It's how I know...

I think I have written about, or if you know me talked about the worries of becoming a dad. It wasn't the diapers, or providing...it was the emotional side of things. I knew how I wanted to be, but wasn't sure if those emotions would reveal themselves when faced with this infant that would enter this world with my genes. Well, today was another day of reassurance like many that have preceded it. Makeena is sick for the first time. It isn't ridiculously sick, just what we would call a common cold. With every little breath that seems to hint at a little more fatiguing than normal, with every sneeze, and with every cough, it makes me ache all over. I can't stand the fact that she is feeling miserable and I can do nothing about it. I have thought in my mind privately the detailed torturous things I would endure to take it from her, but I can't. Tonight it will be another night of staying up all night, because I cant sleep, I must check every minute to make sure she is breathing. So it begins, this saga of fatherhood.
It makes me think; many things are going to happen to my little girl. Some of her own choosing, and some not, that I can do nothing about. All I can do is stand my and love her. She will make choices in her life that are going to make me ache like her weezing tonight. I pray I will hold her to let her know I lover her and check on her every minute to make sure she is ok...just as I will tonight. Maybe it is too much introspective analysis on my part with me and my little girl having a cold....but this is what I think about. Her sneeze at 3 months old triggers wonders and hopes for the future.

So yes... I don't know where...and I don't know when.... but somewhere this little girl has taught me what exactly unconditional love is.

Christmas Present

So today was Christmas. And Makenna decided to give us a wonderful present. She laughed for the first time (well, technically she has laughed before while dreaming, but never awake). It was great because it was just after present time, and the video camera was out and handy. Glad we got it on film.

Kid's Musical

A lot of time during my fall goes into the New Cov Children's Christmas Musical. This year is all done and behind us. It was a big success as far as Kid's musicals go. The only complaint I had is that it was too good. All of the kid's did everything they were supposed to do . They knew their lines. No kid picked his nose the entire time, ran off stage to mom, or any of the moments that people love about Kid's shows. But I was proud of all the kids. I doubt any of my readers are going to spend 35 minutes and watch it, but just in case, here it is. This is unedited video that the Weavemaster shot. Props to him and his team for making me look good.


Untitled from Chad Davis on Vimeo.

Back in the Water

Well a lot has happened in life this year. I haven't been in the water since late August during my wreck class in San Diego. Since that time, I have moved, had a kid, and taken on too many responsibilities at church. The Kids Musical is Dec. 7th and I have planned my first Open Water course starting the next day. I have been feeling withdrawls. I think I am going to try and get away for a quick week in January to do some diving. Bonaire to do some tech diving? Bermuda because I have never been? Key Largo because it is familiar and easy? I don't know. We will see how it transpires.

If you know anyone that wants to learn how to SCUBA dive now is the time. Catalina prices are cheap to stay this time of year and the water temp at 60 ft is about the same as in the summer. Give me a shout!!! There are still a few spots available for this class. The Pool session is Sat Dec. 13 and the Ocean Dives in Catalina are Dec. 20 and 21.

Gonna get back into a regular teaching schedule. And add Sean to your list if you want to hear about some diving. Sean is the other instructor at Aquasports and just started a blog.

And if you are curious about that pic, which I also use as my profile pic, it was taken in Bonaire a few years ago. (Yes I know it wasn't white balanced, I wasn't taken the pic, don't blame me). That is SCUBA MAN. He is a top secret location located somewhere in Bonaire in about 120 ft of water. You can't see it, but he also has fins sticking up from the sand. If you hang out and dive with me in Bonaire, I might just take you there.

Perfect Day

Today was the perfect day for me. Most people enjoy Thanksgiving, me not so much. I can't stand any of the traditional food (turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie), and our traditions aren't so much. My Aunt does a great job of trying to get the family all together. However, each year it feels like everyone is just fulfilling their duties before getting to their plans. We are usually home around 1pm. We watched movies and had burgers, and it was nice. But definitely not something to look forward to.

Then came today. My wife and sister decided they were going to be with the other crazies and left the house before 4am. So I was going to watch Makenna for the day. She woke up at about 6:30 am. We got to hang out all day the two of us until mommy took over about 7pm. It was a perfect day. I put everything else out of my mind and just focused on her all day. I do have a new respect for mom's that get anything done during the day with a baby. It is HARD to clean the kitchen while holding a fussy baby. We laughed, cried, watched some football, ate, pooped, napped, and played with Miles. It was perfect. This last week has been amazing. I have put things that have been occupying my time on the back burner and just focused on my family (the three of us, 4 if you count Miles). Today holding my little girl, I realized I have been gone for much of her first two months. All the little moments we shared today, I didn't really have any of those before. Mommy was taking care of her while Daddy was out committing to too much. So we had a talk today (it was a bit one sided because she only ooohhhs right now). I promised her I am going to look at what is on my plate and start trimming. Especially with the busy work season coming, I need to start prioritizing my time, and my girls need to be the top of the list.
I don't know what exactly this means for me, but it will mean more days like today!!!

