The Cubbies are playing Atlanta right now, and it's great to see so many Cubs fans in the stands in Atlanta!

If you didn't know, Dave's a HUGE Cubs fan, and he gets really intense when he watches. Yesterday, he had to leave the room because he was so angry that the Bears were losing. Well, ok, he was sleepy. But still....

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a play by play of Cubs moments, in case you can't watch the game...

So we're at the bottom of the 3rd, no score, and Wood is pitching. Slammin' Sammy had just struck out earlier, and Dave is still fuming. I tried to give him a comforting hug, but then he hissed 'Don't touch me!' I look at him in shock. 'I'm just kidding,' he says. Uh, yeah...right...

Bottom of the 3rd - I catch Dave unconsciously doing the Brave's tomahawk hand gesture with the music. I cry, 'Hey! What are you doing?' Dave looks at his hand in surprise, as if it had a mind of it's own. Next batter up for the Braves, Marcus Giles, gets a homerun. Coincidence? I think not!

Top of the 4th - The Cubs have the bases loaded, no outs. Then the rest of the team blows it - they can't get even one of these guys home. Dave's yelling at the TV. After Wood has the final out, Dave needs a moment alone in the bathroom.

Bottom of the 5th - The announcers talk about Kerry Wood's wedding in Hawaii. Close up on Mrs. Kerry Woods. She's pretty cute. "Hey," Dave says, "Kerry Wood did pretty good with that one!"

Top of the 6th - Bases loaded again for the Cubs. Dave growls, "If they don't score on this one, they don't DESERVE to win!" Then Paul Bako hits a single and brings home the tieing rin, Moises Alou. Then surprise! Kerry Wood hits a double and bring 2 more guys home. Dave's jumping up and down and screaming "Fuck you!" to the Brave's pitcher on TV. Then another single by Kenny Lofton brings Kerry home. They show Kerry's wife, Sarah Wood on TV. Dave says, "Man, she's hot! Mrs. Wood looks really good!" Then he laughs ath his incredible rhyming skills and puts his Cubs hat back on. Cubs up 4-1. The world is right again.

Top of the 8th - Kerry has been having a great pitching game. It seems like the Cubs fans in the crowd are louder than the Atlanta fans. They even show the Cubbie fans in blue mocking the tomahawk dance of the Braves. Go Cubs Go!

Bottom of the 8th - They have taken Kerry out. Braves have the bases loaded. We almost have a double play, but the ump says that the man on first is safe. Dave cries that this is an injustice, he is muttering 'He was safe, fucker...' all throughout the commercial break. Farnsworth is up, walks the batter so that once again, the Braves have the bases loaded. Dave, once again, is yelling at the TV. We're both holding our breath with every pitch. Finally, a ground ball ends the inning. Whoo....exhale! Me and Dave hi-5 in relief.

Bottom of the 9th - The score is still 4-2 in favor of the Cubs. Borowski is pitching to the Braves. There's one man on base. I ask Dave, "How do you feel?" He quickly says, "Ask me after this inning is done!" We're holding our breath the whole time. It's great to see the crowd behind the Cubs. Finally, the last strike. Cubs win! Cubs win! Me and Dave do our Sammy Sosa hand bump. Cubs win! Harry is smiling down on us!!!

The Bears suck.

Not as bad as they could have sucked yesterday, but they sucked nonetheless.

It was the opening game in the new ugly spaceship-in-a-colosseum monstrosity known as Soldier Field, in front of tens of thousands of fans, not to mention being on Monday Night Football, and they tanked. They were losing by two touchdowns in the first 5 minutes of the game! Sure, they had a spark later on in the second half, but still. Come on Shoop! Let's get some better offensive plays! And me and my sisters could have been a better offensive line.

But the truth of it all, is that the Bears lost because of Pledge Jones. In this case, his brother. He was at Soldier Field, watching the game, and the bad Pledge Jones mojo is in his blood. Damn that Pledge Jones!!!

This doesn't bode well for Chicago.

I believe that his brother might have scored tickets to the Cubs playoff game.

I didn't mention that during the times that I WAS home last weekend, I was working. I talked to the company president on Thursday, and he told me that I had to finish testing and fixing up one of our sites. "This had to be done yesterday. I want you to work on it, and I don't care if you forget the meaning of sleep, this needs to get done."

Sleep? I'm sorry sir. That word wasn't in my vocab in the first place, how can I forget what it means?

Since Dave's mom was here this weekend, it was pretty busy with going to visit relatives and going to family parties. Me and Dave never realized just how much family he has out there. There's tons! We went to Glendale, Burbank, Rowland Heights and Anaheim this weekend, which for us, means a lot of driving and traffic. At least in Chicago the traffic stops on the weekend!

So we went to Dave's uncle's house for his cousin's birthday yesterday in Anaheim, and they had the most gorgeous view:

I stopped out into the backyard and was like 'Whoa!'. The view was amazing. We want a view like this! His uncle told me that property was pretty cheap around his place, starting at a mere $750,000, he said with a wink. Hmph. Yeah. I've got the downpayment in my sock. Or if they accept bellybutton lint that would even be better.

Afterwards, we went with our Long Beach crew (I'd like to think that we have a crew now, although this is the first time we've hung out, kinda) to go and see 'The Rundown' (see below). The movie was good, the preview for 'Honey' was hot (I found out that both Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie are on Lanie's 'list' too) and afterwards we went for ice cream at Ben and Jerry's for some chatting. It was nice to hang out with people around our age that weren't related to us!

So here's a picture of a fountain. Rod the brown package of love (package? baggage?) asked why I was taking pictures of the theaters, and I replied, 'Because I like to take pictures.' Because I do. And you never know when you might need a picture of a fountain....

Well, Dave wanted to watch a movie today, even though we're on 'a budget'. Hey, I won't complain. I love watching movies.

There really wasn't too much out in the theaters that I wanted to see, but a very good radio interview that The Rock did earlier this week got me intrigued. I enjoyed 'The Scorpion King', and the DJ was totally in love with 'The Rundown', so I thought it would be a good movie to see. Also, I'm a fan of The Rock. I'm a fan of any athlete that you would think is dumb as rocks (excuse the pun) but ends up being intelligent. I've seen the Rock talk, and he's no dummy. He's actually pretty smart, and definitely has a magnetic personalityu.

So the movie, yeah. I had no idea what I was getting into. Didn't see too many commercials, knew nothing of the storyline other than it taking place in a forest. And there was an interesting monkey scene.

I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed the movie. It had some GREAT fight scenes, which made good use of beautiful fight choreography and matrix-style slow motion. It was the kind of fight scenes that made you cringe in your seat and say, 'Ohhh, damn! Ouch!' The storyline was also a bit different from your run of the mill action movie.

