Counting Cows

I really don't know what is motivating me to post this many pictures of cows. Ill try to rationalize it in a second.

So, there is this "Cow Parade" here in La Jolla. Its a travelling thing, so maybe it's been to your city, or coming. Anyhow, the kids and I toured them on foot this late-afternoon. There were really beautiful and highly creative. We found, and tagged 21 cows in total!

Thankfully I have some mercy and I spared you a few, but here are some of the better ones. I think I posted all these pictures to try and share the effort that we put into this odessy. And of course, to show all the silly expressions the kids came up with. But mostly, I think I wanted to try and relay the powerful oddity that is inescapable when one is confronted with massive amounts of artsy-painted cows.

Got a favorite?

Everything but the Dentist

Andy and Katie went to the dentist today. On returning home, Andy dashed into my office to let me know what happened...

Andy: "Daddy, we went to the Dentist and my teeth are all clean!"

Me: "That's great buddy!"

Andy: "Yeah, and the dentist gave us a free beer for you."

Me: *Perplexed and Amused* "A free BEER?"

Andy: "Yeah, a BEEEEEEER."

Me: "Like the kind you drink?"

Andy: *Sticking to his story* "Yes, a beer."

Me: "Well, cool, where is it?"

Andy: "Mommy drank it accidentally. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me."

Me: "I see... Hey Andy, did you make this whole story up?"

*Pause*

Andy: "Yeah... Everything but the dentist."


You know, that's a pretty good idea... free beer at the dentist. I sure as heck would go to the dentist more often if the gave away free beer. Would make those annoying waiting room experiences a while lot more tolerable, not to mention the procedures.

Kite Running

I sure have had a rough patch of health the last 4 days. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say I have seen enough of the bathroom for a while.

So today I felt on the mend, and decided I needed to get out of the house. I noticed on the TV that San Diego had a high-wind advisory in effect, so I immeadiately thought "KITES!". I grabbed the kids and drove 3 minutes to a hill top park here called Kate Sessions.

We had a few kites, both of which have never been flown. One of them, we call the Turtle Kite, was a decoration my mom bought for Andy's room, and it has been collecting dust since our last move. Not sure it would even fly, I rigged it up quickly and let her rip. Turned out that the turtle kite was not only our best kite, but also the best kite at the park! We blew the other amateurs away and had our little kite higher than anyone else. Andy deserves most of the credit for having the unending patience/fascination to fly it for about 45 minutes. (Check out the middle picture closely, our kite is the one up HIGH.)

I must say, there's nothing quite like flying a kite. Maybe it's just the pure element of looking into the big blue sky for longer than we normally do. There is something about the experience that seems to capture both wonder and relaxation. I think what I love most about it, is the peaceful dedication to watching something that simply isn't going anywhere.

Leprechauns

This is the first year the kids really got 'into' St. Patty's Day. Chocolate coins were hidden around the house, and the kids were told that the Leprechauns had visited, making messes and playing shenanigans all over town. In school, the kid's arrived to find their classrooms all messed-up and coloring scribbles on random paper.

My favorite Leprechaun prank happened at our friends house, where the kids found the toilet filled with green 'pee' (a few drops of food coloring) -- showing that the Leprechauns can leave their mark in more than one way...

Classic.

Oh yeah, the green binoculars in the photo are "Leprechaun Goggles", that will help you find the little green men to get ahold of their pot 'o gold.

Slow Eater, Fast Treater

Andy is known with great infamy to be the "Slow Eater" of the family. So much to the point where tears are often spawned at the end of each meal as the rest of the family is ready to go play games while Andy is left facing a half-finished meal.

In trying to scientifically examine this behavior, I have concluded that the cause is psychological, and certainly not physical. In proof, I site every trip to to get either ice cream or doughnuts. On those cases, Andy is ALWAYS first to finish.

So, I think he just gets bored with eating things that don't tickle his sweet tooth. He just kinda sits there and talks or observes others instead of eating when faced with a regular meal.

Anyone know any tricks to speed things up at the dinner table?

Remembering the Eagle

This week marks the 1 year passing of my dad. I created this short video as a small dedication.

Galen 2005 Video

Thank you dad, for guiding me to dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops. I share in your freedom.

Double Celebration

My mom had a birthday today and also celebrated her official retirement this weekend! We went up to SB to help her celebrate the occasion -- there was a big party at the park and lots of friends and family.

As many of you know, my mom was raised on a farm. She never went to college. Coming from this background, I am both amazed and proud of all she has accomplished professionally over the course of her career. She started her own interior design business (Shar Decor) in 1974, which at the time was nothing more than a few carpet samples stored in the hallway closet. Over the last 35 years, she has grown that small idea into a very significant business and has employed dozens of other designers to work for her. I've been an entrepreneur and let me assure you, it's no picnic. Its all about stress and endless hours of work -- and I have a lot of respect for anyone who can stick it out.

So she has earned a well deserved break from the toils of employment and will be 'dropping the curtain' on Shar Decor this year.

In the spirit of celebrating her life and career, I wrote the following poem, enjoy:

"How was she supposed to know?"

There was a girl who use to live
On a farm with lots of snow
She worked real hard from dawn to dusk,
...How was she supposed to know?

The days were long and dad was tough,
As she pushed around that plow
She'd clean the barn and ask herself
'Must I also milk the cow?'

