Monday, July 31, 2006

Some visitors from New York and Charleston


Chowing down
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
My Uncle Ernie called from Moscow while I was at work to let me know that they were planningon going to see my parent's in Charleston and do a quick impromptu vacation to Orlando. They had rented a condo in Kissimmee and were hanging out for a week to fish and relax. I was stoked cos I was hopefully going to be able to see my parent's finally.

Me and El made lots of preparations for a evening cookout, fishing trip and beach/boating at Cocoa Beach throughout the week intermingled with whatever plans they had. We both took a couple of days off to enjoy a nice long weekend. I've been getting hammered at work and anxious to take some time off.

Since we are expecting the baby El and I had no plans for an international trip this year. Kinda bummed about that, but I've been trying to be conservative with my time off to enjoy the month of December off and be with my new family. Needless to say, the constant work has been taking its toll on me.

I was hoping to make this visit as smooth and stressless as possible with some preplanning. We both needed some time to decompress and this was a perfect opportunity.

Sorry Derek you couldn't make it down. Damn your internship! Thanks Uncle Ernie for the hardcore Russian vodka, too. Me and El are gonna get hammered!


The after effects
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The food turned out pretty good. I'm slowly improving on my beef kebob techniques. I've been grilling the marinated beef separately from the veggie sand bamboo sticks to sear them and keep them tender. After a few minutes on the grill we then stick them with pineapple, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes and gril them again to get everything else that nice charred flavor.

Even the shrimps we marinated with the leftover from the beef turned out great. The marinade was something new I tried with orange juice, pineapple juice, worchestershire, salt, pepper, sweet pepper chipotle, garlic and olive oil.

People were topping the salad (romaine, pickled beet, roma tomato, sweet Vidalia onion, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, mushrooms and olives and a ginger soy vinaigrette) with the grilled shrimp. Awesome.

Also grilled up huge fillets of Mahi Mahi I caught off the coast of Charleston with a simple lemon, oilve oil, salt, pepper and garlic seasoning. Very meaty almost like chicken.

Lastly I had cut up some cold, seedless watermelon for dessert. The food turned out fantastic and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Uncle Ernie and I popped open a couple bottles of Cabernet that he brought in from NY and a Mondavi I bought here.

Chilling outside at night, tiki torches lit, no mosquitoes, lots of laughing and some relaxing summer music helped make the evening very relaxing and a nice start for the weekend.


Cookout Mom and Dad
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It had been a long time since my parent's were able to come visit Florida so I'm glad they decided to ride along with the NY people. It was the first time they got to see El starting to show her belly. Everyone was able to watch the 4D ultrasound.

They even brought over some gifts for the little girl. Thanks to Auntie Lani and the girls for the little outfits. Also Cherilyn and my mom managed to do some shopping in SC for Little Isa. Thanks for the cute cardigan outfit and dress. Cher has been very generous with her extra doohickeys for the baby. We returned the favor to Gabriel with a neat learnign toy, a Hooter bib and an exclusive Florida "Eating Machine" Gatorland tee shirt.


Hooking some Whiting
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Uncle Ernie brought in the prize fish - an eight inch Whiting. Not even enough for a fish sammich...


Pops fishing
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Sorry dad we didn't get to catch much other than the Whiting. Everything worked against us. Stormy seas and a huge rainfall coming, transducer not doing its thing (still gotta work on that), late start. Dropping about $150 in gas and getting up a 4am didn't ensure a succesful trip. Ah well. It's a crapshoot.


Mommy
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Mommy El enjoys the lake near our house. When we initially went out we were hauling ass and hitting the choppy water. Everyone loved the bumpy ride and occassional splash. By the end of the trip - Jack Johnson playing in the background - everyone was relaxed and quiet. Funny.


The girls on Lake Toho
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I hope the girls had fun. It was hard trying to make sure no one was getting bored, tired, overheated, hungry etc. When we did have an actual plan everything went over well.

