Mark Messimer's Family Update

(Mark & Kimba, June '08)


Well...where to start? How about...lately I've been feeling like a over-dosed lab rat in an estrogen research center. Between Kris (perpetually 30 y.o.), Alli (15 y.o.), Kelsey (12 y.o.), all their girlfriends and Kimba, my German Shepard, I am challenged, overwhelmed, and perplexed on a daily basis.

As you can see from the picture, after 10 years of bites, bruises and gooey canine slobber, I'm still training dogs. The one shown with me is our GSD, Kimba, when she was still a pup. She's a little over 1.5 years old now and a loyal and true protector. (Please call ahead if you're planning to stop over. She doesn't take kindly to unannounced guests) Most of my Saturday's are spent training family obedience classes, with a few police K9's to keep up the adrenalin levels. I'm the guy that gets to dress up in the padded jumpsuit and tries to run as fast as possible. Haven't outrun one yet. In fact, lately they seem to be catching me sooner and sooner into my attempted escapes. Gettin' closer to 50 is a real bitch sometimes.

(Mark attempting another failed get-away)

Monday through Friday I play in the corporate world as the Director of Education and Media Services for MLSListings Inc. We're the technology company that manages all the real estate listings for most of Northern California. Even with all the turbulence in the RE market, we're still going strong and I stay plenty busy keeping my trainers / divas in line, and a multi-media studio pumping out training videos, podcasts and webinars.

(Kris and Alli, Nov '08)
Kris spends a lot of time with the girls moving them from one event to another. Between school stuff, volleyball games, running athletic booster programs and weekends full of teenage social events, she's always on the run. She has become the second-mom to many of the girl's classmates and it's not uncommon that she gets calls from single-dads asking her "take their daughters to the drug-store for girl stuff" or rookie-moms asking her advice on dealing with the daughter's boyfriends and young teens dating.

During the week she works as Sales Exec for OneCoast, a representative organization that works in the gift and homewares markets. She has a large, South Bay Area territory but works out of a home-office situation. The market has been a little tough lately, but she has recently picked up some very strong home decor lines and is busy getting them introduced to her clients.

Alli is a Sophmore at San Lorenzo Valley High School. This is her with her boyfriend, Alex (1 year together and going strong). Alli is the part-time jock, full time social-butterfly, and some-times student in the family. She just came off a tough season on the JV Volleyball Team where she played a lot of defense, greatly improved her over-hand serve and learned to shoot the kill-shot like a Marine sniper.


Now that the season is over it's all about The Boyfriend (Varsity Football Placekicker and Team Captain), filling the house with girlfriends every weekend, and waiting until the last minute to complete whatever school report or project is due the next morning. (A chip off the old block)

For years she used to join me on the K9 training field every Saturday morning. Now I have to tip-toe through a carpet of teenage girls covering my living room floor every Saturday morning as I head out to training on my own. If I'm lucky there are a few food scraps left in the pantry when I return. Nothing destroys a food budget like 8 or 10, fifteen year old girls ripping through the kitchen at Mach 5.

Kelsey is flourishing in 7th Grade at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School. Her circle of friends continues to expand almost as fast as her monthly text-messaging volume on her cell phone.

Kelsey is our American Idol candidate in the making. Always sing her way through the day, her chores, her homework and certainly in the shower. New Country, Pop, R&B, and classic rock, you name it, she belts it out.

Another of her budding talents is photography. She has a unique eye for interesting perspective and color content. She's dying for a 35mm digital camera for Christmas. I thinking more along the lines of a massive external harddrive so she can deal with the hundreds, if not multiple-thousands of pictures already stored on the family laptop.

Mom and Dad are doing OK right now. It's been a tough few years for Dad ever since he had that fall that injured his back and neck. That made it hard for him to stay as mobile as he used to be, which in turn didn't help him with keeping strong and limber. Mom is recovering well from her operation that removed a small sub-dural hematoma a few months back. But like all of Bita's girls, she was up and busy way too soon, running the kitchen, keeping the gardens fresh and nursing Dad through many challenges. Those Lopez women are as tough as they come.

I'll let Olivia and Laura Beth catch you up to date on the happenings at Mama Lu's and Papa Hal's place.

I'm looking forward to reading about what's going on in your lives these days. If you are blog-challenged (I feel your pain. I myself just started doing this, this morning with the setup of this site) feel free to email me your post, along with any pictures you may want included, and I'll be happy to cut-n-paste them onto this site.

You can reach me at: markmessimer@comcast.net

Hoping that all is well throughout the Land of Lopez and that Thanksgiving left you full, sleepy and buried in leftovers.

Best Wishes to All,

Mark