The Rock did very well in this movie, and is broadening his acting range (not like that takes a lot) and had great chemistry with Seann William Scott, who, sadly is stuck with the Stifler-esque roles. But like in American Pie, he excels at the smart ass big talker funny sidekick role. And damn, his body is pretty toned! But sorry, next to the Rock, he's just a little girlie man. Rosario Dawson's character was great, and she had some good emotional depth, and every time I see her, she gets prettier and prettier.

And damn, Ernie Reyes Jr. was in the movie. Remember him? Sidekicks? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I'd have to say, he had the best moves in the movie. But I kept on thinking his name was Mojito, instead of Manito. Guess it's been a while since I've had a drink. Anyway, it was great to see him in the movie, even though when him and his little rebel friends came on screen, we all looked around and said, 'What are Filipinos doing in the jungles of Brazil?' I guess we're cheaper extras.

Speaking of appearances, for some reason, I always laugh when Christopher Walken shows up on screen. Just like Scott, Walken is kinda stuck in the same kind of role. But I love him. He's just so quirky. And he plays a pretty good bad guy, though it's hard for me to see him as a REALLY bad guy.

So all in all, I liked the movie a lot. It was a great action/comedy. I was surprised it was so good, and I feel that the Rock is going to have many more like this, and I don't mind at all. He's very nice to see on screen.

Notable Preview: Honey, starring Jessica Alba in what looks like a hip hop version of Flashdance. Sounds cheesy, but DAMN, Jessica looks HOT. Her body is more toned than it was in Dark Angel, if that's even possible. And the dance scenes look awesome. You know I'm a sucker for a good dance routine.

Dave's Review: Wow. That was a really good movie. I loved the midget. Let's get it on DVD, ok?

If I was in Chicago, I would be still sleeping, trying to get rid of a REALLY bad hangover from celebrating...

"The taste of victory was so sweet Sammy Sosa wanted to share it with his loyal followers in the right-field bleachers.

So, he sprayed them with celebratory champagne. "
- By RICK GANO, AP Sports Writer

"Are they still out there? Are they still on the corner of Clark and Addison, dancing in the streets? Are they still going wild from Oak Lawn to Oak Park to Oak Forest to Lake Forest to Park Forest to Forest Park to Schaumburg to Galesburg to Wheaton to Waukegan to Des Plaines and maybe even Des Moines?

Can it be true that Sept. 27, 2003, was the first time since Sept. 28, 1938 that the Cubs won a championship (division, league or World Series) on their home field? Could the Cubs actually end up playing the New York Yankees again at Wrigley Field, as they did this summer for the first time since 1938?"
- Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune

"It was a day for Chicago to collectively hold its breath for nearly six hours, and when the improbable happened and the Cubs won it, it was a night for a hoot and a holler and more than a few toasts to the champs.

"Hell's about to freeze over," said Shaun Calloway, 24, of Naperville as he steadied himself for the final outs in the Cubs' doubleheader sweep at Wrigley Field, which propelled them into the playoffs."
- By Brett McNeil and Jon Yates, Chicago Tribune

"So here were your tense, huddled masses at Wrigley yearning to breathe freely. Here they were roaring on every pitch from the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates until the last pitch of the second game. This was 95 years of frustration talking, so cut it a little slack if it was hoarse.

More so than any team in baseball, the Cubs are their fans. This is a package deal, for better or worse, till death do them part. And fans have died about 1,000 deaths each with this club. If the Cubs somehow ever find a way to win a World Series, the fans are as much the story as the players. Maybe more of the story. And that's why they came early and stayed late Saturday. They had this coming."
- Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune

"Clark Street turned into Bourbon Street Saturday night as years of baseball frustration melted into delirium on the North Side.

Beyond the right field bleachers, a happy change came to a large sign that counts the years since the Cubs' last division title, pennant and World Series crown. The division part of the rooftop sign was switched from "14" to "0.""
- Shamus Toomey and Ana Mandieta, Chicago Sun-Times

"They stood like frozen zombies, not sure whether to believe the moment was real, wondering if another saboteur was lurking as always. But as daylight slid into dusk in the haunted village of Wrigleyville, the most tormented fans in sports finally started to quiver and roar. For once in their lives, they weren't being teased or bamboozled.

Next year is here."
- Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times

all pics from the Chicago Tribune

The Cubs are SO close!

So Houston must lose. Sorry Texans, it's gotta happen for our beloved Cubbies to stand a chance!

Let's go Cubbies, let's go!

God, to be in Chicago right now, it must be buzzin'!

So for now, me and Dave will sit in the dugout and cheer for the team.

Dave's mom is here for several days, and yesterday we went out with his uncle and grandmother to a Filipino all-you-can-eat buffet up in Glendale.

I never understood the reasoning for going to a Filipino restaurant, since when I lived at home I got all the Filipino food I wanted. But since living here, we've been living on pasta, corned beef, salad and grilled chicken. So I've been missing the Filipino food a bit. I was hoping that when Dave's mom got here, we'd get some home cooking, but hey, going to a buffet was 10 times better. I had 30 different things to choose from.

Standing there, looking at the food in the buffet line, I realized that Filipinos eat a LOT of fried foods. Fried chicken. Fried pork chops. Fried calamari. Fried pork rinds. A nightmare for my heart, but a celebration for my taste buds. But they didn't have my favorite, kare-kare, peanut oxtail stew. It tastes a LOT better than it sounds. There was a compartment there, but they never refilled it. But I had a whole bunch of other tasty things, and I left full and sleepy, which gives this place high ratings.

Mom update: She's still in the hospital. Claudine flew out to Chicago, so I'm the only one not home. Melanie and Marilyn are there with the family, and Fata had said that they've taken my place. That's ok, it takes TWO of them for ONE of me! But I'm happy that she has so much support and love out there. I called the hospital today and asked Fata to give my mom a hug and put her head on my mommy's shoulder for me. She wouldn't wear the Christine mask, but she did it anyway. I also got to talk to my mom a little, and she's pretty tired.

Me: How are you feeling?
Her: Very tired.
Me: How long are you going to be there?
Her: Who?
Me: Uh, you?
Her: Oh, I didn't know if you were asking about me.
Me: Who else would I be asking about?

Yep, she's pretty funny, that mommy of mine.

She's going to kill me for doing this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!

She's one of the kindest, most selfless, sweetest and funniest people I know. Yes, you ARE funny. She has been such a wonderful friend and has been there for me during some tough times, and I just wanted to wish her a wonderful birthday, and many more to come.

So if you see her around, make sure to give her some birthday greetings!

