Weekend in Palm Springs...

Last weekend, Juli's Aunt and Uncle were out in Palm Springs, so we went to see them and their family. There were two Vaughns, (Colorado V and California V) The weather was great and we all went swimming, played with toys, learned some baby sign language, played piano, ate dinner, relaxed and then drove home. Nice, quick weekend get away!

Now this is really lazy!

So... i'm way to lazy, busy, tired to post about the rest of the trip - but I was up late last night and wrote an email to my parents and so now I just copied and pasted it here:

"Vaughn slept really well on the plane, we left Sydney for LAX at 3:30 pm and he ran around for a couple of hours, which was good cause they had us in the very back row, but we had the whole row to ourselves which was nice. Then he went to sleep and didn't get up until we woke him after every else got off the plane... it was nice. But here's how the rest of our trip went:

So... we when got to Sydney on Monday we spent the day and night in the city, it wasn't cold but the weather was crappy, rainy and yucky. Sydney was like NYC compared to Cairns, especially where we were in the super snooty district that the Westin is in. Kinda culture shocked. We spent the day walking around the city and had dinner with our friend Blackie in Bondi, which was nice, and the sun did pop out a little so we got to see the beach and the town. The next day we went to Volcom and said hi to them and then went to Manly. It was really nice, we walked all around the town, lots of people, really touristy, like Newport down by the pier in the summer, tons of shops, restaurants, bars, people, nice beaches, really cool... We went by Cowboy’s restaurant then drove up and saw Ozzie and his wife and 10 month old Rocky River up in Narrabeen and I almost got to go surf with him there, but Juli was tired and wanted to nap… we went back to Manly and the babies snoozed.

That night we stayed in Manly, found a really nice 1 bedroom apartment through the front desk person at a hostel, that was right in downtown Manly, one block from the beach. We woke up the next day (wed) and it was still overcast and rainy - the surf looked really good, but we booked it up to Newcastle instead - oh yeah, you know how I didn't change my car reservation in Cairns? Well when we got to the airport in Sydney this super flaming gay dude at the Avis took a liking to me and gave us a Holden Statesmen for the same price I had rented, so $200/week for their best car. It nice, but it took a little getting used to driving on the small streets, it was similar to a new Cadillac. Juli and I could easily fit in the trunk... and thank god we got a GPS, man that made our trip waaaay easier, even though I ended up getting lost a few times, even with it.

So, we got to Newcastle before noon, by that time the rain had stopped, the sun was out and it was 90 degrees again. Our friends Brooke and Tabitha had just bought a house, about a mile from the beach and they have a 4-month old boy, Ace. It was nice staying with them, Brooke and I went surfing a couple different spots in Newcastle, some really fun waves, the water was a tit chilly, but I was fine in trunks the whole time. We had a good time there, Newcastle is a giant port, lots of big boats, tankers and container ships coming in and out all day long and lining up on the horizon.... dad would like it. So we stayed there for two nights, they showed us all around town, had some nice dinners while the babies slept in the prams, and then we headed back down to Manly for our last night.

We left Newcastle and got into back into Manly early on Friday, met Cowboy again at his spot for lunch and were going to stay with them, but then Juli scoped out their house and we booked it to the closest hotel on the beach. The weather was still great and we walked around headland to to the wharf for a swim, water was nice, really clear and calm. Juli was really impressed with Manly and would consider living there, but I don't think its gonna happen seriously. I went for a surf with some friends that afternoon, the surf was good, but man it was crowded.

That night Juli's friend Elsja from high school that is living in Sydney met us for dinner, with a few of my friends. It was fun, Vaughn slept the whole time and then Juli and him went back to bed and I went out with them for a night on the town... When we woke up, we booked it back through the city and to Bondi to meet up with our friends Killer and Ang who were out of town earlier in the week, we met them at their house and went to breakfast, then they showed us all the cool spots in Bondi and we did some last minute shopping and gift getting before getting to the airport and getting on the flight.... It seemed like that last week was a blur, we sure packed a lot into the trip..."

