Recap...

So it's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged and I'm happy to say thinks have been picking up. We're four days away from our Disneyland Vacation and it couldn't come any sooner. Jake's so excited -- I think wifey and I are too -- that he's finally tall enough to go on more of the "big boy" rides. We've actually sat down with a map of the resort trying to figure out what he really wants to go on.

At work, we just finished our monitoring for this school year and it's been a pretty frenetic pace. The state has been wanting more and more detailed information and it's been a task to get into the nuts and bolts of the audit. I'm just so super glad it's done.

Home life has been pretty normal -- of sorts -- if you consider who we are. We've been S L O W L Y working on the side yard and it has been quite fun when we've had a chance to go back there.

Jake got his kindergarten shots. He was great during the shots (he got 5!), but was a lot less of a "big boy" when it came to the band aids that covered them. I can't believe he's on his way to kindergarten. It seems like only yesterday I was swaying him to sleep, trying to not fall asleep myself. He's been testing a few boundaries lately, not listening to his mom or me so well, there was a major blow up about his room yesterday, but in the end, he's still our lovable, huggable, "Ki-wakes" and we love him so. This week he's on restriction from TV until our Disney weekend.

This weekend was my in-laws 3? anniversary (I know which one it is, I'm just not divulging). It was fun and we had great food and company. This was followed by my nephews' (Joseph and Elijah's) birthday party. Again, it was a pool party and again IT WAS COLD! But did that keep us from swimming? Hell no! My niece, Jake and I still managed a few minutes of pool time before heading to my sister's house for the Pacquiao fight. It was a good one!

Wifey had a bad day the last couple of days and I'm going to keep it at that for fear of retribution (I love you, Dear!) I really felt for her. Nothing was going right. But, as will all things, the weekend ended on a great note with our dearest friends and we were able to laugh the bad stuff away.

Now it's a countdown, we're trying to get the house clean and the laundry done in time for our departure. Jake's got a graduation on Thursday and then we're driving up to my parents' house where Louie will vacay (he seems to have fun up there with Chelsea and Sammy, my parents' dogs) while we are in Disneyland.

Have a great week people. Let's hope it goes by quick!

Father's Day Post-Mortem

It's almost 9AM on the Monday after Fathers' Day and I am heartwarmed and thankful. On Saturday we cleaned house (we're still not done) after neglecting it for what feels like months and I've already gone through buckets of dust, dirt and grime. In the evening, we went up to my parents' house to celebrate with Dad. Great tri-tip! It was fun also being able to bond with the new addition to the family, my nephew Evan. We got home late that evening, spending the night in the living room.

The following morning, the two pounce on me greeting me with a loud Happy Fathers' Day. From Jake, I get a SIGG bottle that's pretty cool in design -- like I picked it out myself -- and a Gap vest which, may I add, I am sporting today. I get a card from Louie Lou and from the wife I get a card with a promise of a Wii Fit once she can get her hands on one. I also got a DVD she made for me filled with pictures of us and of me and Jake and I have to say it brought me to tears.

I'm thankful for a wife who loves me unconditionally, who understands me, who makes me incredibly happy and who I just love hanging out with. I'm thankful for a son who indulges Daddy with hugs and kisses and who has more energy that I can sometimes manage. He's always ready to made Dad laugh and impresses me everyday with the things he is learning about the world. I close my eyes sometimes and I see sometime in the future that a very lucky young lady will be impressed with him, with the way he was brought up, with his intellect and acute understanding of love and life. He'll impress her enough that she'll fall in love with him and he will make her a happy woman. And well, it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome young man himself.

I love how smart he is, how quickly he picks things up. I love his sensitivity and how he tries so hard not to disappoint his mom and me. Sure he has his moments and they are quite a few, where he isn't so saintly. But, all in all, he is a great kid, and I see more and more everyday why it was love at first sight with me and him. He is the reason I strive to be a better me.

Between Jake and the wife, I work hard everyday to be the man, the husband and the father they deserve. So on this Monday after my sixth Fathers' Day, thank you both for reminding me how much you love me and appreciate me. I am very, very blessed.

Father's Day Post-Mortem

It's almost 9AM on the Monday after Fathers' Day and I am heartwarmed and thankful. On Saturday we cleaned house (we're still not done) after neglecting it for what feels like months and I've already gone through buckets of dust, dirt and grime. In the evening, we went up to my parents' house to celebrate with Dad. Great tri-tip! It was fun also being able to bond with the new addition to the family, my nephew Evan. We got home late that evening, spending the night in the living room.

The following morning, the two pounce on me greeting me with a loud Happy Fathers' Day. From Jake, I get a SIGG bottle that's pretty cool in design -- like I picked it out myself -- and a Gap vest which, may I add, I am sporting today. I get a card from Louie Lou and from the wife I get a card with a promise of a Wii Fit once she can get her hands on one. I also got a DVD she made for me filled with pictures of us and of me and Jake and I have to say it brought me to tears.

