Colby's Graduation

Two of my readers recently commented to me about my blog. They said that it seems like I only posts photos of Justine and not of the boys. Or that the photos feature her more prominently or favored her over the boys. And that it seems like I'm not giving my children equal attention. Blah blah blah.

Well my dear readers, your observations are absolutely correct. Yes, it's intentional but I didn't think it was that obvious. Truth is, when Justine is in the room, the boys are just second-class citizens. When I have a camera ready, the boys are just background elements. It's like the movie, Monsters Inc., when Boo's around, no one cares about Mike and Sully.

Hey, who said life is fair? In reality, each boy had their "moment" of getting the most attention. But that time has passed. Live with it. Is it my fault that while Justine has blossomed into a little princess, the boys have evolved into monsters? I think not.

But I suppose I can widen the spotlight a little and bring balance to the blog this one time... so I'll focus this posting entirely around Colby. Perhaps next time I'll blog about the other monster Dustin if I can think of anything...

Last week Colby officially graduated from his preschool. We've already been through this ceremony 3 years ago when Dustin graduated so I knew exactly what to expect, a bunch of screaming cute and unruly adorable kids singing on stage.

LINK: More YouTube videos from the ceremony

In the audience, if you're not sitting in the front row, you'll have a hard time seeing because someone – everyone – will be standing in front of you with their cameras. With this knowledge, I instead went straight upstairs and got the perfect view. I invited a friend below to join me, but he declined. Later that evening he told me he should have taken my advice – he got some great footage of the back of people's heads.

We're keeping Colby in preschool until the end of July because we can't find any better place to send him. Come August he'll be in the same school as Dustin and our morning drop-off schedule will be a lot simpler, not to mention we'll be $800/month richer too! Then in a couple of years, Justine will be entering preschool and the cycle will start all over again. Yep, fun times ahead! Why Chrissy doesn't want a fourth...? I don't know what she's thinking.

Don't know who this girl is, but since she's harassing my boys, I better document it.

Mason's 2nd Birthday

Us three dads take this group picture every year since all three kids were born in 2006. This is a great way to chronicle the growth of our children and the aging of the dads.

Last weekend we attended Mason's 2nd birthday party at the Oakland Zoo. I bet most of you didn't know Patrick has moved back to Oakland. I bet some of you didn't even know Patrick was married and has a child... Well I'm one of the few privileged families that still make his guest list. I figure as long as I keep featuring his parties on my blog, I'll be guaranteed to be included in all his future invitations :)

In fact, upon arrival, Veronica comes up to me and tells me how she loves my blog and how her sister on another continent relied on my blog to see Mason's first birthday party last year.

To Veronica and sister: You are welcome! I'll gladly come to any of your celebrations to enjoy the food and document your festivities. And it doesn't have to be birthdays. We're free pretty much throughout the summer and of course the winter holidays. So just let us know and we'll be there with my cameras!

I wish I could've taken more photos (especially of the other families), but I came across a familiar dilemma: take more pictures or get more food. So needless to say, I ate quite well. And since I was nominated to cut the watermelons, I missed shooting the kids on the train as it passed by... sorry.

Related links:
Mason's First Birthday Party
Zach's Red Egg Party

CIBC Mother's Day

Yeah I know, Mother's Day was almost two weeks ago, but with my time off with Lasik, I'm just behind on everything. I can't believe it's already been a year since last Mother's Day when the kids sang.



Thanks to Wayland (again) for the fine videography. Unfortunately from where we both sat, they plopped the huge microphone right in front of Cameron's face (although you do see him in the first four seconds). And what's up with Alec always looking down? You'd think since he's among the smartest kids up there, surely he should have the song memorized... Hmm, could it be that he was secretly playing his DS? :o


Flashback
Look what I dug up from the last time two Fong's were up on stage... The year was 1975. In this picture, Chris and I are both 8 years old, just like Vanessa and Dustin in the photo above. Scary huh?

Other kids in the photo: Goff, Greg Y., Greg M., Baldwin, Richard, Tina, and I forget the rest.

The Lew's and the Lai's

At our last YFC meeting, these two families asked me to take their pictures. Apparently they're like best friends so not only do they live in the same city and drive the same minivan and vacation together, but they were even able to duplicate the same genetic order of their children!! Freaky Wow!! Now if they were any other families, I would think they were a bit quirky and peculiar. But since they all subscribe to my blog, I consider them among my closest friends!

I have seven families where both the husband and wife subscribe to my blog. I think these couples have the strongest relationships. Imagine this, every night at the dinner table, if there was any period of awkward silence, one could just say to the other, "Hey, whatcha think about Stan's blog today?"

To you, my dear readers, I'm honored that my blog is the common bond that strengthens your marriage. That my writings weave and swaddle our mutual experiences so that our friendship can be perfect. My heart is saturated with emotion knowing I can break your monotonous day with information, entertainment and general mindlessness that further enriches your life. I thank you for your presence here.

Free Chicken Sandwich today

In honor of Nancy's birthday today, McDonalds would like to treat you a free chicken sandwich. Not really, but now whenever I think of Nancy, I can't help but think Chicken Sandwich. Hey, that's better than Ham Sandwich...