Duh Time

What is Duh time? Duh time is something I need in my life. Don't be deceived by its title though, it is not a time of stupidity or stolidity. It is a time where I like to sit and do nothing productive. However, I don't like to zone out. I like to be entertained and stimulated during this special time. This time is usually right before my "zone out" time of the day, and right after the time I am productive for the day. It is often around midnight and consists of History Channel shows on DVR. I would much rather read a good book (usually American History or deep theological books), but lately I have settled for the TV. Duh time for me has to be non-fiction, until now. I always liked the show "The West Wing," but never made it through every season and every episode like shows I currently am devoted to. So recently I bought the complete series on DVD (it came from China through Ebay). This show stimulates my mind like crazy. I have to often pause the show because I am having my own moral or political debate in my dome. It has already lead to some conversations with my wife about things we usually don't talk about. Most shows of its kind are just left wing agendas. This show, make no doubt about it created and produced by left wing Hollywood doesn't take that route. It presents many sides to many arguments and let's the viewer reach conclusions, the whole while including amazing writing, acting, and character development. I watched the whole first season and 4 episodes of season 2 in two days. My duh time went from an hour at night, to a 2 day fest. It was great though. It was the first time since Makenna has been born where I didn't have to be somewhere or do something. We got to enjoy each other as a family, and then entertained ourselves and minds watching the West Wing.
Aaron Sorkin put out another masterpiece in "Studio 60" on NBC, but it was cancelled. Why, because American's are stupid. Things that actually make you think don't get ratings. Great writing doesn't get ratings. We want spoon fed plots and punch lines and would like to end the hour feeling good about ourselves. We want entertainment to be an hour of escape and not a reflection of reality. We want to imagine every Doctor at the hospital hangs out in the on call room and sleeps with every other doctor within the period of a year. We like to watch a detective always pursue 2 suspects when finding out it was the Butler all along. And...
Wow, I had to stop that. This post has taken a totally different turn and I am going to end it now before it is 52 pages long.
Point: I like Duh time. I like west wing. I don't like stupid Americans.
The End

Text message

Receiving text messages from my wife when we are both home is nothing new to our marriage. However, most of the time, over the past 7 years they offer a good reason to leave my office (if you know what I mean, wink wink). This is the one I just received. Oh how times have changed.

I can't move

So the Men's retreat went very well. The speaker was good, hopefully the music didn't suck, and I think a bunch of guys took steps to growing as men. However, today when I woke up, I couldn't move. I get sore. You know when you go skiing for the first time of the season and those leg muscles you hardly use ache the next day. Well my whole body is that way today. I don't think I have a muscle in my body that is not screaming in pain. The reason...the annual summit football game. See, these guys spend the weekend growing and sharing with each other, and it is amazing. However, on Sat. from the hours of about 1pm to 4pm, it just gets nasty. It is like an old testament battle against the other side. I got laid out several times by a guy about 6' 5" 250. Yet, everyone that I have talked to that can't move, will be right out there next year.

Summit weekend

Well today I took my girls to the airport. They are going to Atlanta to go to a blog party. I hope they have fun. I will not get to sit at home and miss them, as I am leaving in the morning to go to the Santa Cruz mountains to the New Cov Men's retreat...errr... Summit. There are about 160 guys going, and I will be leading worship for the weekend. I am looking forward to it. I never get to lead worship for adults anymore. So there will be no hand motions, no back and forth noise competitions, and should be a great time.

Election Woes...woe

Well the much anticipated election has come and gone. My vote will be counted in approx. 10 days. I had to fill out a provisional ballot. So evidently, when you change your address with the DMV and you also choose for them to update your address with the Secretary of State, that process takes several weeks.
The reason I am sick to my stomach is for one reason. Before yesterday, it was obvious Obama was going to win. No big news. People wanted something different because they are not happy for whatever their reasons are.
There are liberals and conservatives. Everyone has their reason for having their views. I accept this. My views mostly come from my belief in the Bible. I think that neither side is neceissarily Biblical, and I am sure Jesus wouldn't vote for any. However, I have come to my convictions based on Biblical principles that influences my vote. So Obama won. Not my choice, but I do not think that people that voted for him should be locked away in alcatraz.
Then there was Prop 8 in CA. A constitutional amendment to ban Gay marriage. Again my moral convictions influenced my vote on this. However, I realize that many do not share my same morals and values and viewed a no vote on this a step for equality. I disagree, but I can accept there different viewpoint. I do not hate them, and do not think they should be locked up in Alcatraz. I do think that our local churches were way off base in promoting this the way they did. I think their message was "Homosexuals, even if we have not persecuted you enough and you were thinking about joining us for a service, well now by our non-stop promotion of this proposition we are going to make sure you never step through our doors." I think Jesus would be very disappointed in how this was handled.
Then there is Prop 4. This is the reason I am sick. A yes vote means that a MINOR, yes I said MINOR, has to wait to get an abortion until her parents or guardians are notified. This proposition was defeated in our state. If the church wanted to get on board with a proposition, this is the one they should have been waving their signs about. Does the church not care more of God's mandate of parenting then the sin of homosexuality? Prop 8 not passing doesn't take away your right to have a marriage under God's design. However, Prop 4 not passing does take away your right to be a parent under God's design. Hmmmmm.
Then the voters??? Who in their mind thinks parents should not be informed if their daughter was raped or is getting an abortion. You think that we should leave parenting up to health care professionals and the government? I respect different views in every little mark you made on your ballot yesterday...except this one!!! I think everyone who voted no on this proposition should be locked up in Alcatraz.

