Honeymoon Day 5 of 5

Today was the last full day of the honeymoon. We packed-up, ate breakfast, and were on our way to San Francisco. I stopped at a second cemetery just outside of town for Vanessa to visit. After about 15 minutes we were back in the car and on our way to San Francisco. Vanessa slept through the fun twisted road again so I was able to have some fun.

We pulled into San Francisco about 1:00 pm. I remembered that I always tell Vanessa I will take her to the Palace of Fine Arts, but I never do, so I made a detour. It wasn’t much of a detour since it was only 20 seconds out of my way, but it was a nice thought. We stopped and walked around the park and the lake for a while.

We checked into the hotel and walked over to Pier 39 for lunch at Bubba Gumps. She told me she wasn’t hungry, but I swear she ate more than I did. It a fun restaurant and woke us up after the long drive. We walked through some of the shops, grabbed a waffle cone with way too much ice cream, and headed over to the line for Alcatraz.

I had been to Alcatraz about two years ago, but Vanessa had always wanted to go. I had forgotten a lot of the stories and was happy to see the walkman’s used for the self-guided tour had been updated with digital players which allow you to skip around and aren’t as bulky. We got back to SF around 7:00 pm and even though we weren’t very hungry, we were getting tired. We went back to Pier 39 for dinner and ended up at an “all you can eat” Italian buffet. I know it sounds weird, but it was actually not bad.

The next day we made our way back to the airport and flew home.

The Palace of Fine Arts.

Visiting with Forrest at Bubba Gumps.

A monster waffle cone at Pier 39

Alcatraz

Weekend Update with Tina Fey and Page Montgomery

Friday night Vanessa and I went to see Little Shop of Horror’s at the Ahmanson with V’s mom, Brittni and Teena (former students of V’s), Teena’s family, and Aram (sp?) who is also a former student of V’s. Anyway, Little shop is one of the few musicals I can see repeatedly and still have a great time. When I first met Vanessa, she produced Little Shop at the high school she was teaching at. I honestly enjoyed many parts of Vanessa’s show better. Anyway, afterwards we headed up to Burbank and hung out at Bob’s Big Boy for some dessert. Ummm Sundae…

Saturday, we slept in and grabbed some lunch at Arby’s. If you haven’t tried their Market Fresh Sandwiches, you really need to give them a try. They taste really fresh and homemade and actually look just like the pictures when you get it. We stopped by my dad’s house for a visit and then headed off to Jennie’s 30th birthday. Adam did a great job of setting-up a casino environment, including two Blackjack tables, a Roulette table, and poker. The alcohol was flowing and good times were had by all.

While we were all eating sandwiches (not Arby’s) in the backyard, a Nissan Titan went over a median, clipped a tree, crossed over to the wrong side of the road, went up the curb, through a brick wall, and stopped halfway into Jennie’s parent’s front yard. Everyone ran to see what happened and check on the driver (he was alone). He seemed a little out of it and repeatedly asked me, “What happened?” He was trying to start the truck (I think to drive away), but that truck wasn’t going anywhere. After a couple of minutes his story changed to, “Did anyone see a dog crossing the road?” and “check under my car, I think I hit something”. Whatever.

It turns out he wasn’t drunk, just distracted and driving too fast. Everyone brought their sandwiches and drinks to the front yard. Many of us spent the next hour making jokes and watching as the guy explained his story to the cops. There was around 30 people at Jennie’s party, so digital cameras, camera phones, and video cameras were everywhere. Of course I didn't have my camera, so no pictures for you. Anyway, we all had a great time at the party. Mad props to Adam for setting everything up.

Honeymoon Day 4 of 5

V and I woke up early so we could be in Fort Bragg by 9:00 to catch the Skunk Train. We skipped the normal breakfast and stopped by a coffee house. The Skunk Train is an old steam train (or diesel depending on which day you go), which travels up into the redwood forest for a 3 ½ hour trip. The train cars are from the 1920’s and 30’s and there is an observation car that is completely open from waist-level up.

V spent most of the time in the passenger car, while I went back and forth taking pictures and video from the observation car. It took 2 hours to reach to top, then everyone gets off (the train you sicko!). It takes about 30 minutes for them to detach the steam engine from the front, move it to a separate track and reattach the engine on the other side of the train. Then it’s about 1 hour back to town. It was fun, but 2 hours would have been long enough.

