in the fishbowl

What is up! It is a the last day of May. It is a Saturday, so that is cool. I think we are finally caught up on our rest from the big Wedding Day back on May 17th.

Christine and I scored some free drinks at a local dive bar so the honeymoon status is still working. Now that the wedding is getting a little further in the rear view mirror, my work is becoming a priority.

I have to admit that I am feeling the pressure a little. My cube is turning into fishbowl. Kinda like Shiloh's home you see in the picture to the side. I have people checking up on the status of the OnPhone User Guide project all the time. It is exciting for me, because I like to learn new technologies, new techniques and better ways to write. And in the end all this hard work that I am doing will lead to a better product and a better way of working for my team.

But it is a lot of work. I feel the pressure some times. I feel all alone. I am the only one who understands the DITA, the tools, the XML and how it relates to our specific material. The project is at an in between stage where I can't offload the knowledge just yet. Soon though.. soon. And then that will be a relief.

Right now though, I am in the middle of hard core development. My boss(es) are excited about the end product and now expect me to deliver it. Anything less, is just an excuse to them. They don't want to understand how it is done, they just want to be able to brag about a successful project. Isn't that always how bosses are. Hah.. So wish me luck that I can get everything working smoothly by the end of the summer (if not a lot sooner).

Ok.. that is all for now. Time to have a little fun today with my baby doll!

Week 22 (05.26.2008)

So, slowly but surely I am recovering from the wedding experience. Sure put a lot of time and effort into that weekend. But I think we have more of a handle on everything now.

The workouts this week have been solid. We even went out and ran some stairs today. It was a good work out. Hopefully I can do more outdoor stuff around here.

I don't really have too much more to say. Can't believe the summer is almost here. Looking forward to a little r-n-r every now and then. Until the next report!

Monday (05/26) - Cardio Memorial Day - Biked to Beach!
Tuesday (05/27) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Tuesday (05/27) - Basketball No Game - Holiday!
Wednesday (05/28) - Cardio Completed!
Thursday (05/29) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Friday (05/30) - Cardio Completed!
Saturday (05/31) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Sunday (06/01) - Rest Day

and into the sunset....

a wedding reflection

So, it is almost one full week. I am a married man as of May 17, 2008. It was an awesome day... everything I expected and more. My bride, Christine was beautiful and the one part of the wedding I was the most happy about her smiles. She is now my wife and that makes me feel complete. I was happy that our wedding day was beautiful for her. All of her planning, all of her hard work, all of her tears, all of her tender loving care led to a day that everyone could enjoy. I hope that everyone who attended our wedding knows that and at some point will take the time to thank her.

And me? How does it feel to be married? Hah, I guess I could tell you that I am changed man. But guess what? I am not a changed man. I am the same ol' mountain boy that I was before. I take my relationship with Christine seriously and being married doesn't change that. I love her just as much now as I did before and as I will tomorrow. Maybe the Catholic church, the state, and whoever else thinks we are official now (or maybe not), but I thought we were official a long time ago. And I also feel relieved. This wedding took a lot of planning, a lot of money and a lot of patience. A lot of me is happy that it turned out great and that it is in the rearview mirror.

But enough of the philosophical stuff. So how was the wedding weekend? Wow.. where do I start! So many parts of it that I could talk about... Guess I will have to take them on one at a time.

Sams clan hit San Diego

My mom's side of the family (the Sams) is who we have stayed in tough with more over the years. Many of them showed up for the big day. Alot of them were taking advantage of the fact that we lived in San Diego. Good for them. It was great to see the kids play in the ocean and having a great time. They got to see a great sunset Thursday before the wedding.

Gifts at the Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal was a little weird. The priest wasn't there. My family is not Catholic. The wedding was a traditional Catholic wedding (with mass). So everyone was a little confused. I think it went well. Good thing Christine had made the program, that saved everyone, including the church's wedding coordinator.

And the gifts that Christine bought the entire wedding party were great. They all appreciated it. The dinner was good and I even gave a speech with out stumbling too much.

Calm before the Storm

For how crazy the wedding was. The morning was actually really, really calm. I spent the night with Luthor. We just chilled. It was a nice time to reflect and focus. I was so excited and pumped. It was a cool. Then Jim showed up and it was on. I got into the tux and we were ready to roll! Everyone was whooping at us as we made it to the church.

the priest shows up!

I am not going into the details, but there was actually some doubt that we would be able to perform the wedding in a Catholic church. It was really hard on Christine the week before the wedding. So there was a lot of relief for the both of us when the ceremony actually started. I am not going to forget the many things that I learned about the Catholic faith during this wedding process, both good and bad.

The ceremony went smoothly with only a few hiccups. It was beautiful. It was over an hour long, but it seemed to fly by for me. It was awesome to share such a special moment with our family and friends.

so many pictures

And to the worst part of the day. I could never be a model. Yikes, I never took so many pictures in my life. Christine and I were in so many pictures. Our photographer (Rebecca Seal) was great, but I wanted to strangle her when she kept saying.. "Now over here". I burned my bald head in Balboa Park. We literally took pictures from the time we walked out of the church until the wedding reception started. Oh well.. we did it for the memories!

Rob the DJ! Bamboo Dancing.. broken glass.. the Sunshine company!

