Art imitates Life

I was down in San Diego for GTY business with Jay, when we found this huge re-creation of one of Life magizine's most famous photographs.

It stands about 25 feet, and is right next to the USS Midway (retired). Perfect location.

Kerry 'Babe' Fickett

Today was the Parents vs Players game for Campbell's team. Kerry had great form while at bat. I had 1 at bat, and a brief time in left field, before my migraine sent me home.

Campbell's Piano Recital

Campbell had his first recital. He performed 'Crawling Spider' on the grand piano at the GCC chapel. Grandpa and Metella made a special trip to hear him play.

Rainbow's end

Last night after the boys went to bed, our first family pet died. Rainbow had been a beautiful blue and red Beta. He lived in a bowl on our piano for almost two years.

A few weeks ago he started to fade - his color became less blue and more ashen. This Tuesday he started to swim on his side and last night he went to the bottom of his bowl and stayed on his side.

While the boys were sleeping we placed him into an Altoid box and buried him in the East garden in an area that we are preparing for replanting.

My second visit

In 1993 I visited the Simpson's house in Springfield - it was a housing tract in Nevada, where one of the houses had been painted and decorated to look like the house in the cartoons. The HOA must have been in a coma the day that request came through.

Today at the cinema there was a display for the new Simpson's movie. I gave Kerry the phone, and she took the picture.

I enjoy watching the Simpsons from time to time, so this was a bit of fun for me.

Another reason Americans are too heavy

The park where Campbell plays baseball has every feature you could want at a park - restrooms, water, shade, fields for baseball, soccer, and football, and picnic tables. And for those who do not want to get any workout - bring your computer and connect to the free wifi. I know it's Valencia, but should our parks be like Starbucks?

Campbell as Pop

For Campbell's birthday Metella got him a cake from Porto's. Tonight we had another serving from the cake. Campbell decided to have the chocolate flower as his dessert. Unlike Pop's flower, this one was made from pure chocholate. Yum, Yum.

And so it begins

Campbell's birthday party starts will pizza and TV. He chose to have 2 friends over to spend the night. The mini-golf in the morning. This is his favorite place for pizza because it has TV.

The pizza is not too bad either - much better than the pizza from the Dusty Mouse palace.

The blur of Seiso de Mayo

We had our 5th Annual Seiso de Mayo party today because it falls on a Sunday this year. After lunch (Rita made home-made chips, yum) we went to the warehouse for pinata time. We let those who were expecting take the first swings. As usual the pinata crashed to the ground when the loop broke. Next year we are going downtown to get a proper pinata from 7th street.

I think we all had a great time.

Five Months Early, One Hour Late

The new SCV Cross Valley Connector Road open this morning five months ahead of schedule. After all the speeches (mine was the shortest: "There it is, drive it.") the road opened. After all the pictures were taken and the antique cars drove it, it opened for regular traffic about 11:10. Everyone is glad to see this road open.

Odd Commuter

I found these skates locked to the bike rack outside of the convention center. I wonder if they are John Daley's?

Rainbow over the pyramid

I'd love to see Egypt, and I've imagined what it would be like to wake up in its view - I'd still like to do that, but seeing a rainbow Monday morning over a glass pyramid is still cool.

Here in I-wish-they'd-hose-it-off-and-chase-away-the-paper-snapers City for a convention. Looking at equipment that may help GTY's audio and video projects.

The weather is low-80s, perfect to spend time in the sun, but I'll be spending it inside. Bummer.

The Boys of Summer

Today is the first day I am well - so I was able to go out and see Campbell's first game. He played well, made ot to base twice, once by being hit by the ball ( he did not know that rule, so he was hesitant when the coach told him to take his base), the second was by keeping a good eye on the ball and walking after a full count.

He plays center field, and does his best to not fall asleep.

Beautiful day in the sun. Campbell's team won 12 to 5..

Valencia?

No this is the 2:30pm traffic going through Meridian (a Boise suburb). It took 4 cycles of the light for me to get through.

