End on chapter 2013....

So it's December 31, 2013. Another year about to be in the books. The last page of this chapter in our lives. There are many wonderful things that happened this year. So many great times and like any other year there were some heartbreaks. But the important thing is that we are still standing and going strong. As we stand on the doorstep of 2014, I look forward to many new adventures, triumphs, failures, heartaches and successes. 

What I am thankful for was that I was granted another great year with family and friends. The birthday celebrations, the dinner parties, the good laughs we all shared, the memories we relived and the new ones created. Big milestones this year included my wife turning 30. My son's Baptism, turning 1 and our first family trip to Disneyland. 

This year has also been challenging. Work had created an obstacle for my family, I was moved from my previous program and put into a whole new program, new building, new schedule and new co-workers. There was great stress during this time of uncertainty, but in life we are given challenges and opportunities to accomplish things that we may not have originally wanted to take on, but in the end we overcome the stress, overcome the challenge and make it our own and share the triumph with those who supported us. I'm coming up on 2 years with the City and County of San Francisco and yes, the position can be challenging, it can stressful. Clients can and are going to get under your skin, but there are also some clients that make your work, your efforts, your dedication to help people worth it. With this Affordable Care Act (Obama Care if you will) there has been so much uncertainty, so much miss-communication that has frustrated everyone. When I am assisting these clients who are signing up for ACA, they have so many questions that I wish I had better answers for, but they appreciate the effort that I am making. Some of them even insist on coming by and meeting me. For those who actually know me, they know that the effort I put in to helping others, I do it, not for recognition, not for 'likes' on social media, but I just do it, because I like helping people. 

 Sports wise, the Giants fell short of the post season. Once again, key injuries stalled a possible title defense. But there were also many issues that needed to be worked on as a whole. I always have high expectations with my Giants, I expect them to win the World Series every year. 2014 should be no different. The 49ers quest for six ended about 5 yards short. I have already said what I needed to say about this matter and I have moved on. Right now, the Niners are on a new quest for six. Green Bay is their first opponent. Just like with the Giants, I have high expectations of the Niners. I expect them to win Super Bowl XLVIII. One thing about challenges, heartbreaks and failures is that in order to 'fail' you had to have tried and they make the good times even better. Like they say 'Sunny days would not be special, if it wasn't for rain'

There are moments in life that we all look back on and relive and rejoice in them. Last year my wife and I were able to celebrate with our son our very first NYE and this year New Years day. Although little guy was asleep and did not know what was going on, it was still special. In May we celebrated our first Mother's day with our son in attendance. Same went in June for Father's day. Although events that day were not what I expected, but it was still special because it was the first Father's day with my mini me. My niece/God daughter had her sweet sixteen party the night before. It was fun and everyone had a great time.

In April, we ventured to a bachelor party weekend in Reno for my best friend. It had to be done right, so I delegated the tasks to the folks in attendance that was right up their alley. Everything worked out well. Had a lot of drinks, some gambling and some good food. It was a night to remember to forget. So after the bachelor party comes the wedding. My best friend and his now wife tied the knot on 6/1/2013. It was  great event for them. As best man I had the honor to give the first toast of the night, I was stuck in between reading off of a piece of paper or just letting it flow from the heart. Never to be the one to let the crowd down, I just talked. The day and night was perfect for them. Lots of pictures, lots of dancing, lots of drinking, some blood was shed but it was all in good fun. 

A few of my friends turned 30 this year, including my wife. We had a great dinner at a Brazilian restaurant in San Mateo. The food was awesome, so delicious. Later in July our son was baptized at the same church we were married in. Friends came from Nicaragua and New Orleans to celebrate with family and friends we have near. In September we decided to celebrate little mans' 1st birthday in Disneyland. We loaded up the car and drove down the day before his big day and spent 2 days in both parks. His first rides, first picture with Mickey, our first long road trip as a family. He even took a few steps after that night of his birthday and now is walking better everyday. 

For Halloween we dressed up as a Toy Story family. I was Buzz, my wife was Jesse and our son was Woody. We had so much fun. As this year comes to a close, I am so thankful for family, friends, good health, good times, good memories and I look forward to even more things to be thankful for. 

One final thought, I did not complete my new year's resolution for 2013, so I am stepping up the challenge. 