Vacation update!

So yeah we are in Australia. Juli and Vaughn are taking their daily siesta and I can't seem to take a proper nap, so I'm updating this crap. Today we are in Sydney after spending an amazing week up in Cairns with my parents. Holy crap, it was awesome having my parents around, they are the best babysitters ever, and we took full advantage of that. Dinners, movies, you name it... Vaughn even slept in their room at night so we could get a little peace and quiet, and... - it was nice. The weather was great, but HOT and we had a blast checking everything out: zoo's, beaches, rainforest, waterfalls, kangaroos, koalas, we did it all. We'll be in Sydney for 6 more days, the weather is a lot cooler here, cold almost... well 70, but that's cold compared to the mid-90's we just endured for a week. We're spending time catching up with friends here and will take lots of pics.

Ok here we go... Good things happening.

Yeah, well the last time I wrote on here I said there was plenty of good things happening. Here's one: Juli is pregnant again! I thought it was funny that on her blog a few months back when we pulled the goalie (or I should say, started aiming for the goal) she put up a poll about whether or not we were crazy to have more kids now. Of course, everyone said we were, but then again we know we are. We have decided that two will be enough, so I guess we're not that crazy.


Another big thing is that we are finally going to Australia! Not moving... my parents are there for a few months and we're going to visit them and relax in the sun. The are up north in Cairns, where it is super hot, so that will be a nice change. Juli and I will definitely take advantage of the free babysitting and then we're flying down to Sydney to hang with our friends there for 5 days. It'll be a much needed vacation and I'm super excited to show Juli around all the places I know and love in Sydney.

Other than that, it's tradeshow time for me. I got to skip Florida, ASR was good but long, and Vegas in creeping up on me now... All I have to do is make it through one more week and all my worries will be behind us. Juli took care of Vaughn all by herself while I was away last week and she is one tough mama. But I already knew that...

The most awesome thing I've seen in a while...

Last night, Juli, Vaughn and I drove up to LA to check out an art show in Chinatown that our friend Derek Albeck was having. Apparently we were one of his subjects, so we kinda felt compelled to go, even though it was a much needed break from our daily routine. We pulled up into a pay lot in Chinatown and there was the huge mural that must've been done by a bunch of elementary school kids or something... The theme was "what Chinatown means to me" and there was about 100 different blocks all painted something different, most of them had some sort of graffiti on them that wasn't there originally. This was the one we parked in front of and it made me laugh all night long: "Chinatown means to me getting: Fuct Up with Asian Bitches". So good.

Derek's show was cool, but Vaughn was hungry so we didn't stay too long... Since we were in Chinatown and Juli was freaking out about it (Rush Hour is her favorite movie?!) we had to eat at Foo Chow's. The food was actually really good and we all loved it. I was most impressed with the $2 bottles of domestic and $2.50 imported beers. Rush Hour is a whole 'nother story though. Here's one of the paintings from Derek's show that we were in... Juli and I are on the very bottom.There's plenty of more good stuff going on, but I'll save that for other posts...

So I changed the name of my blog...

I actually meant to do this a really long time ago... I just forgot. Or got lazy. Or both. I was asked to change the name of my blog first by my mother, so she could forward it to her mother, who of course has never heard any bad words before in her life. So I finally did. Anyway... here's some stuff from Christmas day, we had a nice crowd of people over at our house and it was really fun. Juli slaved away in the kitchen and cooked up another fabulous meal. Robbie and I cooked a turkey in peanut oil in the backyard in between rail squalls. It seriously started pouring rain about 30 seconds after we pulled the turkey out of the fryer and brought it inside. It was a Christmas miracle!

Mmmmm... deep-fried turkey!

Vaughn and our mini-tree!

Grandma got Vaughn a rocking chair - he loves it!

