The Day of the Party

The day finally came for Mealani. Her first big birthday party. I am pretty sure she was excited ... she had her Barbie themed party all planned out and was ready to go at 9am. We had some final arrangements to make and some decorating to do. Finished everything with about ten minutes to spare before Megumi and her dad showed around 12pm. Mom, Auntie Eva, and several other family members were cooking and preparing food. I was running around while the rest of the parents showed up to either drop off their kids or stayed to enjoy the food we had prepared.

And boy let me tell you there was quite a bit of food going on. Take a look at the pics and you will see what I am talking about when I said we had some good food: Currie, egg rolls, shish kabob and pizza.


Well here are the girls that Mealani invited to her birthday party. It was the beginning to a very tiring day.


Well here is some yummy food that we had at Mealani's birthday. Let me tell you ... thanks to everyone who helped out.


Ok line up girls time to eat lunch. Let's see head count time. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10


Here are the girls after they lined up for the lunch line.Come one girls eat your food.


Finally Mealani spending some time with daddy. Daddy is still fired up at this time but later on that energy is burned out.


Ok girls pin the tail on the donkey ... so lets sit in a circle.


Ok here goes Alexis ... how close was she? Well tails don't grow on donkey heads so better luck next time.


Kira and Mealani ... like old buds.


Time to open presents - come on Mealani.


Mealani and the Barbie birthday cake. She sure likes Barbie as all her presents were Barbie things.


And there you go ... Mealani blows out the candles.


Mealani and Jennifer anfter we cut the cake.


Here the little kids are having some ice cream cake.


Grandma and Mealani together. What a long day and thanks to grandma for cooking all the food.


Look at the Barbie dress. Thanks Vanessa for the nice curly hair.


Grandma, Auntie Eva, Auntie Yen, and Mealani ...


One last picture before everyone leaves.


Auntie Jen looking silly ...


Vanessa and Jen taking some pics.


Hey Lulu ... come with me. Be my valentine ...


Auntie Jen's celebrates her birthday. Born on 2/14 Valentines day.


Ok the last of the night. Vanessa and Mealani enjoying some more cake.

Pho for Lunch

Well today is special Jeff is picking us up in his car Betsy and we are going to Pho. Tim , Daniel, Jeff, and I since Bill bailed out on us. Keep this updated for later on. Well Pho wa good at Pho Van ... what more can you ask for when the meal only cost $4.50. Anyways I have a hunger for sweets right now but am trying to fight it. I did get some skittles but it does not seem to be helping. Maybe I should get my Diet Dr Pepper. Also talk about a ride ... the windows were open all the way there and all the way back. So I probably could use some washing and straigtening up. Well hours to go ... actually 3.5 hours to before I head home. Then pickup Mealani from school and go home to clean the house. Maybe try to vacuum everything ... lucky I have our robot vacuum that does a pretty good job. I will let it loose upstairs when I get home so ... just have to clean up Mealani's room so that it looks nice when her friends show up for the party. Damn I have to clean my bathroom also ... looks like I will be busy. Ok ... here comes the big weekend, Mealani's birthday tomorrow, then Noahs, birthday and SuperBowl on Sunday.

Ok a friend sent me this in an email so I figured might as well post it on here also:::

