I’m back from vacation and feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Tonight we leave to San Francisco and  drive to South Lake Tahoe tomorrow morning. This was the first time i had to pack snowboard gear for two people, and actually have to worry about oversized check-in fees. Before airlines started charging for check-ins we would never worry about such things, but now its a major concern with companies charging between $20-$50 per bag. I originally picked flying Southwest for the non-fees but after going through the site, its going to cost me an additional $50 to bring aboard my snowboard case. Thankfully i was able to stuff two boards, two bindings and most of our bulky clothing into the bag and keep it under 50lbs.

The plan is for now to drive up to Tahoe on Saturday and just hang out, ride at Kirkwood on Sunday, and a morning session at Sierra before driving back to San Francisco. Tahoe was suppose to be snowing all through the week, but i guess it was lazy and is going to roll in this weekend making for some awesome skiing conditions and even worser driving conditions. Hope i remember how to put on chains.

Ever since my visit to the doctors three weeks ago, i’ve been pretty good with my diet. I’ve been eating a lot of brown rice, and fish, but the little fatty in me screamed very loudly last night for a hamburger which i haven’t had since the doctor’s visit. It didn’t help that Joy originally was the one who said that she wanted a burger. So last night we broke down and went to the Habit for a Teriiyaki/Pineapple Hamburger with an order of onion rings to go along with it. It was sooooo good, but i don’t know if it was because i was craving it, or because i was just starving. I’ve been also going into work early so that i can get off early enough to get in a mile run before eating. I’m actually down to around 140 pounds, even though i want to put on a little weight, but i guess really i want to put on a little muscle. Time to start lifting weights to go along with the cardio.

Shane celebrated a short planned 31st birthday get together on Sunday afternoon with his family, plus Joy and I. Shane’s mom made some Ba Mee, pork ribs, and Joanne made a fun-fetti cake with 31 flaming candles. She even put some 8 re-igniting candles that we actually had trouble putting out and the living room was filling with a cloud of smoke. I bought Shane his annual package of socks, since its the tradition i’ve been doing for the past eight years or so for him. Nothing like getting a fresh batch of socks.

We Are Here To Change The World

Since the death of Michael Jackson i’ve been waiting for Disneyland to re-release Captain EO because what money minding corporate entity would let this golden opportunity slip by? On Tuesday Disneyland finally opened Captain EO back in its original glory plus a little extra. The 80s were in full effect, and i really felt like i need to go buy a T&C t-shirt and maybe some LA Gear sneakers.

Last night i drove down to Cerritos after work because my mother wanted to take Joy out for her birthday and since it was the only night it wasn’t suppose to rain we thought it would be just good timing to go to the park. We got there about an hour and a half before closing (8pm) and were the one of the first to get seated to what was almost a completely packed house. People cheered when the lights went down, chuckled when MJ tried to sound tough, and i got a little teary eyed when the music started to go.

Michael Jacksons’s talking voice still king of gives me the creeps as it did when i was kid, but man his singing voice and dance moves really brought back memories. The funniest part of watching it now that i’m older is that how crazy the animation sequences and and the special effects were made back then, but how much i appreciate it more now.

Thanks to the 15 minute 3D experience i wont be seeing any of the new movies in 3D because i had such a hard time focusing with the glasses, and i think if i went to see Avatar in 3D i would be puking by the end of it.

Home made Rad Na

Since i turned 30 i figured that i should go see the doctors to get a physical and see where i stand in life. I initially thought that i would try to fake the funk and eat healthy for the two weeks leading up to the exam but at the last minute i went all out with a bit of a bacon fest the weekend before so that i could get a real time status of my health.

Overall the doctor said i was fine, but probably could use some more exercise and just to watch what i eat. Well after the blood work came back looks like i’m just like the rest of my family with the dreaded high cholesterol (not surprising). I really don’t think i eat THAT bad at a constant rate, but i guess its possible that the concentration of the fat that i ingest at times could be dangerously high. Something about cooking with bacon fat had to be the end of me. As bad as it may stand, i don’t have any regrets and i enjoyed every bite of it.

Now we’ve got plenty of frozen salmon and vegis in the refrigerator, but plenty of other foods that still need to be cooked up.  I’ll be expecting plenty of brown rice and greenies from now on, and thank goodness for Trader Joe’s microwavable brown rice, or else i would never eat it. Any other helpful suggestions would be gladly accepted.

The final surprise that i had for Joy’s birthday was a RSVP at Hatfields who recently took over the Red Pearl Kitchen location. Earlier this month i got word from twitter that they had just opened so i just on opentable.com and made rsvp for two.

They kept the big window into the kitchen, and we had front row seats to watch what all the chefs were up to.  Sometimes you forget of how much of an experience eating like this, because each course is presented so nicely, and even with just four courses (plus an amuse bouche, and extra chocolate at the end) takes two hours to finish. By the time we were done we were both pretty sleepy.

We each got the prix fixe menu so that we could sample all the choices that they were offering on their seasonal menu. Everything tasted great but the highlights of the night were the:

Pan Roasted Sea Scallops

Charred Japanese Mackerel

Horseradish Dusted Short Ribs

Keylime Pie

Three years ago you entered my life, and changed me forever. I knew from the moment of our first “hang out” that you would be special and you haven’t disappointed me once. I maybe thebest, but you will always be better than the best, i love you and my belly thanks you.

Joy’s 30 @Boulevard3 02.20.2010

Joy is creeping up on the three decade mark this week and so we celebrated with her friends on Saturday night in Hollywood. Joy and no faith in my abilities to plan her party, but i pulled in through behind her back. After a few days of checking on where to go, i booked bottle service at Boulveard3  and it turned out great. We had a big space next to the dance floor and the hosts were very attentive except for the time when i was going to buy another bottle, but ended up not getting it because they weren’t to be found. The host even said that if Joy needed to use the restroom that he would escort her if it was busy.

The place is nice and wide open and felt like a nice vegas club, and the best thing was that they served tacos for free, and had a chocolate fruit dipping table too. Nothing like being able to snack on something while getting hammers. An interesting point was that they had some go-go dancers as with most clubs, but they actually had guys dancing on stage too which i thought was actually nice because it brought a little more to the place. I didn’t know who the guy was but i guess one of the judges to “so you think can dance” also did a little diddy up on stage too.

Tuesday i have Joy’s last surprise with a dinner location to kick off her thirties.

The NBA trade deadline finally passes with a flurry of deals that ends up making the rich richer, the poor with more cap space and some surprising moves for some secondary teams. This time of year is the funnest during the regular season because it gives hopes and lets people dream of the possibility of the ultimate since Batman and Superman. I know around the office there was constant fervor about what the Lakers were going to do (trading bynum, sasha, even kobe) and what the lesser teams were going to do to clear cap space to get ready for this summer’s free agent list of LaBron, Wade, Bosh, Boozer, Amare, and plenty of other all stars hitting the open market. You have to get excited for what can be.

From Bill Simmons (@sportsguy33)

Official LBJ Sweepstakes: Cavs, Bulls, NYK (favs); Mavs, Clips (sleepers); NJ, Mia, Hou, LAL(longshots). And so it begins.