Saturday, February 28, 2009

Saturday Night

Tonight was Saturday. We invited Kevin and Tanya over for dinner and games. The kids love Tanya and Kevin. Tanya is Diana's cousin. Tanya is pregnant with her and Kevin's first kid (girl). Diana had invited Kevin and Tanya over while I was in Europe and all I heard was stories about how much fun they had and how Kevin likes bubble baths.

You see, they had played "Whoonu" which is a Cranium game where you try to decide what someone likes out of the cards you have. At some point Kevin picked bubble baths over something manly. The kids must bring this up once or twice a week.

Tonight we had a yummy Pronto Pasta Bake out of the Pampered Chef cookbook. It was super yummy. I like pasta. We then brought out the games. We started with Pictureka! which is a super fun game we got for Christmas from the Devoogd's. Tanya won one round and then Kevin won the second. I should warn you that Kevin is very competitive. Kevin was very happy to win.

After Pictureka! I was going to have us go to Whoonu, but once Kevin heard about Giant Spoons, he wanted to play a game where things could get a little violent. We started playing Giant Spoons and Kevin eliminated Tanya pretty quickly. He kept stealing the spoon from her and she was out. Jordan went out next, he played good, but he was just a step slow.

Chloe was the next to go out and she was sad, but she stuck around to watch. Jordan and Tanya went down to play Skee Ball. Next Diana went out - but just barely. She had just taken a lead over me, but I came back and got rid of her. Now it was me and Kevin head to head. I had to win two in a row to win. I did it. I took him out.

On the last hand I got two aces early and I saw that he put both in his hand. When I got the third one I put it in my hand, knowing he could not get his four of a kind. I now just waited to get my four and take the spoon. The card I needed came and I was done. I grab the spoon and winner, winner, chicken dinner! It was a great time.

Next, Tanya and Diana chatted while the kids and Kevin played around and goofed off. The kids love playing with Kevin. All in all, it was a great time! Thanks for coming over Tanya and Kevin, we will invite you again soon!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Something I Already Knew

I found this little nugget of goodness today while I was surfing the net. This is a listing of favorite bands compared to average SAT score. The closer your band is to the right-hand side the better. Look at where my favorite band, Counting Crows, lands on this thing. I am a freaking genius!

Find your favorite band and see where you fall on the chart (you will have to click the picture to enlarge it).

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

How I Met Your Mother

We had some friends over for dinner the other night and got to talking about TV shows that we have been watching. These friends had never seen or heard of How I Met Your Mother (which is the funniest show on television). I could not believe it. We told them we have the first season and they can borrow it. Here are a couple scenes from How I Met Your Mother:











Legendary!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Update on Previous Sleep Items

I was not awakened last night by the person that sleeps next to me. I was jolted awake by Jordan screaming for his Dad. I get up and go into his room to ask him if he is OK. Jordan starts to talk gibberish that I cannot understand. I ask him again if he is OK and once again the gibberish starts. I just shake my head and say to myself, "One of these nights I will make it through the night."

After that I looked out the back window to see if Rachel is out there and go back to bed.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Who's in the Backyard?

Another great story where the names have been changed to protect the not so innocent.

I was sleeping last night (don't these stories always start this way?). I was awoken (not to crying), but by the person I sleep next to asking questions and being alarmed. This person was making quite a bit of noise. I asked this person who will not be named what was the matter. The reply was, "The guy and Rachel are in the backyard." Now, I don't know anyone named Rachel so I (of course) asked the question, "Who? I don't know a Rachel." The person than answers, "You know, the girl that played Rachel on Friends." You probably know that the person that plays Rachel on Friends is Jeninfer Aniston. I was pretty sure she was not in the backyard, but I ran out just to check.

No, I didn't. I said, "Not again. I can't take this tonight, good night." I quickly fell back to sleep. Once morning came around I talked to this person about the little night time adventure and they had the audacity to deny all of it! I could not believe it.

Happy Birthday!

