The Michell Spot

Dylan

2009-01-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Dylan's 8th birthday. In his class at school, every child gets a week to be "Child of the week." It's a week where each part of the day that child gets to do something special in front of the class. It might be sharing their favorite book, bringing in their favorite snack to share, or being the line leader, stuff like that. Tomorrow, the teacher will read a letter to the class that each of their parents wrote about them.

Here is my letter...

My name is Jon and I am Dylan’s dad. I want to tell you about a very special day. It was the day that Dylan was born. But first I need to tell you how Dylan came to be known as ‘Dylan’. You see when moms and dads are going to have a baby, they have the very important job of naming the baby. It is very important because that baby will have that name for the rest of their life; so much care needs to be put in the naming of a baby. There are even books of baby names with different meanings of the name to help parents choose a name. Mrs. Michell and I had thought long and hard about names before Dylan was born. We each made a list of names we liked, but neither one of us liked the names that the other one had chosen.

Then one morning Mrs. Michell woke up and said, “What do you think about ‘Dylan?”

I had no idea what she was talking about. “Who’s Dylan?” I asked.

“Dylan, a name for the baby. What do you think about Dylan?” Mrs. Michell replied. “It came to me in a dream last night.”

I had never known any Dylans before. Dylan was not a name on either one of our lists. But it sounded good. It was better than Harry, or Rupert, or Augustus. I could live with ‘Dylan’. Then I grabbed the book of baby names, to see what it said about Dylan. “Son of the sea”, is what the book said the name meant. I thought that was pretty fitting, because at the time Mrs. Michell and I lived right by the sea. We lived in Newport Beach and from our patio we could see the Pacific Ocean. We even used to take walks along the beach everyday. So Dylan it was.

We both agreed his name would be Dylan, which was better than Titus. You see Titus was the name my father, Dylan’s grandpa, used to call Mrs. Michell’s belly before we picked a name. A few weeks later it was time for Dylan to be born. One morning Mrs. Michell and I took an early morning walk on the beach. It was a gray and cloudy morning. The waves were huge that day; rumbling and climbing high, only to crash down with a large crash of white foam and salty mist. It was as if the ocean it self was filled with life and trying to spew it out. Then it was time. It was time that we went to the hospital for Mrs. Michell to give birth.

It was a perfect birth. Dylan was born with no problems. He was beautiful and healthy. As the nurse took him to clean him up, and weigh him, and do all those things that nurses do to newborns. She asked me who had crooked fingers. I thought that seemed like a very odd question.

“Uh, crooked fingers? What do you mean?” I asked.

She held up Dylan’s pinkies and said, “Crooked fingers. Look his pinkies bend in at the second knuckle, that usually runs in the family. Do you or your wife have bent pinkies?”

“I do,” I said as I raised my hand to show her. That filled me with joy to see my wife give birth to this beautiful creation that God had made inside of her that was part me and part his mother but a unique and individual little person.

Later that day, I left Dylan and his mother in the hospital and went home for the night. I looked out at the ocean before I went in. The ocean was perfectly calm. It looked like glass. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. It was if Dylan actually was from the sea, like the sea was erupting and laboring this new soul in to our lives that very morning.

That is a story that is etched in my mind so clearly I will never forget it. And I am reminded of it every January 12th.

Confessions of a Closet Christmas Addict

2008-12-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

In a past life, I think I was a Who. Because “Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot”, and so do I. Actually I love it. I get completely into it, but not in the goofy Christmas sweater wearing Santa hat on my head kind of way. For me it’s about tradition and it’s more of an internal feeling that one I outwardly show. But there is a time and a place for it. For me Christmas cannot start before Thanksgiving! I need my Thanksgiving with no interruptions! But the fourth Friday in November…game on!

Christmas at my house officially starts out with me reading Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! to my kids. That book along with all of our Christmas decorations comes down from the attic in the ritual know as “daddy climbs the ladder and hands the dozens of large plastic storage boxes down to mommy. All the while, mommy yells at the kids (who are running amuck, in anticipation of decorating the tree) to stand back because daddy may drop something on their heads.” In actuality I’ve never dropped anything on their heads. However, every year I have managed to drop an Easter basket or two on Gina’s head. To calm the kids as we await for all the boxes to be down, Gina finds the box of all of our Christmas books and gives it to them to place in a large basket on the hearth. Once the glorious large red and green book is found, I am usually finished my ascent into the rafters and climb down to read the children my favorite Christmas book in my best Boris Karloff voice.

That’s about all I can handle of decorating. I don’t like the process, only the end result. So usually I end up going off to work at some point, only to come home to a completed house and then I can futz and putz around until I redecorate and get everything where I like it.

Once the house if properly dressed for the season, there are certain things that have to happen for me every year for it to feel like Christmas, things that warm my heart and make me all gushy inside.

First, there is the music. I keep my car radio locked on the 24/7 Christmas music KOST 103.5 FM. While I do enjoy most all Christmas songs, there are some that I have to hear specific versions of or Christmas is not Christmas and there are one or two that need never be heard! In no particular order, I have to hear…Cougar’s I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, Burl Ives’ Have A Holly Jolly Christmas, Brenda Lee’s Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, Andy Williams’ It’s the most Wonderful Time of the Year, Bing Crosby’s entire holiday cannon (especially the album where he’s wearing the Santa hat and the holly berry bowtie), and The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s Charlie Brown Christmas album. There are dozens more but those were all must hears. But if never hear Grandma got run over by a Reindeer or that sappy one about the kid that buys his dieing mom some shoes to see Jesus, I will be perfectly content!

Second, there are the movies. There are movies that I would never dream of watching in June, but must be watched in December. And there are scenes that make cry everytime I see them or laugh out loud thinking about them. I have to grab a box of tissues…when Natalie Wood screams to stop the car so she can run out to see the house that Santa got them…when Linus says, “lights please” and recites Luke 2:8-14…when Burger Meister, Meister Burger gets his yo-yo and finds the Christmas spirit…when Jack Skelington prances around Christmas Town singing “What This”…When Jimmy Stewart reaches in his pocket and discovers Zuzu’s petals are still there…when Ebenezer buys a Christmas goose for the Cratchits…and when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes.

Thirdly, there’s the food and beverages. Every holiday has it’s own special culinary delights, but Christmas confections are something else. Let’s begin with the savory…Honey-Baked ham, mashed potatoes, tamales, shrimp cocktail, yams, trays of Hickory Farms cheeses and sausages, bowls of nuts in the shell with a silver nutcracker and long pick, deli trays of cold cuts, corn, and green beans. Then there’s the sweets…sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies with the Hershey’s Kiss on top, candy canes, See’s chocolates, Grandma Michell’s saffron buns, peanut brittle, fudge, bourbon balls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, gingerbread, snickerdoodles, stollen, gumdrops, and fruit cake (not!). And don’t forget the sinful…Sierra Nevada’a Celebration Ale, Anchor Brewing Co. Merry Christams & Happy New Year beer, mimosas, kir royale, egg nog, wassail, Bailey’s Kaluha Tuaca and coffee (better know as a Chip Shot), red wine, hot cocoa and Goldschlagger, gin and tonics, hot buttered rum and Clarence Odbody, Angel 2nd Class, favorite holiday classic…Flaming Rum Punch.

Lastly, and most importantly there is the spiritual side of Christmas. Some of my best Christmas memories took place in church. I go to pieces whenever I see a child-shepherd with a sheet wrapped around his head, in a manger scene…when flying angles with trumpets swoop down on Christmas Eve at the Crystal Cathedral…when a stranger sitting next to me in the pew, touches their lit candle with the round paper wax catcher thing around it to mine…when my mom crys as we sing Silent Night…when we took communion as “Mary Did You Know?” was being sung…when someone I’ve never met before and probably will never see again, makes that long walk down the aisle at an alter call to proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior…but most especially when I think about a virgin mother holding the most perfectly innocent and helpless infant that would one day grow up and sacrifice his life for the greatest sinner I know, me.

I love Christmas the whole Christmas season. But it must come to an end. I cannot let it linger in my house. Before the kids go back to school in January, I need it all packed away. The lights come down, the cook books go back on the shelf, each ornament gets wrapped back up in tissue paper, the tree comes apart and put back in the box, the CD’s go back in their cases, I change my radio stations, and I read my kids How the Grinch Stole Christmas one last time. As much as I love Christmas I acknowledge that there is a time and a place for everything and I am perfectly ok with Christmas resting in our dusty rafters for another eleven months.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Fall

2008-11-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

I lived in Indiana for almost ten years. When people find out, they usually ask “Don’t you miss the seasons?” My standard answer is “No! The summers were too hot and the winters were too cold.” Which is absolutely true and a very real reason, among several others that I moved back to California. But in my answer, I realize that I’ve left out the other two seasons.

I never really liked spring either. Spring was wet and rainy. It just sort of popped in right after a long, cold, dirty-snow filled winter. It started out cold and wet and it was just one big count down to another hot sticky, mosquito infested humid summer.

But there is one season I miss, fall. Keep your snooty ‘autumn’, to me it’s ‘fall’. It was the first respite from that heat and humidity of summer. Once fall hit, it began to get cool and crisp. You could wear jeans again and flannel shirts. You got out the blankets and put them back on your bed. No longer did you sleep sans sheets in nothing but your underwear, constantly flipping your pillow looking for the cold side. Caps kept your head warm when the cold breezes began. You got excited to be able to rifle through that top shelf in the cedar closet searching for the gloves and scarves that have been hiding from the moths since last February. Friday nights were for football. Leaves began to change colors. And it was all the leaves, not just one tree on the block. They turned gorgeous hues of orange, red, yellow, and brown. But not just any brown, a rainbow of browns that you’d only ever heard of on a Bob Ross painting show on PBS. Browns like; burnt sienna, raw umber, auburn, and sepia; each with their own character and richness. They would eventually fall to the ground and crunch under your feet. People would burn leaves and smoke would travel through the neighborhood. Fall was a picture of a turkey made from the outline of a child’s handprint. Fall meant apple picking, harvest festivals, pumpkins, and nuts. Pale yellow remains of recently harvested corn stalks fill the fields. Fall was Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s not commercial. There’s no pressure to buy a card or a gift for someone. It’s about family and food, two of my favorite things. In Indiana we would usually rotate houses for the big meal every year. Our house, then my aunt’s then Grandma & Grandpa’s then back to our place. It was always potluck and we got to use the good china, the silver and the nice linens. And it was those old standards on the table every year. There was always, roast turkey with bread and celery stuffing, candied yams with marshmallows on top, that green bean casserole with the fried onions, warm dinner rolls with butter, and mashed potatoes. Dessert was served after the table was cleared and dinner had digested a bit. And dessert was always pumpkin pie with cool whip. After dinner grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, & cousins would sit around the living room and talk and laugh.

