Special visitor

We had a special visitor to our home recently.  Some great pics of our time together...we had a great time too!

To my daughters who are Moms and their hubs...

You really need to watch this video if you haven't seen it...it is the funniest!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/the-parent-rap_n_1791726.html

Love,
Dad


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Old Sac

Vickie and I had a wonderful time in Sacramento, CA last weekend. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable time for...walking, talking, and just relaxing. Oh...and did I mention eating? You can see how much fun can be had in just a day and a half!

A LITTLE HISTORY
Sacramento is a really nice small city about an hour northeast of San Francisco...it has all the good parts of California cities but is without the massive size, and it seemed to us to be much lower-keyed. That's a good thing If you want to relax and not get stressed driving or caught in crowds. It's also close to wine country...we visited this area 30 years ago in a whirlwind top to bottom west coast tour...our first real vacation ever. On that one we took Danielle with us in a stroller, and Jamie too but she was a little less trouble since she wasn't born yet. This time we did it without any help ;).



ARRIVAL
We arrived on Thursday evening in time to go to dinner. We picked a place called OneSpeed, an eclectic California pizza joint. This was not your NJ pizza by any means, and we enjoyed our meal and a nice chill time. I had a business meeting to attend in the morning so we made it back to the hotel and crashed early.

DAY 1
My day started at 7 with a conference call followed by a good session with a customer.
I had taken Friday afternoon off...we started out visiting a place called Tower Theater, an old movie theater that is still in operation, but has the original charm of theaters from the 30's. We remember going to this type of place as kids, me in Plainfield and she in Newark. There is a really charming grill attached that has an outdoor garden seating area, so we sat for coffees and a delicious chocolate bread pudding dessert.


Then we took a short drive to old Sacramento, or as the locals call it "Old Sac". The touristy area was really nice and clean, and had a charm that is so pleasant. We walked around the shops and took a few pictures (something we never remember to do when we vacation). And of course they were some of our favorite places!





Dinner took us took us outside our comfort zone...we never, I mean never eat French cuisine...mostly because of price, but also because of value, because they don't give you very much food, and you know how we LOVE to get our moneys worth. Chinese, Italian, seafood, but never French. This time we tried it, and LOVED it. It was a kinda unique French restaurant because the prices were reasonable. They had a $10 steak on the menus that they claimed was the best ten dollar steak you've ever tried, or your money back. We didn't try it but found other yummy things and left totally satisfied. In fact, we were so happy that we decided to go there again for breakfast the next morning.


Side note - I love using Yelp as a way to find good restaurants, and we did so successfully this time! if you haven't tried this app you will find it great to read the reviews form actual people who have tried the food, and also the app lists the price range and often the menu...it also has directions, which is especially helpful as you know men hate to ask for help.

DAY 2
Saturday after breakfast we headed out of town to Frasinetti Winery. I was looking to go to some place that resembled wine country, and to learn a little bit about wines. It was a little disappointing, mostly because neither of us are wine connoisseurs and we didn't get a tour and there wasn't much happening. But, it WAS a quaint old place that has been in business since 1897 and did have a nice atmosphere.
We ended our time back in Old Sac where we visited an art museum. We again don't love art, but we were attracted to the place because part of it was housed in an old mansion owned by former railroad barons and political leaders for early California. Late lunch and to the airport.

CONCLUSION
I would be remiss if I didn't point out that we have been having the time of our lives together lately. We've never had this much freedom to go places, at least not in 30 years, that is. Having a companion pass doesn't hurt either. So we have decided we had better do is before its too late and we are too old. We loved the time we had raising children, and love our family so much, be we are finding out how much fun two people who are made for each other and have spent so many years together can have.

Love you, my wife!




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Secrets of Life #2

The second Secret of Life (that actually isn't a secret at all) that I learned the hard way, is this: Put Things Away.

What is the result of leaving things out till you get around to putting them away? Maybe your house looks like this after a while.


I cant say our place was ever that bad, but I have to admit that I just never jumped at the chance to carry an item to where it belongs.