So I was at my L.A. client again yesterday, hopefully for the last time in a long while, and the building was having 'Hawaiian Day' for it's tenants. So everyone that came in, tenants, visitors, messengers, they all got this big, gaudy plastic Hawaiian lei's. I got one when I came in, and wore it for a bit, until I realized that everyone else had taken theirs off and hidden them. I left the building for lunch and when I got back, the security at the door offered me another lei. 'Uh, I have one upstairs already,' I said. 'Please....' he said, as he looked desparately into my eyes. It was then that I realized, these people had a lei quota to fill. They HAD to give away all their lei's. So I said sure, and got another one.

But I worked so hard today, I didn't even get to enjoy the Hawaiian luau they had in the plaza. Thankfully, it was my last day, because I was starting to have dreams about working there. Not only that, but people around the office, who weren't part of the project started recognizing me. And security gave me a tenant badge instead of a visitor badge. The sushi lady at the food court cried, 'Oh, where have you been? I've been making spicy salmon rolls for you!'. But the biggest thing that send the red flag to my head that I've got to stop working there is once I hit the 12th hour of my workday there, I think to myself, 'Ahh...it's 7:30, I still got two hours in me!' That's when the other part of my brain yelled 'What the hell! I don't get paid overtime! I'm paid for 8 hours of work. Get outta here, fool!'

So yeah. I'm done!

As for my mom, she's been moved to another unit of the hospital, and they're doing tests, tests and more tests. She hasn't had much of an appetite, I mean come on, even I have a hard time eating hospital food, so I told my sisters so sneak in some Krispy Kremes to fatten her up. She complained what I mentioned to her that she needs to eat more Krispy Kremes to gain weight, because it will affect her cholesterol. But hey, cholesterol is the least of her worries! My sisters have told me that my mom, though still pretty weak, is still pretty fiesty when she's talking, so it's a good sign.

Still pretty homesick, though, but it's good to know that things are going better!

Photo Friday: Heights

The Capilano Suspended Bridge in Vancouver, B.C.

So I've been at the Online Learning Convention and Expo for the past 3 days, and I only have an hour left, so I'm ecstatic. It's at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and every now and then, I get a feeling like I'm at a comic book convention. Same kind of space, same gaudy curtains surrounding the conference area, just not the people walking around dressed up as comic book heroes. Just a lot of bad ties.

Working at conventions like this is pretty boring for me, since I'm not a sales person, and I don't really do a great sales demo. Ask me a technical question about the program, and we can talk, but tell me how our program rates against our competitors, and I'd be at a loss for words. However, it seems to be that I'm doing more selling here than anything, since there's only two of us here, and the person I'm here with is here half the time, or talking to existing customers of ours. I'm a bit frustrated, because there's SO much other work I can be doing (and need to be doing) and I was expecting to be here just as a technical resource. But nope, I'm working for sales right now, and I haven't seen my counterpart in the last half hour, so I'll have to finish my real work at home. Hmph!

Comic conventions are SO much more fun!!!

Well, my mom is still in the hospital, but she's stable now and my dad is with her. I cracked a bit today when Dave got home. I'm amazingly homesick, and I wish I could be home to make my family laugh, which is what I do in moments like this. But she's doing much better, and I'm thankful for that.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and prayers.

Another (minor, yet without today's other events it would have been major) disappointing thing I found out today was that I won't be able to attend the World Cup in Marquette in October. I thought I could manage a free flight out there, but in true Christine style, I waited too long and my return date is unavailable. The next flight I can take home is two days later than I wanted, and I can't take off work that long. I could pay for a ticket, but it costs too much. I'm really sad about it, because I was really looking forward to going there and meeting up with old friends and watching some good skating. Then again, my mother's condition puts it all in perspective. But I'm still bummed!

Please keep my mom in your thoughts.

I got a call early this morning, and after searching for my phone, I found out it was from my cousin Mel. I know that she would NEVER call me that early in the morning unless it was for good reason, and my stomach fell. I had a pretty good idea of why.

I checked the message, and all she said was to call her back as soon as I got the message. The tone of her voice was enough for me.

When I called her back she had told me that they had taken my mom to the hospital earlier that morning. My sister was there with her, so I talked to her for a bit. It turns out that my mom had problems breathing and my dad had called the paramedics. She was at the hospital and stabilized, and my sister would call me with updates.

It doesn't really help me much. I want to BE there, but I can't. One of the reasons I was so reluctant to move to California was that I couldn't be there for my family when they needed me, especially in times like this. (For those of you who don't know, my mom has been battling cancer for a while now) If I wanted to go home, it would take me more than four hours.

All I want to do right now is clap my heels together and say 'There's no place like home' and magically transport myself to my mom, but I can't. I'm left to worry here, thousands of miles away.

So if you can, keep my mom in your prayers, or send your positive thoughts her way, and to the way of my family in Chicago. That's what I'll be doing all day today.

Who watched the Emmy's yesterday?

I thought it was more entertaining than usual. Conan, of course, rocked my world. It was great to see Joe Pantoliano get emotional. I was cleaning the bathroom and missed the John Ritter tribute. It was really sad to watch the tribute to those that had passed away this last year, it's mind-boggling how many screen legends we had last in the last year. George Perez was hilarious. Wanda, not so much. I wish Everybody Loves Raymond didn't win so much. I don't love him. I just like him. Debra Messing looked radiant as she made her speech. I love exuberance like that.

OK. I'm at a trade show taking a break. I hate it here.

Tell me what you think of last night!

I know the song has been out for a while now, but Pharrell William's jam, 'Frontin' has really grown on me. It could also have to do with me seeing the video on MTV. I've been watching a lot of that lately, usually having it as background noise as I work from home. But Pharrell is a little cutie, (the abs don't hurt, either) and the song is really catchy, and even though the radio stations here are starting to kill the song, I haven't been annoyed with it. And for some reason, I really love the part in the song where he just exhales, and it's just a quick two 'Hahh, hahh....Hahh hahh...' It's hot. Really hot. Makes me move my shoulders in my little jigga dance.

Tomorrow, I'm working back in downtown LA again, this time at the Convention Center for a tradeshow. Come visit me. I will be amazingly bored, since I'm not a salesperson so I think I could be a waste of space. Actually though, I think my job tomorrow will be scanning badges and bringing in leads to watch demos. Blah!

So on Friday me and Dave met up with a group of people in Marina del Rey to watch Underworld. I was a bit worried we'd be late for the movie, but we made it just in time, and fortunately, they saved some seats for us. The movie was good, but not great (as I mentioned before). Afterwards, there were mixed reviews for the movie. Most people, like me, expected more, and I had agreed that the vamps could have been a lot more badass than they were portrayed in the movie. A couple people had admitted to almost falling asleep at times. But all in all, it was good movie. I only knew a few people who were there, but the new people I was introduced to were really nice and friendly.

Later on, Sam had invited me and Dave to go sing karaoke with them. I had told Sam that Dave doesn't do karaoke, and that I've never sung in public before, other than that one time for my bachelorette party. But I thought it would be fun to watch, so we headed out there for a bit.

