The Impromptu Daddy-Daughter Date

This past weekend, we travelled to the far reaches of the state of Utah with a group of friends to see a few of the arches at Arches National Park. The trip began well and finished the same. We ended up in a spacious Moab-style campground (that means there was more dirt and sand than grass and trees). The rock formations around the campground were very impressive from their bright color to their lumpy form. We cooked chicken, potatoes and planned to have broccoli. Thankfully, the broccoli did not cook fully, thus providing me an excellent excuse to not consume it. We also made 3 kinds of cobbler! Not one of them was bad, in my opinion, but the peach-raspberry was probably the favorite.

As the night wound down, we tried to lay Sabrina down for the night. It was her first experience camping and she wasn't prepared for the routine. Bethany tried to stay with her in the tent hoping she'd fall asleep with mom nearby. Sabrina resisted with her best efforts. I tried taking her for a little drive thinking that the familiarity of the car seat and the hum of the van would settle her down and help her fall asleep. She resisted that too. We got back to camp and tried to rock her, bounce her, hold her and then lay her back down in the tent with mom. Sabrina wasn't going to have it. The tent was too dark, there was too much commotion going on, not to mention the mesmerizing campfire that all of the kids worshipped with their marshmallows on sticks. There was no way she was going to let herself succumb to any notion of sleeping.

Once we eventually corralled all of the family into the tent and into their sleeping bags, we thought we had done it and she'd finally sleep. Not a chance! She went from laying in her sleeping bag to rolling out of it to dancing around the tent. Each time we put her back in her sleeping bag, she'd pop out! What a persistent little bugger! I think it was around midnight that she started to cry when we'd put her back in her sleeping bag. I tried letting her sleep on the air mattress with me. She eventually pushed me off and then got up and wanted to try the cot with mom. Bethany ended up on the air mattress and I ended up on the kiddie Dora the Explorer sleeping bag (which isn't worth a darn for a guy my size.) Goldilocks has nothing on Sabrina because she had tested papa bear's bed, mama bear's bed and baby bear's bed and none of them sufficed! She cried and cried and I thought to try the van one more time.

To shorten this long story, we made it into the van just before 3:00 a.m. and just laid there for a half hour. When that didn't work, I decided to take her on a sight-seeing trip around Moab, hoping that Moab in the dark would put her to sleep. Nope. She was fine to watch out the window. So I resorted to a little bit of Michael Buble. I played Lost over and over, singing along with him. It did the trick! She was out like a light. We drove back near the campground and parked some distance away so that I could keep the van on for a while and not wake our friends. I fell asleep a short time later. Sabrina was courteous enough to give me around 75 minutes of sleep before she woke up and insisted that I be up too.

Before we went on the trip, Bethany and I were discussing whether or not to try and leave Sabrina with family while we went on the trip. I believe my exact words were, "Let's just take her. It won't be a big deal. She'll be fine."

I was wrong.

The silver lining in the ordeal is this: because we could not get cell phone reception at the campground, I could not send or receive email. I had a few emails to type up and send in connection with my church calling that I should have taken care of Friday. So because we were out driving around at 4:00 in the morning, I was able to pull over and send them off! How's that for a positive spin?

 

Olive Burgers

I remember my dad talking about olive burgers when I was a kid and it fascinated me to think you could put olives in burgers. It's a great combination! Since being on my own, I've made them several times. I made some again this weekend and thought I'd share the recipe with you in case you like olives too!

• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 can of black olives, pitted
• chopped onion
• seasoning salt

Be sure to drain the olives first! Then take out 4 or 5 and eat them! :) Then add the rest to the ground beef, along with the chopped onion and seasoning salt. Mash it all together well and then make your beef patties. Grill 'em like you would a regular burger. Enjoy them when their done. As a variation, you might try green olives if you're adventurous. I haven't tried it yet though so I can't tell you YEA or NAY.

The finished product!

 
 

They Did It!