I used to blame it on the kids...since kids, you know, will be kids...leaving messes after themselves. After 30 years of that I guess I just came to accept that things are never quite where you put them. So I would just put my item on the steps and wait till I was going that way...after all who's going to notice?

The truth is, I like to think of myself as kind of an efficiency expert, always looking for the most streamlined way of doing something. If I can take a few less steps I usually go for it, expecting that I'll pass that way again, and when I do I'll carry that item to the proper destination.

But a lot of bad things happen when you make a habit of not putting things in their place...For one, you don't really know where or if you will find them when you need them. Like a pair of glasses, or a screwdriver, or maybe it's your to-do list (if you actually have one, that is). Just think of the number of times you had to look for your car keys...if you put them where you really should know to look for them every time, they would...well, be there.



Then there is the cumulative clutter that comes from many such items...the keys and a roll of tape on the kitchen counter, a box that is headed for your car in the hallway, I leave my vitamins on the counter so I won't forget to take them before I go to bed. This is to say nothing for all the electronic gadgets we each own (cell phone, iPod, laptop). If each of these goodies is left in some 'convenient" spot, the end result is chaos.

So recently I have come to appreciate a picked-up house, an organized workspace, a clear floor. Things like that never seemed in reach before, but now I have a chance to see everything that I leave out someplace, since no one else could have left it there!


Well, there is a better way....just bring the item to it's proper destination NOW...don't wait till you have the time, or when you go that way later. The end result of this will be a neat house, and all things in their proper place!

Seems so simple, right? Well it turns out to be very profound, and makes a big difference in your quality of life. No, it's not up there with world peace, but is it a good example of what I call a "cumulative dissatisfier".

My mother always said, "a place for everything and everything in its place". And I thought, well, she is just OCD, I'll find a better way. Unfortunately for me, she was right! The unfortunate part is that it took me so long to learn this simple, yet elegant truth. hope you find out it is true for you!





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Location:S Cardinal St,Gilbert,United States

Secrets of Life

There are some secrets that I have learned over the years of my life that have made life better. A lot better. It would be an understatement to call these nice-to-haves, because they actually bring joy to the everyday journey we all face. Yet they really aren't taught in school, and if my parents taught them to me I never listened...I certainly didn't pass them on intentionally to my kids. But it's not too late. Maybe some might be transferrable without all the hard knocks it took for me to get them through my thick skull.

Here's the funny part...they really aren't secrets at all. We all know them. Just like the farmer told the city slicker salesman when he gave him advice, "I already know how to farm twice as good as I do!", we actually know and understand these things already...understand them intellectually that is. I think the majority of us are like that farmer, with common sense enough to understand smart things, but not enough to actually do them on a regular basis. Thats why confessionals and counselors are filled to the brim with all the customers they can handle. But perhaps some will listen...and apply...what it took me years, no, decades, to make progress in.

So here is the first - Contentment. It's the practice of being satisfied with what you have or with who you are.


Seems obvious, right? Well, try doing it. Rather, try being it. Here is the real story. Most of us spend our days trying to get more stuff, eat too much of what we shouldn't or achieve some new level, all in the interest of satisfying our desires. There's no end to the lists of things we don't have today that become what we "need" for tomorrow. Even those of us who think we are generally content buy into the social norms that tell us we should not be satisfied, because satisfied is just plain lazy, right? That's the reason I, for one, set so many New Years resolutions that I just blew past without keeping the before February rolled around.

If you are content you will know it by just looking in the mirror. If you are genuinely satisfied with the person you are, and your appearance, that's a very good first step. Then take a walk around. If you like the place you live in, you are on the right track. If, on the other hand, your rooms look too small (or large), or messy, or you don't like the color, texture, clutter or emptiness, then you've got some work to do in the contentment category. Then try watching TV for 15 minutes. Modern marketing tells us that life simply cannot be lived without, the thing that is being advertised, or at a minimum it will make your life so much better you really should go out and get one.