1) No chocolate until 10/31/2014

2) No sodas

3) Cooking more at home

4) No alcohol 

If you do not challenge yourself with something, you get lazy and forget what the thrill of accomplishment is. Have a great and safe new year! 

Early September

So, it is September now. Last year around this time we were setting up for the arrival of 'Peanut' and we were eagerly anticipating meeting him. So that means that soon he will be 1 year old! We plan to celebrate this milestone with him by taking him up to Disneyland for his birthday weekend. We are looking forward to a few days away to celebrate with him and see how he reacts to the characters and we can't wait to see how his first picture with Mickey Mouse looks.
Over Labor day weekend we went camping to Folsom Lake, we had fun. We went up there with my friend and his family. The weather was nice, it was Javi's first time camping and he seemed to enjoy it. We had got him a little kiddie pool and we filled it up with water and placed him in it, but he didn't like the feeling. I guess it might have been too cold for his liking. After that I was able to put him down for a nap. Later we took him down to the lake and had him go in, my wife and I took turns holding him while he finally got the idea of splashing around. At night, he was all over the place. Javi is a sleep crawler, so he was moving all over the air mattress and almost fell off. I had to position myself to have him sleeping half on me and the other half on the air mattress.
I am really happy that we are able to start doing these types of things with him. Next up will be a San Francisco Giants game. But that will come next season as the timing is not good for us this year. It works out better as he will be more alert and ready to take in the surroundings more.
I am also looking forward to the upcoming football season. The Niners play the Packers on 9/8/13. It will be our first full football season together rooting on our favorite team on their #QuestForSix
Birthdays this month:
Edgard, Lil Will, Charles and of course turning 1 is Javi!!!!

it's been awhile...

Wow, I cannot believe that it has been since April that I last been on here. Wow, so what has happened since then.

April 2013-
This was a fun month, we went to Reno for my best friend's bachelor party. It was a 3 day event and we had a blast. We had dinner, gambled a bit and had lots of drinks. Great times with great people.
May 2013-
I turned 32! My brother turned 36 and my friend Arnel turned 30! It was a busy month. This was the first time that we were able to celebrate my birthday and mother's day with Javier.
June 2013-
My best friend and his fiance got married on 6/1/2013. It was a really nice wedding. Very sweet and simple ceremony. the reception was fun, I fulfilled my duties as the best man and had a blast doing it. My God daughter turned 16, my sister had a sweet sixteen party for her. That was a fun night as well, the only issue was that Javi was sick. I was able to spend my first father's day with Javi. Although it didn't turn out like I expected, I was happy that I finally got to celebrate one. My wife and I also celebrated 4 years of marriage together.
July 2013-
A whole lot happened this month. My wife and I celebrated 12 years together. My wife turned 30! My friend Brian turned 30 and our son Javier was Baptised. We picked my best friend Amilcar as his God father and my wife picked her best friend Elmira as the God mother. It was a great time and also my wife had her friends over to visit.
August 2013-
Pre-seaon football has begun and in 2 weeks that start of the regular season and of course the Niners #QuestforSix. We are setting up for Javier's first camping trip and we are about a month aways from his first birthday that we will be celebrating at Disneyland! That's about it, happy trails!

WrestleMania XXIX "Showcase of the Forgettable"

It is supposed to be the "Showcase of the Immortals", the "Granddaddy of them all", larger than life, WrestleMania XXIX, but it fell way short of what a true WrestleMania should be. 2 out of the top 3 matches were rematches. One that was built as "Once in a lifetime" turned into "Once in a lifetime part 2" The whole show seemed unorganized and the road to WrestleMania seemed to be littered with garbage and for some reason this year, WrestleMania was pushed to the side. Here is my review of the show....
The opening started with a video package that showed the effects and recovery of the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Since this event happened where WMXXIX was being held, it was important to show that the city was resilient and that they could rebuild and move on and go back to what they feel was their day to day routine.
Back to the ring, WrestleMania has always had a guest singer sing "America the Beautiful", this year that did not happen. The show started right away.
Just a quick note, they did have a pre show match that was the Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett defending the title against The MIZ. I did not see the match, but the result was that Barrett tapped out while in the figure four leg lock, thus crowning a new champion, The MIZ.
First match of WMXXIX was:

Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show vs The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins)
The match was a good opening match. There were some good spots during the match. Before WMXXIX there was a rumor that Orton would turn heel against his team. Towards the end, Sheamus went to tag Show, but Orton tagged himself in and took on all 3 members of the Shield. Orton hit an RKO on Rollins who was jumping from the top turnbuckle, then he was hit by a Reigns spear and pinned for the 3 count. After the match Show looked upset and began to argue with Orton, soon after he hit the WMD on Sheamus and then on Orton and took off. Terrible ending, but a great way to continue showing the potential of the Shield.
WINNERS: The Shield

Battle of the big guys was next:
Mark Henry vs Ryback
Before the match started I said that this would probably the worse match of the night. Normally when 2 big guys meet, the result is not pretty. The match was not as bad as I thought it would be. It ended when Ryback picked up Henry for the Shell Shock and Henry grabbed the top rope and pancaked Ryback, turned him over and pinned him. After the match, Henry looked as if he wanted to inflict more punishment on Ryback, but Ryback was able to overcome that lifted Henry up again for a successful Shell Shock.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Team Hell No (C) Daniel Bryan and Kane vs Dolph Ziggler, Big E. Langston with AJ
First off, I don't see how Ziggler and Langston even got this title shot. What, they teamed together officially for 1 match? OK. Ziggler and Bryan always entertain with their styles. Kane and Langston were the powerhouses. Some near falls added to the excitement of the match, which in the end saw Team Hell No retain the titles.

Fandango (sorry, Fffffffaaaaaaannnnn-Daaaaaan-GGGGoooooo) vs Chris Jericho
I knew Disco Inferno 2.0 was going to win this one, but I was surprised to see that he really didn't do much in the match. It seemed Jericho was bringing down the offense on Fandango for the whole match, only to have Fandango roll him up with a weak pin. This match had great potential, it could have been match of the night, but it wasn't.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio (C) w/ Ricardo Rodriguez vs Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Coulter
Let me start by saying that the WWE dropped the ball big time with this feud. It could have been so much bigger. The racial undertones and controversial remarks that were said by the spokesmen of Jack Swaggers America could have really made this match into a memorable one. But, as what seems to be par for the course in the WWE, the story never had time to develop and there was no buy-in from the crowd. The crowd was dead. Del Rio won by submission and no MITB cash in by Ziggler which led to many fans booing in disappointment.

The Streak... This time it's personal
CM Punk w/ Paul Heyman vs the Undertaker
20 have tried, 20 have failed. Now 21 have tried and after the Match of the Night, 21 have failed. Punk seemed to have outsmarted the Deadman and almost made him lose his cool. He reversed and then performed "Old School". 2 quick highlights for me, Punk dropping the elbow from the top turnbuckle onto the Spanish announcers table and when Punk hit the GTS and the Undertaker bounced off the ropes right into a Tombstone on Punk. Both wrestlers did the best they could do with this hurried storyline. On a side note, I know a lot of people were upset and possibly offended by the involvement of Paul Bearer's death in the angle. The way I see it, if his family was fine with it, Glen and Mark were fine with it, I am sure that William (or Percy, if you will) would have loved it. 20-0 was for the Undertaker, Number 21 was for Paul.

WWE Hall Of Fame segment
Mick Foley
Booker T
Trish Stratus
Bruno Sammartino
Donald Trump
Bob Backlund
Class of 2013

Grudge Match-HHH career on the line
HHH with HBK vs Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman
This match had no reason to be on the show. First off, HHH career on the line? really? he doesn't wrestle anymore. That was dumb. They should have made it for control of WWE. Anyway, a lot of action that was a bit sloppy as they tried to make it seem that it was a real personal fight. The announcers table actually broke this time. In the end HHH was victorious in a match I am sure no one will remember as I truly believe by the crowd reaction, nobody cared. Interesting note, it seemed something went wrong during HHH entrance, he had all this white stuff caked over his torso which was odd. Anywho, we move on.

