Ten Lessions I Learned from Papa Ron

What with it being Father's day and all, I got to thinking that a lot of who I am today is directly attributable to Papa Ron. Therefore, in addition to the Soprano's Season 2 DVD's we got for him, here are the top 10 things I have learned from my dad.

1)How to properly wash a car. Yes, it takes an entire day, involves various clothes, brushes, cream, and waxes. This needs to be done annually.
2) Music. Everything I love and appreciate about music I got from my dad from knowledge of the oldies to that first Mary Chapin Carpenter concert that he took me to. Papa Ron taught me that music was more than background noise but something that can become a significant part of your life.
3) The joys of reading. And thank goodness he has an endless library for me to pilfer from.

4) The Blazers are the best pro team ever! Dad not only took me to games back at the Schnitz to see them on the big screen (and bought me a 3 Musketeers) but took me to many games in the old Coliseum, to Blazers banquets so i could meet the players, and we watched many many games together on tv.

5) How to be a hard worker and a good employee.

6) No matter how busy you may be with your job and career (like managing a publicly traded company), you can still find time to go to your kids sports games. I don't recall him missing very many.

7) How to drive a stick shift.

8) No matter your own personal religious and political beliefs, don't force them on your kids. Let them have their own experiences and decide for themselves what to believe.

9) Its never too late in life to pursue your passions, be it cooking, working on cars, etc.

10) Make sure to listen to your elder relatives tell their stories. They are often more interesting than fiction. Also document your own experiences. Your life may seem boring to you, but someone down the line will be thrilled to hear the story - good and bad.

A few bonuses would be the joys of pressure washing and that it is truly possible to have the same hair style for 40 years.

________________________________________________

To celebrate Father's day, we first had breakfast at Jose and Gloria's house.

I became a human jungle gym.

Luis tried out his father's day gift to his dad.

The kids tried it out too.

And then there was the food. Here's Joel eating the bacon. Note the paper towel pieces stuck to the bacon. This is from when it was microwaved. Yes, that's right. I said microwaved. Joel can't even look...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly movie reviews:

Benjamin Button. What a curious case. What a curious movie. Even after watching the 3 hours that was this movie, I as still curious. This is because NO ONE in this entire movie seemed fazed by the fact that this guy was getting younger. In the real world, Button would have been a circus side show at the very least. The medical profession would be clamoring over themselves to understand this guy and yet, there is none of that in this film. Its just a nice little story where the hero happens to get young. Don't even get me started on the fact that he shrinks down to baby size at the end (oh, spoiler alert). The story itself is fine but puhleeze, acknowledge this guys medical condition for goodness sakes.

Tom Cruise. Valkyrie. I was prepared to not really like this movie but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a look at WWII that hasn't been told before. I'll admit that I was distracted at Cruise in the lead role a bit - its hard to not look at him and think TomKat; crazy scientologist; alien worshiper; most famous guy on the planet - and instead focus on his character. For his part, he did a great job. It's just a little distracting seeing him in any role these days. Regardless, this is a great movie and I would recommend it.

The Rose Cup

So I don't think Luis is crazy. The more time passes, the more I think it was a reaction to the Claritin and not something more. Granted, it was an extreme reaction but I the more I see him now and look back, the more I think that's what it is. Anyone know how to sue Claritin?

Me neither.

Why is it the weekends seem busier than the week days? Yesterday we took the kids down to Portland International Raceways (PIR) for the Rose Cup races. For all of us but Luis, this was our first ever car race. The biggest surprise for me was not seeing a single mullet!

Here's Luis and the kids taking in the first of the Porche qualifying races.
Yup, we were sporting our caps for this event.
Siena wanted to get out on the track so bad...apparently the fact of only being 3 years old wasn't a deterrant.

Here's Siena getting the feel of an old school racing car.

At PIR you're able to go down in the pits and interact with the drivers and their cars. One driver was nice enough to let the kids try out his car. Mason wussed out but Siena wasn't going to let such a neat opportunity pass by.

Mason did enjoy checking out the burnt tire rubber and the engine mechanics, not to mention the drivers cool water shirt and driving suit. Cool stuff.

I thought these Porsche scooters were pretty cool.

And here was my favorite race car of them all. Believe it or not, this car not only raced, but we got to see it in action - bringing up the rear, of course.

A lunch break with cutie boy and his Speed Racer hat.

And Siena and her freebie pink hat.

Here's my boys!

And me and my babies...

Wait, what happened to the sweet babies...I'm getting pounced on...

There was also an old school cruise-in at PIR on this day. Luis is checking out the VW van with the matching go-cart.

Ramone? From Cars? He's making an appearance...

This car was named "Tinkerbell" and as such was Siena's favorite.

Mason liked the race cars best but seeing a "Herbie" was a treat nonetheless.

After the PIR event, we had to run straight to Mason's soccer game. We had only an hour break after his game before going to cousin Kendra's dance recital. Siena was showing off her dancing moves in the lobby. She's anxious for lessons after watching big cousin perform.

I caught Luis mid-tongue. Clearly I'm not against including unflattering pictures - just not of myself.

The challenge of being 3.5 years old and under 40 lbs is that theater chairs fold up on you. My... its rough being a little girl.

____________________________________________________

The Cruzer movie reviews continue this week...

He may not be into you, but you should be into this movie. This ranks 7 out of 10 on the "repeat watchability scale" due to its light nature, recognizable cast, and good humor. Both Luis and I liked this "chick flick", though Luis tends to like most chick flicks so that may not be the best litmis test. Regardless, it moves along at a fast clip and is engaging from beginning to end.

