Browse Category: holidays

A month later…

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It’s been a little over a month since I moved up to San Francisco and it’s been exactly one month since we moved into our new condo. We now have furniture, most of the boxes are unpacked, a few frames are up on the walls, and we’ve have made ourselves at home in South Beach. I also finished three weeks at my new job and got my first paycheck on Friday. Woohoo!

The Labor Day weekend was spent relaxing at home, getting the car washed, and running some errands. For the past week or so, I’ve been taking Koa to an isolated strip of grass behind the ballpark and training him to respond to my call when he’s off-leash. This morning I tested him and he came to me 9 out of 10 times. Good Dog! So, we took him to Chrissy Field for his final test today. It was a beautiful sunny day and the field was HUGE! Once we arrived, we let him go and ZOOM! He took off running across the field, leaping, turning, and having a great time. When I called him, he came running. When Jes whistled, he came running. Yay!! What fun! Our little wanker is a little less of a wanker now.

Here is a collection of photos from our first month in SF. Enjoy!

Virtual BBQ

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I spent my July 4th with Marie, Cole, and Kenji. The day started at Marie’s house where we had an udon lunch together at Cole’s kiddie table. Afterwards, I played with his new toys – a bunch of different characters from the movie “Cars”. I also brought my laptop and did some work while I was there. In the meantime, I introduced Cole to the internet. We played some online Elmo games and messed around with the Photo Booth program on my macbook. He certainly got a kick out of seeing himself on the screen.

Meanwhile, Jes was preparing some ribs for the BBQ that they were having at Jimmy’s house. So, we turned on iChat and Cole got to wave to Jesse. Eventually Cole got pretty grumpy and we decided to put him down for a nap. Unfortunately he was so excited by the internet games and everything else that was going on that he wasn’t really cooperating. Before he could start climbing on the furniture again, Jes got back online, looked him straight in the eye, and said “Hey, aren’t you supposed to go neh neh?!” Cole was so scared of him that he walked himself over to the futon with a really guilty look on his face and asked Marie for a pillow. He kept looking over to my laptop to check if Jes was watching. Since Jes was still watching him, it was only a matter of minutes before he fell asleep. It worked like a charm! Marie was so shocked since it usually takes at least 30 minutes or lots of coaxing to get him to fall asleep.

Once people arrived at Jimmy’s house, they came by to say “hello” to me. It was pretty neat being about to talk to see and talk to them. In fact, Jes put the laptop (me) at the dinner table with everyone. It was as if I was seated at the table with them. I could see who was there, what they ate, and could hear what they were saying. All I was missing was a taste of the ribs and a beer in my hand. Virtual BBQ!

The evening ended with dinner at On the Border, a walk around the shopping village for a balloon sword for Cole, and then a nice long walk down to the local park. We sat on the grass and watched the fireworks. We also witnessed a huge car crash involving at least 6 cars and a turned-over truck. Crazy.

Here are photos from the day’s events. Enjoy!

Meat, good.

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We just got back from our annual Mother’s Day prime rib dinner and it sure was yummy. Of course all five of us had to be rolled out the door and into our cars but it sure was worth it.

Here are some snapshots from dinner.

Happy Mother’s Day

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Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there. Some of you are celebrating your first and some are celebrating your 30th. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

This evening, Jes made dinner for his Mom.  Tomorrow, we’re taking my Mommy out for our annual prime rib dinner.

Almost but not quite…

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After our Cinco de Mayo fiesta complete with nacho cheese, carne asada, and margaritas, Brother and Joy got up early this morning to run the PCRF 5K. I decided to sit this one out but it was fun to watch them anyway. Koa even got to come along to check out the sights, sounds, and smells. With his red headband on, Johnny finished just a few seconds slower than last year’s time so no there was Personal Record this year. Joy finished her very first 5K today under 30 minutes – pretty impressive. They even received a little medal at the finish line this year. Nice job, runners! You’re 3.1 miles closer to our Half Marathon!  Here are the photos.

Dog is Three today

dsc_6185.jpgIt’s Koa’s 3rd birthday today! Once again, I brought out his super-duper birthday hat and he still hates it. Tee hee! Other than the hat, we didn’t do anything special. Koa spent his birthday lounging around like he usually does and then I took him to the dog park in the evening.

I’d have to say that he’s changed quite a bit over the last three years. He started out as a mischievous puppy that had an insatiable desire to chew something. In his second year, he matured a bit but still got into the trashcans and chewed up some of our belongings. Now after his third year, he’s a calmer, less troublesome dog who responds to commands now. Thank goodness!  He’s even given the occasional privilege to stay in the house by himself while we’re gone for dinner.

On the agenda for tomorrow? He’s getting a bath! Muhahaha. He’s been long overdue for one. What better way to start out a new year?!