It was definitely a good time, and it was fun to watch everyone sing. We had a couple good singers among us. There was a really kick ass version 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence done, giving me that 'There's no way I'm singing after THAT' feeling. I knew that I couldn't get away without singing. I pored over the song list for a song that I could sing without sounding like Cameron Diaz in 'My Best Friend's Wedding'. I know, it's all for fun, but something about singing in public gets me really nervous. It's weird, because I used to act, and I had no problems with acting on stage, but get me singing up there and I break into a sweat and feel like crawling into a hole. It helped a bit that I had a drink in me, so I was pretty loose. We had also had the group singing "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley, and it was a lot of fun, as well as "Do-Re-Mi". The Von Trapps had nothin' on us.

So finally, my song came up, and I did the only song I could think of, "I Will Survive", because I had already made a fool of myself singing it in front of a bar full of drunken people, it couldn't hurt to sing it in front of a small room semi-full of slightly buzzed people. So I got the mike in my sweaty clammy hands, and started shakily singing my song amid the hoots and hollering of encouragement. I'd like to say that midway through the song, I was hit with inspiration and got totally comfortable and wowed them with my vocal stylings, but no. I got through the song, gave back the mike, and hid in Dave's armpit. But they clapped, and I think they were entertained, which is the main thing, right?

Later on, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin came on, and no one had claimed the song, so we all just sang it, but then Sam handed me the mike to finish it off. We had actually done a routine to this song with I was acting with Motu Tsunami, so I already knew the lyrics, and I had already broken them in with my last song, so I just sang. It wasn't as bad as the first time. Yet the clammy hands remained.

I also had the joy of watching a duet of the "Rainbow Connection" done by what can only be described as the voices of Kermit and Satan. My life is now complete after hearing that. Too bad we didn't tape it, it would be a Billboard hit!

-------------

Yesterday, we went over to Corona del Mar for Dave's cousin Cathy's birthday. It was pretty overcast until about 3pm, we were worried that we wouldn't be getting any sun. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to work on my ongoing California project, "Gonna Turn My White Legs Tan".

But the sun finally came out, and the day turned out warm. We played a couple good games of volleyball, and I'm pretty rusty with the game, but we had so much fun, and we all had some good laughs it didn't matter that we were all playing crappy. Afterwards we hit the water and Dave got to try out his new wetsuit. He caught a couple good waves, and I got some good pics. We also had a bonfire going and toasted marshmallows, which I haven't done in a LONG time. All in all, it was a great time. I don't think I can ever get sick of the beach. And I have a feeling that Dave would be OK if he just lived there. Which we were thinking of, checking out all of the beachfront property, which was SWEET. Can you imagine, waking up, going outside, and having the Pacific Ocean right there? So after we make our first couple million (yeah right), we'll be right out there. Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.

Well, I went with a gang to go see 'Underworld' yesterday, and there were some good points, and there were some bad points. First of all, let me say that I have been hearing about this movie for a while now, even before the commercials and ads. And I've been excited about it. And I love vampires. So in a way, I was setting myself up for disappointment, much like the 'X-Men' movie.

All in all, the movie was entertaining. It had some good fight scenes, and a good plot. And great special effects. The transformations of the lycans into their werewolf form was great. Much better than Michael Landon's teenage werewolf. But the vampires, well, their transformations consisted of their eyes turning ice blue and an elongation of their already long fangs.

There were times when the movie was moving slow, where I was thinking to myself, 'How long IS this movie?' The characterization was so-so, with an emphasis on Kate Beckinsale's character, Selene. There is some on Scott Speedman's character, Michael, but that was about it. I was hoping there would be more hand to hand combat, and more 'Oh damn!' parts where the movie throws a move or a surprise that makes your jaw drop. But it didn't happen. The lycans, to me, were dominant in the movie and could have kicked the vampire's asses.

But I'm not saying I didn't like the movie. I liked it a lot. I just didn't LOVE it. It was good to watch, and the money that I didn't spend on it wasn't wasted. The vampires were very pretty to look at, and I have to admit, Kate in leather is damn hot. If you like women in leather, see this movie. I need to get me an outfit like that. The story was good, though I didn't care much about most of the characters, I would still suggest that people watch it. It's still one of the best movies showing out there right now. The effects and the cinematography are awesome.

Oh, and there was a preview for Michael Crichton's 'Timeline' before the movie. I'm so excited about it. It's one of my favorite books. I hope they don't kill it. But I have a feeling that they will.

Dave's Review: I would tell people to watch the movie. It was entertaining. Kate Beckinsale's HOT. But I liked 'SWAT' better.

Later: Christine does Karaoke...

OK, so their response wasn't in the 24 hour period that they had stated in their email, but my provider, webmasters.com was able to find a backup of my database and put it back on my site! I had to make a couple changes since the structure isn't the same, but it looks like everything is working like a charm. I'm so happy! Yay! Welcome back, blog!

And thanks to all the wellwishers who emailed and IM'ed their condolences. It was a tough time, but your support helped a lot.

Anyway, things got much better yesterday, even before I got my database back. I was no longer working at my downtown LA client, and I had some time to recuperate at home. I was still talking to LA on the phone and through email, but it was good to take a step back and slow down a little, and also to get some stuff done at home.

Also, I got my wedding pictures from our professional photographer back, and i LOVE them! None of us brought our cameras with us into Wrigley when we took pictures for the photographer (all too drunk to remember), so these were the only pics, and you can tell from them that we were having a BLAST! It was great to go over the pictures and relive the great times that we had during the wedding.

All's right with the world again.

And tonight....I watch UNDERWORLD! Whoo hoo!

So here's some of the pics. We had an awesome photographer, Liz, from EIB Photography. She and her assistant stayed with us the whole time, even through all the little catastrophies we had (the limo driver lost her). We love our pics! I left her stickers on the pics because, well, they're proofs.

In the dugout

Dave and the girls

Me and the boys

In front of the field

A silly group pic

With the Wrigley sign behind us

Photo Friday: Found

Magic Mountain, CA
August 2002

In my adventures to California, I found evidence that, yes indeed, Bigfoot DOES like riding rollercoasters. However, he was a tad over the height requirement so he left.

The database is still gone. Haven't heard from tech support yet. Hopefully they call/write soon.

Until then, my blog gets ghetto-fied.

No comments. Manual coding. I know there's an easy way, but I feel that I must suffer for not making a backup.. *sigh*

So yesterday was a HORRIBLE day. I wrote an email to a friend, so I'll just copy and paste...

