Good Morning...

For those of you who really know me, I would try my hardest to watch any or all of Martin Nievera's concerts or shows. So far the longest I have gone time wise was 4 hours away. Now that might not sound like a long distance to travel, but trust me, for me, it's like going half way around the world. He will be performing at Morongo Casino tonight with Brian McKnight, another great singer. Hopefully, next time, my family can watch him again sometime soon.

So today we will be going to Kanoa's first scrimmage. I thought we were supposed to have the uniforms passed out yesterday, but I guess we will be getting the uniforms today. He wants purple & gold. Me personally I wanted black, but what can you do?

So as I start this beautiful Sunday morning, I just think to myself, "How lucky am I?"

Just got back from a Christmas Party

Merry Christmas everyone. We just got back from my friend's Christmas party. As always it was the greatest. My friends are the best in the world. One of them got a promotion and is leaving for Chicago on December 29. Chicago...dang. I heard it gets cold over there. That is the place he grew up so I'm sure he'll be ok. Besides, now we have an excuse to go visit him.

A funny thing this thing called growing up. We're expecting a baby in February and even though in my mind I'm thinking it will be ok, I know that things will have to change. Sometimes change is good. Sometimes bad. It just really depends on how you look at it.

It looks so easy on "Friends". Sometimes I envy them. When I crisis comes up, either Chandler tells a funny joke, Phoebe starts cleansing your aura, or Joey, well, is just Joey. But I guess life isn't a sitcom so I shouldn't treat it like one.

Whatever happens, I love my friends. I love my buddy who is leaving us and I wish him the best. And I'm lucky to have the friends that I have right now.

Ok...me going to bed. There's my son's basketball scrimmage tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone

What do you do?

What do you do, if the person who hurts you the most, is also your best friend?

Geminis BIrthday Part I

I started the day meeting with some buddies to go play basketball. My buddy was teasing me about making breakfast before we go play. So I made rice, eggs, and corned beef. Not bad if I do say so myself. So I called him up and said to swing by. He didn't think I was going to cook. HA! Serves him right. So he swung by and we had our pre-grub game meal. Afterwards, we jetted to the park. It was at this community court. Really nice. We got everyone there and we started our games. It felt really nice playing again. It was obvious that most of us (including the guy typing this) was out of shape. But other than that it was really good. I liked it because one of my friends joined us that doesn't really come out. He got comfortable enough that the guys invited him to the bar later that night to join in the bar party. And he actually said yes. So we were looking forward to this. Side note: while we were playing, some hot chick came out and started sunbathing. I wasn't distracted at all.

WOOOOOO in Vegas

Ok. I know it was going to be a crazy weekend when my cousin, who DOESN'T drink, wanted to take shots at 3 in the morning. It was great. We are all faded and just meeting the rest of the people in his party.

So I went to Tuscany to enter the 4 am tourney. To my surprise, they didn't have one. The poker room was closed. I was really very disapointed so I went to Luxor. So let's just say I'm not liking poker right now. So after a 2 hour nap, we got some breakfast and we were getting ready for our basketball games. We ended up playing against other people. They were really nice. So after that we played more and now we are getting ready for....something. Going to hooters to watch the Laker game...then who knows what else guys do.

Talk to you later

Judgement is upon us

So I'm watching Ace of Cakes. Duff is good. I like how he runs his business. Very laid back and his friends are his co-workers. They have so much fun, screw around a lot, but they get their job done. It's awesome.

So my bro visits me and the bachelor party planning is almost done. What I didn't know is that some of the guys aren't arriving until night time on Friday. I thought they were going to be there Friday day. Some of the guys aren't even e-mailing back so I don't know what is going on. Well, we have a room, we have a plan, so that is what I can do. I hope everything works out.

Now, my bro is going to go to Hooters to watch the game tomorrow. We will follow after we drop off the kids to their grandparents. What was supposed to be our dinner night turned out to a sports night. I know my wife sacrifices a lot for me. I hope this is what she wants.

Well, I'm getting sleepy. Good night everyone.

Typical Tuesday before the Laker Game

So me and my brother are trying to finalize the hotel accommodations. I have pretty much got the lock on the gym and the strip club. I hope I'm not getting gypped on the strip club. I would be pissed off about that.

It was funny. Earlier today when I was picking up the kids from the Boys & Girls club, I was thinking of eating at the local all you can eat sushi bar near Knott's Berry Farm. I thought nothing of it. We got home, the kids took care of the dog droppings and I changed into house stuff. When my wife got home, she asked if I saw her text message. I said no. She said she wanted to go to the sushi place. WOW. It's been happening lately where me and my wife think of things at the same time. It's freaking me out, but I guess when you find your soul mate, you know. Needless to say we got the family in the car and ate like pigs. I will just go to the gym tomorrow.

