Preach It.

Sunday morning I was able to go to Vista Grande Church in San Diego. I forget how much I miss my old church family until I visit again. This morning the Pastor spoke about second chances. And spoke of how our God is the God of the Second Chance. Pastor Silvestri used many passages but one that really stuck out to me was

Psalm 145:14 "God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit."

Alumni Softball Game

Saturday afternoon I went to an Alumni Luncheon/Softball Game. It was so wonderful to see so many of my old teammates. Logsdon is preggers and a personal trainer, Fluck is training to be a paramedic, J.Lo. is going to nursing school, Krista is teaching 3rd grade. We had so much fun catching up with each other. There were 15 alumni that showed up for lunch and the game. I look forward to seeing some games this year and hopefully having the opportunity to play in the Alumni Game next year.

Warm-up

Play Ball!

better Late than Never

On the 25th of January I met up with Abby

Moe, James and Drew

Crystal and Cole

at Disneyland. We had a great time. We went on Small World, rode the "horsey's", Winnie the Pooh ride, and I took Abby and Drew on Roger Rabbit since James cannot sit own his own yet Moe and James couldn't go on the ride. Good Times.

So I met with someone from the Probation Department human resources today...

Random Ipod Top 10 (because I have nothing else to post right now)

It doesn't really show up on this random 10, but I think my ipod is depressed. It was playing the Cure about every 3rd song for quite a while today.

1. Drug Train -- Social Distortion -- self titled
2. Come On Eileen -- Save Ferris -- It Means Everything
3. My Funny Valentine -- Nat King Cole -- Platinum Collection
4. Exodus -- Bob Marley -- Legend
5. Don't Cry (part 2) -- Guns N' Roses -- Use Your Illusion 2
6. That's Life -- Frank Sinatra -- The Very Best Years
7. Love is Blindness -- U2 -- Achtung Baby
8. The Man Comes Around -- Johnny Cash -- American IV
9. On Our Own -- Bobby Brown -- Ghostbusters 2 soundtrack
10. Shoulda Been a Cowboy -- Toby Keith -- Greatest Hits 2

New Experience

On Saturday we decided to get out and go somewhere. Cyndi has never been to the race track and it has been years since Paul has gone so we decided to head up to Santa Anita. This is the best parking price we have seen in a long time only $4. We headed to the enterance and what do you know some man is handing out free general admission (normally $5 per person) SCORE.

We spent the day placing $2 bets on horses, watching the races, going to the stables to watch the horses, and seeing the jockeys get on their horses to ride onto the track. We had a great time. The only thing that was pricy was food and they don't check so when we go back again we know that we can pack a picnic and eat there. They even have a playground in the middle of the track and a big screen. Paul was messing around with the camera, hense the photo below.

Exorcist

Friday brought me a day of fun. I was subbing for a third grade class in Orange Unified. Everything was going fine until first recess. A girl came back from speech early and said she wasn't feeling well and can she go to the nurse. It was right before recess so I believed she was really sick. She was in the nurses office for all of recess and came back about 10 min. after recess was over. She handed me the note that said she didn't have a fever and no one was at home.

Okay fine, so I said go ahead and have a seat and put your head down. She sat down and I started working with the group at the back table, After a minute I looked up and noticed that two students were standing next to her and that she was crying. She said she felt really sick. So I decided to send her back to the nurse. She came up to the front and I started writing the note. Before I put pen to paper she let loose, and threw up all over the front of the classroom. Oy! I was thinking "you win" the nurse was way wrong.
So the aide walked her to the nurse and I got the rest of the class lined up and we went out for a second recess. The class thought this was great since they got to play while we waited for the mess to be cleaned up. Good times. Remarkably this is the first time I have had a student throw up in the classroom let alone inches from my shoes.

Time for a lobotomy!

Some of you might know that I've been having headaches lately. And by lately, I mean daily. And by daily, I mean all day every day. Since mid November. Long ago I got to the point where I didn't even think about it much unless it was really bad. They are just always there.

I've been to the doctor several times. They keep prescribing meds that are supposed to be really powerful. So far they've done nothing. I might as well have taken nothing at all. Advil dulls the pain some, but other than that I haven't found anything that has any effect.

Anyway, they finally scheduled me for a CT scan tomorrow afternoon. I really hope they find something, just so I know what's going on. At this point I think I'd feel worse if they didn't know what was causing them and therefore couldn't do anything to make it better.

