Parents of Maddox, Mona and Truman here in hip, hot and happening San Diego, California. Techie's by day, parents by night, we are enjoying our newest addition to the pack. We put blog together to keep friends far and near as to what is happening in our lives. We hope that you enjoy it.
4.06.2010
Big things going on over here Today!
I just wanted to post a note and let all of you know that Taunya was promoted to CFO today! She has worked many hard long hours and it has finally paid-off. She is now considered by definition a kind of a "big deal". Not only is she a great wife and mother to our son, she is well respected in her field and the now has the title to go with it.
Take the time and send her a message if you can, she would love to hear from you.
3.24.2009
Tour of California, 1 of 2
pics that I got of yes, Lance Armstrong. We had a great time and it was awesome to see so many people out supporting such a great sport.Some of the other notable sights were a motorcyclist that rides around a professional cycling photographer. So, we all know that I am a fan of anything with 2 wheels and I decided to ask this guy standing by the motorcycles some questions about riding with the pack, how it works such as hierarchy, etc. In an Australian accent, he began to explain how complicated it is and I took a glance at his name badge and it said "Walt Conte". I was like holy mole!!!! I pulled out my id and showed him my last name. As you can see from the pic to the right, we do look a bit similar. hahaha. What a small world I tell you. Anyway it was an awesome time. I will post again with all of the pics that I took there and ones especially of Lance.
12.27.2008
2008 in review
There are a lot of things to be grateful for this year but as I mentioned earlier, my friends and family are truly the greatest. I would like to thank the Gaufins personally for being there in a time when we really needed them. Frank and Brenda I really cannot say enough about the two of you. The love we share for my son and your willingness to be there for us has been truly outstanding. I would like to say you are appreciated and even though despite our differences we do share our love for one another. Thank you for being so great. U are appreciated.
Friends are also a great part of our existence and I would like to point out someone special to me. David W. Dave and I grew up with one another and I would like to say that although we have drifted apart, he really still does mean the world to me. He and his wife Megan just gave birth to their 4th child and I wanted to say congratulations! For Dave, although we might not talk as much as we should, I really do miss you and look back at the times we spent together as kids and would not of done it with anyone else. Thanks for being such a great friend. Congrats to you and all of your success!
We stayed here at home for the holidays this year. We threw the Thanksgiving gig here for our family and friends. We threw such a shindig that we had 16 people over. It was a great time but a lot of work. We were so burned out this year that we even considered not getting a Christmas tree. In the end, we decided we would but just not put up all of the decorations. So, this is what we did.
Some of the highlights of 2008 for us were Barack Obama, Thaidra's Graduation, the birth of our son, Me working from home now, connecting with family and some lost friends and progressing in our careers. Well folks, that's going to be a wrap. I will post some more pictures here shortly. Thanks for reading.
10.31.2008
How can you be adverse to change? It's 2008!
| 1. | Technologytard | |
On another note I will be posting some pics of Maddox soon per the request of Grammy. | ||
9.05.2008
Bored on a Friday night and I cannot sleep...watching Letterman
Well, it was somewhat a busy week. I recently just had the end of quarter for work and I think I did well. Although all of the final numbers are not in, I think that I did good. I am now getting ready for the 4th quarter and I just have 90 days left until the year is over. For those of you that are not aware, the year ends for me in November with is great. It gives me the month of december to recharge my batteries and to get ready for the year. Some of you are aware, but I am trying to win a trip to Marbella, Spain. It should be a good time.
Maddox is still growing like a weed and as I sit here and type he is sitting next to me as his mom feeds him. He is getting longer and making all different kinds of noises now. Nothing much really going on around this topic other than he still smiles all the time and looks like has not a care in the world. He is just so comfortable all the time. Mona has managed to be on the bed all night these days and I think its TLC 's way of making sure that she still feels like #1 to us
As I sit here watching David Letterman, he makes me laugh. On another note, I just saw a show that said Mccain's wife's outfit that she work for his acceptance speech was worth approximately $313,000.00. The earings alone were 3 karat diamonds. LOL. They compared this amount of money to the $900.00 dollar dress that Michelle Obama worse during Barak's acceptance speech. Where am I going with this? Well, I guess I am just really trying to figure out how Mccain and the hockey mom from a Alaska can relate to most americans.
