A few more birthday pix

Every kid birthday ages Dad about 2 years.

The arcade was a serious place ... each game cost 100Yen which would make more sense if we lived in Japan but we don't. Also most of the games had only Japanese instructions on the screen. Hard to tell if you're picking "Amateur" or "Expert" or "Auto" or "Manual" if its all in Japanese.

You know its genuine Japanese because the English is like this: "This game machine is a long-term seller type. It is the game currently loved by everybody. It was again born in design renewal at this time. Able Corporation of our company named and did 'new pro bowl' development. I need your help well."
A good time (and some chicken strips) was had by all.

Hudson's 7th birthday rundown

The day started earlier than normal with some cinnamon toast on the 'Special Davis of the Day' plate.
H chose TGIFriday for lunch, they have this cool KY sign!
The guys came out and sang Happy Birthday (H is not a fan) but he tolerated it for some free cake!
It even had a candle and for some reason came with 4 forks. Seemed a lot for one kid.
So there was some battling for position at the trough.
TGIF was also giving away Ke$ha cd's if you celebrated your birthday at the restaurant and so after asking, H was given a copy ... which he does not love but some other family members enjoy. Its given us a good chance to explain that Mick Jagger is not attractive and she probably only doesn't kick people like that to the curb out of respect for the aged...
In the afternoon we met up with some friends for some arcade time. I was totally fooled by these two and after boxing them in an exacta, they didn't even finish in the money (you may need to be from Louisville to understand that statement).
After the play place and arcade we added some ice cream for good measure.
Hudson has had a few dollars sent his way and his first purchase was the Black Knight set. Pretty awesome.
The other gifts were at the end of a scavenger hunt ... in the washing machine.
The cake actually had 20 candles. The ones spelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY burnt themselves out, though, while we were getting them all lit.
And so, that was the day. Whew.

THE Fashion Show

What a long, arduous day at the mall. Grueling! And that was just for the Dads--not the people actually doing something. Here is a peek at some of the highlights.

We got to the mall and had some Subway, then headed off for rehearsal. This is when we were told parents would not have a chair during the event since they were for the VVIPs and not people like us ... just played old Ps, or perhaps IPs but certainly not even VIPs much less VVIPs.

After rehearsal we caught a movie (The Sorcerer's Apprentice, our review: It was fine, about what you'd expect; but at some point Nicolas Cage started playing the same character in every movie and the young guy is really annoying). Bethany and Hudson got in some bumper car rides and we even had a Frosty! We had 4 hours to kill ... so, you know.
BACKSTAGE! I've not been so privileged since we went backstage to see Michael Bolton when Celine Dion opened for him at Starwood. The costume changes were done with amazing speed during the show. B wore 3 outfits in all.

While we waited a LONG time for the show to start they brought around fruit drinks, lots of shrimp hors d'oeuvre (had to look that spelling up), and other snacks. Small consolation for us not getting an actual chair.
Being a family member of a show participant is basically no fun at all.
The big reveal! B did great and was full of modely attitude and facial expressions.
So there you have it. She had another invitation for Sunday, which we had to turn down and she is still not too happy about that!
Everyone else is pretty exhausted from the ordeal but surely a night that B won't soon forget!!

Riveting Entertainment

Credits:

Expert Cameraman--Craig

Incredible Talent--Craig

Dazzling Writing--Craig

Everything Else--Craig

Yeah, there is no one else to blame.

Things I'd Buy If I Had No Self-Control

One great thing about not having a lot of money is that it keeps you from buying a lot of stuff. The internet allows you to do a ton of shopping only to never buy anything.

So here are a few things I'd buy if I either had a bunch of money or no self-control.

A new phone. Specifically I'd buy an HTC Legend and I'd buy it in Singapore since they are "unlocked" there by law and you can use it anywhere in the world if you buy a SIM card first. Phones here seem to cost a lot but not really as much as phones do in the US if you actually factor in the contract you are obligated to keep. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent researching phones I had no intention of buying while Angie slept. Its like virtual retail therapy. It virtually makes me feel better...

An iPad. I have no idea what I'd do with an iPad but I do think I'd look cool updating my Twitter at the Kopitiam with one.

A zoom lens. I'd be able to take my stalking to a whole new level with the ability to zoom more.

A small camera. Lame that we bought a big camera that won't make videos. We'd probably go for this one. I feel especially bad about this one since we said last year we were going to use Christmas money to buy one. We used the money for bills instead. Isn't being an adult fun?

A Kindle. After Uncle Todd came here and was buying books while we drove down the highway, we were pretty impressed.

A Super Cool GPS. We have a handheld GPS and while we drive Angie acts as the voice and navigator as I attempt to drive on the left-hand side of the road. Sometimes we have issues if we're trying to read something like Leburaya Dato' Hamid bin Akhbar at 100km/hr but normally we get along fine. When we don't work smoothly together, I have a spectacular breakdown and the kids laugh about it for months. This GPS is "sick" as the kids say. I feel old when technology is so much smarter than me...

A grill. Now we don't need a kitchen-sized gas grill just something normal like this baby! For some reason grills and coolers here cost about 10 times what they should. That is why I'd put a smallish grill on a list like this.

