Thanks Arnold

We were a little worried that the cancellation of two school days due to the wildfires would lead to extra days in June. But, our worries were alleviated, thanks to this man:

Since Gov. Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency due to the fires, the two days missed were not counted against our attendance figures. This means our school district would not miss out on monies tied into student attendance rates.

Thank you, Governator. Thank you.

The Remodel: Part Deux

Now April has the proper area to make my turkey pot pies.

It has been suggested that the kitchen is the most important room in a home. It is where families and friends congregate. Holiday dinners are created, ham and cheeses are grilled, and Skittles are stored. If there was ever a room to make sure you love, it is the kitchen. That is why the kitchen overhaul was so important to us.

The kitchen remodel was painstaking, expensive, but in the end, worth it. Although we are still not quite finished (we are waiting for the backsplash), we have a functional and above average kitchen. It is light years better than the space that existed when we moved in.

Here is the kitchen during the era of the previous owners:

We wanted the company doing the remodel to come in during the escrow process, but they wouldn't come out for measurements until we actually took possession of the house. So the actual tear down didn't occur until late August.

Time for takeout

During the process, there was no working kitchen. We moved everything into the living room. We cooked with the microwave and toaster oven, and used paper plates. The biggest drawback of being without a sink was trying to wash Cade's sippy cups. Also, we used the toaster oven and microwave at the same time, resulting in a blown fuse. That was below average.

The kitchen cabinets were made in Canada, and then shipped to our garage. They sat for a day before installation.

These guys really worked hard. It was two solid days of construction.

AND NOW......................THE REVEAL

We became the best customers of Best Buy. New stainless steel appliances are nice, but we discovered how difficult they are to keep clean. I don't know who keeps leaving the miracle whip smudges on the 'fridge handle. It's a mystery.

The granite was done by Corbin Custom Tile Inc. out of Corona. They also did the granite in our condo. Good people. The plates in the platerack were an anniversary gift. We haven't actually eaten off them yet, but I am sure the quesadillas will taste even more bueno on them.

The double decker dishwasher is great for washing small loads - like sippy cups. Spiderman, Elmo, and "Cars" cups can all be washed when needed. Our boy does like his beverages.

The glass corner cabinets have a little lights inside them. Since it is late October, we have the nice fall motif going on. But come mid-march, are we talking little green people?

April found this table at THE LOFT in Ladera Ranch. I thought it was too big, but it is perfect. Why do I question her judgement? I just end up looking wicked retaaahhded.

The chandelier is from Pottery Barn. I do miss the function of the ceiling fan, but the new light fixture looks great. The Dude says it really ties the room together.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............candy corn

With the kitchen nearly done - the backsplash will be brick and hopefully completed in approximately a month (give or take) - it is time to focus on the family room. A house can only be a home with 50" of HD gloriousness. Tuesday is the magic day. Best Buy had better come through. Check back to see if Best Buy will be loved, or dead to me.

"Snow Day"

My good buddy, J-Dog Nuzman, and I were talking yesterday about snow days. We were thinking back how, after a good snow, we would be glued to the tv. Prayers would be sent up in the hopes our school would be closed. Instead of school, there would be sledding, snowballs, and hot cocoa. Aaaahhh, good times. Good times.

This conversation took place due to the cancellation of school for the past two days. The Capistrano School District decided to shut down as a result of the wildfires. The air quality was just too poor. So the snow day was reincarnated.

Since we wanted to be indoors, the family ventured a bit north to the South Coast Plaza. The lure of Z Tejas and the carousel was too strong to ignore.

Cade and Bammie at the Z Tejas

If you haven't tried the shrimp tostada bites at the Z Tejas, you are missing out

Cade sticks with his usual french fries and chicken strips. Double-fisted on the fries. Nice. April reported that Cade burped about five hours after eating. He then proceeded to announce, "Mmmmmmmmmmmm. French fries. " That's my boy!

Carousel smiles

Hi, everyone!

Cade does love going up and down on the escalator.

While April was shopping for his future sister, Cade was content with a lolly and crayons at Baby Gap.

As you can see, the Snow Day was really Cade's Day. He even mixed in some quality time with Ashlan (who lives next door to Bammie). You can't blame Ashlan for being all over The Big Man. She's only human. It's the Cadester we're talking about.

The Remodel: Part I

When April and I purchased our home in RSM, we did so with the idea of making major renovations. Since our Aliso Viejo condo did not sell (thanks real estate market), we pulled some equity from it, and plotted some big league home improvements on the new digs. We figured the remodeling should start as the escrow docs were finalized. The keys were handed to us just after the 4th of the July, and the games began.

