New Year, New Resolutions?

I don't normally make new year's resolutions. For about the past three years I have vowed to improve my life, both mentally and physically. I believe that I have done an OK job of accomplishing these two items. I have started to read books regularly and I exercise at least five days per week. I still need to work harder.

I began thinking this week about whether I would make a resolution or vow for 2010. I don't know if I will or not. I have read some other blog posts that have intrigued me. One mentioned that your resolutions should be smaller and more focused. For instance, I will drive to the gym every day at 5:00. The reasoning here is that if you drive to the gym, you will most likely go inside and work out. A drive is much easier to get motivated for than a workout.

Another blog post recalled his plan for the decade that ends tonight. He suggests that maybe ten years is too long a a period to plan for and that we should plan for seven years. His big question is, "Seven years from now, what will you have to show for what you're doing right now?" If your answer to this question is not what you expected, you should create a new plan that will help you achieve the results you are looking for. Or at the very least be a more fun way to waste seven years.

I think that I would like to be a better person next year. A person who does things for other people. I am working on that with getting involved with Families First as a foster/adoptive parent. This will help the child(ren) that we bring into our home as well as our own family. Beyond that, I want to volunteer for some charities. I have considered Habitat for Humanity for many years, so maybe 2010 will be the year I finally get involved.

I also want to get into better shape. I have worked hard for the past few years in getting healthier, but I need to work even harder for the next twelve months. I had no issues that were flagged during my physical, but I want to feel healthier and that will take more exercise and better eating habits.

My seven year plan is still a little fuzzy at this point. I know that I want to change careers in the next five years. I would like to have a career that involved helping people. I need to feel like my job is doing something positive to help society in general. I can't justify working in the Marketing field any longer. My only problem is that I don't want to sacrifice my quality of life. This is the real reason that my seven or ten year plan is still fuzzy.

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Homie Gnomie Vacation Video 2009

Our gnome had a great vacation in Hawaii. I really wish we had all been able to go. Enjoy the video.

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Sequoia National Park, Take 1

I had good intentions. I wanted to take the family to the snow today. I have been many times over the years and to several different places. I have never been required to install snow chains before, so I did not think much about it. On the way, I decided to stop by Tina's parent's house and borrow her Dad's snow chains. It was a good thing I did.

When we got to the gate of the park, the ranger asked me if we had snow chains. I told her we did and she said that was a good thing. They were requiring them eleven miles inside the park. As I drove away, I turned to Tina and told her that we would not make it to the snow before being required to install the chains. I was right.

At the required location I pulled over and took out the chains. I struggled with them for a while and finally realized that they were too small for Tina's car. We decided to drive on until we were absolutely required to have them on. We did not get much further. I felt bad for Meg because she had been looking forward to going to the snow for a few days. She actually started to cry. I told her we would come back on Sunday. That helped a little, but she was very disappointed.

We drove back down to Hospital rock and hiked all of the trails there. We all actually ended up having a really good time, as you can see from the photos.

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Gnome Sweet Gnome

Our gnome, Homie Gnomie as the kidnappers named him, is home again. Meg found him hiding in a nativity seen in Dinuba on Christmas day. It was later revealed that Tim and Sharon were in cahoots on the kidnapping. Luckily, our gnome was unharmed in the ordeal. He actually got a vacation out of the kidnapping. Tim took him to Hawaii with him and his two friends on vacation. He stayed at Sharon's house and had some fun on the beach. We were given the vacation photo collage, which I am having trouble uploading but here is one of the photos.
We all had a lot of fun with this kidnapping. On our drive home, Tina mentioned that we should continue the adventure and take our gnome with us whenever we go on trips. I agreed. Meg does not want to put him back outside yet, even though she said that he watches over our home.

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It's Christmas!

It is Christmas morning. We sort of had a white Christmas this year because it froze last night. The grass and plants in the back yard are all white with frost. It would be really great if it snowed one year.

Christmas is a time for giving and I did my part yesterday afternoon. I volunteered at the Visalia Rescue Mission. I thought that I would be serving meals, but I ended up taking care of a few tables. I went and ordered the plates of food for my guests and made sure that they had a drink, utensils and a hot plate of food.

I was very surprised at the whole thing. For one, I thought the people would be lining up and getting their food themselves. That was not the case. The volunteers did everything for the guests. The other thing that surprised me was who exactly was getting the meals. I expected it to be a lot of really rough looking homeless people, but it wasn't. It was just a bunch of "normal" people who are just down on their luck for one reason or another.

Tina and Meg volunteered with me. Tina saw several families from her school. Most said hello to her and a few even gave her a hug. I don't know what exactly I expected to feel after volunteering, but I didn't feel as good as I thought I would. It made me feel like I was not doing enough. In the car on the ride home, Tina and I discussed what else we could do to help people more often. I don't think it is out of the question that we volunteer once or twice a month. It would be a great example for our children.

