Merry Christmas Eve!

We are gearing up for a mellow Christmas Eve celebration tonight. The girls are napping, shell is whipping up some tasty grub, and I am, er....blogging.

Momma is making the girls a special dinner tonight...fried rice!!! We, on the other hand, are having fillets which I will be grilling in the rain because that is just what you have to do up here in the soggy PNW.

Mannheim is on repeat, "A Christmas Story" marathon should be starting soon, and we are anticipating the arrival of our "exclusive" guests, Uncle Corey and Bern.

I need to purge my flash card to get ready for picture snappin' this afternoon/evening, so I placed a few new pics of the kids on my flickr page. Enjoy!

I hope all of our friends, family, co-workers, and everyone else out there has a great Xmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Fesitivus, or whatever it is you plan on doing throughout the remainder of this year. Just have fun, and enjoy everyone around you and everything you have to be thankful for.

Zoinks! It's S-s-s-s-anta!!

We scored at the Kitsap Mall in the beautiful parking lot known as Silverdale, WA! We got the classic screaming with Santa picture! The twins obviously *love* Santa. Maybe next year they won't think Santa is such a creepy loser.

As for me...only a couple of days of geeking out on code left until the annual holiday shutdown. My brain needs the rest.

Hopefully I will have the time to compile all the video footage I took in China into something, like, artistic or something. That and I want to spend some quality time with my wife and kids, and the TV. I have a ton of Battlestar episodes queued up for my viewing pleasure.

The rain, gray, gloom was in full effect today, and tonight is supposed to bring us another round of evil wind, so I figured I would blog just in case we don't have power for a few days again. Stupid wind!

Power Is Cool

We had fun over the last two nights of "house camping", but it is certainly a relief that we finally have POWER!!! The juice started flowing about 20 minutes ago.

It wasn't so bad since we have a propane fireplace, range, and enough candles to start our own wax museum. The only bad part was the cold nights since the temps dropped about 15 degrees from the night of the wind/rain storm to now. Tonight is supposed to be down in the high 20s.

Anyway, three cheers for electricity!

Wind Storm

We are in the early stages of a wind storm that is supposed to be fairly nasty up here in western WA. Lights have been flickering for hours now.

Earlier I missed the ferry due to the weather (heavy rain/wind) and just like a couple of weeks prior, a Seahawks game. Thanks, NFL.

I'm hoping we have power in the morning as the strongest of the winds are due to hit after midnight. It's already windy enough so my confidence in staying electrified throughout the night is low.

Twins...in...Space!!!

Thanks to the Bray crew, our little nuggets have begun to explore the universe in their new ROCKET SHIP!! Forget Big Big World (that sloth is lazy anyway), O & V are blasting off in style now, ready for their next mission. Just a little patting power, and they're off!

That's right, they are also Little Einsteins fanatics.

Ground control to O & V. Commencing count down, engines on.

Let It Snow

It's a little slushy, but we have been having snow flurries all afternoon and into the early part of the evening. More expected on Monday, but probably minimal amounts overall.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's mighty wet up here in the PNW. In fact, it is now the wettest November on record. Awesome. Apparently it is expected to hit the mid 80s down in the land of Positive Skittles (aka uncle Greg), and aunt Debbie. We are beaming our good vibes and Thanksgiving joy to you all (including Gong Gong and Grammy R)!

We are heading over to Mip and Pip's for Thanksgiving day festivities. This marks a change in the recent past which would find us whooping it up with our close friends; a more than 10 year tradition. Well, I hope the gang is having a great day, and I'm sure we will reconnect for another "Gutchgiving" in the future.

This will be the first Thanksgiving for O & V!

And now, off to stuff ourselves with food.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family down in California, in Seattle, in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Idaho, and elsewhere!

November Rain

We've had a fair amount of rain this month. In fact, it's raining now, and a bit windy. This keeps us inside most of the time, which makes me wonder why I haven't posted since Halloween. Oh well, busy I guess.

Grammy Robinson came back to visit the kids (us too!). They were happy to see her, and so were we. Here is a cute shot of the girls and GR.

The first week of daycare went well. O & V like their new friends, and enjoy playing all day long, as well as grabbing food from the other kids.

That's all for now!

Halloween in NTW

Halloween in NTW is an event, not only for the hood, but for the entire freakin' island. You see, NTW is one of a handful of hoods where homes are close together like they are in the city. There are about 70 homes, so islanders who live on larger, more secluded lots will truck their kids in and unleash them on our hood.

This year there were roughly 250-300 kids roaming the streets in costume.

Last year, my lawn was destroyed by all the hooligans and their inability to follow the path to the the door. This year, I created a perimeter of tiki torches to help "illuminate" the path. It mostly worked, but there were still those kids who just didn't "get it" and decided to walk directly through the perimeter. Next year (per a neighbor's excellent suggestion) it's an electric fence.

Oh, we had some real winners from outside the hood this year. Some woman had the audacity to comment to her friend (while I was standing right there) that she didn't get our address numbers. They looked dyslexic to her. I turned to her and stated, "it's called 'Arts & Crafts'". She looked confused. One would think that common sense would tell you, A. A neighborhood full of only Craftsman homes is bound to have Arts & Crafts address numbers (which she obviously had no clue about), and B. Don't be an idiot and make such ignorant comments in front of the homeowner who is giving your kid free candy.

On a nice note, check out these cute kids in their kitty costumes! Vivienne and Olivia had fun making the rounds demanding candy from our neighbors. Mommy and daddy were lucky, too. At one house, we got a cocktail as our treat. Score!!

Autumn in NTW

Autumn in North Town Woods has arrived. The trees are rapidly dropping leaves, and the temps have dropped accordingly. It was cold enough yesterday that I had to empty the fountain, and cover it with trash bags, as well as cover the patio furniture. There was ice on the picnic bench! Brrr...

It's also dark here at around 5-5:30 pm. The peak will have us in the dark even earlier come winter.

I went around the hood the other day on a walk with the girls, and I thought this neighbor's tree was striking!

Baby Chucks

Along with the bitchin' Stones shirts, the girls insisted on sporting shoes just like their daddy. Since daddy is a sneaker freak, they naturally had to begin their shoe obsession with some killer All-Stars; in pink of course.

Vivienne is kickin' it here in her Chucks as she contemplates what to do with this sippy cup top.

Start Me Up

The girls were bummed that they didn't get to see the Rolling Stones when they hit Seattle the other day, so we got them these really cool Stones T-Shirts. You'll notice here that Olivia is attempting to stretch her mouth to the size of Mick Jagger's. They *totally* dig the Stones.

Fun With Boxes

The girls really like getting into boxes, and then demanding that daddy drag them around the floor as if they were driving or something. We did that with baskets while we were in China, and they obviously still enjoy it. Here is a nice shot of the girls riding in boxes sent by their generous Great Great (yes, two Greats) Uncle Carl and Aunt Sue.

The Great Pumpkin

The girls, Rachelle and I went to a pumpkin patch the other day in search of the great pumpkin. Unfortunately we didn't find it, although there was one time in my life that a couple of friends and I *did* find the great pumpkin. And...well, it wasn't with us for long, but that is a completely different story.

Anyway, we did find some good specimens to compliment the twin pumpkins that Mip and Pip brought over for the girls. Yeah, and where were our pumpkins, Mip and Pip? Heh, heh...

