Christmas/New Year's Trip #2

You can see Part 1 here...
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We woke up on December 26 and started our 1 day SoCal tour. We went to San Diego for brunch with Steve, Stacey, Emma (my Goddaughter) and Molly. It was a great time featuring manhole cover pancakes and crunchy potatoes. Claire and I then did some shopping (BAD IDEA!!!) and off to San Clemente to meet my father and his wife Patty for dinner. The food was good, the company was wonderful and we really enjoyed the afternoon/evening. Around 8pm, we began our trek to LA to see our friends Craig and Jenny. Craig and I have been friends since we were 11 and have been close since I beat him up on the playground. You know, the way most guy friendships start.

On Sunday morning, we had a nice breakfast and a very enjoyable, lazy morning...then off to Vegas for the annual family trip. We think this is year #7 where the whole family gets together, we eat buffet's, go to a show and enjoy being around one another...this year was no different.

We spent a day at the Spa, saw the Lion King and had a great time being together...there was one little thing that was different, however.

My brother and his wife got us the hook-up at The Bank at Bellagio. So, on Sunday night we cut the line, walked through VIP and rolled up to the best table in the house. We were situated right on the corner of the dance floor with a personal bouncer and a private hostess. We danced and laughed and generally had a party until 4am. We really knew what it felt like to be a rock star that night!

A big round of Thank You's...first to Pops for making this trip happen. We so love being together and you providing this opportunity for the family to be together is one of the highlights of the year for all of us. Next, thanks to James and Sabra for the set-up at The Bank. Certainly the best party Claire and I have ever been to.

Finally, thanks to the whole family for being so great and so loving!!!

Here are some shots from the trip...

The TaTaTa and Pops...
Esther and Brock...

Me and my brother James...

Erin and Kalar, warming up from Minn...

Me and the Little One...

James and Sabra...

The 6 Cumquat's just before the Lion King...

Christmas\New Year's Trip, Part 1

Whew...I am almost recovered from a 9-day trip, 7 of which were in Las Vegas...3 nights at 3 different clubs (The Bank, Tao and Pure), 2 different shows (Lion King and Phantom) and no night earlier than 1am. Have I mentioned that Claire and I are both morning people?

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The trip started with a flight into Vegas on Christmas Eve. Claire and I flew separately and arrived in Vegas about an hour apart. By the time we got our car and luggage, it was 915pm and we started the 3 1/2 drive to Orange County.

We secretly pulled in at 12:45am Christmas morning, just after everyone in the house went to bed...my sister Katherine snuck out of bed and let us in. Claire and I went to bed on the couch under the tree and proceeded to fitfully sleep.

The surprises started around 730am when Sister #3, Jessica, said she thought she was dreaming when she heard my voice. "I could not figure out what man was in the house. I sat up, but figured I was just having a dream." No TaTaTa, it was not a dream...Surprise.

The next shock for the fam was around 830 when my sister Erin (sister #2) popped her head out from the top of the stairs...When she saw us her eyes got real big, she yelled "SHUT UP!!" and ran away...

Mom's surprise was the best. I had a dream that night that mom saw us and fell down the stairs. It was very troubling, so I made sure Claire and I were hiding under a blanket until she made it all the way down. Once she was safely down the stairs, we threw the blankets off and said "Merry Christmas!!" A blank stare. For a long time. She did not blink. Did not move. She just stared. It seemed like forever. We actually had to walk over to her before she moved. It was great.

Finally, Esther (Sister #1) was so taken aback, she "almost vomited" when she saw us. How glorious is that?!!

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The rest of the day was full of food and merriment. We had ham and gumbo, pancakes and pies. Claire and I even had time to get some sun, laying out by the pool and enjoying the 74 degree weather. Oh how I miss SoCal, especially in the winter.

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Pt 2 starts with brunch in San Diego, dinner in San Clemente and a nightcap in Los Angeles.

2 Vegas Trips...7 Vegas Days

Claire and I have been in Vegas since Sunday. We love this place.

Every year we do our annual trip with my family. Every year we look forward to it. Every year it does not disappoint.

Thanks again Pops for the wonderful family tradition.

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Starting today, my family is heading back home to SoCal and Claire's sister/husband will be joining us...so will Steve/Stacey. We are ringing in the New Year's in Vegas. None of us have ever done it, but thought it would be fun to try once.

What are we doing? Well, a lot of things...

We are staying at The Paris. Dinner's will be at Mesa Grill, N9NE Steakhouse and Sushi Roku...We are seeing a comedy show and Phantom. We are ringing in the New Year's at Tao with Christina Aguilera. We are spending a day at Qua. We will be chill'n at the Shadow Bar.

