Brad & Katrina's Graduation Party

The Grad Party came out real nice, in spite of the nay-sayers. Katrina & I started out by shopping at the Asian open-air market Saturday morning to get the fresh ingredients we needed to start cooking the Rijs-Taffel for the party. All the prep work was done in time for us to go to Katrina's birthday party Saturday night (with the exception of the coconut that I burned) then at 6:00 AM Sunday morning, the kitchen was running at full blast. Papa was kept busy with the skewers, making the hors d'oeuvres and the satay skewers too (a very big help!). Meanwhile, 8 pounds of rice was cooked, Bahmi Goreng, Ayam Goreng Curry, Gado-Gado, tamarind Soup and grilled turmeric chicken were prepared. We made a ton of food, in the anticipation of having 20 teenagers attending. Not that many showed up, but that meant we had plenty to go around.


The cake came out really neat, with their prom picture placed on the surface, and bobble-heads too. It's a vanilla/chocolate marble cake with raspberry filling.

Pat & Lynn came to the party, and you can see that Katrina was excited.

The cake, some of the hors d'oeuvres and Japanese soft drinks were placed on the table...

And it didn't take Katrina long to dig in.

Meanwhile, most of the food was placed in the kitchen, so Pat & I worked on 'kitchen duty', making sure that everything tasted right.

"And what about the boys", you might ask? Well, they were busy playing video games...

But eventually, they laid down their virtual firearms and enjoyed the relaxing coolness of the pool.

We even got this great shot of several of them doing a 'cannonball' jump into the pool.

Meanwhile, the ladies enjoyed the solitude of the jacuzzi pool.

And the gentlemen watched the baseball game on TV.

After playing in the pool, Katrina, Melissa and Lyn tried an impromptu singing session while Luann and Jennifer held their hands over their ears.

Then later, Papa wandered away from the baseball game and surveyed the damage that was made to the food he helped prepare.

When it was time to leave, these gifts were handed out, which were like little Chinese take-out containers filled with a little graduate rubber ducky, a glow-stick necklace, a keychain that says 'Congrats Grad' and a bracelet with 'Class of 2009' on it.

I was going to use this coconut for a banana-coconut-curry dessert, but I forgot it in the barbeque grill as we were headed to Katrina's birthday party, so I asked her to stop by and turn off the grill. I would say that this is more than the recommended 'toasting' of the coconut...

Katrina's 18th Birthday Party

Katrina's 18th birthday was held at the TBBC and then Katrina, Brad, Jennifer and Captain Biggins went over to a place called "The Castle", a place that 'Gothlings' like to hang out, just so the kids could check the place out.

First off, this is the cake that Luann got for the occasion. Lots of color. This one doesn't stand a chance once the candles are blown out...

And here is the grand unveiling. Grandma is ready with the camera...

Looks like Katrina isn't sure who's getting the knife, the cake or her!

Next, it was time for Papa to serve up the cake.

Elena & family came along for the fun.

And Papa begins the slicing and dicing...

It looks like Katrina got a little pirate teddybear from Captain Biggins.


Looks like she's wearing her 'birthday costume' for the trip to The Castle afterwards. It was nice having Bradley and his family come out to the TBBC and to meet Vicki and John, the owners of the restaurant. Unfortunately, we didn't have many pictures and of the ones we did have, most were pretty blurry. After the birthday party was over, Katrina and Brad were escorted the The Castle by Captain Biggins and Luann's friend Jennifer to make sure that their visit was a good one. Meanwhile, we took Melissa home, then came back to pick up the kids at midnight. Everything went well, and we deeply appreciate the extra efforts The Captain and Jennifer made to keep an eye on the kids. Well, this was a different way to celebrate Kat's 18th birthday, but it sure was fun!

Van & A Bug Zapper

I finally got a chance to work on the van last weekend so I could try to get rid of the nasty surge it had develeoped. At first, I thought it was the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve or the throttle position sensor, so they were both replaced. Nope, that didn't fix it, so next I installed new spark plug wires, platinum plugs (Champions, my favorite flavor) and an ignition module. After I replaced everything, the van seemed to be running better and it had finally stopped surging. Unfortunately though, when I was driving the van home from work tonight on the Courtney Campbell Causeway, the van became real sluggish and seemed to be having difficulty climbing the big bridge. The darn thing slowed down so much that a semi tractor-trailer almost rear-ended me... going UP the hill...

I was really worried about this sudden development because Luann had promised her parents that they could drive the van when they fly in tonight, and now it was broken. Well, long story short, I found out that the clamp that holds the distributor had worked its way loose (I swear I didn't touch it), so now the ignition timing was so bad, it was a miracle that the thing was still running. So, after adjusting the timing and tightening up the distributor, it runs better than it ever has since I brought it home. Whew! One more problem solved...

