Where The Grass Is Greener...

finally...progress

for once, david stern has done something right for the NBA.  a news article revealed today that the league will begin fining players for intentionally 'flopping' after being fouled.  while most will commend stern for this change, all i want to say is IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!  you ask any NBA player about any pick up games they play in the off-season whether or not they try the same crap.  they'd be laughed off the court and if not pounded into the dirt for being such a baby.  so here's travis' quick fixes if he were to be named commisioner for a day (and then be signed on a 100 year extension worth $80 million a year with $2 billion in guaranteed because they love my work)

• forget fining players for flopping.  not only do you not give them a call, you kick them out for the rest of the game so they can think about what a girl (no offense ladies) they are.
• instead of starting the season in june and ending the season in may, you cut the schedule in half.  do you know why the NFL can charge a minimum of $75 a seat up in the nose bleed section?  because their players actually play the game as if it mattered.  so here's what the NBA needs.  you cut the season in half.  you play each team in your division twice on the road and twice at home.  everyone else in your conference you play once on the road and once at home.  you mix in some inter-conference games to round out the regular season.  you think each game wouldn't be played with a little more intensity?  that's what i thought.
• playoffs.  wow...could they make them any LONGER???  they seriously started like a month and a half ago and we aren't even in the finals yet!!  as much as i would LOVE a NCAA March Madness-like playoff system where you get one game and you're done, i would be willing to give in a little bit and let them play a best of three series.  once again, if you think a team who is down by 15 with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter would just pack up and rest their starters for the rest of the game so they were fresh for the next game (for those of you who missed it, this is EXACTLY what the spurs did in game 2 against the lakers)?  i mean seriously, IS THIS NOT THE PLAYOFFS???  way to give the fans their money's worth.
• defense.  what in the world is up with this stupid "defensive 3 seconds" rule??  i mean, i understand how it's written in the rule book...but WHY do you have it?  if people want to play a zone, so be it.  if you can't beat the zone, that's your own fault for a) not having a big man who can handle a double team and b) not having any shooters that will DISMANTLE the zone.
• duct tape and blinders.  this is exactly what 95% of NBA players need.  every time back up the court they're jawing at the ref about a call or a non-call or maybe what they'd like for dinner after the game.  seriously, you look ridiculous and every 2 year old in the entire nation couldn't whine as much as you do in a single game.
• one last one.  traveling.  it's a simple concept.  a player gets TWO steps when not dribbling the ball.  i don't care if you make it look all fancy and graceful and non-chalant...if you take more than 2 steps, it's called traveling.  i'm sorry but the tallest man in the world couldn't make it from beyond the arc to the rim in 2 steps so there is no possible way for a 6' 10" shooting guard to do it.

ok, i'm done ranting for now.  i guess my biggest beef is how the NBA affects regular pick-up ball at your local gym.  i've been lucky and the crowd we play with in the mornings play REAL basketball, but the few times i've played in the afternoon while waiting for our mandatory air force PT to start, i just get frustated watching the fairies that walk up and down the court and whine about getting fouled and make one pass TOPS each possesion before heaving up a prayer after taking 6 steps.

ok, now i'm really done.  sorry for the venting :)

Tuesday's Typing

Aren't I the luckiest guy in the whole wide world??

Just a quick mommy update...

• pregnancy is coming along nicely, only 2 more months (easy for me to say, right? :) haha) before the due date.  the doc says the baby is already 4 pounds and it may come a week early...here's to hoping :)
• happy that hot weather is finally here so we can enjoy the cold pool water...and the new maternity swimsuit she just bought at motherhood
• excited for the bachelorette (this is me smiling from ear to ear with excitement, too lol)
• tried out a new smothered chicken and sliced/baked potato recipe tonight that was absolutely delicious.
• at the moment she's screaming at the refs, even if it's on t.v. and they can't hear her, while telling her hubby that "it's a good thing i don't play sports because sometimes i get so mad i just want to punch somebody in the face!"--and she wonders why i always want to do what she wants to do :)
• not happy with the builder right now.  here's a word of advice: if you want a house to get done, make sure you're wife is pregnant during the ending stages because she'll be on the builder every day asking why nobody is out working on the house :)

i think i better get to bed now.  i'm already exhausted and it's only tuesday after a 3 day weekend!