OH YEAH... today is Vaughn's birthday!

I can't believe I forgot to say that it was Vaughn's first birthday this morning... Anyway, this was us exactly one year ago. Literally, exactly. Vaughn was born at 2:08 pm on Dec. 5th, 2007 and it is now 2:35 pm on Dec. 5th, 2008. This pic was taken about half an hour after he was born while we were still in the delivery room. Crazy. It's been a good year!

My Version of Mexico...

Ok, so I'm going to start this thing off by saying that about a year and a half ago I started this blaaaaahg much to the dismay of my wonderful but very opinionated wife. We were newly married, she was pregnant, and I wanted to document it. Years of working as an editor for the now disemboweled action sport gossip magazine (Happy) left me with plenty of crap to spew to the world, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone here. As I look back at my very first entries, she literally told me I was "gay" for doing this. I got plenty of shit in the coming weeks, but she always seemed to be up on what I was writing and posting to whoever out there actually reads this thing. My point is, month's later, she started her own. The tides have turned. The roles have reversed. Basically, she's kicking my ass now, as far as keeping up to date on our day in the life crap. I'm proud of her, but at the same time, I don't always completely agree with her opinions on some things...

That being said, here's my take on Mexico last week. The weather was blah for a few days, then wonderful. I got a little too drunk... maybe everyday. But all in all it was what it was. Thanksgiving dinner was great and we spent a week with family and friends, and to me that is the most important thing of all. Juli posted her own pics on her blog yomomsterraps.com but I felt like these needed to be shared as well...

I believe him and all his friends got me in trouble
Watch out Britney, here we come
Afternoon siesta's rule
Even though she's glaring, that is a bloody mary, so you know it's all ok
I dunno why, but I always take photos of my bare feet... when I'm drunk
My boys...
Sisters dancing anyway in the afternoon... it was a good time.

Nothing to report...

Work is taking over my life completely... Thanksgiving in Mexico was fun for everyone except Juli. Vaughn will be one year old tomorrow. I've been fighting off a cold for a week... My head hurts. Going to work, yipee for 8:00 am conference calls!

Hooray for Grandparents!!

I’ve been absent from here in the last week or more. I have a good excuse, my mom is here visiting for two weeks! That means we have a full time live in babysitter, maid and cook. Juli and I have been going out every night and getting shit faced, haven’t changed a diaper in over a week and haven’t even seen Vaughn is the last few days.

Just kidding, we are so lame that we only have gone out once. But it is nice having some help around the house with Vaughn. I know Juli is enjoying Lala being here. And it sure is nice getting home cooked meals everyday! Not that Juli and I don’t cook, we do all the time and do a damn fine job, but let’s just say that my mom has quite a bit more of a range in dishes than we usually make. Pops is flying in tonight, so we’ll have double the parental duties for a week before they head off to Florida for Thanksgiving with their parents. Looks like we are passing on the east coast and heading down to Juli’s dad’s place in Mexico for the week of Thanksgiving... gobble gobble.

Look what I found...

Last summer in Colorado. Me, EA, Billy at Ween. Oh so hot, but what a night. Front of the stage, stealing their beers. Sweating to the oldies for hours. Glen (the keyboardist) snapped our photo. Excellent.

Alcoholism starts early...

Vaughn the beer drinker. This was from our friends wedding we went to back in June, I think, maybe July. Vaughn was seriously into my bottle of beer. That's my boy!

WWJD - What Would Juli Do?

This is too funny... I love the attitude the guitar player is throwing out there.



Jesus is a friend of mine??? I guess now he is, since I've watched this 10 times in the last hour. Jesus likes youtube? Who doesn't.

I'm kinda digging the whole, Jesus/Ska thing going on. Especially since Juli used to be a big ska fan in high school, and maybe I kinda was a closet one at 14. I did own a Reel Big Fish album at one point in my life, but I never painted ska checkers on my car like Celia did (or so Juli says).