The girl grew up and thought inside
"I can't take this farmhand strife,
I've gota hit the bigtime,
And make a bit more of this life"

She dreamed of smartin' up a bit
And asked her pop for money
I want to go to college dad
But he said, "no way, honey"

It's 1962 my dear
your future is not to roam,
your meant for cookin' and cleanin',
staying barefoot in the home

This stinks, said she, I'm more than that
Ill show YOU what my plan is
I'm smart and strong and just as good
as any other man-is

So she packed her bags at eighteen
To the city... the big show
But jobs were scarce and also hard,
...How was she supposed to know?

She ironed shirts, and wore short skirts
for she had to scrimp and save
Getting by in the great big world
can mean living like a slave

When suddenly it dawned on her,
"Wisconsin is waaay to cold!
Ill head out to the golden state
Where it's warm and full of gold!"

She packed again and hopped a train
California had her smirkin'
She found this place call Santa B
Where she would start a workin'

She'd tried her hand at makin' perms
but it didnt seem to stick
But then she landed at a desk
Twas a little more her shtick

When suddenly she met this guy
And she was quickly smitten
Her career became a memory
The baby clock was ticken'

It now seemed that earning felt like
some-thing of a distant foe
"I better nab this golden boy"
...How was she supposed to know?

She cooked and cleaned and washed the clothes
the job just faintly hauntin'
cause nothing stops this little girl
from gettin what she's wantin'

Soon they wed, and not long after
little babies came around
she rocked and wiped for many years
'til she heard again that sound

the sound of calling destiny
of being something greater
I think Ill fix up peoples homes
and be a decorator!

Galen said "Cool, I'll work part-time!
What a great idea honey,
Ill shoot more ducks and fish too,
and YOU can make the money!"

And so she did for many years,
starting her very own store,
she made an empire of design,
in the name of Shar Decor

The years went by more quickly now
she was working high and low
the job was fun but had its costs
...How was she supposed to know?

They say you know when it is time
to quit while your still alive
if you forget, Retirement
will tell you at sixty-five

So she'll close up shop and rest now
for Shar Decor was certain
to make her nuts or kill her
unless she pulled the cutain

And now whats next, we'll have to wait
and see what fate will bring us
exotic trips and aged fine wine
and songs granchildren sing us

So great job mom, you've earned your keep
it's now time to take it slow
dont worry about what comes next
..How are you, supposed to know.

END

And if that's not enough, here is the "When I'm 64" Birthday Video I made for her a few years back...

When I'm 64 Birthday Video for Mom

We are proud of you mom, and we love you!

SB Weekend

Had a great weekend up in SB. We went up to see my mom and help her celebrate her birthday, and her retirement! (Yay!) Ill have a comprehensive post on those parts tomorrow.

For today, wanted to share some pics of a little nature walk we took with my sister and nieces. The walk was behind Tucker's Grove, a very very old stomping ground for TL and I. It was green, peaceful and beautiful.

We also got to enjoy a very nice treat down at the SB harbor, as there seems to be a whale that is hanging out there. Apparently the guy is taking a breather on his migration journey to Alaska. People were paddling right up to him and you could see him from like 100' away at some points. Very cool, as we watched from the wharf.

Yahtzee!

Played Yahtzee tonight.

Andy crushed us, as he was the only one to actually landed a Yahtzee. Oddly enough, he completed this coup-de-gras by shaking a wild roll which bounced the final die off Katie's head to complete the 5-of-a-kind. That's the thing about playing Yahtzee with Andy -- for him, most of the fun is seeing how FAR he can roll the dice. We spend most of the game chasing down his rolls.

Just a little off the top

Went to get haircuts today.

It's becoming something of a tradition that Andy and I go together to get our hair cut. We usually wait until they can serve us both at the same time. Andy is getting the routine down -- so much that he blurts out "I want a mohawk!" before he even fully gets into the chair. I of course have to explain to the stylist that he wants to get a regular haircut and then have it made to look like a mohawk once it's all done.

It's pretty good male bonding time and I value the conversations we have during this little trips. Today we talked about which super-heroes were the most awesome, and which ones were our favorites. We pitted them against each other in virtual battles and carefully hypothesized the probably outcomes. We also talked about our favorite flavors of lollipops, and weather or not our SUV could jump over another car if we really had to. I have to be honest with you, I really wish all my daily conversations were this interesting, and this important.

USS MIDWAY

Mommy had Book Club on Sunday, so while she was off gabbing with the hens, me and the kiddo's decided to visit one of San Diego's famous wonders... the USS MIDWAY.

The Midway is an aircraft carrier that launched in 1945, and was highly active in Vietnam and Desert Storm. She is almost 1000 feet long, can carry over 4,000 sailors, 130 aircraft, and weighs 74,000 tons. In 2004, the Midway was turned into a museum in San Diego, and for a small fee, you can climb in and around almost every inch of her... and we did.

If you ever get the chance to go inside an aircraft carrier, I highly recommend it. It is a truly incredible creation. Once you get down into the belly of it, everything is very tight. And the rooms just keep going... bunks, engineering, control rooms, flight briefing rooms, and on and on. The kids must has passed (and flipped) about a billion switches, levers, and valves. We got to sit in the cockpits of fighter planes and helicopters -- and even the captain's chair itself.

One of the great treats about the Midway, is that the on-board staff is made-up mostly of retired vets, many of which served aboard her. As you walk through the ship, you see all these historical photos of young navy-men working their various jobs aboard the boat. Then you enter room after room with these old-timers who tell great stories about what life was like on the ship. A very rich experience that I will treasure for quite a while.

Special Day

On Friday, Katie had a very special day. She recieved an award for ourstanding academic performance in her class. She got to stand-up in front of the whole school, take some photos, and really enjoy a bit of celebrity.