We Salute You

Just a little Memorial Day tribute to my Comrades in Arms who've paid that ultimate sacrifice.  This is one of the many quotes we memorized during freshman year at The Zoo that I happen to take a liking to.

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."

--Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC

Thank you to all Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who have given their lives for this beautiful Country.  And thank you to the families of those whom we've lost, may they never be forgotten.  Only they and Jesus have given their lives for both those who love and hate them.

quickie...

just a quick post in response to jenny's gas prices tft piece today.  just a couple of things they've learned me in a couple of classes lately.  why are gas prices skyrocketing?  there's that old law of supply and demand coming back to haunt us.  we've become so dependent on oil that we have that outrageous demand on the system while everyone is telling us how "short" our oil supply is.  so what does that spell?  $10 per gallon gas prices.  So where's the problem?  Um, how about the fact that we are NOT and WILL NOT be in any remote kind of an oil shortage in the next 1000 years.  The environmentalists want us to believe that we are so that we'll save the environment.  The big oil guys want us to believe that we are so they can jack up the prices.  And who makes sure that we all "know" that we're heading towards a shortage?  If you can name me a news source who doesn't have a daily article on oil shortages, then you'll be a first.  so i guess the only ones we can blame are ourselves for reading newspapers :)

on another note about this so called destruction of the environment we're doing.  ever notice how they no longer use the phrase "global warming" but instead have coined the phrase "climate change"?  That's because the average temperature of the earth actually went down last year.  crap, there goes that theory.  oh but wait, what about the green house gases effect?  hmmm...haven't heard about that one in awhile either?  i bet you'd like to know why that is, too, wouldn't you?  here's a chemistry lesson for you.  what compound contributed to over 90% of the green house gases effect?  H2O(g).  For those of you who can't quite remember what that is, it's commonly known as WATER VAPOR.  Hmmm...how do we plan on combatting that one?  Good luck.  Oh but wait...there's more.  What is the next largest contributor?  Granted water vapor is the majority of our "problem", the next biggest problem child is methane gas.  Wow, that sounds like pretty bad juju doesn't it?  I wonder where that crap is hiding out.  Cars?  Cigarettes?  Factories?  Baby's diapers?  nope.  try this one on for size: RAIN FORESTS!  That's right, we have evaporation and trees to blame for our environmental problems.  Crap.  What on earth are we going to do??? 

Ok, now let me have it.  I KNOW there has to be some opinions out there on this topic, so feel free to bash me :)   

to play or not to play...there is no question

jess's tft post got my mind brewing a bit.  i'll put a slightly different twist to it.  the idea behind my comment was that there was a lot to be learned in both winning and losing.  how about playing sports in general?  in our household we've talked about the number of sports our kids will be allowed to play when they get old enough.  i won't specify which opinion was mine and which was the wifey's but basically one of us said they each can play one sport and the other said they can play however many they choose, provided it's one per season.  we've also discussed which sports we'd like them to play and which ones we prefer they didn't.  in either case, there was never any question about whether or not they should play sports.  so there is my question.  do you plan on letting your kid(s) play sports?  will you force (or strongly encourage) them to play?  why or why not? 

so here's my opinion.  back in the day, my brothers, pops, and i were down in the cities watching the basketball state tournament and on the scoreboard they gave some statistic about high school athletes being X amount less likely to do drugs than non student-athletes.  granted, you can make statistics say whatever you want, but i can see how a structured schedule, time consumption, the need to stay in shape, etc. can keep kids off drugs.  i also think that parents will have 99% of the influence on drug use, though.  but anyway, it got me thinking about how much sports or being on a team can help you out in life in general.  i think it's bullet time.

