Friday, January 30, 2009

Zachary Phelps

Above: Zach the Fish.

It's funny when you're a kid and growing up - you fall into a niche of what your interested and what you enjoying doing rather than what your parents/caregivers think you may be interested. Last year, Zach was enrolled in soccer lessons and it didn't go so well - so Zach decided to bow out of it. I even think we talked about softball with Zach a while back, but that also didn't seem to be his thing.

Above: Zach getting ready for his swim class.

One thing that was very noticeable with Zach throughout his short life so far is that he loves the water. On vacations with his family, he would love going in the ocean and swimming pools and it was obvious he was developing a passion for the water. Carrie recently enrolled Zach in swimming classes and Zach loves it! Carrie was telling me how he was swimming on his own and diving for trinkets in the water and I just couldn't believe it.

Above: Zach dives to the bottom of the pool to retrive the green object. Impressive.

Above: Zach swimming with a kick board.

Above: Underwater.

I went to Zach's swimming class this past weekend and I was floored at how much Zach loves the water and how well he can swim at the young age of five! I am truly impressed and excited to see Zach enjoy something he truly likes - swimming.

I remember when I was a baby, my mother told me that my father read somewhere that if you through a baby into swimming pool that they will naturally swim to the surface. Not sure where he read this BS, BUT that's what my dad did with me and I sunk to the bottom of the pool like a rock. I had a phobia of the water ever since then and it wasn’t until I was 12 years old that I conquered my fear of the water. I took swimming classes, excelled at it and was on a swim team for a short period of time. I, like Zach, love the water and when I bought my first home - the first thing I did was have an in ground swimming pool installed. It was amazing and I would swim day and night in that pool.

Above: Zach and his friend Justin listening to the swim instructor.

I am excited to see where Zach's passion for swimming takes him. It's interesting we are both water signs in the Zodiac and we love the water. One fish to another:-)


Above: Future Olympic Gold Medalist.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Vertigo


This week has been on of he craziest weeks for us. Sadly, Paul was diagnosed with a sever case of vertigo. It started this past Sunday night as what seemed to be the flu but turned into something far worse. By Monday morning, Paul was very dizzy to the point where he was throwing up and not able to do much of anything including walking. He spend most of the day in the hospital on Monday and has been home ever since pretty much confined to the house because if he gets up or moves around for an extended period of time he gets very dizzy and weak.

Vertigo is a bizarre illness that could go away in a matter of days, weeks or months. One never knows. I am hoping Paul gets better soon - it sucks seeing someone that was so physically active just crumble like this.

The upside is each day has shown some progress for Paul but it's a slow progress.....stay tuned.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

First Look at New Apartment

Above: Zach and me in Zach's new bedroom reading a book.

We moved some stuff over to our new place today - check out some of the photos of the apartment. The apartment has brand new cherry wood floors throughout the entire apartment. All the rooms are very spacious and the kitchen has been newly remodeled as well. It's exactly what we were looking for!

Above: Me in the living room looking into the dining room - looks big huh? IT IS!

Above: Zach showing how big the place is.

Above: Zach looks like a dwarf in the large living room.

Above: Newly remodeled kitchen!

Above: Me excited about the hose like faucet in the kitchen.

Above: Zach and Me checking out the kitchen.

Above: Zach's bedroom!

Above: Clowning around.

Above: Zach hiding in our bedroom closet.

Above: Yeah!!! - a new home!

New Biz - New Digz - New Prez


It's only been twenty-four days into the New Year and a lot of change is happening already. I love change, especially when it's positive change. The first big thing happening is we are moving into a bigger apartment and we are all really excited about it. We brought Zachary over to the new apartment yesterday and he looked it over with a fine tooth comb and gave it two thumbs up. He was even happier to know that there is a burger and shake place across the street and of course he had to critque how the shakes were in his new neighborhood.

Above: Paul & Zach having a shakedown!

Above: Zach enjoying his shake at Burger Joint.

