think that we would be familiar with the routine of getting to the ship with enough time to enjoy the festivities before sailing. Well just like each time before, we end up rushing around and getting there with just enough time to drop off our luggage in our state room before the mandatory evacuation drill. No free Hour Devours, no refreshing drink, just a life vest and a staircase climb (several decks) to stand like sardines until the whistle blows. What fun!

Anyway, here we are right before we board. If we look out of breath, we are; we just carried our luggage from our car through security, and through the check-in line.
So after the drill there's just enough time to go back to our state room to stow away our life vests, and then it was off to the early seating for dinner. On past cruises, we've had the late seating, and that has it's pros and cons. On the pro side - you have more time to do whatever (shore excursions if applicable) during the day, and then get ready for dinner. On the con side - you finish dinner late, and anything you do tends to make your evening run late. That might be okay for some people, but I'm an early riser and the longer my day is the less energy I have. Laura is not an early riser, but also suffers from low energy by the day's end.

So we go to dinner and meet our tablemates. One very nice couple (Chris and Debbie) have a common interest with us in off road recreation. What a coincidence. Chris was a pro motocross rider a few years back. The second couple (Sauce and Angie) arrived to dinner late and told us about a very difficult commute they had to endure just to get to our ship on time. Two other pairs of seats remained empty, but we were joined the following night by a third couple (Esteban and Norma). They too have something in common with us - they're expecting. Only in their case, it's their first child.

After dinner we return to our room to find it has been made up by the steward. We were please to find two chocolates on our pillows, and this cute towel piglet. Sorry the image is sideways. I couldn't figure out how to edit it to turn it 90 degrees, so if you want to see it correctly - either turn your head to the left, or turn your monitor on it's side to the right. Buenas noches.

We woke up Saturday morning and found ourselves in Ensenada, Mexico. Que Bueno! We ate breakfast and grabbed our bottles of water, and off the ship we went. We hopped on a shuttle and heard the lecture of where to shop, where to avoid shopping, and when to get back to the ship. We also heard a wonderful sales pitch about taking their tour of Ensenada, including a trip to La Bufadora. The blow hole - you know there are only three in the whole world: Hawaii, Australia, and Ensenada. But the one in Ensenada is the biggest! Well we saw it 2 cruises ago, and it's not worth going back given the possibility of Laura getting car (shuttle) sick.

Laura and I got off the shuttle and walked around a bit looking for souvenirs. We didn't buy anything at first, because you can find the same stuff everywhere and it's all about the same price. So you might as well keep looking for the item that looks the best in the color or style you want, yada yada yada. We wondered over to Papas and Beer for some nachos and margaritas. Laura had a virgin strawberry margarita, and I had a real one - or two. Our waiter Pedro took this picture of us:

After our refreshments we continued walking around Ensenada and shopping. This time we started buying souvenirs. We picked up a pair of cool sunglasses for our son Brady. We also bought him a Papas and Beer shot glass for his collection. Brady has shot glasses from all over, and he keeps them on a shelf in his bedroom. We found a cute Nacho Libre mask and cape for our daughter Nina. Also for Nina, we found a cute mini pinata that looked like a donkey. Laura got a mouse pad from Papas and Beer. They generously threw in a sticker.

We returned to the shuttle pick-up point so we could head back to the ship. As we waited for the shuttle to fill up, we were entertained by a local man who sang songs. Coincidentally, Laura and I saw this same guy on a previous cruise (well, the Ensenada part of the cruise). He is very funny, and gets people on the shuttle to sing along with him while poking fun at us gringos. He didn't remember us from the last time - no surprise - there's one of him and hundreds (maybe thousands) of us that he sees. After his show he walks through the shuttle bus holding a bag and we help him make his living.So back to the ship we went just to stand in line to get our souvenirs scanned - just like luggage at the airport. Once on board (using the same identification to get off the ship) we get to walk through scanners again. Back to our room and time to get ready for formal night.

More to follow on the next post. Until then, bon voyage.

Time To Cruise

2007-07-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Laura and I are leaving today for our weekend get-away: A 4-day, 3-night cruise to Mexico. That's why we couldn't join the kids last weekend for their camping trip. Ensenada, here we come!