• the most obvious answer is teamwork.  most people will be working with other people in some form or another for the rest of their working life.  team sports help you learn to deal with different personalities and hopefully teach you how to bring out the best from each type of person.
• tempers.  ever had to control your anger at work?  no?  you're lying lol...or maybe you haven't worked with some moron government workers :)
• work ethic.  if you ain't making the cut, work harder in the offseason.  yes, some people may be born with more natural talent, but competition will only make you better...with the right...
• attitude.  you can learn a lot about your own attitude (and others' for that matter) going through both good and bad times on the court/field/ice.  how you choose to let it affect your attitude will be the same in the real world.
• maybe just one more example.  once again, pops left me with another 'golden nugget' for life.  you will always have a boss.  i've since modified that to say that there is only one person in this world who doesn't have a boss in life.  who is that person?  most people would say the president of the united states.  wrong.  he has a boss, too...but his wife...she's the one that doesn't have a boss :)  anyway, on to my point.  the lamest excuse i've ever heard from people who quit a team is "i don't like the coach."  if you've done this, i apologize if i've offended you.  but hear me out.  are you always going to like you're boss?  are you going to quit your job every time you don't?  recently jess was able to rid herself of her tirant pyscho of a boss, but she also had to put up with her for how many years before she was able to put herself in a position to do it (and kudos to you, cuz, for making it happen!!)  so the bottom line is that you learn to deal (and work productively) with people whom you absolutely hate. 

these are just a few of the life lessons i've learned through sports.  there are a thousand others, but you're probably already asleep or on to your next blog so i'll stop here.  so let me know your thoughts...am i way off?  do you agree?  do you have any other good ones that you've learned?  there's a whole other can of worms that i could open on leadership, but i'll only do it if you ask me to.  happy friday tomorrow...

fish in a barrel...

i saw this commercial for the first time last week and was rolling over laughing.  i'll have to make sure aubriee is well aware of the power she holds :)  tucker, you're lucky DQ got shut down in your town.  MLB, sorry buddy, there's no hope for you ;)

picture updates...

so i know why my posts have been slipping in ratings lately...because i haven't posted pictures of little beaner!!  here's a couple from the month of may:

practicing for her 2 yr (albeit a month late) photo shoot:

babysitting her best friend naomi (yes, i know i should have cropped out the guy that looks like he's been up for 36 hours straight, but i'm lazy right now):

she loves riding her new 'bike' even though she can't reach the pedals :)

and here's a couple random cute pics that i love from this month:

like i said, aubriee had her 2 yr photoshoot yesterday (unfortunately it wasn't with the best photographer in the world since we live too far away :( booooo), so once they come back i'll try and scan them in so you can see our little flower girl.

Tag team, back again...

Sorry, i had another dry spell on blogging.  hmmm...what should i put the blame on this time?  Top candidate: Solid Hydrogen Bonding paper.  sounds good. :)  we had a few minor panic moments this week so maybe that's what i'll blog about tonight.  first, we're freaking out about one of our choices on our new house.  it wouldn't be that big of a deal except that it's our SIDING COLORS.  um, prolly not the best place to make a wrong choice since that's the only part of the house that 99.999999% of people see.  we're only quazi-freaking out now though, now that we've visited it a few more times.  we like both colors, just not sure we like how they look together.  they definitely looked A LOT better together in the design studio when you had the stupid tiny samples to look at.  also i think it will look completely different once all the trim gets put on and the porch rails get put in and our door gets painted.  so we'll see.  but here's a pic (and a few additional ones) for you to make up your own mind.  feel free to be BRUTALLY honest.

Our insulation and wiring is also in, but i figured i wouldn't bore you with those pictures.  We have our pre-drywall inspection on monday, and then they'll be starting on drywall so hopefully we'll have really exciting pictures soon...which brings me to panic topic #2...

Closing date.  ugh.  ok, so we knew that our closing date was going to get pushed some, which is why we wanted them to start building when they did.  we figured if they thought they should have the house completed by the middle or end of may, we would have some cushion room before little bundle of joy #2 comes along in july.  july 22nd to be exact (although at our appt. this morning, the doc said it's looking like it could be "6 days" early=july 16th).  mkay, no worries, right?  well, they told us a couple of weeks ago that we would hopefully be closing the end of june.  this would be fine with us since we'd still have some time to get things moved in before the little one arrives.  the only problem is that they also told us waaaaaaay back in the beginning that their goal for closing was 60 days once drywall starts.  hmmmm...drywall supposed to start next week.  today's date=may 15th.  may 15th+60 days=july 15th (roughly).  hmmmm...i'll let you figure out why my wife is in panic mode :)

