Things that don't make sense

There are sometimes things happen and you just say…”That doesn’t make any sense!”

While typing my blogs on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix, I was reminded of something that bothers me and make’s no sense. I was using Microsoft Word to type in a web address. Immediately it turned the text into a hyperlink file. That just means the text was underlined and turned into a link I can click on to take me to a website.

Microsoft is the only software that does this. My word processor for Apple does this too. My question to the designers is. If I’m typing a letter or making a poster, why would you turn the words in to a link. There is a very HIGH chance I’m going to print this file. There is no way for someone to click on a piece of paper to direct them to the website I’m typing. When I go to change this, a webpage pops up because I clicked it so I could highlight the words to remove the hyperlink. It becomes very annoying. Plus I’m very anal at times.

So, that’s my vent for today. I hope you laughed! I kind of did.

New Updated Website

I’ve been working on my website and having my web designers make a few aesthetic changes to the site. Please take the opportunity to visit the site www.frankkitchen.com.

I have videos, pictures, contact info, inspirational quotes and information on how to by my book on the site.

Thank you Tom and Nate!

San Diego

San Diego is an amazing place. To start the summer off, Kelly and I were invited to San Diego to house sit for our friends. We got free lodging for watching their dog and house. That was a great deal! A Win-win situation for everyone!

Kelly and I had a long spring. Busy working and had a lot of stress from “life.” This was our first opportunity we had to get away together in over a year. The trip was needed.

Our plans, relax, do some future planning, relax, walk on the beach, relax, and explore San Diego.

We did all of the above. The best part of the trip spending time together and having our little friend Bella (canine) join us.

Some of our adventures included visiting both San Diego Zoos (yes they have two!). Going to the Midway Aircraft carrier museum, and watching nightly sunsets at the beach.

Here are a few pictures from the trip including my new favorite animal…Frank the Gorilla at the San Diego Zoo. He has my name and has the same birthday as me!

USS Midway Floating Museum - Website Click Here

Some new guests at our friends house

San Diego Sunset while walking the dog on the beach

The San Diego Zoo - Website Click Here
Be sure to bring your AAA card for a discount

Bella our buddy for the trip

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Park - 45 minutes north of San Diego

Ooops Something is upside down

My new favorite animal

Hanging out on the flight deck of the USS Midway Museum

"Kitchen to the bridge, am I clear for take off?"

"Bridge to Kitchen....No!"

Lions just lying around

Beach Pier

Chillin in San Diego

I broke my ring!

My and my friends showing off our wedding rings. We all got married in the last year.

Matching Wedding bands my wife had made for us

One of the biggest fears for every married man is loosing his wedding ring. My fear level is higher than most men because my wife had my ring made just for me. I like to tell people she designed it for me. It’s white gold with turquoise inlayed in the band. Very pretty (yes I said a man’s ring is pretty, it looks good on me. I’m told it compliments my skin). It’s very important to me because of who made it for me and it’s meaning. My life time commitment to my wife.

When I feel I may damage or possibly have the ring slip off of my finger, I put it in a safe place. I love wearing it because of it’s symbolism. Plus I like saying “I’m taken.”

On our cross-country trip this summer, we stopped at a truck stop to gas up the car and use the bathroom. I went to the men’s room and did what I had to do. Of course you have to wash your hands, so I did. They was no hand dryer and the paper towels were empty, so I did what anyone would do, I waved my hands to dry them.

That was the wrong move. The soap and water loosed the ring on my finger and it went flying. It hit the floor and made a not so good sound. When I picked up the ring, I discovered that piece of the ring was missing. “Oh Sugar” cam out of my mouth. Actually, something worse came out of my mouth, but I’ll keep this PG-rated.

I immediately looked down to the floor to see if I could find a little piece of stone smaller than head on a nail. Amazingly I found it. When I picked it up, I discovered it was only half of the stone. “Fudge” was the next word out of my mouth. I started to think how I would explain to Kelly how I broke my wedding ring. So, I got down on the bathroom floor and started to look for the rest of the stone. I’m lucky no one walked in wondering why there was a man crawling on a dirty truck stop bathroom floor. It was like searching for a contact lenses. I wasn’t going to fail. After a few minutes of searching, I found the other piece. The back of the stone was the same color of as the floor.