And yes, we did find a nice little mini pumpkin for Ophelia. We might carve it, and fill it full of catnip.

The girls seemed fascinated by the experience, and it was nice to be able to shoot over to a patch right on the island. It's nice that there is still so much rural land here. I fear it won't last for long.

Trash Sale

Man, poor Oscar the grouch. Today, we watched an episode of da street where Oscar had to make a decision whether to sell his trash or keep it. His pet elephant really needed the space to do his swing dancing, and Oscar wanted him to be happy, but sell all his trash!??! It was a tough decision...

I don't know ho it turned out, but I thought it was funny that as the story unfolded, I found myself watching alone while the kids busied themselves with throwing toys all over the house. Exciting Sunday afternoon!!

Speaking of exciting, I posted some Bay to Breakers pix from way back in 2003, just before we moved from SF to Seattle. We did this race a couple times, and it was a blast. The word "race" is merely ceremonial, btw.

Later...

More Pix on Flickr

I have been on a tear to get my older pix (2002-2004) up on my Flickr site! I have many photos to sort through, so stay tuned.

Carry on...

Joshua Tree Photos

I briefly posted back in January of this year about my solo trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Rachelle was in business meetings in Palm Springs (Indian Wells to be more precise), and I had a free day to do some adventuring.

Well, after nearly a year, I have finally processed the pix. Check them out on my Flickr site if you are interested. I think they turned out nicely.

Joshua Tree is a magical place, and I highly recommend visiting the park at the same time of year since the weather was perfect.

The China Group

Along with the red couch photo, I thought I would share a picture of our travel group. This was a really great group of folks, and we miss them already!

The Red Couch

Part of the China adoptive family tradition is to take a group photo of all the babies in your travel group. Since all American families go through Guangzhou to process the U.S. paperwork, they usually stay at the White Swan Hotel where the red couch lives.

This is our group photo.

Crazy Baby!

So I'm searching all over the net and I cannot find any reference to a show we loved while in Nanchang. It was called the "Crazy Baby!" show, and featured a wacked looking puppet (the Crazy Baby) and a dude that switched from Mandarin to English during the show, apparently as a means to teach young Chinese kids more English words.

Anyway, I really want to find some archives of the show, but I cannot find anything! It's making me a "Crazy Daddy!".

Yard is Done

I finally got the fence stained thanks to some help from gong gong. The yard is nice and finished, just in time for fall and winter to set and make it unusable. LOL!

The plants should be nice and established by the spring. I like our little perch above the green space.

Btw, sorry for the rapid fire short blog posts. I have limited cycles due to heavy duty kid time this weekend so, saying something is better than nothing.

Later...

One Leg Up

After a long morning of hanging with uncle Corey, and his folks, the dynamic duo (aka wonder twins) got to meet mip and pip for the first time. They really like mip and pip!

During the visit, Olivia decided to show off her LL Cool J "one leg up on the competition" pose. She must have gotten into my hip hop CD collection while I wasn't looking. Even the hard, gangsta stare is authentic.

Belated First Birthday

Just before grammy and gong gong (aka poppy) left for home, we celebrated a belated first birthday for the kids. They are 14 months now, but they didn't complain about having another birthday celebration.

Happy frist birthday Olivia and Vivienne!

Girls Doing Well, Parents Tired

The girls are doing great. They are full of life, crazy for food, having tons of fun, and are generally adjusting to their new life well.

We are doing fine, too, but we are TIRED! These kids are on-the-go non stop! They are so curious about everything.

They are beginning to form a few English words, including mamma, dadda, cat (much to Ophelia's dismay), and do/go. At least that's what we think they are saying!

They *really* like to rock on their rocking horse.

Anyway, time is limited. Gotta run for now.

Nice Trash

Breaking from the twins topic for a moment, I thought I would post this picture of the Valdez family trash pickup locale. This has to be one the nicest trash pickup areas I have ever seen.

Nice work Valdez. ;^)

Cheerioholics Anonymous

I think we're going to need the 12 step plan for our daughters' Cheerios addiction.

They LOVE the O's. We are now conditioned to always have a steady supply on-hand to avoid any "incidents".

It's a good thing they are cool with the plain, non-sugary variety.

Hmmm...I could even picture the twins on the cover of a Cheerios box, mouth stuffed full of O's of course.

China Pictures

Check out my Flickr site. I've added a bunch of photos from the trip.

The girls are doing awesome except for the irregular sleep schedule. This makes for tired parents. I have gotten about 12 hours of sleep in 3 days.

Jet Lag

The kids are jet-lagged, and we are too. They've had a difficult time getting some rest this last two nights. Olivia is up now, and it took about 3 hours to get Vivienne to bed.

I tried to stroller them around the hood this afternoon while Shell trekked to Target, but Viv cried until I picked her up. At least Liv sacked out within the first five minutes or carrying two kids and pushing a stroller would have been challenging.

I did managed to get my front lawn mowed this evening, and I installed another baby gate since the girls decided climbing the stairs was really fun.

Through all this craziness, the cat is being surprisingly calm.

I wish I had one of these Chinese PBRs right about now. Oh and the beer/soda cans in China all have the old skool pull tab style tops from the 1970s. Odd.

Home With the Girls

Well, after 15 days we made it home. I didn't get to blog from Hong Kong, but it was great. OK, HK is just simply amazing.

I will try to add pictures of HK plus many photos of the girls and other sites in China on my Flickr site so stay tuned.

The girls were very grumpy on the flight from HK to Tokyo, but they slept most of the way thru the flight from Tokyo to Seattle. We are all a bit jet-lagged, but feeling fine.

Our neighbors and friends had our house nicely decorated for us when we got home today (or is it tomorrow, I dunno). Thanks again to EVERYONE who helped keep our kitty, and our house functioning (i.e. my grass is still green) while we were away.

I was going to make a longer post tonight, but I am seeing double, and require additional sleep. Plus, the girls are cranky and need some attention so I must go and help mommy and Grammy Robinson put them to bed.

We had a wonderful trip overall. China is a really interesting country, and I look forward to going back when the girls are a little older.

The picture attached to this message is from the second to the last day at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

Guanzhou

We are in Guangzhou now. The city is very cool, and much more modern than Nanchang. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel. The surrounding city is full of shops, and old trees, and lots of water.

The girls got their medical checkups today. They are normal, weigh 17-18 pounds and are perfectly healthy. They didn't like the exams. :)

Every day they smile more and more, and we think they are calling us mamma and dadda, but it could just be baby talk or Mandarin. LOL!

Kids need a nap and so do I. I feel a cold coming on, so I need some rest for the city tour this afternoon.

Anyway, more later. We leave here in 3 or 4 days for Hong Kong.

Cheers,

- Chris

Crazy Storm, Crazy Flight

Just after my last post, the sky erupted and a monsoon descended upon Nanchang. Lightning was cracking everywhere, and literally at the same instant the thunder came. It was sort of scary, and a little surreal. We had a great time in Nanchang.

Our short one hour and ten minute flight felt like a five hour flight since we were split up, and little Vivienne cried and squirmed the enitre time (no joke). We got into Guangzhou late last night.

All is well.