The games are still ongoing. It has been project on top of project. Flooring, carpeting, paint, the entire kitchen, and a family room fireplace removal have all been tackled. This does not include furniture, appliances, and electronics.

We are now about 3.5 months into the process. A little blood and a lot of sweat has been shed. It is always fun to do a little before and after comparison. Almost the reveal on Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Designed To Sell........fill in your personal favorite home show here.

The first thing we did was put some new paint on the wall. We went with a neutral, earth tone. For part of the house it is a lighter beige, and in parts that receive more light, we put a darker shade of beige. The next thing we did was put in the new flooring. There is new carpeting for the upstairs loft and bedrooms.

The photo on the left is the before master bedroom. This was how it looked when we were looking at the property. Notice the flesh colored carpet, and the mint green on the walls. On the right is the after master.

Photo on the left, the before living room/entryway. It is the view as you first walk in the door. Again, the photo on the left was how the place looked during the previous ownership. The photo on the right is the after.The entire downstairs is now covered in a porcelain tile that has the appearance of hardwood. Since we will have a young boy prowling these floors, we did not want to worry about nicks in a real hardwood. The tile looks great, and is so durable. The new flooring has a distressed look to it. We are quite pleased with it.

In addition, Mr. Gary Becker, the father-in-law extraordinaire, put in the superb baseboards. He has been so helpful in the sprucing up of this house - and the ol' condo. Gary is our Schneider.

Schneider's handiwork

We have also tried to do a little gardening. The biggest little project we have done with the yard to date is the planter in the front yard. The photo on the left is the before. You can kind of see the overgrown patch blocking the porch. On the right is the after. We planted two little topiary trees and a smattering of flowers. Most of the plants are still alive, by the way. The grass is still alive as well, but it is being attacked by the crab grass weed stuff.

I'll post the more exciting remodels in the next day or three. The kitchen transformation has been fairly dramatic.

The Fire

As most of the world knows, Southern California has been besieged by wildfires. It has been quite eerie this past week. From Santa Barbara to the border, it has been a series of flames. Our home in Rancho Santa Margarita has been relatively safe up to this point. But we are within view of the flames. Just to our north, the Santiago Canyon Fire continues to burn. The fire started in Irvine, it has crept south to the Foothill Ranch/Trabuco Canyon area. As I write, I can see the flames on the hillside. It would take a lot for the fire to actually reach our house, but we have been thinking about the possibility of evacuation. We were starting to plan what necessities should be packed in a moment's notice. Luckily the Santa Ana winds have died down, and the fires are not spreading as quickly.

View from our driveway

The Santa Ana winds were unbelievable. There were gusts over 100 mph in some areas. While the winds were not that extreme in RSM, they were still howling. Sunday night/Monday morning was unbelievable. We woke up to some substantial debris.

Our yard needed some restructuring after the Santa Ana winds

The air quality has been well below average. There are ashes flying in the air. It smells like a giant campfire. Today in my San Clemente classroom, I could smell the Camp Pendelton Fire. The kids were complaining, and they would walking around campus like little banditos with shirts covering their mouths and noses. As a result, the school district has just canceled Thursday's classes for the entire district.

Afternoon sky

Now that we have tomorrow off, two questions remain:

1. What will April, Cade, and I do? (South Coast Plaza? The Shops at Mission Viejo? Clifford the Big Red Dog marathon?)


2. Will this "Fire Day" (as opposed to a "Snow Day") have to be made up at the end of the school year?
   

Pros vs. Joes - Photography Edition

I have been attempting to gain a few nuggets of wisdom as the years pass. One of the important life lessons I have learned is that you get what you pay for. If you buy a pair of cheap-o shoes, chances are they will fall apart quickly. But if you spend a couple extra shekels, you can purchase a well crafted shoe that will last for years.


There is a point to this story. The moral of this tale is that if you want solid photographs, you need to hire a great photographer. If you want crapped out photos, take them yourself. But there is a third option: you can marry the photographer's sister. I chose the final option.

Below, there are two photographs of the same moment in time. Mr. Caden Paul, sitting on a handful of pumpkins. Two photographers captured the moment. In this side by side comparison, can you tell which picture was snapped by a person who does it for a living? You make the call:

Of course, the photo on the right was taken by Uncle Becker - THE PROFESSIONAL. I can't believe how I lucked out when Chris became my brother in-law. I could have been stuck with a Cousin Eddie type. Chris has been there to document special times in our lives - from our wedding, to holidays, to the birth of Cade. He has given us the most beautiful photo albums. They are seriously priceless. Due to the wildfires, we were talking about the items we would walk out the door with, and the albums from Chris were #1, and the important documents/papers were #2. (editors note: I can't recall if April or myself took the somewhat blurry photo on the left.