I was able to put the two small pieces back into the band. I washed my hand again, but not with the ring on. I also used my shirt to dry my hands.

When I got back to the car, Kelly asked, “What took you so long, are you feeling ok?” That’s when I told her my story. She suggested I not wear the ring until we got it fixed.

A few days later we took the ring to the jewelry maker and retold my truck stop adventure. They were amazed that I found the stoned and got them back into the band. I was just happy they could fix it.

It’s amazing what you can do when motivated by fear! =0 )

Funny Pictures

Every now and then you go places and you see signs you just have to laugh at, or in my case, share with the world! Enjoy these signs that I "discovered" in the bathroom of a French Restaurant in Arizona.

Best Buddies Night at the Ballpark

When Kelly and I returned from our San Diego trip this summer, I was asked to join several members of the Best Buddies Arizona at the Arizona Diamond Backs game. We were there to help promote the organizations. I am a member of the Board of Directors. As a member of the board we work hard to be as visible as possible to help motivate members of the organization and the staff.

The exciting part of the night was being invited on to the field to be introduced on the jumbotron. The kids who got to go with us were really excited. I took lots of pictures and videoed some of the adventure too. They’re below.

The funny moment of the night came from Kelly. She had to sit in the stands while I was on the field. Being a great wife, she started taking pictures on her phone. The problem was, she was way out in the bleachers and I was at home plate. That’s about 400+ feet away. She took several pictures and text them to me. The text with the pictures read….”You’re the dot on the left! That’s how clear the picture was.

To repay my wife, I came up with a plan to show my love for her infront of thousands. Something she could see. A truly public display of my love. Before we were shown on the jumbotron, I found a piece of paper and wrote “ I Love KELLY!” on it. Every member of our group smiled and waved as they were shown on the screen. When the got to me, I pulled the paper out of my pocket and held it up in front of me. Everyone in the stadium saw it….except my wife. She was sitting under the screen and couldn’t see it! Great plants! Lol

Enjoy the pictures below…..I love you Kelly!

Meeting Dad

Me, my step mother and my dad

My full name is Frank Cornelius Kitchen. I’m named after my father Frank S. Kitchen. I knew him when I was young, but due to divorce our time together grew limited as I grew older. The last time I saw him was when I was 18 years old.

We could point fingers and blame each other, but that’s a waste of time. A few years ago, I decided to locate him. I had several friends who were adopted or others who were considering adoption. There were searching out their birth parents. The others wanted to learn more about the parents of the child they would be adopting.

I was talking to my wife and we were discussing our family histories and wanting our future children to know their family lineage. What did I know about my dad? A little, but I needed to know more. Thanks to the internet, he wasn’t hard to find. I found an address and wrote a letter to it. About two weeks later, I got a letter back. It was my dad. We both agreed we had been apart way too long. The letter led to a phone call. The phone calls led to e-mails and texts. We’re still working on communicating more. It’s a work in progress to be honest.

The work paid off this summer. Kelly and I took a cross-country trip to see family and friends and on the way back we stopped to see him. I was scared and nervous and excited. Having my wife with me helped. I hadn’t seen my father in 20 years and now I was going to meet him and his wife (my-step mom). He would be meeting my wife for the first time too.

I’m not going to go into too much detail, but when I saw him, it was dad! I could tell it was him. I remember him being a big man. When I stood next to him, I was taller now. We talked, took pictures and caught up. Our time together was limited, but we promised to see each other more often and to talk more.

Here is a picture of my visit.

Life is short, if you have a relationship that hasn’t been the same for awhile, take the time to work at rebuilding it. It will take work, but it will be worth it and valuable for the future.

Time to Start Blogging....Frequently

Hello Fall

September 21^st was the first day of fall! I was in Ohio speaking when the seasons changed. I was watching TV when the “news” was shared with the public. (It was important stuff according to the newscasters).

I immediately thought, where did the summer go? I guess that means I had a pretty adventurous summer. To be honest, this was a good summer. I got to spend a lot of time with my travel partner for life (my wife Kelly). We were so busy; I didn’t make time to blog. I looked at my photo file on my computer and thought, “I have a lot of pictures to post.” I looked at my journal and thought, “I have a lot I need to share on this blog.

So, get ready for a quick run down of my summer of 2011. There will be great pictures and a few funny moments. Most of all I’ll share some interesting information I hope inspires you to just go out and live life!