1. What is your full name: Luan Vi Quach
2. What's your favorite color: Blue
3. PRAISE AND WORSHIP: Jesus
4. Are your legs crossed: Sort of ...
5. What was the last thing you ate: Pho
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be: Dark Blue
7. How is the weather right now: Sunny & 72
8. Last person you talked to on the phone: Jeff
9. First thing you notice about the opposite sex: Their Hair
10. Do you like the person that sent this to you: She is too nice ...
although there was the bank
12. Favorite drink: Water and Lees Coffee and Diet Dr Pepper
13. Favorite alcoholic drink: Buttery Nipple
14. Hair Color: Black
15. Eye Color: Brown
16. Do you wear contacts: No thanks to LASIK
17. Last movie you watched: Alien V Predator
18. Favorite Day or Holiday of the year: Saturday
19. Are you too shy to ask someone out: No
20. Summer or Winter: Summer
21. Hugs or Kisses: Definitely both!
22. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
23. Do you want your friends to write back: Most definitely!
24. Who's most likely to respond: Lulu
25. Living arrangements: San Diego until my SO comes along
26. Who is least likely to respond: Bill
27. What books are you reading: The Red Rabbit
28. Did you wake up before your alarm went off: Nope
29. Buttered, Plain, or Salted Popcorn: Buttered, of course (lots)!
30. Favorite Chips: Do Cheetos count?
31. Favorite Car: Infinit G35 Coupe but with no budget Acura NSX
32. Favorite Flower: Red roses
33. How many keys on your key ring: 10
34. Red or White Wine: Red Wine
35. What did you do for your last birthday: Nothing much
36. Do you own a Donor Card: No
37. What is the first thing you think of when you get up in the
morning: Only several more months until I no longer wake up alone
38. Favorite television show: Smallville

The Day Began With ...

Today while walking at lunch, we ended up at Mervyns. Bill and I were walking around when we saw things on sale for 50% off clearance. It became the big buying fest as I ended up buying her a bunch of things from Mervyns. I even got the Christmas tree I had been waiting for to go on sale. I plan to make Christmas 2005 a big event to celebrate all the fun and wonderful memories for Mealani. My arms are still sore today from carrying all the things I had bought ... clothes, pajamas, and toys. I know some people say I spoil Mealani but I just want to provide the best for her. Sometimes it does mean I spoil her ... to many toys, too many things she does not need but I think if I can provide it for her, I will try. Nothing can be enough especially when it comes to her health and education. When I think about how much money I have spent to make sure her teeth are healthy, that she has the best education I can provide ... the amount is almost staggering to me. I figure the amount of money I have spent is somewhere around $20,000. Gosh its amazing when your a parent you will do whatever you can to provide them with the best.

The Night for Mealani - Monsters Inc. (Disney on Ice)

Well tonight was the big night for Mealani, grandpa, and myself. We all went to the Disney on Ice show at the Sports Arena. The show we watched was Monsters Inc which Mealani loved watching on DVD. She got to go as part of her big birthday celebration this week.

Well I have included some more pics down below so enjoy.


Mealani and daddy at the Disney on Ice show.


Grandpa and Mealani enjoying the show Monsters Inc.


Mealani posing again. She can be a junior model.


Oh Gosh once again she is too cute.


Mealani and grandpa in the seats of the Disney on Ice show.


The show in action. Mealani, grandpa and I enjoy the night out for a little fun.


Once again she poses for the camera.


End of the show ... almost time to go home.


One last picture before we leave so that we have something to remember by.

Got the Tickets

Today at lunch Bill and I went to the Sports Arena to pickup the Disney on Ice tickets. We left for the trolley at 12ish and then took it to Old Town Transit Center. Then we hauled butt over to the Sports Arena. It took us like 10 minutes to walk there but when we got there, there was a long line of people waiting to purchase tickets. As I got up to the window, the lady told me that only nosebleed seats were available which I was willing to get if thats all that was available but within seconds she had seats for us right next to the skaters. Talk about some luck for us to get such tickets along with a $7 discount for going on opening night. So it came out to $40.50 for three tickets but I know Mealani will enjoy it for a long time.

My dad, myself, and Mealani will have fun watching Monsters Inc. at the Sports Arena and I think that this year Mealani will have quite a memorable birthday celebration. I will be sure to post pics from the party and if possible from the Arena. I think cameras are not allowed however. But I will take pics of Mealani before we leave so that we have something to remember the evening by just like when we went to the Ballet we got a ballerina figurine.