Thats all for politics for me. Back to Diving, and Wining, and pics of my little angel to come.

Sunday Rap

I spent a lot of time lately researching, purchasing, installing, and trying to program lights in the Chapel at New Cov. This is where we do "kids church" every Sunday morning. I was very happy with how they turned out, although I need to make several minor adjustments to improve them. Here is a low quality video from this past Sunday. Brent and I did a rap to tell the story of Jesus healing the Lepers. I think the lighting and fog machiene really contributed to the whole thing. Second service was wayyyy better, but the camera died so you can see our first attempt. The kids loved it. Just helping Randy and asking him a bunch of questions when he was still here helped give me some direction (not to mention calling him and asking him a bunch of questions along the way). I wished he was still here to help me, but I had to make do without him.

Trick or Treat

The First Two Weeks

I have been too busy. That is not excuse. But it is time to catch up. My baby is already over a month old. I am learning how to best operate my Video Camera and use the editing software, so things my get a little out of hand soon.
But here are a few moments from her first 2 weeks of life. I don't know how I picked these, out of the thousands it seems, but here is a look at Makenna's first two weeks.This is probably one of my favorites.


No, we did not adopt an asian girl.
Yes I change diapers. However, not too many. Usually only about 2 per day. I am glad they don't stink yet!!!

It looks like she is from the hood.

This is how be both feel after a long hard morning at church on Sundays.

I will post some next time of how she looks now. It is amazing how much her looks have already changed. She is looking more like a person every day!!!

Mother In Law

If I wasn't so against video or music that automatically played when you go to a blog, I would have had Ernie K Doe's 1961 hit Mother in Law playing right now on this post. When was the last time you had an Ernie K Doe reference?
Well my wife and I have been married for over 6 1/2 years. And I have never had an in-law visit...until now. I was going to make all the kinds of generic jokes that go along with the mother in law, Everybody Loves Raymond style. But after seeing my mother in Law break down in tears after finally getting to come visit us, realizing that she missed her daughter's wedding, anything that happened in the last 7 years, and the birth of her first grandchild, I can't do that. Not even in good fun. I would post a picture of her holding Makenna, but I am not aloud as the only ones taken so far were after 24 hours of flights and airports and were not up to standard according to the Mother in Law.
So, as soon as she leaves, I am devoted to editing video and downloading pics of Makenna. Because I now realize, the very few that read my blog...that is all you want to see anyway.

Long Time

I am writing on my computer, in my mostly assembled office. We have our new house, new baby (well most babies are new) and are trying to figure out life. I have a lot to say, and not sure exactly where I should start. I think I will just share a little bit at a time over the next few weeks.

ADVICE TO EVERYONE ON EARTH: Never try and move the same day you have your first child. It is quite exhausting.

Here is a funny pic. Liege is signing closing documents on our new house. I wonder how many closings take place in the postpartum rooms in hospitals?

I have had my new camcorder out quite a bit and am learning how to use it and ready to start going crazy. It is pretty sweet. It is 160GB and can record forever in standard definition and almost 10 hours in HD. I have video of Makenna right after she entered into the world, but due to numerous boobie shots of my wife, you won't be seeing it on Youtube anytime soon. One project that I have started is a video for Makenna. I shot a little private confessional for her after we got home. I plan on adding to it at every "significant" part in her life and giving it to her on her wedding day (hopefully that day never comes). You will not see any footage, it is going to be just for her. I don't think I will even mention it anymore.

That is it for now, because I hate long posts. I am sure Liege will be writing the details of her birth soon. She is busy being the best mommy ever!

Last Blog Post

This will be my last blog post for awhile. As you can see here, there are two pretty big things going on. They just might colide and create the "perfect storm." Combine the moving with having a kid, add in a little church work and coaching football and we come to my craziest month ever!!! Yes I know, I did it to myself (except that...that I did to her). So the next blog post you will probably see (because I am taking apart my computer and network for moving tomorrow) will be me holding my little girl. Sleep tight blog world. I shall return shortly.

Wreck Class

I write this from San Diego (a whale's vagina), or San Di-Ahh-Go. I am teaching a PADI Wreck Specialty class. If you have talked to me about diving you know I am in it for the wreck diving. The class is going good. Good divers, and good people. 3 of our 4 dives are on the HMCS Yukon. It is a Canadian destroyer sunk as part of San Diego's "wreck ally" artificial reef project. Sometimes artificial reefs do not have all of the mystique as a "real" wreck. But they are still pickin cool and are great for training as many of the hazards have been removed prior to sinking. The pic is of the Yukon before finding its resting place 100 ft below the surface.