As I'm doing laundry, I'm monitoring the e-mail for our contact in Vegas to let me know how it's going. I don't know which is more fun, setting up a bachelor party or being in it....BEING IN IT!!!! Well, I just finished my third load of laundry. No end in sight. Oh well. Comes with the territory. I need to upload my photos.

Anyway I'm starting 2 side businesses. I like them both so hopefully it won't seem like work. Please watch out for it. One is a travel site and one is a digital company. You know, DVDs of photos and movies. I want to see hoe much of a monster it's going to be. I know it might be tough, but hopefully the reward will be as great as the sacrifice. Besides, I saw my parents struggle to get me the best they could get, why can't I do the same? It is tough though, but we'll make it through.

Lakers better win tomorrow. I sent out an e-mail letting the people know that there will be Lakers and poker. Hopefully they come. If not, I can continue my laundry. Gotta love it.

Happy Mother's Day

So our day started out by getting ready to go meet with my in-laws. We all got ready and we traveled to the Knott's Berry Farm hotel. I dropped of my wife and kids as I looked for a parking spot. I felt kind of under dressed even though I thought I was in OK clothes. So I made my way to the lobby and I was thinking of going to the restaurant. There was a sign that was redirecting people who had reserved for the Mother's Day Brunch to go to the grotto. There I find my wife waiting for me. She guides me through the line and I see the rest of the family already there. We check in for the brunch and wait a little bit. While we were waiting, there was a gazebo that was decorated for a picture spot. We took several shots: All of us, our family, and the just the girls (Not including my daughter). These were taken by the hotel service people. We took our own personal shots around the waiting area. We really didn't wait long. When they called our party, to my surprise they didn't lead us to the restaurant but to the upstairs where all the ballrooms were. After my mom-in-law paid for our brunch (thank you very much), we were guided into the ballroom for our table. Wow! They had 3 different stations that provided different things. And that's not including the dessert table. They had their own section. What I didn't expect was that even though there was 6 of us, it was a table for 10 so anyone could join us. There was a couple who joined us. They were 2 elderly guys that seemed at first they were just going to be just to themselves, but they ended up being very friendly and talkative. We had some laughs, good conversation, and great food. Needless to say I was full. We took some more pictures and then went home to rest a bit.
Now we are on our way to my aunt's house in Orange. We get there and there is more food and other family members that have started to eat. I greeted my mom and I told her that I have a gift for her but sh needs to let me know when she is free. She doesn't know yet but I got her a manicure/pedicure session at Burke Williams. I can kind of afford it now so I want to spoil her a bit when I can. We were watching the Laker game at the same time too, but man, what a way to lose. In overtime. But it was tough. I hope they don't fold like they did last year. But we were there to have dessert, but of course we needed to eat a little bit. The other cousins are growing up so fast now. They were all playing the Wii. We were getting into it as well, but we had to go. So we went to the mall, got some home necessities, then treated my wifey and the family to some boba, then we went home. Well, almost went home. My son took down our house keys at my parent's house and left it there. Ay yay yay. Thank God we live close to my parents. So we went back to my parents, then finally made it home.
So now here I am, relaxing and just enjoying the day that just happened. God is good. Life is good.

2 Years ago today...

...me and my wife said "I do" to love each other forever. Yes, it is our anniversary. I wanted to start off how I hate Hawaiian Garden. Quick note = I went there last night to try to win some extra money, yeah, as my motto stated, "Maybe outdrawn, but never outplayed." Let's just say I lost hands that I should have won.

So my daughter got this award to have a free dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Since my wife is all about Disney, we decided to have dinner there. We invited my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, my yaya, grandma, mother-in-law. We got to sit in the patio. It was a little chilly, and the warmers helped a little bit. It was really nice. We got to pay for dinner and it was nice since our parents always pay for us. It's like, "Yes, we're grown up now. Now we can pay for you."

There is so many things going on, it would be nice that I enter more stuff. Hopefully I can get more items in here.

Can't wait for tomorrow

We will be going to Las Vegas for our anniversary. This is the first time we are actually planning things over there. Before we would just go play poker and wing the rest of it. She almost spoiled the surprise that I have for her, but we will see.

There is tension right now I have at work. It's not in my group thank goodness. It's one of the ladies in the other group. I'm sure she's a nice girl, but she says she doesn't care what we say but she doesn't really listen to the constructive criticism well.