I loved that tradition. Gina & I enjoy a similar tradition now, with her father’s side of the family. But we’ve always thought how wonderful it would be to experience all the things that we loved about the holiday with close friends. So for five years now on the Sunday before Thanksgiving we invite some close friends over for a potluck turkey dinner with all the fixings. It is a time that I am truly thankful for. It has been a rough year for some. There was sickness, death, relationship struggles and financial troubles. But through it all everyone was thankful. I am thankful to have those people in my life. I am thankful to know that other people struggle like I do, so more, some less. I am thankful that no matter what comes my way I have a group of friends that I can count on to get us through.

I am thankful for the blessings that God has given my family and me. I am thankful that I make enough money that my wife has been able to stay at home to care for our kids. I am thankful that someone as selfless and caring as Gina, saw something in me that made her want to live her life with me. I am thankful for my loving caring son Dylan. I am thankful for my spirited little princess, Megan. I am thankful for my salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. I am thankful for our church and school. I am thankful for my wife accepting Jesus. And I am thankful for the fall.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Word Verification

2008-11-17T10:07:00.001-08:00

This was my word verification to make a comment on a friend's blog the other day. Very odd, I just thought I would share.

Rats!

2008-11-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

We've got 'em again. A couple of years ago we had a rat in our attic. I'll never forget the call i got at work when Gina was screaming that they were poking their way through the ceiling attacking her and the kids (not exactly, but it makes for good blogging stories). But there was a big one up there. So big that Gina's Grandma's handy-man happened to be over doing some work for us and he set a trap for it. When he caught it, I was told that it filled up a shoe box and it was the biggest rat that the guy had ever seen.

Well it's back. And Grandma no longer has a handy-man around. So now it's my job to step up and take care of business.

This little sucker is smart. I first heard him about a week ago. I was putting Dylan to bed and I thought I heard a little scurrying across the the ceiling in his room. And my kid has the most panic crazed thoughts that I did not want to scare him. Seriously Dylan worries about if there is no such thing as God and Heaven. What if it's only the Devil and Hell and he's just making up the good stuff so people won't be so freaked out that every one will spend eternity in Hell after they die. Seriously! And he's only seven! Too Kafka-esque for me. So do you think I'm gonna acknowledge that I thought I heard a rat above his ceiling as I tuck him in, Hell no!

Then a few days later Gina and I are in bed talking before we go to sleep and we hear it again. At this point i have to fess up that I've heard it before, it didn't go away, and I will have to be the big man and take care of it and protect my family.

So a few days later I find myself at Home Depot staring at the billions of options for killing things that should not be in your house. There are really expensive sonic/electronic devices. There are humane little cage things. There is poison. There are the old fashion traps. But I decide on the glue traps.

A large square of plastic filled with a very gooey sticky stuff that traps them. I thought this would be good, no big spring trap to crush them and possible get blood and guts all over. So I wait til the kids are asleep and put a ladder in our closet to access the attic. I clear a little spot on the rafters and set the trap with a bit of peanut butter for bait.

The next night I look for my prize catch. THAT LITTLE SHIT WAS TOYING WITH ME! There was the trap with fur stuck to it and little nail marks in the glue. It checked it out and got away!

Well no more Mr. Nice Guy! I bought a big ass trap, loaded it with peanut butter and smiled while I set it.

His ass is mine. Nobody mocks me! Who does he think he is. No I wait. Tomorrow night i will one again make the trek up the ladder to see what me efforts will produce...

Ha ha ha ha haha!!!

I'm a PC...NOT!

2008-11-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one that has noticed these "I'm a PC" commercials that Microsoft has put out there as a rebuttal to the hip and trendy I'm a Mac & I'm a PC ones?

They are PC user made and they have the WORST video quality ever! Seriously? You are proving the point that Mac is a superior quality product!

Political Blahs & Yawns

2008-11-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

There were no good slogans this year. Nothing memorable. Not that there has been for awhile anyway. What happened to those great political slogans of yesteryear? You remember them...

"Tippecanoe and Tyler too"

"A Chicken in every Pot and a Car in every Garage."

"I Like Ike"

"All the Way with L.B.J."

"Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"

Or what about those cool phrases that described policy or programs, like...

The Square Deal -Teddy Roosevelt

The New Deal - F.D.R.

The Fair Deal - Truman

The New Frontier - Kennedy

The Great Society - L.B.J.

1000 Points of Light - Bush Sr.

You just don't hear cool stuff like that these days. When's the last time a President made a really memorable quote, the kind they put in history books? Like...

"Speak softly and carry a big stick."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself."

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

"If anyone tells you that America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way."

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
(Uhh, what was that?)

When the smoke clears tonight we will have a new President. And while some hope that the next four years will show big change in, health care, the war in Iraq, taxes, immigration, social issues...I just want to not be bored. I want I snappy quote here and there. I want a President that shoots from the hip and does not sound like a Styrofoam cut out regurgitating some speech writers thoughts. This years was so planned out, so scripted

I want someone to tell it like it is, someone with passion. What ever he decides to do in office, be convicted, and do it with your whole heart. Don't do it to please one side or the other. do it because, right or wrong, it's what you believe in. I don't want politics as usual. And may God bless the winner and guide him in his thoughts and choices.

My Dirty Little Wife!

2008-11-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Gina set her alarm for 4:00am this morning.
She and my sister woke up and drove to San Dimas to participate in the 2008 LA Muddy Buddy race. I am so proud of her! She is a kick-ass stud athlete! I'm sure she'll blog about it later, but I couldn't resist posting these pics now that she's home.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

She rocks!

I do

2008-10-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

On October 23, 1999 I said "I do". Nine years seems like it flew by. Not every single day has been the romantic ending of a Nicholas Sparks novel or a perfect scene in a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. But more days have been than have not! In nine years of marriage I have learned several things...

First, I can choose to be right, or I can choose to be happy. If you know me well, you know that I'm usually smiling.

Second, I have learned that after Gina leaves this Earth behind, she will no doubt be eligible for sainthood for the miracle of putting up with me!

And third, in every marriage there are clearly defined roles. To have a great marriage you must know your role and perform it. And gentleman, don't be so naive as to think that you have a say in your role. Your role will be thrust upon you whether you like it or not and whether you are able to perform it or not. Let me share with you my roles...

I get to kill things in our house.

I get to pick up things outside of our house.

I get to answer the door when certain people come to our house.

I get to fix things that break in our house.

I get to make sure that I have unwrinkled clothes when I leave our house.

I get to hang things from our house.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

2008-10-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last night Gina and I had an awesome evening, celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary. It started with wine tasting at the Irvine Hyatt, sponsored by one of the wine vendors from my work. Then we went to The District in Irvine and had a nice dinner at J.T Schmid's. Then we played a couple of games of bowling at Strike. When then walked around, got a coffee and wandered in and out of some shops.

Then it happened...as we walked to our car we saw two gals trying to change a flat tire. We were almost passed them when I thought, I'd better do the gentlemanly thing and offer some assistance. One girl was struggling with the jack and the other girl was standing by her and watching. I said, "Are you girls ok? Do you need some help?" The girl standing watching turned to me and said, "I don't have a tire iron." Then she totally staggered and almost tripped to the ground as she turned to me, to which I replied..."or the ability to walk appearently." It was an innocent wine enduced comment. I was trying to make light of her situation. However her situation happened to be MS, or cerebral palsy, or a wooden leg, or something else that causes her to walk with a ginormaous limp. Just then AAA pulled up and I quickly walked to our car pretending that didn't just happen.

I thought Gina was going to piss herself from laughing at me on the way home.

In the words of my dear friend Kristi, "Jon is an ASS!"

Happy 100th Grandma!

2008-10-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Gina, the kids, and I along with seventeen other west coast Michells traveled to Fort Wayne Indiana to celebrate my Grandma Michell's 100th birthday. What an adventure. First of all traveling with twenty-one Michells on one plane was quite an experience! I'll let your mind wander with that one.

We had a great time. All of my aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts & uncles and second cousins were there for the celebration. It started Saturday afternoon in the basement of Forest Park Methodist Church for refreshments and cake. This is the same church that all three of her children got baptized and married in. The same church that most all of my cousins and I were baptized in. The same church that she work at as the church secretary. The same church that most of my cousins were married in. The same church where my dad would sneek in the the boiler room and smoke cigarettes on the nights that grandma would drop him off for youth group. And the same church that we held funeral services for Grandpa Michell in, several years ago.

After that grandmas immediate family (her three children and their descendants) had a big dinner in a banquet room at the hotel where all of the west coast crew was staying. A lot of speeches, wine and tears made for a wonderful night!

While researching 1908, the year of Grandma's birth, I was amazed to find out some of the highlights of that year...

The year began with the first ever ball dropped in Times Square for New Year's Eve...

...the Cubs win the World Series (for the last time)...

...Ford launched his Model T...

...Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts...

...England hosted the IV (that's fourth!) Olympiad...

...and it was the first Mother's Day!

Here are some pictures of all the festivities...

This is Grandma with a beautiful bouquet of 101 red roses. One rose for each of her birthdays and one for next year.

My sister had all of Grandma's twenty great-grandchildren make a square for this quilt by tracing their hand and coloring it. Then she pieced them all together. (That's not a really big quilt, that's a really short woman, under five foot!)

My Aunt Sharon read a proclamation from Indiana Governor, Mitchell Daniels, recognizing Grandma as a distinguished Hoosier. (It's pretty cool when your cousin is the special assistant to the Governor of Indiana!)

We also got to visit with my mom's mom who is a spring chicken at 94.

And no trip Fort Wayne is complete, without a visit to John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman's grave!