WWE Championship Match
The Rock (C) vs John 'Super" Cena
Cena is booed during the entrance. Rock come into mostly cheers, some boo's . Back and forth match, it seems they tried to recreate the Hogan/Rock moment, but the crowd was not having it. After 456 Rock Bottom's , 375 AA's numerous attempts at the other signature moves. "Super" Cena won and just as the Rock did for Stone Cold, Cena left the ring and let the Rock have his last WM moment. During the brief exchange at the end you can clearly see the Rock say "I came back for this moment right here with you, thank you" Rock thanked the fans, kissed his family members and walked up the ramp to raise Cena's hand and the show went off the air. Quick thought, I think the would have been the best chance to get Cena to turn Heel. The stage was set, a possible scenario would have been, have Rock win and Cena flip out and deliver a beating to him and just walk off. They could still do something like that on Raw, but I don't think turning heel on Raw would be on the same scale of Turning heel at WM. But whatever.

So that was WrestleMania XXIX. Probably one of the worst ones I have seen. Hope next year in New Orleans is much better.

Back at work.....

So, it's over now. My family leave has officially ended. I spent the last 6 weeks bonding with my little boy. It was a great experience to have. We spent lots of time together and I am pretty sure he enjoyed the time together. I sure know I did.
Javi will turn 6 months on the 28th, he has grown so much. It is amazing to see the transformation that he has helped us with. Ulisa is a great mother and is always on top of things for him, I am the one that likes to mess with him to push his limits, but then I cave in and cover him with kisses. He is growing up so fast. Getting bigger by the day. I love how he is now recognizing people faster and smiling a lot more.
Today was the first time that we had to put him in day care. Our original plans fell through and we had to go with our second option. He will not be there for too long during the day, but it still makes us feel a bit sad that he won't be with us or with someone we are familiar with. Ulisa had the unenviable task of dropping him off. I guess in the long run, this experience will help him with interacting with other children.
Just a quick update as I am back on the grind here at work, no one day grace period, just straight into the fire....
Have a nice day!

5 yards short

So, the #QuestForSix came up 5 yards short. For two weeks, Niner fans eagerly anticipated kick off and the chance for the franchise to remain undefeated in the Super Bowl. There were many quotes and stories that were brought to the front page, but it mainly seemed that the NFL was hell bent on making this game all about Ray Lewis and his magical tears.
Before the game I had 2 concerns, the first one was how the Ravens defensive line puts their hands up and tip balls and create turnovers. The second one was that the Niners could not spot the Ravens any points. The Niners took care of 1, but could not take care of both. After less then a minute in the 3rd quarter the Niners were down 28-6. There were 3 plays that I feel that should have flags thrown on. The first was on the kick off return, 2 Ravens players held one of the Niners players on coverage. Plain as day, he was sandwiched between them, it was close to looking like it was two police officers holding a suspect. The second play was on the 2 point conversion, it seemed to me and everyone where I was at that Reed was offsides before the snap. The last play was the hold on Crabtree. He was held and it should have been a penalty. Putting those 3 plays aside, I will have to say that the Niners did not help their cause by having such a poor first half. The Ravens did what they should have done, take advantage.
At the end of the day, the Niners shot themselves in the foot. They should have not been in that position to begin with. A few big defensive plays and scoring drives in the first half, would have made a great deal of difference. Even though this is no consolation, the Niners showed heart and came within 5 yards of taking the lead. Should they have run the ball down there? yes, but hindsight is 20/20. But what we have now is a Niner franchise that is now 5-1 in the Super Bowl. But I predict that the Niners will win 2 to 3 Superbowls in the next 6 years. I am very proud of my team, the 49ers will be back. I will continue to support as a real fan does. For me, being a Niners fan is not a part time thing, it is a commitment for life. The #QuestForSix has already begun.
San Francisco Giants fan fest was on February 9th. We went over to AT&T park because I really wanted a family picture with both World Series Trophies. I really liked the way that it was set up, they had the players in the actual stadium and Pier 48 was dubbed the Trophy Pavilion. This was a blessing as we were able to get in and get out. The excitement of this upcoming season for the Giants is very big for me. My first passion and love in sports is and always will be Baseball and Football is a close second. So, some early predictions: Giants win the World Series again, this time Timmy will toss a no-hitter, Zito gets at least 13 wins. Panda will have a over 30 Home runs and Posey will repeat as MVP.

So there it is, now I will go back to bonding time with Javier. Have a great day!