Oh well, I hope the day doesn't go super slow. I have some work that I need to do and I just hope that it goes ok tomorrow.

Viva Las Vegas!!!

Can't wait till Friday

I've been bombarded at work and BOY do I need to get out. Don't get me wrong. I like my job. Keeps me busy and out of trouble. But sometimes when they ask me to do certain projects, argh, it's frustrating and stressful at the same time.

It's almost 1:30 am, kind of sleepy, what to do what to do.

Went to dinner at my parents. I ate alot! I need to really control my appetite. Well I'm looking forward to this weekend for our wedding anniversary. I really do need it and I wished that it was already here.

OK...me sleepy now. Talk to you tomorrow

Back from the Philippines

Well, not me but my wife. She got back yesterday actually. I know I have been very lazy with my blogging. I will try to be better at this. At least reserve the last part of my night to blog. There have been so many things going on. I promise to be better. Sorry, gotdistracted. My dog is chewing on something I know he's not supposed to. Oh well.

So my wife comes back with the mosquitos marks that show that they feasted on her. She had a good time. She was actually surprised that it was cooler her than in the Philippines. The dollar grew weak in the Philippines. It is now P42 for $1. But still, not bad. The only expensive part is the ticket going over there. I would like to go back. It has been over 20 years. I think I heard a saying in a play or movie about a Vietnamese girl who was raised in America. She said something like, "It's wierd. My home is a foreign land that I know nothing about." That's how I'm feeling. No matter what though, I love USA, by Philippines I will always consider home. The home that I have forgotten. Anyway...

Looking forward to this weekend. We're spending our 2nd wedding anniversary in Vegas. I know, so what since we go there almost all the time right? It's always different when we go there. Plus we both need to get away so I'm very looking forward to it. I hope the week goes by pretty fast.

OK...that's all for now. My wife's uncle's step-daughter got married yesterday. Very nice ceremony at the botanical Japanese garden in CSU Long Beach. It was kinda hot, but a very nice ceremony.

Day one of 5ive

Sorry haven't typed in a while. You'd figure that there was time to type in everything right?

I will blog what we did the past few days, but for now, I'm just figuring out how to be alone.

She went to the Philippines yesterday to take care of some business. It's just me and the kids. I know I can take care of them. I just miss her very much.

So my other laptop crahsed. Going to bring it to work to hopefully get it fixed. I think it has to do with the internal battery that keeps the time and date updated. When my laptop goes on sleep mode, or even when I use it for a wile, the time moves slower. That totally wrecks my poker program. hehehe

Ensenada April 2008 - Day 1

This is my log from our trip to Ensenada. I wil break it down so these posts won't be that long.

Day 1:

We make our way to San Pedro and we finally get to port. The first thing we see is this huge ship. Our ship. So we go down and check in our bags and we wait for the rest of the group. When they finay arrive, we check in and make our way to the boat. And lo and behold, there is a bartender waiting to serve us. I was going to like this trip.

We get into our rooms, drop off the bags, and make our way to the buffet. It was good. After that we made it to the pool area. Yes, drinks were a flowing. We had a couple of shots and some beer to chase it down. There was a lot of sun bathers already. But man, it was nice to just get away. We were on the pool deck when the cruise liner started to move. We were well on our way to Ensenada. As we were hanging out, we totally forgot that dinner was at 6. It was 5:15 and we needed to get the kids out of the pool.

We got them all dressed up and we headed down to the dinner room. There we met our head waiter, assistant waiter, and someone else. So many waiters. We had a great dinner. Afterwards we went to go to the kids club to see what we can do with the kids. Then as we were listening to the speakers, they asked me to come up and dance with other dads. Yeah, that caught me off guard. After we got the kids into the day care, we met with the cousins and went to the club. It was Karaoke night. It was a rough night. hehehe. So we were just enjoying each other's company and drinking. And just think, this was only the first night.

Bon Voyage!!

Sorry it's been a while. I've been trying to keep my mind off of today because, well, it's my first cruise. My grandma-in-law, who is a big baller, is paying for everyone in her family and extended family to go on a 4 day cruise to Ensenada. I love her.

The week started off fast, not thinking about today. Then Tuesday came and it was all over. I started looking on the internet about the cruise and it over. I couldn't wait for today. We still need to do some last minute packing but other than that we're ready.

Since it's my first cruise I really don't know what to expect. But from what I've been told, there is a lot eating involved, which is good.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Break from work, break from cleaning the dog's pee and poop, break from everything.