ok, on to panic topic #3.  tax rebate.  first, i have no problem not receiving money that i didn't earn anyway.  the problem i have is when other people receive money that they didn't earn and i'm supposed to receive the money, too, but haven't yet :)  now, of course i'm a responsible young adult and haven't really budgeted on getting this money since it is not in my bank account yet....er...um...ok, so maybe we have budgeted for this (shhhhh, we're almost closing on a house...every last penny has been accounted for :) lol).  so may 9th comes and goes (the date my SSN was supposed to get their rebates deposited) and nothing happens.  oh well, maybe they're running behind....wait a week...still nothing.  at this point i'm starting to get a little worried.  (and no, we definitely don't make anywhere near $150K and i'm hoping that we make more than $3K so we would at least get a few bucks out of it).  so i go scrounging the irs website only to find a stupid number that has nothing but automated answers.  lovely.  so at this point i'm pretty much giving up and hoping maybe i'll get some form of a rebate in the next year.  unnnnnntil, tonight :)  i get a wonderful email from turbotax informing me not to worry.  the irs has failed to notify people who had checked direct deposit on their income tax returns, but had the filing fee automatically deducted from their refund, will be receiving their checks via the mail.  so i guess it's a happy ending after all.  i may be getting my benjamins a month later than expected, but at least i'll be getting a few :)...knock on wood...

Memory Lane...

so the other day i had a completely random memory.  i'm talking so random that it even surprised myself.  anybody from the old crew remember how we used to write stories back in like junior high??  well my random memory was about the story that i wrote where we all took a trip to vegas and christina b. ran away with the white tigers.  wow.  and you thought your thoughts were random :)  so anyways, it got me thinking.  i wonder if i could remember a random thought about every year of my life.  let's try shall we?

obviously the first few years of my life i wouldn't remember anything so these will just be stories about me that i remember.

1- i remember how my mom told me she had a HORRIBLE experience in the german hospital and just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.  as a result, she decided to not get her tubes tied as planned and got out of dodge.  can you imagine life without "little roger"???? i know, me neither :)

2- i "remember" how my dad left me and my big brother in the car (running) while going into the restaurant/bar where my mom worked to tell her we had arrived to pick her up...this was literally going to take like 60 seconds.  well, apparently 60 seconds is long enough for me to crawl into the front seat, pull down the shifter lever, scrape a few cars, and drive off about a 10 foot "cliff."  luckily me and aaron were ok.  after pops came running out, aaron made sure to take all blame off him by saying "but dad, i told him to turn!!"

3/4-the only memory i have from virginia beach besides the snails is riding my big bro's bike for the first time without training wheels...i'm assuming since i actually have a short memory of this, i must have been 4 pushing 5.

5/6- ahhhh, vegas.  and kindergarten.  so as the story goes, i came crying home one day after getting off the bus.  i explain to my mom, "this girl on the bus called me a stupid mexican."  to which my mom replies (she always had a way with words ;) haha love ya mama) "well travis, you are mexican."  and i reply, "no i'm not, my dad is!"  :)

7- we move into our new house and i can remember putting on those hooded towels and jumping down the stairs saying "SUPERMAAAAN!"  Honestly, though, who didn't do that as a child?

8- tetherball superstar.  i don't know why i have random memories playing tetherball, but i remember me and my friend percy knight were masters.  the only people that beat us were eachother.

9- third grade.  i remember my teacher mrs. wise.  and i also remember this was the year that i switched to four-square.  my famous killer hit was the "back-spin" where i'd punch the bottom part of the ball so that it would hit the other guys square and spin back so he couldn't get it.  i know...PRO. :)

10- this memory is weird.  i can remember it like it was yesterday.  so one day i forced myself to not play 4-square the entire recess period after lunch so i could practice my "times-tables" since i had failed miserably the first time i had taken the test.  my thought process went something like this: "travis, who cares, go play." "no, i have to learn these stupid things." "but you can practice them while you wait in line after you go 'out'." "no, you'll never lose and never get to practice."  wow, what kind of 10 year old wrestles with himself about playing during recess??? 