I'm thankful for a wife who loves me unconditionally, who understands me, who makes me incredibly happy and who I just love hanging out with. I'm thankful for a son who indulges Daddy with hugs and kisses and who has more energy that I can sometimes manage. He's always ready to made Dad laugh and impresses me everyday with the things he is learning about the world. I close my eyes sometimes and I see sometime in the future that a very lucky young lady will be impressed with him, with the way he was brought up, with his intellect and acute understanding of love and life. He'll impress her enough that she'll fall in love with him and he will make her a happy woman. And well, it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome young man himself.

I love how smart he is, how quickly he picks things up. I love his sensitivity and how he tries so hard not to disappoint his mom and me. Sure he has his moments and they are quite a few, where he isn't so saintly. But, all in all, he is a great kid, and I see more and more everyday why it was love at first sight with me and him. He is the reason I strive to be a better me.

Between Jake and the wife, I work hard everyday to be the man, the husband and the father they deserve. So on this Monday after my sixth Fathers' Day, thank you both for reminding me how much you love me and appreciate me. I am very, very blessed.

A Whole Lotta Two Weeks!!!

Has it really been that long? It has, hasn't it!?! Geez, I was just thinking (and blogging) about my anniversary and now it's the first week of June. Two weekends ago we were in Japantown in San Francisco.

We had been itching for something to do for our anniversary and by the time we figured out what we wanted, things were completely booked up Northern California-wide so we opted for the following weekend which happened to be Memorial Day weekend at that. I had been miserably sick during anniversary weekend and what should happen, wifey gets sick this weekend! I have to give all props to her, she was such an allstar for sticking it out.

We stayed at the Kabuki Hotel, a boutique hotel we saw online and fell in love with and I must say I would repeat. It had a Japanese soaking tub, shoji screens and is probably the tallest builiding in Japantown. It's connected to the Japantown mall which I don't know if it was a blessing or a curse.

For those of you who know me, you know I grew up in Japan and being in Japantown, although not exactly the same, made me feel like I was home again. I used the tub and washroom that first night as my own personal onsen (Japanese bath house). It was great - the hot water, the tiny bench and mini-bucket to wash yourself with...I was completely relaxed. Jake was able to score himself two wooden katana (Samurai swords), and wifey and I got to indulge in a few non-essentials Japanese items at Ichiban Kan. We had sushi for dinner on Saturday night, and Korean Barbecue the second night. On Sunday, Jake made the request to visit the Ripleys Believe It Or Not museum at Fisherman's Wharf which was expensive, but was actually pretty fun. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which was pretty cool considering Jake sat next to the aquarium and the waiter mis-ordered the wife's lunch whereby scoring her a free meal when they corrected it. Lunch the following afternoon before we left was at Isobune, the first Sushi Boat restaurant in the US. GREAT sushi!

Louie, incidentally, was also on a mini-vacay. He stayed the weekend at my parents' house and he actually enjoyed himself! With Chelsea and Sammy my parents' dogs there to keep him company, he had a blast! We stopped off to pick him up there before heading home. We stopped over at the brother-in-law's house to share in some last minute Memorial Day BBQ. Perfect end to a fun weekend.

This was a short week for me at work as well. I was in the office all of Tuesday and Wednesday, but had to return to Sacramento on Thursday and Friday for my last two days of training (I had been going two-days at a time every other month since January). Thursday morning I dropped Louie off at my parent house (since he had fun over the weekend, we thought he should have it again -- and he did!!!) and headed up for day 1 of training. I left early because it was Mom's retirement ceremony, so I drove back down to Vallejo to attend. It was fun and I got a chance to hang out with the new baby Evan. After the party I went to Target with my sister then headed home to my parents' house for the night (early morning again the next day). Day 2 in Sacramento and after I got my certification I had to zoom back to Vallejo to pick up Louie. After I got him, I sped as fast as traffic would let me to pick up the wife at work and we headed to the SFO airport. Wifey's BFF's brother was leaving for Manila with his family and the BFF asked for some things, so as the dutiful BFFs we are, we happily obliged. It also help that BFFs J and C and little J were also going to the Philippines on the same flight, so it was good that we were able to say "bye".

This weekend flew by fast, Jake stayed the night Friday night at his cousins' and we watched as his cousin played baseball Saturday afternoon. When we got home, I set to task to build Louie's new kennel. I got through most of it before it got dark and cold. It was finished by three the next afternoon (I started at noon). He loved it in there! He's taken to it this morning too.

I didn't sleep too well last night. Got hungry so I ate and had to sleep later than I wanted. Then I heard a rustling noise which I now realize may have been Louie having a bad dream. Then I heard Jake mussing about so I brought him into the room before finally settling in to sleep at about 3.

I'm tired today, but not so much sleepy. It's been a great couple of weeks.