Finally Grown Up

Tonight on the internet, I saw that the planet Mars could be seen next to the moon. I went outside with my daughter Jane to look for Mars. At first, I could not find it but I finally did! I got my other daughters out of bed so they could see Mars. It was pretty cool! Eliza was afraid that Mars would fall out of the sky. Emma wanted to go back out to see it but Eliza was afraid to go back outside. I can see why Emma was excited because she loves Science. She did get a 97% in Science this past quarter. She wants to be a Science teacher. Jane yelled the words MOON MOON MOON over and over again. She kept pointing to the sky even after we were in the house. It was fun to see my kids have alot of joy in seeing Mars.

I decided to type my name into google. This is what I found.

There is a Richard Stanley who is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Richard teaches Math. Every week, I am helping my daughter Emma with her math. She is currently working on decimals and fractions. I can barely help her with math. So, I guess this Richard Stanley is NOT me. I am working on being a teacher so I do have something in common with him.

Richard Stanley is the award-winning South African-born filmmaker who made a name for himself with his first feature film, the sci-fi movie Hardware -a low budjet movie about a mad-dog android loose in an apartment. Critics slammed it but it made a fortune! ( I guess it's never too late to start another profession even though I haven't started one yet! I am sure my wife would want me go to schhol for a few more years to get a degree in film...NOT).

Richard Stanley is a realtor. I wouldn't even consider this type of job.

I guess being married for 10 years, father of 3 beautiful daughters, and going to school for 10 years does not deserve a google spot but I would not change anything. Maybe, going to school for 10 years!

When we were on vacation, we thought about going whale watching. If we stayed another day, we might have went whale watching. Eliza said, "What is whale watching?" She paused for a second then she said "Is that when you watch whales?" Aren't kids great!

Our family took a trip to Carlsbad. We have not been on a trip for at least two years. Before starting out on our trip, my wife and youngest daughter were sick. My wife said she ccould be just as sick at a hotel as she is at home. A trip that should have taken four hours took us 6 hours because of traffic. On our way to Carlsbad, we heard a familiar words come out of our children's mouth "Are we there yet?" Our youngest daughter were a perfect angel on the trip and she was sick. She did not complain on the trip to and from Carlsbad. The trip was fun and needed.





Jane was excited to see the birds on the pier in Oceanside. Each time she saw a bird, she had to point and look at it for a while. Seeing her excited and smile makes my day.




Grandpa and grandma and their grandkids. The second picture is a picture of our growing family.





This is our view of the ocean from the pier. A beautiful view!!




Jane and Me.







Pictures at the Beach. This was a fun trip but too short.

My sister recently sent me an email to call the Nestle Crunch hotline. I kept the email in my inbox for days. I finally did call the number and followed the instructions. It was hilarious.

This is what you need to do. Call 1-800-295-0051. When you are asked if you want to continue in English or Spanish, just wait quietly for about 10 seconds. Listen to the options...press 4. Listen to the options...then press 7.

Be prepared to laugh

This is a regular conversation at our house.

Kids: Is mommy home?

Me: No, she is working or she is doing something at church.

Kids: So, do we have to have Mac and Cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch (or dinner)?

Me: Yes, we do. What do you want?

I am expert in cooking. My two expert dishes are Mac and Cheese from a box and peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes I get tried of eating these two fancy foods. I am sure my kids are too. My wife decided that I needed to expand my cooking skills. Yesterday, I had my first Cooking 101 class.

My first lesson in Cooking 101 is to make Rachel's grandma's Macaroni Cheese Deluxe. There are only a few ingredients and it does not take very long to make. Here is how you make it. I am sure many of you already know, how but here it is anyway.

1-7 Oz pkg. (1-3/4 cups) elbow macaroni (we used whole wheat)
2 cups small curd cream-style cottage cheese (YUCK)
1 cup dairy sour cream (Once again YUCK)
1 slightly beaten egg
3/4 tsp. Salt
Dash of pepper
8 ozs. sharp cheese, shreaded (2 cups)(we actually split this between cheddar and Asiago cheese)

Cook macaroni according to directions; drain well. Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, egg, salt and pepper. Add shredded cheese, mixing well; stir in the cooked macaroni. Turn into a greased 9x9x2 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with paprika (but we actually added bread crumbs to melted butter and spread it across the top); bake in 350 oven for 45 minutes.

Conclusion.
This was very easy to make and it tasted much better than box mac and cheese. I don't like sour cream or cottage cheese, but it makes this recipe taste good. My family did not die from the food. They said the homemade mac and cheese tasted good. Am I going to stay in the class Cooking 101 or drop out? At this point I do not know. I might stay for at least one more class. My kids will like this. Maybe daddy will cook something besides boxed mac and cheese or peanut butter and jelly for lunch.

Since the passing of an icon, many people are writing about memories of Michael Jackson. I was a fan of Michael Jackson in the early years of his Thriller album. I was tuned into MTV to watch the premiere of his lengthy Thriller video. To this day, I think this the best music video ever made. Now in my 30's, I have to say I have not watched MTV in years.

At that time, Michael Jackson had a line of jackets. I so wanted one of these. I begged my parents to buy me one. I eventually owned one of these red jackets, complete with all of the zippers. I could not wait until I wore the jacket to school. A lot of my classmates told me that no one liked Michael Jackson at our school. I only wore the jacket a couple more times and never again because other students made fun of me.