Trouble with MSN Email

If you have tried to contact me using my MSN account (chriscastleberry69@msn.com) I have not been able to access it from here. You can use my Google mail account ( chris.castleberry@gmail.com) instead.

Oh and btw, I wanted to expand on the Walmart experience. It was like nothing I have ever seen. There was literally a sea of people in the store, and the store was HUGE! I would normally have had a bit of anxiety in that sort of situation, but I felt very calm. Odd.

Anyway, gotta get back to Rachelle and the girls.

Bye...

Nanchang With the Girls

Wow. We've been in Nanchang (Jinfeng Hotel) for a few days now, and it's been wonderful. On the first day, we had about 2-3 hours from the time we got off the plane to the moment we met Feng Chushuai and Feng Chushuang (now Olivia Chushuai and Vivienne Chushuang).

We were the first in our group to meet our babies. They looked a little older, more hair, and they cried a lot at first. They are SO BEAUTIFUL, and SO SWEET. We are in love!

Vivienne took to me and Olivia to Rachelle. For a couple of days, they would not go to the opposite parent, but that has changed. They laugh a lot, they play, babble in baby talk, and fight each other for toys, which means they are pretty normal babies.

We've seen many sights so far here in Nanchang. Nanchang is much different that Beijing. It is wild, with traffic going all ways with pedestrians bicycles and scooters zooming in between. Even though there seems like a constant state of chaos, it just works.

We have met many locals on the street, and they have all been very nice, and really happy to see our little girls with happy parents.

Rachelle found a little shop that made the girls a bracelet. While at the shop, the owner asked about the birthday of the girls. When Rachelle told her 7/20/05, she smiled and produced two small newspaper ads with their pictures taken the day they were found, 7/26/05. Amazing!

The weather here is hot, and the humidity is so bad that it feels like you are in a very large sauna. We've had some local food, and it was VERY GOOD, not like the crud they try to feed you in some Chinese restaurants in the states.

We are leaving here in about three days, and heading to Guangzhou for four days, then Hong Kong for two, and then home.

We are having a ton of fun with these kids, but it is WORK! Our travel group and some other groups here have been awesome, and so helpful. We went to the Walmart in Nanchang, and got a little carried away so our new friends had to help us carry all our baby stuff back to the bus.

All the babies in our travel group seem happy, and healthy. All are VERY adorable.

Oh, the local beer here is great, but I couldn't resist buying some PBR at the market across the street.

OK, probably forgetting something, but I need to sign off for now. I will try to blog again before we leave Nanchang, but if I don't look for a post from the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

Bye for now...

- Chris, Rachelle, Vivienne, and Olivia.

P.S. For Michael, Lynda and Aunt Tiffer, please say hello to Ophelia for us and tell her we miss her. To the new grandmas and grandpas, you are going to adore these little kids. They are loads of fun!

In Beijing, Today is the day!

We have been in Beijing for two days now enjoying the sites. We saw the
forbidden city, Tienanmen square, and the great wall. We climbed far enough up
the wall (which was difficult in the heat/humidity) to become certified heroes.

The city is huge, and very busy. The weather is HOT, and MUGGY!

We are flying to Nanchang in a few hours, and after we arrive we will meet our
babies for the first time! Hurray!

Well, it's 2 Yuan per minute, so I will cut this short. Hopefully I will find
time to blog in Nanchang.

- Chris and Rachelle

Beijing in 20+ hours

Our final evening state-side as childless adults is coming to a close. We finished a very nice bottle of Washington wine we've saved for a few years, we had a nice dinner together, and now it's time to get some rest.

We arrive in Beijing at approximately 5 pm on 8/26 (we lose a day), and after 2 days touring the sites (great wall, forbidden city, etc.) we fly to Nanchang to meet our girls.

I will try my best to blog remotely from China.

Cheers and good night.

- Chris

Autumn Is Creeping In

The chill was in the air today as I did my yard overall in preparation for our trip. It reminded me of summer in San Francisco with the persistent marine layer and cool breeze.

This hint of fall will contrast with the muggy heat that is waiting for us in mainland China on Friday. I wonder if the rain will be back when we return. If it's anything like last year I'll need to break out the rain coat and sweaters soon.

I only hope I can get the rest of the fence stained before it gets too damp.

Well, dinner is on the make and there are many things to do before we depart. Not much else to say this evening.

Remote Control Test

Testing 1, 2, 3...

Blogging from email is cool, but only if it works. This must be the tenth
time I've tried to get this to work.

I am attempting to publish remotely since I have heard that China blocks
access to the main Blogger site.

Carry on...

Countdown, 5 days...

Five days until we zoom off to the far east and become parents for the first time. I never imagined this would be the way I became a dad, but whatever. Doing things differently is fairly standard for me anyway.

I spent this last weekend preparing for the trip. I stained two more panels on my never-ending fence project. I did my usual yard work detail.

I hired a neighbor kid to do the watering while we're gone. I installed multiple kid-resistant cabinet and drawer lock thingies, and a couple of gates. The cat didn't like that so much.

I laid out my array of electronic gadgets that will be accompanying us on our journey. I watched two episodes of Battlestar Galactica, because it rules!

Rachelle is coming down with a cold. I hope she shakes it before we leave, and I hope I don't get it! I am going to O.D. on water, and vitamin C this week.

Ferry just docked. Gotta run...

Nanchang

We are meeting our girls on 8/28 in Nanchang, the capital city of the Jiangxi Provence. You can read some interesting facts about the city by following this link.

We expect to spend 7 nights here after a brief two night stay in Beijing, and followed by 4 nights in Guangzhou, 2 nights in Hong Kong.

Cool.

China Bound, Soon...

We made our flight purchases to and from China. That was a relief, and it makes it feel "for real". We also decided that we will stay a couple of nights in Hong Kong on the way back, and connect through Tokyo to home. With two girls, this should be an adventure. :)

The adventure begins in less than two weeks!

Oh, while in Tokyo, I will totally snap a picture of Godzilla if I see him, I promise.

Cuties

While we're waiting to go to China, I thought I would post another pic of the babies.

I'm hoping the disposable cameras we sent over to China will get used so we actually get some more recent pics of the girls while they are still in the country.

Back to work...

Got The CA, But....

Today we got confirmation of our American Consulate appointment in Guangzhou, for September 9th. So...this now means that we will not be traveling on 8/17, but one + week later on 8/25!

UGH! Yes, another friggin' delay. I had high hopes that maybe, just maybe, this last part of the process would happen as planned. But no, of course not. That would have been too easy.

Anyway, I am excited but still a little pissed that every single step of this process has taken longer than we were told. I mean everything!

One more week to wait to see our babies.

Sigh...

Waiting for the CA

On Friday we stopped waiting for our travel approval, and began waiting for our American Consulate appointment (CA). We were given a 2-7 business day time frame, and as of today we haven't received it. So, as always, we wait.

We are still scheduled to travel around the middle of the month, so hopefully we can remain on track.

Congrats to Rachel and Shawn

As a result of needing to travel soon for the adoption, and the backlog of tasks we need to complete before then, we were unable to attend my cousin Shawn's wedding today in California. :(

So, I wanted to acknowledge their special day and say congratulations Rachel and Shawn!!

Hopefully we will see you soon, perhaps on our next trip to Cali.

And We Have it...