FREE DOG

2008-09-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm giving away only one, so hurry up and be the first one to contact me or you might miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!
If you want a myopic, eighty-nine year old, dirty-white, American Eskimo, she's yours.
You must be willing to deal with a few issues. She eats only boiled chicken, plain rice cakes, and outrageously expensive kibble that can only be bought from her vet. You must be ok with non stop barking that sounds like an elderly woman that has smoked since she was twelve. Periodic vomit, that is really just her last six drinks of water with a few blades of grass, must not upset you. Flatulence so bad that GITMO, has deemed it cruel and unusual punishment must not be a problem for you. She has absolutely no concept of where she is, in relation to other objects in the room. This causes her to walk too slowly in front of you or, makes her try to occupy the space that you are currently occupying. You should be willing to scrape crud out of her Sammy Davis Jr. eyes every forty-five minutes. And please, do not forget to administer her phenobarbital every morning or theses issues may worsen!

If interested, call me ASAP. And please, don't tell Gina or her grandmother about this. It will be our little secret. I just have to figure out what to tell them!

Tough Conversations

2008-09-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a day of remembrance at Dylan and Megan's school. All the kids will be wearing red, white, and blue and there will be a moment of silence. At dinner tonight we were talking about it. Megan asked what we will be remembering tomorrow. Gina explained that it is a day to remember a bunch of people that died.
The kids immediately began listing names of dead relatives. "You mean like Grandma Birdie?" "Are we remembering Grandpa Gundry?"
Gina and I started to explain it, but just tapped danced around the subject. I guess we felt that it was too much for a kindergartner and a second grader to digest during family dinner.
Then I thought, where do I want my children to hear about important things like 9/11? From friends making casual comments about it, or wait until they get old enough to surf the web and come across idiotic conspiracy theories like 'Loose Change'?

So I began to explain it to them as best as I could and realized how do you sum up such a horrific cowardly act to your child. How do you make them understand that there are people in this world that hate them, simply because of where there were born. How do you explain to them that tomorrow they might see mommies, daddies, teachers and friends cry for people they never met. How do you make them feel safe and let them know this won't happen to them. How do you let them know that there won't be terrorists on our plane in October when we travel to Indiana for their Great-Grandmother's 100th birthday party.

I guess you just do your best. You put it plainly and simply and if they have more questions, they'll ask. And at the end of the night you tuck them into bed, kiss their check, and snuggle them a little tighter, and pray.

Seriously?

2008-09-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Is this really all there was to talk about in the news today?

I cannot wait until the first Wednesday of November.

Life after ALF

2008-09-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

I always wondered what happened to the dad on ALF.

Apparently he's changed his name to Joe and he's stumping for McCain.

Our Big Date

2008-08-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, no thanks to your comments, we had a wonderful day. After days of contemplation and planning and miscommunications and lack of communication and misinterpretation and a big old argument I finally planned a great day. Once we shuttled the kids off to camps and sitters it was about 1:30pm and we headed to the Newport Marriott's pure blu Spa for a day of relaxation.

We spent the day lounging by the salt water lap pool in our own private cabana talking, reading, napping and swimming. We sipped champagne and wine. They were four packs of the bottles you get on the airplane. Gina smuggled them in because after spending all that money on the spa, our asses were too cheap to buy booze at hotel mark-up prices.

We enjoyed the dry sauna, eucalyptus steam room, and whirlpool. Then it was off to our massages. We each enjoyed a Cool blu Signature massage and then showered and met in the hotel bar for a cocktail. We then walked across the street to Fashion Island and walked around. Finally ending up at P.F. Changs for dinner.

It was a very nice relaxing day of adult conversation and reconnecting. Through it all Gina and I discovered what are true calling is. We are going to become authors of a book or website that reviews spas for couples. Now we just need to find a lot of sitters, vacation time from work and some high roller to fund our project! If you know of someone that might be interested in helping us out, please have the call us. It would be a grueling job, but we're up for the challenge!

Date Night Dilemma...

2008-08-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

I really don't want to jinx it, but Gina and I have a sitter lined up for this Tuesday night and have absolutely no plans! This is something we've been trying to do for some time now. But it seems one of the kids is always sick and thwarting our plans.

HELP!

What should we do? We've run out of ideas.

Please send us a comment on your idea of a great date night.

Check out the blog on Wednesday to see what we did.

Got A Question...

2008-08-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

...then text ChaCha.

It seems like every day I hear of something new in the cyberworld, and this is the latest. Simply text any question you have to ChaCha and they will text you back your answer. AMAZING! It's free except for your standard texting charges. Try it...go ahead, you know you want to.

Inside My Studio

2008-08-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Admit it! You've all seen the show. James Lipton cruising through a skyscraper stack of blue note cards, delving deep in to the guest's innermost tragic and personal issues; like how he was the fat kid in high school so acting was his escape, or how she was told by her drunk mother that she would never amount to anything and winning the Oscar was her pay back, or how his struggle with heroine really taught him how to get to that dark place inside of them that helped them in their latest role. They talk about their "craft" and how great it was to work with that director that was accused of rape (he's just misunderstood). Then they all talk about that time they worked with Al, Jack, Marlon, or Meryl. They call Scorsese "Marty" and DeNiro "Bobby."

Finally it's time! Time for the questions. Those ten questions James asks every one on the show. They were adapted from a questionnaire written by the French television host (you have to read this in your best pompous French accent) Bernard Pivot. This is the part of the show where every actor looks as if they've never heard of this part of the show. Or they have that look on their face like, "oh, my gosh! I was not expecting this! I totally forgot that you ask these questions! You've caught me totally of guard!" When you know they've been writing and rewriting their responses since the minute their agent told them they were going to be on the show. Then as James asks each question the actor thinks long and hard, trying to sound insightful or profound, or they try to sound quick witted and spontaneous.

It's actually an interesting questionnaire and if you haven't thought of your own answers for it, your a liar. Since I am resigned to the fact that my fame will never reach outside of my house (or outside of my head, as my Gina might say) I know that I will never sit on that stage to answer those questions. So here it goes, this is my personal, one sided blog interview with James Lipton as he asks me those famous ten questions...

..........................................................................................................................

James: Jon, what is your favorite word?

Jon: I love to use cacophony and frenetic as often as possible, but only if it truly fits in to conversation. I wouldn't go out of my way to use it. But there are times when those words are the most appropriate words to use.

James: What is your least favorite word?

Jon: Tampon.

James: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Jon: Other people's creativity, spirituality, or emotions. I feed off others that are truly in to something and go from there.

James: What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Jon: Humidity.

James: What sound or noise do you love?

Jon: Locusts on a warm summer night. But in the air conditioning away from the humidity.

James: What sound or noise do you hate?

Jon: Non stop dog barking.

James: What is your favorite curse word?

Jon: In front of children it is 'Sassafras'. After they go to bed...it's the F-word I go to most often.

James: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Jon: I would love to be able to sit in front of a piano and play and sing anything. Billy Joel, Elton John, guys like that amaze me!

James: What profession would you not like to do?

Jon: Anything involving adult diapers.

James: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Jon: "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

...and scene.

Funny Stuff...

2008-08-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

This is a very funny blog you should check out. I heard the author on NPR. Not too PC, but neither am I...Stuff White People Like.

To Make a Long Story Short...

2008-07-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Is a blog too much time to invest? When I started this blog, topics raced through my head. I would write several a week. Then it was one or two a week. Then once or twice a month. Now I just feel like it's too much time to devote.

What's wrong with me. I'm turning in to more of a "Jon Michell IS..." Facebook kind of guy. You know, one quick sentence, and peace out.

But it's not just my blog world that has been effected by my shortened attention span. All sorts of areas have been affected.

I'm satisfied with watching trailers on Apple.com rather than spending two hours in the theatre. Talk Soup is a better way to catch up on a weeks worth of TV viewing. I find myself shoving food in my mouth over the kitchen sink instead of sitting down with the kids for a meal. I've become a text messenger; I now know what LOL, ROTF, WTH, and LMAO mean, and actually use them. I don't need to listen to an entire album, I'm satisfied with hearing fifteen second clips at the iTunes stores. When people send me email jokes I scroll down and read the punch line first to see if I want to invest in reading the entire joke.

We live in an instant coffee, microwave, cliff note, no foreplay right to the good stuff kind of world.

What happened to long walks on the beach? The Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain? Where's the great poets of our time? The wonderful conversationalists? What happened to the LP, the mini-series, or the seven course meal with the thirty minute chocolate souffle that has to be ordered be for you even get your salad?

I'd like to vent more about this but my Hot Pocket is getting cold and I gotta check out the last three episodes of Project Runway I DVR'd in the next forty-five minutes before I go to bed.

I think Tigger put it pest when he said, "TTFN."

Do Your Best!

2008-07-13T22:20:00.001-07:00

Last Spring a friend at church, who had a son a year older than Dylan, kept talking to me about Cub Scouts. He was the Tiger Scout leader and his boy would be advancing in rank to a Wolf that following summer. One of his jobs was to recruit a leader for the incoming Tigers. So every Sunday we would drop of the kids at Sunday School and he would see me and mention Scouts. I definitely thought about putting Dylan in Scouts but someone else would have to lead, that was a given! What did I know about scouting? I was in the scouts for one year when I was in second grade. All I remember was making a Pinewood Derby car with my dad and drawing a lot of pictures for craft time at the Den Mother's house. I also remember being taught the proper way to apply a band-aid, but that was about it. I never continued. I never asked my parents why.

I went home and looked for some online information about scouting and this Pack in particular. What really got me was that this Pack, Pack 1 was chartered by our church, First Christian Church of Huntington Beach. And it was the first chartered Boy Scout organization in Orange County, California. I felt that there was some providence in God bring our family to Huntington Beach, then FCC, then Huntington Christian School, and now this Pack. I knew this was where my son would be. That fact that in this organization we could be free to be open about our faith was really important to me. Here is a quote from the Pack 1 website...

