In Dallas again at Gloria’s, having happy while waiting for Misty to arrive.

Misty never arrived so we moved on to Vickery Park Bar, where she met up with us.

They have big amazing onion rings that I didn’t get to finish because I was still full from Gloria’s.

And afterwords we headed downtown to see our good friend and super talented DJ Love do his thing at Ten Sports Grill. Besides having a words of exchange with the valet for price gauging us it was a great night.

We are headed to the Loon in Dallas TX to celebrate Anthony’s birthday tonight!

It was so nice to see Anthony’s girl again. And I know Ray really enjoyed seeing all is old high school buddies.

I  met these guys tonight. They were out on a date. I don’t remember their names but they were entertaining.

It was a good night but hard morning because Ray and I work up early and headed back to Austin.

We drove up to Dallas to watch Nycole’s Performance but since we’re here we mine as well stay and catch the AutoRamo Car Show.

Now if you know me well enough, then you’d know I’m more into vintage cars than I am newer ones.

This is the kind of hunting that Ray and I do. Get that Doe baby!

Ray’s a truck guy. I think it’s a Mexican thing or a Texas thing or both, either way, he can’t help it.

But I think we both could agree on this one. I love it. As a matter of fact we ended up seeing this same one in a few magazines.

These models were the only hot chicks I saw today. How unfortunate.

I’m also a sucker for muscle cars. They’re just sexy.

But I think my favorite of the day had to be this one.

Shut up I don’t give a damn what you think. I just have this obsession with doors. Talk about a family vehicle.

Ray likes the hot rods. Me, not so much. Sorry baby. It’s just not my thing.

But I am a fan of this motorcycle. I have this thing with comfy motorcycle seats. I think it’s cause I want to be comfy while someone else rides me. Yep I know, “that’s what she said.”

Well I’d have to say it was another good day.

Now does this look like a face that is living it up on his birthday? Nope, this is a face that is “dealing” with another birthday. I mean really we’re here more for me than him. I’m the cupcake whore.

So it’s Ray’s 29th birthday and of course I had something up my sleeve, he’s the love of my life. I’m planning on throwing my baby a surprise birthday dinner and seriously, who wouldn’t love to have a surprise party on their birthday? While surfing the net day in and out for the prime place to host it I stumbled onto Tillman’s Roadhouse. The banquet room fit just over 20 heads, right around the same amount of people I had planned on inviting, surly it was a sign . . . or not because when I called to make the reservations the gentleman on the other line kindly stated that they were closed on Mondays. Arrrgh! Really? Well I didn’t want to waste such an awesome find so I made Reservations for Valentines Day and in desperate despair I resorted to the Blue Fish Sushi, Ray’s favorite sushi restaurant up in Dallas.

Now I don’t know if any of you have ever planned a surprise birthday, but boy are they stressful. I had planned for us to start the day off slow, maybe have breakfast with his dad, then to the Dallas Museum of Arts, kill a few good hours there, grab some coffee and then head out to dinner. Sounds brilliant right? Wrong. First we grab some food with his dad, because as far as Ray knows this is going to be the only time he gets with his pops on his birthday but for some reason his dad tells him that he’s also available for dinner too. Why? I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t under the concept of a “surprise party.” So now I have to factor in meeting his dad for dinner. I know it’s not a big deal but when you have so much to think about and you want things to be perfect, it is. So later we arrive at the museum only to find that it’s closed. Arrrgh? Seriously what the fuck is the point of Presidents Day anyway? So now we have a good 3 hours to kill and that’s exactly how we ended up at this cupcake shop.

Pretty cute, wish I could remember the name of the place.

Looks good right? Damn straight.

But does Ray really want to be here, on his birthday? What do you think? Does it look like he does. I mean he could barely squeeze out a smile for this photo.