I know they really wanted to go riding around and I didn't want to disappoint. After our early morning fishing debacle I took a nap to power up and took them out to Lake Toho which was only 15 minutes away for a little joyriding. Rachel took the wheel on the way back and did pretty well once she got used to the throttle.

Marissa ran up the courage to drive the boat a little, but chickened out once we hit some shallows and almost got stuck. No worries after trimming up we were on our way again. Melanie - next time na lang since she was nervous and was JUST learning how to drive a car.

"You know driving a car?"
"Yeah"
"This is harder."
"Oh. Just show me where the brakes are on this."
"uuuhhhh..."

Saturday Rachel took the family to Cirque du Soleil La Nouba at Downtown Disney. Afterwards, we all went to Celebration for dessert and pass out birthday presents to Melanie who turned 16 recently and my mom who was about to have one (Plus, some shirts I never gave them previously for all three cousins - only took a year!).

Sunday they were outtie. We saw them off at their condo in Kissimmee. Hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Friday, July 14, 2006

Not for you dial-up folks...

* JUST UPDATED*

Randal was kind enough to hook me up with a newly reedited version on both of the videos with additional bonus footage and director's cut! Thanks Randal...

Here's a longer version minus the sound - not recommended for you people behind the times and using DIAL-UP. I don't know Final Cut Pro so I had to jerry rig Randal's DVD and save it without the nice musica. But still here's a nice LONG version. Enjoy!



I'm still amazed at the whole 4D process. Seeing her feet, her hands, sucking her thumb, the back of her head and ears. it's very overwhelming that by Christmas El and I will have a little girl. Although I'm a little nervous about details like daycare, MONEY, work/sleep hours I'm still very excited to see what she will look like and who she will become. There's a little person in El! Good job Mommy.

Isabella makes her onscreen debut...

*JUST UPDATED*

This video was recut again with additional footage. Woo hoo!

Here's a quick and dirty video (about 30 seconds) of El and Isabella's 4D Ultrasound. Thanks Randal for hooking a brutha up. I'll set you up with some car maintenance tips on the flipside.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

A Little Someone Says Hello


Isabella
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Yesterday El and I were scheduled for our next ultrasound. This was to determine the sex of the baby if possible. Unlike our last visit to the OB, we were going to experience it with the miracle of modern technology - 4D Ultrasound. Not only would the tech use the traditional 2D to take measurements, but the 4D would allow us to see the baby real time in a three dimensional environment in mommy's tummy.

As soon as the tech switched over to 4D we were greeted by the baby with a "peace" sign. Too bad we didn't catch it on tape. Awesome. The tech took her time in getting all the measurements and catering to our questions and needs. An hour later we found out the answers to all our questions.

It was a great experiece and it really reinforced the idea of having a baby in a few months. We're both pretty stoked about the addition. Now the question remains...

Which room becomes the nursery?

Isabella
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I'm guessing that we'll be able to visit her by the third trimester. Not soon enough. It was great to see our little girl again since the last ultrasound. Since that time I'd been itching to see how she has progressed. Hell even El took home a doppler from work to check on the baby's heartbeat.

Randal from work is busy digitzing the VHS tape of Isabella so I can post it on the blogger in a week or so. The long version is really for the family, but the short version will feature a little music and possibly a 30 second mpeg of her in mommy's belly. Thanks man!

Monday, July 10, 2006

The Money Pit


DSCN2713
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
This weekend was spent repairing/updating the boat. I opted out of putting in a CD player and speakers. My iPod and weatherproof Speakercase worked great last time. I never use the radios so it would have been a complete waste.

Anthony at Antonietti Marine is trading out a gps/fishfinder for a logo design for magnetic logos, decals, hats, shirts, etc. May not be top-of-the-line but it'll do. He's also sending me some small accessories/missing components for the boat and will keep an eye out for a seat back for the front cooler bench.