After the train Vanessa and I were not feeling well. We found a nice deli for lunch and walked through some of the shops. We had heard about tide pools in the area, so we set out to find them. We made our way back to Mendocino and walked along the cliffs. There were some amazing views of the cliffs, sea caves, bridges made from the waves wearing away at the rocks, but no tide pools. I think we got there when the tide was coming in. Anyway we got some good exercise. Vanessa really wasn’t feeling well at this point so we went back to the B&B. While Vanessa rested I jumped in the spa and relaxed. I went to the pharmacy and got some things I thought would make her feel better and picked up a pizza.

At 8:00 pm we went to a play at the local theatre. It was okay, but I have realized that I cannot stay interested in a play unless there is a hot woman in it. No hot women in this one.

V and I posing with the Skunk Train.

Riding on the Skunk Train

Grabbing lunch at a deli in Fort Bragg.

A seagull poses for me on the cliffs

Kicking back in the spa

Mendocino Theatre

Don't cry for me Philippines - Update

My Filipino office worker is now (right now) singing Michael Jackson's "Beat It" loud and with enthusiasm. He don't seem to know any of the words except "beat it", but he is humming the rest...

You may remember him from one of my first blogs when he was singing some Celine Dion.

Honeymoon day 3 of 5

Today we had to get up early so we could get to breakfast by 8:30 am. Sure it’s better than my normal 5:15, but this is vacation! I had the same breakfast, but instead of scrambled eggs, I switched it up a little and got my eggs over medium. Vanessa ordered the Oatmeal with dried apricots and raisons. We ate breakfast on the front porch of the house. It was overcast, but not cold. At 10:00 a limo picked us up for the wine tour I had set up. There were two other couples, but the limo could seat 10 very comfortably. The limo took us back through the redwood forest on the same road we came in on. It was a great day. The tour lasted 6 hours and visited 6 different wineries.

The first winery (Husch) was small, but very nice. I probably tried 4 or 5 wines. They were really good, but they are available at Beverages and More in So Cal, so I didn’t buy any. The next place we stopped was Navarro. This was a beautiful winery. They had 16 wines listed. Most places will allow you to taste anywhere from 3 to 6 wines. I asked how many we were allowed to sample and they guy behind the counter said, “How about 16?” My eyes opened wide. I think I tried about 10 and I purchased a Zinfandel (Red). By this time everyone on the tour is feeling good and getting to know each other. This was the begining of the end for me.

The next stop was Goldeneye (not named after the James Bond movie). This was definitely an upper-scale place. We tried two different wines here, which for me was kind of a letdown after trying 10 at the last place. We also were able to do some barrel tasting where they take some of the wine that is aging in the barrels and they let you taste the different wines before they are mixed. All three barrel tastings we tried were Pino Noir, but were grown in different areas of the valley.

The limo driver had set up a picnic lunch in the shade out by the vineyards. When we got over there, bees had attacked our lunch. My sandwich had 4 bees on it alone. We moved about 15 feet to another table and ate our lunch while we swatted the bees away. About halfway through lunch Vanessa had a good idea and we made an offering to the bees. Part of a sandwich on another table kept the bees happy and away from us.

The next two wineries were a blur and not worth going into detail about. At the last winery we were led around on a tour by a crazy lady. This lady was a CRAZY hippee. I know what you're saying, "Are there any other kind of hippees?", but this lady was overly crazy. What I failed to mention up to this point is Mendocino is filled with hippees and art folks. There are a lot of people with names like Rainbow and Shaddow. After you see your thrid guy with parachute pants, a T-shirt, and a 3 inch ponytail you stop staring. After the crazy lady showed us around we tried several wines while snacking on a platter of fruits and cheeses. By this point Vanessa and I were completely “wined out”. I never thought I would say this, but it was too much wine.

When we got back to the B&B it was time for the wine, beer, and hors d'oeuvres. Every day between 4 and 5 they have complimentary wine, beer, and hors d'oeuvres. Even though I was tired of wine, I couldn’t help it, so I had two glasses of wine along with some bread, cheese, and pepperoni.

