Surgery Day for Tony - May 26th 2011

Tony was booked in for 10.30 at the Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar. We have to say the Nurses & Doctors today were fantastic, and he was well taken care of. The operation lasted about 45 minutes and it was confirmed that he had completely torn the tendon. Basically it had to be sewn back together and a partial cast put on the foot. 
In 2 weeks he will have the stitches removed, and a full cast put on the foot for a further 4 weeks. No weight allowed on the foot during this period, and no driving !! - That should be fun considering what he does for a living. Then he will wear a special boot, and gradually start to put pressure back on the foot until he is able to walk fully again with full weight bearing. Unfortunately its a long process to heal an achilles tear but hey..what can you do?. In the mean time he has Nurse Jen taking very good care of him :)

Tony's Injury Update - May 24th 2011

After an appointment at the Orthopaedic Medical Center today, it's confirmed that Tony has torn his right Achilles tendon. The only way to fix it is surgery, so he is booked in for this Thursday at 10.30am !! - Fun....
Unfortunately his Soccer season is over before it started !

A Disasterous Start to Tony's Soccer Season - May 22nd 2011

Tony was asked by a friend if he would like to play for a Sunday Soccer team. Tony has not really played since High school but thought it would be a great opportunity to get back in shape and have fun at the same time. He had a Mini Tournament last week-end to get some practice in and realized how out of shape he was. Tony still thought he was the great Right Midfield player of years ago, but now about 50 lbs. heavier the fitness was not there so he ended up playing in Defence.

Anyhow, the first proper game of the season today. GO Wolfpack (Tony's team) v RAD.
10 minutes into the game, Tony gets tackled from behind, goes down, and when he gets to his feet, he can't put any weight down on his right foot. It's the end of his game - off to Urgent Care & a couple of hours later he leaves on crutches, cast on his right ankle and a suspected torn Achilles Tendon.

Ouch!!

A Visit from David Selawski - May 19th 2011

Jen has 7 cousins, and all but 2 live fairly locally. David Selawski lives in Maryland on the East coast. He is married with 4 grown up kids. Our wedding was the first time Jen had seen David in over 10 years. However he was in California on business this week and went over to Jen's Mom & Dad's house this evening for dinner. Jen took the opportunity to go over and see him along with Lynn Selawski (David's sister/Jen's cousin). Lynn lives in Orange County.

 Jen with her Cousins - Lynn & David Selawski

 

Mother's Day Celebration - May 7th 2011

Jen's Dad (Ken) & Mom (Mary Ellen)

In America, Mothers Day is in May rather than March like in the UK. This year it fell on Sunday May 8th, so Jen & her brother Scott took Mom & Dad out for a fantastic meal at Niewport 17 in Tustin, Orange County. Tony was still in England so just the four of them went and they had a really nice evening, and some great food. Mary Ellen did not know anything about it so it was a wonderful Mothers Day surprise.

 Jen with her brother Scott

The "Pruzinsky" Family 

A Night out with the Girls - May 6th 2011

Jen & Myle (pronounced My-Lee)

Jen met Myle while studying her Nursing Prerequisite courses at Santa Ana College a few years back. They have maintained a great friendship ever since. Myle is a fantastic cook and always treats Jen to some awesome Vietnamese food when they get together. Tonight some of Myle's friends joined them for a girls night out at the Gas Lamp Club in Long Beach, CA.

 (L-R) Quinh (pronounced Quinn), Jen, Dung (prounced Yung) & Myle

Tony's trip to Europe - May 1st - May 9th 2011

Tony just got back from a 9 day trip to Europe. This was a business related trip which Tony also got to combine with some personal family time...Perfect!
Tony & five work colleagues took a handful of top accounts to their European headquarters in Brussels Belgium. It gave the dealers the chance to see how Tony's company operate on a global scale, and also for many to see some European sights for the first time. We had a good mix of people from Mexico, Texas, Missouri all the way to Newfoundland Canada ! A great group of people.


DAY 1 - Brussels
After leaving LAX Tony flew via Washington DC and arrived in Brussels at 7.30am on Sunday morning. He slept off some jet lag and everyone met for lunch & a beer before going on a tour of Brussels.

The Royal Palace

A great view of the city & Cathedral

Le Manneken Pis

The Main Square in Brussels

We finished the evening with a fantastic meal (steak au poivre for Tony) and of course a few bottles of red wine between us.

DAY 2 - Brussels/ Gent/ Bruges

A day at the office today for the serious part of the trip before leaving for Bruges. On the way we stopped in the city of Gent for some sightseeing and a lovely meal.

The Central Square in Gent

Tony by the Canal

Some very old fortress !

Luis & Jeff waiting for their beers - Cheers!