"we consistently and intentionally look to Jesus Christ as the model for our lives. The intention of our Pack is to connect boys to God and establish values for Christian growth, so that they may worship God and serve others through their character and leadership. We achieve this by pointing to God's presence, His creation, and His desires for the conduct of our lives as spelled out in the Bible. We believe that Jesus is the source of the strength and wisdom necessary to live up to our Promise and Law. We welcome all Cub Scout-age boys as members and it is our hope that through our program and leadership, every boy will be influenced to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ"

Finally at the end of that spring the Scout Pack had a open house for prospective joiners. Dylan and I went. It was really cool. They made rockets with two liter bottles of soda and Mentos candies. Dylan had a great time and I thought this is what every red-blooded American kid needs. At the end of the meeting we filled out our paperwork and I saw a sign up for the Tiger Den Leader which had still not been filled. I told them to keep me in mind if no one else signed up.

Our first activity was that summer at family camp. We spent the weekend camping at Rancho Las Flores, a Boy Scout run camp on Camp Pentleton. It was awesome! We had a flag ceremony everyday. Campfires at night with skits, stories, and s'mores. There was a bb gun range, an archery range, and a tomahawk range. We made more rockets, this time with water filled two liter soda bottles and a bike pump. We even went on a snipe hunt (nobody caught a snipe, they said they rarely do).

It was there at that camp I decided, I want to be a part of this. This was cool. This is what I wanted scouts to be about when I was a kid. This is what my scouting experience was lacking. So I told them to sign me up. I would lead the den. It was actually perfect, because since I work odd hours and most weekends I could make sure that all our activities could fit in to my schedule.

Well, it's been about a year since that first family camp. The next one is in a couple of weeks. I can't wait. This year we bringing the girls along. I've had so much fun this year in scouting. Mostly because of the kids. They have taught me so much about myself and boys and patience. It's been very special to have one on one time with Dylan, engaging in a common experience. I've learned how a radio station works, how to make a Pinewood Derby car and a Raingutter Regatta sailboat, I've learned silly songs, solemn oaths, and how to make Indian talking sticks and square knots. God has brought eleven very special boys into my life and allowed me to help them learn about themselves and each other while gaining character and always to Do Their Best!

Here are some highlights of the last year...

S'MORES

SCRAMBLED EGGS IN A BAG

FLAG CEREMONY

DYLAN ON THE B.B. RANGE

NICE SHOT!

DYLAN ON THE ARCHERY RANGE

DYLAN WITH A TOMAHAWK

HE DID IT!

RAINGUTTER REGATTA

DEN MEETING - INDIAN TALKING STICKS

MEETING BLUE THUNDER AT THE MONSTER TRUCK SHOW
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

WEEKEND OVERNIGHT ON THE
U.S.S. MIDWAY

PINEWOOD DERBY
DYLAN'S CAR IS THE LIGHTNING McQUEEN
FRONT ROW - 5TH FROM THE LEFT

CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION

PARTICIPATION RIBBON
(NEXT YEAR WE'LL PLACE!)

VISIT TO THE HUNTINGTON BEACH POLICE STATION

OUR RONALD REGAN CAKE FOR THE
BLUE & GOLD CEREMONY

ADVANCEMENT CEREMONY
TIGER TO WOLF

SUMMER DAY CAMP

WOOD WORK AT
SUMMER DAY CAMP

PACK 1 - DEN 3
MY GUYS!

Magic Pen

2008-07-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

My son Dylan loves the computer.

Mini Clips is one of his favorite sites.

It is filled with tons of free games.

Magic Pen is one of the coolest games ever.

Careful! It's addicting!

Wall-E

2008-07-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Awesome movie! Pixar knocks it out of the park again! Visually stunning, with a real feel of lighting and camera movement.

Characters were very cute and likeable.

I loved the nod to 2001 Space Odessy's H.A.L.

And Wall-E looks a lot like Short Circuit's Johnny 5.

When we left the theatre, I asked Gina what she thought. She said she wasn't really into science fiction. What? It was totally a love story, I said!

I'm Off Their List!

2008-06-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, right before Easter, I was at home sitting in front of the computer on a Tuesday afternoon. I looked out the office window and saw the swarm. We were under attack. Jehovah's Witnesses making their way up down the street. I had two options...fight or flight. I could close the shades and slither from room to room on my belly hoping to not be seen. Or I could answer the door and deal with them. I quickly minimized the screen on the computer and Googled "how to witness to a Jehovah's Witness". I started reading over several articles, all stating that subtlety was the key; confrontation would do no good. I read that they believe that Jesus is actually Michael the Arch-Angel, and while He is the son of God, He is not God in the human form and not to be worshiped as God is. "Hogwash", I said to my self! Then their was a knock at the door.

I decided to play dumb. I answered the door and a nice woman in her mid fifties asked me how I was doing. After a few pleasantries back and forth, she asked if she could share something with me. I said sure. She pulled a bible from her purse and read something from Revelations about how bad the world was, but how it would all be better one day, and people who believed, would be with God. Sounded good to me. Then I started to probe. Somehow we got to the topic of Jesus and I explained that I heard that they thought Jesus and Michael were one and the same and not actually God in human form. She tried to explain that a bit. My questions were now coming rapid fire and she was getting tripped up on some of the answers. She then gave me a book. It was like their field guide to witnessing. It was full of their beliefs and common questions people might ask them and the response they were supposed to give. I thanked her and she left and said she would be back later to check on me.

It took a long time for Gina to forgive me.

You see Gina is home most of the time and I'm at work. My new friend would check in on me once a month, only to discover I was not at home. At one point, doubting my absence she craned her neck around Gina to see if there were any signs of me in the house. As if I was belly crawling from one room to the next to avoid her. (I only did that once, it was in my short-lived college days and I was avoiding the paper boy that I owed several months of subscription money, but that's another blog altogether.)

Well, last week we were finally reunited. She came with back up this time. The two of them came to the door and once again shared a verse about how only the saved would avoid the gloom and doom of the last days, to which I retorted, "Amen!" I returned her book and she asked me if I had any questions. I told her that I found it very interesting but I had some strong disagreements with their beliefs that Jesus and God were not one in the same.
She was quite for a moment. I don't think that was the response that she was expecting.
I gave her a piece of paper with some scripture that I believed made my case and told her to read them and pray on it.

She had a gleam in her eye and very excitedly quoted John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." She explained that this was often misused to claim that Jesus was the Word and that the Word was God. Instead she explained that it was a mistranslation and should read the "Word was a god". I stopped her and said that wasn't on my list that I handed her. She seemed disappointed. You see, this is their biggest argument.

She then quickly turned to the back of the book, and pointed out a chapter that was all "misused" scripture that people used to attack Jehovah's Witnesses with. I told her that the passages I gave her were not among those in the book.

She turned white and began to stammer. "We're not here to debate", she said.

I asked her to open her bible and turn to 1 Timothy 3:16 while I got my Bible. I then asked her to read it aloud.
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.

There was silence. She then started to flip through the pages to look for another verse to combat the last. I stopped her and said, "We're not here to debate, just read through those on your own and pray on them."

She tried to talk more as I nicely said good bye and shut the door.

Now I don't think that she'll be showing up at my church on Sunday and making the altar call.

But, I think I'm off her list and she won't be visiting anymore.

The Greatest Game Ever Played!

2008-06-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

This truly is the greatest game ever played. And so much more exciting than Lakers! Down to the wire yesterday! And just two men and 18 holes to determine the champion today. Amazing! I'll take Tiger over Kobe anyday!

Watch out Pixar!

2008-06-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

DreamWorks is finally showing itself as worthy rival!

We saw Kung Fu Panda last night. It was great! Now I'm on record as never liking a computer animated movie unless it was made by those geniuses over at Pixar. I own all the Pixar movies; Bug's Life, Toy Story 1 & 2, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille. I have found all other attempts to create a movie as well as those has fallen short. I hated Madagascar. The characters were horribly drawn the voices didn’t work for me and there was a lot of potty humor. Don’t get me wrong a love potty humor, Benny Hill is one of my all time favorites, I just don’t want it in my computer-animated movies. Over the Hedge had some plot problems, The Bee movie was poorly drawn…I could go on and on.

But Kung Fu Panda had it all. They even animated the DreamWorks title shot in the same theme as the movie. The opening dream sequence was beautifully drawn with rich textures and had a Kabuki look to it. The characters were well drawn and their movements worked well. There was the proper felling of weight and mass with each one. The lighting was as good as anything John Lasseter has done. The slow motion shots rivaled any Ang Lee movie. And the Kung Fu sequences look like Bruce Lee choreographed them. The voices were perfectly cast. And the landscapes were gorgeous. Great plot with a couple of nice little messages that did not seem trite or hit you over the head. Jack Black was very funny in a subtle way; they didn’t let him go too far with it. This wasn’t a showcase for any of the actors’ usual shtick.

Great movie! I would gladly purchase the DVD and let it sit on the same shelf as my Pixar collection

The Block is Broken

2008-06-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

So, staying true to my word, I will now blog about all the topics that were suggested.

Kristi:

I have a great friend. You would really like her. She is funny, charming, smart and really caring. She is very organized. She always is on top of everything and has a memory like an elephant. She is the greatest mom. She’s always getting them to and from all there activities on time. She knows what they need had has it ready before they even ask…wait, I’m sorry…this was supposed to be about Kristi. Let me come back to her later. I started thinking about somebody else there in the middle.

