Friday Thoughts...

Again, I've waited until Friday to say anything at all on my blog, but I've been active on Twitter all week (drwilliamsisin and workthecloud).  Here are some news and notes from the week...

• Madison made some delicious cupcakes this week.  Yum!
• The big news is Matt's big show is this week.  Opening night was last night and it was a blast!  We enjoyed the show a lot and Matt was terrific.  Mimi is coming to town tomorrow to see it.  We're all looking forward to seeing her...it's been nearly a year.
• Tonight we're hosting the youth group for Matt's show and then a party at our house after.  Should be a kick.
• I wrapped up the first half of the semester this week.  I had my students over for lunch on Wednesday and we had a wonderful time enjoying some burritos and getting to know one another a bit better.
• I'm on "spring break" next week with no classes again for ten days. :-)
• I finally was able to catch up with JA this week.  We got together one night after everyone was in bed and watch thy Olympics and caught up on about a year's worth of news. 
  
• ACU announced their new President...and he's my age!  Holy moly!
  
• Big news this week is that Google released "Buzz" and promptly received a class-action lawsuit from a Harvard Law student for privacy invasion.

• We are LOVING the Olympics!  Vonn, White, Mancuso, Teeter...what a fun group of athletes.  The highlight so far has been that almost every sport we've seen Madison has said "I could do that!"  She really believes it too. :-).  So yesterday on our way up from the gym we tried some "speed skating training" that we had seen on the Olympics.  It wore her out in about 5 minutes!  She responded..."Well, I said I could be a speed skater, not that I could do those silly exercises!". :-)
  

Random Friday (on Tuesday!)

Sorry for the delay.  Last week was quite busy so my regular Friday column kept getting postponed until it became a Monday column. :-)

Why?  Why you ask? 

Well, of course, the big thing was Valentine's Day.  We've got a wonderful tradition going back about 12 years.  The tradition is to invite a couple of others to join us for a Valentine's Celebration.  We get a sitter, send the ladies out for a trip to the salon and the guys prepare a wonderful meal and evening at home.  We usually choose a couple of couples to celebrate with and over the years we've shared these evenings with some of our dearest friends. 

Highlights this year include...

• a gourmet italian feast with asparagus wrapped in crisp prosciutto, home made foccaccia, shrimp scampi, chopped salad, butternut squash soup, chicken parmiagiana, fresh marinara sauce, and chocolate mouse.
• A-Wall practically burned the house down while reaching for some Shrimp caused his napkin to go a bit too close to the flame...SHAZAM!!!  There was smoke, there was fire, there was stamping and screaming!  Finally the fire was put out and we all had a good laugh.
• The kids all slept over at a friend's house.  Next year, we may try to do Valentines with the friends who hosted the kids this year...
  

In other news...

• The Pepperdine community is saddened by the loss of Judge Kenneth Starr.  Kenn today announced that he is taking the presidency of Baylor University.  He will do very well there, and we will miss him here.  It's funny...when I tell people that I'm at Pepperdine they usually know only two things about it...1) it's got an amazingly beautiful campus, and 2) Ken Starr is here.  While his politics have been controversial over the past twenty years, his leadership as a dean has been truly impressive.  Our rankings, reputation, and funding at the law school have all improved considerably under his leadership. 
  

While my family is totally snowed in MD, we're enjoying a heat wave here in SoCal.  This weekend it was in the mid-70's and a perfect weekend for a long ride.  I rode up to Port Heuneme and enjoyed a few hours in the saddle.  Ahhh..  This photo is from a parking lot right out on the beach.  What a great day. 

• I've been shopping for a year or so for a new bike.  I'm planning on getting a new bike as a reward if I receive tenure this year.  If I don't receive tenure, I promise NOT to go postal like the lady at University of Alabama did this weekend.  I think I'm going to get a Kawi Versys if things go well.
  
• Gong Hay Fat Choy! (that's happy Chinese new year)!  
• Sunday we took breakfast in bed to Matt & Madison (Marcus woke up too early).  Such a fun day...