We went to dinner at Ukiah 955. By this point I wasn’t feeling too well. My stomach wasn’t happy with the change in the type of foods I was eating. The dinner was good, but there were rambunctious kids when we first came in and it ruined the atmosphere for me. I had a Diet Coke with dinner, but it came in a wine glass, so I was still thinking wine. For the rest of the trip neither one of us could even think about drinking wine.

Eating breakfast on the porch.

Vanessa eating her oatmeal (Mmmmm!)

The limo for the wine tour.

Navaro Winery

Picnic lunch at Goldeneye Winery.

More Wine!!!

Honeymoon Day 2

We slowly got out of bed and headed over to breakfast in the main house. It was a little foggy, but looked like it was going to be another nice day. We ate inside in a closed-in porch. I ordered 3 eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, and OJ. Vanessa ordered Wild Mendocino Blackberry Corncakes. I was a little skeptical about the chef going out to find wild blackberries, but later we saw tons of wild blackberries everywhere we went. The breakfast was amazing. The OJ was definitely freshly squeezed and I have never seen bacon that thick. It was easily a quarter-inch thick.

After breakfast we went back to the room and got ready for horseback riding. We drove north into Fort Bragg, which is a town about 10 miles north of Mendocino. Fort Bragg is the only town in the area where you can get a cell phone signal. Vanessa wanted to call her mom to let her know we arrived, so I gave her my phone. For some reason it wouldn't complete a call. After trying everything I know for 10 minutes, I called customer service (Cingular). First they wouldn't talk to me because they said my name wasn't on the account. So I guess my name is good enough for the bill, but not for customer service??? I hand the phone to Vanessa because her name is on the account. I hear Vanessa say, "Yes... Uh huh... Okay... Well, he's my husband". WHAT!!! WHEN DID I BECOME SOMEBODY'S HUSBAND? Oh yeah, now I remember. It was just strange hearing that.

Vanessa hands the phone back to me. I tell the Customer Service lady my problem and her reply is, "I'm sorry, but we do not offer service in that area". So my natural response was, "Then how are we having this conversation?" I asked her two more times, but she never was able to answer that question, but I did learn that I needed to take the battery out of my phone, put it back in, and then it would work, and it did. Strange.

So we get to the horse ranch about 30 minutes early (as suggested). We walked inside and give them our reservation information. They stared at us blankly. They didn't have any record of our reservation. I had booked the reservation through the Bed and Breakfast. We had a private ride on the beach set-up for just the 2 of us. After 45 minutes, the best they could do is add us onto a group ride. That didn't sound like fun to either of us so we turned around and headed back towards Mendocino.

As we were heading back, Albert called us on my cell and told us that he had FOUND VANESSA'S JEWELRY BOX!!! After I had looked for two weeks Albert finds it in 1 day? What's up with that? He found it in a box that had PlayStation 2 games and DVDs. Why would she put her jewelry box in there? Oh well, at least it was found. V and I went back to the B&B to change again. I went to talk to them about our horseback riding reservations. They showed me email records and phone logs showing they had made the reservation and confirmed it 3 times. There's not much more they could have done. We walked over to an old graveyard we saw earlier in the day. Vanessa loves old graveyards so I walked with her for about 20 minutes. I think we saw every headstone. Then we walked to lunch.

We found a small place that served pizza, salads, and other strange stuff. I had a slice of pepperoni and V had an Empanada. I was relaxing out on the patio enjoying my pizza when I felt something strange on my arm. There was a bird sitting on my arm. I freaked out a little and so did the bird. He scratched me a couple of times before jumping on the table and giving me a dirty look.

We spent the rest of the day walking around town and looking at all of the shops. We walked down a trail (past more blackberries) and took some pictures looking over some cliffs and out into the Pacific.
Before dinner we jumped in the spa again, then changed our clothes. We ate at Café Beaujolais for dinner. It was pretty good, but not amazing. I sent a bottle of wine back for the first time in my life. It was a Gewürztraminer, but it didn't taste right at all. For appetizers I had the Seared Scallops and Vanessa had the Sautéed prawns. We both ordered the chicken for dinner. It just sounded good and it was. Simple, yet tasty. For dessert I was mean and made Vanessa pick just one. She ordered the warm peach cobbler with maple whisky anglaise sauce and fresh blueberries. Super tasty!