Being a Dad

Let me tell you it is not easy being a dad. Especially since I raise my daughter on my own for the most part. Her mother lives in Los Angeles and sees her every other weekend. She does not provide for any support or anything just really cares about herself only. My daughter is fortunate to have grandparents that love her to death. My parents especially my mom want to make Mealani (my daughter) 5th birthday memorable. I had spend the afternoon at Party City trying to find games and prizes for the kids coming to the party and also party favors. Then I had to decide on the cake ... let me tell 36 dollars for a birthday cake is sort of steep you know. But I decided that I should get the Barbie princess cake for Mealani as she will enjoy that one the most.

This evening I prepared some letters to remind parents if their child was coming to the party. Right now only about 4 - 5 kids are coming of those only 3 are from Mealani's class. I hoped there would be at least 6 -8 as that would make Mealani's day I think. So I hope my second round of invitiations will do the trick and several more students will come. Als have to remember to have several of her old school mates get invited also. Well other than that the weekend has been pretty quiet with my parents and Mealani heading to Santa Ana for some asian cuisine.

As usual, Mealani came home exhausted and slept all the way to Santa Ana in the car. She did enjoy the day she spend with grandma and grandpa. I had her bathed and brushed so she would be ready to sleep at 8pm so she read books until about 8:20. Well tomorrow I will have to remember to go to Sports Arena to pickup tickets for DisneyonIce Monsters Inc. We will hopefully be going for opening night so I am sure she will be excited.

Another Interesting Day in SD

Well can you believe it ... somehow someone knocked over one of those huge steel beams that they use to construct the bridges. So what happens they close down the 15 freeway ... hello have fun driving around in San Diego. Read more about the story here. Well other than making the commute a lot longer than normal, its just traffic like usual until we finish building the new freeway managed lanes.

This year Mealani will be at her mom's while we are celebrating the event which is too bad. But we do have plans to head to Vegas for the President's day holiday. It should be quite fun since Mealani likes Vegas just did not enjoy the getting sick part she experienced last time. Still another full day at work so looking forward to the weekend ... buy somethings for Mealani's party and watch more movies from Blockbuster.com.

Well Some Good News ...

Well today was the big day when we found out what our new job titles will be. There was some handwringing and stuff since our company has not had a programming group before. Also the ability to get promoted and make more money was on our minds. So it looks good that I will now have the title Programmer Analyst II. That does not mean I will be making more money tomorrow but at least it is better than being a assistant web developer analyst for the next several years.

Well I guess I have more planning to do for Mealani's birthday party as another person along with Tim and his family. Also several other co-workers will probably attend like Amber, Bill, and Daniel. I have been trying to find a clown for the party but the cheapest clown I found charged $95 an hour. Pretty steep considering what they are doing ... maybe I should go be a clown also since they seem to make way more money than I do.

Well here's to hoping we can get our proposed raises in March.

Train Accident

So I have been reading up on this Metrolink train derailment. It was caused by this guy who wanted to commit suicide but at the last minute decided he did not have the guts to do it. So he left his vehicle on the tracks and walked away. The train slammed into the suv and derailed causing it to hit another train going the opposite way. The death toll is 11 but vcould go higher since there are also 24 people in critical condition.

I guess my feeling are like this ... if you want to commit suicide go jump off a cliff, slash your wrist or something that is not going to get other people hurt. Don't do it by train, suicide by cop, or some other stupid method. These people don't want to die ... they want attention. So 11 people needlessly died just so one guy could get attention ... seems so pointless and a huge waste. I am sure many of those people who died were thinking about all the things they had to do.

Sometimes some people should not have rights that protect them especially when the effects of their action create destruction in the lives of people. This is clearly a case of someone who deserves what they get and now that he is being charged with murder - 11 charges plus maybe murder with special circumstances which could give him the death penalty; I say good - let's fry his ass and give him what he wanted which is to die.

Phone Call - Who Could It Be?

