Terrorfying

Me and the family headed to DCA (Disney's California Adventure) yesterday and Courtney tried three new things (compared to one for the rest of us). The one we all did was the Brother Bear Adventure Trail. It was fun, and a good workout, and it let the kids get some energy out.

That was done just after Courtney and I did the Grizzly River Run. That's the ride where you white water raft and get nice and wet. We both got wet, but not soaked. It sure felt good, though. You can see the picture below of the raft we were on (we are the two seats in the bottom right of the raft although it's kind of hard to tell it's us) and once we had just gotten off.



















Then came Courtney's biggest, scariest ride experience so far. She wanted to try the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Traci and I thought she might be too scared to go on it after seeing it and us explaining it, but she insisted she wanted to try it. After assuring her it would be scary but that I would right next to her and she would be safe the whole time, she and I got in line. (It said it was a 25 minute wait, but it was more like 10-15...very short!) I thought she was getting scared while in line as she wanted me to hold her and she seemed to be holding on to me during the part where you're in the library watching a brief video of history about the hotel. She screamed a little with everyone else and when we got off, she said she liked it and showed a smile. What a big girl! Her summary: she saw stars and then dropped/fell (I forget what words she used) really fast. A picture of us before we went on it is below. Side note: this was only my second time going on it.



















On a completely unrelated note, we were at the Brea Mall today and as we were leaving, we walked by a Victoria's Secret store. Traci and I kind of looked at each other and wondered what Courtney might say if she saw the store. Well, she didn't disappoint. She got my attention and said, "Daddy! She [the mannequin] has the same hair as Hannah Montana!" God bless her.

Seriously with the bees!

So the marathon day is near the end as Traci went to her cousin's bridal shower and I took the girls to two birthday parties.

The first one was rough as both (yes, BOTH!) girls stepped on bees, about 30 minutes apart or so. Sky stepped on one first, about 5 minutes after the first bee-sting casualty of the three that happened, on her left pinky toe. She cried but didn't totally freak out, which kind of surprised me since this was her first sting. Fortunately we discovered she is not allergic to them. After about 20 minutes of off and on ice, she was ready to play again and was much more cautious about wearing shoes on the grass.

Then came Courtney's third bee sting experience in her 4+ years of life (all of which she has stepped on). Again, she didn't totally freak out like she did the first two times (maybe she's getting used to it now?), but she did certainly cry quite a bit. Her stinger went in the ball of her foot. (On a somewhat twisted note, it was a little interesting to see the bee guts/intestines/whatever the poison sack on the top end of the stinger is attached to in the bee.) She took a little longer to recover than Sky, but that's not surprising considering their different personalities. After some ice and a band-aid, she was ok. Both were given Benadryl as a precaution before bed. So it should be a good night for all!

Eventually we left the party and went to pick up my parents for the second party, which was in Corona. And when we pulled up, the car thermometer was reading 111! (Side note: the high in Whittier yesterday was 102.) What's up with that?!?!?! Anyway, it was a fun party and it was made more interesting by the strong winds that flipped and EZ up, as well as a table with chairs and umbrella. The girls had a ton of fun. And thank goodness for sunscreen as they went swimming at both parties, very appropriate for the weather.

I also heard from a second friend today that can't go with me to the Dodger game on Wednesday. I had to buy the tickets when I saw they were field level between 1st base dugout and right field foul pole in row C and only cost $25 (plus service fee...freakin' Ticketmaster). So I have a few more options to explore before I wind up going by myself, which I will do if need be.

Anyway, I need a shower. It was really hot today and I was sweaty and had sunscreen. Definitely not the way I want to go to bed tonight.

Enough with the Faulty Forwards!

One thing you need to understand about me is that I need to see proof of things. This is part of my analytical nature. As a matter of fact, I took the assessment associated with the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. a couple of years back when I was changed by our church's first Serve Weekend. Here are the top five, in order, as well a very brief summary of each, straight from the online resource:

1. Analytical - People strong in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation
2. Consistency - People strong in the Consistency theme are keenly aware of the need to treat people the same. They try to treat everyone in the world with consistency by setting up clear rules and adhering to them.
3. Deliberative - People strong in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.
4. Competition - People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
5. Intellection - People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

So what do you think, based on what you know about me? I'd say it's not too far off It nailed analytical, which brings me to the point I originally was trying to make with this entry. In the past week, I have received three forwarded e-mails (two dealing with gas) wanting action to be taken for one cause or another, that are completely bogus. I have places a link on the left side of this blog (snopes.com) where you can usually check whether or not something has any truth behind (or logic) behind it. Once in a while I'll respond to the person who sent them to me, and I love replying all because I really don't like spreading rumors and would prefer to "put the fire out" when I know it's not true. I'm not upset with anyone so please don't interpret this entry that way. (I have probably received at least one from each of you at one time or another.) Just realize that if you send me something like that, I will always delete it and always be extremely skeptical of it.