Christmas Musical

Kid's Christmas Musicals are a big deal around New Cov. 100 kids or so working hard over 12 weeks to put on a great show with a great message. The reason they are so big is because a kid being involved in something like this will invite every person they come into contact with (neighbors, family, teachers, friends). Many people will cross the doors of a church to watch a kid they know in such a production that otherwise would have never entered a church. The thing is, the kids will bring home the message of Christ strong, backed up by the Pastor and his short message. So all of the hard work is always worth it. The bad news is last year I decided to have a live band, and now there is no going back. That makes it 3 times as much work. Well this year after listening to over 40 musicals (most of them poorly written), we will be doing "The Christmas County Spelling Bee" by Cyleste Clydesdale. Mark you calendars for Dec. 7. Now it is time to go and get to work.

FUN

Sunday I am going diving. It will be my first dive in a VERY long time that has no mission. I am not teaching a class, I am not taking a class. It will be diving for the reason I love diving. Have fun, look at some amazing creations. I know I will probably end up teaching a class, but as of this moment my only mission is to have fun. We are diving with the sundiver (pictured above) that leaves out of Long Beach and dives sites accessible only by boat around Catalina. This summer has been so busy. It almost gone and it flew by. I have done so many "little" things and have been constantly busy. I need to try and slow down, but it's not going to happen. Between moving, having a baby, doing something new a church, real work, teaching SCUBA, and whatever else I have coming up, I am going have to be very intentional with my time. I need to have a throw away day soon and be completely lazy so I can get ready for all of the things to come.

Blog Drought

So I have been some what of a blog drought. It isn't that I haven't had anything blogworthy, I just haven't been motivated to blog it. Last week I took an amazing Open Water SCBUA class to Catalina. The class was fun, a big class (13), but a very fun class. August in Catalina is great, water temp 74, and was a great trip. I have had some amazing meals and amazing wines but didn't blog those either.
So I will take you to my week this week. I have been busy everyday, try and have a decent dinner, then around 10pm I crank up the TIVO and watch olympics until about 3am. Olympic time gets me all juiced up. And this is why I am a bad person. I don't want our athletes to win, I want them to embarrass the competition. I draw dirty looks from my wife when I yell "FALL ON YOUR FACE" when a little 12 year old Chinese girl (yeah, I said 12) is doing her uneven bars routine. I get a little "homosexual" as my wife likes to remind me with my passion for the girly sports (gymnastics, diving), but I am right there to root for the manly ones as well!!!
My wife called me man pregnant because of my higher than usual emotions during these Olympic games. I proved her point as a tear fell from my eye during the medal ceremony of the Women's Gymnastics all around medal ceremony. Our girls went 1-2 and I was with them every step of the way (minus the past 4 years they spent every waking moment training).
USA!!!

Miles

Well if you read my wife's blog, you will know that Miles got neutered 2 weeks ago. I know he has felt much different the last few weeks, just a little less of a man. Well he has a new bone, I don't know if he is trying to compensate for anything now that he has lost his manhood...??? I will let you be the judge!

Everywhere I look

So evidently my wife is not just gaining weight. She is growing a human life in that belly of hers. We talk about how it still doesn't feel real to me. It feels more real to her because it is happening in her body. It's ok, because my daddy to be books say the universe will correct itself the minute she will be born and all will be glorious in the world. I really can't wait for that moment. I will need a bucket for my tears if P.S I Love You was any indication of where my emotions are at right now. See the birth is not what I am concerned about. We have 835 pregnancy and birthing books laying around the house. We have hired a doula to help us out, not to mention nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals ready to tend to every need. No, I am not worried about that. It is the hours after that, where they make sure you have a car seat installed correctly and say "See Ya." I saw this today in the bathroom. Have seen them thousands of times, but today it freaked me out.
They are going to let us take home this baby. All of the things in the that the government regulates, applications, and licensing and tests, but a human life, no problem. Just go ahead and take that home! Good luck. Yes I am afraid. Will we be good parents? I believe so! Will be screw up a bunch? Of course! Now everywhere I look I see things like this little cute Koala bear that sends my head in a tailspin of the uncertainty of what is to come. But I guess that is part of the fun (or I am hoping it is)!

Waiting

So there is nothing more I hate than sitting around doing nothing. I
am one of those people that always have to be doing something.
Nothing is worse than the doctor. As the Seinfeld episode tells us,
u wait on the waiting room, then they call u to another room to wait
some more. Now the riddles and jokes on the highlights magazine
don't exactly seem to pass the time anymore. Then I got the new
iphone. Now I am sitting here hoping the doc doesn't come in so I
can play with everything I want to. I don't think I will ever be
frustrated waiting anywhere again now that I am connected to my
whole world anywhere I go. This is also my first post from my
phone. Just wondering what my marriage counseling bill is gonna be
in the future since we r both always on these things.
Sent from my iPhone