Now throughout the day I had to watch my baby text his friends to hang out or go grab a few drinks later tonight only get shut down, on his birthday. Ouch! Of course I knew this would happen which is why I informed everyone to say they were busy (I guess dad didn’t get the memo). But watching his day go from bad to worse was heart breaking. Seriously, 7:00 can’t get here sooner. Since we had 3 hours to kill, after the cupcake shop we headed to Mocking Bird Station and shopped, or at least I did, at Urban Outfitters. Again, Ray just moped around, like a kid following his mom. Trust me I wanted to go too but where to? Arrgh again. After shopping we grabbed some coffee at Starbucks. Thank you Starbucks for being open on Presidents Day. Now this last hour is when I started to get antsy. Ray wants to get there early and grab some drinks at the bar while I’m getting texts from Kuya Ben saying so far only 6 people have arrived out of the 18 that were suppose to be there. Arrgh! While driving past the Blue Fish I was so fearful that he would see someone familiar walking up to the restaurant so I shouted, “oh, look at those houses, lets go check out the neighborhood.” And he snaps back, “I don’t want to go look at houses right now,” from frustration of doing a bunch of shit that he didn’t really want to do all day. I suggest he drops me off because I’m “cold” while he goes out in search of parking but he decides to valet instead. Awesome. When the car stops I hop out and run into what I thought was the Blue Fish but it was another restaurant right next to it.  When I realize I’m at the wrong place I rush back outside only to find my husband staring back at me like I’m a moron. So I rush into the Blue Fish and say to the host, “reservations for Dohh and Ray,” which was signal to let her know that I’m with the guest of honor but that stupid bitch goes, “the rest of the party is over there.” Arrgh, really? I wanted to rip her head off and thrash it as hard as I could right up against the wall. Anyhow, as soon as Ray heard that he put two and two together and it hit him, but luckily, just as it did, everyone stood up and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

Yeah, it was a stressful day but the look on his face made it all worth it.

And almost everyone showed up. Awesome.

Kuya Ben and Bernh.

Our favorite couple, Steven Ray and Nycole.

Brandy and Monique.

This was pops first time having sushi and he loved it.

Kris drove up all the way from Austin.

Raul and his beautiful wife, Cynthia.

Kimmy and Jacob show. It’s always so nice to see these guys.

Amet and Anthony are the shiz-nit.

Of course Kuya Ben had to show off his new camera, canon G11. Jerk.

Oh, and those amazing spring rolls Ray had boasted about, overrated.

Hope it comes true snuggle bear. I love you.

I would totally come back just for this. It was orgasmic.

After dinner I was really hoping for all of us to go out and grab a few drinks. I mean we are on Greenville, but it was Monday. So Brandy, Monique, Jeremy, who showed towards the end of dinner, Ray and I went without them.

How my husband finds new ways to multitask with the iPhone always amazes me.

Love ya babe. Happy birthday. Hope it was a good one.

Keep it a secret. LOL what a funny billboard. You can find these all over Dallas these days. Love it.

I came across Tillman’s Roadhouse while searching for the perfect place to host Ray’s surprise birthday party this year and I’m quite certain it would have been the perfect place if they had open on Monday’s. Anyhow, Valentines Day happens to be the day before my baby’s birthday so I guess I’ll have to settle for that. I sealed the deal with dinner reservations @ 9:00.

When we arrived all I could think was, Man I totally wish they were open on Mondays. The next photo I got off their site. It’s of their banquet room and it’s where I wanted to have Ray’s birthday party. Ah well.

They started us off with popcorn, now that’s a first. I dig it.

The ambiance is so fresh and artsy and I’m loving it to pieces. It could also be that I’m just super excited to be here. I mean it’s V-Day and I’m here with the love of my life. What could be better.

This is the only kind of deer I ever want displayed on my wall. Pops, if your reading this, take notes, wooden deer head, not real taxidermy ones. Those are gross.

And the best part of our meal was, you got it, dessert. What better dessert than smores with a real fire. They had coffee, maple and vanilla flavored marshmallows. I was in ecstasy!