I had to go back to my client
I was ready to finish, but I had to wait around for an hour because the people I needed to work with were in a meeting
One of the objectives that I thought I had done wasn't, and even though I tried working with my development on it, we couldn't fix it - and the president told me NOT to leave there til I was finished with everything. But I left.
My website went down, and my blog database deleted
I left for my client at 6:30am, and didn't get home until about 11:15pm
There was no parking left near my apartment in my complex, so I had to park on the other side. I tried to take a shortcut through my complex, but just ended up getting lost.
I left my cell phone in my car.
To add to that, on the way to my car in downtown LA, I was talking on the phone to a friend. I saw a shadow move near me. For some reason, I thought, 'Awww, a squirrel!' Then to my horror, I realized it was a rat, and it was heading straight for me. I screamed. I panicked. He was going to attack. This was an LA rat. My first encounter with an LA rat! He attacked, pinned me to the ground, gave me a slap on the ass and took off with my altoids and my blockbuster card. OK. Fine. He didn't attack. He scurried in front of me for a bit as I screamed into the phone that I was getting attacked and then ran under a bush. But he DID give me a menacing glare. And I swear that his scurrying spelled out 'Christine, the dark lords have taken your blog database and it will never see the light of day!' Bastards.

But really, I'm in a down mood. More than just the death of the database. I'm just so tired from work, and not being home, and I'm even a little homesick. Talked to my family yesterday, and I'm missing them a lot. It's great to have Dave here as support and everything (though he fails to understand the horror of losing my database). I just miss both of my sisters and my parents, not to mention all my cousins. I kinda feel like I didn't even have much time to say goodbye to them! But that's just me getting all nostalgic. I'm just grumpy today. Hmph.

Well, it looks like I should follow my own advice that I give to my clients and that I mercilessly bug Rod about. BACK UP YOUR FILES. It seems that my provider had moved my site to another server, but unfortunately, my blog database didn't survive the journey. I was sent an email, but I have been pretty backed up with emails lately. I really don't know what I'm going to do now. I'm in contact with their support, so we'll see what happens, but it's not looking good. Do I have the strength to start this all over again? I don't know!!! So send good thoughts this way...I don't want to have to lose all this data from the past!

I would give you regular updates, but since my database is down, I can't. :( As if I need more stress!

You know, I've been working so hard lately, and I've been pretty sick, so I haven't had much time to just sit down and think about what's happened to me over the last month.

I was talking to a friend of mine from home, and during our discussion, we really put it into perspective.

During the last month, I have:

1) Gotten married
2) Moved across the country
3) Totally changed my job position and now work from home when not at a client site

Those are some pretty big life changes to have to handle in such a short amount of time. I guess I would be overwhelmed if I had the time to sit and think about it. But lately, I've been leaving home at 6:30 and coming home at about 8pm every day. By the time I get home, I'm too tired to eat, too tired to get anything done. It's only Monday, and I'm already drained. This is a pretty tough client I'm at. There's so much to do, and I want to really do well at this client because I want to make a good impression with my company. They had enough faith in me to keep me at the company, even though they've been laying people off, and I moved away. I guess there's some form of guilt, that they were right in keeping me, that I HAVE to do a great job and that I have to work my ass off. But I'm tired now. I'm burnt out.

Maybe it'll be different once I start working from home again. I'm still waiting for it to hit me, and maybe it already has, but I haven't stopped moving enough to notice.

But when it does hit me, watch out!

I'm drowning in 'Thank You' cards right now. I thought it would be an easy accomplishment, but it's not. There's a ton of cards that I need to write, and Dave has been helping me out, but it's a lot of work.

For our wedding court and sponsors, we wanted something a little more than the thank you cards that we gave to our guests. So I've hunted all over the place looking from some nice notecards to give to them. I went to Barnes and Noble, and couldn't find anything I liked. But I ended up buying some cute generic notecards and an X-Files episode summary book. Then I headed out to Borders. Didn't like any of the cards there. So I ended up buying a cookbook and a bookmark. Went to Hallmark, still no luck. Stopped myself from buying a picture frame.

I love shopping at bookstores. I have a real weakness for them. Especially used bookstores. I like to get the books that are really worn out, because that means that they've been loved and read over and over again. But I also love places like Borders and B&N because you get to browse the books before buying them. I've got a weakness for Photoshop how-to books. And Anne McCaffery books. And bookmarks. I always lose my bookmarks, which defeats the purpose of getting one.

But books, yeah, I'm constantly borrowing them, or lending them, or suggesting books for people to read. Close friends get books as presents. As a child, I would read all the time, join book marathons, order books through book clubs and get tons of free posters of puppies. My mom said that my eyes are so bad because I would read in the dark before going to sleep.

I guess it could be summed up in what was said to me by an old man who was watching me at a used book sale once - 'Excuse me miss, I just wanted to tell you that I can tell that you really love books. I can see it by the way you look at them, how you hold each one you're interested in, and how you reluctantly put each one down. It's beautiful to see.' Yeah, I love books. It's my escape to a world that isn't mine. Some books are like old friends to me, I've many of my books several times.

Sadly, I haven't had much time to read lately. Before, I would read on the commute to work, but since my commute lately has been either through LA traffic or from my bedroom to my dining room table, there hasn't been good reading time.

Yesterday we drove up to Burbank to help Dave's cousins move to their new house. Traffic sucked, and it was a Saturday! There wasn't much else for us to help them with since we came later (Dave had to work) but we hung around and talked for a bit.

After that, we went to El Pollo Loco to get some food. We were just gonna run to McDonalds, but I've seen all of these Pollo Locos around, and I though we should check it out. It was ok, nothing really spectacular. The spanish rice was pretty good, but the twice grilled burrito I had was just OK. I was thinking that with a name like 'El Pollo Loco' it would have had some kick to it or something, but it was more of a slight nudge.

We went to visit Dave's grandmother in Glendale and sat around and chatted with her for a little. Then we headed out to downtown Glendale to walk around and watch 'Pirates of the Carribean'. We even got a student discount thanks to Dave's youthful good looks.

I wasn't really expecting much from the movie, which is why I think I liked it so much. It had a good story line, some great fight sequences, and Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom don't hurt the eyes, either. Though for most of the movie, every time I saw Keira, I was thinking 'You were Amidala's decoy!' and even now, she still looks so much like Natalie Portman. And I have a newfound love for Orlando Bloom. I had a lost a bit of it after seeing 'Blackhawk Down' since he was so skinny, scrawny and shaved, but he looked adorable in this movie. But he's still skinny. I much prefer him in a blond wig and in tights. Hmm....I wonder how Dave would look in that?

But I loved Johnny Depp in the movie the most. Who'd have thought way back in his 21 Jumpstreet days that he would best be known for playing quirky roles. But he excels at them. He did a great job in the movie.