I created a facebook www.facebook.com account about a month ago and I have managed to meet alot of old friends on there. Its a great way to connect and catchup with people that you used to have in your daily lives. Geez, time really flies. Most of my friends have had kids and really have gone off in their own direction. Like either moving to New York, Boston, Florida, etc. Some of them have remained the same and others have done something completely different. One particular guy I found this week I have been looking for awhile. He got an academic scholoarship to Stanford and was a high school all american in football as well. Turns out he lives in DC and he has an 8 month old. Him and I are going to chat, but I am glad we finally connected.
Finally, I just switched to ATT cable and my phone is not set up yet. If you are calling the house and getting the busy signal this is the reason. This will be resolved in the next couple of days,
Football is back!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited for the season to be here. With the Padres not being competitive (nice way to say they suck). I think we have a really good chance of going to the big game this year. We will see how it goes. I am currently in 3 footballs pools as well, so every, I mean every game means something. Anyway, I am going riding earlty in the morning so I gotta run. Oh, by the way, I got a new tattoo as wel. If you want to see it, send me an email.
8.13.2008
Lots going on around here now...
Maddox has been growing by the hour it seems. He is always kooo'ing and looking around at things. Taunya does the drop off in the mornings and I do the pickups. When I pick him up I put him the the jog stroller and cruise him around the neighborhood for about an hour. He likes it and I really enjoy this time.
8.07.2008
Okay, okay...he looks like me
7.03.2008
Latest addition...iPod Classic 160GB

6.22.2008
Bee to the lip at 22 mph, San Francisco, Washington D.C , TLC and I hit the road
Anyway, so last week I went in on a ride the day before I headed to a conference in Washington, DC. I was going about 22 mph and saw this little black thing coming at me. As it got closer, It was clear to me, its a bee. I tried to close my mouth but too late. The Bee hit my lip and then started to go into my mouth. In a panic, I began to spit and with a finger knocked him out of my mouth. Then I thought hmmmm, that is not bad.....ummmm hold on...what is that? Oh, its my lip killing me because he stinger is still stuck in it. I pulled over slowly skidding and with no mirror, pulled the stinger out of my lip. At this point, my lip began swelling like I just took a good shot in a street fight. I had about only 14 miles on the odometer, so I decided to finish out the remaining 16 miles and then head for home. After the 30 or so miles I got home and Taunya was staring at me and could not figure out what happened. Of course, she looks at me and says "Did you get in a fight on your bike?". I started to laugh and told her what had happened. I asked her to take a picture of it for me so you could experience it like I did. Well almost.
DC was good. Went by the white house on the way to the trade show called "CF United". Google it and you can find out more about the conference if you would like. Basically a developer conference for ColdFusion users and Adobe was on of the key sponsors. The weather was nice and I was happy to be home.
The latest heatwave of the past 3 days has been pretty bad. I went riding yesterday and managed to log about 64 miles before I broke another spoke on my other bike. I dropped that one off at the shop and rode my tri bike with TLC today and had a great time. My mom came over and watched Maddox for a couple of hours so we could hit the road. Taunya did well given the fact that it was in the high 80's and she has not really riden since before the baby. Boy it was hot though.
Maddox is getting better, developing and looking more and more like his mom everyday. He is such a joy to watch, hold, change and be with. Let it be known, that is it sits right now, the kid has blue eyes and fair skin with light brown/blondish hair. The skin is fair, but nowhere near mine. I basically put out a kid that has my face but with no single trait that looks like me. I am really happy that he is healthy, but I mean honestly, the kid is white. Nothing wrong with that as you all know.
As some of you read this you might think what is wrong with this guy? Well nothing, but I thought I would of at least gotten the eyes, hair or the skin even. Nada. We will see how things go. When I mention this to Taunya, Grandma Gaufin and others, they just tell me that they still could change and they laugh. Well news on the front too. His eyes went from dark blue to light blue. I mean at baseball games, soccer, etc. When I yell, "Nice job Maddox", people are going to whisper "is that his dad?" to other parents. The others are going to whisper back "Yeah, funny huh? He looks nothing like him"
I am THAT guy. I will be posting another youtube video of Maddox from this weekend shortly.
4.28.2008
Sorry for the delay, here is Maddox!
4.25.2008
Maddox Anthony Conte has arrived @ 5:33 am this morning
Most of you have recieved a text from me at this point stating that we were on our way to the hospital last night. What an experience is all I can really say. We left the house last night at 11pm and stayed awake all night until the guy arrived this morning.