So far I managed to remove the cheesy looking vinyl boat maker stickers on the sides so I can redesign better looking ones and have my vendor at Triangle Repro output me some better, cleaner ones. I also ended up cleaning off the stainless steel railings and removing some of the rust stains on the boat. I also managed to attach the anchor roller mount.

The access hatch in the bow was missing a door so I made my way to Boater's World to pick up a new one. I thought it might be a quick repair, but ended up having to cut away at the fiberglass with my jigsaw to fit it in. Much much better. A quick rinse down and I called it a day. Hopefully later this week I'll be able to use the orbital waxer with a wax restorer.


DSCN2716
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
There's still more to be ddone, but Ihave to take things in stride. It's easy to see how you can get swept away with all the small projects and repairs on a boat. It's definitely a money pit, but something I can focus on that's different from the daily grind.

My Uncle Ernie and family are coming possibly next week and I'd like to get it squared away. The registration plate comes in a couple of weeks, but I hope sooner so I don't have to worry about using the trailer illegally if they maange to come in next weekend.

Next concern is storage. I found a place that I can store it outside for about $50 a month. Not bad. Oooh what next...

Oh and Wednesday, El and I will find out if we have a boy or a girl...

Thursday, July 06, 2006

You Guys Ready For A "Three Hour Tour"? Lemme Finish This Beer First...


It's Miller Time
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I wanted a motorcycle. El said "get yourself a larger life insurance policy and a coffin first."

Then I threatened to trade in the Acura MDX for a more gas conservative car ("even a Mercedes if you like" trying to bribe her a little). "You better not!" she hit back.

Well I want SOMETHING for fun. So we settled on a boat. Nothing new, although she tempted me with a brand new 20-footer. Nah nah. We need training wheels so we headed out to Port Richey north of Tampa to see a guy about a horse.

Anthony at Antoinetti Marine set me up with a 19' 2001 Pro Sports Center Console with a Johnson 150 Oceanrunner. Dinged a little, but the sea trial the next weekend with Paul proved satisfying. I was able to haggle him down $500 from his asking price which sealed the deal. $300 for a Coast Guard Kit and a few necessities got me started.

Fourth of July we were heading to Cocoa Beach for the Fourth of July...
We all know who the REAL captain of this boat is. El shows me how to trim down and get a less choppy ride. Her first time steering a bigger boat (jet skis not included) she did well. A little shy of the throttle at first she warmed up to it quickly.

the girls
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Ingrid, Sanne and Paul joined us for the day.We left Orlando by around 11am and by 1230 we were on the water. Cocoa BEach was not that far at all. Surprising since it was the Fourth of July, the races were in Daytona and the space shuttle was launching this day. By the time we were launching from the ramp tons of people were lined up with their trucks trying to get out into tthe water.

Here Ingrid and El have lunch of sub sandwiches and watermelon. The water was warm and the water packed with boats of different sizes. Some tunes on the iPod played as we all relaxed in the warm weather.

Shuttle takeoff
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
With what seemed like 4 (actually 5) launchpads on the horizon we almost missed the shuttle take off! While everyone was watching straight ahead (we're all cattle - we just follow the crowd) the shuttle was counting down to the LEFT of us. I've seen shuttles launch before from Orlando as a tiny speck of fire high in the sky, but this was totally different. Very cool.

As the last launch of this type of space shuttle takeoff it was history in the making. In a matter of seconds the craft was gone. 20 seconds later you could hear the sonic boom high into the atmosphere.

cruising
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
After the shuttle launched we decided to head out of the bay and see what the Johnson 150 could do. Full throttle we were able to hit 42 mph no prob. Pretty awesome. Had to take it easy tho for the new mom - no Shaken Baby Syndrome here. All I need to do it seems it get the body cleaned up to more of my liking and adding a few accessories. The iPod and speakercase setup worked great and prevented any possible chance of theft since I can removie it easily. Antoinetti Marine may even do a tradeout for a GPS/Fishfinder if I do a little design work for them. Every little penny saved helps in this moneypit. But it's oh so nice...