Not sure how 2 chick flicks in one week happened, though I'm sure I had something to do with it. This movie was fine, though not as high quality as the aforementioned "He's Just Not that Into You". Perhaps if not seen on the heels of that flick, it may have seemed better. Instead it came across as predicatable, and, while cute and mostly entertaining, ultimately fell flat. You won't come away feeling your 2 hours were wasted, but you likely won't go back for more either.

Since we didn't have enough activity this weekend, we took the kids today to see "Up". This may well be the best movie I have seen in 2009, in any genre. All 4 of us really enjoyed it which, given the age groups and tastes present, says a lot. There wasn't a dull moment in this film. In addition, the story was incredibly touching and, I have to say, really funny in a lot of instances. I can't imagine anyone not coming out of this movie without a smile.

_________________________________________________

BEAT LA!!!!! (I'm currently watching the Magic vs. Lakers and it isn't looking so good for the Magic).

Getting the Pieces Put Back in Place

Luis came home last Saturday from what we're calling his weeklong "vacation" at Portland Adventist underwritten by my health insurance.

The kids certainly had some confusion over what was going on. Both are smart and sensitive and both had seen Daddy a couple of times during his psychotic episodes. They also knew that he wasn't around for a week and I'm sure they could sense that Mommy was under some stress. It took a few days for him to exert his parental control over the kids again (without them deferring to me) and for the kids to be used to him being around again.

What has been a strange thing, amongst many in this chapter whole saga, is that when someone comes home from the hospital after psychological treatment, its not like they've got some lingering illness or injury to heal. Luis had been started on medications before coming home and has basically been the same 'ole Luis since getting back. Just Luis plus a couple new prescriptions and no Claritin. As a result, there are times when it seems like what we experienced was a weird bad dream.

For the first few days, I was keeping a close eye on him, making sure that what he was saying and doing was really him and not another "episode". I'm sure it annoyed him but he also understood it. We're also still trying to understand what this bipolar diagnosis is all about.

Luis went through a few nights of poor sleep as a result of getting used to his new prescriptions and the different side effects it brings. They seem to increase his auditory senses. He hears sounds more acutely than he used to. He also had to implement a new bedtime routine.

I had insomnia of my own last Sunday after six nights of taking Ambien. Taking Ambien seemed like a good idea at the time when I was under stress and tense. After a few nights though, I couldn't get to sleep without it. After 6 nights though, I knew I was done with it. I went through the miserable night of what is known as "rebound insomnia" and another night of crappy sleep before I got back into a sleep routine. I found on the internet that many others have had this experience coming off of Ambien. I know it works well for many people but I think I'll take a pass in the future.

Here's where you can take your pick of cliches: we're taking it one day at a time, rolling with the punches, etc. We're more or less settled back into our everyday routine which I don't think I'll be taking for granted anytime soon. We're certainly mindful of this new bipolar thing that has entered our lives but are dealing with it like we do most things, together and with humor. It may seem irreverant to some but that's what works best for us.

___________________________________________________________________

So unrealted to Luis going crazy, we did watch a couple of movies last week. Since I've never been known for having a shortage of opinions, I'm going to start including movie reviews on my blog, especially since our tv shows are all on hiatus for the summer and because its my blog darnit and I can. Don't worry, no spoilers.

Liam Neeson in Taken. Here's my problems with this movie: 1) Really, we're supposed to believe that 50 year old Neeson is able to take out all of the bad Albanians single-handedly?!? 2) No one in the movie seemed to care that he kept posing as a French policeman while speaking American English, and 3) It all came together a little too easily. Unbelieveably so. All in all, thumbs down.
On the other hand, I LOVED the Grand. It started a little slow but that was because they were introducing characters. Once the movie got rolling though, it was great comedy. There were a ton of great one liners, not to mention a great cast. Doesn't hurt that I love mockumentaries. This was unique and enjoyable. Thumbs up.

What A Birthday

Wow. It would take me about a month to write about everything that went down during the last week so I won't. I think most everyone who reads the blog is pretty much familiar with what we went through and I don't know that I'm in the mood to go into it all again. The good news is Luis is home and is doing really good and that's all that matters.


So, in the midst of our most stressful week ever, Mason had his 5th birthday. That I will write about. This was the first year we have had either kids party someplace other than our house or Yaya's so it was exciting for all. Luis and his friends conviened at Bullwinkles in Wilsonville for the big event. There were plenty of games and fun to be had by all.


Here's Mason learning to play Skeeball...
And climbing through the kids play area which seemed to be everyones favorite. Mason's second cousin Berren got through this in short order, aside from occasionally getting his foot stuck in the netting.

Presents were of course a hit too. Mason got some nice new clothes, some Speed Racer toys, some other car toys, and some cool art supplies. He was a happy boy.

And of course this year we had to get him a Speed Racer ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. The car on top now is permanently parked on the shelves in Mason's room by his radio - per his request. All cars have their proper place after all.

Mason lead the crowd in the singing of the birthday song to himself...he might say La Bamba is his favorite song, but I personally think the Happy Birthday is his favorite.

This is Mason the next morning playing with the new paints his second cousins Ellia and Berren gave to him.

Siena loves them too!

The kids have painted a TON of pictures in the last few days.

Course, Mason has spent plenty of time playing with his new cars too. Here's Mason with the '57 Chevy that Yaya and Papa Ron gave him.

That's the birthday highlights. While I'm not trying to gloss over the lowlights, I do want to thank everyone for their positive thoughts and prayers this week. I know Luis does too. We're all doing good now and just getting into our routine again.