• I'm teaching the Jr. High at church and loving it.  I'm doing a series on the gospel.  Its a lot of fun.
• OK..that's all for this week.  I'll update again on Friday.
  

Father-Daughter Dance at Malibu Pres

Madison and I had an absolute blast at the Malibu Pres Father-Daughter Dance.  We danced until we were exhausted.  She taught me the swing, the meringe (sp?), and another one I didn't know the name of.  We had so much fun. 

Before we left I made two promises to her:

1. I would try my best to do the dances she taught me.
2. I would not embarrass her (she made me promise this one!)

Well, after those two promises you can imagine my surprise when the DJ asked for "four fathers with great moves to come up to the stage" and Madison forced my hand up.  I said, "Madi!  I don't have great moves... this will be embarrassing!", but she wanted me up there.  Of course, the DJ chose me and 3 other hopeless looking dads to come up and get our groove on.

Our challenge?

The Chicken Dance.

Oh man, was it fun.  I clucked and got down as well as I could and came in a solid second-place.  Madi was so proud!  It was one of the best nights I can remember in a long time.  Truly magical.  You can see a few photos on my flickr page (see the photos on the right side of this page).

I love my little girl.  She is really a sweet, kind, intelligent, and funny person.  I'm very proud.

Friday Thoughts...

Inspired by DMC's recent post, I've decided to do a "Friday Thoughts" column each week.  this will just be random updates and events in my life.  It's going to be boring, irrelevant, and non-newsworthy.  However, it's what's going on.  if you are still interested...read on.

• Son #2 loves the cub scouts.  He just started a few weeks ago, but he's totally eating it up.  Here is a photo of him all ready for school this week...
  
  
• I'm so grateful for our new home.  We moved in February and the view from here just never gets old.  Here's a recent sunrise with the moon still hanging over the bay.
  
• We're having our DC friends over for dinner tonight. We've not seen them since November! We try to have one big get together each month, but we've missed the last few. Sadly, the Reverend won't be at this one, but hopefully we'll see him before too long.  In honor of the Rev, we're having BBQ Brisket, homemade cornbread, beans, and cole slaw. 
  
• We're going to a friends house for the Annual GSBM Full-Time MBA Faculty Super Bowl party on Sunday.  In honor of our IN roots, we're bringing brats and Miller High Life.  Thanks to Kerry Ward for introducing me to bratwurst when we lived in Bloomington.
• Read Speed of Trust.  It's excellent for anyone who deals with people in a professional setting.  Even if you are a volunteer at church, you'll get a lot of value from this simple book about how being a trustworthy person builds effectiveness.
• IMHO, the whole Toyota thing is a bunch of crock being sold by corporate media.  I'm sure there is some problem, but it's not nearly as big as it's being billed.  Come on!  It's been the cover story of WSJ, NYT, LAT, CNN... for a week now.  My only explanation is that 1) the millions of Toyota customers out there are worried, so they are interested in watching/reading this "news" and/or 2) Rupert Murdoch owns stock in GM & Ford.
• Have you tried the news skimmer from NYTimes?  It's the best way to read the news in print.
• IMHO - there are clearly no women on Apple's new product development team.  How else do you explain the iPad? (Check out this great MadTV skit if you haven't already seen it... "iPad")
• Thinking about pulling the trigger on this new bike from ebay...A v strom 650.
• Finally...tomorrow night is the MPC Father-Daughter dance.  Madison is SO excited.  She's been practicing dance at school this semester and can't wait to teach me a thing or two.  Should be a blast!  I'll post photos next week.
  

Marcus is 7

Marcus is 7
Originally uploaded by 5 Ms In SoCal

Here are some photos of Marcus' 7th Birthday party. It was a monster theme and a lot of fun. http://tr.im/FDI2

Two quick Marcus stories...

1) This morning when he woke up, first thing he said was

"i just remembered...you guys owe me a lot of money!"

Why is that?

Because every time you let me buy something, you keep the change!

