so now that i have become a quasi expert in a/v design we decided to transform our training room into a multimedia training room. the room is used for training, hence the name, but we also have new employee orientation, weekly computer classes among other misc things. when we have computer classes we have to not only bring computers in but run cables so each of these computers can get on the network. it is a huge hassle and by the time we are done its a wonder nobody trips over and hurts themselves, or much worse, breaks a computer. to combat this issue we are putting a network connection and power next to each desk. we are also putting in a projector that will display either the computer presentation or a dvd/vhs video, in high def no less, for new employee orientation because YES new employees need to see how not to cut your hand off trying to use a chainsaw in high definition. in addition to that we are putting 8 speakers into the ceiling so that everyone can hear when the air conditioner is on. all should be pretty cool when it gets done.

this weekend heather, cameron, joey and myself headed out to the middle of nowhere to go camping with cameron's cubscout troop. vicky had a girlscout event to go to so she stayed with a friend. my plan was to take off around 4 get home pack up the car and be on our way by 4:30. we have done a lot of work for lost valley, the camp we were going to, so i called andy to ask him how long it would take to get there. i was thinking 2 - 2 1/2 hours tops, um no i was WAY off. andy said 4 hours with no traffic. wtf, 4 hours? i am not going to vegas!!! well needless to say we left about 3 because he said we did not want to be driving in the dark(the last hour or so is a dirt road). so we got on the road, filled up the gas tank and headed out. as soon as we got on the 91 i knew it was going to be a LONG trip. it took about 45 minutes just to get to corona, which usually takes about 10 minutes. the traffic didn't let up at all down the 15 but we finally arrived atthe 79, in temecula. they told us to get something to eat there because there was nothing else around so we stopped and ate at mcdonalds.

we got back on the road and drove up the 79 for about an hour when we got to chihuahua road, ok we thought, we were making good time. we did see one of the most amazing rainbows ever, this picture doesn't give it justice but it was incredible. finally we came to the dirt road that we were supposed to take. only problem was there were no signs and you could go two ways. of course we pick the road that was the biggest, mistake, we traveled for about 10 minutes hitting a dead end. going back we choose the second road and omg we need 4 wheel drive. i have never gone off-roading before in my life but here we were bouncing around on this rocky, bumpy, hilly road. we went for what seemed like an hour and we saw the mile one marker. heather and i both look at eachother, omg we have 10 more miles of this!?!?!

we finally arrived at camp and my car was in one piece, but just barely. it was squeaking pretty bad but we were there! we checked in got our cabin, yes we were very smart to get a cabin since it was raining and the weather was about 33 degrees, unpacked and turned the heater all the way up. the first night not much went on, we talked with everyone that was there and then went in about 8pm. i, being the geek that i am, brought my computer and some dvd's so we all layed in our bunkbeds and fell asleep to the incredibles. cameron woke up about 5am having to go to the bathroom, as he was walking to the bathroom one of his friends was up so the two of them started playing, yelling and laughing, waking everybody else up. damn kids!

for breakfast we had pancakes, eggs and bacon that the troop made. afterwards everybody got ready and we headed out for our first hike to the archery range. absolutely nobody had any clue where we were going so we walked in a huge circle finally making it. this was probably one of the best parts of the whole trip. the first go around i helped joey, well i tried to help him but since i knew no more then he did we had to have the girl help us both. cameron did it by himself and the first 5 that he shot didn't hit the target. upset he tried again, the next 5 he shot he got 3 out of 5. joey and i did the same on the second try. joey was a little upset with me though, in his words i helped him to much. heather tried it as well, but she had the camera so i couldn't get any pictures of her.

after archery we walked over

for the three people that read this my email server is down and i have been, since 6am, trying to get it fixed. when it is back up i will write my thoughts on this past weekend.

until then you can look at the pictures. they pretty much tell the story all by themselves.

i am too tired to write now, maybe later but here are the pictures of our weekend at lost valley.

check the propane!!! tonight my mom came over for dinner. heather bought some huge delicious looking steaks. i warmed up the bbq and threw the steaks on. after about 10 minutes i looked at the bbq and there wasn't any smoking coming out of it. thats odd, i thought, and walked over to check it. dammit, the fire is out, after a couple of checks i realize the propane tank is empty. off to savon i go to exchange the propane tank.