So if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. It should be out at the cheap theaters soon!

reading pleasures

The Nanny Diaries

Yes, I'm still reading this book. I'm on page 7.

song stuck in my head

'White Flag' - Dido

Dido is back! I've been waiting for this for a while. She has such a great voice, and great lyrics to all her songs. She's helped me through a lot of traffic jams, and I'll definitely be picking up her new CD

at the movies

Underworld

I know, it hasn't come out yet, but I think all the other movies out there suck right now. Is it me, or has this been a really crappy summer movie season? Well, maybe 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' will redeem it, but for now, I'll just sit and wait for Underworld. I mean, who doesn't love watching about the eternal war between vampires and werewolves?

comic you should be reading

Marvel 1602

'Sandman' writer Neil Gaiman and the artistic team that brought you 'Origin', Wolverine's back story get together to create the Marvel world of the past. What if there were mutants in the 1600's? How would they be treated? You'll see guest spots by your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, Black Widow, the X-Men, and even Nick Cage. The writing is smart and intriguing, Andy Kubert's pencils are amazing, and Richard Isanove's digital coloring bring the whole thing to life. It's an 8 comic miniseries, and it's in high demand, so make sure to pick them up fast!

yummy for my tummy

lime tostitos

Great to snack on when you're working at home!!! Love that lime flavor on chips.

addiction

Long Beach

Yeah, I'm really starting to like this place. It's sunny all the time, there's a good breeze off the ocean, and our place is starting to feel like home. All I need now is a desk!

I've also added Gary and Peter to the sidebar, so check 'em out!

You know what? I'm still sick. Since I moved here, I haven't been more than 5 feet away from a stack of tissues, and I'm coughing up a lung everywhere.

I've deducted that I'm allergic to the state of California. OK, maybe just Long Beach. Maybe it's the ocean air. The pollen count. Palm tree leaves. The cats roaming around the apartment complex. Jack-in-the-box. Traffic. I dunno. But I hope it goes away soon!

I was talking to a friend, and I mentioned my theory:

Him: Are you still sick?
Me: Yeah.
Him: It's been two weeks now!
Me: I know....I have a theory.
Him: What, allergies?
Me: Yes! I'm allergic to California!
Him: Come on now!
Me: Really! I never had allergies before!
Him: You know, you've been to California before, and you've been fine.
Me: But this is a prolonged stay.
Him: You could be allergic to something else.
Me: I know....maybe it's pollen or something.
Him: Or maybe you're allergic to being married.
Me: *dramatic pause* Oh my god. That's it!
Him: You've never been married before, right?
Me: No! Well, there was that one time in kindergarten, but that doesn't count.
Him: That's it then!
Me: Yes! That's what it is! How could I have been so blind?!?!?!

Now the challenge is breaking the news to poor Dave......

Wow.

I woke up this morning to check the news and found out that both John Ritter and Johnny Cash died.

John Ritter died yesterday while filming his TV Show '8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter' of an undetected heart problem. It was pretty sudden, so it was a surprise to everyone. He was only 54 years old. I had loved him as a child in Three's Company (and in Three's a Crowd), and was so happy to see him back on television.

Johnny Cash died earlier this morning from complications from diabetes. He was a country star best known for hits like "I Walk the Line" and "A Boy Named Sue". I may not be a big fan of country, but like John Ritter, I've known Johnny Cash all my life, and he truly is a musical legend.

What a sad, sad way to start out the day!

Sooo.....I left for work at 6:30am today.

Got there at around 7:45.

What time did I leave?

9:30pm.

SUCKS! And it's a client site, too!

There's just so much work that I have to do there, and I had a 550 item checklist that I had to test against, and I felt like I was being pulled left and right all week. I've hardly seen Dave all week, I've been pulling 10 hour days, which doesn't even count the commute. For dinner today, I had lime Tostitos.

And I'm still not done with the client stuff, but I was all by myself there, and I was dying from hunger.

I'm so tired.

But who am I to complain? I'm in California.

But still, it's nice to whine a little every now and then.

1. Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate? If not, what's changed?
Yup. It's the same. Haven't had a chance yet to make the big change to Christine Estacio.

2. If you could change your name (first, middle and/or last), what would it be?
For some reason I've always loved the name Cassandra. She was one of my favorite characters from Greek mythology.

3. Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?)
I dunno, they picked it out of a book. I don't know why it isn't something unusual, like my sister's names - Claudine and Fatima. And there's no big story behind my name. Unlike Claudine, who was named after a movie star, who eventually ended up being accused for murder. Or Fatima, who was originally supposed to be named Charlene, but was later named after Our Lady of Fatima because of a vision my mother had. Nope. Just plain old Christine. The third most popular girl's name the year I was born.

4. Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why?
Not really, though I want to name my firstborn girl Trinity or Rowan, two of my favorite characters.

5. Is the analysis of your name at kabalarians.com accurate? How or how isn't it?
Pretty accurate!!!

We watched the wedding video, the other day. No, not the one from the videographer, because we didn't have one. My own video, from my camera. Call it the Bride-Cam. It isn't much, though, because my video camera broke when we got to Wrigley Field. That's what happens when you let drunk people in an Escalade limo pass around your video camera.

But since I'm a geek, I was able to fix my camera myself. I just had to sacrifice 3 spring hens, spin around 5 times under a full moon and read the user troubleshooting manual.

So me, Dave and Justin (Dave's bro, who's visiting from home) were able to watch the video from the Escalade. It was pretty funny. We had the music pumpin' in the limo, and we were all dancing and there were chips, beer and champagne being passed around everywhere. The camera got passed around several times, and it seemed that more than once a groomsman zoomed on the bust of the bridesmaids. And there was a lot of dancing. And booty shaking. It was pretty fun to watch.

Then we all took a group shot. We had a lot of booze left over from the bachelorette party, so the girls took pucker shots. This whole time I'm filming. But I guess I totally forgot I had the camera on when I took my shot, because the camera just sat, focused on my chest. And on the grape pucker that I had spilled on my chest and on the inside of my dress. When we were watching, Dave was like 'Why are you focusing on your chest?" "Uh, I think I forgot that the camera was on after I took the shot". Classy Christine, really classy.

So we were groovin' to "Ignition" and "Magic Stick" and "Senorita". The camera was passed around again as we neared Wrigley. Once we got there, the last words my camera heard before its injury was "How do you turn this fucking thing off?"

Thanks dude. Thanks a lot.

But it's all good. The memories that were captured on that tape were priceless. I'm just happy I was able to fix it.

Though I wish it had broken BEFORE the whole 'Yano's so drunk she forgot the camera was on' incident.

Good times.

So I've been working at this client site for the past couple days. Actually, this has been the client that I've been visiting in LA for the past couple months. I've been here maybe 3 or 4 times.