Heidi:

Ok, here it goes…
1. With two kids I rarely go to the movies. Last two I saw were Indiana Jones 4 (already reviewed that) and Prince Caspian. I took Dylan to see it. We read the book together. It was pretty good, we liked it; but so hard to fit that huge story into two hours. Saw National Treasure 2 last night. Good wholesome movie! Action packed, no four letter words, or sex. Great family fun!
2. Last year while demo-ing our guest bath, some tiles on the wall of the master bath fell off the wall and the hole is patched right now with some black duct tape. Also, when I was a kid I helped my dad by holding the flashlight while he attempted to relight the furnace. We both were missing eyebrows for weeks because of the fireball.
3. My refrigerator rarely has rotten food in it. Working in the food industry, I’m am very aware of the status of food and it’s shelf life. Although about a month ago I took everything out of the fridge for a deep cleaning and I found a slice of pizza in aluminum foil that had fallen behind a drawer. The kids didn’t know that green fur was a pizza topping.
4. I don’t have a clue what I will be for Halloween next year. I don’t usually dress for it. I just polled the kids and Dylan wants to be a ghost and Megan wants to be Ariel.
5. Costco…
1. Hate new hours, I wish they still opened at 9am
2. Love all the cookbooks they sell
3. Love everything in bulk
4. Hate the lines to check out
5. Hate looking for parking
6. Love the samples
7. Love the little old sample ladies
8. Love the meat & seafood selections
9. Love all things Kirkland
10. Love the fact that we have enough toilet paper in the garage to survive a nuclear winter

6. People don’t realize that their bad driving has a huge effect on our society as a whole. (is that ok?)
7. I haven’t seen that Jerry Springer yet, sorry!
8. I am not a basketball fan in the least. Last time I was following basketball, was in the eighties when Larry Bird and Kareem were playing. My dad was from Indiana and went to MIT, which meant we had to cheer the Celtics. Plus, I love their parkay flooring.
9. I’m not so much concerned with the whole sunscreen in the kids eye thing. I would rather know why can’t science come up with something that you don’t have to reapply every 45 min. Why can’t I lube up before 18 holes and not have to worry about it again? I always have a burnt neck after a day of golf. And that smell! Why do they have to scent everything? Why can’t it be odorless?
10. I hate putting tuperware away. I don’t mind doing the dishes or unloading the dishwasher. But every piece of tuperware looks the same to me and the cabinet they go in is a pit! Nothing stacks right and the lids are never there. Everything ends up falling on the floor, I hate it!
11. I enjoy horror B-movie titles…
1. I Dismember Mama
2. Geek Maggot Bingo
3. Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death
4. Rabid Grannies
5. The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
6. Thou Shall Not Kill…Except

As for Kristi and Heidi’s squablings…and to answer Laurel’s idea of a solution that would lead to world peace, I have this to say…Remember ladies, this is MY blog. It’s all about me. Please air your rantings toward each other somewhere else. Please focus on me!

Connie:
This might tear your heart out. My shyness around women all goes back to Freshman year of High School. It was the time when everyone was making plans for the big Winter Semi-Formal dance. I was so nervous to ask someone out. I finally got up the nerve to call Jill Bade, mostly because she was one of the few girls that was shorter than me. The conversation went something like this…

Jon: Hi, Jill?

Jill: Yes, this is Jill. Who’s this?

Jon: Jon Michell.

Jill: Oh, hi Jon. What’s up?

Jon: Well, I was wondering if you’d like to go to the semi formal with me?

Jill: (uncontrallble laughing) No, really what do you want? (More laughing)

Jon: click

Gina:
My wife is awesome! She loves her kids and her man everyday! She is strong minded and says what she thinks. She makes me laugh. She takes care of me. She makes me smile. And she didn’t laugh when I asked her out!

I Got Nuthin!

2008-06-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Is my life that dull and boring...why can't I compose a simple little blog? Concerts I've been to? No, Gina already took care of that. Virtual practical jokes? No, been there, done that. Tell my friends what I really think of them? No, too cruel. Thoughts on my kids' last day of school? No, too sappy. Answers to life's biggest questions? No, I'm not that deep. Thoughts on Bravo's latest reality series? No, too gay. Our summer travel plans? No, I don't even know what we're gonna do all summer anyway!

AHRG!!! Why can't I think? Think...think...think man, THINK!

I give up!

You tell me! Give me a topic and I'll blog. I'll take all comments. There is nothing too shallow...nothing too deep. Nothing to personal...nothing too boring. You request it...I'll blog it!

Spoiler Alert - in Comments!

2008-05-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Read the comments ONLY if you have seen the movie!!!

Now What?

2008-05-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

So what am I supposed to do on Tuesday nights now?

Before you raise your hand...

2008-05-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

...you better know what you're getting in to.

Today was the 1st Annual Huntington Christian School Picnic. It was lot of fun. A great day in the park with friends and family. There was all sorts of games for the parents and the kids. Water balloon toss, three legged race, potato sack race, relays, all sorts of fun stuff.

At one point they announced that for the next event they could only take nine teams of one parent and one kid, Gina grabbed Dylan and went for it. Gina is very competitive. Sure enough, she was one of the nine. So she got to compete in "Shave the whip cream off your parent with a squirt bottle.

Righting an Old Wrong

2008-05-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

It was the summer of 1981. I had just finished the first grade. There was only one movie to see that summer. A movie that every kid was begging their parents to take them to see...

So dad packed up the family and drove to the theater to watch the summer blockbuster that started it all.

Now let's fast forward a moment...I am not a fan of crowds. I have a Disney annual pass, but rarely go there during the summer or on weekends, for the sole purpose of avoiding crowds. I do not usually go to a movie when it first comes out, just to avoid the crowds. I hate going to Target in the third week of December, simply because of the crowds. Now, I've never asked my dad if he shares that disdain for the masses, but I think that is where I got it. For I believe that was that reason that Dad did what he did.

The movie had just come out and the lines were very long. Dad took us to buy our tickets and instead of purchasing us tickets for the one and only movie I cared to see that glorious summer, he purchased tickets for a movie that had no line and was sure to be less crowded...

That's right, that timeless classic...
Time Bandits.

Dad ruined my summer. Don't get me wrong, I have grown to love all things Gilliam. But as a seven year old, it did nothing for me. Actually it did. It scared the crap out of me. Sir Ralph Richardson as the Supreme Being gave me nightmares. When they were climbing the stairs in the black abyss of nothingness I was petrified. The parents exploding in the end after touching the bit of Evil was horrific.

I don't remember ever seeing Raiders on the big screen. I think the first time I saw it in a wide screen format was when the box set came out of all three movies.

But now there is a fourth installment...

But now I will avenge this wrong! I will go to the theater this summer (maybe not the 22nd) and purchase a ticket no matter how the long the line. I will go and I will watch the end of this saga on the silver screen. Damn the lines, damn the crowds! I will not back down, I will not be afraid, I will not forgo this movie for something with a shorter line.

I will not waste money on...

p.s. Interesting side note: While tooling around on the internet I found this interesting tidbit relating to the latest Indy movie.

Jury Duty Part III

2008-05-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

I am now officially Juror #10 on a civil, personal injury case that's scheduled to go until next Tuesday. And I've been instructed not top speak about it. So you'll have to wait until next week to hear about how guilty the S.O.B. is!

Jury Duty Part II

2008-05-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

It's lunch break here at the courthouse. I was one of the first forty people to be called to a case. We filed up to the fifth floor and and received instructions from the bailiff outside the courtroom. We entered the room and twenty-one people were randomly selected for voir dire. I was number ten. 'Voir dire' is French for OH MY GOSH THIS IS BORING! The judge asked us all where we and our spouses worked and probed a bit further to those whose career might somehow make them bias to the case. Then the attorneys started with there questions and then we broke for lunch.

My Starbucks has worn off and I have forty-five more minuets to kill before I return to the courtroom. As part of Jury Appreciation Week, they are showing I Am Legend here in the jury assembly room. Well, I better go suck down an iced tea and get ready for round two. Wish me luck.

Jury Duty Part I

2008-05-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's 9:15am and I've been in the jury assembly room of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange since 7:45. I'm kind of indifferent to the whole process. I'm not wearing my "Rush is Right" t-shirt to try to keep from getting picked. I wouldn't mind serving on a trial, but then I just think of all the hassles of rearranging my work schedule.

We've seen a couple of orientation videos and listened to instructions for the day. Now we're just awaiting court room assignments. There is free wireless internet, so that's a plus! I've been able to check my email and get a little work done on next month's work schedule. It's "Juror Appreciation Week" so they've put out some free snacks for us. So far so good. We'll see if I still feel that way after my Starbucks high wears off.

camPAIN

2008-05-12T01:49:00.001-07:00

One of my servers, Ryan Houlton, is a film student at CSULB. He asked me to help out with a senior project. This short film had to come in at three minutes and could only have three edits. He said he wrote the part with me in mind. Another artistic match up like Scorsese/DeNiro, Speilberg/Hanks or Wells/Cotton in the future? Could be...

Target Stinks!

2008-05-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

I had to run in to Target yesterday and grab a couple of things. It was my lucky day (I thought) because right next to my parking spot someone had left a shopping cart. Megan was really tired so I said she could ride in the cart; which being a big 5-year-old now rarely happens. So we're making our way through the aisles when I smelled it! I thought some little kid near us had soiled their diapers. It was bad. Everywhere we turned there was that smell. It was following us. But there was no child in sight. Megan now noticed and was being as discreet as a 5-year-old can be about the foul odor. I thought surely this would pass. BUT IT DIDN'T! At this point I thought maybe it was us. I checked both of my shoes. Then Megan's. Nothing?!?! I kept asking her if she had gas and she was getting more and more annoyed with me. Then finally the mystery revealed itself. Upon one more examination of our surroundings for the source of this rancidity, I found it! There was poop all over the cart and the seat that I had put Megan in. She was covered. It was if some little kid just crapped themselves, then dumped out the contents of the diaper all over the seat and the mom didn't have the common courtesy to clean it up! So after a trip to the restroom to clean up and put on the entire new outfit I had to buy Megan, we finally could do our shopping. I mean really! The nerve of some people!

At least he's thinkin'

2008-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was going to keep this one to myself, but after reading the Bakers' blogs about pickles and planets, I thought "go for it"!

The other day Gina and I picked up Dylan from school. As we walked through the parking lot Gina made a random observation. She pointed out that there seemed to be a large numberof families that had three children as opposed to us only having two. Now mind you, this was by no means a scientific study, simply anecdotal.

My son is a thinker. After Gina pointed this out, he was quiet. Finally he asked, "Dad, does that mean that those kids' dads all have three of those little things under their penises."

How do you answer that? Holding back laughter I said no, and quickly changed the subject.

At least he's thinking!

Monks Rock!

2008-04-17T23:29:00.001-07:00

The General Manager of Westmalle was in the restaurant today. Our Senior VP of Brewing Operations introduced me to him. What a life! GM of one of the seven existing Belgium breweries that still involve trappist monks on site in the brewing process. He brought in a couple of 750ml bottles of their Dubbel and Triple to sample. Great stuff, great guys, great beer...Prost!

Your Hell?

2008-04-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

After leaving a comment on a blog last night with an obscure reference to an 40s French existential play, I got to thinking...