I'm in Boise for the memorial service for the brother of a dear friend. He did the music and the family's welcome and appriciation. It was a service that presented our great Savior and the hope we have in Him.

LA in Idaho

My flight was delayed and my directions to the hotel were not quite right, and I had a migraine. The 9 mile drive from the airport to the hotel - took me on a late night adventure through 35 miles of Boise suburbs. I finally checked in at 12:30

After delivering some things to Jay's family this morning, I went back to the hotel to rest. I carefully put the DND sign on the door and tried to rest.

The hotel is empty of guests - I'm one of five cars in the lost for a large hotel. So where do the Spanish yelling maids take their break? Out side my room. They have been yelling and talking loudly, and drinking Pepsi outside my room for 20 min. I hope their break is over soon.

He is not here He is risen

Every year we make a paper mache tomb. Then tell the Easter story.

On Friday and Saturday we have a stone in front of the tomb, then on Sunday we roll it away and set the angel and the verses out.

This year we brought to tomb to Sunday school - it's a great object to see the empty tomb.

Hamster Racing in Valencia

We went to the exciting hamster races - it was great to see Amy's hamster Hammy. You'd be surprised at the crowds that the races draw.

Fun at the movies

We went to the new G movie - when the stobe lights and klaxons came on. Then we joined the parade out of the cinema. All was fine - there was only about $1000 in damage - they burned their $7 a box popcorn. The movie resumed after that brief intermission.

Happy Weasel Stomping Day

We had a traditional Weasel Stomping Day - boots, Viking helmets, and mayonnaise spreading on the lawn. The boys have enjoyed listening to Weird Al, so they thought we should celebrate. We decided that it should be celebrated the first Saturday after Spring.

We all took turns with the Viking helmet - they are much harder to find than you would think.

Happy WSD!

Campbell resting

Campbell took some time out from television to talk to Pop. He told him about the surgery and how he feels now (better, but tender).

Recovery

All went well. He is resting well at home and not in too much pain. He is looking forward to having a TV-od today.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Getting ready

Campbell is ready to go. He says he hates the gown.

Why people live in SoCal

It is another beautiful day in California. We had lunch outside in the shade. Campbell's surgery is tomorrow, but he seems not to be concerned.

We're not in Kansas anymore

We are also not in the USA. We took the boys over to Mexico today. At first Campbell did not want to go - he changed his mind as we got closer. We wandered the street trying to decide which Pharmacy to go to, and where to have our plastic surgery and dental work done. We decided not to any of that so we bought so Mexican handicrafts. We also went to the market - I found my favorite icecream bar, Magnum! We bought some icecream and sodas then walked back to the USA. Everyone had a nice visit.

The Streets of San Francisco

Lego Land has a mini San Francisco build out of lego bricks. We spent some time looking at the detail - we found this fountain (much cleaner than the real one), the California Sea Lions behind pier 39, and most shocking The Bush Man complete with screaming tourist.

The real Bush Man made Kerry jump and scream when we were in SF in October.

Desert Springs

We stopped by the Desert Tower on the way to El Centro. While at the tower the operator sugested that we might like to hike to see the desert springs - we were not disappointed.

Mini-miracle

Not really - but just what we needed. We needed to get a batch from a year ago that was in the middle of the stack. We started moving boxes, then we thought, "how bad would it be if the boxes just fell." So I pulled out the box, and the hole stayed opened and nothing moved. Put it back just as easy.

Mardi Gras 2007

We spent Presidents' Day making 4 King Cakes (one mini-cake). Two will go to GTY, one to a gathering that Kerry has Tuesday night, and we'll have the other for breakfast. This is our 17th year making King Cakes. The year I was in India we had cakes shipped to GTY from Meche's in Lafayette.

We do a family Mardi Gras - fully clothed and in our right minds. The type that most people do. The one in NOLA is not typical; It's a shame that it gets all the press. The ones in small towns are non-drunken affairs for the whole family - good food, good music, good costumes, and good fun.

Go Team

Campbell did very well at the Awana Games today. He helped his team come in 1st.