Ya'll Know The Legendary Roots Crew


Common and The Roots
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Saturday evening Ed and I bought tickets to catch The
Roots and Common perform at the House of Blues. Brian
and Asheman managed to meet up before Jean Grey
finished her set - they didn't miss too much.

The House of Blues itself is a great venue for music.
It's not quite as overwhelming as Hard Rock Cafe Live
and not as crappily laid out like say Silver Spurs
Arena or TD Waterhouse. It's a nice, venue with not a
bad seat in it.


Common
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Once The Roots got started they rocked the mic with
some older tunes and some newer stuff. The highlight
for me was definitely when Common came out to throw
down with them. Towards the end of the night they
shifted over to more of a jam band vibe. I wasn't
really feeling it so Ed and I took off a little early.
Sorry Brian.

1960's Birthday Shindig!


the Happening Shindig
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Since we are expecting our first child November 17th
El and I decided to have one last hurrah for my
birthday (35! Geez!). A quick plan and we organized a
small gathering of friends and significant others the
next day. We themed it out in 1960's mod complete with
lava and fiber optic lamps, Tiki torches, badmitton,
Burt Baccarat and Frank Sinatra on the stereo, and a
shag rug. The potluck spread was awesome. Great job
Tommy and Lyndsey on the Mondrian Jell-O Shooters.
Sorry it melted before you got to the house. Jen's
Pigs-In-A-Blanket were a hit.


lava love
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


couch potatoes
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


grillman
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Most were dressed to impressed - way better than my
lame-o bowling shirt and shorts combo. Dan and Kam and
Ed and Erin took the cake for the best dressed for
sure. After a LATE start by yours truly to get the
grill going I was able to finally mix it up and have a
few drinks and chat.


badmitton anyone?
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


benchwarmers
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


jen v grubbage
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Jen V in tha Hizzy and El check out the spread. Some of the menu items included a flan with seasonal fruit, pork ribs, crabburgers, beef kebobs, fresh melon bowl handcarved by El, deviled eggs, cheescake and even a Mondrian inspired jello shooter set by Tommy. Sorry it didn't make the trip to the house intact. It did look cool tho!


the pad
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Inside the pad...lava lamps, Burt Baccarrat playing on the HiFi and even a fiber optic lamp helped set the mood. White shag rug actually stayed permanent. Sad.


lisa and randal
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Randal and Lisa hang out back. Randal does it count still for this costume party if you ALWAYS dress this way???


clock
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Ed, Erin, Kam and Dan win for best dressed. Extra props to Dan for hitting Goodwill to score a woman's turtleneck and still wear it out in that damn heat. Lava lamps were passed out as prizes. Ed scored my extra karaoke for providing the singing delight.


lyndsey pose
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Lyndsey strikes a pose. And congrats to you and Tommy on getting hitched!


brian grub
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Brian, you loser! It's a costume party. Ed and Erin show him how it's done.


patio
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Outside in the back patio.


bargirls
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


outdoors
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Quickly the party wrapped up (it was the night before
a schoolday) and everyone had to bounce. Paul and Jen
managed to hang with me, El and Rachel to kill off the summer
cocktails mixes. It was exactly how I wanted to spend
the party. Outside in the cooler evening air sipping
cocktails, music in the background, tiki torches
burning and yukking it up with friends.


People Under The Stairs
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Ed and I were supposed to catch another great
underground hip hop band Thursday night at the Social.
People Under The Stairs, from LA, finally made it out
to the East Coast and I've been waiting to catch them
here if the opportunity arose. Well it did and damn me
for misplacing my wallet and having to cancel my
cards. I couldn't get any cash out to head that way.
Kick myself in the ass over this one! I had to pass
grudgingly.

Happy Birthday to me-e-e-e...


Birthday Cake
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The following Friday I took off from work to make a
long-deserved weekend excursion to SC. We got in and
took my parents out Friday night downtown and spent
the night at their crib. The next afternoon we made it
out to El's parent's house for a Memorial Weekend BBQ
and Birthday hoorah.