Today we got notice that we have our travel approval from China!

Now, we need to wait (yes, another waiting period) a few days for the U.S. Consulate appointment in Guangzhou, but hopefully we will have that by early next week.

Tentative travel is set for 8/17 which just happens to be our 11 year anniversary (5 years married, 11 together). That will be pretty cool if we actually begin our trip on that day.

Summer in Seattle

With all this adoption stuff going on, I seem to have overlooked the fact that it is still summer in Seattle.

The Blue Angels are in town for Seafair, the ferry (where I am at this moment) is packed full of tourists, the weather is perfectly mild, and I am sipping on a brew as I type.

Summer in Seattle totally rules.

The ferry crew is announcing our arrival at Bainbridge. Time to go!

Finally, Something...

Agency now says TA is on the way. We may travel in mid August after all.

Approaching Six Weeks

Yep. We are rapidly approaching six weeks since our referral date, and still no travel approval, no word from our agency, nothing.

Not sure how 2-4 weeks turned into six or more, but then 6-9 months to referral turned into a year so I guess like everything else it is natural that this part of the process would take longer than normal, too.

The closer we get the further away it seems.

I did install the cars seats last night, so at least something is getting done.

Another Day, and No TA

So far today, I have heard about other agencies sending out travel approvals, but (surprise!) not ours.

Amazing. They said 2-4 weeks for TA. It's been FIVE+!

Ugh!

No TA Today!!

Arrrggghhh!!!!

Agency sent an email. TAs did not arrive with the referrals for July, and (as usual) no clear idea of when they *might* arrive.

So, again, another delay added to the stack.

And We're Still Waiting...

Sigh...

Referrals for the next group appear to be arriving today as expected. But where are the travel approvals for the previous group, our group!?!

Who knows? Every single step of this process has been delayed in some way, and it is totally maddening!

Back to work...

Waiting for the TA

I'm in between builds at the software gig, so I thought I would give a quick update on the adoption status. We continue to wait for our travel approval (TA) from China. We think it might come on Monday since there are plenty of rumors flying around that agencies have been getting TAs in the mail.

Once we do get the TA, then we wait some more for the U.S. Consulate appointment (CA) in Guangzhou. That wait (so we're told) should be very short. We do have our Chinese visas now, so that's one less piece of paper to worry about.

On another note, we got to meet Keenan last night. He slept, had some dinner, slept, cooed, slept, made some squeaking noises, slept, etc. He is very cute! His big sister Sadie and I read some books and played with some horses. I also got a kick out of seeing her daddy with his Daddle on. :)

I'll post as soon as we know about the TA.

Happy Birthday, Girls!

One year ago today, our twin girls were born in China to a mother they will likely never know. Six days later, they were left with the authorities. With them was only a note with their birth date of July 20, 2005.

Rachelle and I are sad that we are not with them today, but we will be soon.

We decided on their American names, so...

Happy first birthday to Olivia Chushuai Castleberry, and Vivienne Chushaung Castleberry!!

Synopsis of Last 2 weeks

I'm taking a month off to go pick up our babies, and spend some time with them, so my employer has been working me to the bone lately! This explains the lack of entries.

The backyard is finished with the exception of the water fountain. Rachelle *really* wanted a fountain, so we ordered one. Also, I need to hand-stain the deck and fence. It's taking a LONG time due to weather and work.

Our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands was great, although crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca was, er, rough. Oscar the boat dog hurled, I hurled, Rachelle nearly hurled.

We are close to traveling to see our babies, but no definite dates yet. Just applied for Chinese visas, so it should be soon, perhaps in mid August.

Cat hates the groomers with a passion, so she had to have a little anesthesia at the vet to get her annual "lion's cut". Now she is pissed at us. Hee hee...

Our friend Corey got to hang out with Ringo again, this time at the gala event for the opening of Cirque De Soleil's "Beatles, Love". Yeah, Paul *and* Yoko were there too, among others. Being the huge Beatles fan that I am, I was just a tad envious, but it's cool. Corey had a blast. At least I know Ringo's nephew. That's 1 degree of separation, and I can live with that. :)

Beyond all the above, the last 2 weeks has been consumed with adoption-related things.

Later...

Welcome Keenan

Before I cut out for the long weekend, I wanted to dedicate a special post to a new member of our human family.

Just a short time ago (~2 days), our good friends gave birth to a new baby boy, Keenan. Keenan has a big sister named Sadie.

Welcome Keenan!

Cruising in the Wind

Just before I found out we were getting twin girls, I was lucky enough to secure a couple of sweet cruisers for Rachelle and I. These bikes are *really* fun to ride! And, they look cool too!

This weekend finds the Castleberry crew sailing in the wind with the Jaded Crew. Hopefully we will find enough wind to get us to the San Juan Islands. That's the plan anyway.

Have a great 4th of July!!

Double Cute!

At long last, they (yes they!) have entered our lives! I told you today was going to be a wonderful day, but I don't think I understood how much joy I would feel when we got the news this afternoon that we are now the parents of not one but TWO beautiful baby girls!!

Please bare with me as I am typing in a state of shock. Seriously.

Their Chinese names are Chu Shuai Feng (top), and Chu Shuang Feng (bottom). This roughly translates to Cute and Double-cute. Looking at their photos you can obviously see why. :)

Chu Shuai and Chu Shuang were born on July 20th, 2005, so they will probably be just over 12 months when we meet them in China. Our prospective travel date is around mid August.

We have not yet decided if we will give them American first names, although we do have a couple picked out. I think we need to be in their presence to make that decision.

They are from the Jiang Xi Province in south eastern China, so other than Beijing, we will be spending most of our trip in the south. It will likely be HOT!

As you can imagine, Rachelle and I are excited, happy, overwhelmed with emotion, and SO ANXIOUS to bring them home soon! We are now an instant family of five, including Ophelia the cat, their older sister.

Good Day Sunshine

Sun is shining on Bainbridge today, and things are lining up nicely for us. I cannot go into too much detail, but let's just say that Monday will be an even better day!

More later...

Lady Friends

Rachelle recently let loose some lady bugs into the front garden. They buzzed around for a while, and then - in the late evening - they decided to huddle up together for the night. This shot is of one of several groups. Hopefully they will stick around for aphid season.

Buena Vista

That's where I'm at. Buena Vista, in San Francisco. Well...the Buena Vista lounge at SFO that is.

Had a good week in SF meeting with colleagues I normally only hear, or see popping up in my chat window. It was nice to see the newly acquired office digs. It makes me wonder if we would have moved back to the PNW if the acquisition would have happened 3 years ago. Hmm...maybe. We did end up owning a house out as a result of the move, so that's a positive thing.

The city was great as usual. I was able to see some friends, have some nice dinners, and experience the day-to-day SF groove in a small burst of three days. It still feels like home, but I am happy we moved.

Also this week, the rumors have been flying around the adoption circles that this month will include our referral date!! It is still a rumor, but even our mostly tight-lipped (sp?) agency has made mention of it; something they normally do not do.

If the rumor is true, we may know who our daughter is by next week or so. Exciting! If not, there's always next month.

Now, if they would just hurry up and finish the backyard so we can enjoy our very own Buena Vista of the open space behind our house.

Poppy Power!