Blogger Relations

So I had a funny dream. My wife and I were eating in a Taqueria in Southern California. We never go to Taquerias. I don't even know if I am spelling taqueria correctly. I am standing in line getting my food and I look up and see whittakerwoman in line next to me. I say, "Hey you are whittakerwoman, ragamuffinsoul's wife." She responded "No, he is ragamuffinsoul, whittakerwoman's husband." We continued to have a conversation and I introduced myself and my wife and Carlos was saving a table and we dined together. It was pretty weird, since we never really go to Southern California, and they now live in Atlanta.
It got me thinking. Bloggers that post their lives on their blog can have tons of strangers reading their lives and in a way get to know them. It is almost celebrity status. These are two people that I have never met that I was able to create their personalities and dialogue for them subconsciously. That sounds kind of stalkerish doesn't it. Well I have friends that know the two of them from the dream. They laughed when they heard the story and said "That is exactly something Heather would say." I guess just from my daily blog scrolling my brain had enough input (a la Johnny 5) to think I know these people. That is weird. I read ragamuffinsoul as one of my daily blog reads, and it leads me to other great blogs. Being less than two months away from having a daughter I now cruise whittakerwoman to get all kinds of cool parenting ideas (and if you are reading Heather, I had In N' Out yesterday, so HA!).
I think it all came when I noticed whittakerwoman had posted a comment on my wife's blog. I was jealous because she had a comment from a blogebrity and I didn't. I don't have 8 trillion hits a day as ragamuffinsoul does, but I am proud of my 10 per day!!! Who knows, maybe someday I will become a blogebirty and have stalkers of my own!!! Hey, I just coined a phrase!!! Blogebrity.
(Oh, and this is the closest post to having a topic where I can use this picture of the sleeping monkey. Hopefully the resemblance is not too close!)

Great Dinner

Had a great dinner with Two Blonde Boys, his wife (he never blogs her name, so I won't), Stacey, and my wife. It was a "thank you" for the girls throwing Liege a baby shower. Patamo and I just tagged along because we wanted good food and good wine.
We went to Pangea (because Trelio was booked). It was my first time there and was pleased. The service was decent, but the food was amazing. I have had a vertical of Quintessa premier release through 2003 (1994-2003). I took along the 1996, as well as a Westbrook Wine Farm Viognier/Valdiguie, and we had a Kosta Browne Pinot Noir we ordered there.
Pat and I split a Macaroni and Cheese as well as a Ceviche dish to start. They were amazing. For dinner, Pat, his wife, and I all had:
Seared sea scallops with baby shiitake mushrooms,
tomato pan sauce & crème fraiche mash potatoes
Liege had:
Grilled double cut pork chop with crispy shiitake mushroom-vegetable chow mein & ginger plum sauce
Stacey had:
Grilled rosemary crusted rack of lamb with blue cheese potato cake,
sauteed tot soi, baby carrots & dried cherry port reduction

Everyone loved their food, and the wine was excellent as well. I decided to go with the Sea Scallops even though the Quintessa was too powerful for it. I didn't care, I enjoyed both.
The 1996 Quintessa is definitely the best I have had. My vertical only now runs 97-02, but it was the perfect occasion for it. Nice cedar and spice, floral notes, with heavy currant flavors. It was amazing. I think the later vintages haven' t been the quality they had in their first earlier years.

Oops, I said it again...

Do you ever have those moments??? Where it comes out of your mouth. You think that might be the most wrong thing you have ever heard. Then you realize you were the one who said it. And you wonder if you are going straight to hell for saying that???!!! Well if you know me, that happens a lot. Usually it only happens around the comfort of my wife and close friends where I know I am safe. But today, just in the presence of my wife thank goodness, I said a comment that if I end up in hell is sure to be the one that put me there.
No I am not going to tell you.

The Look!!!

Now I am less than two months away from father hood. I am worried about a lot obviously. My daddy to be books tell that is good because if I wasn't I would be a terrible father. Worried first and foremost about her health. Worried about getting into the new house in enough time for my wife to nest and be happy bringing baby home into a baby ready environment (which doesn't necessarily mean necessities, it means cute decorations). Worried about my adjustment from being able to do whatever I want whenever I want to not. Worried about being gentle enough. Worried about having a teenage daughter in 13 years that is going to want pants with writing on the butt.
Well I had one revelation in the middle of the night. Everyone's parents had a look. They did not have to say anything, do anything, all they had to do is give that look and the kid would straighten right up (maybe not a lot of current parents with children because most don't even discipline any more and let them behave however they want). My parents had a look. And in the middle of the night...I realized I had a look. Miles (our dog) was walking around. His nails on the hardwood floor woke me up. I sat up and glared something more serious than magnum or blue steele from zoolander and he went running into his kennel.
Am I prepared for fatherhood? No way!!! But I do have "the look."

Look what my wife did

I was trying to be good since I realize I pretty much dominate the blockbuster selection in our house. So I let my wife pick this last trip. She picked "The List." Although I watch movies ALL THE TIME I usually don't blog about them. The reason being is I can't even watch previews. I like to know nothing whatsoever about a movie when going to watch it. So I don't read reviews and I don't post them. However I felt the need to blog about "The List." It might just be the worst movie I have ever seen. The acting was terrible, the production was terrible, the directing was terrible, and it was overall terrible. The premise could have been good, but what they did with it was awful. I would like everyone out there to go watch it so you can agree with me how terrible it was.