Good times, good people.

Avatar and Tacky Cards

Claire and I saw Avatar last weekend. Silly story, but visually stunning. It is long (nearly 3 hours), but it did not drag that much. Think Independence Day or Armageddon.

Claire said that she has seen Avatar before, but it was called Fern Gully.

I think she has a very legit point.

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Can I rant for a minute? Great...*Stepping on my soapbox*

I love Christmas cards. I love seeing what my friends are doing and the picture(s) that define their year.

I HATE when families send out cards with pictures of just their kids. You know which ones I am talking about...the ones that have just the kids sitting on Santa's lap or the kids frolicking in the sand during the family trip to Florida. The parents are missing from the picture. That is just wrong.

Listen, I love your kids. They are cute (well, most of them). I love to see how big they are getting. I think it is so cool that they are laughing and sitting up on their own.

But I am YOUR friend. I want to see what YOU are doing.

Please include a picture of the parents on the card. It is the right thing to do. If you don't, it is tacky. For those of you who do, thank you.

*Stepping off my soapbox*

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I give Poop a pass, because his was funny and and had a legit reason to not include the parents.

Merry Christmas

And no, we are not making an announcement of anything other than Merry Christmas and to remind everyone why we celebrate!

Let Me Be Your Hero

Everyone has one, whether they have it listed out or not.

Skydive. Bungee-jump. Eat a Rocky Mountain Oyster.

You know the list. Some call it a Bucket List.

Drive a race-car. Hit a home run. Dunk a basketball.

Things you want to do before you die.

Become a dad. Travel to Istanbul. Live in a house on the beach.

Some are silly. Some are very serious. Some are in between.

Kiss a girl taller than you. Run into a burning building. Get paid to play a sport.

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I have crossed some off my list. My list does not stop growing, but I like it that way.

Last Thursday, I got to cross one off...it was actually two, but they sorta went together.

Run into a burning building...be someones hero.

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As Claire and I got to the parking lot and saw the flames on the fifth floor, we realized it was not a drill. Our place was not in danger and even if it was, it is just stuff. Claire and I were safe.

Our neighbor, however, did not think he was that lucky. His apartment is directly below the one on fire. There were no firemen, yet. Our neighbor realized his cat was in danger.

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I hate cats. You can put "Eat a cat" on my bucket list. Mostly out of spite. I prefer dogs. They are much more my speed. Cats are too aloof, moody and mean. I hear they taste like chicken.

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Our neighbor's cat had run under the bed when the alarm went off and could not be coaxed out. As our neighbor sat there worrying about his cat, I asked him why don't you just run up there and get it. "I am scared" he said.

"Give me your keys" I replied curtly. And Claire did say I was very curt with him. I prefer to call it hero mode.

He looked at me and thought for a second. "Give me your keys, I will go get your cat!" I was not asking anymore. I was in hero mode.

"No, we will go together. Just don't leave me."

Really, he said that.

So we ran...up four flights of stairs...down the hallway...through his door. I lifted his bed and he climbed under and grabbed the cat. We ran out.

Yes, we saw smoke. It was so cool.

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The next day I was walking down the hallway and bumped into him and his family. He was getting what was left of his stuff out of the apartment. The flames did not get down to his place, but the water from the fire hoses and sprinklers did. Most everything was ruined.

I asked him what his plans were. We chatted for a second...then he stopped mid-sentence and introduced me to his family.

"This is the guy I was telling you about. This is my hero. He saved my cat."

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What is on your bucket list?

Bogart and the Burning Building

Thursday night Claire and I had just settled in...wrapped up on the couch, sipping a nice bottle of wine and a DVD. We were 90% done with the movie when a piercing sound hit our ears. It was followed with a strobe light.

Our fire alarm was going off.

You would think this would be cause for us to jump out of our seat, rushing to exit the building, but this is not the case. Our building has some issues and we live in P-Towne. False alarms are normal. So, Claire and I got up, changed clothes, made sure we had the right jackets, got our wallets and slowly made our way out of the apartment.

About 2/3rds of the way down the hall we realized this was not a drill or a false alarm. It was a real fire.

By the time we got outside, we could see flames in the corner apartment on the floor above us. Everyone is standing outside, freezing our tuchus off...I love that word!

6 Fire Trucks, 8 Cops and 2 Ambulances were surrounding our building. The local news was aiming their cameras at the big, white monstrosity we live in. Luckily, we have a friend that invited us over to get out of the cold.