Happy Birthday to Yo Momster!

Last night Juli puked on poor Jonesy!

Yes, you read the title correctly, she puked on the dog. And not just a little bit that splashed on his paw... She puked on the dog! Jonesy had a puke mohawk running down his head, neck and back. It was so awesome. It was also so disgusting.

Last night was pretty much the first time that we've gone out since having Vaughn - 10 months! We've had a dinner here or there, and seen a movie once or twice, but it then hurried home right away... It's kinda hard when family isn't close by or all your friends are complete retards... so last night our friend Veronica, (who is not retarded) offered to babysit while we went out and whopped it up.

Wade (Fake Wade loser!) was Djing at some lame bar, but it was super fun, we got wasted and danced and Juli was super stoked that a bunch of dudes kept hitting on her every time I went to the bar or the bathroom. She was mixing beers and vodka and after about her 6th one I knew she was gonna be hurting bad. When we got home, she didn't want to wake up Vaughn so we were hanging out in the backyard (Ali was there too) and she decided that instead of puking in the bathroom and waking up Vaughn, she would just spew in the lawn in the back. As she was puking, Jonesy was getting all up in her shit like always... The next thing I know is I'm inside and Jonesy comes walking in wearing a vomit blanket on his back. Kinda like a little puke-poncho. Ewwwwww.

Juli just laughed and got into bed. I cleaned up the dog and then we laughed for 20 minutes. She was mumbling and slurring, saying, "I told you I was going to do it!" I said, "you told me you were going to puke, but not on the dog!" and she's all, "same thing". Apparently so. I think she's going to be pissed at me for writing this, but it was so fucking funny i just couldn't resist. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a photo.

So next time someone says they are going to puke - it really means they are going to puke on your dog. Awesome.

Off to the wiener dog races

Yesterday, as part of our "Semana de Juli" we attended the Old World Octoberfest in Huntington Beach. The "Semana de Juli" is Juli's weekly festival that either starts or ends on her birthday. This year we are starting a week early and we'll end on her birthday, October 4th. Yesterday I made breakfast, complete with mimosas and after drinking a bottle of champagne at 8 am, Juli got to take a nice long nap before we headed over to Old World to listen to some live German music, drink a few Spaten, eat some sauerkraut and mashed taters, and of course, watch the wiener dog races. People were seriously getting all riled up about the races. It was pretty funny watching the weirdos get all huffy and puffy about a freaking dog running 100 feet surrounded by a crowd of drunken idiots screaming their names. One of the dogs was named "Harry Wiener" - he was a favorite to win, but got sidetracked by some bitch in the semifinals and lost.

Today we are continuing the celebrations by taking a cruise through the harbor in a Duffy boat, Tuesday is dinner in Los Feliz with Ali, Wade and Tarik, Wednesday is "The Dark Knight" at the IMAX theater, Thursday we go bowling (fuck yeah), Friday, the Black Lips and Japanese Motors are playing at Detroit, and Saturday we are just going out to get "really drunk" as Juli puts it. Good week.

I survived another September...

Well, it's not over yet... But the month of September is always a crazy one and I feel like it's never going to end. Tradeshows are fun, but they take an incredible toll on me, both physically and mentally. It's so hard being away from Juli and Vaughn for so long, and it's hard for her to rationalize that in between all the drinking and dinners and late night shenanigans that we're actually getting a lot of work done... Then after almost two full weeks of that it's my birthday, which this year we spent in Los Gatos at a wedding. Not my idea of the perfect bday, but the wedding was amazing and in the end it was peachy - the Stratton's are good people and we were stoked to be a part of it. At some point I'll post a photo of the winery/house where they were married.... Totally awesome to say the least.