The graveyard in town.

The famous "Super Thick" bacon.

The bird that attacked me!

The cliffs in Mendocino.

Driving through the redwoods

MacCallum House

The car sitting in front of the MacCallum House Barn.

Honeymoon Day 1

Vanessa and I flew into Oakland and headed over to the rental car pick-up. The guy at the rental car counter told me they were washing the car and it would be ready in 5 minutes, so we should wait outside. As we walked out front I thought I saw a Bentley in the rental lot, but it was the new Chrysler 300. So, after 20 minutes of waiting for our freshly washed car, I complained and they switch our car to another one. I didn’t realize it, but I had rented the Chrysler 300, so we were both excited to get the car out of the lot and see what it could do (okay, maybe I was the only one excited).

We drove up to San Rafael and stopped for lunch at Chili’s, then continued up to Mendocino. The entire drive took almost 4 hours, but the road from the 101 to the 1 was amazing (Hwy 128). Road and Track rated it one of the best 5 roads in the country. Most of the drive is twists and turns through the hills, but the nice part is the road is banked really well. I kept picturing Adam and his RX-8 with a big smile on his face. The views are amazing. The first 20 miles is hillsides and trees, the next 10 miles are wineries, and the last 20 miles cuts through the redwood forest and follows a river. Luckily, Vanessa slept through most of it, so I could have fun without having to worry about her getting carsick.

We pulled into Mendocino about 5:30 pm and the weather was perfect. High 60’s, clear, and a slight breeze. The B&B (MacCallum House) I chose turned out to be the best place in town and Vanessa really liked it. The room was even better then I imagined with a king-size bed, full kitchen, large stone fireplace (unlimited firewood), private deck, spa, and a large shower. We looked around the place, unpacked our bags, and got ready for dinner. We had dinner at the MacCallum House restaurant that night. It was easily one of the best meals we have ever eaten. For appetizers we had an Olive Oil tasting and the Tartare of Ahi Tuna. Which is sushi grade tuna (raw) and was served in a martini glass with cucumbers, tomatoes, lime, chipotle chile, toasted Mendocino sea palm. I had the Filet Mignon and Vanessa had the Pan Seared Duck Breast. Both were amazing. Vanessa couldn’t choose between two desserts, so we ordered one to eat at the restaurant (Sample of 6 home-made ice-creams in a praline) and one to take with us back to the room (Cookie & Confection Sampler).

When we couldn’t eat anymore we went back to the room and jumped into the spa to relax and digest the food. After that we sat in bed watching the Olympics while eating the Cookie and Confection Sampler.

Is it Catsup or Ketchup?

Either way I have a weeks worth of writing to do so let’s get started.

The Rehearsal Dinner
The rehearsal itself was nothing worth writing about so we’ll skip that. The rehearsal dinner and the after party were great. Don and Beth (Vanessa’s Aunt & Uncle) did a great job of setting up their backyard. We had a margarita machine, the taco people (what else should I call them), music, lights, etc. Everyone seemed to have a really good time and were caught off-guard by the plethora of presents Vanessa and I handed out.

The Petron was a flowin’. By the time Mike and I left I was pretty much out of it. We ended up at James’ house in Newport (about 30 miles away) and spent the rest of the night dinking, dancing, and telling stories. By the time Mike and I left I had around 10 shots of Petron, a couple of margaritas, and a Smirnoff Ice. When I got home and walked into my bedroom, my alarm clock was going off. I had been up for over 24 hours.

The next day Mike and I slept in and finally got out of the house around noon. We had some errands to run. Vanessa called to tell me my grandma was not going to be well enough to make the wedding. I was disappointed and relieved at the same time. I didn’t want her to push herself and end up back in the hospital again. I ran out and bought a video camera (something I have wanted to do for years).

Mike and I drove down to Hollywood to meet up with my Dad, Uncle Peter, Uncle Dick, and my new Aunt Ratchanok. After some cell phone tag and more, “I dunno, where do you want to eat” we all ended up at Fat Fish in West Hollywood. Good food. My new Aunt (moved here from Thailand about 6 months ago) kept an eye out for Sylvester Stallone while we ate dinner and gave the waitress a hard time.