As for the bug zapper, at the urging of Dave Brun, I bought a big one from Harbor Freight

with the thought of using it around the yard and house to take care of the mosquitos that have been buzzing around lately. Well, while I was working on the van, Luann started swinging the thing around while pushing the power button and it made a loud SNAP! Turns out it's putting out 1500 volts and it instantly fries the 'skeeter' when the bug touches it. It was real funny when Luann was standing next to the van with the zapper fired up and looking for skeeters to swing it at, when suddenly, 'POP'! A mosquito that was trying to get Luann flew right into the zapper. Ok, now that was funny. After that happened, we must have spent a good 20 minutes walking around the yard looking for more prey, sometimes discovering that we got one, only by the snapping sound...

Thanks for the suggestion Dave, this is going to keep us entertained for some time to come.

First Day At The New Job

Well, it has been a long time since I was "The New Guy" at work, so it was a strange feeling to be known as such. But my first day was actually quite busy, what with working on testing several chassis units that are built within a jackable base. After working on the first one with some assistance, I was able to fly solo on the next two and did pretty well. It makes sense that I am testing these units because you learn so much about them and how they function by working on them directly.

I was surprised to see that I was given a nice desk (I haven't seen so much wood in an office space) and it's all in a 'room with a view' too. I've already started doing some work in AutoCAD, but I've basically been familiarizing myself with the layout of the workspace and the templates in use.

It's kind of neat at this place, and the workers on the assembly floor remind me of the guys at Motortronics in the medium voltage department. They are a meatball group of guys (que the theme song for the "Black Sheep Squadron" in the background), but when it's time to get things done, they do a great job.

I'll probably write an update in a week or so...

A Tribute To G-Man

Sadly, a little after midnight, we received news that an instructor whom Katrina and Bradley have both known and cherished at their high school had succumbed to pneumonia Friday morning, 5/22/09.

Click here for a news report that was done on this remarkable instructor about a year and a half ago: John Grillo

Although he worked as a computer technology instructor, John Grillo was very supportive of his students, to the point that he often attended Katrina's junior varsity volleyball games, he sponsored the Skills USA club both Katrina and Bradley were enrolled in and worked with both of them as they performed tech support services one period each day for the staff of the high school. What was most special about him was that whenever one of "G-Man's" kids were in trouble, they could always rely on him to provide unwavering, rock-solid support, both in verbal and emotional ways.

There was a time a couple of years ago, when Katrina was in serious trouble at school and the only person in the administration whom still gave her a vote of confidence was Grillo, at a point where nobody else would stand up for her, and it turns out that his belief in her was justified. To repay his kindness and confidence in her, she strove hard to become a model student, graduating with honors this year, her senior year of high school. This she attributes to one of the few instructors in her life that really cared and went far beyond being 'just' a teacher.

G-Man left this world after too brief of a life span, but in the time he was allotted, he touched many lives, as only an instructor that garners respect by way of respectful actions can. Any child that came within his reach, came away from the experience more self confident and empowered with a keen knowledge of his or her abilities to reach for ever higher goals.

You will not be forgotten, G-Man, for your work lives on through the youth you have thusly inspired. It is sad that you will not be there in the stands at graduation, beaming brightly as you watch yet another group of your seniors accept the rite of passage and step across the threshold to adulthood. They know that you will be there in spirit, if not in body, and take solace in the knowledge that they have done right by you.

God speed, kind soul, until we meet again...


UPDATE, by Katrina - 5/24/09

The wake for Mr. Grillo will be held on Tuesday, 5/26/09 from 6PM to 8 PM at Stowers Funeral Home, located at 401 West Brandon Blvd, Brandon, FL 33511.

In lieu of flowers, it is requested that you make donations to SkillsUSA, a service club for which G-Man was quite active. Please make checks payable to Middleton High School - SkillsUSA. This donation can be presented to the funeral home and will be disbursed appropriately.

"We miss you Grillo" - Katrina...

It Is Done...

Today was my last day at Motortronics, after working there for over eleven years. It was so very difficult to walk away today. This means that I was the second-to-last person to leave as I was trying to make sure that everything I was working on, or with, was properly handed over. Just so the services I was providing will seem to be relatively uninterrupted in the customer's perspective.

So, this was my last day at work, it was Katrina's last day in high school and this is the one year anniversary of my mother's passing away. A significant day in the least, I would say...

Katrina, Brad & Melissa's Senior Prom - And Afterwards

The plan was that they were going to attend the prom for a while, then head out to the beach for a couple hours afterwards. Unfortunately, the weather started to turn for the worst, so instead, they stopped by the house and we went out for a midnight breakfast.

Here is a picture of the couple after Bradley dressed in his suit. I'm planning to use this photo as an image on their graduation cake.

At the prom and having a good time...

Awwww! Such a lovely couple...

Katrina & Melissa.