He is an interesting little guy weighing in at 7.5 lbs and 20 inches long. He keeps his eyes open alot and looks like a burrito all wrapped up. We delivered at Sharp Mary Birch, Hospital. We had a great team of nurses and doctors. Everything went well and all of us are doing great. Taunya really did well and the doctor told us that we could be going home as soon as tomorrow. We are really excited about that so we can get started on building our routine around this guy.
We are going to be adjusting so if we do not return the calls right away please be patient. I will be posting pictures later today!
4.19.2008
The Simple Life
- Hot coffee in the morning
- Long talks with the wife.
- Seeing the smile on my wife's face when she rides her bike.
- Waking up early when its still dark outside.
- The rain
- Accidentally falling asleep(wink wink).
- Feeling exhausted after a intense swim, bike or run.
- Being home with my dogs Mona & Truman.
- PS3
- Reading, yes I said reading.
- Ice cold beer while BBQ'ing.
- Sushi
- Friends like Katie & Chris, Jeff, Craig, Dave and Tim.
- Reconnecting with old friends.
- Quiet mornings.
- Watching my sister and nephew interact.
- Open minds.
- Trying new foods.
- Changing my opinion.
4.18.2008
More baby news- We have a date...
4.14.2008
Baby News!
4.08.2008
Tick tock, tick tock, ko koo, ko koo...
- Swim-Took in 4 mouthfuls of San Diego Bay. It was windy causing some chops in the bay.
- Bike-26 miles, I think I did it just under an hour. If I averaged 26mph that would be impressive. I will wait to see my split times.
- Run-Just trying to hang on. The first 1.25 miles was on beach sand. Brutal.
- Run-Ran with a 69 year old guy for awhile. Cool dude. Really nice guy.
- This race is called the Superfrog/Superseal Triathlon. Its done in Coronado and on the NSW(Naval Special Warfare) base where all of the SEALS train.
- My heat was with the military and I was running and swimming with some 20 year olds with 2 percent body fat, that were navy seals. Alot of them passed me on the run needless to say.
- Finally, I did the whole race without stopping and walking at all. I was proud of that fact. With the exception of the Ironman, I have never stopped or walked in a race. I am proud of that fact.
3.23.2008
Happy Easter! Vegas, Boston, Tampa, baby news and my 1st bike race
2.14.2008
Raise your hand if you know or have been affected by one of these.
Workaholic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colloquially, a workaholic is a person who is addicted to work. This phrase does not always imply that the person actually enjoys their work, but rather simply feels compelled to do it. There is no generally accepted medical definition of such a condition, although some forms of stress, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder can be work-related. Although the term "workaholic" usually has a negative connotation, it is sometimes used by people wishing to express their devotion to one's career in positive terms. The "work" in question is usually associated with a paying job, but it may also refer to independent pursuits such as sports, music, art, or blogging.[citation needed]
A "workaholic" in the negative sense is popularly characterized by a neglect of family and other social relations. The term has no clinical definition, however.
Workaholism in Japan is considered a serious social problem leading to early death, often on the job, a phenomenon dubbed karōshi. Overwork was popularly blamed for the fatal stroke of Prime Minister of Japan Keizo Obuchi, in the year 2000.[1]
The word itself is a play on "alcoholic". The term was apparently coined by psychologist Richard I. Evans, currently distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Houston. Dr. Evans may have originated the term workaholic in an interview with him, published in the house publication for oil company Esso (now ExxonMobil), in the 1960's, and widely distributed throughout the world. In response to a question by the Esso interviewer regarding the concern by the corporation for workers who were often overworked, Evans replied that such individuals can almost be likened to alcoholics and might be described as "workaholics". James J. Kilpatrick, a nationally syndicated columnist, read the interview and referred to Evans and his creation of the term workaholic in his column, which Kirkpatrick described as a useful new term.[citation needed] [2] (Evans' coinage also prompted the widespread use of the -holism suffix for popular compulsions). It should be noted that "workaholic" is often also attributed to psychologist Wayne Oates because of his 1971 book, "Confessions of a Workaholic." It gained more widespread use in the 1990s, as the result of a wave of the self-help movement that centered on addiction, forming an analogy between harmful social behaviors such as over-work and drug addiction, including addiction to alcohol. Although "workaholic" is not an official medical or psychological term, it remains in widespread usage to refer to those whose expenditure of time on work and work-related issues leads to the detriment of their bodily health, social lives, family and domestic life, or leisure time.