Meg is still not up yet, so we are waiting on her and Chachi so we can begin our Christmas day. It should be a great one!

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Christmas Eve is Upon Us

Are you feeling the Christmas spirit yet? It has been a little slow to come around in our house, but I think it is finally here. We have been very busy this year and we have let some things slip a little bit. Not on purpose, but just because we have been so busy.

The whole foster care/adoption process has really overwhelmed us both physically and emotionally. We have had classes to take, paperwork to complete and a lot of thinking and talking to do. It is a little disappointing that we will not be able to have a child before Christmas, but we will take one whenever they come to us. We just can't wait to share our first Christmas with a new child.

We opened gifts at Tina's parents house last night. The kids all got really excited. It was great watching there enthusiasm and patience. They are all growing up and exhibiting a lot of self control and patience.

Today I am going to the Visalia Rescue Mission to help serve lunch for the homeless. I am really looking forward to this. Tina and Meg are coming along to help. I think it is going to be a very positive experience for us all, especially Meg. Everyone needs to have a slight readjustment of priorities this time of year and this should do the trick. I want Meg to grow up appreciating all of the things that we have and understanding that not everyone is as lucky as we are.

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The Gnome Tome

So...we still do not have our gnome back yet. I am hoping that we will get him back before Christmas, but you never know. We all miss him very much.

As a matter of fact, we miss him so much that Tina actually bought some new pajamas with gnomes on them. Meg and I were shopping with her when we found them. We all got excited about them, so Tina bought them. I would not say that we are trying to replace our gnome, but we just felt, and still feel a little empty.

If our gnome kidnappers don't return our gnome this weekend, I will need to find a replacement. I just can't deel with all the sadness in our home any longer. We are all on edge. The kids have been really grumpy for about the last month or so. I didn't put two and two together until today. The grumpiness is caused by the feeling of loss in all of us. Please return our gnome so that our household can be normal again.

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AP Athlete of the Year?

Jimmie Johnson was named the AP athlete of the year. In order to be an athlete, you must participate in a sport. Auto racing is not a sport. It is a race. It is a past time. It may even require sportsmanship, but it is not a sport.

An athlete is someone who uses their physical abilities in an athletic pursuit. In my opinion, the majority of the effort has to be exerted by the "athlete." in the case of auto racing, the majority of the work is done by a machine. I am not saying that driving a race car does not require skill or endurance, but skill and endurance does not mean you are an athlete.

Poker players have both skill and endurance and are not athletes. Chess players need to have skill and some endurance, but they are not athletes. And even construction workers need to have some skill and endurance, but they are not necessarily athletes. So why are auto racers considered athletes?

I don't have the answer to that question. I just don't agree that they are athletes.

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'Tis the Season for Tamales

I love this time of year for one major reason...tamales. I cannot get enough of them. Tamales are probably my favorite Mexican food.

This year, The Queen and Chachi are making them with The Queen's mom. They are making some pork, some cheese and jalapeño and maybe even some beef. I personally prefer the cheese and jalapeño and the beef. I had a few of the first batch today for lunch and they were great.

If we end up with enough, I may share. There just aren't any guarantees though.

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All I Want For Christmas Is...

I wouldn't say that it is all I want for Christmas, but I would like to get our gnome back. He has been missing for quite some time. I have not heard from him lately and I fear something bad has happened to him. Maybe he is bound and gagged by his kidnappers?

Christmas is a special time of the year and we can't imagine not sharing it with our garden gnome. I look for him every day when I leave the house and then again when I return home at the end of a long day. His being gone leaves and empty place in our hearts.

If you have seen our gnome, please reply to this post so we know he is OK. We just can't imagine losing him forever.

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The Holiday Season

I am not much of a fan of the holidays. I think Christmas is so commercialized that it really does not matter much to me. I do get joy in seeing the look on my kid's faces as they open their gifts. I got this from my dad.

Growing up, and even today, my dad loved Christmas. I can remember him sitting next to our tree with a cup of coffee passing out gifts to my siblings and me. He loved to pass out the gifts and watch us open them. He loved to see the looks on our faces as we opened them. The only thing he loved more was disguising our gifts and confusing us.

I never remember my dad putting our correct names on our gifts. one year I might have been Charlie. Another year I could have been Sharon or even circle. He always kept us guessing. The story is that he started doing that because my mom was very impatient. She could not wait to open her gifts under the tree and sometimes opened them before Christmas morning and then wrapped them back up.

The other thing my dad did was disguise our gifts. He might have wrapped a shirt to look like a baseball bat. Or wrapped a football to look like a dinosaur. You never knew what you were opening would turn out to be. He continues to do this today. He disguises the gifts for my kids and my nieces as random, funky shapes or animals. He loves to see their reactions and guesses as to what they are opening.

