Veterans Day

I have the day off while Maria is slaving away at the office. One perk of working for the City is that we get every holiday off (minus Columbus Day). It is strange to be sitting home on a Tuesday but someone has to do it.

I'm doing my part to help honor the memory of those who have served in our military. I have been watching The History Channel and The Military Channel since around 11 am. There have been some pretty good shows especially Shootout on The History Channel.

In all seriousness I do appreciate those who help keep our country safe. For 8 years my pops served in the Army and during those years we spent lots of time on military bases. It's a tough life with lots of hazards and challenges.

Trail Running

Since we moved a couple of years ago I've haven't bothered to look for some nearby off-road running trails. So on Friday I did a yahoo search to locate local trail runs and I came across the website for a local running club. Sunday mornings they have a standing run at one of the Irvine trails. So this morning I showed up to see what this group was about. Unfortunately there weren't too many members b/c the day before they had a longer trail run. So Tom and I did a few laps around the trail loop which lasted less than an hour. Little did I know that he was going to take a photo of me to add it to their website. Check it out: http://www.octrailrunners.org/news.html

I guess this means that I'm now a member.

1st Week Back

This is the end of my first week back after being out of town most of October. Although it was a short work week for me, it was a tough transition back to the working world. On my first morning back I even blanked out on my morning routine and what time I had to be at work. Here's a quick summary of our time away.

First, we were in Hotlanta for a professional conference. ATL is an interesting urban city with a southern hospitality twist. There wasn't too much to do within the downtown area but we did manage to see some of the sites: Coke World, CNN building, The Olympic Park, and the ATL Aquarium. Our hotel was within walking distance of these attractions and on the first day I toured the city by myself as Maria had some meetings she had to attend. It rained on me and unfortunately I didn't have an umbrella or rain jacket. So as I was walking back to the hotel from the CNN building I was escorted by a local homeless man who was so kind as to put his umbrella over me. With a little hesitation I let him escort me the four blocks to the hotel. As we walked he asked me questions about where I was from and if I was religious. Little did I know that he was a religious homeless person that walked around with a mini-bible in his back pocket. As we were within a few feet of the hotel I thought I heard him mutter, "will you pay me," with which I replied that I would give him a couple of dollars. He then corrected me and asked again, "will you pray for me?" At that point I was a little stunned and I told him that I would gladly say a couple of words for him the next time I prayed. Instead he insisted that I pray for him at that very second, standing on the sidewalk, and right in front of the hotel lobby. With some hesitation I finally agreed to pray for him and then he proceeded to bow his head. I said a few words for him as cars passed us along the street. Let's just say it was a very interesting moment of my life.

For our vacation we headed to the Motherland (Mexico) to visit our families. It had been several years that both Maria and I had gone to visit. We first arrived in Guadalajara and from there we were able to visit my side of the family that lives in Leon and Lagos De Moreno. Although, most of our time was spent catching up with our aunts, uncles and cousins, we did manage to do some tourist activities. We were able to make it to historic Guanajuato with it's colonial charm, visit some museums and government buildings in Guadalajara, watch a lucha libre show (Mexican wrestling) and some round pyramids outside of Guadalajara. I did manage to hog down on some delicious Mexican sweets, pastries and cuisine. As with most hospitable Mexican families, most relatives prepared special meals to welcome us to their homes. In addition, we were able to eat some delicious street food such as tacos, tortas, churros and potato chips with hot sauce. Luckily I didn't gain 20 pounds while I was away.

Now that we're back it's time to catch up with work and start looking forward to the Holidays. Our next focus is to focus on my favorite holiday of the year--- Thanksgiving.