First one for the new year!

Well, it's been a while since I got on this thing. It looks like the last time I wrote was at the end of October 2012. The Giants had just won the 2012 World Series for the 2nd time in 3 years and the parade would be the very next day. I watched it on a small TV at work. It was a slow day as there were many people out at the event.
So, for Halloween I was Winnie the Pooh, my wife wore a Eeyore shirt and my son was Tigger. It was a real nice photo and a good memory for us all. My Dad came to stay with us for the first time, it was an experience for us all. One that we will learn from and if he stays with us again, we will have a plan to run things smoother. Thanksgiving was with my wife's side of the family this year and we had fun. Christmas was good as well. Javi got a lot of toys that he will soon enjoy. New Years was sweet and simple. My wife and I ate at the Old Clam house on Bayshore and we stayed in and watched the event on TV.
My thoughts on the upcoming MLB season will be on another Blog. But here I will talk a little bit about Football. So as of this writing I am very happy to say that the Quest for Six is still going on and the San Francisco 49ers will face the Baltimore Ravens at Super Bowl XLVII on 2/3/13.
The Niners have played really well, of course there are some moments where they slip up, but they come through. Akers is not doing too well, he has missed more field goal attempts this season then he ever has in his career. In less then 2 weeks, I look for the Niners to win Super Bowl XLVII by the score of 35-13. Kaepernick will be the MVP of the game.
So quickly, I have this point to make. If you understand it, good for you, if you don't oh well.
The QB situation for the Niners:
I understand that Kapernick was always going to be the QB for the Niners, it was just a matter of time. Is he more athletic and more dangerous then Smith? Yes. Did it concern me switching QB's during a potential SB run? Yes. Did I support the coached decision about the change? Yes. Did I like the way it happened? No.
Look, Smith was doing great, his passer rating was leading the league at the time and he got a concussion. The next week Kapernick was QB and has not looked back. People tell me that Smith makes 'millions' and he needs to 'man up'. but take away the money and look at it from a humanistic view. He got jobbed. We tend to dehumanized celebrities and athletes because of their bank accounts. But they are just like us. How would we feel if we were number one at work, then we call out sick for a week and come back and now someone else is taking your spot and you were pretty good at your job? I am sure you wouldn't 'man up' and take it. You would be pissed. And you say you wouldn't be, you are a liar!
My issue for a few weeks was that the coaches would say that Kapernick had an amazing accurate arm, he can do more things then Smith, he can open the field. But never once did they show this to us. They called the same plays as they did when Smith was under center. It wasn't until recently that they have let Kapernick shine. The game against Green Bay he was amazing, he showcased himself. The NFC championship against Atlanta he showed confidence and no fear when down 17-0. To correct the misconception of many, I never had a problem with Kaepernick. I support whoever the team picks. If coach says Kaep is the guy, he is the guy.
Another point I want to clarify. When Kaepernick took over, I made the comment of I wonder who they will blame when he gets his first L. I said this because in the history of the NFL and in recent Niners history. When the team got an L, it was Alex Smiths fault. Didn't matter if there was missed FG's, the D didn't do well or even dropped passes. It always fell on Smith. So when they Niners lost to the Rams, it was amazing to see how everyone else was blamed except for Kaepernick. They went as far as blaming the coaches for calling the play that resulted in a fumble, yes, the coaches! The same ones who called the plays when Smith was under center that Smith got the blame for. All of the sudden, players were blamed for dropped passes and missed reads and the Defense and Special Teams needed to work harder as they were the ones who had to take the loss.
I realize that I shouldn't argue with fools as they never understand. But in a nutshell, in the NFL, the QB takes the L's, he takes the blame. Why are the Jets so bad? Mark Sanchez, Why do the Cowboys choke in playoff situations? Tony Romo. Before Kaeprnick became the starting QB for the Niners, who was to blame for any loss? Alex Smith. It's always been this way, so keep it real. But when I said after the Rams game that the loss was Kaepernicks fault, I was met with backlash. But a sack is a bag.
Any who, Alex Smith has handled this situation as a pro. He has been a great teammate.
Alright, so now on to Super Bowl XLVII... I am looking for a win and more tears from Ray Lewis... Happy New Year everyone and Let's Go NINERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!