Red Square

Go to this website.

http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Epontipak/redsquare.html

I made it 25.867 sec. How long can you go for?

Marco...

POLO!

Yes, I have decided to ask the readers of this blog for their opinion. My mom and I will be going on a cruise sometime before August, because on the cruise we took this summer to Hawaii my luggage got lost and it was a whole to do about when it would show up, and Paul had to constantly call and track where it was and talked them into flying it from one side of the island to the other the cruise line gave us $$$ off if we went on another cruise within the year. We also got reimbursed plus a little from the airline for the things I had to buy to keep myself clothed while we waited for my clothes to show up. Anyways, since Paul doesn't know when he will be working or where my mom and I will be going. We aren't sure where we want to go. Any suggestions?

Exciting News

I just got news that a friend from High School just delivered a beautiful baby girl.

Elly Anne McMillan arrived at 4:00 pm this afternoon (Friday), weighing 7 lb. 11 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. Mom, Dad and Elly are all doing great. Congratulations!

Happy New Year

We wanted to be with family to ring in 2006. So we drove up to the ALH and played cards, ate yummy desserts and toasted with sparkling cider. The winner of the evening was Jean.

Sadly the night ended a bit early because my in-laws puppy was sick and needed to be taken to the doggy doctor (she passed away a few days later). She will be missed.

Charlie Take Two!

Since Charlie is leaving soon after Paul got off of work tonight Morgan, Paul and I went to meet up with her for dinner at you guessed it Olive Garden. Paul and I had a gift certificate (Thank You Ric and Jeri!) I have never been there so it was a new experience for me. The breadsticks were good (I still like Pat and Oscars better), the soup was delecious some of the best I have ever had and the Cheesy Chicken with Pasta was excellent. They also gave us a sample of some wine which was good too.

We had a good time catching up and hanging out. After dinner we went back to Charlie's place to look at her 'yearbook' from Basic Training, videos of training and graduation and some photos from graduation. Wow, I have a huge respect for this girl! She is so strong and determined for making it through.

Stay safe Charlie and goodluck in the next portion of your training!
We will all miss you greatly.

Girls Gone Wild

From left to right: Cyndi, Manda, Charlie, Morgan and Moe

My friend Charlie is on Christmas leave from the Army so we decided to get together with the rest of the gang and have a girls night out. We headed out to The Block and ate dinner at TGIFridays. We ordered drinks and Charlie bought us a round of Scooby Snacks. Soooo Good!

We had a yummy dinner and then walked over to the AMC theatre to catch a flick. We saw 'Fun with Dick and Jane' I liked it more than my counterparts. I didn't expect much from it. It was an ok movie, the funniest part was the couples kid who spoke a combanation of English and Spanish. "Not my telemundo!"

After that we said fairwell to Moe and Manda as they had to head home. Morgan, Charlie and I decided to catch another movie. We saw Rumor Has It. Which I liked but I am not a big movie buff as far as rating things. I like a lot of films that many people would laugh at me for liking. I thought it was a cute movie. It took a little while to get started, and ended a bit fast but I would still go see it again. I am glad we got the chance to have some time for all of us to hang out.

Ouch!

The Day After Christmas

For fun and excitment on the day after Christmas we decided to go up to Mt. High and see if we had any snowboarding skills. I am still unsure if we have any skills. Paul and I started out by taking a snowboarding lesson but my boots were tight and about a half hour in I felt sick like I was going to pass out or lose my breakfast.

So back to the ski lodge we went. I could not find boots that didn't make my feet ache so, I decided maybe I should just go skiing since I know how. I found boots that fit great, and didn't make me feel sick, Paul however could not find any that were wide enough. Doah! So Paul opted to sit out since he didn't want to take a lesson by himself for snowboarding. So I went skiing for a little while, we ate lunch at the restaurant on the mountain and then I went skiing for a couple more hours.

On my last time down the mountain I went down a different part of the mountain and misjudged the jump and landed on my bottom. my right ski hit my left knee and I ended up with the lovely bruise pictured above. It was not an ideal day of fun in the snow but we had a good time.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day is spent with Cyndi's family. In the past we have driven up to Victorville but this year we went down to SD. We went down in the morning and opened stockings, then we headed over to the Robinsons house for brunch with old neighbors and friends. We decided to then go catch a movie, The Producers. It was fairly well done, a few to many songs for my taste. Not one of the top movies for me in 2005. We also opened our presents to each other and from family that could not be with us. Then we went home and had a fantastic dinner complete with pecan pie (Cyndi's personal favorite). We settled in watched some T.V. and played with our new toys.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is spent in Alhambra with Paul's family. We have a delicious dinner and good conversation. The Christmas Story is on the television. We exchange presents (we do a name draw since there are 12 adults and 1 almost adult in the family). It is always a good time. Sorry no photos... We forgot the camera, we will have to ask Paul's parents if we can borrow the memory card to load them on our computer.

