Were Back!

Well I have never been so excited to get back to freezing temperatures in all of my life. We had enjoyed the 60-70 degree temperatures of the southern california/baja mexico area all week. Although at least once a a day it dipped into the 50's. This would not be so bad but we had packed for the low to be in the mid 60's so we got chilly. We partially doomed ourselves because Caryn had read every single review of the ship and cruise area so she knew everything that we were going to be doing. So basically everything met our expectations. Which is really okay. We just weren't suprised.
Everything was just as everyone said it would be. A lot of food. Good food. The formal night was my favorite and dinner was always the highlight of the day. We met some really awesome people. Josh and Chesney from Tuscon, Arizona and Shelby and Nathan from Upland, California. It was neat how they seat like people together. (Which was really strange for the 1 gay couple on board) Overall we just relaxed a lot and enjoyed the time. Caryn read most of a book and we did a lot of shopping. Not a lot of buying but we shopped the mexican market areas and the shops on catalina island. The one odd thing about the cruise was all of the alcohol. It wasn't just at dinner, it was everywhere and all of the time. Everyone was shocked by their bills and ours was only 220 dollars. And that was with 80 in tips, 85 for a watch i bought, and 30 dollars for the unlimited soda pass. Anyway it felt odd being the only ones not drinking.
So the kids all got strep throat while we were gone. They missed more school in this week than every other time combined. Special thanks to Caryn's family for taking care of the kids. The kids have literally not stopped climbing on me since i have been home. its fun though.

OVerall we had a blast. Im sure I gained at least 5 lbs so it is time to start weight loss plan phase 2. This is where i actually start running again, other than basketball. The pushups and the situps. Hopefully this will help for the Red Bud this year. I am hoping to improve on my 5K time. My best is 28:12 and that was a year ago when i wan not in as good of shape as I am now. So a little running over the next month or so should set me up well. Also If it goes well I am hoping to run the half marathon later in april and just maybe the marathon in Tulsa. That last part is optional but the big goal is the memorial marathon next year. So I guess vacation time is over.

and away we go

Well this is definetely the saddest departure for a vacation that Caryn and I have ever taken. Never before has Caryn left a child this young for more than a couple of hours if not minutes. This will be especially trying for her. All of my employees and friends at work too do not want us to be gone long. I know we will have fun and the next couple of days are going to be a blast but right now we can only think of everything that we are about to leave behind. Look out for our kids while were gone.

Textually Active

I may be the only one who gets a heartly laugh everytime i discover a word that my phone dictionary brings up before the word that I am trying to text. For instance, once i told someone i was three instead of tired. Also i received a text that said that they had gone to the ER to get alone. They meant blood, which is odd true but alone didn't quite elicit the quick response that blood would have.

Even funnier was when Jordan came up Korean. That made me laugh for quite a while. Another funny one that luckily i caught before i sent it off was Panther. if you don't watch you just might be talking about panties instead.

Also I found this t shirt design on the right and thought that it was appropriate but its not quite as funny as this one. i couldn't stop laughing.

dinner : impossible

have you seen this show? this is my first time. they are constructing a restuarant in the middle of the mall. like seriously in the middle. everyone walking around them. They can only use items in the mall for their place and have to have a meal for 600 people ready in 6 hours. its crazy. they go to sears and get like 6 ovens and have them hooked up while they raid the macy for cooking utensils, then they go to the existing restuarants and steal alot of food. Its pretty awesome. After 1 hour they have like nothing done but within the next hour it is obvious that they are going to be done on time.
Anyway, here is a little clip of Noah singing in his ultra high counter tenor voice. he's pretty cute, and if you watch you'll see him playing with his ear. tucking it in. years from now, this will be proof of his ultra flexible ear.

For spaceship skies

Bailey came home singing this one after her second week of school. She's tried teaching it to the others but they just like listening.

learn d abc's

Here is Reagan singing the abcs. she gets louder the long it goes.

im a nerd

So while at work it is easy to talk about the many things that make me a dork or a nerd or dweeb. Whatever the phrase that fits for the situation at hand. It is easy to talk about because for the most part they kids can only make so much fun of me because i am their boss. Plus they almost all love me in some way and don't want me mad at them. Anyhow, one of the biggest issues lately has been chess. I have an associate that works for us that I saw playing chess online one day. I mentioned that we should play sometime, he immediately ran out to his car and grabbed a chess set.
I play nervously when I am out of practice, playing someone for the first time, or I know that they are better than me. So playing him for the first time I was out of practice, so double the issue. I beat him pretty convincingly. He was very frustrated the first game, we both made mistakes but mostly due to how locked up I had made the board. In our second game, I left it very open and destroyed his pieces from far away. Not a good game for him. Since then we have probably played somewhere between 200 and 300 times. I have taught him quite a bit, and it works out well for me. If there is someone new that comes along, i let them play him. Then I can tell their level of play and have an edge going into the game. Maybe its not fair but you still have to make the moves. Anyhow, i got off track. Now i am completely possessed by chess. I am reading a couple of different books about it, I dream about it. I play about 30 or more games per week. Let me clarify. I am not saying that I am amazing. There is no Bobby Fischer here. Anyhow now half of the staff is playing chess. I'm giving lessons to no less than 3 people in a week, all who have the same goal. To beat me. Meanwhile my biggest competitor is Micah, the original kid i played. I'm sure he's keeping count but why would I, i think he's beat me like 15 times. maybe 20. So the most exciting part of going on vacation next week, is the thought of finishing my last chess book so that I can get another one on a differnt strategy. Sad?