Everyone we hired pulled through (and many family members) to make the reception a great party. Rob the DJ was a great MC and he turned out to be good hire. He kept the party moving. I enjoyed the reception alot. My family had a great time. They saw many traditional Filipino dancers for the first time. I know they liked it.

Anyways the party rocked and then we took the after party to the Sunshine company in Ocean Beach. We had people buying us drinks until the late hours.

Into the sunset...

And then we woke in our Ocean Beach vacation condo. Isn't the internet awesome. We found a great place right on the ocean to spend out first day together. What an experience. Our family came over to share the place and the beaches. But the best part of the day was when they all left and we were able to enjoy the sunset together. Just the way to end our first weekend married.

There is a lot more I could talk about, but I am all typed out. Check in next time!

Week 21 (05.19.2008)

This week is and was all about recovery. The wedding was awesome, more about that in the next post. But it was quite draining. Lots of family, lots of running around, lots of just stuff. So this week I have been getting my workout in, but at a subdued pace.

Also I crunched my left hand pretty good in the basketball game before the wedding. Might take a little while to heal that paw. Alright, so it is friday and I am back at it!

Monday (05/19) - Cardio Wedding recovery!
Tuesday (05/20) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Tuesday (05/20) - Basketball Didn't play... hurt hand!
Wednesday (05/21) - Cardio Completed!
Thursday (05/22) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Friday (05/23) - Cardio Completed!
Saturday (05/24) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Sunday (05/25) - Rest Day

one last day

Christine and I are getting married tomorrow. All the hard work and planning that she has done over the past year is finally going to pay off.

We had the wedding rehearsal dinner tonight. It was a good time. I think everyone is looking forward to the big day tomorrow.

I don't really have too much to say. Or maybe I have so much to say that I can't really focus it into words. I am excited, I am anxious, I want tomorrow to be one of the best days of Christine's life. So come on people. Rally around.. let us all chip in and make it happen.
Christine, I am not sure if you are reading this, but I am thinking of you tonight. I love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow at 2pm. My heart will be in my throat.

Ok. I am signing off. The next time I write a blog, I will be a married man!

Week 20 (05.12.2008)

Ok! I think task I have for May 17th says it all. I am to distracted say the least this week. I am surprised I got all my workout up to Thursday in.

And to tell you the truth, I am not sure how well I could have lifted weights. I busted my hand pretty good at our basketball game. The strength is starting to come back in it. Pretty sore though.

Alright.. that enough for this entry. Only 2 more days to go..

Monday (05/12) - Cardio Completed!
Tuesday (05/13) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Tuesday (05/13) - Basketball Completed!
Wednesday (05/14) - Cardio Completed!
Thursday (05/15) - Weight Lifting doing to many errands
Friday (05/16) - Cardio
Saturday (05/17) - Getting Married!
Sunday (05/18) - Rest Day

Week 19 (05.05.2008)

Sorry, I didn't get my entry in time last week. I did get most of my workouts in. I have been skipping my weekend lifting work out. Been riding the cruiser though, so I don't feel that guilty about missing it.

This week was the easy week. Next week is the wedding week. Just will be getting more and more nervous as the days go by!

Monday (05/05) - Cardio Completed!
Tuesday (05/06) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Tuesday (05/06) - Basketball Completed!
Wednesday (05/07) - Cardio Completed!
Thursday (05/08) - Weight Lifting Completed!
Friday (05/09) - Cardio Completed!
Saturday (05/0510) - Weight Lifting no weightlifting.. lots of bike riding.
Sunday (05/11) - Rest Day

bikes in action...

Schwoo.. another Monday to start the week. And what a couple of weeks it is going to be. I started this blog in the morning. And I probably won't be done with it until sometime tonight.

Well I will try to get this blog done. I have so much I could right about. Everything from trivial stuff that might be important only to me. Like Iron Man kickin' butt at the box office this weekend. Yay.. my small number of Marvel stock shares is ready to take off again.

To the BIG, BIG occasion coming up in less than two week. The wedding of my lifetime is coming. Yes people, it will be happening. You are only supposed to do this once in your life right? How has it been going. Hectic, of course. Christine is doing a great job in planning out the wedding. I do hope that everyone appreciates the hard she is putting in.

I have heard from more than one couple that the wedding is hard in many ways. I know where they are coming from now. Seems like everyone would take the time to celebrate the moment for what it is. But it doesn't seem to work out that way. Everyone wants there piece of you. And I can see us getting stretched thin. But nothing can be done at this point. Just need to buckle down and get the marriage done. I am looking forward to it. Family, friends and the wedding. Should be a week of celebration(s). Yeah, there will probably be more than one. That is for sure.

Alright, enough with the wedding. Onto the bikes! Yup we biked all over PB this weekend. It was a lot of fun. Friday we headed down to the beach and watched the sunset. Then we ate at some random Mexican restaurant. Saturday we spent all day doing wedding stuff. Then Sunday we rolled down to Kono's on our bikes again for some breakfast. So we were able to ride all over the place. I have to say the weather was absolutely gorgeous on Friday and Saturday. Couldn't ask for better days.

Ok, I think that is enough rambling for today. Maybe I will start posting some pictures of the PB (and OB) places that we visit now and again.