I'm on my way to San Francisco (on the boat to Seattle right now), so I thought I would fill my spare time with a quick post. We have some mad poppies growing like weeds in our front yard. This shot shows only a fraction of them.

I don't know if I've ever seen this many poppies, even in California. Enjoy...

S Car Go

Yes, I know...many moons have passed since my last post.

Anyway, Wednesday evening we hooked up with our best pal Corey in Seattle, and his friend Brian. We had a great time sampling a variety of French small plates at a place called Lark on 12th Ave. It was a very leisurely dinner (3 hours), and we sampled some "interesting" things.

We tried a little escargot, rabbit, various cheeses, foie gras, and other stuff I cannot recall. It was yummy. I recommend Lark for any Seattle area crew reading this blog.

Done Venting

Ok, perhaps I may have been a little harsh in my assessment of neighbors. Generally, our close in neighbors here are great people, and we have good relations with all of them. In fact, our side of the hood is really nice because everyone seems content with everyone else.

There are people scattered around the hood that make it their business to be concerned about what the rest of us do, and they also think they know what's best for all of us.

To them I say, get a life...

Control

So, our new neighbors are having a baby tomorrow (scheduled c-section), and as a way to show our kindness as neighborinos, my lovely wife offered to organize bringing them dinner for a week or so after their daughter joins their family. They were humbled, as I would certainly be.

This was all going great until some other neighbors (who they have met once) informed them they were doing the same for them. Great! Right?

Sure, it is nice and all, but here is the rub...

My lovely wife was subtly informed by the other neighbor that there is a group of "moms" that handle this sort of thing around here, and that she need not be concerned about it, but thanks for the thought.

Maybe you're wondering what the big deal is?

Well, the problem is that it's fairly well-known that we are adopting (due to fertility problems), so the statement about the "group of moms" is *highly* offensive. The other thing is that perhaps these "moms" should have consulted with neighbors that actually live nearby, instead of assuming that they control all events related to new babies, as they claim.

To make a long story short, like the *concern* about what we are doing in our backyard, there is a fair amount of extremely odd controlling behavior being exhibited by people around here who have too much time on their hands.

Pathetic...

Progress! Yeah, but...

As you can see, there has been some significant progress on our backyard tear-down/re-do. Our fine friends at L&J&R are putting in some work and making things happen!

This is all great, right?

For us, it is great. Yes, it is. However, as usually goes in our hood, there has been "talk" about what *we* are *doing*.

My real feelings about it...who gives a F^&$!!?!!

What this really shows you though is how truly pathetic the burbs can be when people fret over a few weeds getting smashed while my yard is redone, or the fact that we are doing something *different*.

Thinking back to my youth, I seem to recall a similar phenomenon. I was a punk rocker, my hair looked different, etc. The *normal* people (jocks, cheerleaders, future frat/sorority folks) were aghast!! How could you do what other people aren't doing, how could you infringe on my world with your original ideas??

My friends, this sort of mentality prevails in so-called mature adults.

Snap!

I mentioned in an earlier post about a critter that decided to take up residence in my Rover.

Well, the story is, I had a Power Bar in the glove box left by the previous owner (currently on safari in Africa). I was too lazy to remove it, and while the painters were hanging around, the Rover slept in the garage for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, a little rodent decided to help him/herself to the Power Bar, much to Rachelle's shock and awe when I asked her to retrieve the tire gauge from the glove box!

So, I cleaned the Rover real nice, and then we installed a sonic rodent annoyance thingy in the garage in addition to a couple of peanut butter laden "traps".

Two days later, SNAP!!!

R.I.P. my little rodent friend.

Gone With The Chin...

While on our visit to the Magic Kingdom, a short jaunt to "little Hollywood" revealed an exhibit dedicated to my friend "The Chin".

I wonder if "The Chin" knows about this? Hmmmm....

Is That an African or European Swallow?

I don't know, but the &$^(*#( is trying to nest in my dryer vent!!

Yeah, nature is taking over here at the Castleberry compound. It feels like Animal Farm or something. First we had the killdeer nesting off our backyard (they hatched and then they were Audi 5000), the coyotes cruising down the street, the deer eating our heather, etc. Hmmmm...the "Deer in the Heather...". Wasn't that a Sonic Youth song?

Nah! I think they were singing about a bull or something.

Oh, and there is always our friend the pheasant and his woman. And did I mention the little critters that decided to take up residence in my Rover? Yeah, let's just say they might get "trapped" in there soon.

Magic Kingdom

OK, so I am posting a bit out of order here, but this is just how the thoughts are flowing at the moment.

Just under two weeks ago, Rachelle and I went on a mini-vacation/biznazz trip to SoCal. Shell had some meetings with Disney peoples regarding risk management, and stuff. This resulted in us having a few days to tour the parks (yes, there are two now!), and to meet up with the G-Man and Miss Debbie.

Along with our tour of the Disney parks, Shell and I were treated to a nice little backstage tour of the Old Skool Disney park. We got to cut in line at Space Mountain, and we had the opportunity to see the preparation for the daily main street parade. Pretty cool stuff, and apparently a rare opportunity.

We enjoyed our time at both parks, including this nice shot with the "C" of the California Adventure Park. If you are ever there, check out Soaring over California!

I Can Dig it, She Can Dig it....

Painting was completed Sunday evening, and then it's on to the backyard re-do!!

We came home this evening to find our landscaping artist, Luis tearing the *&%$ out of our backyard!! It was in the plan, so, that's cool.

Anyway, Luis and his trusty sidekick (name unknown) were hard at work carving a base for our new retaining wall, and puttin' the hurt on our former aggregate patio (see the left side of this photo). That's Shell workin' the Bobcat there; a real natural.

According to Luis, he will first destroy and then rebuild our backyard into masterpiece (thanks to the plans designed by a Mr. Goss). To Luis, I am Christ (pronounced Creest), and that's OK.

Hopefully, in a matter of a month or two we will have a beautiful (and usable) backyard.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

Just as Kermit the Frog used to say, being green ain't easy.

Now you're asking yourself, "Self, wtf does that have to do with the picture of this house?". Allow me to answer this for you...

The trim on our 2 year old house was looking like grated cheese, so we decided to paint the whole thing. Cool, right? Yeah, well...I chose some colors I thought would look killer, and that's where the trouble started.

One of the colors I picked was supposed to be a nice maroon, but instead it ended up looking PURPLE on the side of our house!!! The neighbors cringed, the birds flew away, we (OK, I) FREAKED!!

After a short period of WTF are we going to do, we bit the bullet and augmented the color scheme. Then the neighborhood association balked at the fact that we changed our "approved" colors. Yeah, it's that kind of hood. You think they care about that crap in Compton? Hell nah!!!

So, to make this long story shorter, we went with the new scheme, and now (after 3 weeks) it is DONE!!!

The backyard chaos began today, but I'll save that for a separate post.

Time

Bottom line...I need more of it.

I have several posts queued up in my head, but I barely have the time to write this one. I am currently working as I type (waiting for some source code to build on my Seattle machines), and listenting to the TV in the background.

Once I locate some extra cycles (aka time) I will post about our recent trip to the Magic Kingdom, our house painting project (no, they are not quite finished), my *evil* speech class, my new snare drum (it really was a special find!), our neighbor's unfortunate surprise this morning, and our next project, the back yard re-do.