Oregon Trail

So if you ever had an Apple II in your classroom at school you have played The Oregon Trail. I tought about it the other day and it led me to google it. I found THIS website. It has a binary program of Oregon Trail you can download and also an Apple II simulator for windows you can download to play it (and other old school apple II programs). What is your high score? No one hunts for food like I do!!! However my Apple II didn't have a color screen. The oregon trail was all in green...now in color. WOW!!! Oh the technology.

What Just Happened?

So today we went down to the Fresno Convention Center to an auction of nearly 100 foreclosed properties in the area. There is only one property we had in mind. We sat as it was 19th on the auction block. When the auction began on the house we were interested in and was over. It felt like .002 seconds. I am told it took more like 45 seconds. At the end, I was holding my sign in the air and the auctioneer congratulated me. I was speechless for minutes. We had a signed contract, opened escrow within 15 minutes. So we will be moving in about 3 weeks to a beautiful home for 40% less than what it sold for just 9 months ago. Wow....what just happened. Here is a pic of the house.

No Posts...Simple Reason.

VBS. That is all I have to say. It was a great week. Check everything out over at the New Cov Kids Blog.

Special Thanks to Weave, Patamo, and Josh for all their production work on the week.

Positive and Uplifting...

So the post well has been dry for the past week. I am here to tell you it will continue for another week. I am preparing (as many are this time of year) for Vacation Bible School. We are doing an Indiana Jones theme if you are one of my two readers who don't go to my church. So I have to put in my 10 hours a week (you know, that is all the guy who just plays the guitar and sings with the kids does). I had a moment today when I was on the phone with the IRS for a client getting audited, sitting in the baby dr waiting room, receiving text messages about SCUBA classes, and trying to send an email regarding VBS. So that is why I am absent.

So I never post about my real work. So today I will. A lot of accountants are looked at in a positive light because they usually tell their clients how big their refund is going to be!!! Well most of my clients are Self-employed so I usually bring the news of how much they owe. However, the reason they are with me is we get that number down as low as possible. So today I had a client that told me this:

"I had to delete your # from my phonebook because every time I see is scrolling through and I see your name is gives me panic attacks."

I am glad I can spread joy to the world like that where just the sight of my name sends someone into a panic and fills them with fear!!!

We Did It!!!

Wow, I can't believe it. I was in the airport leaving to Key Largo when the Bulldogs were flying in after winning the WAC tournament. Everyone thought that was a great accomplishment. HA. Those few weeks ago seem like an eternity cause now our Dogs are NATIONAL CHAMPS BABY!!! What a ride of emotions during the CWS. I was fortunate enough to watch every game. WAY TO GO DOGS!!!

Video Camera

So after shooting some footage with my phone today on my bday (thanks for all of those who sent bday wishes, for those who didn't you are dead to me), I realized I need a new video camera. The last one we had was like a Sony TRV19 or something. I don't even know what happened to it. Especially with the baby coming, I am going to be in need of a decent camera to capture the memories forever. I want two things:

1) HD

2) Be able to get a housing for it for SCUBA (Sony is the best as backscatter can custom make me one).

I am open to about anything that has these two requirements. Most people know me as a technology guy. That is actually not very accurate. I like to have the latest and greatest, but only on some things. I was the first I knew for HD TV and 7.1 Dolby Surround. But that is where my techie stuff ends. I like technology and the latest for TV and movie watching. I don't know when it comes to video cameras for sure. So I need some help. I know the weavester will come up with some good stuff. Any other underground techies with advice???

PS 45 minutes left of my Bday.

Kids Choir Michael Jackson Parody

That's right. You didn't read it wrong. There isn't a lot of fun fathers day songs out there for kids to their fathers. Sure I could pull out "Daddy's hands" or "Father's Eyes" and try and go for tears, but I thought we could do something a little different. For fathers day at New Cov, I had the kids sing a parody I wrote and arranged of Michael Jackson's "Bad." We called it "Dad." We used it to close the service, and all of the dads (and moms) seemed to love it. This is a terrible recording taken with a phone. Besides the ushers getting in the way collecting the offering, the sound doesn't do it justice as the band is completely lost besides the drums (but I have yet to find a phone that will record audio decently without several additional pieces of equipment). The band and tech team did a great job as it looked and sounded great live. Hope you enjoy.



Lyrics:
V1. You taught me how to through a ball
To ride my bike and not to fall
You work so hard for all I need
Still you mow the lawn and pull the weeds

Pre. We take this time to tell ya
We're glad for all u do
But what means the most to us
Is that we see God in you

Ch. Because you're dad, you're dad, we love you
Because you're dad, you're dad, you know it
Because you're dad, you're dad, we love you
Out of all the men in the whole wide world, I gotta say I'm glad that you're
My Dad.

V2. The big games on but you're not there
You're at a dance recital in the front row chair
You always play no matter how you feel
And you're always ready with your fishing reel

V3. I watch you more than you ever could know
I'm growing day by day cause of the seeds you sow
You're love is clear in all I see
And you'll never know how much you mean to me

This post is part of Water Cooler Wed. hosted by Ethos.
This post is part of Creative Chaos hosted by ragamuffinsoul.