Melissa danced with Stewart, a gentleman she had met in middle school (note: this picture was extremely light and washed out, so the colorizing to restore the image with missing color information made her hair look red).

This is Kenya, one of Katrina's friends.

Every time Katrina turned around, somebody wanted to pose with the 'China Doll' (as she heard somebody call her). She must have had to pose like this about a dozen times, but she loved being the center of attention.

Yeah, they just couldn't believe she was there in a full-blown kimono....

Now, what does a muskovy duck have to do with the prom? Well, this Mama duck was trying to keep her ducklings safe as they were sleeping near the entrance to the Village Inn restaurant as we were stopping by at about 1 in the morning for breakfast.

Will you look at that? It looks like Bradley is wiped out, Katrina is fighting a migraine headache and Melissa is simply 'bugged out'...

As breakfast was continuing on, the stories about what was seen, said and done at the prom flew around the table.

And slowly, the early hours of the morning crept in around the fringes of their consciousness as they all started to doze in the restaurant...

And here we are, back to a 'before' picture, with all three of the revelers ready for the event before them. A striking contrast to the previous picture, huh?

Well, this part of the journey is now behind us as we work for the next series of events, that being Katrina's birthday, Brad and Kat's graduation party and the graduation ceremony each scheduled one day after the other and starting on the 30th... We've got lots of work still ahead of us.

Preparations For The Senior Prom

The transformation begins... with a visit to Danny, a coiffeur virtuoso whom will convert Katrina's straight hair into something with an Asian flair.

Here she sits, ready to undergo her metamorphosis.

He begins by brushing out her hair, then he braided it. It took a couple of trys to get the braid to come out the way he wanted it to.

Katrina's hair was so light and fly-away, that it took quite a bit of hairspray to tame it down a bit.

As he twisted it around into a bun, Katrina made a couple of faces about the tension he was placing on her hair (oh, the things girls put themselves through in the name of beauty).

After several bobby-pins, Danny was able bring her hair under control.

Occasionally, Danny would pore over some images that we had printed on a sheet and brought in.

Meanwhile, Paul asked to see a picture of Katrina's kimono, so Luann handed him a print we had made earlier and brought in to show Danny too.

At this point, Danny inserted the rosewood hair sticks in her hair to see how it looks.

A little bias to the right and the Feng Shui is balanced. You can see the test sprays that Danny made on the lavender cover sheet on Katrina, before using the can of blonde concealer spray to hide a black hair tie inside the bun.

Next was the application of the Kanzashi flowers and more concealer spray.

Here is a closeup of the Kanzashi flowers we put together for her hair. Danny used the blonde powder-spray to conceal the green frame and tape.

It is always interesting to watch an Artiste at work...

Ah, the masterpiece is complete. Time for the final inspection.

She likes it! Hey Danny! Thanks for the 'up-do', she looks great!

At some point, we went looking for a little clutch-bag for Katrina and we couldn't seem to find something that was just right, so Katrina asked if I could make her one. I decided to make it a drawstring style so she could wear it on her wrist up inside of the furisode sleeve of the kimono so nobody would know she was carrying a purse on her. I carefully made it so the dragon was showing on one side...

...and the phoenix bird was showing on the other side.

My cousin Karen arrived to do the makeup for both Katrina and her friend Melissa. The necklace Katrina is wearing was made up so she could still wear her ring to the prom without having it interfere with the styling cues of the kimono.

I think Karen was having her share of fun in all of this...

Well, it looks like final parts of the 'Prom Puzzle' are coming together.

Here is a better view of the flowers we made up for her hair. Well, now that she's done with the makeup, it's time to put the kimono on.

The next 'victim' in Karen's makeup chair is Melissa.

And we start the layering process of installing the kimono...

There are several adjustments that have to be made in order to have the kimono 'lay' correctly. At this point, I'm working on the fasteners for the wide belt, called an obi.

Here is a front view of the final product, with Katrina all made up and all of the accessories in place.

This side view shows the back pillow and waterfall of the obi down her back reaching to within about a foot of the floor. The obi-jime ropes are real and are tied in the back up under the obi pillow.


This view shows the composite of all of the elements of the kimono with her hair style.

Ah yes, our little girl is ready to be the 'Belle of the Ball'...

Here is a closeup of the pins that were placed on the obijime cords running across the obi belt. The lizard's tail curls around and is hooked into the knots of the cords, then the dragonfly pin was placed right on the knots.

After Melissa was done, she went through the photo shoot treatment too.

The whole package came together for her too. Well balanced, with a touch of class...

One more photo, then they were off to Bradley's house so he could get ready too. He was real patient through the whole thing, waiting for the girls to get ready.

Ok, time to load up!

Melissa is in the car and now it's time for Katrina to make her grand entrance...

Oops! Darn those hair sticks and the low headroom in the car!
Bye-bye Melissa, hope you guys have fun!