Park Photo Shoot for Jason's Birthday Prints

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Easter 2010

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My Boy's Baptism

Valentine's Day was extra special this year. We baptized our boys, Jason and I were confirmed, and we all became official members of our church.

Clear Channel Outdoor’s Jeff Castel Rides to End HIV/AIDS for Fourth Consecutive Year

This story is about a co-worker of mine. He's such an inspiration...

Clear Channel Outdoor’s Jeff Castel Rides to End HIV/AIDS for Fourth Consecutive Year

Los Angeles, CA – Jeff Castel, Production Coordinator for Clear Channel Outdoor Los Angles, will be riding his bike 545 miles in 7 days from San Francisco to Los Angeles to fight HIV/AIDS for AIDS/Lifecycle 9. This will be his fourth year raising money and awareness for the HIV and AIDS services of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.



Castel said: “For the past three years I conquered the exhausting hills and endless miles of road while helping save the lives of those living with HIV and AIDS. Without a doubt it remains to be the most challenging and fulfilling experience of my life.”

The fight to end AIDS is far from over. In the United States every 9 1/2 minutes, someone is infected with HIV. Over 1 million in the United States are currently living with HIV, including 21% who are unaware of their status.

Castel has made a personal commitment to physically train for the 545 mile ride and raise a minimum of $3,000 for those living with HIV and AIDS. Donations are made available immediately to the organizations who provide: community programs, education, low cost or free medical care, pharmacy services and free HIV testing.


You can read more about Castel and AIDS/Lifecycle, view his progress, blog and photos on his personal homepage at www.aidslifecycle.org. Select "Donate" at the top, then enter "Castel.”

Four Christmases

I was a little dissapointed that most of the funniest lines in the movie were all used in the preview but was laughing my ass off at the final scene. Totally reminded me of my dad. You have to see it.

My lil boy has survived his first week of grade school

I can't believe the little baby that was placed in my arms six years, seven months, and twenty two days ago is now in first grade. In the few weeks before school started I'm not sure who was more excited me or him. He didn't use the word excited until the day before. I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to most of my friends that his backpack was packed and ready to go about a month before school started.

The only thing I had put off was purchasing some shorts and pants for his uniform. I wish I hadn't put it off now because I had no idea how difficult it would be to find khaki or navy blue pants or shorts that were not cargo style and were his size. A few days before school started I went to five different stores to find them. The first was Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart had a great selection of the solid color polo shirts we needed and they were only $5 each. They however did not have any shorts in the whole boys section that weren't cargo style. They did also have a great selection of black pants, however, only blue or khaki color are allowed. The next store was Target. They appeared to have a good selection of everything except polos, but I seemed to have arrived a day late, since their shelves were practically empty. On next to Fallas Paredes. Right before we walked in the store I got a big whiff of what smelled like barf. And it didn't go away after we walked in the store. They did have a great selection of everything, polos, shorts, pants, and in all the right colors. The only problem was they weren't the best quality and they seemed to have every size but his. On next was K-Mart right next door. This store also had an unpleasant odor, this time it was urine. And they did not have any uniform selection to speak of. I finally broke down and went to an actual uniform store a few miles away. And man did they have everything. One problem was everything was a little spendier than I was anticipating. I only purchased three shorts at $11 each. Ok so enough about uniforms.

T's first day was on September 8th. I brought him to school and took some pics of him at home just before we left and also some of him at school. Of course we were the first one's there arriving about 15 minutes before school started. We had met Tristan's teacher the week before and he really seemed to like her. But boy did it make me feel old finding out that she went to the same high school as me only graduating seven years after me and here she is my son's first grade teacher. I hung around in his classroom and chatted with some of the other moms as they arrived. When the bell rang I kissed him goodbye.

I arrived at noon to pick him up since the first day is only a half day. I took him to McD's and then brought him to my office for the rest of the afternoon. He played his DS for about an hour, colored for about an hour and then watched cartoons in the conference room for about 2 hours. I was so proud that he was such well behaved while I worked.

The week hasn't gone by without any problems though. The first two days Tristan was "On Green" the whole day long. The teacher created a system of colors each student is on depending on how well they are behaved. Green = good, full access to recess; Yellow = slightly misbehaved, no stars; Red = slightly more misbehaved, 5 min less of recess; Blue = bad behavior, 10 minutes less of recess and note sent home for parents to sign; Purple = very bad behavior, note sent home, and no recess.

Thursday he was on Blue. And Friday he was on purple. I was shocked to find that he had been so ill-behaved. Both Jason and I have given him stern talking to's about how important it is to listen to the teacher and do what she says. Also, for this he is on restriction. He last lost his favorite privileges, his DS, his watch, and Gpa visits for at least a week. And only gets them back if he is consistently on green for a whole week.

As long as we're on the subject of first grade, I thought I'd share a story of when I was his age. I was in Mrs. Gackles class at Indian Mounds Elementary, Bloomington, MN. It was the first day that I had the school lunch (my mom had normally made my lunch). The menu was cheeseburgers I believe. Shortly after lunch Mrs Gackle had to leave the classroom for something and gave us strict instructions to not leave our desks NO MATTER WHAT! It was after she left that I started to feel the cheeseburger in my stomach not agreeing with me. I obeyed her instructions and stayed at my desk and proceeded to puke out my lunch on the kid in front of me. He so happened to be of Asian decent. Where we lived there weren't many minorities so my parents often joked that I was allergic to Asians.

Doctor Visit

The other day I took the boys to the doctor. When I went to pick up the boys from school they were both still napping. Tristan started to cry when I told him that he'd probably have to get a shot. Tristan's stats: 39 pounds & 43.5 inches. Landon's stats: 26 pounds & 32.75 inches. They are both at the 25% percentile for their height and weight (which means that 75% of kids their age are heavier and taller than them) . Basically I have short and skinny kids. I'm not surprised about the weight, but I'm still surprised that they are so short. Both Jason and I are taller than average (I think). At my tallest I was 5'7" and Jason is about 6'1" or 2". It turns out that Tristan did not need a shot (which he was very thankful for). But Landon did. I got to hold him down while the nurse gave it to him in the thigh. I was so proud of him cause he only wimpered for a millisecond. Tristan got to do a hearing and vision test. He did average on the hearing and excellent on the vision test. He also had to provide a urine sample. This was not easy. The doctor's office has a nice size restroom with a regular toilet, a mini toilet, and a changing table. Well not only did I have to hold the cup while T gave his sample but I had to keep Landon from touching the other toilet and unraveling all toilet paper. I needed five arms at one point. And after all that I think T got more pee on the wall than in the cup. And just when I thought the appointment was all over and done with they ask that we go to the lab down the street so Landon can give a blood sample. My heart just about stopped beating as I was thinking in my head about how I was going to keep a very active two year old still long enough for a blood sample. Well Landon was absolutely perfect. Just some minor wiggling that I was able to control with help from Tristan keeping him distracted and only a small wimper when they took the needle out. He actually cried more later that day when I took the band-aid off his arm.

All in all I am the proud mother of two healthy and active little boys.