I have some other things to blog about too...Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Don't worry, you'll understand that reference later.

Later,

- Chris

Filler

Don't have much to say tonight, but I do have a lot of home improvement projects going on at the moment so I will be unveiling our new house colors soon. Also, the house painting experience warrants its own separate series of entries which I will compose soon.

In the meantime, here's a nice filler pic we took over at the Valdez residence this evening. The Valdez are our super cool neighborinos from around the way (awww yeah!).

This here is our NTW gangsta pose.

Muti-Tasking

This has been a week of multi-tasking for me. I've been at home the majority of the week doing my day job from a laptop and driving machines, running multiple platforms, in my Seattle office, all while dealing with house painters and a landscape architect who has been designing our new backyard plan (current yard sux!).

The irony is, I have accomplished more at work this week than I normally do, although that could be due to the heat being turned up on the project I am assigned to. That always has a way of making things "happen".

Work is done for the day, so now it's off to complete another task...drink a glass of wine!

Power Bizaay!

I have been silent here lately, but it's merely the result of being busy with things.

I've been busy piecing my prized Ludwig back together (which btw, I am making excellent progress!), working (what's new), getting big projects done around the house (or, rather, hiring people to do it), and just existing (which can be time consuming!).

So, not much else to share, other than the adoption is still rolling along. We should have more info this week regarding how much further along we are. Referral in May, maybe June, I dunno. Either way, we are getting closer to knowing who our daughter is.

Anyway, need to get back to work!

Bye...

Play Ball!

Yes, that's right, I won my first eBay auction today! My prize was a nice pair of vintage 1960's baseball bat internal tone control mufflers that fit perfectly into my Ludwig toms.

In my last post I had mentioned that my toms were sad because some fool (the previous owner) had removed the mufflers at some point in the past when it was fashionable to do so.

Well my friends, today my 41 year old toms were fitted with correct mufflers in nearly mint condition. They are happy, I am happy.

Now the hunt is on for a matching snare. After a foolish loss of a same year gold sparkle snare 2 weeks ago, I have spotted an early 1960's model that I hope to snag.

Anyway, keep it real, peace out, Audi 5000...

Control That Tone

Grrr....(that is the sound of frustration).

I have been trying unsuccessfully to locate a coupld of vintage Ludwig internal tone control mufflers to replace those missing from my beloved kit. All the drum shops I know about (even the best shop in the west, Sam Adato's in SF) don't have any, and so I have been reduced to trolling for them on eBay. I have even sent a message to a collector in the UK, hoping he may have some lying around.

Well, it seems these things are extremely rare and terribly popular. The irony here is that in the 1970's drummers couldn't remove and trash these items fast enough. Hence why they are missing from my 1965 drum set. Perhaps I should begin searching landfills?

Anyway, I have lost a few auctions, and now have my bid in on a pair that ends tomorrow, so we'll see if I finally get lucky.

Delays, Delays, Delays...

Sigh...

The CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has decided that the cutoff for referrals for this month is May 30th, 2005 LID (those who's documents were logged in by May 30th). Imagine my fist in the air, and a scowl on my face (same for Rachelle).

So...what that means for us is that our referral (late June 2005 LID) will probably come in late May (if we are extremely lucky), or in June. It could be even later, but I'm feeling optimistic. In a word, this SUCKS!

However, we still have a lot to do before becoming first-time parents, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I mean, everyone tells me I should play my drums more now since I won't be able to play them at all when the baby comes. Yeah...right. That kid is going to be exposed to loud music the same way I was, which (IMO) is a good thing. ;)

Alice's Restaurant

On Tuesday evening, we cashed in on some tickets given to us by friends to go see Arlo Guthrie. I know what you're thinking, "Arlo Guthrie? From the '60s, Alice's Restaurant, folk singer? Is he still around? Do you even know who he is?". Yeah, so we may not have "been there" when the magic of the 1960's happened (technically I was for 7 months of it), but we certainly remembered his music ( I did anyway :) ).

Anyway, it was pretty cool. The guy is a hilarious, old hippy, and a great musician and song writer. He even threw in a couple of excellent Bob Dillon covers before descending into the 17+ minute classic he is most well-known for.

I consider it one of those once-in-a-lifetime shows, kind of like when I saw Bauhaus recently, although it seems they are back on the money train (er, touring again).

Matching Room!

Just a quick update on the adoption front. We recently entered what is known as the "Matching Room"! This is the final step before we receive the referral documents with all of the child's information. We expect to get the referral in either April or May, and then a few weeks later we go to China to bring her home!

So Long to Good Mornings

Bainbridge/Seattle ferry riders had to face up to the end of an era today, the era of the customary "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning, ...".

Bill, affectionately known as the "Good Morning Guy", has decided to retire after 15 years with the ferry service.

For Rachelle and I, it was a great 2 year stretch of being greeted by the always positive and cheery "Good Morning!" when we arrived in Seattle to start our work day.

We looked forward to seeing Bill, both of us wondering how he would dish out his friendly blessings on "this" day. You see, Bill didn't just say "Good Morning" every day, he delivered it by sprinkling a "Good Morning" here, or casting a "Good Morning" there, and even at times zapping you with a "Good Morning". His hand gestures were just as important and meaningful to the experience as were the words themselves.

On the way home this evening, we were lucky enough to see Bill and shake his hand one last time as we boarded the boat home. He was at the Seattle terminal dressed all dapper in a nice grey suit, obviously off to some sort of retirement party. As the boat was about to depart, Bill came aboard to spontaneous applause which got him and the rest of us a little choked up.

It is the simple, sweet gestures such as his that make the day-to-day grind tolerable, and really make you appreciate how genuinely nice some people can be. Bill is the real deal, and we all hope the future brings many more "Good Mornings" to him. Thanks to Bill, we have had some great mornings, and I'm sure every regular or irregular Bainbridge ferry passenger will miss him as much as Rachelle and I will and already do.

Good luck, Bill!

New Drum Heads

Ahh...the new drum heads arrived today!

Goldy (that's her name) was pleased that I fitted her with some sweet new skins (all white coated and old skool, of course). The front head on the bass drum was especially gratifying to install. It really gives the drums a classy look. Afterall, they are 41 years old this year.

Hmm...it's only 8:35 pm. I wonder if my neighbors would mind if I took them for a little test drive? Heh, heh...

Trying Another Auto-Update Option...

OK. I added a new link that *should* provide you with an easy method of tracking updates to my blog (see "Click to subscribe for email updates" to the left). You need to follow the link, enter my blog address http://ccastleb.blogspot.com, submit and then enter your email address.

Good luck! :)

Sometimes Technology Just SUCKS!

I thought it would be realy convenient to provide a nice, simple subscription service to my friends and family to be able to easily receive email when I made posts to my blog. I mean, we are in the 21st century, right?

Well, I found only one service that came up in a Google search that offered this. And, behold, their service is horribly flawed with bogus errors.

Sometimes, technology just friggin' SUCKS!!!

Sorry friends. Hopefully I will come up with a useful solution soon. Stay tuned.

Sparkle Gold!

At long last, the treasured sparkle gold Ludwig drum kit has emerged from a 3 year slumber. I put the drums in a box when we left San Francisco, and kept telling myself I would get them out and play them as soon as I had the proper space to do so. Being a bit of a procrastinator, that took about 3 years!