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, dramatist, screenwriter, novelist and critic. He wrote a play called No Exit in 1944. Here's the basic premise...An adulterous husband, a lesbian that caused a wife to cheat on her husband, and a married woman that caused her fling to commit suicide are all in a windowless, doorless room. The audience soon realizes that the characters are all dead and this is Hell. These three people can't stand each other and are trapped here with each other for eternity.

"So that is what hell is. I would never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There is no need for torture: hell is other people"...(No Exit Act 1 Scene 5)

I'm sure that no one that would ever read this blog needs to worry about their roommates in Hell; but who would you be in a room with in your Hell?

Dr. Jones...

2008-04-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

...ate lunch at my restaurant with his mom yesterday. How cool was that. I was walking through the dining room and right there in a booth, with a cute, little old lady, was Harrison Ford. I found out from another manager that his mother lives in the Senior community near our restaurant and they used to come in every once in awhile a few years ago
This was around 3pm and the place was pretty empty, so there was not a lot of people to bother him. Only one guest walked up to him and asked for an autograph, which he gladly signed. He ordered a Classic Burger and a side of extra pickles. He tipped $10 on a $24 tab. We have a xerox of his signed credit card slip on the wall in our office now. He was very nice and low keyed. I sent a text most everyone in my phone. Curtis and I then began to text back and forth different things I should say, such as...

"Would the owner of the white Cadillac please come to the front desk, your light saber is on."

"Would the owner of a Mellinium Falcon please come to the front, you left the lights on."

"Hey, we don't serve rebel scum here!"

"Sir, did you know that it is against California law to leave your Wookie unattended in the car."

RestauRANT!

2008-04-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

Working in the food service industry there are somethings that I think it is high time the general public knew. The following is not meant to help you have a more enjoyable dining experience. It is meant for me to have a more enjoyable time at work.

When you give the hostess your name for the wait list, don’t tell her how to spell it. This is not a legally binding contract. Just let her write it phonetically so that she will call your name the way she heard it pronounced. Who cares if its Christine or Kristine; Brandi with an ‘i’, or Shlonavichikvson? Let the poor girl write it down so she will remember it. It’s no slam on your name, she’s just busy, leave her alone.

Quoting you a time that it takes to get a table is not an exact science. They do there best. Just as ‘a watched pot never boils’, ‘a nasty stared at hostess does not seat you any quicker’. And what would you have her do? Would you like her to go ask that table that has already eaten and paid, and now they are sitting around talking forever, to get up and leave so you can sit down? Fine, but expect her to do the same thing to you!

If your reading your menu your server thinks you are not ready to order. If you want someone to come by and take your order, put your menu down. That is the international, “I’m ready to order now” sign.

The server does not act as the company’s purchasing agent. They have no control over whether or Pepsi or Coke products are sold. Don’t give them a hard time. And don’t make a face or a comment if they don’t have the one you drink. Order water and shut up.

When the server tells you what types of salad dressings they have, don’t ask for something they didn’t mention. If they had French dressing they would have told you so. What, do you think this is In-N-Out Burger and they have some ‘secret menu’ that only the in crowd knows about? “Shhh, don’t ask for French dressing too loudly, I just told that couple behind you that we were out, I’ll bring yours out in just a minute. Keep it to yourself, ok buddy?”

If you order like Meg Ryan in When Harry met Sally, with so many modifications that in the end, it no way resembles the original entrée, or anything else on the menu; expect it to come out wrong. Every restaurant has a basic recipe for every dish they. They do this so that it can be made quickly and correctly every time. What would happen to the production of the Model T if every tenth car needed to have no rear bumper, the steering wheel on the right side instead of the left, pistons on side (I’ll install those myself), red paint instead of black. ORDER IT HOW IT COMES! IF YOU DON’T LIKE HOW IT COMES ORDER SOMETHING ELSE OR PICK IT APART AT THE TABLE. Don’t we always tell the child that doesn’t like pepperoni on he’s slice of pizza to just pick it off? Why are we any more special?

So there’s a small little gnat in your salad. Big deal. Most lettuce is grown in the ground where all sorts of bugs and worms live. It’s usually fed manure as well, and guess where that comes from. Restaurants buy produce from reputable vendors and clean food before they serve it. It is possible that small little gnat could remain in the greens. DON’T FREAK OUT ABOUT IT! It is not the most disgusting you’ve put in your mouth before, I’ll hazard to guess. Think about all the stuff your kid dropped on the floor and then you brushed it off and made them eat.

Don’t send a drink back because you think it’s too weak. It was made with normal amounts of liquor for a decent society. It’s not drunk Uncle Larry making margaritas at the backyard BBQ. By the way, they usually don’t make a new stronger drink for you. They usually put a drop or two of booze in the straw so when you take the first sip you think, “WOW” while they laugh at you behind the bar.

Crying child in your party? Same rules apply as in a movie theatre. Take the rug rat outside until they shut up. And if you bring Cheerios to keep them busy, that’s great. Just try to pick up most of the mess.

Don’t ask to split the bill. Yes it is easy to do in this techno age of computers; but with large groups it becomes a problem when you start squabbling over whose soda got put on whose bill, and “I didn’t get the cup of soup she did”. Just pick up the tab for your friends and they’ll get you back next time.

If your meal gets discounted because of a coupon or some other discount tip off the original amount. Don’t be a cheap skate. And don’t pull out your Little Tipper Tipping Guide. Move the decimal point to figure out 10% and double it to get 20% and then split the difference (although 17-20% is much more the going rate these days).

And lastly, “Have a nice evening. We’ll see you next time!”

American Idols

2008-04-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm watching American Idol and surfing the blogs.

I have to walk around and go from room to room while watching it.
You see if I sit down in one spot and watch it then I get too in to it and start sniffling.
I know what you're thinking, "No, not you Jon, you seem so cold and unemotional!"
Truth be told, Extreme Home Makeover, Christmas songs, weddings, baptisms, and Little House on the Prairie, all make me go for the Kleenex.
Thank God they throw in a little Heart and Fergie to let me dry my eyes. Fergalicious!

While surfing the blogs I found a new posting from a really neat girl (actually young woman) that used to wait tables for me when I worked downtown. She's on a mission in Africa. She's been there about a year now. She works with kids. A lot like the boys in the Annie Lennox segment on Idol. It's cool that Idol does this once a year. It's even cooler that some leave their families, friends, homes and security and do it 365 days a year.

Take a moment and check out her blog, say a prayer for her, and maybe leave a comment too. Sometimes I think she needs to know that she has people here thinking about her.

Here's a link to her blog http://www.erinrockofafrica.blogspot.com/

Is it really coming back?

2008-04-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, I know I'm no slave to fashion, but when I saw Michael Johns sporting an ascot last night I was worried. I really don't want to have to go to Old Navy or Target and search through racks of ascots and worry about how to match it with my outfit. Do you match it with your shirt? Your pants? Vest? Smoking jacket?

It was only a few months ago that I finally broke down and wore jeans that were not made by Levi Strauss and now I have to deal with this?

Here are some guys that made it work and some that didn't.
I just hope I can pull it off too!

Good News..Bad News

2008-04-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

(THE FOLLOWING POST WAS FIRST POSTED ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY-DON'T BE FOOLED!)

After six long years of working for the same company, I've been given a nice new promotion this week. We have been growing so rapidly in the last couple of years that there has been a big need for Area Directors, those are managers that oversee five to six stores not just one. I have been recognized for some hard work and great numbers and been offered the next Area Directorship (I'm not sure directorship is a word, but I'm going with it). It will mean some longer hours and travel but it's a big challenge that I'm excited to take on.

Bad news...It's not here in California. We've grown so much in the Texas & Florida markets that's where they need new area directors. Soooo, I'll be flying out to those to regions in the next couple of weeks to look at the restaurants there and look at housing to see where we would choose. This all happened so fast and our heads are spinning at all this means. We're not sure if I should move out first and wait for the kids to finish the school year or if we're all heading out together. There is so much we're going to miss about living here, especially our friends. We've been praying about this and leaving this in God's hands. We've been asking God to help with this decision and we believe this is where wants us to be with it. Please keep us in your thoughts as we move forward in this adventure. Gina is taking it particularly hard so you might want to call or reach out at some point.

We will plan a HUGE party to say good bye in the next couple of months-and your all invited.

Wish us luck!

Oh Boy!

2008-03-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Remember Quantum Leap? Sam, Al, and Ziggy; I loved those guys. Sam was always put in these situations where he had to correct or redirect something so that everything would turn out ok in the end. Often times he thought he knew exactly what he needed to do but in the end it was something completely different; something he didn’t even see coming.

I feel like Sam sometimes. I have a couple of people that I know or work with that are not Christians. I used to think that God crossed our paths so I could witness to them. So God could use me to reach out to them and help them bridge that gap to salvation. Sure, once in awhile we’ll have a semi-deep conversation; one that tap dances around the subject. I bastardize a Lee Strobel, or C.S. Lewis quote, get hung up on some “how do you explain…(fill in the blank)” question they pose in the debate, and then that’s it. It’s over. No one saved, no angels partying in Heaven. Then I think what is it, why did our lives connect? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help this poor lost soul? Then it happens, that Quantum Leap, “Oh, Boy!” moment, I end up being me. I do something so human like; engage in gossip, talk like a long shoreman, tell a little white lie, something very “Jon”. And that’s when I figure out the purpose of this providential relationship. Because I find myself looking in to a large mirror that God placed in the hands of this unsaved person, while they call me out on the contradictions they just observed from this Christian.

I wasn’t placed here to get the girl to fall in love with the farm vet. It was to get the young Buddy Holly to write “Peggy Sue” not “Piggie Sue”. (If you get the reference, than you are a Quantum Leap Super Geek too.)

CREEPY!

2008-03-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who is creepier...

H.A.L. from 2001
or
Ben from LOST

I think these kind of bad guys are far worse than
Freddie, Jason, or Michael Myers

Happy St. Pat's!

2008-03-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

May you get to Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you're dead.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Not Funny/Funny

2008-03-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Not Funny:

-When your son is completely disrespectful to his mom by telling her to stop talking as she is lecturing him about his bad behavior. Then dad lays in to him, for talking to his mom that way, and dad threatens to start taking crap out of his room and throw it away if he keeps it up.