It was Jordan's birthday last week. I never got on to wish him a happy birthday so I am doing it now. Happy birthday!

Jordan is now 11! Jordan did a lot in the past year. He went to Disneyland (for the second time). He got a lot taller, really he did. Jordan got glasses and got his braces off. Jordan started to learn percussion instruments at school. Jordan also started to progress in school and is getting a lot better in his school studies. It was a great year for Jordan!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

My Pants!

I do not want to offend anyone so I will not say any names on this quick post. Last night, while sleeping, I was awoken by someone crying. This person was not very happy. I asked what the matter was. This person said to me, "Someone is trying to steal my pants!". I said sorry and then went back to bed. It was too late to deal with that.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

25 Things

I have posted some of these before, but I added more information on each item. This came from Facebook. Have fun learning a little bit more about me.

1. When I first met my wife and her friends I had them convinced my middle name was "S". This was not for like a week or two, this was for months.
2. My Uncle Mike rigged a drawing so I could get Optimus Prime (the main Transformer) for Christmas (this happened when I was a kid). My uncle managed an Arctic Circle that was giving the toy away.
3. I created the term "ridonkulous," which is something even more than ridiculous. Ask anyone, this is true. I have been using the term for years but now I have been hearing it everywhere. Other words/phrases I have created: "Golden" (as in “I’m Golden”) which means something good has happened; "Cool Beans" which was my newest and greatest phrase, but I heard it on a TV show last week. Isn't there any creativity in Hollywood anymore? Stop following me around.
4. My first two cars were both 1989 Nissan Sentras. One was a white two door and the other was blue (with a black hood) hatchback. I wrecked the white one, my Dad borrowed the blue one the day the timing belt went out. Sucks for him.
5. I had my daughter sleep in an Easter basket for her first few months of life. Chloe was born 10 weeks early and she was very tiny. Instead of putting her in a basinet or crib, we kept her close by in a small basket.
6. I really hate chewing gum. Nothing is more poetic than in the Johnny Depp remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Willy Wonka says “Chewing gum is really gross, chewing gum I hate the most.”
7. I am the world's greatest cheese grater. I do not like to get my cheese pre-grated at the store. I do not like to have a processor grate my cheese. It must be hand-grated by me. When I grate cheese it is a glorious thing to behold.
8. I have the least read blog in the world. You can find my blog here: http://mattroblyer.blogspot.com. My blog is basically just a rundown of my days where I freely share all the stupid things that I do.
9. My favorite band is Counting Crows. I have seen them live 6 times – one was a secret show for Novell Brainshare. Some of my favorite Counting Crow music is Round Here, Baby, I’m a Big Star Now, 40 Years, Los Angeles, Kid Things, and Speedway.
10. I have had 5 great blessings in my life. They are: The day I met Diana; the day Diana became my wife; the day Chloe was born; the day Diana and I were sealed for time and all eternity; and lastly, the day Jordan was born
11. I had a college professor that HATED me. Not because I did anything, but because he had a son named Matt that he would complain about during class. He would then take out his aggression on me. I would raise my hand to comment or answer a question and he would completely ignore me. He even told me that I was going to fail his class and I should quit. This was the best B- I ever got.
12. I have seen Boyz II Men in concert. Not one of my better memories.
13. While growing up I always told people that I would never leave the good old USA, but now that I have been to Europe (for work) a couple times I cannot wait to do even more travelling.
14. I loved watching Chloe and Jordan’s face the first time they flew on a plane. When we took off they both tried to look brave, but you could tell in their minds they were thinking, “I’m flying! I’m flying! I’m flying? What the heck?”
15. My favorite TV shows ever are: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel (a Buffy spinoff), Seinfeld, Friends, LOST, How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls and 24.
16. I love my job…a lot. I have worked many places, but my current place of employment (Burton Group) is the funnest and hardest job I have ever done. I could work for hours on end…ask my wife, I have.
17. I have hit a hole in one while playing golf. It was on a 118 yard par 3 and I hit a horrible shot that rolled up to the green. When my friend and I got up to the green we thought the ball had rolled over. Only after we could not find it did we look in the hole, and there it was. Dancing ensued. I was once at South Mountain, and this time I hit a great shot and the ball rolled closer and closer to the hole. The ball stopped one rotation away from another hole in one. Maybe another day.
18. I only met and got to know some of my nearest and dearest friends within the past 3 to 4 years.
19. I bite my fingernails, I have tried to stop, but I can’t. I feel bad when I bite them, but I still do it. I guess this is my burden to bear.
20. In July of 2005 I decided to stop drinking coke. I have not drunk one since. Some days are harder than others, but mostly I feel like I could put a huge glass of coke in front of me, stick my nose right up to it and just push it away.
21. I hate camping. It is not the mountains or the outside or the sleeping on the ground, it is my allergies that just crush me while I am outside. I am allergic to grass, which really slows me down when I am outside. Mowing the lawn is horrible for me, but I still do it (reluctantly).
22. I truly believe that when you are in the service of your fellow being you are really in the service of your God. I love to serve and try to look for any opportunities to serve whenever possible. You are never forced to give of your time, it is something you must choose to do. Time is one of only a few things you can never get back and by giving of your time you show there is no greater love than helping someone in need.
23. I love sports and a couple years ago I was introduced to fantasy sports. I now participate in fantasy sports leagues for football, basketball, and baseball. Participating in fantasy sports has increased my love of viewing sports. I love going to baseball games and in the past 3 years have been to games in San Francisco and San Diego while on business trips.
24. I am extremely lucky to be married to my best friend. There is no one more important to me and no one I would rather be with. I cannot wait to grow old with her.
25. I can’t wait to see what my children grow up to be. They both have so much promise inside of them. I hope that I, as their father, can bring out the best in them and let them know that not only are they loved, but that they are capable of doing anything they put their minds to.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Thanks Sweetie!