Tonight SocialFly will be working a wedding in Dallas. The more I’m in Dallas the more I grow to love her. A large part of me regrets picking Austin over Dallas. Sorry Austin. So like I said, it’s nice to be in Dallas tonight. It was a bit of a challenge trying to figure out exactly how to place the booth in the spot that they allocated for us, but we made it work and it looked fabulous.

Here’s a close up of my scrapbook table.

And this is our prop table. So much to choose from.

And you know during down time I had to go check out the cake. So pretty!

Check out the scrapbook page I made for the bride and groom. So cute.

It was yet another successful event.

Boy do we have our hands full this week in Dallas. Infocus Dentistry booked us for the Uptown Dallas Festival, the Dallas Fair is in full effect, Ben’s kids are having their birthday party and he wants me to be in charge of the games, and as an added bonus Bea and even Mable are in town. Wow! First we celebrate the twin’s birthday by going out to eat with the family.

The next day we hit the Texas fair. Now I’ve never been to the Dallas fair before but I’ve been under the impression that it could well possibly be the grandest fair of them all. I mean, have you heard of all the fried crap they come up with. Now I’m not the biggest fan of fried shit, but when you have things like fried snickers, twinkies, and even fried coke, you definitely have my attention.

Gotta take a photo with the iconic Big Tex. Now is it me or does he look like he’d just had a breast enhancement procedure? He’s all square and boxy up there like they were freshly done yesterday. Hey, to each his own Big Tex, to each his own.

Me and my fried snickers.

This year the big hype was fried peaches and cream. That sounds pretty safe and boring compared to some of their past concoctions.  And the verdict . . . well fried, nice crispness yet a bit greasy, cream was too runny and bland, serving size was too small and like everything else, way overpriced. Hello people, we’re in a recession here!

Unfortunately we didn’t ride any rides this year. I’ve never been a huge fan of fair rides, just not my thing ya know.

And we ended it with a BMX show.

I don’t want to say I was disappointed but I’m not gonna be rushing to next years fair.

Oh yeah, and everyone had a photobooth this year, but they were all ghetto rigged.

Oh and I also forgot to mention, Bea brought Brixton. He’s so effing cute and I can’t stop plotting new ways to kidnap him.

The next day was the Dallas Uptown festival. Infocus Dentistry had hired us to lure innocent pedestrians to their booth and you know what, it worked like a charm. Seriously, who comes to a festival to see a dentist? But you throw in a photobooth and everyone is instantly interested. Ingenious!

Now while that was going on I headed off to Cloe and Lyric’s birthday party because I was told last minute that I was to be in charge of the games. Alright Ben next time some notice would be nice, you know so I could do some planning, get some props, but hey I’m amazing and I’ll make due and make it happen because I love you brother.

We had a sack race where the girls totally opened a can of whoop ass on the boys.

We also did a few games of tug-a-war.

Where the girls reign total domination.

Oh and then Cloe decided to rub some salt on Lyrics wound by kicking his ass in front of his friends. Bad Cloe!

There wasn’t enough props to play all the games I had in mind but it was quite all right because all the adults had had enough. We handed out prizes, kids got their face painted and now it’s time for cake.

Cake, sometimes it’s better than love.

And of course I got my face painted too, old school like Jem and the Holograms.

After the birthday I headed back to the festival and guess what, Dallas Morning News came by and took a photo of me which later that week ended up online.

Awesome! Here’s a link if you want to check it out. It’s on page 10.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2009/09/nq_1001_uptownfest/

Looks like we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Bea’s is flying in for her baby shower. My best bud, Jack, is flying in from Florida and Ray and I couldn’t be more excited to see everyone. We make plans to meet everyone at Snuffer’s when we arrive in Dallas. After dinner we drag poor preggo Bea to Loft 1610 where VIP table side service awaits us.

I got really drunk and got scolded for getting my own drinks by both the wait staff and the bouncer. I don’t really remember the situation but I’m sure it was funny.

Loft 1610 in Dallas from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

The next day was Bea’s baby shower. I was in charge of the games because I’m totally awesome.