2) Last night he and I stayed home to watch the terrible Redskins lose another game. While we were there he said,

"Dad, I'm gonna build a website."

OK.

So, he got started. Here is what he has so far...

Rehearsing for an audition...

#1 Son is auditioning for the middle-school musical this week. It's been fun watching him learn a monologue, practice some dance moves, and sing "Footloose". In fairness, I have to say "Footloose" has to be the most difficult song I've ever tried to sing. It's in funny register, has no real melody besides the endless repetition of "Footloose". I wish he had chosen to sing something else...oh well.

One more thing...I've never seen Footloose. When I was a kid I somehow thought it was an immoral movie. I honestly don't know why...I was OK with dancing and my folks let me go to school dances. Who knows the mind of a teenager...

Holiday Cookies by Madison

I told Madison I'd pay her $20 for some holiday cookies for my party this week. She got a bit carried away with the frosting, but you have to admire her spirit!

On the mend...

I think (cross-my-fingers) that everyone is through with this stomach virus now. No one has actually been sick in about 30-hours.  Michelle and I seem OK.  Thanks for your prayers and kind words.

Michelle and the kids are at PU's Christmas Concert while I'm at home getting Tater to bed so he can get enough rest to go to school for the first time all week tomorrow.

This weekend should be interesting.  I have a variety of graduation related events Fri & Sat, Michelle is camping with the Girl Scouts from 7am Sat to noon Sun, Madison has three soccer games in the Regional AYSO playoffs about an hour from here, and we have two or three Christmas events at church.  Whew...I'm tired already!

It's going around...

As you know...Tiny was sick on Thanksgiving.  Lame-O.  We thought that was the end of it, but Matt got sick on Sunday night.  This morning Tater came to our bed saying

"Daddy...I think I have some chemicals in my mouth!"

Who knows where he got that? Anyway, he proceeded to be sick seven-times before I left for work at 8:45. Yuck... Poor guy.

So, who's next? Michelle or me?

Tiny's Donut Show

Yesterday we made the delicious 500-calorie Apple Strudel.  Before doing so, we watched several YouTube videos about how to prepare Apple Strudel.  Madison loved the shows, and as soon as we had a few minutes she asked if I would help her with something.  So, here is the beginning of the next "Rachel Ray"...

Tater's Theme

We had just seen Rocky 2 a few days earlier when I spied Tater performing this original composition on the stairwell...

Death, War and Families

This morning before 6AM my 11-year old came to our bed crying.  Hard.  Balling really.
He had waken from a bad dream. 

In his dream, our country had gone to war and needed soldiers.  His mother and I did not have to go, because we were parents and our national leaders somehow recognized we had more important responsibilities.

However, he was so shaken because his grandparents had been drafted and one of them was killed in the war.  He was near tears all morning until he left for school.

This made me think about the thousands of Americans, and tens-of-thousands of Iraqi's who have died over the past five years in this awful war.

According to the DoD, over 30,000 Americans have died in Iraq since 3/19/03, and nearly half of them in combat.

I've been opposed to this war since well before t began.  However, this morning I was struck anew by the incredible sacrifice of these 30,000 fellow citizens.  Each of them has left parents, children, siblings, and friends waking at night with tears imagining the life that could have been.

Our first surfing adventure...

My friend Samurai took us surfing today and got all three kids up on the board within 90 minutes! Here's a photo of Tater Tot on his first wave. Matt and Madi did equally as well.

A picture is worth 1000 words

Sea World, San Diego, 2008.

At the bottom of the hill Tater was just about to cry, then I said "That was awesome!" he looked at me, and slowly began laughing. He said, "That was TOO freaky!". M&M loved it and wanted to do it again immediately. It's too bad a 1-hr wait precedes a 2-minute ride.

Pismo Beach 2008

View Larger Map

Check out those Dunes from Google Earth!  It's much more amazing in real-life.  We rode ATVs across these miles of Dunes this weekend.

It was an awesome trip.  We went with about 50 friends from church.  (BTW - we love our church).