What I have learned from Hollywood...

The only time you can tell anyone about issues of national security, or reveal CIA secrets is either on a park bench around one of the big D.C. monuments, or walking along the reflection pool. Think about it... how many times have u seen that? How many movies can you name?

Goodbye Good Friend...Or just See ya Later

So Randy has made it official to the Public. I am going to miss you buddy. You have become one of my best friends, and definitely my best buddy!!! If anyone feels the way about me moving away as I do about you, it definitely makes me hesitant to do so again. I love your bro and am going to miss you. However as sad as I am for my loss, I am grateful for the opportunity you are going to have, and the great scale on which it is going to be. It is going to be crazy the amount of life change you will have a hand in on a weekly basis. It seems like every trek of your life, even when it made no sense at the time, has been leading to such opportunities to do such great work. Good luck and bon voyage my friend.

Cool Church

Pursuit Intro HD from Port City Community Church on Vimeo.

My wife has spent countless hours researching churches in the Wilmington, N.C. area to check out when we go to scope it out. This is the one she is dying to check out. It is portcitychurch.org Check out these videos. One is a message bumper that they made themselves for a series called "Pursuit."

Now you have to go HERE and check out there opener for the series. I am excited to check it out. The top is what they had on the screens and the bottom is video of the band (obviously).

I know a lot of people that are like me and all of their good ideas come in the shower. But the problem is sometimes I have been in the shower and have elaborated on an idea and have a good plan of attack and then shut off the shower and ask myself "Did I wash? Did I even pick up the soap or shampoo. I have been in here 15 min I am sure I had to have." Ever happen to anyone else? Make sure after your brainstorming session that you accomplish mission numero uno.

Northern Light (wasn't shining)

Well the first thing you learn in the technical diving class is that the number 1 mission is to return from the dive alive and unharmed, everything else is secondary. Our second mission was to descend below 185ft, and do a blue water deco (this is when you blow a lift bag with a reel and then slowly ascend up the line so the boat can spot you). It is a little eerie because all you see is blue, beneath you, above you, and to all sides, nothing but blue water. You could be sinking or floating to the top, and you might not know it (hence all the training). The third objective of this dive was to dive the Northern Light. The first two were accomplished, but the latter was not. We went to the GPS coordinates where the wreck is and found it on the bottom finder. We threw a line down with a grapple (big hook) to mark it. When we were about to jump in the grapple came loose and started floating away. So the captain drove us upcurrent and dropped us, by the time we got to the bottom the current had taken us well off the wreck. It was no where in sight. We sway around for about 10 min (in pretty good current). Then I blew my lift bag with the reel and started to ascend. I switched to 50% oxygen at 70ft and then to 100% at 20 ft. Out total dive time was 55 minutes. It was great practice and training, but the Northern Light will have to be another time and another day.

Northern Light

Well today is going to conclude my technical training (just formally because with diving and gaining experience the learning never stops). I have completed the course on several dives on the Spiegel Grove and Duane, and now taking a step up. The plan today is to dive the Northern Light. I love diving the artificial reefs (purposefully sunk old ships) but there is something to the mystique about diving a real ship wreck. This wreck is in 190 feet of water and is not marked at the surface (like most dive sites are marked with mooring balls at the surface). It is not dove very often so I am really looking forward to it. I spent the better part of yesterday blending my gas and developing a dive plan (yes all that for 25 minutes actually on the wreck) and now am just praying for decent weather. I will let you all know how it goes, I will probably be either very pumped, or I will be disappointed that the weather didn't let us get there.

MORE DIVE TRAINING...

Now that I have completed all my training for teaching recreational SCUBA diving, it is time to continue my education with the fun stuff that I enjoy. I am continuing my technical training and will wrap up the following courses this week:
DSAT Tec DEEP
TDI Advanced Nitrox
TDI Decompression Procedures

If you were wondering what technical diving is, let me give you a brief description. Recreational diving (what most people do when they get certified) allows you to dive up to 130ft (with proper training) and not stay at depths long enough that would require decompression stops. It is all "no stop diving." You can always ascend from where you are to the surface.
Technical diving you may get certified to dive to depths of up to 335ft (with proper training) on open circuit scuba using different gases other than air or Enriched Air and involves decompression training (yes you may have to hang at 20ft for 3 hours some times if you went deep or long enough).
Why do I want to tec dive? Simple. Wrecks. That is what I love. Many of them are in deeper water than 130 ft, and the ones that are not you can spend more time and do some deep penetration on them (that's what she said).
Tec diving includes a lot of time, training, and expensive equipment. As you see from the picture, some times you may have to wear an entire dive shop.

SCUBA CLASS

10% OFF SCUBA CLASS for father's day gifts.
Classroom Jun 16-18 6-9pm
Pool Sessions June 21 9am-12pm, June 22 1:30-4pm
Ocean Dives June 28-29 in Monterey

Get more information HERE

Aging Wine...

