Dark Side of the Carton

I’ve really been slacking off on the whole blogging thing. You see, we went on vacation a few weeks back and I think I am still trying to catch up and recover from it.

When my oldest was a baby, we tried to fly out to San Diego to stay with my relatives that had rented a condo out there. Long story short, we got stranded in Denver with no baby food, diapers, and no car seat. Thanks United! From that point forward we were committed to driving ourselves to our vacation destinations of choice. This is relatively easy if you are travelling to the coast or somewhere near by. We weren’t and we haven’t. Since then we have driven to the East Coast once and the West Coast 2 or 3 times. I forget.

After last year’s trip I decided I was done with the driving thing. I just couldn’t stand 2 days of traveling each way. So this year we decided to head out West again for our first of 2 trips to the great state of California.

This trip was kind of impromptu and then blossomed into a full blown vacation. Whatever, it was a lot of fun.

One important distinction about this trip was that it was Ethan’s first real plane trip. He was far too young to recall the first one. He kind of freaked out about the whole thing all the way up until we got to the airport. My mom somehow managed to convince the gate attendant to let him go sit in the cockpit and meet the pilot. That went a long way towards making the trip start off easily.

We were staying in a condo on the boardwalk down in Mission Beach for the week. We had rented it with my mom and brother. My aunts, cousins, and grandparents also occupied 3 other condos right in that area. You could say that it was a big family reunion and that would be pretty accurate.

With the kids being 4 and 1, I was pretty excited to see how they were going to react to the activities we had planned for the week. The first few days were beach days and it was hilarious to see them run around on the beach. They truly had a blast. It helped that all of my cousins love them to death. I’m the oldest of like 12 or 13 cousins with the youngest of the bunch being 16.

Last year while we were out there we headed to the San Diego Zoo and it was a blast so we made sure to go again this year. I really wish the San Antonio Zoo was 1/2 as big and half as entertaining as that. I mean, I like our Zoo and all that, but it’s really in a world of it’s own.

One of the new things that we made time for this year was Legoland. I went about 10 years ago right after I got out of high school and I loved it. They’ve made a few additions in the last 10 years.

I was really worried that Ethan wouldn’t enjoy himself or appreciate the scope of what it takes to build a 15′ tall skyscraper out of real LEGO blocks. He did and he is still asking to go back. I think when we head back to SoCal this fall that we are going to make the trip down to Carlsbad for a day.

The trip back to San Antonio was pretty easy and I am seriously glad we did the air travel thing instead of driving.

I usually get pretty stressed out on vacation for some reason. I am not a strict timetable type of person, but I just tend to get up tight. This trip I really got to enjoy and didn’t feel up tight about anything. Maybe I wasn’t as worried about the kids since they are a little bit older.

Name: Bee
Manufacturer: Bugaboo
MSRP: $529

Now that I’ve gotten over the initial giddy feeling of this purchase, I am at a point where I can legitimately tell you about it. The Bee is the newest member of the Bugaboo family of products. It’s aimed at parents that live in the city and have reason to fold it up and toss it into a taxi or take it on the subway. For that reason, it’s designed to be stylish, but also very lightweight and compact.

The Bee features very solid but lightweight construction with it’s aluminum frame. The Bee also comes equipped with 4 wheel independent suspension. What that means is that each wheel is independently spring loaded to provide a very smooth ride for your child. The wheels are also very sturdy and foam filled. They seem to allow the stroller to just glide smoothly across any surface. Even a quick stroller around the block is a smooth as can be.

The Bee also features an adjustable handle bar so it can comfortably be used by parents of all size. This was one of the major drawbacks to most strollers with fixed handles.

Another great feature is the ability to have your child face the world or face you. With a few simple steps you can flip the lightweight seat around. One drawback was that with the seat facing you, the stroller didn’t seem to fold up as well. It is recommended to return the seat to forward facing before folding.

Folding up the stroller is as easy as pulling 2 slide locks on the frame. No tricky locks are necessary to keep the stroller folded up. It simply holds it’s position. To unfold, simply place your foot on the brake pedal and push and it pops right up.

The brake is in the center of the back of the stroller and is very easy to engage and unlock with the flip of your foot.

The Bee also packs ample storage space beneath the seat, especially in rear facing position.

In all, the Bee is a fabulous stroller that isn’t packed full of complicated features. It has a simple design that works well and is simple to use. It’s light and sturdy and the seat cover is machine washable for easy cleaning. The price tag is hard to swallow for many people, but if you are planning on having multiple kids then the cost of purchasing a new stroller for subsequent kids it isn’t all that bad. The Bee also has an adapter for holding Graco car seats for $50.