I'll post again next week after we return. Adios Amigos!

Silence Is Golden

2007-07-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

That silence is about to come to an end. You see, the kids are coming home from their camping trip. That means the peace and quiet that Laura and I have been enjoying since Sunday is almost over.
This past Sunday, Laura and I drove the kids up to Silverwood Lake to go camping with Laura's parents and grandparents. We've stayed at this campsite a couple of times, but unfortunately, neither Laura nor I have enough vacation time. This time, Laura's grandparents took their new trailer out for the very first time. (Actually the trailer is used and in very good condition, but it's new to Laura's grandparents.)

Anyway, the kids have been looking forward to their camping trip for weeks, especially Nina. She was so excited in the days before! I can't wait to hear how much fun they had. Laura and I missed them both, but we sure didn't miss their fighting.

We were only able to check in once by phone (cell service is very unreliable there due to the surrounding mountains), but know they've been doing fine. I'm sure they were acting normally - you know, fighting, arguing, crying, that kind of thing.

So tonight when we come home from work. they will be next door at Laura's grandparent's house. Our noisy lives will return, and Laura's grandparent's quiet lives will resume.

Fourth Of July BBQ

2007-07-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

As I sit here at my computer killing time and waiting for nightfall - so that Laura, the kids, and I can go outside and watch the fireworks display at the high school; it's time to blog about the way I celebrated our Independence Day. First of all, let me take this time to thank God for blessing me by allowing me to exist here in America. With everything that's going on in the world, there is no place I'd rather be, and I am deeply grateful.

We had been planning for a relaxing day at home with some food to BBQ and maybe a swim in the pool. Laura had invited our good friends Frank and Elaine, and their kids Jared and Frankie, to join us for the day, but they didn't confirm until late yesterday. No problem; glad they decided to be with us.

Laura loves to decorate, and as you can see by the signs flanking the walkway from our driveway to our front door, they are in theme with the holiday:

Once our guests arrived, the kids couldn't wait to jump in the pool. It was about 90 degrees today (the air temperature, not the pool water) and more humid than it has been lately. The kids couldn't care less; they were going swimming whether it was 60 or 100. As they splashed around and played, Laura, Elaine, Frank and I sat and talked and enjoyed refreshments.

We got the kids to sit still for one second while we took this picture of them. From left-to-right that's Jared, Frankie, Nina, and Brady.

After a beer or two, I started barbecuing for everyone. This is a brand new barbecue that I got as a Father's Day present from Laura and the kids. As I was downloading these pictures to my blog Laura asked me if I posted the ones from Father's Day. No I didn't - I politely answered. NOTE TO SELF - Post Father's Day pictures as an addendum to that post.

Why yes, that is chicken (the lighter meat on the left) and carne asada (the darker meat on the right). Doesn't it look tasty? We also had rice, beans and tortillas as a main course, and chips, salsa, veggies and dip as an appetizer.

I just love Brady's face in this next picture. He didn't want his picture taken in the first place, and didn't want to get out of the pool to eat in the second place. Oh well - at least the kids got to eat before the grown ups.

Here we are right after we ate. We're all smiling because we told the kids they have to wait 1/2 hour before they can go swimming again, and we were able to enjoy some peace and quite for a while. From left-to-right is Frank, me, Laura, and Elaine.

Dessert was a banana and strawberry pie decorated in Fourth of July holiday fashion. A home-made pie from the fine bakers at Marie Calendar's. Thank you, Elaine!

While we enjoyed our dessert, the kids enjoyed their dessert - a second swim in the pool. I got them to settle down for a few minutes to snap this picture:

Okay, I've got to go. I here fireworks popping outside, and my beer has emptied. The play list I've been listening to on my iPod is nearly over (I have some Beatles songs with John on lead cued up for tonight as I'm writing). I hope all of you have enjoyed your Independence Day - whatever you have chosen to do. Let Freedom Ring!

Dog Gone

2007-07-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture on a website I frequent, and was immediately reminded of Diane's Hanna and Edit's Wally.