4 hours later, we were escorted past 2 condemned apartments, through puddles of water and over debris that fell from the ceiling. We got to our place, snuggled back in and finished the movie.

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One good thing that happened...I got to cross off something on my Bucket List. On Wednesday you can read all about that...and the heater in our Apartment making snow on Friday.

99 Cent Store Wonders

***Edit December 16, 835am***

So the post I had intended...the "Sexy Daddy" and the "Placenta Soap" cut from Jay Leno is no longer available...I will just let you use your imagination as to what it was like...and yes, "Sexy Daddy" is a children's book.

Thanks for pointing that out Poop...the video not working, not the "Sexy Daddy" being a kids book...although it would not surprise me that you would know that.

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Claire is traveling the next couple of days...so I am back to bachelor life. Luckily, I get to do it at home where I can cook my own meals.

The downside of that is I have to figure out what I want to cook.

Last night I ate hamburger meat...with some ketchup and bacon.

This morning I had a hamburger omelet.

I need to find something more appealing for dinner...maybe Pickles and Ritz Crackers?

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I have watched the first two episodes of Men of a Certain Age...I like it.

It is funny, but not slapstick. It is serious, but not tears in your eyes.

I find myself strangely drawn to the characters, the fights they fight and the conflicted feelings they are dealing with...no, I am not the age that these characters are, but I can see some of the things they deal with and relate to them. If you are a guy of a certain age, it is worth checking out.

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I am reminded of something my mom said to me many years ago when that show "thirtysomething" was on TV...she was watching it and I complained that it was a stupid show. She responded, "it is not stupid, you are just not thirty-something".

I think of that comment when I watch Men of a Certain Age...

Maybe it is the gray hairs that are making like rabbits on my head.

Heart Warming

This weekend was a great one...After having been gone for the better part of 2 weeks, it was so nice to be back with my Claire!

We stayed up late Friday night watching 30-Rock, the Office and Top Chef (we have 1 more episode left to watch...don't spoil it for us!) on the DVR. On Saturday, Claire baked Almond Cranberry Spice Muffins and we watched UP...then to the movie theaters to see Blindside...then home to watch Chicago.

We loved all three movies and suggest them for anyone!

Somewhere in there, Claire also found time to make a homemade macaroni and cheese from scratch, we hit up the Happiest Place on Earth and stopped by the dry cleaners.

Saturday was a good day.

Sunday was fantastic as well, starting with CBS Sunday Morning in our PJ's, church and to a friend's house to watch the Charger's manhandle the Cowgirls.

Good times...Good times!

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Have you had a chance to see this picture?





You can read the story here.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom...

39 years old...wow, where does the time go?

I am so very thankful for you.

Heading home

Heading home today...whew. That was a long 9 days. Cold. Like -5 wind chill Thursday.

Can't wait to get to the balmy 45 in VA!

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I love eating out, but 9 days in a row of every meal being eaten out sucks. Not gonna lie.

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Why is it that every bathroom has a guy who insists on using the john while either texting or talking on the cellular? How hard is it to tap out for 5-10 mins? Dude, enjoy your private time.

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Loving the new job. I enjoy being involved in "The Game" again. I missed being productive.

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Have you seen the HBO Special featuring the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame performance yet? Amazing. Simply amazing. Watching Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel play...Metallica and Ozzy...U2 and Mick Jagger...and a whole host of others. If you like music, you have to watch it. Such a must see!!!

Brrrrr. Cold.

Sitting in a hotel room in Kansas City.

It is cold here. Been as cold as 10.

Ten.

That is cold.

We are to wake up with 2-3 inches of snow today.

I think I need to rethink this new job...or at least the travel to KC during the winter.

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Real quick request for those of you in the service industry. If you are working with a client, please try your best not to pass stinky gas when your client is around. It does not help your case.

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Did you see Nebraska almost take down Texas on Saturday night? Oh that would have been so glorious!!

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There is this homeless guy in P-Towne that has been on my mind recently. It is an unusual thing. He has sorta stuck with me for a while. I can't explain it. Wondering if there is something I should be doing for him besides praying for him and his circumstances.

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9 days away from my wife is too long. Only 4 days left, but I have had enough of this.

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I need to figure out how to balance this blogging with the new job. Any tips?

Camping At Home

Claire and I had friends arriving on Saturday morning for brunch.

We were going to make fresh baked cranberry muffins and Shrimp & Corn Grits.

Claire woke up, put together the muffins and baked them perfectly. They were beautiful and really good.

My job was to create the Shrimp and Corn Grits.

I started cooking. It was not working. The stove had little to no power.

I could not even melt butter.

Turns out the power company said that we have a "Phase Out".