The boys sucking apple juice out of a bottle. Come on guys, it’s just like sucking on a nipple.

Kuya Ben mentally preparing himself for the pudding shit he’s about to consume out of a diaper.

And the winner is awarded . . . a lovely photo of preggo Bea!

The boys listening carefully to my instructions.

Kimmy’s little boy, Max.

Bernh’s little baby.

Little Cloe wrapping a toilet paper diaper. This doesn’t look good. Please don’t photo shop this anyone.

Lyric gets one too. Man, Jackie’s good at this.

I get one, but McKayla wasn’t very gently and the paper kept ripping.

Team Cooper.

Kuya Vince, I have no words for you right now.

Winner!

Next is time for Bea to get some practice feeding the baby, blind folded. If you ever wanted to get Bernh back for anything Bea Bot here’s your chance.

So close.

Good job! Your mother instincts really kicked in there. Way to go!

Bea and Mama. I love them both very much.

Next was musical diaper shit. This game sucked.

After baby shower extravaganzia Jackie and I went on a trip down memory lane to see her old house.

But it was gone. The house was apparently knocked down awhile back. Sorry Jack, you can cry in the car lets move on shall we. It’s dinner time.

Oh God, am I drunk already. Sheeesh!

After dinner we all wandered to some club.

I always have so much fun when I’m around Jack.

All I remember is being in a totally crowded elevator and getting everyone involved in a high five session.

It’s morning and I’m still not home. What a night.

Our friend Steven Ray is an awesome photographer and since I’m an aspiring photographer I thought I’d asked him to teach me a thing or two. So the next time we went to Dallas we stopped by his place on the way home for my first photography class.

Ray was our sexy model.

Him and this beautiful chocolate lab.

Ray’s upset the lab made a better model.

Can never  leave home without the iPhone.

My hubby’s hot.

Nycole and I.

She’s a dancer and  suggested a few sexy poses for us, but I don’t think we executed it correctly.

What can I say, we’re cute.

And violent.

I could use more classes like this. Thanks Steven Ray and Nycole. You guys are too cool for school.

Bea’s flying in which means we have no choice but to drive up to Dallas to go run her belly. Oh, don’t know if I mentioned it yet, but Bea’s prenant. Yay! I’ve never seen a pregnant woman so effing adorable.

Kuya benn looks good in a hat and I don’t care what anyone has to say I rock in my clip-ons.

I snapped a photo just as Ray threw a ball on Ben as he was sleeping. Oh how we love to torment him. Poor Ben.

Before we head home Ray finally gets to work on his car with his dad.

Dallas here we come again. I don’t remember exactly why we drove up this time but it was a busy trip. First we met Steven at Ten on Main Street. Frank a.k.a D.J. Love was D.J.ing that night and I finally got to see him in action. Check it out.

Frank a.k.a D.J. Love @ Ten on Main from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

The next day we met everyone at La Cubanita.

Me and pops.

My order and it was so good.

Mable was in town, yay! Wow, they totally already look like a family.

After brunch we headed to Dallas Black Dance Theatre where Nycole teaches dance.

We got the V.I.P tour of the place and even got the see her students perform an African dance for us. Check it.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Then a bunch of us went to the mall with where we met Bernh and her family for movie time fun.

For dinner we went to Benihana or was it Kobe steak house?

The next day we ate at some well known burger joint.

But the best part of our trip was going to Sprinkles. Can you believe I never heard about this place until today?

It was amazing.

And later we went out for Vietnamese, another one of my favorites.

The next morning we took pops out to Cafe Brazil.

Ray’s food.

My food. What can I say, I like salads.

Dinner @ Alo in Dallas

So Ben calls in the morning, “I’m picking Bea up from the airport now, are you guys coming up?” “Uh, well we weren’t exactly planning on it but since you use Bea against me, yes, yes we are.” That’s the story of our life, we never make plans but somehow we always have them, spontaneously. Mable was already in Dallas and we had put off driving up to see them in hopes that they would give in and just drive down to see us instead. I’m so tired of traveling but since we were going for just one day I guess it wouldn’t be that bad.