Today, Diana got the ironing done. This might not sound like a huge feat, but it was. We had let the ironing get out of control. I do not think we had ironed anything or at least a month (we have had to do a couple one-off things). This is a big deal for me. I have my pants back.

You see, I usually wear dressier pants to work, but because the pants have been in the ironing basket I have been wearing Levis. This is just not me. It looks like this week I will be back to normal. I will probably start wearing the Levis once or twice a week though. It is just so easy.

I just wanted to post a big thank you to Diana for doing the ironing. I know that it is not fun. Laundry and ironing is the one thing that you are never done with. No matter how much laundry/ironing you do in a day you will have more that needs to be done that night (unless you are a nudist, then maybe you could truly get ALL your laundry done).

I Heart Costco

I went to Costco today. It was great. I got a bunch of stuff. There are not many stores you can buy a 4 pound bag of broccoli and 355 pieces of licorice along with a 5 pack of toothpaste. There was also many other items on my list today. I got a twelve pack of chicken broth and an eight pack of refried beans. Some of the really great stuff I got was the 42 pack of Fruit by the Foot. My kids could eat the box of Fruit by the Foot in one sitting. All together I spent almost $200. Good times.

Overall, it was an awesome Costco today. The only bad part is that I did not get anything from the food court. I would have loved a slice of pizza or a hot dog after my shopping, but Diana was making Broccoli cupcakes tonight, so I did not want to ruin my appetite.

The only bad thing about Costco is you still have to go to a regular grocery store after. There is just no way you can get everything that you need at the Costco. Believe me, I have tried. Diana and I used to say that you get too much at Costco, but we have gotten better at just making sure we use something or splitting up the food and freezing the part we don't use.

I love the Costco.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

5 for 5

If you can't tell I am trying to bring the blogging back. I have been pretty bad the past few months. For February I have now posted 5 times and it is only the 5th. I feel like my loyal readers deserve a little bit of me each day!

