Archive for the year 2010
What a Difference a Couple of Days Makes
Posted on September 12, 2010 by Ching under Life.
One of the headlines in the local and state section of the paper on Wednesday read, “Hartman may run as Libertarian.” A couple of days later in the Friday paper, “Hartman won’t run as a Libertarian.” What a difference a couple of days makes!
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I’m a Month Behind at Posting Photos
Posted on September 12, 2010 by Ching under Life.
I probably won’t get caught up by this weekend, but it’s worth a shot. LOL. I’ll make a valiant effort, though. Here are the photos from our camping adventure a few weeks ago. It was the first time that Brian and I had gone camping together.
Because we’re nerds, we brought way too much stuff with us. We packed like we were going to stay there for a week; as opposed to overnight, which is all we were doing.
The Phelpi and their family were already there. They actually stayed on Friday night. The Dills and Brian and I decided we would come on Saturday and stay only one night, though. It worked out great because we promised to bring them fresh LaMars on Saturday morning.
After delivering the donuts, our first task was to set up shelter.
Thanks to Mom and Dad B for loaning us their camping gear, including this nice tent.
I think we went way overboard with the blankets. It was a nice evening and the weather was perfect. We brought way more blankets than we really needed.
Gavin was wearing the Alcatraz shirt that we got for him that day.
April and Brian chillaxin’ by our tent in our awning chairs.
We ended up having to move our tent a few yards away because we originally had it set up by the swimming area. I guess that isn’t allowed.
By the way, here’s how “brilliant” we are… We put our camping permit on before we put on the rain cover. LOL. Well, at first Brian didn’t want to put the rain cover on because he was afraid that it would make the inside of the tent too hot. Then we decided to put the cover on at the last minute, but I’d already put the permit on. The park rangers didn’t give us a hard time about it, though. Shoot, the Dills didn’t even bother with a getting a permit and they were fine. =P
Here’s Brian taking a nap inside our tent.
The Dills arrived later that day. Brian helped them set up their mansion… Err, tent.
Becca and Jay, post tent set up.
We played a little bit of Ladder Golf before sitting around the campfire for hotdogs, smores, and some great conversation.
Christy’s middle child, Evan, was sweet and sat with me in my chair. He mostly just wanted to play with my phone, though. =P
Cory with Evan and Marshall.
Evan and Marshall playing Angry Birds on Christy’s phone the next day, while Cory cooked us some bacon.
Camping was lot of fun. I didn’t think I would enjoy it at first, but I actually liked it. Mostly I liked sleeping outdoors. Reminds me of summers in Tanjay. Anyway, Brian and I decided we’ll do some more camping in the future.
P.S. Click here for more of our camping photos.
P.P.S. In an effort to keep this blog G-rated, I purposely avoided mentioning the religious revival in the shelter next to our camp site that almost ruined the best part of the camping experience for me. Good thing they were all gone by nightfall. 😉
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There are others like us!
Posted on September 10, 2010 by Brian under Life.
Today at work I was talking to one of my co-workers. We chat whenever we have the time, anything from how our day is going to our spouses. Today’s chat was about our spouses. She got a great promotion and will be moving to a different state soon. She was telling me how dependent her and her husband were towards each other. She said that she will be in this new state for several months before her husband can join her and she just doesn’t know how she will be able to cope without her husband around.
I told her that my wife and I are the same, we rely on each other for everything. I told her that when one of the two of us is out of town for work, we have a kind of withdrawal, even if its only for a few hours, especially me. She said that her and her husband are the same. He really does not do anything on his own unless she can join him. He has to leave town on occasion for work and they always stay in touch and communicate. If one of them gets busy and does not get in touch with the other, the other worries. I told her that my wife an I are the same. We have been like this for years. I told her that some of my wife’s friends think it’s unhealthy, they think that we should have “Me” time. She laughed at this. I went on to tell her that we have been mistaken for newlyweds on occasion, even though we have been together for almost 12 years, we sometimes still act like newlyweds. She confirmed that her and her husband are the same and they have been married much longer than us.
She told me to stay the way we are, they have always been close and every day their relationship gets closer. She assured me that there is nothing wrong with wanting to do things with each other all the time. She also pointed out that there is nothing wrong with one of you not wanting to do something with the other and the other doing something with friends, or by them selves. She said that on occasion, they will have something to do apart but it’s usually short because they want to get back to each other and spend time together.
I can only hope that my wife and I will have the same “Healthy” relationship as them. I was very please to hear that we are not a weird couple and that there are others like us. After our talk I went back to my desk and looked around, I have several pictures of my wife scattered around my desk, that’s what gets me through the day. My other co-workers call it my shrine, I call it love. I took a walk around the office and found several other employees that had multiple pictures of their families, some of them had more than me. I guess I get picked on because I’m close and an easy target.
I really do love my wife, ever since I first time I saw her. When she agreed to marry me it was like the world lit up and shined a bright light right on us. OK, you all can stop rolling your eyes now.
