"Fishboy" Family Adventures

Rain..rain..go away...

It seems like there wasn't a Spring or even Summer this year.  It feels like England here with all the rain. We got our new deck finished on April 1st and there was only 2 weekends where we used it. The rest of the time...bitter cold or rain. boo

Ouch! Impact of the bad economy

As a family, we are doing fine with this current economic recession.  Luckily we don't feel the impact much except for the major drop off in our retirement savings.  How bad is that!!!??? 

So today, my company decided to save 2000 jobs by cutting wages by 5% across the board; no matching 401K; and no ESPP.  The news was taken calmly from everyone and I guess that is because we are all happy with having a job.  How times has changed from the roaring IT hires from days before. The positive side is that we all get 5 extra days of vacation. That's great until you realize you dont have the money to go on vacation. :-)

Is Margaret looking young or is she different?

The other day, Margaret dropped off Hazel at school. When she walked into the classroom with Hazel, a little Asian boy looked up at Margaret and said, "Are you Hazel's mom?" Margaret replied "yes I am." He looked at her again and said, "you don't look like a Mom. You are not Hazel's mom." Margaret replied, "well thank you" and beamed for joy at the thought that the little boy must have thought that she was too youthful and young to me a mom. 

When she relayed the story to me, I had to bust her bubbles. My conclusion to the story was a little different. The little boy parents are Asians. Hazel looked more Asian to him and has noticed that Hazel's Dad looks like his Dad.  Margaret did not look at all Asian therefore she cannot be Hazel's mom. So it was because she didn't look "like us" and not because she looked young (which is true) :-)

It's all about me - wish list

It's that time of year again. Besides the usual stuff that I get at this age (socks, sweaters, boxers, t-shirts), here is a list of toys that the little kid in me would like (click to shop):

Yoda action figure     Batman action figure    Graveyard book    Kill-a-watt

Justice 1 novel    Justice 2 novel    Serenity novel    Buffy Volume 2    Buffy Volume 3

Lord of the Rings Game    The Runes of the Earth

Most of the items are on Amazon. See how I made it easy for you?

"i Have a long penis"

I bet that got your attention! I haven't made an entry for a long time and thought it was appropriate way to announce my comeback.  :-)

The title is not really what you think and the explanation is really quiet simple: Hazel and Charlotte.  As most parents can attest, when they ask question about body parts, you tell them the facts.  There is no point in telling them anything else.  A penis is a penis and a vagina is a vagina.   Well, grandpa and grandma bought them a toy golf club set over the Summer.  The other day Hazel and Charlotte was taking a bath and was running around naked.  The next thing I knew, they walked in to the bathroom while I was cleaning up and told me "Popa, I have a long penis."  I looked over to them and tried not to bust out laughing. There in front of me were my two girls with the golf clubs between their legs.  For the next 5 minutes they ran around with their "penis" giggling and yelling that they have a long penis.  'nuff said.

Green...green....yellow, red ,green..

"Slow ride..take it easy."  STOP. If you know what I'm talking about already, then you are well verse in the big video game hit of the year, Guitar Hero 3.

Uncle Duc is an addict and now Hazel's and Charlotte's mom is becoming one also.  Business manager by day, guitar rock goddess by night.  The girls love the music, the guitar, and the experience so much that they are now singing the songs.  "Slow Ride" is their favorite. Charlotte would start with the notes "Green...green....yellow, red ,green.." and Hazel would chimed in with "slow ride..take it easy.."  Bring a smile every time we hear it.

Snuggling Time

Margaret is away for work this week and I got the girls all by myself.  Since my Dad is in Vietnam, I'm responsible this next couple of weeks to take Hazel to preschool.  That means that I get to sleep in a little bit late since Hazel  doesn't start school until 9:30am.  Yippee! Of course, it doesn't really work out that way since the girls usually are awake at around 7:15am.  Luckily for me, they love to run into our room when they wake up and jump into our bed.  Most of the times, Hazel would be yapping away saying it is "sunny time" and we have to wake up or talk loudly and roll around the bed like a monkey (you guess it, she was born in the year of the monkey).  Charlotte on the other hand, respect my need to sleep and would just lie there holding tightly to her "bear", sucking on her pacifier, and cuddling warmly next to me. Although her eyes are wide open, she doesn't disturb me and let her Papa sleeps. Priceless.

How to act wealthy

This past weekend, we toured some of the neighborhoods that we think we might want to live if we move.  Falls Church City, Vienna, and McLean.  Of course, housing prices "inside" the beltway is still very expensive even if the market has cooled.  During our drive in McLean, we saw a house that said "7700 SQ Feet inside."  Normally we would be uncomfortable walking in to a house like this but Margaret said the agent was very friendly and so we took the kids and went inside. The house was HUGE and was listed at 2 million dollars.  The agent asked me if it was in my price range and I said "no, not really."  I then said the house was too big for us and we were looking for a smaller home in the 1 million dollar range. NOT!  I was playing it cool but it turned out that the agent was very personable and everything was fine.  As we said our goodbyes, we walked out to the car and Margaret turned red with embarrassment.  It turned out that my pants that I just bought at Costco for $19.95 still had the waist and inseam label tag on it for all the world to see. Looking at a 2-million home with pants with the tags still on it. Priceless.

Sad time to be a Redskins fan

I grew up being a big fan of the Redskins and can still remember the euphoria of them winning the Super Bowls during my high school and college days.  Of course, those winning moments are now a long time ago.  There was some hope for this season and now that is all meaningless now that Sean Taylor was murdered this week.  As a fan, this is devastating news and I have been reading all I can about this tragic event this week.  I'm not sure why I'm so sad about this because I don't even know the guy, but yet like many fans, I feel an incredible sense of loss as he was part of my family.  It is amazing the effects of your passions for sports. Rest in peace Sean Taylor. 

Irish Spring vs Ivory Soap

It is amazing how much the media has an effect on your every day lives.  Take soaps for example. I grew up identifying with the manly Irish Spring commercials and that soap is my preferred "go to" soap.  Of course, Margaret doesn't like it at all because she thinks it has too much perfume.  What??! You need a strong smell to make you feel fresh!  She grew up identifying with the Ivory soap girl and prefer that soap a lot more. For me, Ivory soap has no smell whatsoever.  LOL.  What soap are you?