Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts

4/28/2009

What up

So TheStepDude.com is on hold. I have nary the time for this little blog/journal/column as it is, much less one with much deeper contrivances. I'm giving myself 10- no, 12 sentences to summarize the past month.

1. Our family vacation to greater San Diego with my parents was filled with memorable moments like swimming, sailing, Sea World, a wife's 30-ish birthday, boardwalking, pizza, bad college hoops, an uncle and aunt, 2 cousins, one traumatic kid injury, 3 nights of hacking coughs keeping me awake, fantastic downtown Del Mar restaurants, adjoining rooms with said parents (which we survived...and had fun!), Coronado Island, and a recommended Double Tree in Del Mar.

2. Zoey has recently transformed into a mega-diva thanks to an upcoming dance recital, the recital's costume, the recital's makeup, glitter and hair requirements, the rehearsals, the theme park locale of recital #1, and her natural self confidence.

3. A new fun thing we do is put this hair net, required by Zoey's dance troupe for the uncomfortably tight bun-style hairdo, on Disco Kitty's head while singing, "sloppy joe, slop-sloppy joe".

4. A certain someone who pursues athletic endeavors to combat aging has played two (co-ed lower-tier rec league) softball games, producing several hits and catches and throws and very few trick hamstring developments.

5. A certain Preston in my house has played three soccer games, resulting in many shouts to "run!" and "kick it" and "no really, run!" whilst congratulating him on his new coordinating accessories gear, which includes fancy shin guards and new cleats, which he'll grow out of by Thursday.

6. A certain wife of mine deftly stayed out of my way while I attempted to install the new, "easy self installation" bathroom flooring we purchased from the Home (Cash) Depot-sitory in order to avoid me taking out all my defeatist frustration on her.

7. The floor looks amateurish and less than perfectly square, but constitutes a huge improvement over the state of the floor immediately prior featuring remnant paper backing from the ripped out linoleum.

8. Was that "Home (Cash) Depot-sitory" line a reach?

9. I purchased the MLB subscription from Comcast for $199, justifying, "$25 per sports bar visit to catch out of market game times anything over 8 visits over a 162 game season equals 'it pays for itself!'"

10. If the Tigers don't have a successful season to redeem my dreadful home-team sports year, then I will be forced to pretend I love hockey.

11. Every time I saw the words "Double Tree" at the hotel, I immediately though of


12. I want to full-fist punch that bathroom right in the throat.


3/31/2009

Agree to disagree

It's getaway week, and I'm counting down the hours, minutes, and pre-trip tasks before our departure to sunny San Diego on Friday! We are taking the kids on our first family destination vacation. We've traveled together with the kids to Chicago and Michigan before, and a road trip to planet Moab, but nothing fully vacationy like this one.

The bonus is that my parents and sister, Wendy, are flying out to meet us there! I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving, and they haven't seen the kids since the wedding back in August. So it's an extended family destination vacation. We also may get to see some of my Mom's-side California cousins and aunts and uncles, which would be sweet. Last time I got together with them, we caught some fish. Let's see... what type of fish were they again... oh, that's it: BARRACUDA!

As you know, San Diego means lots of things to lots of people. Some people point out the name is simply the Spanish translation of Saint Diego. Others believe it to be a German translation, meaning...something else. Hey, we're staying classy here in Stizl's blog.
Still, so many memorable names and places! Like Tony Gwynn, Dan Fouts, and LaDainian Tomlinson in sports; that one season of the Real World with all those intellectual, fascinating characters; Shamu (the predecessor to their latest killer whale show, Sham-Wow); and of course, Ron Burgundy, the greatest San Diego-an (San Diegan?) of them all. What I wouldn't give to pop into Tino's night club and hear some jazz flute! We'll also be celebrating Annie's b-day on 4/7. Her new age will be Twenty-Eleven, or Tweleventy. I only wish I had that sort of depth and endurance in my life.

Been a restful few days, that's for sure--what, with all the primer and paint and adhesive fumes floating around the master suite, one kid's coughing, the other kid's ralphing. P's been hacking his lungs out since Sat. night, with nighttime sleep-yelling occasionally thrown in for good measure. Seriously, we couldn't tell if he was having nightmares or practicing to be a hog caller. Z put on an impressive show early Mon. morning, from bedroom to bathroom, and Mom had to stay home with both of them that day. Thank goodness I had all those "meetings" and "important cookie-related briefings" to attend.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and you stay classy, San Diego.