Recently I have come to a place where I see the importance of contentment since it so affects my attitude. When I look around these days I see things are truly wonderful. Not perfect, but really great. Now it may sound more like blind optimism, and you may be right, in part. Optimism tends to see a glass half full. It's the same glass, however, that the pessimist sees as half empty. That's the really important part....you actually can see things differently, if you live with contentment. Even Mick Jagger had a good perspective on this when he wrote "You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you get what you need". We could talk about wants and needs for quite a while, but that's not the point.

Before you say it, sure, we can alway make improvements...God knows I need them. When I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, for example. And plenty more places. These are pleasantly called "opportunities", and depending on how you view them, they can bring you down. I have simply learned to NOT let them bring me down.

So what about you...are you content? My guess is we all have a little unsettledness. Not that I have achieved this, but I'd say it is one of those secrets that needs to be passed on, don't you?

A Virtual Apple

Charlotte and I shared a special moment today...one made possible thanks to technology, and an apple.

Now before you jump to conclusions, this is not a post about a certain technology company that has sold many products to this family alone. This is a story about a real apple, actually two apples but it seemed like one.

I really enjoy spending time reading the blogs of all our kids...it tunes me into what is happening in their lives so much. I can't thank them enough for all the emails with pictures and especially the videos. I hate the distance from special people so much! But Skype/FaceTime is the closest to being there that it can get (next to actually being there, that is!).

Well we got on a FaceTime call today, Danielle, Charlotte and I, and Charlotte was sitting in her high chair eating a snack...an apple. It was fun watching her interacting as D asked her to talk, sometimes with her mouth full. So I asked for a bite, and of course she obliged. We pretended that it actually came through the computer. Then I looked over and we had an apple sitting in our fruit bowl, so I grabbed it and took a bite in front of the screen. Well, didn't her eyes light up...and she laughed and laughed...as I took another and another...so did she.

Who'd a thought a few years ago I'd be laughing at a distance of 2500 miles, sharing a piece of fruit with my grandchild? It's hard to believe technology makes all this possible...none of this would even be possible 10 years ago... Thanks to God for small miracles, and apples!



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Social "Not"work

I'm embarking on a new journey, myself this year...one that I hope will fix a broken part of my life.

Before I describe this trip, let me tell you what is broken.  My social network!  I have started and failed at blogging a few times (the history of this blog tells that story without me saying it).  But that is just the beginning.  I have a LinkedIn "professional network" and Facebook "friends", Twitter "followers" (and I'm following others, too), at work we have Chatter and Yammer.  I'm getting dizzy with all these whacho names!  Thank goodness I dont do Pin-er-de-do-da or whatever you call it.

All of these are broken.  When I say broken, I mean useless!   Im connected with everyone I dont care about, and seeing so much junk I dont read, that I can't connect to anyone or read anything, or comment about anyone I really care for!  Hey, I get so much nonsense that I don't even go on these sites or bother at all...I'm just back to plain old Yahoo! email...from the 80's.  UGH!

So, its time for this ol' geeet to get into the correct decade.  I've been weeding out my contacts, getting rid of feeds from anyone I don't communicate with at all outside of these new mediums.  That is at least until I can start reading, AND responding to the people that i really DO care about.  (And in a timely manner too, I might add.)  I even signed up for a service called blogtrottr http://blogtrottr.com that will email me updates from blog updates from my grown kids, who write wonderfully and have such good insights, I might add!   

Now over the past week I've been better at communicating across most of these sites.  I feel more abreast of what's happening with my children and grandchildren, my nephews and nieces.  And I've even commented a few times (one small step for man...)

That's it.  That's my goal for this year as it relates to social networking.  Now you will notice that I did not say I would start blogging again.  I dont have aspirations anywhere near that high.  If it happens, great - if not this one will have to do.  For now I'll keep my stretch goal a bit lower - I'll tweet or FB status once in a while to become a player...If I suceed maybe next year I'll shoot for MVN (Most Valuable Networker! HAHA)