Funny:

-Son interrupts dad to ask what "crap" means.

I guess I should be happy he doesn't know that word (or should I say didn't know that word).

Best Season Yet?

2008-03-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking...this season rocks.

This is why I watch...

She rocks! She's gorgeous but doesn't dress trashy or sexy. Very innocent. Love her with or without a guitar or piano. I would pay money to watch her play in some small intimate venue.

Dude rocks it. LOVED last weeks song, that's one of my fav songs, (kids listen to Shrek II soundtrack over and over and over in the car, that's how I know it) and he's so un-selfaware and inward, very powerful. Also good for a small intimate venue.

She's cool. Not a typical Idol, but very good. Like the rocker chick thing going on. Like the Irish accent. She'll be on for awhile.

Never thought twice about him until tonight. Loved the whole jug band thing. Not as much stage presence as some of the others. And I just like saying his name, say it with me... "Chikezie"...wasn't that fun?

She's a Hoosier and so am I, so she's got that going for her. In the end...too rocker chick for me. She's comfortable on stage and looks like she's having fun. Won't be in the top five but she'll entertain for several weeks.

What the heck happened tonight. He's amazing for a Junior in high school, but too young and "show choir" for me.

Does well. So-so tonight. He'll be around for awhile, not my favorite.

Really good. Loved the Lionel Richie song the other week. In general not my style of singer. Really turned off my the blue nail polish on the video tonight. Hair looks too styled.

Pretty, but tired of hearing that she's an actress. Very amaturish on stage. No real presence. Would never buy a ticket to hear her sing. Very forgettable.

I'm sure I will really enjoy his show...when I see it sipping a Pina Colada on the Lido deck in the middle of the Pacific. Good Bye already!

Go back to the Karaoke lounge! Bo-ring!

Ba-Bye!

Family Fun

2008-03-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

We went geocaching today after church. We hadn't gone in a long time and it was so much fun. First of all, if you don't have clue what I'm taking about here's the deal. It's basically a GPS treasure hunt with maps online. People all over the country, make that the world, hide these "treasures", usually in a park.
First they get some kind of container, like a coffee can, tupperware, or ammo box and camouflage it.

After that they put in some junkie swag like little army men, plastic necklace, bouncy balls, poker chips, or whatever and a pen and small note pad.

Once you've got a spot and your treasure, mark the waypoints in your handheld GPS and log it on the web site with a brief description and any hints you might want to leave. Once the webmasters have checked out your spot (they make sure it's not on private property or too close to another one) they post it and everyone can go look for it.

So what we do is look for ones close to the house and enter in the coordinates in the GPS. Then we go look for it. The GPS can get you within about 5-15 feet of the exact location. So once we get the general idea of where it is we all start looking, riffling through bushes and lifting up rocks. But beware of muggles (non-geocachers that might find the treasure)! After we find it we open up the container to see what's inside and swap trinkets. The kids wear fanny packs full of junk and they each pick an item to take and something to replace it with. We then log that we where there on the note pad and when we get home we can log the find on the website and leave a comment if we wish. It is so much fun and you would not believe how many parks and beaches have caches hidden in them. It has taken us to some parks in the middle of neighborhoods and in other cities that we would never have seen if it wasn't for geocaching.

We've yet to hide a treasure of our own. That's what the kids really want to do. We tried once but the spot was filled with homeless guys that slept in the bushes and any other spot we think of is taken.

Today it took us to Talbert Nature Preserve. It was a gorgeous day. We loaded the bikes up in the van and headed out. We found two of the three we were looking for (there are actually several more in that park alone). It's a really cool park, bordered by Estancia High School and the Santa Ana River. There are lots of hills and different terrains. A big area where radio controlled planes fly, soccer fields, big mounds of dirt that kids ride dirt bikes all over. This was Dylan's favorite part. He was all over the hills. All in all it was a good day. The Michells' highly recommend you give geocaching a try!

Interesting...

2008-03-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

Did you notice the book Locke gave to Ben? I did, so I looked it up. Interested? Click her to find out more...

Feed a Fever...

2008-03-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

...Starve a Cold. Or is the other way around? I'm never sure. What I do know is that whenever I get sick the one thing that really sounds good is a grilled cheese sandwich (or a cheese toastie, as they were called growing up in Indiana) and tomato soup. But no fancy, kick it up a notch, Emeril version! Campbell's condensed soup and wheat bread with two slices of american cheese. It's the best!

What's your "I feel lousy and this is the only thing that sounds good" food?

Our Medicine Cabinet

2008-02-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

WHAT DO WE HAVE TO TAKE TO FEEL BETTER?

Don't go to the drugstore, just stop by the Michell's.

I needed a good laugh!

2008-02-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen Karate Kid in about ten years. And I can't remember the last time I sat down at four o'clock on a Thursday afternoon to watch a movie. But when the "Black Death" is hanging over your house, the two events will eventually cross paths.

When it was over I went to IMDB to see what, bad boy, Johnny had been up to. While surfing the web I found this...it was the big chuckle I needed to lighten things up in the Michell infirmary.

Something's Gotta Give!

2008-02-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

Do you remember Circus of the Stars? I don't know if was Jamie Farr or Tom Bosley or one of those other 70s-80s sit-com hacks trying to jump start his has-been career, but one of them spun plates in it. You remember how it works, a bunch of sticks pointing up, a bunch of plates, add some cheesy music and a glitzzy ruffled dickie...Ta-Dah!

Well that's what I feel like with out the music and costume. You see I've been home from work all day taking care of the family. Gina's had a fever between 102-104 all day, and Dylan's been puking in a tupperware bowl all day (bet you'll think twice about eating the salad next time you invite us over for a potluck).

How do they do it? How do mom's take care of everything? EVERYTHING? How do you keep all those plates spinning at once? Just when I got one spinnin' real good the next one starts to wobble, oops there's another wobbler, then CRASH... the first one is on the ground in a million pieces.

So at the end of the day, these are the plates I have in the air: Gina's fever is down and she's asleep, Dylan had a popsicle three hours ago and fell asleep without throwing it up, and Megan got fed and went to bed on time. Plates wobbling: dishes are stacking up, laundry is piling up, and not sure if I gave the dog her meds. Broken plates: personal hygiene and rest.

MOM'S ROCK - DAD'S WISH THEY ROCKED!

It's all relative...

2008-02-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

I came home from work early today because Gina is now sick and worse than I was, worse than I've ever seen her for that matter. And now Dylan is sick too. As run between their two bedrooms, taking temperatures, giving meds, and cleaning puke, I think how tired I am and how difficult it is to get my work done that I brought home so I could be with them. Then I read a new post on a blog of a friend in Africa, and I realize my troubles aren't that big of a deal.

Get Well Soon Daddy.

2008-02-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

Why does it take being sick to get you children to become angles?
I'm fighting a cold and can hardly talk. I want nothing more than to crawl under a blanket on the couch and watch the Academy Awards in HD on my new 42" LCD 1080P (I'm not bragging, it's just, it's my new toy, and the thing is so cool I had to mention it). And Dylan asks me what he can get for his sick dad. I ask him for a cup of water and he bolts out of the room and brings me a cup of water and a coaster. A few moments later Gina said a cup of tea sounded good. I didn't realize that Dylan was in earshot. I told her that's what I really wanted when he asked, but I didn't want him messing with the tea kettle. So that little guy went in to his bathroom and turned on the hot water and let it run while he got a glass from the kitchen and a tea bag. He then scribbled out a sign that said "Get Well Soon!! Love Dylan", and taped it to the side of the glass after filling it with the tea bag and the hot tap water.

It was the best luke warm tea I ever had.

Why can't that little dink, be that angelic all the time?

The next time he starts arguing with his sister about who gets to push the elevator button, who gets to open the car door, close the car door, hold the dog's leash, wheather or not Joseph's brothers called him "Joe"; the next time he talks back, starts whining like a two year old because he can't get his shoe on, drops his toothbrush, breaks his pencil; next time he starts being a dink...I'm gonna act sick. It might be a cold, the flu, twisted ankle, who knows, but I'm down for the count! If you see me out and about and I look like I'm on death's door, don't worry about me, just remember...I'm a good actor and my son's just being a dink.

DVR = no life?

2008-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

So we just got back from vacation. Now we need another vacation to get caught up on our shows that we DVR'd. We just got the silly thing and it's already controlling our lives!

Arrowhead

2008-02-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

With a very foggy drive down the mountain, our vacation draws to a close. We spent the end of the week in Lake Arrowhead. We had a great time and were joined by two families (The Templeton's, sans Kristi, & the Swart's) for fun in the snow. We've never seen that much snow at the mountain house before. It was so deep we couldn't even open the gate to the driveway.We had to park at the bottom of the hill in the garage.

We sledded down the back hill of the property...

...some better than others.

Then drove to Snow Valley on Saturday for some time on the slopes. We had a really fun time with all of our friends. Gina is the most amazing organizer of our Arrowhead trips! She brings enough stuff to keep all the kids busy and enough beer to keep me busy as well.

Friday night, Curtis, Dave, and I stayed up until 2am discussing God, war, golf, and the Master Hunter.
The drive back down was so scary it was around 7pm and we could see clouds climbing up the mountain side. At some points you could only see the road by looking at the raised yellow reflectors in the medium, and only ten feet in front of you at best. But we made it back safely and now our normal routine starts up again.

This has been an awesome family week!

The Griffith Observatory

2008-02-24T08:22:00.001-08:00

After our day at the Ronald Reagan Library, we headed back home stopping at the newly renovated Griffith Observatory. It had been a long day for the kids and the whole astronomy thing was kinda over their heads. But two cool things came out of it. First, the new show in the planetarium was awesome. Great storytelling with wonderful visuals, a must see. Secondly, was the lunar eclipse. It was completely coincidental that Gina planned to be at the Griffith Observatory on the day of the eclipse. There were telescope geeks camped out all over the front lawn and the clouds broke for a phenomenal view of this really cool sight. Everyone said that it was going to be so cloudy that you wouldn't be able to see anything. But just as the Earth's shadow started to creep across the face of the moon the clouds pushed back, and there for all to see...