Cyndi and Paul's Day of Fun

Tuesday the 20th of December

My mom scored us some free tickets to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. We got up in the morning time and drove down to the zoo which is only about 20min. or so from my moms house. We decided to shell out some cash to get the all day bus rides so we wouldn't have to do an enormous amount of walking. We had never done the tour before which is included also so we started the day off with that. We had a great time. We saw pretty much everything we even made it to one of their shows. We saw a baby giraffe, the koalas, lions, monkeys, polar bears and lots more. The coolest thing we went to see was the new baby panda. We were shocked that their was not a line. The last time there was a baby panda the line was a few hours long and we decided we didn't want to wait that long. This time the line was just past the gate to get in where the pandas were so we waited just a couple minutes. This is all we saw:the baby was sleeping up against the wall in the corner of the enclosure. So we decided since it was almost lunch time for the pandas that we too should go get lunch and maybe when we were done we could get a better look at the little one. We ate right next to where the pandas are. When we finished we walked back over and the line was significantly longer so we figured that the baby was awake. We decided to wait and see. Then we got to see this:
She is co cute.

Suprise

Monday, December 19th

I decided to go out and get my mom a Christmas tree today, since she was just not going to have one this year. I found a place that still had flocked trees and bails of hay which were the two things I had been searching for. The hay is for her nativity scene which sits in our front yard. So I got all the hay set up and the nativity plugged in. Then I set up the tree and decorated it while she was at work. Jyem came over to help with the decorating part. When we were finished we got the extra carpet my mom has been wanting to get rid of and took it over to Jyem's new place.

When my mom got home boy was she suprised to see hay in the front yard and a tree in the kitchen window. The kitty decided this should be his new hang out. As soon as the tree was put up he was checking it out, once the tree skirt was put down he began hanging out underneath the tree. He is a black kitty but now every time he walks out from under the tree he has spots of white. I am glad we will have a tree for Christmas day!

Happy 5th Birthday

Sunday, December 18th

Happy Birthday Hadley!

I headed over to Erin and Jon's house on Sunday to celebrate their eldest daughters birthday. She is absolutly adorable. I cannot believe she is already 5. Where does the time go. I had a great time catching up with Erin, seeing her parents and grandparents. Their newest addition is growing so fast, I can hardly believe it.

Congratulations!

Saturday, December 17th

From left to right and top to bottom: Charlotte Carpenter, Electra Carpenter, Erika Carpenter, Grandma and Vivian Carpenter.

Today my mom and I attended Ericka Carpenters Bridal Shower. My mom and Vivian have been friends for many years, they attended the same church for a long time and continue to remain close as they took a cruise to Alaska just for fun the summer before last. The three Carpenter sisters have watched me grow up (they are about 10 years older) from the time I was just a baby. I am so happy for Ericka and I wish her all the best as she begins her life as a wife.

Late Night

Friday, December 16thOn Friday I met up with Jyem, we just hung out at her place looked through photos, talked and played with her puppy, Frank. We were up way past our bedtimes (3am) I didnt get home until about 3:20am. We decided to take a photo before I headed home and this is how the photo came out.

Go White Boy, Go White Boy, Go!

I was going to wait until I got my big break, but I guess I can share this with you all now. I made my first music video and I think it's going to be huge! You can check it out here. No, I can't teach you to dance like this...it's all natural baby!

Busy! Busy!

This weekend is will:

Help my mom clean and organize
Finish Christmas shopping
Go to a wedding shower
Go to a birthday party
Hang out with Jyem

Who knows what else I will have time for
Photos and details will be coming within the week.

Merry Early Christmas

I took angela to Disneyland today for an early Christmas gift. She has not been to Disneyland for a few years. We walked around, rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and Haunted Mansion. We watched the holiday parade, and fireworks. We also enjoyed some ice cream at the ice cream parlor on Main Street. We left a bit early because I was feeling lousy and we were tired from lack of sleep and getting up early. All in all it was a good day and lots o fun.