I have guests arriving in 15 mins and now I have a "Phase Out". No appliances can run. The heater is out. The stove top is not working. The fridge is dead in the water.

I have Shrimp and Corn Grits to make. Crap.

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Earlier this year, Claire and I won a drawing over at Wonderful World of Weiners.

We won a bunch of camping equipment including a machete, wind-proof lighter, knife, flashlights, multi-gas coffee pot and a camp stove.

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We are watching the stove...nothing is happening.

We are watching the clock...it is ticking.

Claire says, "Hey, wait. Don't we have that really awesome camp stove and a small propane tank?"

Sure enough, we have that wonderful camp stove. I pull out the box...it is still packed in the original shipping box...and assemble it.

First words that appear on the stove when you open the box?

DO NOT USE INDOORS

We did anyway. And the camp fire Shrimp and Corn Grits were awesome!!!

Thanksgiving Scores

The following ratings are based on a 1-to-10 scale with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst.

Category: 2009 Thanksgiving Day

Rest: 8...Claire and I had a lazy morning, we slept well and there was little to no stress.

Company: 6.5...it is not that the people we were with were not fun, cause they were. We enjoyed the conversation and like the people we were with. I also love every minute I am with my wife. But the score reflects the missing family and other close friends that we were not with.

Food: Solid 6. My pancakes fell a bit flat (Why can't I ever remember to put enough sugar? I have been making these since I was a kid!) and my Famous Egg Nog was a little on the salty side. But the turkey that Suzie made was amazingly succulent (despite the lack of dark meat) and the rum cake was straight from Heaven. I was also missing the one thing I have had at EVERY Thanksgiving (and Christmas!) since I was born...Yiftees. It is not Thanksgiving without Yiftees. That certainly hurt the score.

Football: 2-minus. The only reason this is not a negative score, was that the 30-mins of the first half I got to see of the GB/Detroit game was actually pretty good. The rest...well, there was no rest. There was no football on at our friends house. We had Sly and the Family Stone albums playing and that was pretty cool, but the football was not there...Oh yea, I also gave consideration to the fact that I really did not miss anything and it was not Baseball.

Turkey: 8.75. I know I already mentioned the food, but this bird was rock'n. It was moist and good. I even had a turkey sandwich last night with nothing but a roll and the bird...no other thing was needed. Why was it not a 10? I love me some dark meat and it was not there. Apparently they sell white meat turkey only. For shame.

Weather: 9. It was Sixty Five and Sunny. What more could I want? Maybe 75 and sunny, but a 9 is a GREAT score.

What categories am I missing? How do you rate your Turkey day?

Honking the Horn and Getting Chubby..wink, wink, nudge, nudge

Most of the time I really like the fact that I live right next to the water. The ferry stop is 100 feet from our building, we have a great waterside view of downtown Norfolk and we just love being near water.

Then there are nights like last night that make us question the sanity of living on a busy waterway...1:30am...ONE THIRTY AM...on a Tuesday...a Navy ship decided it was time to test their horn. The ship is buoyed less than 150 yards from our place.

Navy ships have loud horns.

Especially at 1:30am.

Over and over and over and over...

I respect our Navy. I love our servicemen. I am married to one.

I HATE the horn honker at 1:30am.

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I really don't like the fact that the horn honking has continued on a regular basis ever since...about 5 or 6 honks per hour.

That last line...scratch it from your memory...sounds like a bad line from a B-Movie.

Or remember it if you are a movie script writer...I just want the credit.

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We decided to try this recipe from Tyler Florence on Monday night.

To prepare, we picked up a Sugar Pumpkin at the farmer's market this weekend. Well, at least we were told it was a sugar pumpkin. Sure, it was larger than the one's Tyler used, but the farmer's daughter told us this $6 pumpkin was the same...we believed her. (Little Lying Farmer's Daughter)

We then proceeded to make the pies...exactly how the recipe directs. We cook/bake often. We know how to follow a recipe.

The pies turned out way under sweet. They tasted vaguely like banana flavored pumpkin sauce that really needed sugar.

Boooooooo Farmer's Daughter....Boooooooooo,..

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We did manage to fix the pies last night with a little ingenuity and elbow grease...First, we took 1/2 a loaf of cinnamon bread and one of the pies...cubed them and turned them into this wonderful Cinnamon Banana Pumpkin bread pudding. Oh my. (We used this Paula Dean bread pudding as a basic guide)

Then I took the other pie, mixed in more sugar and made a new pie. It is okay...edible...but nothing like the greatness that is Cinnamon Banana Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

My love handles just got a lot more lovely.