Well today I was surprised to receive a phone call from a number I did not recognize so I answered "This is Alan speaking" Turns out it was one of the parents from Mealani's class. They were RSVPing for Mealani's birthday party which is good as I was worried that maybe not enough people would show up. Its sort of hectic when you do not know the parents that well so you cannot just ask them ... is your daughter coming to the birthday party. But boy it puts me back into the position of preparing for the birthday party. I want her to have a good time so I need to think about activities for the kids to do while they are there for three hours. I was thinking games likes pin the tail and musical chairs. That means I need to go shopping for prizes too ... too bad KB Toystore is already close. I could have purchased several more toy items or Barbies or something as prizes. Well I guess tomorrow at lunch I will hit the mall and see if I can find anything.

Taking a Walk at Lunch

Well today Bill and I went for our daily walk at lunch. We had planned on going to Horton Plaza but he told me that the K.B Toystore had already shut down. I was planning on picking up more little gift givers for Mealani's birthday but I guess I will just have to figure out something else to give away. I had planned on taking some pics but I guess my camera on my phone is all jacked up. Too bad it was a nice day and there were so many cool new things to see. I guess time for a new phone.

Well another neat thing we saw today was the opening of Extraordinaire Desserts on Union Street. I know that the desserts in that place are to die for especially when you consider how rich the cheesecakes and other desserts there are. Can you imagine paying 7-8 dollars for a piece of cake. I guess that reminds me also that I need to order a cake for Mealani's birthday party. I am not sure what type of cake but I guess something with princess or something like that on it will be the only way to go.

Also I talked to my sister last night, told her to have her birthday the same day as Mealani so that way we could kill two birds with one stone. I hope that she will invite some friends over and stuff ... I think its time we just move on from where we have been.

One thing I have noticed lately is that I am completely hooked on Poore Brother habanero chips. My gosh they are so spicy but damn they are good. I cannot get enough of them but I know if I don't cut back I will be screwed by gaining back all the weight I have lost in the past year. I know that I have a goal of loosing weight and trying to get into better shape ... you know got some important pics to take this year ... so I need to have the will-power to stop. Just a lot easier said then done. Another time I need to do is find out about getting tickets to the Disney on Ice show Monsters Inc. so that Mealani and I can go. It should be a lot of fun for both of us since we both ejoyed the movie so much. Maybe I can convince grandpa to go also as he enjoyed the movie as much as we have. I should ask Amy's mom back for the movie as she borrowed it several months back and still has not returned it. Ok well I guess that's all for now.

The New Year - Let It Ring!!

Well it is officially here. 2005 is suppose to be the great start to a whole new year however we (well me) are already facing challenges. I have to provide my daughter - Mealani with a cool birthday but do all the planning and setup on my own. Mealani is turning 5 on February 8 so we are having her party on February 5. She has invited her fellow classmates but she only wanted to invite girls. She also will ask several of her classmates from her previous school to attend.

I also will be facing some new challenges with issues with raising a daughter such as her curious questions about certain things she has noticed and also to continually challenge her so that she will not find school and life boring.

Mealani attends Oak Knoll Montessori now and the school has enriched her to the larger class. She is exposed to kids from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. It seems to me that a lot of Asian parents and Indian seem to send their kids to Montessori programs. Its amazing to me when Mealani reads, write, and can do math when kids who are older than her cannot do any of these things.

I look forward to seeing my daughter grow up with her immense quesdt for knowledge. She likes to read books and is able to read many parts of the newspaper. I am not quite sure on whether to put her back in public school when September comes around or to keep her in the Montessori program. She is already way beyond the kindergarten level and could probably be at or a higher level than a first grader. I know I was never as knowledgable as her when I was five ... my how times have changed.

On the plus side, Mealani is sleeping in her own room again. She was sleeping there for almost 2 months when she went back to sleeping in grandma and grandpa's room. This happened after she returned from her Thanksgiving stay at her moms. Her mom lives in a one bedroom apartment with her brother, cousin, son, and sometimes another cousin. Amazing that anyone could live like that ... surely it cannot be healthy for my daughter to be exposed to that environment.

