The First Day of School!

August 26th, the first day of school.

Kids, kids, stop! Violence won't make this day any easier!


Some nice pics. Look at these mature young people!!




Here are Micaela and Maren, 4th Graders.




Meanwhile, over in 6th grade - Deacon and Mr. Z, the ultimate Packer fan.


Too bad about that 49er victory on Sunday. (Gotta keep our 49er fandom a secret at St. Paul's. Don't want to put the kids' grades in jeopardy!) LOVE THAT AARON RODGERS, he's from Chico!


But, it's been four and a half minutes, and your desk is still so CLEAN!


Maren takes a break from decorating her new locker (her friend Hope had a chandelier!!) to check out Mrs. Mindock's welcome message.


For fun, past First Days of School:

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Derek's Food Adventures: Grill 'Em All

Derek and some of his co-workers took a field trip for lunch today to Grill 'Em All in Alhambra.

This is what he ate:



The Jump In The Fryer: Cheddar, Fried Chicken, Bacon, Maple + Hotsauce Drizzle, Waffle Buns.

This is what his email said:

Also, traded ¼ with Brent for ¼ of:

High On Fire: Bleu Cheese, Shredded Buffalo Chicken, Wing Sauce

And traded ¼ with Garrett for ¼ of:

Exciter: Duck confit, Frise, Truffle Herb Goat Cheese, Cranberry Gastrique

In addition to my regular fries with malt vinegar aioli (or was it garlic aioli? who knows, it was great), sampled the:

Primate Fries: Cheddar, House Thousand Island, Grilled Onion

No More Mr. Nice Fries: House Made Coney Chili, Cheddar, Diced Onion

Concerned co-worker Christi compelled him to report his condition to me after this decadent lunch outing. Here's his report:

1) alive, …check

2) awake, …check

3) chest pains, …ch-- WAIT-- WAIT— UNNGGGH

muh. OK. Whew. check.

Trina Chow Zazzle Store

My very dear and talented friend Trina Chow recently dusted off her paintbrushes and began painting again after many years. Naturally, she is now represented in a gallery in San Francisco and has her own line of notecards, which you can view and purchase here:

Trina Chow Zazzle Store

I'll be putting her Zazzle store permanently in the sidebar soon, but until then you can use the link above if you'd like to view/order.

Trina is not only very talented, she's also very charitable: 30% of her sales will go to the Immediate Impact Breast Cancer Walk. Oh, and she also donates platelets regularly. Is there anything she can't do?? Yay Trina!!

Alff and Ross Kids' Commercial Debut!

Back in March, Derek and the kids, and Carol and her kids, had the opportunity to make their professional acting debut in a promotional video for Disney's Second Screen Live.

Deacon!


Derek!


Carol and William!


Jessica and David!


Follow the link to see the final cut!

Disney's Second Screen Live!

Derek said Maren appeared in an earlier cut, but is not in this one... that's showbiz.

Maren's Musings - Part Deux

To the tune of "It's a Small World", by Maren.

"It's a world of laughter,
a world of cheer,
it's a world of cheese
and a world of beer."



Thank you, Maren.

Maren's Musings

Hello! We're currently on vacation at Disneyland. We will have full coverage, soon.

For now...

Overheard from Maren as we walked back to the hotel after an evening of fine dining on Harbor Blvd.:

"How could Mickey have a dog? A dog would, like, kill him."

The First Star Wars Email

Since it was such an auspicious, life-changing moment, you'd think Derek would have informed me of this sooner. I have just learned the following:

Derek received and replied to his first official Star Wars-work-related email on July 2, 2013.

He is not at liberty to discuss the contents of this email.