when i got to savon the lady told me that they were out. what!? how are you out, i ask, i just walked past them, there must have been 50 in the cage. no we have been out for 2 days, she tells me very rudely, i'll call the manager. when the manager arrived she tells me the same story and again i explained to her that i just walked past them and there were a bunch in there. she tells me that they have been out for a couple of days and were waiting for the new ones to arrive. this all sounded very strange to me so i asked her if she could just check and sure enough the cage was full of them. geez what a freakin hassle!!! i wonder how many people they actually turned away. finally by the time i got back to the bbq the steaks were already cooled. so i had to start over...

finally 30 minutes later we all got to eat. i have learned my lesson, the hard way, check the stupid gas before starting!

this past weekend heather and i went on a mini vacation. we did the whole "hollywood" tourist thing. we left about 4:30 friday afternoon and hit absolutely no traffic, which is very surprising seeing how it was friday and we were going to la. we got to the hotel about 5:30 and checked in. the hotel was pretty cool, you would never know that you were on a major street once you got into the room. it was like we were staying in a barnyard out in the middle of the country, not in the middle of los angeles. the room was completely decorated down to the last detail. there was even a cow skin rug on the floor.

the first night, friday night, heather and i walked down to the beverly center. according to my google map it looked like it was about a block away. heather, growing up in la, laughed at me and said NO WAY! it was about a half a mile, which compared to how much we walked the next day was not bad at all but it certainly wasn't a block away. once we arrived at the mall we walked around looking at the cool shops, very similar to south coast plaza. they had all the high end stores like louis vuitton. we were very much out of place, the crowd was either asian or thugs and you had to travel in a group of 5 or more. pretty funny. we walked past this one group of "thugs" and one of the guys had the derek zoolander look on his face while he walked very slowly sideways swinging his arms, it was all heather and i could do not to laugh. the rest of the weekend all we had to do was imitate the walk and the look and we would fall over laughing. we ate at the mall and then headed back to the room. the lobby had dvd's that you could rent, the only movie that we hadn't seen was groove, a rave movie, so we rented that. it actually wasn't too bad. we then went to sleep, being woken up occasionally by the screaming girls running up and down the stairs outside.

saturday morning we woke up about 9 and took our showers. as i was about to brush my hair i found out heather, my beautiful bride who packed EVERYTHING, forgot to pack my hairbrush and gel. she told me to use her mousse but for some reason the only thing that will work on my hair is my got 2b spiked up. while heather got ready i walked across the street to the farmers market to see if i could find a store that sold it. i couldn't find it anywhere but did find a coffee bean so instead i walked in there and got heather and i some coffee. while waiting for the coffee to be made there was a group of tourists who asked me to take their picture. so while they all posed in front of the store i took it. apparently i must look like a photographer cause EVERYWHERE i go this happens to me ;) after i got the coffee i walked back to get heather who was just finishing up. we drank our coffee then decided to go check out the farmers market and the grove. this place was really cool, kind of like downtown disney meets south coast plaza. we walked around for a little bit then found a pac sun store where i got myself a hat and heather some new sunglasses. we then decided to walk up to melrose and check out the shops up there. since this is heathers old stomping ground she took me through a park that she used to go swimming at. before we got to the park as we were walking through the parking lot we see this guy start freaking out, only in la. he was walking back toward the parking attendant asking for help. "excuse me, can you help me this lady is schizophrenic", he said. great!! the lady then drives away but then throws her car in reverse and jumps out of the car screaming at this guy. heather's instincts kicks in and wants to go help them. thinking she is a calm "third party" she can help them relax. thank god

tonight heather and i are going on a "mini" vacation. i found this neat hotel in la, on the border of beverly hills. we are staying in the "no tell" suite:

Tucked away in the barn this room is for you lovers and players. Open the door to a copper wet bar set in the wall, a full length mural of a wheat field with a beautiful skyline. Custom bed frame with a mirror above the head rest and 2 mirros in a copper frame above the bed. Get swept away by the romantic blue hue that surrounds the entire room. What happens in this room stays in this room.

should be a lot of fun, if for nothing else to get away from the kids for a couple of days. thanks mom!!!