A little boy named David

Today was David and Goliath. One of the teachers built a life-sized Goliath for the childern to see. The boy on the right in the white, blue, and green striped shirt is Cooper.

Go Team

Campbell did very well at the Awana Games today. He helped his team come in 1st.

Go Team

Campbell did very well at the Awana Games today. He helped his team come in 1st.

Windows Vista

We got our windows upgrade today. The vista out the back window is a huge improvement over our old windows.

These open AND close, they do not need to be rebooted if you have a problem and they come with local tech support.

Windows Vista

We got our windows upgrade today. The vista out the back window is a huge improvement over our old windows.

These open AND close, they do not need to be rebooted if you have a problem and they come with local tech support.

Seating for 2 with a view

New outdoor seating in the heart of Valencia. Jay M is having some work done on their house. This is what the plumber set out in the yard. I'm sure the neighborhood police will be very happy.

Help us all

Great a new section at Target. Just what we need, a new thing for kids to ask for. C1 and C2 didn't see it - so I'm safe for a while.

Keeping it real fake

After work today we went for a walk to the local fake lake - Bridgeport. There were ducks by the ton and three Canada Geese. We stopped at the park to let the boys play for a bit. As usual we had to leave before we wanted to, because this park attracts the potty mouth set.

He does everything

We had a small plumbing issue at GTY today, normally Ben would take care of it - but he is out today. Leonard, one of our volunteers, took the challege on and fixed the sink. Leonard does everything, besides being a telephone pioneer, he is also the GTY barber in residence. You never can tell what he'll do next.

Queue for Books

We had a clean out day at GTY. We sent an email out letting staff know that at 2:30 we would open the doors for a discontinued book give away. Staff queued up 2 minutes early. Some took a few titles, others left with their arms full. No pushing and shoving here - everyone was polite, so much so that I had to force people to take the last of anything.

Urban Forest

Los Angeles has one of the most tree-filled downtowns; It's more than just palms and elms - here is a great example of a Silk Floss tree. It is the perfect tree for Los Angeles, it gets showy pink flowers (Hollywood stars), pods that look nice on the outside but make a huge hairy mess if you open it up ( LA politics) and it's covered in thorns (LA's aloof people).

Novelty Weather

It was cold again when I drove in to work (34f). Then we got some sleet, then we got about 3 min of snow. Us SoCal natives stood out in the wonder of the novelty weather. I wonder if we should blame the new democratic congress - or perhaps the Nuke from 24 is causing the unusual weather.

It's the old-fashioned kind

After church we went over the grandpa and Metella's house to build some bookcases. While I was building, Campbell decided to use the foam that the wood was packed in to do some building his own. He build a pulpit. Metella asked him if it went up and down, and he told her no - it's the old-fashioned kind.

Baby it's cold outside

It was 19f on the way to church this morning. We saw a thermometer on a building that said it was 13! We has the seat heaters on, and the heater cranked on full - we SoCal folks cannot take it when it is this cold.

I'm Home and He's Here

I just got back from CES. Kerry picked me up from the airport and we went to see the newest Flowers. He is very sweet, and his mom and dad are doing well. He was less than 1 hour old when we saw him!

BTW I've left his name his name out till his mom and dad tell everyone first.

Now that I'm back home I've tallied the steps I walked at CES - comes to 78,083. Not too bad for 4 days.

Gift for John Daley

If you are looking for a gift for John this receipt scanner would be perfect.

They Make Everything

Found this poster for a company that makes Bluetooth headsets for hippos, or perhaps they are showing the size of their products. 'Look how small our headet is - even a hippo can use it.'

Quiz Time Again

Here is a pix from one of our meals. Which meal did Jay have a French Dip?

44 inch display

Ted strapped a 44 inch virtual display to his head for a connected experience.

What is it?

Can you identify the two food globes on this plate? Bonus points if you guess correctly.

CES2007

We're here at CES waiting for Bill Gates to give the Key Note address. We're in a room that seats 4000 people - more than Grace Community. It's huge, and has a single-span roof, no middle supports. BTW it is on the 5th floor! I hope the engineers were awake when they designed it.