On a different note...man, has it been hot! We broke 100 today here in Whittier. I have to admit I'm enjoying working in El Segundo as it was probably around 80 or so there. It was a comfortable walk to the train station (about a 1/2 mile), but when I stepped out of the train in Norwalk, the heat was blasting! However, I shouldn't complain too much. I would rather have this weather than 60 degrees as a high. I'm definitely a warm/hot weather person. However, I'm not looking forward to the heat in Corona tomorrow as it is usually about 10 degrees warmer out there than here this time of year. We'll be there for a birthday party of one of our friends' kids. And that's after birthday party in the morning for the son of a couple in our Sunday School class. All the while, Traci will be at a bridal shower for her cousin who is getting married in September. And there's another friend's kid's birthday party we aren't going to tomorrow. At least we're at the end of the birthday madness for the year. From here on out they are pretty scattered.

A good week!

So this has turned out to be a pretty good week...better than the typical week at least. A quick highlight of the three main things that have made this week so great...

First of all, the expensive gas coupled with a move at work has meant I am now one of many mass commuters, or whatever you want to call us people who use public transit systems. I have started taking the train to and from work. So I haven't realized savings yet much, since today was my third day doing it, but normally I would have already filled my car up this week. To give you an idea of how much I'll be saving by doing this, here's a little calculation...based on my new commute to the train station, which is 19 miles less (each way) than driving to the new office, I should be driving about 280-300 miles a month in my car, which is one tank of gas, which is about $85 right now. Compare that to typically needing to fill up about 4 times each month or $85x4=$340; 340-85=255. So we should be saving about that much each month. How can I not be happy about that?

Also, as I mentioned, I moved into a new office building this week. I am now working higher than I ever have before, on the 17th floor of a 20 story building. All the office furniture is new, I have a 20" monitor (flat screen) now (up from 19") and everything has gone well with move.

Along the lines of work, I got an unexpected surprise today when one of my co-workers up north in San Ramon gave me an award for being on top of things and making sure that our team of 4 (me in So Cal, two other in No Cal and one in Mississippi) continue to move forward during this time that our manager has moved on to another position. So what's the award? A $50 gift card through giftcertificates.com. Therefore, Traci and I will be enjoying a date night sometime after I receive the gift card for Claim Jumper! I think this is the first award I have ever received from an employer (outside of longevity rewards). It really made my day.

And finally, the big news of the week is that I'm going to be an uncle again, this time courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law! This will be their first kid. She is due in February so she apparently didn't read my earlier blog about what time of year it's ok to procreate. Oh well, it's all good! Of course I'm happy for them and excited for them to have kids now. They'll be out here in October for a week or so. It will be good to see them again. I'd be concerned about the timing because of playoffs, but it's before the World Series and it doesn't appear the Dodger will be playing in October anyway, but don't get me started there! Needless to say, there is much excitement about this in our family. Good times indeed!

Colorado Pictures, Part 2

These are the last of the pictures I'll post from the trip. I hope you enjoy them.



Some of the scenery on the way home in Colorado














More scenery on the way home...this time in Utah.














Mmmmmmm...chocolate!















Some delicious lemonade, courtesy of Taco Bell.

















More scenery in Utah. It really is a beautiful drive.















Having fun with cousin Michael in Colorado.













The kids actually eating at their dinner table!














My cousin Mary and Aunt Judi















A really cute picture of the girls













Skyler trying to make BIG bubbles at Aunt Judi and Uncle Mike's house
















Skyler and Courtney listening to new best friend/cousin/real princess (at Disney World) Melanie, reading Snow White.











Courtney with Great Great Aunt Frieda (Skyler was asleep on the floor and thus not included in the picture) at her home in Colorado Springs











Courtney with Great Great Uncle Dick (again, Skyler is asleep)












A good picture by any definition













I love this picture of me and Courtney

Courtney wearing Aunt Susie's "Hannah Montana boots"

Me and Skyler hanging out

The girls having fun at the playground near Adam and Susie's home

This is your hair on static...any questions?