My inspiration was a Saturday afternoon jam session at my neighbors house. Their kids were making a bunch of racket with drums, guitars, and keyboards, when I thought to myself, "Self, if the kids can make noise, so can I!". So, I started unpacking them, much to Rachelle's surprise.

We made room in the den, and they seem to be right at home. I ordered a set of new drum heads, and re-sprayed the bass drum hoops which had suffered from several shows I drug them to when I was an aspiring rock star.

So now, here they are (see attached photo)!

I got curious and did some research on the age of the kit. My findings were that the kit itself (toms and bass drum) were made in 1965, and the snare drum was made in 1964. For context, I was made in 1969 (technically 1968).

Although I have gone through phases in my life where I get disconnected from my art, I always manage to come back to it! I'll post another pic of the kit when I install my new heads.

Carry on...

Supergrass!

Rachelle and I went into Seattle last night to see one of my favorite bands, Supergrass, from the UK. They are one of those bands (like the Beatles) that I never grow tired of listening to. We have attempted to see Supergrass in the past, twice in San Francisco, but they were always sold out the day the tickets went on sale. This time, we got lucky and found tickets at the Showbox!

Pre-show, we enjoyed a meat-fest at a Brazilian restaurant on first avenue. The format was simple. They bring giant skewers of various meats to your table and you can either take a piece or pass until the next selection. I think I got my fill of meat for a while!

We were surprised by the opening act, a little known band from Texas called Pilot Drift. Their music was really interesting, with influences ranging anywhere from Queen, to Radiohead, the Jellyfish, and even Supergrass. Maybe that's why they were chosen to tour with the band?

They were very talented musicians, and I'm glad we got their early enough to see their set. It was worth it, and we bought their CD, which I do not normally do. Pilot Drift also has a killer Web site.

Supergrass put on a fantastic show, although it did start out a little slow/mellow. Nevertheless, they rocked, and I was thoroughly impressed with Gaz's ability to sing as well live as he does on record. I am always pleased when a band can pull off a live show that rivals or even exceeds the intensity of their studio recordings. I would gladly pay to see them again.

As you can see, we also had some fun in the photo booth they have at the Showbox.

The only downer of the night was having to wait forever for the ferry at 12:45 (we got there at midnight). But hey, that's what we get for living on an island!

The Demise of the Spike

So, as I was riding high on the news of my friend "The Chin" returning home safely, I ran across some disturbing news. One of my favorite family style, dive, Italian restaurant/bars in San Francisco had closed, only days after I had strolled by it thinking,"I should really stop in for some good down home Italian grub!".

I mean, this wasn't just *any* Italian restaurant; this place had existed in the same location for 86 years!! On top of that, it had red checkered table cloths, and the most basic Italian fare you could find in San Francisco (IMO anyway). When Rachelle and I lived in SF (especially when we lived in Russian Hill), I would drag her there more often than she liked.

There was one night that Rachelle, Greg and I went to the Spike (by my request of course). We got there a bit late, just before closing, and although they decided to seat us, they had run out of garlic bread. Rachelle and Greg were both shocked that an Italian joint could be out of garlic bread! I, on the other hand, attributed it to the fact that it was just the Spike, and that sometimes things didn't work out like those "fancy" restaurants we usually ate at.

The food wasn't great, but the atmosphere was unique; only in places such as the Gold Spike could you find that "been here forever, never going away" feel.

Well, I am sad to say that the Spike was laid to rest as of Monday February 20, 2006. I walked by the place just a little over a week prior, and I had no clue that a place like the Spike would vanish over a "landlord dispute".

Farewell Gold Spike! I hope your former space isn't turned into a yuppie bar, or a chain restaurant.

Return of the Chin!

I was pleased to hear that my good friend (we'll call him "The Chin") has returned safely from a third deployment into dangerous territory. The Chin and I go WAAAAAY back, like 20+ years.

Although I haven't seen The Chin in a couple of years, we have always managed to stay in close contact over email, and instant messenger, regardless of our individual locations on the globe. This is a testament to true friendship, or as an old Algebra teacher once called it "friendsheeeeep".

It's good to know the Chin is now home with his family, where any good Chin belongs.

Welcome home, Chin!

Buggin and Chillin!

Work piled up on me during my conference/hanging out in in San Francisco over the weekend (which btw, was really nice). This last week, I spent 99% of my days dealing with software bugs. Bugs suck.

By the way, it has been hella cold in Seattle this week; sunny, but brrrrrr cold! This weekend should be nice though, despite the chill. I guess I will literally be chillin' at home.

Oh, and after a nice conversation with a fellow islander on the ferry about the positive aspects of island life, I don't want to move back to San Francisco today! Living here is really nice, and I sometimes forget why. I think it has something to do with crummy winters.

Home For the Weekend

After a week in SJ working and socializing with my colleagues who I usually interface with over instant messenger, I end the week with a trip to the city Shell and I love and miss. Don't get me wrong, I really love Bainbridge Island, but San Francisco is home. Not home, like home town home, but home in a different sense.

Anyway, it's been a while since I've visited, so it's nice to be back even for a short three day stretch.

We got a room at the W Hotel, with a great view (see attached photo), and have a nice dinner planned at one of our favorite North Beach restaurants.

Well, Shell has just arrived and the city beckons, so I'm outta here for now...

Sun and the Silicon Rally

After suffering through a wind and rain storm last Saturday, which resulted in no power all day, I spent Sunday preparing for my trip to San Jose to meet with my fellow engineering colleagues at my company's annual technology rally.

The weather on Bainbridge went from grey, cold, windy (60 mph gusts), and down-right nasty to mild, and sunny. Sunny enough that I was able to mow my lawn for the first time in 6 months, and also wash the car. Washing a car in the PNW usually means you expect good weather for at least 2 consecutive days! I think this entire week is predicted to be a nice one in the Seattle area, but...

Now I am in SJ, missing Rachelle (naturally), and trying to wind down from the first of several days of tech talk. The weather here is fine, so that's good.

After my week long nerd-fest, it's off to SF for a couple of days of fun. Lucky for me, Rachelle is meeting me there!!

One Step Closer...

Just before we checked out of our hotel in Palm Springs, we got an email from the adoption agency stating that our group (June 2005) has cleared the documentation review process in China. This means that the next step is being matched with a child. Based on this news, we expect to have our referral (documentaiton, pictures, etc.) in either April or May. Once we have the referral, it's only a matter of ~ 4-8 weeks until we travel to China to meet our daughter.

We are one step closer to her...

Joshua Tree is Amazing!

I spent this morning/afternoon driving through Joshua Tree National Park, and all I can say is WOW! This must be one of the most pristine places on the planet. Some of the scenery took my breath away; ok most of it did!!

My drive was solo since Rachelle had more insurance business to attend to today, but I totally wish she could have been there in person to see the expansive beauty of the park. What should have taken me only a few hours ended up stretching out to about seven hours since I had to stop every mile or so to take it all in.

Naturally, there were a lot of Joshua Trees, but I also saw some interesting and colorful scrub grasses, other strange trees and the most interesting cholla cactus. I also came across kangaroo rats, birds of prey, and Jackrabbits at every turn. I didn't encounter any reptiles, but that was probably due to the chilly temperatures. It was quite windy and in the high 50s in the park, which lies at about 3500 feet above sea level (I think).