Me and Mabel

We made plans for everyone to meet at Alo, a cute little restaurant in Dallas. Wow, I didn’t expect so many people to show up. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were waiting on a table for 11. Kuya Vince came, Bernah and Sam, Raul and his wife, even Dad decided to come along. It was awesome.

Mabel, Awesome Person, Bea

I got to finally met Mabel for the first time. It’s true, she’s more alluring in person than she is via chat and FaceBook. But the best part of the night was the tummy rub I got to give Bea. I mean what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t come see one of our bestest friends and rub her pregnant belly for the first time. Yes, you heard right, I’m going to be a new auntie come August. I can’t wait!

Delicious Food

A great way to celebrate is with dessert. Famous Berry 4 Leches Cake above, $7.75. Yes 4 and not the usual 3. It was awesome, but I’ve had better and for a lot less. We couldn’t just get one. As they say variety is the spice of life, this is certainly true when one is dealing with dessert. We also ordered Josefina: hazelnut – caramelized sugar pastry, vanilla bavarian cream & berries, $7.75. Josefina is like an overrated prostitute. On the outside she’s luscious, sexy and overpriced but once you get a taste of her you’ll soon come to find she doesn’t put out a lot of action. She was also so difficult to eat that Ben and Mabel gave up on her early and left her all to me. Hey when it comes to desserts I’ll take sloppy seconds. Everything at Alo was actually hit or miss. My drink was orgasmic. Mabel and Sam’s rice was dog food. Ray’s enchiladas was right on and the service sucked sour dragon  balls.

Delicous Food

Ben, Mabel and I shared because sharing is caring and not sharing will get you killed.

Dinner At Alo

Girls on one side of the table and boys on the other. It was like we were speed dating. Sheesh, my date sucks, how many more minutes do I have with this loser. I kid, I kid. Your the king of Awesome honey, don’t ever let anyone tell you different.

Speed Dating @ Alo

Anyhow, after dinner we went to a Sherlock Pub but it was so crowded that we left and decided to go bowling instead. Yes bowling, because we’re crazy like that. But 300 Dallas had a wait of 1 hour and 30 minutes so fuck that. We ended up at a dive karaoke bar called Outer Marker. I said it once and I’ll say it many many times again, dive bars rock. No one karaoked but I give Ben props because he really wanted to go up there, just not alone and all of us bailed on him. Sorry Kuya Ben maybe next time.

Outer Marker Karaoke Bar

It was almost a year ago that I started my first post on this blog, January 9th 2008. Since then I’ve written 121 post. I don’t really know who’s all reading it, but it sure has made my hand written journaling take back seat.

I cut my hair super short for the first time ever. It was kinda cute wasn’t it?

Ray got a new iPhone.

Ray and I ran in The Annual Great Aloha Run, just a little over 8 miles, and we all know eight is a good number to start with.

We voted for our first time for the Democratic Party. But just for the record, once Hillary was out of the election Ray and I voted again for our first time for President for Obama of course.

Ray bought me my first brand new computer. Mac 4 life baby!

MyBabyOurBaby Launched.

We finally found the dock where Lost, our favorite television series, was filmed at. We searched the island for it forever.

We went camping at Melekahana, our first time camping in Hawaii and Ray’s first time ever. He’s not a fan.

Rocked out at the Kokua Festival, a festival Jack Johnson puts on every year in Hawaii.

CheapPlacesToEatInOahuHawaii.com, my blog had become a major hit and one of Hawaii’s most popular food blog websites.

I called some lady a cunt on my last day of work, because she was.

We got to swim with dolphins.

We moved back to the main land, California first.

Ray got to meet some of my extended family.

Tried wake boarding for the first time.

Got to ride dirk bikes again.

Moved to Austin

Where we met the Semmlers, Shane’s older brother and his family and now mine.

Kidnapped Kuya Ben’s dogs.