Ok. I'll post pics of the trip. C U guys later!!!

Dinner with the wife

It was a weeke before my wife's birthday and it was her first official stamp show. We were all stressing out, getting the dog to the vet, getting the kids ready, getting her stuff ready, and me getting ready to go to HG. After all the cyclonic moves before my wife left, I just wanted to head straight to HG. After a while, she has been mentioning this restaurant that she wanted to eat at. So in the middle of my birage at the poker table, I called and made some reservations. I called her and told her to get ready. I found out her stamp party took about 6 hours...yikes. So I figured this would be a nice dinner. We rushed over to Sumit House. This restaurant rests on top of Fullerton/Brea and has a great view of the city. Plus they have great food and the waitresses have great outfits...hehehe. I was so stuffed. I think she had a great time too.

SURPRISE!!!

Thursday night almost turned into tragedy. I was planning to throw a little informal party at Mai Tai in Long Beach for my wife. We had a few friends come over to party with us. I didn't think the place would be packed for Thursday, but that I guess shows you how old I am. It was pretty packed for a Thursday, but it was all good. The band was good and we were on our way to a good night. My wife is not a big drinker, but something about birthdays just changes her. She had 6 Hypnotiq Breeze drinks. SIX!!! And she was still standing. Nice. Sometimes I wonder how I made it through my single life.

Tuesday night in Long Beach

I met up with my buddy who I haven't really hung out with for a while. I met up at his place at Aqua and we walked over to the Pine St. So where do guys go to hang out??? HOOTERS!!!

So we walk in, and well, I've seen better. We were actually there to eat and catch up. Good thing. There really wasn't much to see. Did you know they serve wings there?

Anyway, we ended up walking down Pine some more. We passed a bar, another bar called Smooth, and we ended up at this Japanese place called Wasabi. The owner was cool. We sat down at the bar and ordered saki bombs. We had the bartender have a shot with us. There was another bartender there. Something about those school girl skirts when a bartender wears it. Man oh man. So we drank it up over there. But what I liked was I finally got to bond with my boy. It's been awhile and it's nice to get together after a long stint. We reminisced about the old days and those are always good trips. We both agreed if we knew then what we know now...

boy things would sure be different. So we're going to meet up again on Thursday, this is going to be fun.

Monday....yay...yeah right

Well, I'm still tired from the trip. But at least it's good to know that I wasn't the only one. I did do some work in between calling and e-mailing friends. The good thing is that the day went by really quick so it was bearable.

We were supposed to watch that movie with Eric Bana and Natalie Portman, but I accidentally locked the keys in the house. Not to worry. My brother dropped the keys from the house. My brother the hero.

We just ended up going to this restaurant called Wood Ranch Grill in Cerritos. It was nice. Might go there again.

Lakers won this time...nice!

Ok, me getting sleepy. I will let you know how tomorrow goes.

Spur of the moment

I don't know if my age really is making me think twice about what I use to do then as to what I do now, but man that was a fun weekend.
Let me set the setting:
Friday rolls around. My wife sends out an e-mail to our regular poker crew about possibly doing a Vegas trip for the weekend. My buddy (which I will leave anonymous) sent a response stating something to each and everyone why we should go. Well, it worked. I got a rent a car and were just waiting for the vet to do her duty to give our dog a shot. And heres lies the twist as well.
I believe things happen for a reason. I wanted to leave early on Saturday because I wanted to spend as much as I could in the city of sin. It was just suposed to be me, my wife, and our instigator friend. Due to time of departure changing from 9 am to 11 am, a good buddy of mine called and wanted to know what we were up to. I let him know that we haven't left yet. And with some persuading, he was now coming along. Then as we were picking up the instigator, a very close friend called him a to see how he was doing. She was I think in a lull and my friend invited her. It took some persuading but she said yes as well. So now the 3 person early morning ride became a 5 man early afternoon shuttle ride. It was great fun as we talked about things from favorite albums to least likeable songs. It was a great time. We got to enter 2 poker tournaments, got to visit Palazzo & Planet Hollywood. Sushi Factory is always a welcome visit. All in all it was a great time.
And to think all of this would not have happened if the vet was not late.

Makes you wonder if things happen for a reson.

First Blog

I guess I have now come full circle and have become a blogger. I guess this is what happens when you stay home.
Got my wisdom teeth extracted yesterday. I'm not the bravest, but I can say I went through it. The oral surgeon didn't put me to sleep. I could handle the procedure, but when I heard the teeth starting to crack from being pried from the jaw...yeah, that got to me.

I'll figure out how to do the rest later.

Excelsior