So cancel your lunch plans and head to McDonalds (before 7pm). Although this particular sandwich didn't make the 20 Worst Foods list, a similar McDonalds Premium Chicken Breast Strips did (830 calories, 55g fat). But hey, it's FREE!

LINK to McDonalds

Update 11:45 am
I'm munching on the sandwich right now as I type. On my way back from my eye appt. I went to pick one up. Verdict: It's OK. Nothing super. The meat is a good size, juicy and crispy, but other than the 2 slices of pickle in it, there's nothing else. No sauce. I dipped it in ranch dressing which made it taste better.

Find Hookers on Google Maps

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Is this cool or what? We already know the Google Map's Street View was freakin' awesome, but now you can even find the best places to pick up prostitutes! And in broad daylight too! – Hmm, gives new meaning to Afternoon Delight. Yes this is real. Look up 3186 San Pablo Ave in Oakland (actually it's listed as Emeryville). Google lets you embed the interactive maps directly on your web page. You can scroll inside the photo to zoom in and/or get different angles of the chicks. It's really neat!

And look, here's a couple more in front of a church on 3244 San Pablo Ave.


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I tried cruising up and down the surrounding streets to see if I could find their pimp, but no luck. There were quite a few other questionable characters hanging out in front of another church.


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Those of us who grew up in Oakland know all about San Pablo Avenue. Apparently some things never change. It will always be the hot spot for hoochie mama's. Hey, doesn't Stu live somewhere around there? :o

LINK to Google Maps

Lasik Enhancement

Tomorrow afternoon I will be undergoing Lasik "enhancement," meaning I need some fine-tuning. It's the exact same procedure as the first time, but this time only for my right eye.

After my first Lasik in January, I was seeing great, 20/15 in both eyes. But as a few months passed, my eyes "settled" into their permanent fixture. For me, my left eye is pretty much 20/20 with a slight (-.25) farsightedness. My right eye however went the other direction where I'm -.50 nearsighted. It's not much, but enough to bug me, especially when I have trouble seeing when driving or playing tennis at night.

I can't say I've been 100% satisfied. I constantly have blurry vision in the office because I stare at the computer too long. And this happens even in my left eye which supposedly has 20/20 vision! After a while, or if I go outside, it usually clears up. In the last few weeks I've gotten used to it but at nights I do wish my vision was better.

I've gone back to see Dr. Dan at least 6 times since. Each time I tell him things are blurry and how I can't see, and each time he says I CAN see and the problem is really minor. Of course I'm comparing my vision to my glasses-days and frankly, I can't. Fortunately my vision on the computer is quite good, that is until I turn 45 when I'll then need reading glasses.

The bottom line is that I'm still much happier without my glasses. I remember how my glasses would constantly fall down my nose and I would always smudge them during the day... Also how Justine would grab them when I hold her and how the boys would knock them off when I wrestle them... But the one thing I do miss is that my glasses had transitional lens so now whenever I go outdoors, I need to bring sunglasses.

So here's a dose of reality that wasn't quite explained to me prior to surgery. Not everything will be as great as you think they will be, or as great as others will tell you. Ten percent of Lasik patients experience problems that require enhancement. Who was I to think I would be exempt? Especially since age was not in my favor. But hopefully after tomorrow, things will be a lot clearer, both in terms of vision and expectations.

Related Links:
Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You
I Can See. I Can See. Part 1
I Can See. I Can See. Part 2

Say Cheese!

My nephew turned one a few weeks ago. Weird, I never thought of my inlaw's kids as my nephews before until now... Anyway, of course I brought my camera to capture the moments. And of course I sacrificed eating time to do so. To be honest, I ate a lot and there was plenty of food. But could I have eaten more? You know it!

My sister-in-law probably doesn't want anyone to see these photos of her (and she'll probably kill me for posting it since she has Army training and is very capable of inflicting pain). She always has these over-the-top reactions to the crazy things her mom does. Fortunately I was quick with the camera and captured her at her best.

To see the rest of the photos, visit my Xanga site.

Chewing the fat

Every time I go to Chili's (not that often), we ALWAYS order the Awesome Blossom. I mean, why else even go there? The rest of their menu you can get practically anywhere. But the Awesome Blossom can never be recreated any place else.

To my dismay, this morning a friend of mine (and one whom I've shared several Awesome Blossoms with in the past) sent me a link listing the worst foods you can eat. And for "The Worst Starter" is, you guessed it, the Awesome Blossom.

They say with 2,710 calories, the Awesome Blossom is "the fat equivalent of 67 slices of bacon." Oh man, I can already feel the food coma coming!

A part of me is kinda grossed out. But the other part of me even wants it more now! Mmm, I can just smell that spicy cheese sauce calling to me... And when we eat it, it's always shared among 2 or 3 people, so really you're only getting like 22-33 slices of bacon!

As I looked through the rest of the list, many of the items were common things we eat at ballgames, theme parks and fast food restaurants. Sure I knew they were unhealthy but now I know HOW unhealthy they are. Like everything else, food just looks better shiny. Am I right?

Check out the link for some more tasty items. Now I need to find a Bob Evans to try their Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes, which is the equivalent of five Egg McMuffins. Wow, that sure beats a Krispy Kreme for breakfast!

Eat up!

The 20 Worst Foods in America