We started with Janae, Son #1 and Daughter #1 and I on the ATVs while Wife and Son #2 hung out at the beach.  How fun!  Madison was very timid at first (literally going 5 miles an hour for the first 2 miles).  But once we got out to where the Dunes opened up (and she caught up to the boys) there was no slowing her down.  She's a bit competitive.

From 2008-Q3-Pismo...

 

After the ATV's we celebrated our safe return.

From 2008-Q3-Pismo...

Then we set up our tent (with about 20 other tents with people from our church).  We had such a blast around the camp fire and playing wiffle ball.

On Friday, we went into town and rented a bicycle built for six and rode all around town.  It was super fun. However, we let each kid take turns driving.  In principle, that was the right thing to do.  But the "bike lane" was the exact width of our bike and it ran along the side of the PCH through town.  OMG was it scary when Madison started complaining about peddling and took her eyes off the road.  JL said it was more frightening than the ATVs the day before.

Finally, before leaving town we explored a local beach and found these great climbing trees. Here's our new favorite family photos...

 

One last stop on our way home...Laetitia Winery in Santa Maria.  It was a fun stop before a long drive back home.

From 2008-Q3-Latit...

In a glass darkly...

Matt had about 5 kids over today for a play date. What did they do???? As you can see here, Matt was the Dungeon Master in a big round of Advanced D&D.

So many memories of summer days when I was his age playing D&D. Mark was always the DM and Billy Wall, Greg Stewart, and a few other neighborhood kids were the players. It was so much fun...we would spread out the maps and books and play for days at a time. I love to see this. It's so much better than the Xbox.

Our "Favorite Girls" and "that bald guy"

Some dear friends from IN visited last week.  We've been looking forward to their visit for a long time.  This is the third time they've come to see us since we moved to CA. 

We love their visits for lots of reasons...they are a sweet family that inspires us to our highest ambitions, they encourage us with their strong faith in God's provision, and they really make us laugh!

It's been about two years since we saw them last, so Tater Tot just barely remembered them.  In fact, he could not remember Scott's name.  Perhaps that's because last time he saw Scott, he was dresses a Pirate for VBS all week...or perhaps it is because Scott has recently begun shaving his head completely bald... who knows.  In any event, we've referred to their family as "our favorite girls" for years.  Tater, however, was not comfortable with this moniker and attached the addendum, "...and that bald guy". 

We enjoyed their visit tremendously!  Highlights included...

• An amazing morning at the beach (did I mention our favorite girls are all fair-skinned and blonde and that "somebody" forgot to apply adequate suntan lotion?)
• Daily splashes in the pool.
• Our regular game of "take-two" where That Bald Guy absolutely killed us (as always).
• And, last--but certainly not least--two times the adults went out for a meal and left all seven children AT HOME ALONE!  They did great together and we had wonderful time on our dinner and lunch dates without any worries.  They are growing up fast!

Big Celebration...

After Marcus' graduation we had a big celebration. He chose where we ate for lunch and dinner (Taco Bell & Arby's respectively) and in the middle we saw Prince Caspian. We all liked the show, but this full-sized Hulk was too fun to pass up. We probably won't see the Hulk movie, but this prop was awesome.

Next week Matt finishes Elementary School! So we have several days of activities related to "Graduation". The crazy world we live in...Matt's Graduation from Elementary School is a bigger, more elaborate festivity than any of my college graduations were! I suspect it's even bigger than a High School Graduation at Hackettstown High (but I can't really say, since I never graduated...).

Sticking with the theme...

Marcus graduated from pre-school this week! Can you believe our "baby" is now a Kindergartner! Gheesh... Well, our point-and-click camera simply couldn't handle the lighting + distance to get a decent photo. Tater Tot (who is easily recognizable to me in this photo, but I see him every day), is in the middle of this photo. His profile is right above the bald head in the center of the photo.

Congratuations, Tater! (BTW - he's very proud and would gladly field congratulatory phone call from any relative).