Found the Agave Homes and fell in love.

Ray introduced me to Marcos. He works for NASA.

Went to our first roller derby.

Spent Bachelorette week in Florida with my best bud Jack Mother Fucking Dogg with a double G.

Got married, 080808.

Got my first tattoo with my old crew from V-Town.

Traveled to New York, but just for a couple of months.

I stopped eating meat.

Met Guav Mom and the Roses and I have to tell you I’m a fan. Hope we get to see them again soon.

I got to freelanced at Jimmy Z’s, thanks to Bea.

We got to be extras in Friday Night Lights.

I almost died from pneumonia.

I met the Semmler’s, the rest of Shane’s family, and now mine as well and went to my first professional basketball game. Go Mavericks!

As you can see I love recording my life and 2008 was a year worth recording. There was a lot of cherry popping going on and I got to meet a lot of people that will be in my life for the long haul. We also moved around a lot, Hawaii, California, Austin, New York, Dallas. Things are just never boring with us. I’m looking forward to a healthy, happy and prosperous year for 2009. I know great things are to come.

For New Years this year Ray and I were crazy rebels without a cause living the crazy life at 300 Bowl, a bowling alley located in Dallas Texas. I’ve also seen one in Austin.

Lucky for us Bea and Guav had planned on staying till the New Year.

We put our names on the waiting list at the bowling alley then we met up with Vince, Bea’s big brother and his girlfriend, Renee at BJ’s Restaurant.

We didn’t expect the bowling alley to call us back, being New Year’s and all, but they did, while Guav was in the mist of his meal. He scarfed down his meal as fast as his vegan mouth would allow him and we scurried off to Dallas 300 Bowl.

I know it’s not the craziest New Year but my friends are crazy enough for me. Besides, we were all on a budget, Bea wasn’t drinking, I wasn’t drinking, and Guav never drinks. So basically Ray would look like a sad alcoholic if we went anywhere else.

Watch Ray and I do the count down and then we kiss for a prosperous, healthy and happy 2009.

2009 New Years Count Down from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

So the crazy and bizarre thing is that none of us are really that good at bowling, especially me of all people. We randomly filmed the four of us, me, Ray, Bea and Guav bowl once and each person bowled a strike. How crazy is that? It’s a sign, 2009 is going to be a great year!

Bea Strikes Into the New Year!

Bea Strikes Into the New Year from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Ray Strikes Into The New Year!

Ray Strikes Into the New Year from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Guav Strikes Into the New Year!

Guav Stikes Into the New Year from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

I Strike Into The New Year!

Doan Strikes Into The New Year 2008-09 from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

We said our sad good-byes at the end of the night because Bea and Guav were planning on leaving the next day as were we. The drive back home wasn’t so bad, at least Kola didn’t think so.

Every year for the holidays Ray and I will switch off. For example, one year we’ll spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with his and the following year we’ll spend Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine. We timed it perfect to where Bea and Guav end up being in town too because they do the same switcheroo but only with Christmas.

Christmas in Dallas goes for several days and holds many events. Since marrying Ray I’ve seemed to have married into several other families as well and we have to manage our schedule accordingly so that we’re able to fit everyone who’s anyone in. It was the first Christmas in Dallas where Ray didn’t get to spend with his BFF Chris Miller. However we did spontaneously run into them at the Gallery Mall and ended up having lunch with them.

Shane Semmler was in town from Hawaii. Yay! I happen to miss Shane very much and have never met his parents but he use to always speak very highly of them so I was looking forward to meeting them along with the rest of his family. He was in Austin during the time I was in the hospital and paid me a visit then. After several attempts of trying to reach Shane via phone while we were in Dallas we decided to pay him a surprise visit. We got there at the perfect time because as soon as we arrived was the exact moment that they were planning on going out to eat. So of course we joined them and then went back to the Semmler’s home and watched a video his parents put together every year of the family for the family. There was even a photo of Ray and I in the video. Yay, see we are family too! We also played Rock Band where I failed miserably at singing Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi.