Serge & Paolo from our Belgium Office

Tony's Boss Dan (left) getting friendly with Bert (Texas Rep)

Ready for dinner 

DAY 3 - Bruges/ Brussels/ London

Today was a day sightseeing in Bruges. Bruges is a very pretty city with canals, historical buildings and quaint shops. A good place for souvenirs and Belgium Chocolates! Some pictures below:

After a relaxing lunch, we headed back to Brussels, in order to catch the Eurostar train to London. The Americans were very impressed with how quiet, efficient and fast the train ride was!

Our UK Sales Manager Tom Robinson was waiting for us at St. Pancras in London. We bundled into Black cabs, checked in at the hotel and then went out for a typical British Pub Dinner at a place that specialized in pies & English deserts. Sticky Toffee pudding with Ice Cream & custard...yum! Lots of food and beer consumed and a good evening had by all :)

DAY 4 - London

Today we were in Tony's territory. Back in Tony's Yamaha days he used to take care of London dealers so visiting the Music shops in Denmark Street was like old times! We spent the morning in Denmark Street, before heading out to see some of the sights.

Buckingham Palace

The Guards by Queen Victoria's Memorial

Kate & William left their flags out for us !

Big Ben

The Houses of Parliament

London Eye by the River Thames

Westminster Abbey

We didn't get a chance to go into the Abbey as it was packed with people and huge queue's outside being just a week after the big wedding. However in the middle of our sightseeing we did have a nice pub lunch in Westminster (Bangers & Mash) and another Pub Dinner in Covent Garden (Fish & Chips)

Tom (UK Sales Manager) enjoying a pint

After Covent Garden it was back to the West End and the Dominion Theatre to watch "We Will Rock You" the West End Show based on the Music of Queen. A great last evening for the dealer trip and we finished it off with a few pints (and shots) in the hotel bar. That was a late night!

DAY 5 - Mum & Dad's

A few of the dealers stayed on for some extra time in London, while Tony's colleague's headed back to America. Tony obviously took the opportunity while in England to see his family. He took the train north to Luton and was met by his Dad at the station. A quick 10 minute drive to Caddington and he was at Mum & Dad's house - his hotel for the next few days!

DAY 6 - Happy Anniversary Mum & Dad - May 6th 1967 (44 years)

Tony's Dad (Peter) & Mum (Christine)

Aaahhh - Isn't that nice !!

Although it was their anniversary they very kindly let Tony borough the car so he could drive up to Daventry and collect his boys Josh & Jake after school. Jake had soccer practice so Tony & Josh went to Pizza Hut for dinner before collecting Jake and driving back to Caddington. It was good for the boys to see their Gran & Grandpa.

Josh - age 12

Jake  - age 10

DAY 7 - Bowling & a visit to Leamington Spa

Tony asked the boys what they wanted to do on Saturday afternoon and the answer was 10 Pin Bowling so they went to Go Bowling in Dunstable. There is no such thing as playing for fun with 3 lads so game on:

It's Josh

Versus Jake

Versus Dad

Two games later - Dad gave his boys a lesson on how its done. Thankfully no fights and everyone had a good time.

Jake enjoying his Slush Puppie

After Bowling we drove up to Rugby and dropped Jake off at a party that he was invited to, & Tony & Josh went on to Leamington Spa to meet up with Tony's sister Lynn & husband Greg. Lynn & Greg have two boys Jimmy  (2) & Sam (11 months). Currently Lynn & Greg are in the middle of an extension to their house so they have a makeshift kitchen while the work is being done. We decided to eat out at.......Pizza Hut. No complaints from the boys.

Jimmy enjoying his kids meal

Sam taking a liking to Pizza!

Josh reading Jimmy his bed time story

After Pizza it was back to the house, and Josh read his new best friend & cousin a story before bed. Tony & Josh stayed over at Lynn's as Josh had a soccer game in Daventry the next morning.

Speaking of Soccer Tony got to watch "Match of the Day" complete with beer tonight. Funny the little things you miss about England!

DAY 8 

Josh had a soccer match this morning as did Jake. Jake's mum took him to his away game and Tony drove Josh to his home game. Both boys are goalkeepers and they both had good games today. Jakes team won easily and Josh won 6-1 after going a goal down from a penalty.

Jimmy & Sam with the goalie

Team Talk

Daventry Town win 6-1

After the game Tony met his brother Mark & Family at a nice country pub on the outskirts of Leamington Spa. Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding washed down with a pint of cider...Now thats a Sunday lunch!

Clockwise starting with Josh 

Cameron (Nephew), Mark (Brother), Robert (Nephew), Deb (Sister in Law)

Lynn (Sister), Greg (Brother in Law), Jimmy (Nephew)

Sam is hidden behind Greg

Tony went back to Daventry to say his goodbye's to Jake and then headed back to Caddington with a stop on the way to say hello to Suzanne, Steve, Megan & Amy. The girls still have their toe polish on from their holiday in America!

The Girls enjoying their trampoline in the "Garden"

DAY 9 - Back Home

An early start, but Tony's chauffeur (aka Dad) dropped him off at London Heathrow, and then the fun 10 1/2 hour flight back to Los Angeles. Still it was good to get back home and be reunited with his wifey!