I highly recommend anyone considering a new stroller take a look at the Bee. It is available at Neiman Marcus and at many online retailers.

Shortly after my wife and I started dating so many years ago, we went to dinner with her family at a quiet little mexican restaurant at the corner of West Ave and NW Military called La Rosita. The owner was a strange man named Fred. Fred had Woo.

What I mean by that was that Fred’s goal in life was to be the most hospitable person on earth and he was. In fact, the local newspaper had nicknamed him “Hospitality Fred.”

The food was good and the service was outstanding. Our usual waiter began prepping our drinks as he saw us walking to our table. They were usually on the table within a minute or so of us arriving at the table. He remembered what we all drank and what our favorite dishes were for close to 6 years.

2 or 3 years ago Fred sold the restaurant to another very nice gentleman that used to run a Luby’s. George was a swell guy that graduated from Texas A&M and he did a good job of making people feel at home, but he was no Fred and it showed. Many customers moved on to other places once Fred was gone. A sad thought considering nothing about this quaint little place had changed except the smiling face at the door.

Last night we decided to get together with my inlaws for dinner and decided to head to La Rostia, or Fred’s as we’d called it. Upon arriving we were greeted with an alarming sight… La Rosita was gone. The signs had been removed and the restaurant was vacant, with only the characteristic neon lights still up and the built in booths adorning the walls. They’d been here not 2 weeks prior for dinner, so the closing must have been a swift one.

A major loss for San Antonio residents indeed, La Rosita was a wonderful place that has been the backdrop for many fond memories over the years. It is with a sad heart that I bid adieu to La Rosita. It’s been grand.

Strollers are not a very “manly” thing to be excited about and so it is with a heavy heart that I have to admit that I am currently geeking out over one of our most recent purchases, a Bugaboo Bee.

My wife and I have 2 children, and over the course of their lives we have owned far too many strollers. We started with a standard Graco travel system (#1) for oldest. That was one heavy stroller and before going on vacation, we bought a Graco Lightrider(#2). We picked up a super cheap umbrella stroller (#3), which we still have, for those quick on the go trips as he got older. Pretty soon he stopped riding in strollers, and then we found out we were having a second child. Time to buy a few more strollers!

We reused one of the strollers we already had, I think, for the first few months and then it was off to buy a Combi lightweight stroller (#4), and a Joovy Sit and Stand (#5), for when the kids are both tired, and then somehow we ended up with a second umbrella stroller (#6).

At this point, it should be obvious that we love buying strollers. After all, my poor ability to fully recall the number we have bought still left us with 6 of the things. I don’t know what it is about the things, but they can be addicting. We have been moderately happy with each of the strollers, but they were either too heavy, too bulky, or they folded in a manner which was totally nonsensical. Needless to say, we were stressing about what to take for the upcoming vacation. Our Sit and Stand is huge and heavy and would necessitate a rental van once we land.

My wife and I started discussing the ability to find a light stroller that was compact and easy to travel with. We were both aware of the Bugaboo brand, but had never considered purchasing one due to the cost. The Bugaboo Cameleon will set you back about $895. A hefty price to swallow for just about anyone when a much cheaper alternative is available.

On Friday, we found out that Bugaboo had released a much more affordable stroller in the form of the Bee. We also found out that they were sold locally at Neiman Marcus. Saturday afternoon we were off to Neiman Marcus to check this thing out and see what the fuss was all about.

After carefully navigating the kids through a maze of items that I can barely afford with an entire paycheck, we found the baby boutique. There it was, in all its glory. We walked out a few minutes later with a bright yellow Bugaboo Bee. Actually, the nice sales lady delivered it all the way to the car for us.

I’ll spare you the trouble of asking the obvious question, “How much was this thing?”

Just know that it wasn’t cheap.

The stroller is really as nice as it appears. It steers like a champ and is super lightweight. In all, if we would have just shelled out the $500 in the first place, we probably would have ended up ahead in the total equation. After all, the total price for all the strollers that have found their way into and then out of our household adds up to a lot more than the price of this single item.

If I haven’t already intrigued you enough to hit google and find out what this thing looks like, let me present you a nice little shot of the Bee:

If you have any specific questions about the Bee, feel free to ask in the comments section.

I’ve never had sushi before. Not until about 2 hours ago that is. My manager has been taking us to lunch as a team every week and this week’s venue was Syn over at Vance Jackson and Huebner.