He makes it fun for all of us. We are always wondering how he will out do himself this Christmas. I haven't inherited his playfullness in this respect because I just don't have the patience with gift wrapping. Maybe I should start.

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Morals

I had an interesting conversation at work the other day. It seems lately that a lot of our conversations head in the direction of the greater good. Whether it be the environment, how to treat people or even just general business practices.

Anyway, the other day one of my coworkers was talking about investing. He buys stocks and often celebrates when the market is down because that is an opportunity to buy. I made a comment about him not caring about other people's investments. I brought up a conversation that was had with another coworker when gas prices spiked to their highest levels last year. He owns stock in an oil company. When he heard someone complain about gas prices he remarked that they should buy stock in an oil company so they would benefit from the higher gas prices.

After hearing this story, my coworker said that I would be happy too if I owned stock in an oil company. I told him that I would not own stock in an oil company because I do not believe in their business practices. He was somewhat shocked and kept prodding me. I continued to tell him that I don't like the way the oil companies do business. I don't like the fact that they made record profits while gas prices peaked. I told him that I thought they were immoral.

His reaction surprised me. He asked me why they were immoral. He said, "they are not selling pornography or anything like that." This really surprised me. In his mind there is nothing immoral about shady business practices. In his mind companies cannot do anything wrong unless they are selling pornography. He links pornography with morals...and that is all. I feel sorry for him because he is caught up in the corporate mentality that all that matters is profits.

Profits at the expense of people. Profits at the expense of the environment. Profits at the expense of our future. How has this idea developed in our country? How do we continue to ignore society in our quest for more money? I don't know, but I am trying to do my part to open some people's eyes to what really matters...the greater good.

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Foster Parenting Class Part 2

As I stated yesterday, this two-day class was very informative. I learned a lot and found myself very interested in the information. I even mentioned to Tina that I would not mind becoming a social worker. The only problem is that it requires a master's degree and they pay is not good at all.

The passion for the subject matter that Maria showed really helped me to accept the information. She made me want to learn more about the behavior problems and their causes. I think that this is the first time that I have shown any interest in this subject. I may even look into it some more.

The most troubling part of the training is that now I am able to see the behaviour that is caused by abuse. I am able to see it in the behavior of kids I have come in contact with. As I think back, I have no problem accepting the figure that 80% of children in foster care have been abused. I told Tina that a lot of the behavior problems she tells me about from her school stem from abuse of some kind. She already knew this, but it was a revelation for me.

I never thought about why a child acted the way they did or why some children were slow learners. I wouldn't say that I never cared, I just don't think that I was educated enough to even think about why it was happening. Now I know differently. I don't think I will be able to watch a kid throw a tantrum in a store the same way again. I will always be analyzing the behavior and trying to determine what the cause is. I now understand why Dr. Drew is able to come to a conclussion so fast with the callers on Loveline.

This was a great experience for me.

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Foster Parenting Class Part 1

My wife and I had to attend a foster parenting class over the weekend. It was a 2-day class that I was not looking forward to. I think Tina felt the same way.

We arrived early on Saturday while the instructor was still setting things up. We chatted with her some and I ended up helping her set up her computer for the presentation. She was not able to get the presentation to be projected. It was a simple fix.

One other couple arrived a few minutes after the class was supposed to start. There were four couples that were supposed to be taking the class and only us and the one other couple showed up. My dread for the class was mounting. Maria began the class and she really opened my mind.

I have never taken any child psychology or early childhood development classes, so all of this was new to me. I started out very skeptical. I have heard many of these things before from Tina and her mom and dad. I have really never bought into the ideas much. This was different. Maria did a really good job of describing the reasons why the behaviors happen and what causes them. She was very passionate about the subject and it really helped.

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The Colors of Mexico

When you visit another country, you realize how boring we are in the United States. Even a poor country such as Mexico has a lot more color than we have back home. I have not visited other parts of Latin America, buy from what I have seen they are just like Mexico in this regard.

I spent a lot of time on the road today travelling from Mexico City to Puebla on business. I had a lot of time to observe my surroundings. On the road to Puebla there we passed hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking or riding biks on the pilgrimage for the festivities of Our Lady of Guadalupe. My friend from Mexico City told me that as many as 5 million people from all over Mexico make the pilgrimage for the festivities that take place December 12. He said that some of the pilgrims actually walk much of the distance on their knees and arrive at the Basílica of Guadalupe with blood dripping. Are these people crazy or are they just devout Catholics?

Read more about the festivities of Our Lady of Guadalupe here.

The other thing I noticed, which I have seen on all my visits to Mexico, are the colors. There are colorful signs painted on buildings, colorful cars and trucks, people wearing colorful clothing and colorful houses. These things are not just colorful, but they are pairings of colors that you just don't see very often in the United States. It makes for very interesting sights to see.