So that is sufficient proof that a person can waste a lot of valuable time that could be spent sleeping doing internet shopping. What am I missing??

PAIN!

Yesterday we bought this Biggest Loser DVD to exercise in the house when we don't want to/can't get out in the sun. Let us tell you after the whole family tried it today: We are in serious pain! This weekend we may not even eat since that would include us having to navigate the stairs...

We'll see how it goes as we get past Bob and Level 1. I may not even be able to sleep tonight given how my poor legs feel right now. You can get it for yourself here or here or probably about 100 other places.

I would just recommend against trying it your first time with a belly full of curry...

Good ... but not too good, eh?

Party in a Sack

A few weeks ago Caleb hatched a plan while we shopped. He eyed the Cheesy Salsa and talked about saving a bit of allowance to get it and some chips for an exciting night of TV watching. A perfect summer break idea.

The Cheesy Salsa doesn't visit our house much since this jar costs around $8. So he brought in his siblings and today made it a reality. We went out this afternoon and brought home the goodies...

Like proud parents who scrimped and saved for years on end, they've waited all these long ... um, days ... until their vision could become reality.
Not even Hudson feeling a bit under the weather could dampen spirits on such a high occasion.
So cheers to you (and $8 salsa, too). Here's hoping you have great ideas for your summer break, too.

Weddings Even Men Love!

Weddings here tend to be OK for guys for a number of reasons. One of which is that very little is expected of men at these functions unless you are: 1) parents of the happy couple, 2) best man (who has it bad), or 3) the groom.

Men can wear whatever they like, whereas the ladies dress up! Just check for how many guys are in jeans in the backgrounds of these photos. Really for the normal guy the only thing you have to do is sit on this couch when you first arrive. When you've checked it off, you're free! This is us* with the bride's parents.

Another positive guy note: Cowboy in attendance!
Every weeding should have one of these. This is some serious chicken roasting. Weddings Men Like need to have LOTS of good food, not finger sandwiches and tiny baby pieces of cake. No man has ever been asked to serve cake at a wedding or shower since we do not know how to cut teeny-tiny pieces of cake using dental floss from someone's purse.
Another great thing: the happy couple are treated as Royalty for the Day. This is why its bad to be the Best Man. The Best Man has to hold an umbrella for the King, while the King is sitting his best friend gets to stand there and fan him, if the King sweats (yeah, "if") the Best Man gets to wipe away the sweat. Lame for the Best Man. On a positive note there is lots of drumming to announce the groom's arrival. At least the man is on the bill here when it comes to the wedding.

Not sure how many weddings I saw in KY where the girl starts crying and yelling about someone ruining "My wedding!" Typically her man is not upset at whatever travesty has taken place (like the huge arch is cream-colored and not white). She never even bothers to act like she's including him, "Oh, you've ruined our wedding by not taking down every poster in the church's Sunday School rooms! How can the bridesmaids get dressed?!?"

So, uh, yeah. Drums. They are cool. Plus the Man is expected to wear a big knife in his belt!
Martial arts! Its not like having Jackie Chan on hand but you should get some local martial arts people to be "bodyguards for the King" and do a nice display. They should do it in the hot sun while the King sits in the shade and someone fans him and wipes his sweat. Where is The Bride during all this drumming and karate stuff? Dunno! That is why this is a Wedding Men Like, the Bride is not stealing the spotlight all the time.
Did I mention food? Everyone asks if you've eaten yet. Even if they saw you eat before, they still ask if you've eaten. If you say you've eaten they reply, "Eat some more." What man can't love that?
Well, one more not-for-the-guys thing: dancing. At least its traditional dancing and not slow dancing to Air Supply in a gym. Not sure why the guys here wear make-up for traditional dancing but they do. If you meet the grown-up version of traditional dancers you will often be more surprised that they are Men than you will be surprised that they are wearing make-up.

So, all in all a Man's kind of wedding. What can make it better???
Loading up in the car and doing it all over again!!
*Notice Caleb couldn't be bothered to attend. He was busy with teenager duty on our couch.

Argh! Pirate Crossing!

I saw this sign months ago and have been waiting to get back with a camera! The caption (in this case serving as the title) came to me immediately.

Later I also thought of:

• Caution! Poison Ahead!
• Cemetery Ahead
• Skeleton Crossing

Other caption ideas of varying awesomeness are welcome and appreciated.

Happy Birthday Stacey!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister. I'm sure you feel older than you really are!

Skittles!

We don't see Skittles everyday and so when we got some recently, everyone was pretty excited to taste the rainbow.

On an even more exciting note near our home a new shopping center opened last week and inside we found packs of sour Skittles. Pretty amazing and only around 50 cents a pack. Now whether we'll ever see them again remains to be seen. Finding things once and getting them regularly can be two different things (Can you hear me DORITOS?!?).

On a yucky note, did you know Skittles contain gelatin from animals (see the Wiki link above)? I thought they were just big balls of sugar...

Outside the meetings

While we were in-between meetings we did have a bit of down time for sitting by the pool...

Eating BACON!
Looking at incredible plants like this one that we think is a poinsettia tree!
We are, however, not botanists so we stand prepared to be corrected.
And plenty of time for hanging with American friends, too.