Surf City Slickers

Perhaps it was the holiday hustle and bustle or too much time spent working or even just doing the things that would normally be posted, well whatever it is that has kept us from blogging, here we are again, at least for now.
It’s true though, ever since we posted the MTV worthy video of Will’s first birthday, we have been pretty involved in so many things that I think I felt too overwhelmed to post pictures and short stories about each thing.

Our most recent adventure began with Jen flying to Seattle to attend the inaugural Microsoft SharePoint Conference and I joined her for a quick 48 hour visit at the end.
We knew that with such a short stay that we would have to see the most popular tourist attractions. As some of you know, I have been to Sea-Tac Airport on more than one occasion but I have never been to the actual city of Seattle! Here we are at the observation deck of the Seattle Space Needle. It was what would seem to be a pretty typical gloomy and chilly day but minus the rain!
No quickie visit to the Emerald City would be complete without a trip to another famous Seattle landmark, Pike Place Fish Market. I was able to get this action shot of one of the workers throwing the smoked salmon that we chose to purchase to another worker to pack up for us! Look closely, it’s located just under and to the right of the "We Also Sell" sign.
Earlier in the week Jen had studied a map of the city and discovered that there was a tour that she wanted to take. Neither of us had ever heard of it and when she told me what it was I knew that it must be payback for the John Adams tour that I made her go on last year when we were in Boston! Seattle pretty much burned down and was rebuilt and this tour takes you beneath the current city, and is called the Seattle Underground Tour. In anticipation of my lack of enthusiasm, Jen told me that this tour would likely fill the need to see the underground tunnels of Bucharest, Romania. For those of you that know me well, which underground do you think I would rather see??? Much to my surprise, however, the tour was actually very good and worth taking if you find yourself in Seattle. I was able to collect pressed pennies of these 3 attractions to add to my collection.

from animoto.com posted with vodpod

Earlier this month I visited Mexico City for a Plantronics event. It was my first true visit (I did spend the night there once with my family when I was 7 or 8 years old on our way to Morelia but we didn’t stay long enough to see the city).
The highlights of the relatively short stay included a visit to the ancient Aztec city Teotihuacan and climbing all the way to the top of the pyramid of the Sun, taking a fast lap in a pace car during the CHAMP car race in Mexico City and visiting the world famous Basilica, the holiest place outside of Vatican City for the millions of Catholics around the world.
I am pictured leaning against the Capilla (Chapel) just steps from where Juan Diego is said to have seen the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (La Virgen de Guadalupe) in December 1531. The entire grounds of the Basilica de Guadalupe is a spectacular place to see in terms of the architecture but also to witness the hundreds (and sometimes thousands from what I heard) of devoted Catholics kneeling and dragging themselves across the paths to pray.
The cuisine, buildings and shopping alone are great reasons to visit this city with an elevation of  7,349 feet but it’s the people that will leave the most positive impression.

Last week Jen took two Microsoft sponsored exams for Sharepoint Certification, the MOSS 2007 and the WSS 3.0. Sharepoint is a Microsoft collaboration application designed to access shared company information when you want or need it from just about anywhere. It makes sharing easier with a central, secure location for data. Jen’s primary responsibility at Plantronics is as the Worldwide Sharepoint Administrator.

Jen passed both exams with scores of over 900 each (you need a score of 700 or higher to pass)! She is now a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and specifically an MCP with Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in MOSS and MCTS in WSS. Even though it is a little confusing, just know that these are high achievements and that only 2,144 people are certified worldwide in MOSS and 1,383 people are certified worldwide in WSS 3.0!!

Congratulations JEN!

MOSS = Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server

WSS = Windows Sharepoint Services

MCP = Microsoft Certified Professional

MCTS = Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

I sit near the main lobby at Plantronics and you never know what will happen at any given time.
Usually I see flowers being delivered or even singing telegrams but today we were surprised to see Sharkie appear! Sharkie is the mascot of the
San Jose Sharks Hockey Team.
I did not have anything to do with the visit so I am still unclear why he is here but luckily I had our camera with us and he was more than willing to pose with me and bite my head.

This weekend we came to Dinuba to visit Jen’s mom. During the drive Jen made a lot of calls to different family members to arrange to meet for dinner at Tokyo Gardens in beautiful downtown Visalia. This is a favorite family location for Japanese food and we decided that Teppanyaki sounded good.
Pictured left to right: Big Jen (Jen’s sister-in-law) Terry (Jen’s brother), Aunt Loi (Jen’s mom’s sister), Brandon (Jen’s nephew), Jen’s mom and Little Jen. I took the picture before the grilling got started. I am happy to report that everyone enjoyed the Japanese Cuisine!