The Semmler’s loved me so much they invited us to join them at what would be my first Mavericks game the very next day. It was so exciting at first, the stadium was so big, lights were flashing, and music so loud with the hot dancers shaking there ass on the court below. Yes, yes Go Mavericks!

I think Shane is a spitting image of his dad.

A little blurry because I was trying to find the right setting on my camera but here is Ray and Shane being a goof ball.

Mavericks fans.

It was a sad game at first, so sad that I was embarrassed to be a Maverick fan but then I remembered that I was at home stadium. Luckily they ended up winning in the end, not by much though, it was a close game.

The next day was the Eve of Christmas and what better day to shop and what better place than Wal*Mart. Yeah, especially when Christmas at the TalPlacido’s was going to be that night. You know I wasn’t the brains of this operation. I have two words, Kuya Ben. Bea and Ray are testing out the bikes Santa’s gonna get for Cloe and Lyric with Ben’s money. Speaking of Santa, Cloe came up to me earlier and said Santa wasn’t real. I asked her who told her that and she said I did when they were down visiting us. I did? Oh, yeah, I did, didn’t I? Let this be a lesson to all of you. Think twice before you have Aunt Doe babysit.

This is Chrismas at the TalPlacidos.

Christmas At The TalPlacido’s from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

LEGOS! He was real excited about his present.

Christmas is all about the kids, it was no different here.

Look what Santa got the rug rats.

Look What Santa Got the Lyric and Cloe from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Even Nyny got a present, and if you look in the background Papa’s got a brand new plasma.

Ny Ny We Got You A Present from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Me and Bea. Photo by Guav Gauvin.

Christmas day was spent at Aunt Dora and her husband Todd’s home. I was a bit disappointed this year because there was no pineapple cake. I’ve been looking forward to this cake all year long and the maker of the cake happen to be sick. Sheesh, the nerve.

Aunt Dora is truly one of the nicest people I know. Every time I go over to her house she has several presents for me. She’s the type that goes Christmas shopping the day after Christmas and then every other weekend just for presents for the fuck of it so when some one comes over there will be a present for them. Look at how many presents she bought for her brother Ray alone.

Dad’s got a brand new jacket.

Nick’s got brand new money.

Aunt Dora got an angel.

Todd and I are the photographers.

Aunt Dora made sure she had several presents for everyone that arrived. Nick bought his girlfriend and his girlfriend brought her sister and she brought her boyfriend.

Uncle Ray brought his new girlfriend and her son.

Aunt Dora and Todd take time to pose for a photo.

Ray looks handsome wearing a tie.

Grandpa was there too.

The next day we went to Guav’s favorite store in Texas, Fry’s, home of anything and everything electric.

That night Ray and I toilet papered Kuya Ben’s car as payback for the last time he and Bea toilet papered our car on Random Ass Day.

Our first attempt was a failed disaster so we merely drove back to 711, bought some more toilet paper and a gallon of water and just threw wet bombs at his car. The funny thing is, no one cleaned it up the next day and they just drove off with it like that and let the wind blow it off.

Bea and Guav drove back to Austin with us in Ben’s car to help unload the washer and dryers we bought off Kuya Ben and a bunch of random other stuff we got for free. We grabbed dinner at a local Indian Vegetarian place I’ve been meaning to try out. Ray didn’t like it but it’s okay because all the non-eating meat folks did. Ray also got a ticket that night, two actually, because he was driving Kuya Ben’s car which happens to be expired on inspection and registration. The next day we headed back to Dallas ready to celebrate the New Year.

What, you never seen a ninja at Bass Pro Shop before? That’s unfortunate. Actually, we were here so dad could spend the gift certificate we got him for his birthday on August 21.

Ray testing out the rocking chair. I think every time we see a rocking chair we think of Shane, yes you Shane Semmler. One of these days we’re gonna buy him one.

Having lunch with dad at Martinez.