11- who can forget the move to Minnesota in the middle of WINTER???  here's an embarassing moment for you...travis getting his shorts pulled down on the playground by JC...love ya buddy :)

12- 6th grade trip to the ELC where luke and i took a canoe ride and decided to explore one of the shorelines.  as luke is pulling the canoe out of the water enough so i can get out, the canoe crawls up the side of a rock and dumps me over the side.  lovely.

13- before it was determined to be "racist" our school used to have an auction for a certain group of seniors (i can't remember if it was a club or a sport or whatever) where they'd auction themselves off to be servants for a day.  usually at the end they'd ask anybody else to come up and volunteer to be auctioned off to raise more money.  i think it was jason p. or joey e. that convinced me to go do it.  seriously, who would bid on a goofy looking 7th grader to be their servant for a day???  apparently a gorgeous senior (who happened to be one of jess's friends).  i fully admit i had crushes on all of jess's friends.  i can't remember exactly how much money i raked in for the cause, but i know it was one of the highest. :)

14- ahhhh, the year i got my snowmobile.  on one such trip, my buddy tim and i had broken away from the trail a bit since the trail was following the powerlines.  i failed to see a minor "bump" in the road that was more like a launching pad and before i could slow down i was launched into the air hanging on for dear life.  fortunately i didn't die, but unfortunately i can't say that i landed it, either.  so there goes travis, chasing after his sled before it runs into some trees.  afterwards my significant other at the time said i must have been pretty high because she looked over towards us and found herself staring up at the bottom of my sled.   could that be why i sheared off a couple of my suspension bolts the very next weekend???  :)

15- Freshman year...hmmmm...i remember coach conboy adding about 50 pounds to my weight for the football program because he "doesn't put anybody less than 150 pounds on his roster." :)

16- ok so travis decided to run a stop sign on his first drivers license test.  it goes without saying that i was pretty mad at myself....until i went back for my second try a week or so later and saw that there wasn't even a stop sign there!!!!  it was just a pole for a sign, but there wasn't a sign attached to it!!!  so my anger turned to the butch cop that failed me the first time...i still haven't forgiven her.  that's a whole week of my life that i was able to drive by myself that i will never get back.

17- ahhh junior year band trip.  for the sake of all those involved (myself included), incriminating evidence will not be revealed in order to protect the innocent :)

18- turning in my freedom in exchange for combat boots and 'seven basic responses': yes sir, no sir, no excuse sir, sir may i ask a question, sir may i make a statement, sir i do not understand, sir i do not know.  yes, i used that last response a LOT.

ok i think this post is getting long enough so we'll just call this "memory lane--part 1" and call it a night.  (you're probably saying to youself, please spare me part 2!!)   

better late than never...

so this was supposed to get posted yesterday, but since our beautiful and always working while staying low priced time warner cable decided it did not want to work for a billion times once.  soooooooooo, here is my lovely CINCO DE MAYO post!! :)

it's become a rather big deal here in the U.S. to celebrate cinco de mayo and as the resident mexican of this blog, i felt obligated to explain the history behind the holiday.  so jess, here's your answer...

it may (or may not) be a well known fact that mexicans LOVE mayonaise.  if you're from po-dunk, fin-town USA, you may not realize this since there are only a few such mexicans who have ever graced the town with their presence ;)  but anyways, now you know...mexicans love mayonaise.  so waaaaaay back in history, right after mexico had staked it's claim as an actual country or republic or whatever you want to call it, the then queen of england wanted to "congratulate" mexico and sort of send a peace offering out of respect for what they had accomplished.  obviously, what would you send a bunch of mexicans???  tortillas??? noooooooooo silly.  mayonaise of course!!  so off the armada went...set sail for the new republic of mexico.  they set sail at the end of april hoping to arrive sometime in the beginning of may.  well, sure enough, they ran into the notorious spring weather that the great seas are known for.  and on may 5, 1700-something the armada sank to bottom of the atlantic.  so the mexicans, not wanting the queen of england to feel bad since they figured they may need her help someday declared a holiday and call it SINK-O DE MAYO!!

and now you know....the rest of the story :)