It’s 7:02 am and I have  awaken to a snowy day ahead of me. Since I was too lazy to change my custom rims for the snow tires in my garage I am confined to my small part of the world. Yeah I can probably drive in this white stuff called snow, but whatever.  I can just as easily walk to the library (free wireless there), and I will be visiting my sister in law and go meet my new niece.

Claudia (my brothers wife)  has given birth to a little baby girl with the awesome name of Chiara or Ciara, I am not sure exactly how it’s spelt but I love the name. I am happy for my brother and his wife, as well as my parents. First step when I leave the house is to go walk to Burnaby General Hospital, which is only about 4 blocks from where we live. And they even  have Tim Hortons in the hospital (my kind of hospital), lucky me.  Now my little kiddies have someone to play with when they go to Nonno and Nonna’s house, very cool.

Little Ciara was born earlier than expected, so I guess she will be considered our Christmas gift. I never really care too much about receiving gifts, but this is the type of gift I am more than happy to receive. Nothing brings more joy than a little baby…

Congratulations to Rob and Claudia, from your brother. C.V.

And the snow keeps on coming so I had to snap a few pics of it coming down.

Yesterday me and wifey went out to get some solar powered Christmas lights (haven’t put them up yet). We don’t live to far from Grandview Highway so we drove down to the new Canadian Tire on Grandview Highway. I ended up waiting in the new Starbucks, because I can’t stand shopping when there are big crowds. Long story short I had my digi cam (as usual) and started snapping photos in Starbucks, which is located right next to Canadian Tire. I have been playing around with the ISO feature on my Canon SD 750 for a few days. The ISO feature gives you less and more light depending on the amount of light in the room or area you are shooting in. You can set it to automatic but it’s more fun just to play around and experiment it. Anways you can see my amazing photos below, NOT… But, it’s something to do while I wait around for my wife to shop.

Closeup of  Ginger Bread Latte, yum.

An avid reader?

Oooh a leather chair

shot of page inside a “postive thinking” book at Starbucks

shot of page inside a “postive thinking” book at Starbucks

shot of page inside a “postive thinking” book at Starbucks

San Francisco was a hell of a time. The trip started off warm (20 c), by the end of the trip the weather was just as cold as Vancouver. The weather in S.F. is known from changing drastically from day to day, cold to hot and back and forth.

We met a ton of cool people  from all over the USA, quite a few from Canada, and other affiliates from France and Germany. These were all the top affiliates and it was interesting to see how they promote and market the same products that I do.

We ended drinking way too much and eating too much, and I guess that was the fun of it. I took a ton of photos of S.F. and a few of the guys we met down there.

Now I’m back in rainy, dreary Vancouver blogging from Waves coffee on Commercial Drive in East Vancouver.

I leave for 3 days and now I have all this sh*t to do:

• final closing of Port Coquitlam condo, sign lawyers papers etc..
• go exchange American money at the currency exchange (get 3 cents more per dollar that way).
• inspection of 2nd condo in Burnaby tomorrow morning at 10 am.

On a little side note. With all the gloomy news it’s hard to remain positive, but fear is the biggest obstacle that makes us do stupid things. I for one am not going to be a p*ssy and fall victim to the media hype. Yes the economy is going down. Even a year ago the news was bright lights and smiles, at least in Canada it was and now we are down in the dumps. The rough times will pass, use this is an opportunity if you can.

If you have your health , your job and a roof over your head then keep smiling.  Don’t let the media get you down, think of the good points, cheap gas, cheaper housing prices, more deals at the mall.

I took a bunch of photos while in San Fran, here a few of them for now..

shot of California from plane

shot of San Francisco from plane

shot of San Francisco from plane

shot of San Francisco from plane

shot of San Francisco freeway

shot of San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge

shot of San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge

Happy traveler

shot of  convertible trolley in downtown San Francisco

shot of Alcatraz

mob guy locked up

shot of San Fran from ferry

This part 1 of my San Francisco photos, more to come…..

With Thanksgiving happening on Monday I thought it would be cool to blog about what I am grateful for. Personally I feel have lots to be grateful for, not only in the financial part of my life but more so in the family part. Family is more important than cash.

My Kids

I am father to two kids , one boy (6 months old) and one girl (2.5 years old) who I can’t say enough about. It’s hard to imagine life before them actually.  Seeing their smiling faces in the morning is truly something I am really thankful for. I am glad they are happy and healthy kids, and it’s pretty cool I have one of each.

My Wife

Hmm, I don’t think I could have asked for a perfect wife. She’s a beautiful lady, hardworking mother and a great cook who can make any recipe into an amazing dinner really, fast. I couldn’t have met and married a more amazing lady.

My Parents

Both of my parents are still married and they showed me all the life skills I have ever needed. You don’t realize how much you learn from your parents until you get older and have your own family.

Yeah this was a mushy blog post, but it’s always good to appreciate what ya have right?

With all the economic B.S in the news lately it’s nice to have a home that I feel secure in emotionally.

Robson street crowd

Bada beep, bada bop, bada boop, that’s all for now folks……. 8:24 Pm Thursday night