Well the month is almost over and the time will fly once again I think. Must be something to do with getting older. I myself hit the big 30 last year. It seems like the many things we took for granted when were younger are no longer taken for granted. You realize how important family and friends are ... and the realization that you will sacrafice anything for your loved ones.

Well as for my family, both mom and dad are going through some growing pains with my sister. She has not quite figured out that we are trying to watch out for her and I hope that she does not make the same mistake I made. Life is not easy but when you add in diffuculties like relationships, money, and other things ... well its all you can do to stay in the game. I have discovered that education is the key to better things in life ... it can make the biggest difference from working at a job that pays you minimum wage to one that pays you a decent wage.

Living in San Diego ... even making the median salary of 50 thousand dollars is not really enough to get by. Heck most homes are now between 600 - 800 thousand dollars. Imagine that ... the amount of money you need to bring home after taxes to afford a place like that. Luckily we did purchase our place four years ago so we are still in the plus side but it seems like housing prices are no longer skyrocketing like they were several months ago.

New Years Eve 2005

Well this year I was lucky to get invited to two parties. I went with my parents to eat at Emerald Restaurant which is really nice and had good food. My dad's colleague was on stage with his band mates to perform. After dinner was over and I hung out with them for a little while, I headed over to my friend Arelene's home. Damn she had a nice home plus she had full on catering with some salsa dancers to boot. Check it out ...


New Years Eve party with my parents and other relatives. Later on my dad won a dvd/vcr player.


Just getting ready to head to the next party.


Went to my friend's home. Let me tell you it was a nice place. Check out the nice pool along with the area they setup for salsa dancing.


Later on we learn how to salsa from the hot looking girl. She had a really tight body ... as you can tell.

Holiday Bowl Parade

Well December 30, Mealani was not in school so I took her to work with me. She was doing homework and drawing while in my office. In fact she went around and made new friends with people who I work with. I even got to meet a couple of people I did not even know. Well some pics to show you how much she enjoyed coming to work that day. Also we went to the Holiday Bowl Parade and then went out to lunch later on at Wendys. Then grandpa came by and picked us up at 3pm.


Gosh can you tell who is a trouble maker. She went to work with me for the day and was making friends with all my co-workers.


Mealani with Kira at the Holiday Bowl Parade. We left work and then had lunch afterwards at Carl Jrs. She had a good time.


Look at the beautiful weather .. San Diego in mid December. Amazing that the rest of the world is having cold weather and yet we are having absolutely warm weather ... 80 degrees.

Christmas Day

This year Christmas occurred on Saturday. The nice thing was being able to celebrate it with my daughter however I wished that Lulu was also here to celebrate with us. It will not be until Christmas in 2007 I think before we get to do that.


Mealani opens up her Christmas gifts. See the big Care Bear she sleeps with.


Whoo look at the attitude ... the cow or Mealani.

Mealani opened her presents and later on in the afternoon, we went to see her previous teacher Miss Sherril. She loves Mealani like a daughter and Mealani also likes her too. One thing though is Mealani does not like to have a strict teacher so she sometimes she will be upset at her teachers.


Mealani is with her previous teacher Miss Sherril. She also brought along a present for Miss Sherril.

Later on that night we went to look at some Christmas decorated home. This one guy starts working on his home in October to get his house ready in time for Christmas.


We went to see some Christmas lights but this guy really knows how to do it ... it takes him almost 4 months to complete the house.


Mealani with Andre ... damn that kid is chubby.

Mealani's First Performance

Here Mealani is performing her portion of the show. She reads from a card however she had her lines all memorized.


Mealani with her teachers: Miss Hawley, Miss Candy, Miss Susie, and Miss Rodriguez.


Mealani with her classmate at the multicultural fair. Mealani enjoyed having to perform in front of a large crowd.