this is one of my favorite picture from last night

yesterday i heated the pool so we could go swimming last night. both vicky and cameron can swim pretty well. cameron pretty much learned at a pool party because he was embarrased to wear his floaties while every other kid could swim. so next thing we know he takes his floaties off and jumps off the diving board. instead of sinking he swam and has been swimming better and better ever since. joey on the other hand has been really scared of the water. we have been trying to get him to learn how to swim for some time but would never allow us to take off of his life vest. for some reason yesterday when we said come on joey lets try it without the vest on he said ok. 10 minutes later he was able to tred water for a pretty good amount of time. then he says to me, dad i wanna do a cannon ball. um, ok... and the rest is history. he got stuck a couple of times swallowed a little to much water but overall his confidence is really good and he can pretty much get to either side of the pool when he needs to. a couple more weeks and i think he will be up there with his brother and sister. he sure was excited.

i have a bunch of cool pictures that i took with the underwater case but forgot the camera at home so i will post them later tonight.

[update: and now the moment we have all been waiting for... the pictures, lots of half heads and legs, haha pretty funny. taking pictures underwater is not the easiest thing to do!]

over the weekend i didn't turn my computer on. i know, very hard to believe. sunday night i wasn't feeling very well so i called in sick and slept for about 18 hours. it was the best thing i have done in a long time. if i was allowed i could sleep 12 hours every night. i am now back at work, fresh and ready to go... sorta, i woke up at 4:45am* and actually got to work at 5:45. now that it is almost 1 i am ready for my mid day nap ;)

*sorry babe, i didn't realize i set the alarm so early. i swear the kids must have turned it up full blast!

has to be the best worst place in the entire world. we needed to get a new lamp and i remembered from a long time ago they sold pretty good halogen ones there. $215 later i still had no lamp. how is it possible that everytime you go to costco you can't spend less then $200, EVER! but we do have the new spongebob movie, woohoo!

the only way i can communicate with my wife is to read her blog. she came home and said oh if i forget remind me naomi. i replied what do you mean. her: you can read it in a minute, wtf? fine! i love you heather :-) can we go to costco now?

my son is a bigger freak then i am, i know its hard to believe... i like toast, alot! not just in the morning but anytime, usually the best time is late at night. i have been known to eat a whole loaf of bread all by myself at one sitting. when in was in elementary school i would come home throw 4 pieces of bread in the toaster and pour myself a bowl of cereal, mmmm. anyways, i was starving so i put some bread in the toaster and joey got all excited, what are you cooking dad? he jumped up on the counter and said oh i want some toast!!! toast or tuna! wtf? toast or tuna, where did the tuna part come from? hahaha it was so funny i almost fell over.

for awhile now we have needed new couches. our's are VERY old and had holes in them, three young kids will do that to any couch. anyways, we finally found some over the weekend and they were delivered today. they are awesome! it makes the room feel so much better.

heather, vicky and cameron are at cameron's baseball game. joey and i are here enjoying the couches, joey watching jimmy neutron and i working.

here are the rest of the pictures

this evening after work i met heather, the kids and my two nephews at disneyland. heather had taken them for the day and wanted me to come hang out before it closed. when i got there i decided to take the monorail, which was a mistake, 45 minutes later i arrived in the park. i called and called but could never get ahold of them so i left them a message and sat in front of the castle. while there i must have been asked to take 5 pictures, apparently i looked like a photographer. then a couple of girls came up to me and did a little dance and walked away, very funny, very bizarre. finally got ahold of heather and went and met them in toon town. the kids went on one last ride then we headed home. on our way out heather asked me what the girls where wearing, she had met some girls earlier on splash mountain that were a little weird. the weirdest part we saw the girls again and it was the same ones, pretty funny.

here are the rest of the pics.

i love daylight savings. when i leave work now its still sunny out and have atleast a good hour if not longer to be able to go to the park with the family. with that said i hate the mornings! more so then regular mornings. i have lost an hour of sleep and will NEVER find it again, if you don't know by now sleep is VERY important to me. for whatever reason i could not fall asleep last night, usually i can lay my head down and be out cold. by the time i finally did fall asleep the alarm was going off, i must have hit snooze 20 times before i knew it, it was 6:15. dammit! i guess if it were 2 days ago i would have been early, oh well.