The whole time I was in the planetarium and while looking at the Big Picture, I was struck by how big it all is and how small we are. They said scientists think that 14 billion years ago the entire universe was the size of a molecular atom and then presto-change-o, poof, along came the universe. Going through my head was one of our favorite Chris Tomlin songs, Indescribable...

...From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea 
Creation's revealing Your majesty 
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring 
Every creature unique in the song that it sings 
All exclaiming Indescribable, uncontainable, 
You placed the stars in the sky and
You know them by name. 
You are amazing God 
All powerful, untamable, 
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim 
You are amazing God...

We actually heard this song on the way down the hill.

Ronald Reagan Library

2008-02-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

WOW! This place was great. After we spent a day at Universal, we headed to Simi Valley to check out the Reagan Library and Air Force One. The drive up the hill to the Library was beautiful. It's nestled atop some rolling green hills and looks over this gorgeous valley vista. This is the only presidential library we've ever been to and it was awesome. Tons of displays of his acting days, Governor days, and the White house, as well as entire hall of over 80 of Nancy's dresses. Highlights were a replica of the Oval Office, Reagan's actual Air Force One that you could walk through, and a recreation of the Ronald Reagan Pub in Ireland (of course I had a pint, duh!).

Reagan was the first President I was aware of growing up. He seemed so charismatic and warm. When he spoke he was so engaging. That is something I've missed since he left office. I've been waiting for someone to represent our country with a voice like his. Ironically while I don't agree with his politics at all, Obama has been the only one in a long time to captivate me as a listener like Dutch did. Why can't the GOP find another winner? McCain just doesn't have the presence for me.
BUT I DIGRESS...all in all the library is a must see no matter what your party affiliation. It's a great tribute to a wonderful couple and captures the nation and world during the 80s.

Universal Studios

2008-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm on vacation this week and so are the kids. We've been taking some short little day trips. The first of which was to Universal Studios! We had a great time. The kids were a little bored with the back lot tour (my favorite part). But they loved the rest. It was a gloomy overcast Tuesday, which made for short lines. I hadn't been there since I was in high school. They no longer have the E.T. ride or the Back to the Future ride, which were two of my favorites. They've made way for newer shows like the Mummy and the Simpsons. It was a fun time at the park, but Gina hit the nail on the head when she said, "It feels like a big commercial for all their show." After she and Megan saw the Animal Actors show she felt pressured to go out buy a copy of Evan Almighty on DVD. And the Movie Magic show that used to be all about the cool green screen and camera tricks that Hitchcock used in all his old movies, now felt like a big plug for The Mummy and Heros. All that aside we had a great day! As we were leaving Dylan told me, "Dad, after seeing all that stuff I know had to make a movie. Can we go home and make one?" Now we just need a studio deal and about $100 million.

Friends, Don't let Friends Drink...

2008-02-19T06:59:00.000-08:00

...and then use their camera. This Presidents' Day we invited a bunch of friends over to the beach house for a day of fun and sun. Had a little BBQ going. Flew some kites buried, the kids, the whole nine yards. When checking out the pics I realized someone had borrowed the camera. I won't out this person (you know who you are) but I will make sure to not ask them to take pictures for us anymore after they've had a libation or two.

LENT

2008-02-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to give up Catholicism for Lent.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

One Dozen Long Stem Roses = $80

Romantic Dinner for Two = $150

Bottle of Moet & Channdon White Star Champagne = $45

A School-made Valentine card from Dylan that says "To my hole famle" = priceless

Me & Meg

2008-02-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

Disneyland annual pass = $379

Stepping on my Maui Jim sunglasses in the parking lot = $250

Lunch and snacks for two = $25

Souvenir for Dylan who went to school = $18

Lazy day with Megan at Disneyland = priceless

Roy Scheider Dead at 75

2008-02-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

My absolute favorite scene in one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time is when Chief Brody is chumming with that cigarette hanging out of his mouth and then we see the shark. He pops up, close up on Brody, cut back to shark, cut back to Brody backing up into the cabin, and then he says to Quint, "We're gonna need a bigger boat". A great actor with some great roles died today (here's the obit). Go rent Jaws, Marathon Man, 2010, Blue Thunder, or All that Jazz in tribute to him this week.

My Dad Rocks!

2008-02-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

While I was at work, yesterday, Dad stopped by and fixed my dishwasher and oven. He also told me I was not crazy about the dishwasher parts not fitting, the ones I went to the hardware store three times to get right! He said that the wrong size fitting was in the package, so I bought the right size but it would never have fit because it was mispackaged. By the way, Gina told me that he had to go to the hardware store three times too, so it wasn't just me (see Handy Man entry below for the full story).

Dad's a smart guy. I've learned a lot from him throughout the years, here's the top 10...

1. Assembly instructions are for lesser people.

2. All things that come "Some assembly required" always come with extra parts just to mess with you.

3. If after you take something apart and put it back together again you have extra parts, that's ok. They probably weren't needed in the first place.

4. Keep your head down, and your eye on the golf ball. Don't worry about watching were the ball landed, he'll do that, just keep your head down!

5. Don't stand too close to him when he lights the pilot on the furnace, especially if you value your eyebrows! (true story, we were both eyebrowless for a while, and all I did was hold the flashlight)

6. Don't play with the automatic window switch in the car. It was made to work a finite amount of times and every time you play with it, that's one less time it will work when you need it. And a couple of of months ago when my window was stuck down in the rain, whose voice do you suppose was ringing in my head?

7. God punishes you by giving children that act exactly like you did.

8. Let your wife win all the little insignificant battles, so when it comes to the big ones come, you can tell her how it is.

9. Never lie. It starts out with small white lies and then it becomes easier and easier to do. Next thing you know, you're cheating on your taxes and off to jail.

10. And most importantly, and I've passed this one down to my son Dylan, "Don't be a dink!"

Open House

2008-02-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

It looks like no one is safe from the foreclosure craze hitting the nation. I heard yesterday the Michael Jackson is three months delinquent on his $23 million loan on his Neverland Ranch. Can you imagine going to that open house. How would the relator pitch that one? "Very spacious, kid friendly with lots of privacy. Wine cellar, fully stocked with sellers private collection of 'Jesus Juice'."

My name is Jon and I'm an addict...

2008-02-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

to Wii! Gina and I were up past midnight playing that stupid thing. And not even cool shoot 'em up or racing or action games. No we're addicted to Carnival Games. It has every game you ever played at a carnival (scary looking carnies ARE included). You can play in head to head competition or single player mode which get you tickets you can earn and collect. Then the tickets get you cool hats and props and stuff that you can dress your little animated characters up in. I'M IN MY THIRTIES AND STAYING UP PLAYING WII ALL NIGHT!!! What's up with that? And it has the most basic ghetto graphics too. I need a hobby.

I am not a Handy Man!

2008-02-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

I have never been to the hardware store for a project ONCE! Why is it a simple little thing turns into three trips to the hardware store to figure out you STILL don't have the right piece. We bought a new dishwasher and oven and I decided to install them myself. Well first I decided to pay someone to come out and install it but they were jerking us around with when they could do it and neither Gina nor I had an entire day to open up for their "window" to come out. I thought hey a dishwasher is easy, right? Plug it in, connect a supply line, connect the drain, poof your washing dishes. Did you you know they don't sell dishwashers with electrical cords?!?!? What is that all about? My neighbor helped my remove the old stuff before they delivered the new ones. He said you might want to save the cord. I told him he was crazy, of course the new one would come with a cord. BUT NO, it didn't. Trip number one. buy a cord. Came back wired that on, went to connect the supply line and realized it was a completely different kind the the last one. Trip number two buy a new supply line. Wrong size. Trip number three get correct one. Wrong size again. Now I'm running late for work so I'll have to make Trip number four tomorrow. "Kids, we're eating on parer plates again tonight".

Super Duper Tuesday

2008-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

It’s the first time Californians feel like their primary vote counts. I have to go vote today, or I should say I want to go vote today. Gina always votes absentee. The other year she talked me in to it too. At the time I liked the idea. With all of California’s propositions to vote on, it was a better idea to sit at home and go through the minutia of props and try to decipher if a “yes” vote actually meant “yes” or “no”. And why are they always about the same thing? Indian Gaming and how to spend our money? Isn’t that why I elect State Assemblymen and Senators to make all these decisions for me? Who cares if Running Bear wants some more slots and a bigger stage to listen to Kenny Rogers or the O Jays? I generally don’t care too much about the props, but one year there was an interesting one that I was sad to see pass. It was to outlaw the consumption of horse meat or the sale of horse meat for consumption. I’ve never eaten horse, but why couldn’t I if I wanted to? Why is it ok to eat cows, chickens, or pigs but not horses or dogs for that matter? I think in this enlightened age there should not be a class war in the animal kingdom. That reminds me, fois gras was also outlawed in California a year or two ago. It wasn’t on our weekly menu at home, but the rare times I came in contact with it, I rather enjoyed it. And all of this in the same state that conceived Fear Factor eating challenges.
But this year is a big year. It’s for all the marbles, it’s the Prez! I can’t just sit at home in my sweats and fill in a box. I’ve get out and vote. Gina can’t be bothered with waiting at the polling place, she’s usually busy on Tuesdays. But I feel like it’s part of the Democratic process. Voting and Jury duty; it’s where all socio-economic lines converge. Waiting in line with all ages and walks of life in some rec-center or someone’s driveway is what being an American is all about. I’m still bummed they’ve gone to touch screen. I miss the whole thrill of the dangling chad.
Besides, at home, you don’t get the cool little “I voted sticker”. Stickers aren’t just for kids. There are only two stickers an adult can get away with wearing, “I voted” and “I gave blood”.

Nice Day to Start Blogging

2008-02-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Gina ran a 5K today. In the pouring rain no less! I took the kids to church early to watch the cast of our first Drama Ministry skit rehearse before service. I was off work today so after a little family Wii action we all went to check out the new Veggie Tales movie. Grabbed a little Chinese on the way home (afterall, next week is the Chinese New Year - Feb 7th, if you want to mark your calendar) and watched the last quarter of a very exciting Super Bowl. Gina is wiped out after a long day and a big run, so the kiddos are off to bed and I thought "what the heck, let's start a blog". So there you go, that's how this began.