Hoooray for the Holiday's!!! Hoooray for San Diego!!!

Its the most
Wonderful Time
Of the year...

I love the time from now until the end of the year. Christmas music is playing in the stores and I get to eat Turkey.

This weekend, Claire and I will be picking out a Christmas tree and decorating the house.

I love it!!!

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On Saturday...
1. Went to the Happiest Place on Earth
2. Made Chili with Claire...the 5 alarm type
3. Watched Cal beat Stanford...Watched Nebraska roll K-State
4. Walked around town to look at the Christmas lights

What else could you want from a Saturday?

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Chalk this up to my love of all things San Diego...

1. The Chargers won! Convincingly. First Place...woohoo!
2. Jimmie Johnson won. 4 NASCAR Sprint Titles in a row. I am not a watcher of NASCAR, but Jimmie is from San Diego. Ergo, hooray!
3. San Diego is named #1 Beer town in America. I don't drink beer, but San Diego was named #1...Rock-On San Diego!!!

Bring Me My Lychee

Our trip to the Second Happiest Place on Earth a couple of weeks ago was a wonderful time with Claire's family.

Having never spent time at Disney...except for that unusual situation in January, I was very excited to check out what people east of the Mississippi think is the Happiest Place on Earth.

And yes, we really did have a great time.

I am so blessed to have a family-in-law that I love to be with.

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The Food and Wine portion of the Disney trip was a bit disappointing. The food and wine booths they had lining Epcot were interesting, but the few things we tried were: 1. Expensive 2. Average.

I know, I know...what should I expect. We are at a theme park where food should be expected to be: 1. Expensive 2. Average

I just thought that since it was "Food and Wine Expo" that it might be a bit different.

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I will say, the amount of Lychee things I ate (mostly thanks to my wife finding them and bringing them home with her!!!) was fantast-i-licious! Gummies, hard candy, Sake, etc....yum, yum.

And if you have not tried a Lychee, you NEED to. A Lychee martini might be a good place to start.

SuperMegaNews...or just an update.

News...so much news...okay, just some news, but I figure if I make it sound important y'all would forgive the two weeks without an update.

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So I started a new job last week. I was surprised when I was recommended for a job with the SuperMegaCorporation. I was surprised when they flew me out and I liked it. I was surprised when they made a solid offer.

I am most surprised that I accepted and will be working from home some of the time...while traveling to the middle of the country some of the time.

I wanted to say "strange things are afoot at the Circle K", but that seemed so 1990's.

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So, I was gone last week...the week when the "Kill Bogart" storm hit P-Towne. If you click on the link, you will see the beginning of the flooding, including the ferry that stops at the base of our building...the same ferry that they say they don't shut down...the same ferry that was shut down for Thursday and Friday because the area that they dock (1.25min into the video) was completely underwater.

Oh, if you look for it, 59 seconds into the video, you will see a shot of the Big White Monstrosity that Team Bogart currently resides in...wooohooo.

Nothing like making the local news to make you feel famous...or something.

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Poor Claire had to deal with the crazy flooding all by herself. Even being rudely awakened on Thursday morning with water dripping on her head.

Drip....Drip....Drip...4:30am...Good thing she found the buckets and pans to catch all the water!

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My experience with the storm? We had wind shear warnings when we were landing on Friday night...made a couple of attempts to land and then were diverted to Raleigh-Durham, NC. We deplaned, sat around and then reboarded. We made one final attempt, landing safely around midnight.

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It is nice to be back home. It is nice to be back to the blog.

Alive and Well...Thanks for Checking In

Being alive is good.

While we did have a couple of close calls upon landing on Friday night in Norfolk, including a redirect to North Carolina, Bogart is alive and well.

As far as the blogging goes, well, clearly I have lacked in that department for the past two weeks.

I know it is really no excuse, but I was in Chicago then Kansas City, covering the better part of the last two weeks...

I do have so much news and still owe you an update of pictures from Disney.

I will be getting to it soon.

No, really, I will.

My Drifting Mind

I find my thoughts often think of him.


Sometimes they are memories of hoping in the car or working on some chores. Other times I am reminded of how he treated her and how much he loved life.


Mostly they are of random things that really don't make much sense.


How I was amazed that he never would wear shorts...How his hair had a cowlick in the exact same spot mine does...How he always took his coffee black...How he took a nap every day...His little, practical jokes.


I don't know why those things still strike me. I don't understand why he is the one that pops into my head so often.


Well, I guess that is a lie. I know.


He was the most influential person in my life.


The pain of his loss has faded, but the disappointment of him not being around is still very real.