The night before we went up there, Juli and I had planned to go out to dinner with a couple of our friends, Skye, Brooke and Tabitha (who is currently in the running for the 2nd place prize of cutest pregnant girl ever - Juli of course is the champ). BUT, as I got home from another stressful day at work, I got a huge "Surprise" when I walked in the door and a dozen of our closest friends were at our house waiting for me to come home. I knew she was up to something... But I was very surprised. We had a few drinks, ate a delicious dinner prepared by Ali and Wade (he eats!) and then had the best birthday cake I've ever had... Handmade by the best wife/mommy in the world. It was red velvet cake with vanilla frosting, yummy! Thinking back now, I realize that I have such a rad group of friends, and the best family a guy could ask for...

7 years ago... tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the 7th year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on NYC. Tomorrow is also a day where I'm driving to LAX and getting on a cross country flight to Orlando at 8:45 am. It's kinda got me thinking a little bit about it, but you really can't live that way, and if some asshole is going to do something that like that there's not really anything you or anyone else can do about it. I can't believe that people actually can rationally think that killing a bunch of people and yourself in a mass murder/suicide attack is going to help you get to a better place in your version of the "afterlife". What if this is it and those people are just dust? Do you even know it then? I guess not. Anyway, I didn't mean to get into religion here, just thinking about it and hoping that no one tries anything stupid.

I really like to pull my pork!

One of the only things that I really miss about Florida is the BBQ. Charlie and Jake's, Mmmmmmmmmm. Memaw's, Mmmmmmmm. Hushpuppies, Mmmmmmm. So the other day I was thinking about eating some good pulled pork and decided that if some redneck in Florida can make it, then I can too. I knew you could make it in a Crock Pot, and since Juli and I got one as a wedding gift and only used it once or twice in the last year and a half, I had to give it a shot.

I googled "pulled pork - crock pot" and tried the first recipe that came up - of course I improvised. The recipe called for a 2-4 pound piece of pork butt or shoulder, 2 onions, salt and pepper, a jar of BBQ sauce and a can of ginger ale. I got all of these, but substituted a Newcastle for the ginger ale.

I sliced the onions into hockey pucks and laid them in the Crock, then laid the pork butt on top (mine was 3.25 lbs.) after generously salt and peppering the bitch. I had a few more onion slices so I through those babies on top and then drenched her with that bottle of Newcastle. Then I drank the other 5 that came in the six pack while the pork was sitting in the pot. It cooked on low for 12 hours - I started at 6:30 and the buzzer woke me up and 6:30 am, even though the awesome smell of pork and onions had Juli and I waking up all night sniffing the air.

I turned off the Crock and took the top off, the piggie steam was everywhere and the meat was perfect! Then I took Joneser for a walk and let it cool down, after an hour I pulled it out in pieces, cause it was so tender that chunks were coming off every time I picked it up. I threw out the pieces of fat that were left, dumped out the beer and onions, and threw the meat back in the Crock. Then I dumped a whole jar (18 oz.) of Stubb's Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce in there with about a half a minced onion leftover from the slices the day before. Back on low for 3 more hours, and WHAM! The best damn pulled pork I've ever eaten.

We had so much pulled pork that we took some to a BBQ the next day, and everyone loved it there too. We even got a pizza dough and made pulled pork BBQ pizza. Damn it was good. I am the redneck top chef/kithen master/Crock Pot king. And I rule.

Next up, Carnitas. Same recipe, just less liquid and some hot spicy things! I'm going to steal some Daddle Peppers from Robbie and make that shit buuuuurn.

9 Months - Holy SHIT!

Tomorrow Vaughn will be exactly 9 months old... Damn that went fast! He is the best baby in the world though, and it gets better everyday!!!!

Joey giving me some more shit like always

Vaughn's got some big feet!