I’ve never tried sushi before today and I am still not sure what to think about it. I had one bite of a raw tuna roll covered in wasabi. The wasabi was hot. Real hot. I couldn’t taste the raw fish, but I stopped after one bite. The cucumber rolls, tempura rolls, and california rolls were all very tasty though.

At this point I wouldn’t call myself a fan of sushi, but I’m definitely not afraid of it and would feel comfortable ordering a few rolls if I was ever in the situation again.

Oh and Syn was a very neat place. The staff was helpful and nice. Thumbs up on that front from me.

I’m not sure what the stats are for the current American workforce in terms of workplace happiness, but I am sure they are not very high. Corporate America seems to be running rampant with unhappy and disgruntled employees.

I am happy to say I am not one of these people. I love my job. I love where I work. I love getting up in the morning and coming to work.

I’m also very passionate about what I do and I am sure that goes a long way when it comes to overall job satisfaction. I also work with an incredible team of guys that make the day seem less like work.

What about you? Do you like your job? Why/Why not?

My mother in law owns a local flower shop and during rush times my wife goes up to help with all the orders. Often times this results in her working about 40 hours over the course of 3-4 days. During these times, I get to wrangle the kids and boy does it get tough.

So here is my chance to give a shout out to all the parents that do this each and every day. I don’t think that most people realize just how tough it is. You guys really deserve a pat on the back for keeping it together.

Having kids is a daily challenge. Most things you can get through by counting to 10 and taking a few deep breaths. On occasion, something happens that is a little more difficult to get through.

Rewind to yesterday.

My 4 yr old son decided to conduct a science experiment. I haven’t concluded if this was an intentional or accidental experiment, but it took place nonetheless. The experiment hypothesis would read something like this if you were preparing it:

Will a 3″ Lightning McQueen racecar shatter the display on my parents LCD TV if thrown hard enough?

What do you know, the answer happens to be a resounding YES! As proven by my son. I’ll take a picture of the damage later today and add it to this post. So painful.

UPDATE: Let me clarify that it was my son writing the hypothesis and, yes, it was my TV that suffered said fate.

If you walked up to me and asked me if I was competitive I would probably say no without even thinking about it. After all, I don’t consider myself to be a competitive person. I’ve been one of those people that honestly believed it was more about the effort than the outcome.

At 27 years of age, I am beginning to realize that people who tell you “It’s not about who wins, but about how you played the game” are just lying to you. After all, if you aren’t striving to win then why bother playing at all?

Last week was the orientation for my new job and of the group of 85 of us, we were organized into 10 tables. Each table represented a team. At the beginning of the week, we were told that there would be a points competition. At the end of each day there would be a 30 minute wrap up session where we would be quizzed on the presentations for the day and awarded points based on correct answers. Pretty cool right?

When you look at the mechanics, the organizer just incentivized the whole week of training. Pay attention, get the answers right, and you get points. What are we playing for? No clue. It was SECRET!

It didn’t take long for the rivalry to heat up with the competitive personalities at my table rearing their heads. Mine included. I took notes better than any class I’d attended in college. Just for the chance to win. It didn’t matter what we were playing for, we were going to win.

In the end, the prize was small and nominal and yes we did win. We felt good too. We felt accomplished. It was as if someone walked up and told us “Your table payed attention better than any other table in the room.”

We were all beaming with pride. It wasn’t until just then, at 27 years of age, did I realize that winning IS everything. You have to believe this or you won’t give it your all.

So why do we tell our kids that being a good sport is the most important thing and that winning is secondary? I guess it is to foster good social skills above domination.

This is something I am struggling with as I coach and Under 4 YMCA soccer team. Each and every week I have to hide my game face and encourage a group of kids to foster their love for the game. This is easy, but it isn’t easy to suppress the competitive spirit. After all, I pretend like it doesn’t matter, but I want to win and I want to win big.

When we are falling behind, I know it shows in my behavior.

So here I am. Telling you that yes it is important to be a good sport, but by golly you better be out there playing to win.

I better slow down with all these blog posts or someone is going to think that it’s all I do. I’ll stick to the story that many of them are future dated and show up when I want them to.

At any rate, I was just checking out my old profile on blogger and I saw that I had woodworking listed as a hobby of mine. It’s certainly something I enjoy. I enjoy the pure idea of constructing something from raw materials. This is not limited to raw pieces of timber.

Then I started to think about it further and I can’t actually remember a single noteworthy piece that I have ever constructed. I certainly enjoy it and know that I’ve built things in the past, but I currently have nothing to show for it. What a travesty. I hereby commit to building something from raw materials in the next 6-8 weeks and posting about it once it is complete.

I don’t know what I am building yet, but I am building something.