I can tell you this, the love I have for my wife, and from my observations, the love others have for their spouses and families can not accurately be expressed in words. You can type and say how much you love someone until your blue in the face or your fingers bleed. However, the look on the persons face when they look into the eyes of their spouse or admire their family, says more than any words can.
Baby, I love you more than anything. I hope that our relationship will stand the test of time. I look forward to acting like newlyweds when we are in our 60’s. I love you.
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That’s What You Get!
Posted on September 9, 2010 by Brian under Life.
Today was my mothers birthday. Don’t ask me how old she is, I quit counting when I was 13. After dinner we were discussing the finer moments in the families dinning history. One moment will forever be ingrained in my memory.
It was several years ago at an eatery called “Rio Bravo”. It was an OK place. Not a fancy joint but the food was decent. At the time it was myself, my mother, father and brother. We were immediately seated as there were only a few people in the place and we had come early enough to beat the dinner crowd. We were sat down next to a table of about 16 people. We waited about 10 min and the waiter came and dropped down some water. He said he would be back shortly to get our drink orders. We waited and waited while we watched him cater to this table of 16 people. He just kept hovering and hovering and not paying any attention to us. About the time we were getting ready to get up and leave the Manager comes around. He asks “Is everything going OK? is our server assisting you OK?” My dad replied, “As a matter of fact, NO!” he went on to tell him how we were getting ready to leave as we had been waiting 30 min and only received water and our waiter had still not taken our order.
The manager immediately apologized and said he would find our waiter. My dad pointed out that he was at the table with 16 people and had been there since we sat down. The manager asked that we stay and said he would return in a moment. We watched as the manager walked over to the waiter and asked to see him for a moment. The manager and waiter walked to a little alcove directly in my line of sight and hearing. I listened as the manager asked why he had not gotten our order yet and asked if he realized that it had been 30 min. The waiter boldly replied “Yes I’m aware, but it’s only four people, I’m not going to get as good of a tip from them as I am going to get from the 16 top.” The manager simply replied “I see, well I’ll handle the 4 top then”. I saw this sheepish grin on the face of the manager as the waiter walked by giving us a dirty look. The manager noticed it as well and immediately walked over to our table. He announced his name again and said he would be our waiter this evening. He then said “Please order anything off of the menu tonight, and I mean anything! Dinner… will be on him!” as he pointed his finger at our previous waiter. We all looked at the manager in shock and awe!
At that moment we immediately looked over the menu and ordered appetizers, expensive main meals and desserts that we would not have ordered if we were paying the bill. At the end the manager walked over and laid the check down in front of us. We all looked at him, then at the check, then back at him. He stated “I just wanted you all to see what he is going to have to pay before he leaves here today”. Looking at the bill we realized that the 4 of us ran up a $90.00 bill. It was amazing. We were so stuffed we could barely move. At that moment the manager picked up the check just as the little waiter was walking back the the alcove, he then handed the waiter the check and told him “I hope you made a real good tip off of that 16 top”, the waiter said “yep, sure did! and thanks for taking care of that table”. The manager then handed the waiter the bill and said “this will need to be paid before you leave tonight, it’s the bill for the 4 top you abandoned”.
The manager made it a point to say it loud enough that we could all hear it. The waiter was pissed and immediately snapped us an evil look. At that moment we decided that it was time to go. But before we left, my dad took 30 dollars out of his pocket and handed it to the manager. He told him that he deserved this for taking such good care of us. The manager tried to refuse it but we are rather persistent people.
It was the greatest thing I have ever seen a manager do and I will never forget it for as long as I live.
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The Love of My Life
Posted on September 3, 2010 by Brian under Life.
Lately my wife has been watching these romantic Philippine movies from Netflix. Thanks to subtitles I can follow along pretty good. Some of the movies are not to bad, others are a little cheesy. However, they all have the same message. Man finds girl, falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with man, minor turmoil then everything works out for the best and they live happily ever after.
Watching all of these movies made me think about the relationship with my wife. We met almost 12 years ago. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. I will never forget how she looked walking in to Walt’s bar and grill. Unfortunately, at the time she was with one of my coworkers. But I didn’t let that stop me.
I waited and when the opportunity presented itself I made my move. Luckily she liked geeky guys and I realised soon enough that she was just as into me as I was into her.
We had our turbulent moments. She even dumped me one time. But she returned and I accepted her with open arms. Ever since then we have been inseparable. People that don’t know us think we are newlyweds, people that do know us think that we are crazy. But we just tell all of them that they are jealous that they don’t have a love like ours.
I would not trade this life for anything. I tell my wife all the time that she is the best thing that ever happened to me and that I can not imagine my life without her. I also tell her that if not for her, I’d probably be a hermit and not ever leave my house.
She is my soul mate, the love of my life, and until the day I die, I will always be grateful that she came into my life.
I love you baby, always and forever.
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