Finally got to meet Emily's squeeze from NY, Jon and his
bandmates from Plastic LIttle. Got to chill with Ron for a
few before he had to fly back out to Vegas. And blow
out my candles. Afterwards, Rachel, El and I took a
spin downtown to be tourists for a bit.


DSCN2635
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
We got to eat at Vickery's (mmmm) and had their
Lowcountry Seafood Sautee - fluffy grits with lump
crab, crawfish, shrimp and topped with fried oysters.
Holy shit I've been missing their food. No offense to
our parent's cookiing, but I miss Charleston's array of
fantastic restaurants. We love spending time with you
guys, but we sometimes would rather eat out and
indulge ourselves in the establishments we don't get
to frequent anymore.

Here's El with my nephew Gabriel testing out her mommy skills while I chomp down on his Fred Flintstone foot.


Customs House Spoleto
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Some shopping at some of boutiques and small vendors
and we made our way to Spoleto Festival by the Customs
House. The international arts festival is
world-reknown and we wanted to catch some of the vibe
before we went home. The scattered showers put a
damper (literally) on some of the presentees adn they
closed their tents early, but nonetheless we were able
to walk around.


A_closeup_of_the_Mahi_Mahi
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Afterwards we made a quick run to the Isle of Palms to
breathe in some of the salty beach air. It's amazing
how Charleston has grown from a small port city into a
heavily visited tourist town. They even tore down the
Pealman-Silas bridge to Mount Pleasant (seen in Die
Hard 3 posing as a NY bridge) and constructed a
beautiful suspension bridge like Savannah's.

By 10:00pm I had to finish my errands for me, Kevin
and Steve's deep sea fishing trip the next morning. By
4am I was out of the house to meet the guys and gear
up the boat. I actually ran into an old friend, Jeremy
Espiritu, who was also getting ready to go out, too.
Apparently he started up his own Fishing Charter
Service. Congrats man!


kevin baiting
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
By 5:30 am we were in the water making our way through
the jetties of Charleston while the rest of the city
slept. By the time we were 20+ miles out and 90 feet
deep we tried trolling, but with no luck. Reeling in
our bait we went even farther ou. We
tried kicking off the trip with some Hootie and
Blowish. Fish don't like 'em. Apparently they
don't like Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers either.


Hooked
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Once we we switched the iPod to Bob Marley it was
"fish on!" By 9:45 we caught our first Mahi of the
day. Steve landed one not to much later on. Almost 30
minutes later we lost a big bull Mahi, but
made up for it kind of when I reeled in a decent 20 pounder that
wore my arm out by running out 3 times.


Steve-O
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
We lost a big Wahoo (thanks Steve)
and then the pickings got slim. the sun was out in
full force and by noon we started to make our way back
in. We stopped 25 miles out to try for some Kingfish
but the water was too hot and we were too tired to be
of much use. By 4pm we were back in the jetties to
clean the boat and fish.


Mahi Mahi
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Great ending to Memorial Weekend. Got to finally do
some real deep sea fishing. I've got new love for
South Carolina. Too bad we never did this earlier. It
would've made me appreciate SC a little more while I
was there. Then again when I did live here I was
significantly poorer and would've never been able to
afford deep sea fishing. The whole trip was awesome
overall.

I guess I need to really see what's available with
fishing since we live in Orlando. Gulf of Mexico
should have great fishing, too, although Kevin doesn't
consider Grouper, Snapper and Sea Bass all that
challenging. Oh well. It's still good eats.

After this it was the drive back home once we slept in
a little Monday morning. Ate breakfast with El's
parents and then headed over to my parents where WE
HAD TO EAT AGAIN. Big shocker. Afterward we made a
quick trip to Northwoods to say hello (and goodbye) to
Steve and Carla and the two boys.

The drive itself wasn't bad and it was great to be
home before the sun went down completely and we could
decompress a litttle. Too bad it's back to work tomorrow.