Sam was the original consultant at this company, and the team he's worked with has moved to other projects. But I remember when he came back from this client, he had said that it was like the west coast version of the our company. There was the guy who liked D&D, there was the jock-ish guy, and there was the token tech chick. Which, in a way, I am (was) at the office (if you don't count Amy, that is, but she's so far from my desk!). He said that this girl totally reminded him of me - she was a techie geek, she was one of two women in her group, but was treated as one of the guys, she was mother hen-ish, she was Asian (well, half) and she liked comic books.

Unfortunately, by the time I was at the site, she was switched to another project. So I never met her.

Til today.

And I don't know what Sam was thinking when he met her, but dude, she was REALLY good looking. I would even say HOT, but you never know who's reading this. *wink* At first, I wasn't sure who she was, but she had introduced herself, and I had to do a doubletake. Me? She reminded him of me? Part of me is flattered that she would remind Sam of me, because, yeah, she was a looker. But then again, he never mentioned looks.

So yes, I met my West Coast counterpart. The world didn't melt when we shook hands, the time-space continuum is still intact. I didn't really get to talk to her much, but she seemed pretty cool, and she was really friendly. And she's getting married in 3 weeks. And she used to live in Long Beach. Coincidence? I think not!

So I had a client in downtown LA. The same client I've been visiting in LA for the last couple months. Except instead of staying at the Bonaventure, I'm coming from Casa de Estacio. So I use Mapquest to figure out how long it's going to take me.

35 minutes.

OK, that's without traffic. So, let's say it's an hour, right?

So I wake up late. That's ok, I had wanted to get there early, so leaving at 7:15am should get me there before 8:30. No such luck. Traffic was C-R-A-W-L-I-N-G. The 405 was a mess. The 110 was quicker, but not much so. And it seems that this morning I was cursed - every lane I picked was the slow lane.

Luckily, I worked pretty late and left at around 6:30, so I was thinking that I'd missed the rush. No such luck. Well, the 110 was pretty bad around downtown, but then it cleared up later on. Then it was nice and easy all the way home. You know, without the traffic, the highway is a pretty fun drive around here.

Especially when you've got the radio up and the windows down.

So, it wasn't too bad, but I'll definitely leave earlier tomorrow. IF I wake up, that is!

So I went home last weekend, and it was pretty good. I had a chance to bring home some of the crap that I brought with me that I really don't need, and I had a chance to go home and get some of the stuff that I forgot to take with me, with an emphasis on bringing home my computer cord that I forgot to pack.

We got in pretty late on Friday, so I just chilled at home with Fatima, who had cleaned and moved into my room. As soon as I got in I start moving boxes around and throwing crap and clothing on the floor, so I felt more at home.

Saturday, me and Dave went to go and add me onto his bank account. I signed my name 'Christine Estacio' for the very first time. I need to work on my 'E'. It looks weird. I haven't actually changed my name yet. I'm pretty reluctant to do it. I like Christine Feliciano. She's a cool chick. I don't even know if I'll like this Christine Estacio person. She sounds pretty shady.

Afterwards, we went to Dave's cousin's wedding, late, of course. It was a beautiful wedding, and the bride looked fabulous. We had a lot of fun at the reception, though it was a bit strange to be at a wedding so soon after our own. All the aunts and uncles kept on asking me 'How's the newlyweds?', 'How's married life?'. I tried to come up with interesting answers, like 'I've become a slave! Help me!' or 'Married? I'm married? Oh, that's how I got this ring!' or 'It's ok, except that he expects me to COOK. Can you believe that? Not only that, but dishes, too!'

The maid of honor's speech made me all teary-eyed. She spoke in heartfelt adoration of her big sister. There must be something about the little sister of the bride getting all choked up that gets the rest of the females (and some males) at the reception to break out crying. Even the best man's speech got me misty!

The dance floor was pretty fun, and I was happy to see the bride and groom have a good time at their wedding. So often at weddings the bride and groom disappear to take pictures, but they managed to be on the dancefloor most of the night. We took a family picture at the hall, and let me tell you, Dave's family is HUGE! It took forever to get everyone gathered for the picture, and to fit everyone in one space.

All in all, it was a great time. I'm getting used to the small town known as Dave's family. There are so many names and faces to remember, sometimes I get overwhelmed! To add to the greatness of the wedding, there was a dessert table. I LOVE desert tables!

So here's a pic of me, Dave, and the happy couple....

Hmm....I made this really long post yesterday, and now it's gone.

Hmph...

I'll find it somewhere, I hope.

Anyway, I'm back in Long Beach now!

I'm back home in Chicago right now. We're here for a wedding.

It seems that Fatima has taken over my room, that little whore.

Just kidding.

Not really.

Ahh, it's sad to see my old room move on to someone else. But I can't have it forever, right? I still have a lot of crap in here, but she can just box it up and put it in the attic til I get back. But I have to remind myself to bring my printer cable back with me. I forgot it here.

That's all people, I'm out!

Today's Photo Friday: Aged

OK, so I'm cheating a bit here and using the same pic from a couple days ago, because well, this picture IS aged. It's a picture from my Chicago to Long Beach roadtrip, and I'm a little unsure as to where it's from. I believe it's somewhere outside of Nevada. I had so many beautiful pictures to choose from, but this one is my favorite just because of the different colors of the mountain. From the road, the black bottom looks like tents set up at the foor of the mountain. It was quite breathtaking, and the pic hardly does it any justice.

Anyway, when we passed by it, my dad remarked, "Its incredible that it took thousands of years to make something that beautiful..."

Oh yeah, baby, the DSL is in effect!

Well, just on my laptop. I need it on my desktop, too, but my Windows 98 crap system won't install the frigging drivers. Bastard.

Verizon has 1 hour and 15 minutes to come and install my DSL. I'm WAIIIIIIIIITING!

In other news....here's some hits of randomness:

- For those of you looking for the rs.com forums, they're still down. I'm having the shakes. But you can still access Rusty's main page...leave a comment, tell us how you're doing. We miss you.

- I'm still sick. I've used up 8 tissues since this morning.

- I found a comic book store to go to. I'll prolly head out there later and see if they have any good stuff. I'm pretty excited.

- I need to invest in some lightweight pants/shorts to wear while I'm working at home. Jeans don't cut it, I need something comfy to wear.

- I need a desk to work at. Working on the dining room table just makes me hungry all the time!

I don't think my husband had any idea of how much time I actually spend online. Yesterday, he asked if he could check his sports scores and I shot him a dirty look. Dial-up's a bitch. So is having to share your computer with your life mate. Just kidding. I have to say that, because he reads my blog now. So no more complaining about how skinny his ankles are. Just kidding Dave, I never said that. Muhahaha.

But really, he had no idea that I spend most of my time online. Not lately, though, because so much has been going on. I mean, I have to COOK, dammit! Yes Dan, I cooked dinner yesterday, thanks to my Chicken Helper, we had some pretty good Chicken Au Gratin.