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Is Facebook a Waste of Time?

I joined the Facebook party late. I thought maybe it had a place. People were communicating with one another. It was bringing long lost friends back together.

I am beginning to think it is a waste of time. It has gotten all sappy and become a forum of self-congratulation. I feared this would be the case, which is why I put it off as long as I did.

My "friends" are busy playing games and sending hearts to eachother. That is, inbetween bragging with their status updates. Is it just my network, or is this happening all over Facebook?

I haven't given up yet, but I do login a lot less often now. Will people begin to migrate to a new platform as they moved to Facebook from myspace? I am waiting to see what it becomes.

- Posted from my iPhone

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Mexico City Here I Come...Again.

I am off to Mexico City again tomorrow. This will be my third trip to Mexico City this year. This trip, like the other two, is for business. The only difference is that this time it is just a quick trip for a meeting.

I will arrive in Mexico City late tomorrow night. Stay at a hotel connected to the airport for 2 nights and then fly home on Thursday, getting back home after midnight. A whirlwind trip for an early morning meeting on Wednesday. I would love to have more time in the city, but unfortunately I will not get it on this trip.

I really hated Mexico City after my first visit. I stayed at a hotel in an industrial area and spent all day in a trade show. All I saw of the city was that almost every space was covered in graffiti. I did not have any free time to go anywhere.

On my second trip, I found the city much more interesting. I stayed in a better part of the city. I could walk around the area and explore the restaurants, shops and Chapultapec Park. I drove by the famous golden angel and got to see much more of the city on this trip. I even made it downtown to Templo Mayor and got a tour of the city. I was really impressed.

I am sorry I will not have any time on this trip. I just can't wait to get back when I will have some free time to explore more of the city.

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Where Is Our Gnome?

It has been a while since we have heard from our gnome. We have really missed him. I hope he will be home before Christmas. I really feel like the longer he is missing the less the chance that he is returned.

Meg accused Uncle Tim of taking him on Thanksgiving. He was unusually quiet and had a fishy reaction. Is he the kidnapper? At this point, we just don't know for sure. It could be him or could just be some other random person.

Gnome...we miss you. Come home. Come home. Gnome...we miss you. Come home. Come home.

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Great Time of Year

I look forward to this time of year for a few reasons. My favorite reason is that we get to see elementary school Christmas programs. Chachi had a memorable one that we still refer to every year. The hand gestures that went with the songs were perfect and really made the performance emotional.

Cheeseball has not have any that have stood out as much, but I still enjoy them every year. We will suffer in the cold tonight, because Cheeseball's school holds all of its performances outside in their quad. In addition, we have to be there very early because there is always a great parent turn out.

Cheeseball has been practicing at home recently. She has been singing non-stop. She knows the songs, so I just hope she opens up some and really has some fun with it. I am excited for tonight!

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What is My Perfect Career?

I have always wanted to be in a creative field. I thought I wanted to be an advertising executive or an architect. I still find architecture very interesting. I just realized that perhaps I am not creative enough to be a good architect. As for an advertising executive, I reasoned that I am not creative enough to be the person who comes up with the ideas, but I am a good editor of bad ideas. I still believe this, but advertising does not really interest me anymore. I guess ten to fifteen years of sales and marketing experience have shown me the bad side of the industry.

I think I can create, but I just do not come up with many great, original concepts. I can take someone else's concept and expand on it and make it perfect though. So given these truths, what is my perfect job? Maybe a civil engineer? Maybe a pharmacist? Maybe something I haven't even considered up to this point.

I find people interesting. Not to talk to, but to observe. I like to find out what makes them tick. What motivates them. I have considered being a psychologist in a prison. I would love to find out why someone committed their crime(s), how they got caught and if they truly feel like they are reformed.

So, what is my perfect career? I don't really have any hobbies that I could turn into a rewarding job. I don't have any interests that could become my career. So how do I find out what I should be doing?

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I Am An Introvert!

It is official. I am an introvert. I can hear everyone who knows me saying, "duh" right about now. I have always known that I have been shy and like to keep to myself. I have even had conversations with my wife about me potentially being able to live all alone somewhere. She cannot understand this, but I really don't need people as much as she does. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife and kids. I get a lot of joy watching my kids do things like play sports and sing in school performances. I even find myself enjoying watching them do things like enjoying a good book or laughing at a funny tv show.

I think that I can be an introvert and enjoy certain people. I have always been interested in people, but mostly from afar. I am a bit of a voyeur. I like to people watch. I like to think about what is going through people's minds. I even like to criticize the way they do things and question their reasoning. People amaze me, but I don't want to talk to them a lot of the time.

So now that I know that I am an introvert, have I missed my calling? Is there a certain job that I could really be successful at and enjoy much more than any other? I am starting a journey to find out if there is such a career. I have some ideas that will get me started. I will see where it goes from there.

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