Monday, November 29, 2010

Vacation Rules!

Sand Castles

Hang Ten!

This morning I awoke, sore and stiff. The little man was requesting a story from his Pack N Play, three feet away.  A glance at the clock revealed a time of 5:50 am. Success! We are almost on Pacific time, only 8 days into vacation. This morning's sleep-in, however, was tempered with the aches in my arms, shoulders and back.

As quickly as my non-cooperative body allowed, I dressed the wee man and whisked him off to another Starbucks breakfast. We then strolled down the path, through the palms and pines to playground for a view over the bluffs of the sand and surf.

Today's gentle orderly rollers and clear blue sky quickly revealed why my body was complaining so much - so these are ideal surfing conditions. The questions from the surf shop the day before now made perfect sense upon seeing these perfect waves.  Yesterday's pounding white-capped random chaos, although fun, may explain our inability to actually ride any waves as well as my body's bruises, at least that's my story.

Little man, don't wait as long as your old man to learn how to surf. And when you do, start with a day like today.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Oliver & the Ocean

Today we headed down to La Jolla for a morning of Black Friday shopping and some lounging on the beach. Up early with the little man, the sun was shinning and everything felt right. Walking down Prospect St to the beach, the wee one couldn't stop pointing and babbling away. He loves the ocean, the waves and the water. Although he was a bit reticent about putting his feet in the sand, the cormorants, sea lions and surf more than made up for it.

He truly loves the seaside and I have to say that I can't fault his taste. Tomorrow - Surfing. He may have some more laughs, but this time at his old man's expense.

San Diego Sunset

San Diego

Beach fun

Friday, November 19, 2010

Happy World Toilet Day!

We haven't started potty training the wee man yet, but we are priviliged to live in a part of the world where sanitation is clean, effective and easy (at least most of the time). Many others are not so foturnate.

November 19th is World Toilet Day. A day to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.6 billion people (nearly half of the world's population) who don't have access to toilets and proper sanitation.



According to the WTO (World Toilet Organization):
2.6 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, mostly children, a year.
Diarrheal diseases kill five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS.

That's 5,000 children DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Not only that, but the disease kills more children than either malaria or AIDS, stunts growth, and forces millions - adults and children alike - to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits both a country's economy and its citizens' chances of a better future. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.
Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection.
One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.
Safe disposal of children's feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.

 Please share the message.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Well that was difficult

On Sunday night I got off a fifteen hour flight from Hong Kong. Worn out, tired and hungry, I passed through customs, grabbed my bags off the luggage carousel and struggled through the airport. I was looking for the taxi stand to complete the final leg of the journey home after two weeks away travelling through China and Hong Kong for work.

In a semi-daze, I located the sign directing me towards the waiting cars and then did a double-take. Mummum and the little man had a made a trek of their own out to the airport to surprise me! It was awesome.

I missed them tremendously over the two weeks I was away (missing both Hallowe'en and my wife's birthday). It was the longest I had ever been separated from the little man.  Sure we video-chatted regularly and many photos were emailed, but wow did I miss him and his mom.

He's changed a ton in two weeks too. He's taller. He has more hair. He has more words.

And he likes his panda.

It's good to be home.