Aside from the beautiful, and varied landscape, I was impressed by the deep blue sky, and pollution free air. A few times, I hiked off the road a bit and ended up in a world of my own, where all I could hear was the wind, and an occasional unidentified wild-life noise. Standing in nearly complete silence in such an environment was humbling.

Anyhoo, it's back to the soggy (but equally as beautiful) Pacific Northwest tomorrow. I have enjoyed my brief stay in the land of perpetual sun, and hope to return soon.

The attached picture is one of many excellent pix I snapped on my journey. The conditions were perfect.

Old Hollywood Hangout

We had an interesting night on Monday. We went to an event put on by one of the large insurance brokers attending the conference that Rachelle is here for. Remember, I am just along for the ride, and the sun.

The social aspect of the event was not much to write home about since I don't know much about corporate insurance, which tends keeps the conversations to a minimum. When I explain that I am a software engineer here with my wife, they usually utter something like, "Ahhh...computers, interesting."

What I found fascinating about the event was the venue. We were bused to the La Quinta Resort, which used to be a regular haunt of some of Hollywood's most memorable stars. I'm talking about the classic folks, like Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Katherine Hepburn, Eddie Cantor, Greta Garbo, and Shirley Temple.

We were greeted by a Sinatra look-alike, and treated to some 1940s era music delivered by a live big band. Well, they weren't that big, but that was the genre of music they played, although they did slip in a Steely Dan song. Frank even got into the action with a rendition of "New York, New York". I don't think the insurance folks were paying much attention to the music. After all, this event was really an opportunity for the host company to mingle with clients, and talk business.

I enjoyed the opportunity to visit an historical place I probably would never have seen was it not for the insurance industry, and Rachelle's involvement in it.

Anyway, the picture attached to this post was taken from our hotel room at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa.

It's Sonny Here!

Ahhh...there's nothing quite as nice as a cool breeze, sunshine, and the absence of rain. We made it to Palm Springs, and like Florda last year, it feels strange to be sitting around in shorts and a T-shirt in January; strange, but good!

Took a nice tram ride to 8500 feet above sea level, which gave us a nice view of the desert below. It was a bit chilly at the top of the San Jacinto mountains, and there were several patches of snow on the ground. We didn't stay up there long because our main objective for being here is to be warm. I can hang out in 45 degree weather at home anytime.

The landscape here is (naturally) arid, with nothing much on the ground but rocks, scrub, and sand. There are mountains all around since Palm Springs lies in the coachella valley. I haven't gotten any great desert shots yet, but I did have Rachelle snap this picture with me hangin' with the former mayor in downtown Palm Springs.

Rachelle has business to deal with this week, so I am contemplating a solo ride to Josua Tree in the next day or two. Maybe I'll get a few good shots of cacti.

Right now, I'm kicking back in a cabana (with wireless internet, of course), and enjoying the weather. I believe the forecast in Seattle is still rain, but here it seems to be perpetually Sonny!

Flu, Grey Skies, Desert...

Wednesday evening, I had a temperature of 100 degrees F. The evil flu had finally caught up with me, and I began to regret passing up the flu shot back in November. I spent most of the following day sleeping, which seemed to help. I don't feel so bad today, and that is a good thing because I was a little worried I was going to be stuck at home, alone under grey skies while Rachelle was on a biznazz trip to a much warmer, sunnier, drier place.

That's right, the Northwest has been hella grey this year, and we have had our fair share of rain. The forecast for the next week is more of the same...rain. Oh, and it has not exactly been warm either. Take a look at this picture of the Space Needle I took 2 years ago. The sky looks like that right now, and has for nearly 2 months. Sure, we've had a few semi-clear days in between, but not quite as many as last winter.

No worries though. This afternoon, we are heading for a place where the climate is a complete 180 of the Seattle area. That's (insert expletive) right, we are heading for the desert!! Palm Springs, here we come!

I will be taking along my trusty 35 mm, and my laptop, and I hope to post a few pictures on my Flickr page while we're there.

Later,

- Chris

Rollin' on Twenty Fo's

Life seems to be getting more complicated every year. I mean, between a demanding software engineering job, part-time school, and keeping up with the latest gadget du jour, I sometimes feel exhausted!

I was thinking today that I really needed to finish processing the 3500+ digital photos I have taken of various people, places, and things over the last few years. I was also wondering when I was going to find the time to get back to converting my vinyl collection to digital, so I can put my scratchy records on my iPod Photo, or maybe even my iPod shuffle (both gifts for working a lot at the software job). Then, I was wondering when I was going to find the time to get familiar with the video camera I got for my birthday as a means to document our soon-to-be child's every step.

I recently gave up on creating my own custom Web site in favor of this and other ready-made solutions for blogging and posting photos, so that's out of the way!

Sigh...

Sure it seems like whining from some poor, yuppie, geek with too much access to good technology, but I think most of us are in the same boat these days. Too much information, too many choices, and the same limited number of hours in a day.

And, there is a child waiting for us in China. What am I going to do when she comes!?! I guess I'll figure that part out when I need to.

Anyway, there are those times when I feel like a simpler life could be better. I start thinking back to those days when (as a teenager/young adult) I was mostly concerned about driving around aimlessly with my pals, blasting what is now considered "old skool" rap, and just laughing about really ridiculous stuff. Those days will never return, but it is good to reflect on them and it makes me laugh when I think about it, so that in itself reduces the stress and pace of my modern existence.

Oh, and speaking of laughing, just like the guy in this picture, if we had 24 inch rims back in 1986, I am positive they would have been installed on one of our cars. So, when I'm feeling overwhelmed with the multitude of daily tasks, I imagine myself rollin' on twenty Fo's!

Tired...

It's late, I'm tired, the Seahawks won the NFC Championship game today, here is a squirrel sniffing another squirrel's butt in Yosemite, and Rachelle is probably wondering why I have been sitting in front of the computer since dinner.

G'night...Zzzzzzzzzz.....

A Boost!

Rachelle and I have been getting a little anxious about how long it has been taking to finalize the adoption of our first child. As most of our friends and family know, we have been on this journey for a while now, and in the last couple of months it has felt like it is never going to happen. Of course, we know it will, but it has felt like an eternity.

Lucky for us, we got the boost we needed on Saturday. We attended a dinner a neighbor's house who had invited a few families (friends of theirs) over to meet us. These families had all adopted children from China in the last several years, and this would be our first contact with other folks who have made the same journey we are about to make.

The dinner was great, the company was thoughtful, and they shared many interesting stories with us about their experiences in China and with adoption in general. The stories were very sincere, none of them sugar-coated, and they (the families) all seemed eager to share as much info as possible with us. It was great!

The best part (naturally) was meeting the children. They were all girls ranging in age from 5-7 (I think), and they were adorable, sweet natured, and were obviously fond of their American parents.

Seeing these children inspired us to keep moving forward to our destiny with the little angel we will be privileged enough to meet in the coming months. Of course she will be a teenager some day, so I reserve the right to revoke my "little angel" comment at a later date. :)

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The primary purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts and daily life with friends and family, near and far.

Cheers,

- Chris