The Wedding Day
After a good night of sleep I woke up anxious to get everything done. By noon I wasn’t feeling too well and finally figured out that I had stage fright. When you think about it a wedding is just a giant performance done in front of friends and family. Once I thought about it and ate some lunch, I was fine. Mike and I went to my Mom’s house and visited with my Mom, grandma, Aunt Patty, Uncle Jerry, Cousin Fadra, and Aunt Pam. Pam is always fun to be around and she never misses and opportunity to pinch and hit me (think big bruises). After a ½ hour it was time to go home and get ready.

The Wedding
After getting ready and taking some pictures with the guys I stood around talking with the guests as they arrived. Before I knew it there was only 5 minutes until the start of the wedding. I was happy. The weather was good, my suit fit well, everyone was healthy, and everything turned out well. I went to the front of the aisle and waited. The piano and singing sounded amazing. I waited in anticipation to see Vanessa. I hadn’t seen her in two days, and never saw or heard anything about her dress. When she appeared at the top of the stairs my knees actually started shaking. She looked amazing.

The wedding started on time and was very quick. If you showed-up 10 minutes late, you missed it. The next thing I knew, I was married. After 45 minutes of pictures, we were able to go back and mingle among the guests. Somehow, mingling turning into a receiving line as people lined up to talk to us (something we didn’t have planned). We made our entrance and went straight into the first dance. I always wondered what couples talked about during their first dance. I thought they just made small talk so it would look like they had a lot to say to each other. Since we hadn’t seen each other for a couple of days we talked during the entire dance. I don’t even remember hearing the music (something that might be evident to you if you were watching me dance).

I thought dinner was great and we got a lot of good feedback from the guests. That’s one thing about your own wedding, you don’t know if things are going well, or if everyone is just being polite. I think it genuinely went well. The garter toss (process) was extremely embarrassing, but I knew once my hands were tied behind my back and I was blindfolded, it was a no-win situation. I just tried to have a good time. Many people left right after the cake cutting, but that is exactly what we expected since it was a Sunday night.

For anyone who has never put on a big wedding, 3 times as much goes into it as anyone can imagine. ‘Thank you’ to anyone who was there and especially if you were a part of the wedding. A special ‘thank you’ to Mike for keeping me sane for 3 days. I would have cracked without someone there. More “thanks’ to my Mom and Dad for all of their support. And my last big ‘thank you’ to Vanessa.

That’s enough for today. Tomorrow… The Honeymoon

Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.

Aside from the Tux rental place giving me the wrong colored shirt yesterday, I am all set. I almost didn’t try on the suit at the store, because I have never had a problem. As soon as I looked at the shirt in the dressing room I knew something wasn’t right. The shirt was bright white instead of ivory. I learned when we were first deciding on the colors of the suits if I wear a bright white shirt next to Vanessa’s ivory wedding dress, then her dress will appear to be dirty. Not good.

I second guessed myself and put the shirt on anyway. Once I was dressed I walked back into the main part of the store and started holding the sleeve up to other shirts displayed. I told the employee assisting me this was not an ivory shirt and I showed him what an ivory shirt looks like. He argued with me for about five minutes and tried to convince me I was wrong. He went on to tell me that it is an ivory color, but because of the collar it only appeared to be brighter than it actually was. WHAT? How dos that make sense?

Finally logic prevailed and he had to concede that they did in-fact give me the wrong shirt. I had him start calling all of the other stores where the groomsmen and others are picking up. After calling the 4 other stores he assured me that all of the other shirts were correct. WRONG!!! I called Ryan and his shirt was bright white too. Hopefully we will have everything sorted out today.

Other than that small glitch, my grandmother falling, and the pianist not able to attend the rehearsal everything is going well

I told you so!