The next big change that I am overjoyed about is my job. I have been working in advertising for seven years now and the majority of that time I have been working in New Business. I have been at my present agency for two years and the my time there has been working in the stressful world of New Business. I have done very well in my role and we recently won a piece of business. I felt I have done my tome most people don't last two years on new business and I expressed my desire to move on and I am getting what I want. I am very excited to be moving into a new role for an agency and a client that I am passionate about.

And of course we have a new president that is already changing our country for the better!

The New Year is off to a great start!


Above: Zach gearing up for change!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Friends

Above: Zach and his friend and clasmate Angelo.

I can still remember my first friend, his name was Brian and he was the child of my parents best friends. When my mom and dad were still married, Brian used to come over my house and I would go over his and we would have fun adventures, go places, argue like brothers and just be kids together. I'll never forget that first friendship and it started around the same age Zach is now, five.

Above: A happy Zachary.

Above: Angelo gives a big smile while eating his ice cream.

Above: Zach and Angelo playing arcade games.

Above: I love this photo! HA!

Zach is making a similar friendship with one of his classmates, Angelo. Carrie took Zach and Angelo to Santa Cruz for a fun weekend of fun, ice cream, the beach and carnival rides. I wish I could have been there, it looked like a blast from the photos. Even though I wasn't there I could see the fun the two were having in the photos. Many of us endure these types of friendships early on in life and some of them last a lifetime.

I always wonder if I would have still been friends with Brian. We would see each other quite often, mostly on the weekends - it was less often after my parents divorced. I would stay overnight at his house and we loved to ride our bikes around his neighborhood. I will never forget the large hill we would race up and down. We were both the same age and one day when we were eight years old, we were riding out bikes down the hill, we would fly down the hill and around the corner really fast and then go around the block to arrive back at the top of the hill.

Above: Me at eight years old.

I remember that day vividly, I had decided to go down the hill first and I flew down the hill and around the corner and back to the top of the hill. I waited for a while at the top of the hill and Brian never showed up. Usually he was only a few minutes behind me, but for some reason it was taking him a while to meet me at the top of the hill. I drove down the hill to see if I could find him, when I turned the corner I saw a large truck stopped in the middle of the road and saw Brian's bike smashed in front of the truck and then I saw Brian's lifeless body on the ground.

I'll never forget that memory for as long as I live. I raced to his parents house to get his parents and that was the end. I never saw Brian again, he was killed by the head on impact off the truck. It was horrible and I remember his parents were hysterical. I never saw them again after that. I always wondered if it would have been me that got hit by that truck if I had gone down that hill when Brian did. Who knows.

After Brian's death, I had a hard time making friends and keeping them for one reason or another. It wasn't until I was 30 that I started to make genuine, real, lifelong friendships again. I still have a hard time when friends leave and move away. I almost ignore it because I hate the goodbyes.


Above: Zach and Angelo running on the beach without a care in the world. Beautiful photo. I wonder if Zach and Angelo wil be lifelong friends.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Zach's 5th Birthday Party!

Above: The Three Mustacheketeers!

Zach had three Christmases and now three birthdays! All I have to say is he has enough toys to least him throughout the entire year! Zach had a great party at his mom’s house and tons of his school friends from the past and present came to wish Zach a happy fifth birthday.

Above: Skulls!

Above: Zach ready to dig into his Indy cake.

Above: Zach making a wish.


It was a great party with an Indiana Jones theme. The cake was pretty impressive - for anyone looking for a tasty cake and some pretty impressive decorating skills - go to Bell Market on Church Street in Noe Valley, California.

Above: Paul gearing up the brood for the scavenger hunt!

Above: And the game begins!

Above: The race is on!

Above: Zach having a seriosu moment with his friend Justin.

It was a beautiful 70-degree January day and Carrie set up a really fun scavenger hunt in front of the amazing Palace of Fine Arts. The kids were running around looking for glues and it was a bit chaotic, but a blast watching the kids get some energy out. After that, it was time to break open the piñata!

Above: Piñata time!

Above: VULTURES!


Check out the beautiful pictures from the party!












Above: Party is over!