Susie and Adam in front of their new home

Sorry, I had to take this National Geographic shot

The penguins were definitely a hit with the girls. After all, they both chose a penguin souvenir from the gift shop.

Some had an easy ride through the zoo

Skyler walking her new penguin from the zoo

Courtney and Skyler doing their best penguin impressions...so cute

Colorado Pictures, Part 1

Susie, Skyler and Traci enjoying the Denver Zoo













Me and Traci with some cuddle time at the zoo.













Adam, Susie and Courtney at the zoo.













A cute picture of Susie and Traci













Courtney striking a pose at the zoo.


















As close as I could stand to get to Coors Field: home of the on-pace-to-lose-100-games Colorado Rockies!











Susie and Courtney at Panda Express, where we shared Adam's lunch break from work.












Skyler and Courtney pretending to be Hannah Montana outside Panda Express.

















Skyler and Traci at lunch at the zoo.














I just love this picture of me and Courtney!

















The view alongside I-70 driving through Colorado near Vail.












Skyler, Courtney and Austin













Skyler lounging while looking through one of Susie's scrapbooks and watching something on tv.











Courtney having some fun with Uncle Adam and Aunt Susie.











Skyler just being cute!

It's Been A While...Again

So last time I posted I was getting ready for our big trip to Colorado. Now I've been there and back and camping and back and have a break between travels. Therefore, here is an update about how the Colorado trip went, as well as some pictures.


The first day was long. We left home at 5:30 am and pulled into our hotel in Green River, Utah at 5:30 pm...about 670 miles in 11 hours (we lost an hour due to time zone change). The Holiday Inn Express was nice and we took advantage of the pool as the girls would have killed us for not using it. We also took advantage of the free breakfast the next morning.


We left the hotel around 7:30 the next morning and traveled through the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Once we were in Vail, Colorado, there was still quite a bit of snow covering the area. Fortunately, the road was clear and we continued our trek through Colorado only to stop in Eagle for lunch for some genuine Mexican food at...Taco Bell!!!!!! Actually, we hit Eagle before Vail, but oh well.


We managed to arrive and Susie and Adam's home around 2:30, which was great...350 miles in 6 hours. It was great to see some of our other friends, Annie and Corey and their son Austin, from Utah who had spent the previous night there.


We had a great week just hanging out and having fun, the way a vacation is supposed to be. We went to Adam's work and met him for lunch (Panda Express...it's Chinese for yummy!). We also went to the Denver Zoo, which was pretty good and the kids enjoyed it a lot, especially the penguins. They both wound up bringing home penguin souvenirs. We went down to Colorado Springs one day to see my (Great) Uncle Dick and (Great) Aunt Frieda. They are always fun to see. I just wish we saw them more often. This was one of the highlights of the trip for Courtney as our Cousin Melanie has been a character, more specifically, princesses, at Disney World. She quickly became Courtney's best friend.


It was great being able to stay up every night and just play games and watch movies (and battle flatulence). We headed home on Friday the 30th leaving arriving in Richfield, Utah for the night before heading home the next day. Of course, we had to take advantage of the pool there as well. My ear is still plugged from that, but it finally seems to be getting better today.


It was good to get home on Saturday around 3:30 in the afternoon and just get used to home again. The first thing the girls did when they got home? They grabbed and put on a princess dress. It was good to be home indeed.


After a week at work, we headed out camping last weekend at Silent Valley in Banning. It was fun, but I am glad it was just for the weekend. We had to be sure to be home for Courtney's first choir performance this past Sunday night and man, was it cute. She did well, singing and doing all the motions with her choir. It was only two songs, but it was a lot of fun.


Going back to work for a minute, when I returned on Monday of last week, I was informed that my office was being moved to the Pacific Towers, which is an office building catty-corner from the refinery. I knew I was either moving there or to another building in the refinery with the rest of the purchasing department. So when am I moving? Two days from now. I got a week and a half notice, but fortunately, I am pretty much ready. I've got about a dozen boxes in my office now and although I'll have a cubicle instead of an office, I'm looking forward to the move since all of my office furniture is brand-spanking-new...and I'll be exposed to natural sunlight!


It's getting late, so I'll post pictures from the trip soon (hopefully)