I have been trying to think of another topic to write about other than the wedding, but aside from work, that’s all that I think about and work on. Even with 99% of everything done I still have this overall feeling of stress and uneasiness. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I’m not stressing about being married and I don’t have cold feet. I think it’s just the anxiety of putting on such a big event. There is so much detail and planning that has gone into this one evening. I know everything will be fine, but I just can’t seem to relax. I am hoping that by tomorrow (the rehearsal dinner) I will have realized that everything is ready and it’s time for me to enjoy myself. I don’t even know why I’m stressing. Vanessa did 75% of the work anyway.

Looking back I really wish we had kept the wedding small and simple. Even with 150+ people there are still people who are hurt they weren’t invited. They money would have been better off put towards something else (like a house). It was my decision to have a big wedding. I’m the type of person that gets a picture in my head and that’s all I can see. I guess I have always envisioned a big wedding in my mind. My goal is just to have a good time and enjoy the moment.
The most interesting part is listening to everyone’s advice. Everyone is trying to tell me about how everything will change once we are married. I am not naïve enough to think that nothing will change, but we have been living together for four years now. Vanessa and I stopped trying to impress each other years ago. I don’t see any major changes happening. I think the big changes come once you have kids. That’s a whole other topic that won’t be discussed on this website for a while.

Pictures found on P2P sharing programs

http://www.10eastern.com/foundphotos.html

Bring it on...

Stress (stres) n. A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.

With less than a week before the wedding things are defiantly starting to get tense. Vanessa has been an absolute doll through the entire process. We never did find the box that had her jewelry in it. Her mom will take care of getting earrings for the wedding, and a picture of her grandfather sewn into the lining of her dress will suffice for the locket she was to wear while walking down the aisle. At this point I think the box was stolen.

Thursday I went to my dad’s house to look through his garage for the box, but without any luck. While driving home I got a call from my mom on my cell phone. She was crying and said, “I need you to come over. Mamere has fallen.” Mamere is my 85-year-old grandma. She is the last grandparent I have and is staying at my mom’s house for the wedding. Ten years ago my other grandma fell while I was with her for a doctor’s appointment. She broke her hip and was never the same. She was bed-ridden and under 24-hour home care until she passed away in March.

I told my mom to call 911 and I raced over as fast as possible (while trying not to scare Vanessa who was in the car with me at the time). When I got to my mom’s the ambulance and fire trucks were there. My mom saw me and she broke down and started crying. I was strong until I went downstairs and was out of my mom’s sight. Seeing my grandma on the floor and in pain was too much and I fell apart. After a minute, I gathered myself back together with Vanessa’s help and went back to my role as the strong son.

My grandma is still in the hospital. Despite her osteoporosis, she didn’t break any bones. She will be sore for a while. The chest X-ray found she has pneumonia as well as some heart problems. As luck would have it I am a good friend with the Chief Resident at the hospital, so she has been well taken care of. She should be released today or tomorrow. We are all hoping she will be strong enough to go to the wedding, but realistically I don’t think she will be there.

That aside, with less than a week until the wedding everything seems surreal. I think the excitement is setting in. Expect more wedding stress stories for the rest of the week. After the honeymoon, I’ll get back to regular non-wedding entries.

Stop the ride, I want to get off…

Wedding planning is going well. By this weekend, I should be able to just lay back and enjoy everything that took a year to plan. Vanessa is dealing with all of the last minute issues and I must say she is handling the stress well. We have discovered we are missing some boxes from when we moved. Nothing important, (insert sarcastic tone here) just her earrings for the wedding and her jewelry boxes. Hopefully they are in my dad’s garage. We’re heading over there tonight to look.

We met with the DJ’s for the reception. Somehow we have figured out a way to fit Gershwin and Nine Inch Nails into one evening. Expect a lot of classic KROQ music for dancing.

Grandma Mamere (my mom’s mom) is in town for the wedding. We stopped by my mom’s house to have dinner on Monday.

Work is going well. You may remember I complained a while back about the number of meetings I had each day (two to three at that time). Since then, work has turned into one big meeting. Sure, the topic changes, different people come in and out of the room, and occasionally the location changes (West Conference Room or East Conference Room), but they all melt together. In an 8-hour day, I estimate I spend 5 hours in meetings. Despite that, I love what I do and the company I work for.

P.S. The DirctTV and Tivo’s are amazing. I’m just disappointed there aren’t more hours in the day to watch everything I’m recording.