You may have noticed you haven't seen any wine reviews in awhile. Well with the wife being pregnant, I really haven't opened anything at home. I just can't open a really good wine by myself, it just doesn't seem right. I have no one else really to enjoy wine with (if you are my friend and enjoy wine, come over, I have been dying to try some things). Well the good news is my cellar is well stocked. Here are a few things I have obtained over the past couple months I am anxiously awaiting exploding in my palate:

2 bottles of 2004 Scarecrow, 312 cases made, current trading price $899 per bottle (I paid no where near this price, thanks to Trelio for tracking it down for me at retail!!!)

1 case Keever, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (850 cases made), Trading Price $135/btl

1 bottle Barbour, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (182 cases made), trading price $150/btl

2 bottles Core, Elevation Sensation, 2005 (300 cases made) trading price $50/btl

2 bottles Corra, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 (290 cases made) trading price $345/btl

Now I have put about 60 bottles in my cellar since I last took one out, but these are the prized possessions I am anxiously awaiting to consume. I would have had to sell my kidney to be able to afford these wines at current trading prices. I am glad I have connections that can hook them up even less than their retail prices.

Any takers?

Aqua Sports

I have signed a contract with Aqua Sports in Fresno (the only PADI dive center in Fresno) to be their main instructor. I will start in full force the first of June and will have several classes over the summer with trips to Catalina, Monterey, and San Diego (Wreck Alley) all on the schedule. During Jun-Aug I currently have the following classes scheduled with flexible hours (tell all your friends):
Open Water Diver (Beginning Scuba): 5 classes
Advanced Diver: 4 classes
Rescue Diver: 2 classes
Specialties: 4 classes

Check out the class schedules and calendar here.

Help, my puppy became a dog!!!

My little puppy turns 7 months old on Tuesday. Miles has grown up a lot and reminded me that I haven't posted any pictures of him in a long time. Here are a few shots of this growing boy.

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Five Months Old

Six Months Old

Where do you Worship?

So this Sunday I had all of the kids (and I mean all of them, not just the ones who signed up for the choir) sing in "big church" for mothers day. I was still feeling exhausted from my trip so I did what I promise myself never to do. I loaded up on coffee on an empty stomach to create the energy to get through the morning.

The kids did a great job and everyone, especially the moms, loved them. That is the great part about my job, everyone loves cute kids singing on stage, so I am always a hero.

After the kids were done singing in first service, I took a trip to the men's room. I always go in the handicaped stall (I like a spacious room to do my business ok). There I listened to an amazing sermon by Pat. It was actually quite nice. I was comfortable (and relaxed if that isn't TMI). It is church so there is no grafiti on the stalls, and I was able to sit and listen to the message free of distractions. It was amazing. I know many people stay home and watch church on TV, many people have their specific seats in the sanctuary they always sit in. If you haven't tried the pot for your worship experience, give it a try.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a pic of our actual toilets at New Cov. Ours are much cleaner.

Who's your instructor daddy?

All done!!! Out of 11 candidates in my IE, 9 passed and will become instructors (as soon as PADI completes the paperwork this week). I will be egotistical and tell you all that I had the highest score out of every candidate on every single portion of the IE (who's your instructor daddy)? My Instructor, Tom Witmer at Horizon is amazing and had me more prepared than any of the other instructors (we call them Course Directors).

Anybody want to learn to Scuba Dive?

I am now qualified to teach the following:

• Discover Scuba Diving
• Bubble Maker (8-10 years old)
• Skin diver
• Discover Snorkeling
• Scuba Diver
• Open Water Diver
• Adventure Diver
• Advanced Open Water diver
• Rescue Diver
• Divemaster
• Emergency First Response (CPR, First Aid, Care for Children, AED)
• Oxygen Administration

As well as the other 13 advanced specialties I mentioned a couple posts ago.

IE Day 1

75% done with the IE. Went well today. I aced the morning confined water sessions (perfect scores on all my skills, only one out of the 11 instructor candidates who did so). Then I had the written exams. There were 6 exams (1 Standards and Procedures, and 5 Dive Theory). My scores were 98% (standards and procdures), and the 5 theory exams were (2 100%, 2 92%, and 1 83%). I was dissappointed with the 83%, but 75% is passing. And after 2 of the 11 failed out by not passing the exams, I didn't feel so bad.
The Knowledge Development Section I was so close to a perfect score. I scored 4.8 on a 5.0 scale. I think it was a 5.0, but the examiner was being picky. It was once again the highest score of everybody so I was happy.
I was reassured to see where I stood against other Instructor candidates and overall was pleased with my performances. Tomorrow morning I have the Opne Water Skills, and the Rescue Assessment then I am DONE!!!

Spiegel Grove

This, the Spiegel Grove, is the dive site that catapulted my interest in diving. I got to go into come cool compartments in the hull today. It was my 6th dive on it. Today the seas were rough (6 ft), but the current was very mild.

Here is a pic (in not great visibility) of me at the flag last year:

Today I learned how to instruct the PADI Wreck diver and Deep Diver specialties on the Spiegel. Then we had some fun on the wreck.