Also, I should mention Chris is a great person, not just a great photographer. It is always good, clean, fun going to Angel games, movies, and watching countless football games with him. He always says that we are brothers from another mother.

Here are the other great shots captured by Uncle [b]. You must remember that Cade was a reluctant model at the patch. I think he was hungry, and a bit overwhelmed by all the activities at the patch. So it was a herculean achievement to get any useful shot.

Cade running to get Skittles. Yes, we bribe our child with candy.

Pumpkin Family

The Troy Aikman of the camera lens.

To reiterate, if you want to posses memories that are priceless, hire a quality photographer, or marry their sibling.

The Patch

It was quite an adventure yesterday. We attempted to return to a great pumpkin patch at Irvine Park. A large group went last year, and a terrific time was had with trains, picnics, and pumpkins. A repeat performance was planned, and Uncle [b] was along to document.

Unfortunately, mother nature did not cooperate. The Santa Ana winds were in full force, causing numerous falling trees. There might as well have been a giant moose at the gate saying, "Sorry, folks. Park's closed." Since the park was shut down (good thing....more on that in a minute), we went to a different patch at the Laguna Hills Mall.

To put it mildly, Cade was not the most enthusiastic model. April, Chris, and myself were reduced to bribing Cade with Skittles for a good shot. We tried to get him to smile for the camera, but here is the reaction we received:

But once he warmed up, Cade was a little more at ease. Who doesn't like driving a tractor?
He even managed to have a seat on a couch of pumpkins.
Cade was a big fan of the petting zoo.
Notice the top left corner of the goat picture. You can see the orange haze of the Santiago Canyon Fire. It is one of the dozen or so major fires in Southern California. The crazy thing about it is that we were in that exact same area approximately 30 minutes before it started (or rather deliberately set). Irvine Park is just minutes away from the fire. If the park had been open, we would have been in possible danger.

After the pumpkin patch, we settled upon Island's for dinner. As soon as Cade put some french fries in his belly, the ol' charmer came out. Apparently, we should have eaten before going to the pumpkins. There might have been some more funny faces from the Little Man.

Check tomorrow for some above average photos of the pumpkin patch. I will pilfer some shots of Uncle [b]'s blog. Or you can go to the blog yourself: www.beckersblog.com. You can see the difference between weak sauce, crapped out photos and the real deal.

Nine Times

Nine times. Wake up and smell the coffee, Mrs. Bueller.

The Chiefs have beaten the Raiders nine straight times. With today's 12-10 victory in Oakland, Kansas City is now alone at the top of the AFC West standings. First place. If the season ended today, the Chiefs would be in the playoffs. Why can't the regular season end today?

I can't believe the Chiefs are in first. If you watched the HBO series "Hard Knocks," you would not have fathomed this. I put the Chiefs at 4-12, awaiting a top five pick in the draft. Amazingly, KC already has 4 wins, and own the tie-breaker against the Bolts. LJ has back-to-back 100 yard games, and the rookie wideout, Dwayne Bowe, looks legit. Of course, I am completely jinxing everything with this post. But, as of this minute the Chiefs are in first. Check the standings:

2007 NFL Regular Season Standings
AFC West

Kansas City..............................4-3

Denver Broncos.........................3-3

San Diego Chargers.....................3-3

Oakland Raiders........................2-4

But perhaps as inspiring as the first place Chiefs, is seeing Priest back on the field. After two years on the sideline, #31 has returned. His 8 yard run for a first down was clutch late in the 4th. And there is no way he went out of bounds on that play. He was tackled in bounds, and the clock should have kept running. Although Jim Nantz mentioned he looked in bounds, CBS didn't bother to show the replay. That could have come back to haunt KC, but luckily Dante showed why he is with his 3rd team in three years.

Return of the Jedi

Who cares if this is a year old? It is still exciting when the Chiefs win.

All victories are hard fought, and come with a price. When Huard threw the 58 yard completion to Bowe, I lept off the couch. But when the shoestring tackle happened, I threw my hands up in the air in disappointment. Unfortunately, the ceiling fan was going, and there was a collision. My initial thought was I broke my thumb, but it was not that serious. I rubbed some dirt on it. I am listed as probable for next week. A game time decision.

Playing with pain