Snake boots aren’t made out of snake skin? No, they’re so snakes don’t bite your toes off stupid. This here is pops right before we take off back home, showing off his new snake boots. Very fashionable. Like the camo color, don’t see your feet at all.

I was told this mission was to stay classified but lets just say operation double dog gone is achieved, mission complete, I repeat, mission complete.

I told you Ray and I go down to Dallas a lot. This post is a bit old, but better late than never. Back in July Ray and I made a trip up to Dallas. I would like to say it was for Micah’s birthday but I would be lying. It just so happens that it was also Micah’s birthday that weekend. Who is Micah? Let me explain. Being Married to Ray also means I must marry into other families as well, Bea’s family is one of them. Micah is Bea’s (Ray’s best friend) sister, Bernah’s son. Got that, not too confusing. Anyhow, I love Bea and I absolutely love her family so I couldn’t be happier about this marriage.

This is Bernah with one of her other son’s, Ryan.

And here is Ben’s infamous kids. Don’t let their looks deceive you, their reckless little monkeys.

So the funny thing is, we thought this was going to be a swimming party, like in the back of someones yard. The swimming party was actually held at a humongous aquatic center, so big it even had a water slide. We were the last one’s to get there and ended up leaving because I wanted to play in the water with the kids. So we went to Target to purchase some swimming gear. Hours later Bernah thanks us for coming but she’s gots to take the family home. Yeah, we were the last ones to leave.

Ben and Ray getting their caffine on.

Anyhow, before the swim party we headed out to grab some food. Are you serious I can get two burgers, fries and onion rings for only a dollar more! Does anybody have 300 bones I could borrow? I can’t pass up this deal.

Did I mention Kuya Ben’s kids are the cutest rug rats you’ll ever meet.

Kuya Ben’s Kids Are Little Rug Rats from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

So the other day while driving to Dallas Ray says to me that we should of just moved to Dallas since we’re driving down there every other weekend. He went on to say that we could of got a kick ass pad for a lot less than what we’re paying for in Austin. I thought about it and I have to admit it did seem tempting. Dallas had grown on me but I don’t regret moving to Austin. Besides Ray’s lived in Dallas before.

For Father’s Day weekend Ray and I drove up to Dallas to hang out with dad of course. Just so happened that Chris and Marci were flying in. I love Marci and Chris is weird. We all met up for some drinks downtown and even got to hang out with Bisch and Pam. I love Bisch; he’s always happy and so much fun.

So after a few drinks I look over and see this photo of this add on a taxi of this baby. I have horrible eyes, especially when I’m drunk so my first reaction to this was, “oh, that poor baby, some asshole drew a Hitler mustache on him.” And then I take a closer look and realize that this poor baby has a cleft lip. I uncontrollably laughed histerically. I felt so bad for laughing but I couldn’t help it, drunken me. Anyway, I had to take a photo.

A week later I’m on the computer and Ray goes, “hey, we’re suppose to drive to Dallas today. Bea is flying in.” “Huh, we are? Okay, lets go.” We pack up our shit and head to Dallas.

We decide to eat at Hooters. I haven’t been to that place since I was an Eskimo in San Diego . . . um Halloween. We ordered a couple of pitchers of beer and it came with a bag of ice. Where have I been because I never seen this done before. It’s genus because not only does it keep the beer warm but it also allow a lot less room for beer. We get cold beer and Hooters gets more beer, I guess it’s a win win situation.

I don’t remember exactly what we were trying to spell but we had fun doing it.

Bea had the cutest grandma ever. I just want to take her home and have her watch t.v. with me.

We stayed the night at Bea’s parents house one night. I brought over my wedding dress so Bea’s mom could do the finishing touches on it. Ray and I feel asleep before Bea and Ben. Big mistake because Bea and Ben kept themselves busy toilet papering our car.

Of course Bea and I had to go shopping. We went to a couple of thrift stores. She got a vintage desk for Ben’s kids. How cute does she look!

We’ve been out in Dallas more than we have in Austin. No worries, there’s plenty of time in Austin to catch up.