So yesterday, I was chatting with Linda and Candace, and Dave needed the computer. He saw my chat box and asked who these people were. The only pics that I had easy access to of them was from Friendster. When I brought up the page, he was like 'What is this place?'

I gasped.

'You've never heard of Friendster?'

Blank look. 'No. Am I supposed to?'

So I gave him the quick tour of Friendster. And he was amazed to find that a lot of his friends are on it. And that you had to approve friends. He loved reading the testimonials. And how I was linked to half a million people on the network. And how some of my friends he had never seen before. 'Uh, you know, it's an online thing', I used in my defense.

'I want Friendster!' he cried.

'Fine, I'll set you up an account. But you have to check it often.'

'OK. I will.'

Yeah right. Worlds colliding, I tell ya.

It is now 1:33PM, and I have patiently been waiting for my DSL to show up. They said from 1-4pm. They have 2 hours and 27 minutes left to come by. The clock is ticking, people!

Well, I'll wait til I get more pics from friends before I put up my wedding gallery. For now, I'll post up all of my Wizard World pics, which I took last August. If you've forgotten my experience, you can live it in my "Adventures of a Comic Book Booth Bitch" post. One thing about that post: You never know who's reading the stuff you post on your site, so beware!!! It's all good, I meant every word of it, and I had a terrific time.

Yano's Wizard World Chicago Gallery

Thanks to everyone who mailed me suggestions about galleries to use. It seemed like there was some sort of consensus on "Gallery" being the best one out there. However, since I like making things difficult for myself, and I'm just stubborn about the design I want, I'm going with a different kind of format. I had always loved the way that Mona had her picture gallery formatted, so, well, I just stole the design. OK, I asked Raven to help me out with it, which he happily did. I know I'm making more work for myself, but I like the control I have with this gallery. So thanks to Mona for using the format that I've always wanted, and to Raven for designing it. Now if only I could get my pictures as good as Mona's!

Anyway, tell me what you think of the new gallery. I still need to iron out a couple things, but I really like it, and I'll probably convery the rest of my pictures to this format.

Did anyone watch the Latin Grammys today? I was napping through most of it, but I really enjoyed the parts that I was lucid for. It seems so much more lively than the actual Grammys. The crowd was having a good time. Everyone was dancing, clapping, unified. It was pretty cool.

And Jose Feliciano was there.

And I came to a realization.

In my line of work, I'm constantly giving my last name to people to contact me. And when I would tell people my last name, Feliciano, about 20% of people would say, 'Feliciano? As in, Jose Feliciano?' And I would say yes. Then about 10% of those people would say, 'Are you guys related?' or 'Is he your dad?' or 'Feliz Navidad!'

Alas, it will happen no more.

Well, I haven't officially changed my name yet...but still. I'll miss people asking me that.

Now, it's going to be, 'Estacio, as in pistacio, but with an 'E''

Any good Mexican singers with hit Christmas songs with the last name of Estacio?

And for my picture of the day, I think you're all pretty sick of me showing pics of the wedding, so here's a pic from the voyage here. It was a pretty boring view from Chicago til about Denver, but once we hit Denver, the view was pretty spectacular. Being from Chicago, we don't have mountains to drive through, so it was a bit intimidating to drive through all the mountain passes. Unfortunately, my dad doesn't like heights much, so I was stuck with most of the mountain driving, so I wasn't able to take too many pictures, but here's one of my favorites that I was able to take, right outside of Las Vegas:

*see above for picture*

My DSL was supposed to be set up today. But it wasn't. I'm dying here! I think it would be the one thing to get me out of my sickly misery. Now I must wait until Thursday. My office isn't going to be happy about that! Oh well, I'm bracing myself for the yelling over the phone tomorrow. Well, I guess its easier than a yelling in person, right?

Didn't do much today, just worked and sat wrapped up in my blanket watching '8 Mile' finally. I liked the movie much better than I thought I would. And that strange attraction I have to Eminem is even stronger now. He really did a great job in the movie. I think he's a natural actor, especially in his scenes with the little girl. And I'm thinking he's kinda hot. I like him better with dark hair. Whoo! Is it getting warm in here?

Oh. Its just my fever...

Well, here's one of my pics from, you guessed it, the wedding. It's one of my favorites. Jaygee was putting makeup on Rachel right by the hotel window, and I really liked the lighting.

While we're on the subject of pictures, does anyone know any good ways to create a picture gallery? I want thumbnails and captions, kind of like what I have in my picture gallery right now, except instead of opening in a new window, I want it to open in a frame so you don't have to keep on closing windows. Any ideas?

Melanie has pics from my wedding up...and my bridal shower and the bachelorette parties, too. (The clean ones, of course)

Mel's Wedding Page

Here's a couple samples to whet your whistle...

The whole bridal party...yes, I know, it's A LOT

Dr. & Mrs. Estacio exit the church and kiss

Good times in the Escalade!

I could have danced all night!

Me and Melanie

Girl, I'll be home on Friday, cut me a CD of this...it's good stuff! Thanks Mel!

And now, I bid you good night as my body is wrapped up in Vick's vapo-rub. Doctor Dave's orders! At least I can breathe a bit easier, but now I'm all tingly!

I dunno what happened, but right now my nose is stuffed up and I can hardly breathe. My head hurts, and my glands are swollen. I'm wrapped up in a blanket and have watched the last 3 hours of the 'Saved by the Bell' marathon on some obscure California station because we don't have cable yet. Or DSL!

I'm sick!

Yuck!

Got up almost early this morning so Dave can play some ball. The only person he knew on the court was Rick, but he had a pretty good time. Now he has people to play basketball with! He had some really slick moves out there, once or twice I even shouted 'That's MY man!'

Here's a shot of him in action...

OK, time for me to blow my nose!

Today was a pretty busy day, I'm pretty pooped right now.

We started out going to church, at a church where there was no singing. Really weird!

Then we met up with Lanie and Rick at the E Hula Mau, which was a Hawaiian exhibition here in Long Beach. We didn't see any performances, but we walked around the stalls and checked out the crafts. I ended up buying some scented crystals and Dave bought a necklace just like mine. We're nerds now. We match. Here's a pic of the pretty leis that they had for sale:

After that, me and Dave hung out with his cousins Cathy, Vinnie, Dean and his girlfriend at Huntington Beach. We had a blast there! I tried bodysurfing, and, well, considering that I don't swim, I did pretty well. OK, I didn't. I swallowed about half the ocean. But at least I had fun! Dave loved it. He loves the beach. He already has his own board!

The view of Huntington Beach

Me on the beach

Afterwards, we met up with an old friend of Cathy's at Newport beach. We walked around there for a bit and looked for a wetsuit for Dave. By the time we leave here, he'll be an expert surfer!

Sunset at Newport

So ends the day, and I'm exhausted! At least I've got all that sand out of my ass....