Congratulations to all of the marathon runners and the bike patrol (Ron)! It was a great marathon. The kids and I were there to cheer her and welcome her at the finish line. She did really well and we are so proud of her. All those hours spent running and training finally culminated in more sweat and a medal!

Pictured here are Bethany and two of her sisters.

 

I Need a Hero!

Tonight, I walked in the door from work just in the nick of time! Dora the Explorer was stuck behind the elliptical and Hairdo didn't have a long enough reach. Her panic-stricken face changed to hopeful glee as she saw me enter the room. "Lola!" she exclaimed (that's how she pronounces Dora's name) as she pointed to the floor behind the exercise machine. With a quick swipe, Dora was snatched up and delivered into the arms of her greatest admirer and the universe was stabilized in all of about 5 seconds.

 

I Beat B.J.!

This afternoon at work, B.J. and I took a break from work to play some pool in the breakroom. I consider B.J. to be a pretty good friend. We have similar interests in both programming and design. In fact, I've asked for his expert opinion several times while I've been redesigning our company's website. Among other things, he makes a great sounding board for ideas.

Anyway, we were playing a few rounds and I luckily beat him the first game. However, as you can see from the picture below, I got really lucky and skunked him the second game. All seven of his pool balls were left on the table after I successfully pocketed the 8-ball! W00t! Thanks for taking it easy on me today, B.J.

 

Hip Hop/Rap

I have very little of this in my vast collection of music. On my iPhone, I have:

Apologize (feat. OneRepublic) Shock Value - Timbaland

Connected Connected - Stereo MC's

Ice Ice Baby To the Extreme - Vanilla Ice

Just the Two of Us Big Willie Style - Will Smith

Parents Just Don't Understand DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: Greatest Hits

Summertime Will Smith: Greatest Hits - Will Smith

It should be noted that Ice Ice Baby from my list above was purchased for a neighbor for a lip synching thing he was doing.

This may surprise you but back in my gangsta days, I could sing a lot of The Fresh Prince's songs. (Actually, my gangsta days only lasted for about a month -- nothing long-term.)

For me (and most people I know) rap just didn't catch on. But there are many talented rappers, especially those without a record label. Case in point, I came across this YouTube video of a flight attendant who seems very "dope" and clever with his lyrics. It's funny! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivjybzdXVmI

 

The Looming, Impending and Ominous Half-Marathon!

OOOHHH! Doesn't that sound dark? Well, it could be for those of us who resist exercise. But for Bethany, she's not so threatened. She's been working up to being able to run a half-marathon soon and I'm so proud of her. Last Saturday, she came home elated that she'd completed 10 miles without stopping. It was a major accomplishment. I hadn't thought much about it until she got in to double digits (i.e. 10 miles) and then I realized that she's going to do this amazing feat of physical endurance. And we're going to be at the finish line to cheer for her. It will be awesome! Good luck, Bethany!

And to the rest of you participating in the marathon, good luck to you too!

 

Tumbleweed Crossing!

On my way to work yesterday, there was a gust of wind making its way through our town and rustling up a bunch of tumbleweeds in the process. Though I tried to avoid them, there were some casualties. It reminded me of Vegas, actually, as we had tumbleweeds blow down the street every year.

I know where they come from and why there are so many of them. The ground is fertile enough for them to grow and we have a lot of uncultivated land around. They pop up everywhere. In fact, we have a strip of dirt along the back fence in our backyard (which will be transformed into a garden sometime soon) and a few have popped up there too before being freed by the wind and eventually making their way to a corner of the yard. We have no trouble growing something where we are. Every year, the fields around our neighborhood are populated with weeds, shrubs and other vegetation.

In thinking about it, I remembered a conversation I had with a former boss. She was part I.T. director and part farmer/rancher. (Go figure!) She told me that when farming, just as soon as they'd clear some land, something else would grow in it's place if they didn't grow something else themselves. In fact much of the earth is that way. When the existing plant growth is cleared away, the earth will attempt to cover itself up again. She pointed out that it resembled the principle of modesty. To think that even Mother Earth demonstrated modesty was really interesting. It has stuck with me ever since.