California Here We Come

Tomorrow this is what I'll be looking at.


I look forward to it. Jedediah Smith State Park is one of my favorite places to camp. This year we'll be sharing the experience with our friends the Villa's.

I'm sure I'll have plenty more photos to share when we get back. TTFN.

Life Lessons from Disney

Satisfaction and Contentment vs. Greed and Envy - We can learn a bit here...


I love Baloo. I think I'd like to be a bit more like Baloo.

Toby Mac

We took our kids to their first concert tonight. Toby Mac was part of Luis Palau's Portland CityFest so we went and saw him perform. We had a great time. Thanks to the Villa's we weren't stuck on the backside watching it on a big screen. It was a bit tough to see over the crowd but the excitement of being their live worked.
Toby and crew put on a great show. They played the hits, sang, danced, and performed their hip-hop hearts out.

During the day we were helping some friends at their new house painting, cleaning, installing toilets, etc. So by the end of the concert the kids were bushed. Since it was going to be a mad house on the MAX I took the family on a little walk down to the Skidmore stop to get on the train. This little move paid off. In the next two stops the train filled up to capacity.

Religion & Politics

This weekend I took a break from the Olympics to watch some politics.

First I must say that over the last couple years I have made a concerted effort to minimize my involvement in politics. I don't listen to talk radio or read the blogs much at all these days. I do keep in minimal touch with the candidates and their stances through independent news sources and the candidates own websites.

Second I must say that I have not been excited about nor impressed with either candidate.

What caught my attention to steer me away from the Olympics for bit was that Rick Warren of Saddleback Church was going to interview both presidential candidates on CSPAN in front of his congregation. Religion meets politics. Could be dangerous.

I watched, listened, and learned. And I had my mind changed a bit. Mr. Warren was fair. He asked both men the same questions and gave them each total respect. First, he sat with Mr. Obama who answered sincerely and as expected. Second, he sat with Mr. McCain who also answered sincerely and as expected.

There was one difference between the men that struck me more than anything. John McCain has a sense of humor. He was amicable and personable. He told stories, joked, and was able to laugh. This impressed me.

I find it easier to trust a person that has a sense of humor. Not a comedian or a jokester, but someone who can take things at face value and laugh about the little things. Don't get me wrong, Mr. McCain was serious about a great many things including education, his war experience, Osama Bin Laden, etc. It was the little things he was able to joke about and this put me at ease.

I've stated in a post a long time ago that if Ron Paul wasn't the nominee I wasn't going to vote. This was stated tongue in cheek. I will be voting. As a citizen it is my privilege and responsibility to do so. At this point I am swinging from writing my own name in to checking the box for Mr. McCain. We still have our differences but I like him more now than I did before.

My Wife's Gunna Be Pissed

Not because of anything I did.

But because of this.

Facebook is back on.

On a whim I reactivated my Facebook account.

Don't know why. Just did.

I'll Save You $9.25

Don't go see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer. Just don't.

This has to be the worst movie I've seen in years. Bad acting and a predictable story just kills it. When I say bad acting, I'm talking Hayden Christensen bad. If you've seen the first two movies leave it at that. The third adds nothing to the series.

Now you can take that $9.25 I just saved you and take me out for a nice latte. It'll be money better spent I assure you.

New Imager

Over the last couple months we noticed that our little camera has not been focused on its job. Many of our precious images have come out a little blurry. So the Pentax Optio S5i has been retired. This little 5mp tyke has served us well for the past few years. I hope its replacement serves us as well.

The new kid on the block is not what I had planned on buying. The big daddy-o Nikon D300 plan has been put on hold since the orthodontist has entered our life. So for now I am pleased to say that Canon has provided us with a more than satisfactory stepping stone in the new PowerShot A650IS.

So far I love this camera. The flip out viewing screen is both versatile and practical. The 12.1 megapixel images create large files but are amazingly clear.

This morning Alex was being Alex which gave me an opportunity to test out some of the abilities of the new imager.

Fighting Weight

For the past 9 months I've been watching my weight. I've never felt like I've been huge, fat, or obese but I figured I might as well be conscious of my weight. WeightWatchers says the target weight for my height and age should be 187. Hah! That is unlikely. My Body Mass Index (BMI) should be 18.5-24.9 but is currently at 28. To get my BMI down to 24.9 I'll have to get down to 194. I don't see it happening.

So what do I weigh? First let me tell you that a year ago I was topped out at 232. That is the heaviest I've ever weighed and hopefully ever will weigh. My current weight is 218.

How did I do it? No exercise was involved unfortunately. If I add that to the equation I will probably do better and be healthier. I've done it by eating less and eating better. The eating less is the hard part. Kathi is an amazing cook so it is hard to put the fork down on one of her fabulous meals. Not being a very disciplined person it is hard to say "enough" when I'm sitting at the table.

The exercise part is hard. I am soft and flabby but would like to be cut and firm. My heart is what needs the work most. Now that I'm 40 things like this pop into my head more often. I'd like to live long enough to walk Brianna down the aisle and to see Alex in his first major box office hit.

For now I will be content in my weight loss accomplishment thus far. My goal is to hit 210 and level out. 205 would be nice but donuts are so good.

Aargh... a She Pirate

To the right you will see a t-shirt. A very Cute t-shirt that every girl needs.

Click on the shirt and check out the products available with this adorable logo.

All the goods a girl pirate will need. Shirts, hoodies, baby clothes, bibs, mugs, etc.

Kazooing

Today we brought the kids and a friend to downtown Hillsboro for a fun event that included an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest Kazoo ensemble. Make fun if you will, as many of you have, but it was a fun event. The kids had a great time. The organizers did a wonderful job. Main Street was closed off and filled with booths of food, crafts, entertainers, sponsors, and community representatives. The farmers market was also going on at the same time. Thank you Westport Church for providing the hospitality.

When noon came around we stood with thousands of others, kazoos at ready, for the chance to be part of a World Record. I have not yet confirmed that the record was set. The organizers were hoping for 5,301 participants. It was hard to tell how many were there.

One of the entertainers that were there were Taiko drummers. This is a Japanese performance art that is just beautiful to watch and hear. It combines rhythmic drumming with dance and choreography.

The entertainment didn't end when we left the event. For lunch we stopped at Amy's Burger Shack. Totally yummy. Some of the best fries I've had in a while. During lunch Brianna's friend Emma treated us to her finger puppets. It was too much. This girl had Kathi and I in stitches with her rubber-bendy fingers. Not only did we get a good laugh we got lessons. I now know how to make a little creature with my fingers. Mom will be proud. Here is a little sample of her art, an animal hitting a window.

As we walked out to the car after lunch Emma announced that she was working on a walrus.