Day trip for fish

Yesterday we went fishing. Robbie, Joey, Trevor and I. After looking for the elusive patties for a few hours we went in to the Coronados and decided to catch some of the smaller shittier fish. Robbie caught the biggest Lingcod, even though I had it on a few seconds earlier (my bait was in his mouth), Joey caught the most fish - he about doubled ours, Trevor caught only one more than me, even though I caught four, the last one I caught was a technicality 'cause it was by far the smallest - even smaller than the piece of squid I was using... Saw lots of whales and dolphins, that was pretty cool.

Going to the Land Down Under?

I don't want to jinx anything... but things look like they are lining up right... Maybe there is something to this prayer stuff... Looks like Vaughn has a good chance of having an Australian accent... Needless to say, we are getting very excited. We'll keep you posted...

Some people aren't going to like this...

And they are the people that bought a Prius thinking they are going to save the world...

Beach day in Newport!

We've had a heat wave from hell all week, it's been over 90 everyday and our house tends to get a bit hot, so this morning we got up early and loaded the car and headed down to the beach. We parked down by 12th street and got a good spot in the sand, I jumped in the water and caught a few waves bodysurfing... water is about 70 degrees, nice and comfy. Juli and Vaughn were chilling under the umbrella and took a little nap for a while. We took Vaughn down to the water a few times and dipped his feet in to the same results - screaming! It is pretty cold once you first step in but only for a second. Even Juli managed to take a dip to cool off. There were a bunch of little kids all playing around us - I can't wait for Vaughn to be old enough to run around and jump in the ocean! Ok, here's some pics...

New Photos of the Vaughnster...

Had a few pics backed up on the camera, figured I'd get some off and email them to the grandparents, so I might as well put them on here too! These are from the last week or so around the house... more to come.

BBQ on Sunday, come hump a hot dog with us!

Vaughn ready for the beach!

Test from my iPhone.... I've stepped up the technology. Now blogging from anywhere via iPhone. Computers are crazy.

We got bitten by the snake...

The Cobrasnake that is. Sweet. Skye told me that I'm now part of the "in" crowd. I dunno know if I wanna be a part of the "in" crowd. Is that all I need to do? Just get my photo taken and put on the Cobrasnake? I don't have to ride a $2000.00 fixed queer bike around town and get run over by cars? I don't have to hang out at Cinespace? Or wear a V-Neck tee shirt with an all over print? Or dress like a color blind middle aged down-syndrome guy? I don't have to have some hot ass slut hanging on me at all times... Oh wait, I got that one. I guess I'm in. Drinking beers all night with your wife at the hipster party while your six-month-old baby sleeps in his carriage while bands are playing a few feet away is what I think makes us part of the "in" crowd. See ya at Sejour on Thursday night bitches!

Surfing birds!

There's been all this talk about sharks lately. People have been spotting Great Whites, or what they think are great whites all up and down the coast in Southern California lately. Trails and San O in San Clemente have always been the spots where you see them, but Great Whites or any sharks for that matter aren't out to kill people. I mean, some guy did just get sawed in half by one in Solana Beach, but he was swimming in a pack of dudes that were training for the Olympics 100 yards past the lineup. What a retard, that's what pools are for. And then two different surfers were killed this month in mainland Mexico, but they probably had just eaten some Carne Asada, and everyone knows that sharks like meat and to stay out of the water at least 45 minutes after eating and at least 2 hours after eating Carne Asada. Duh. So me an Trev are gonna hit up San O in the morning and get some log time in, hopefully we wont see any sharks, but they're kinda cute anyway. Look at this one, looks just like Jonesy but a little darker. Same teeth. Same smile. They prob just wanna play in the backyard with a ball too.

Going get going.... going.... going....

I'm trying to get back in the saddle on this stuff... gonna try and write something at least once a week, maybe even once a day... don't get me started on promises I can't keep, I've already bitten off more than I can chew. Not really, but any more would be. Juli has been quite the momster blogger lately and that has kicked me in the butt to get this going again and keep at it. We'll see now won't we. I leave you with this album cover, via Ween's 'Chocolate and Cheese' cause it always makes me smile. And right now I am!