I have not posted on LOST yet this year, but let me tell you, I have seen all the episodes and they have been very, very good. I don't want to go all the way to great, but an hour of LOST is better than just about anything else on TV. I look forward to Wednesday nights (even though I am usually pretty busy and I go and play hoop) and I stay up as late as I need to watch the new episode.

The reason I like LOST is because I have really come to trust the writers and I will go with whatever they put out there because they have a long history of always coming through. Most times the writers come up with something 10 times better than I could have. LOST is just a great show.

I will be posting more as the year goes on!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Getting Excited

I have been working on a big vendor briefing project at work lately. When I say lately I mean for almost the past year. It seems like I have had the project on my list for ever. This Friday I have the big debut of the new process/system with our analyst team. This is the part where I get nervous about how it will be accepted. Will someone see a huge flaw in the system that I have overlooked? Will there be a revolt because of the extra responsibility?

I have been lock and step with my boss on this project, so I don't think there will be any problems. I really, really hope that there is not any problems. I cannot think of any and I have been through the process hundreds of times. I have gone through the system so many times I am sick of it.

Friday is my big presentation and then IT rolls the system live. By Monday all of the companies vendor briefings will be routed through the new system. Some of the cool new features (like you care, but it helps me write this stuff out so I will be ready on Friday):
  • Automatic routing of the briefing through the routing topic lists
  • Sales notifications
  • Synopsis for each briefing
  • Vendor can upload presentation files directly
  • Emails that contain all pertinent information
  • Reminder emails to managers
  • New overview and FAQ for vendors
I cannot wait to finish out this project and finally be done with it! Once this is done I will be finally be able to focus on my other objectives for the quarter.

Yesterday

I tried to post a couple times yesterday but I could not stay connected to Blogger. Here is what I finally saved in Word and decided I would post today:

Ticked Off

12:18 A.M.

I spent 30 minutes writing about how I finally built the last four of Diana's cube units to build her second tower/shelf in her scrap booking room. At the end of my long post about all of the cool stuff she has in rooms I clicked post and got an error. Blogger then deleted all my text and I am now way too tired to retype it all.

Just so you know, I built the 5 cubes and got them setup in the scrap booking room. I hung up the white magnet board that we have had for like six months.

Next time you are at the house, check it out.

I am going to bed. I feel like I ate a hot pocket. My back hurts.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Super Bowl Commercials

Here is my favorite Super Bowl commercial for this year.

The Teacher

Yesterday, while watching the Super Bowl, my Mom talked about how she had an assignment due in her PowerPoint class and did not know how to do it. Diana talked me into stopping by my parents and helping her out with PowerPoint (not that I am expert).

I got to the house around 5pm and we started her presentation. She needed to create a Master title slide and then a master content slide. This is pretty easy to do. You can find the instructions here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA100780111033.aspx. My Mom actually needed a little more help than that. She needed to know how to draw boxes and change fonts and move things around. One of the other things that she needed to know how to do was load her own pictures onto a slide. These things are pretty basic for me, but Diana has a point that most people need to be shown how to do these things. I have been using computers for so long I can look at an icon and know what it should do.

I spent the hour with my Mom and she said I should become a trainer. That probably would not be best as I get annoyed pretty fast when I explain things and people don't understand them. Here is an example:

I got home from my parents and Chloe says she needs math help. She shows it to me and it is the same problems that we worked on last week (order of operations with fractions). I was annoyed. It took my wife to calm me down and actually help Chloe get her math done. Diana says I do not usually teach, I just do. When I do math with the kids I grab the pencil and show them one or two problems and then let them take over. Hopefully Chloe has learned her order of operations, we have now spent two nights teaching and learning how to do them.

I think after all this work my Mom and Chloe better both get A's on their assignments or they will have me to answer to.

Science project update: We finished Jordan's science project last night. He turned it in and did his oral presentation today. I am excited to see how he did. Jordan also got a B on his Wordly Wise (English) test from last week. Way to go Jordan! Jordan is trying to get his grades up so he can go to Sacramento this summer. Good luck!