Eating Solids.... And a Little Bit of Finger Painting

How does a 1/2 year old follow up his big 1/2 birthday?  This one did it by eating solid food for the first time.  It was a mesmerizing experience, even more so then I would have expected.  I was enthralled, entertained, and fascinated by the event.  This morning Enzo ate mashed up avocado.  Then he did it again when I got home.  Tami looked up a list of appropriate foods to start babies on and avocado was on the list.  The list and rules of starting babies on solids is actually a bit more complicated than I imagined.  In essence, it boils down to picking one of the acceptable foods, a food that has a very low probability of causing an allergic reaction, and feeding that to a child for four to six days, a couple of times each day.  Then, if all goes well, a new food is added to the meal rotation for four to six days, and so on.  Tami also suggested that we let Enzo learn to feed himself so we did the second meal and while it explains some of the avocado on The Kid's face, I was surprised at how well he controlled the spoon.  Reflecting, it makes sense as he has two uses for his hands and arms that he practices most often; pushing his body and bringing items to his mouth.  It really was SO fun to help him and watch him eat the avocado.  Hours after both events and subsequent thorough cleanings, we continue to find avocado smudges on him.  Here is some video.

The First Meal.

The Second Meal.

Enzo's 1/2 Birthday

Notice the Sun way out in space, up in our sky.  Think about the vast space surrounding the sun, within Earth's orbit.  Look past the sun to the space beyond it.  When the Earth is all the way on the opposite side of that Sun in the sky, when we have traveled millions of miles through space and around to get to that other side, that will be Enzo's 1 year birthday.

And on that day 6 months in the future when you look past the sun to contemplate the space beyond it, you will be looking to this point where we are at right now.

1/2 an orbit since, and my days are full of loving this beautiful son Enzo.

Trying on Styles and Personalities

Remember finding yourself?  Well, that's too big for this post.  Remember starting to look for yourself?  It may have happened around your middle school years.  It did with me.

Tami and I recently found the movie Breakin' on cable and watched it for nostalgic reasons.  The first time I watched that movie it was an early pre-middle-school peek for me at testing identities.  I didn't really try to be a break dancer but I recognized that I wanted to know how to break dance because that was cool and I paid attention to the style associated with break dancers as they were portrayed to me.  Watching the movie two days ago was just funny.  Movies like it are still being made for new generations with similar story lines and acting.  In middle school I actually thought that somewhere in our world people would converge around a random dancer in the street and wriggle and clap to the beat in awe of the dancer.  I'm still waiting to see this happen kind of like I'm waiting for all the students at my work to spontaneously break into choreographed dance and song. 

After that time period came the middle school years of my life and the trial of various identities began.  It was that strange time in my development where I, as most of us did, would try on different personas to see what fit.  For me that translated into skateboarder, surfer, all black clothes mysterious dude, sunglasses, loafers, shoes without socks, flannel, attachés, slacks, and.. well, I think those are most of the styles and accompanying personalities I tried on at the time.  Note, I tried on the styles and personalities, not the skills.  I could barely stay on a skateboard and the only surfing in my life were the pictures on my surfer t-shirts.  It was a valuable time for me.  It was also just the beginning.  Next came the trying on of different philosophies, opinions, and world views beginning in high school and peaking in college.  That was when I began the quest to learn from as many interesting people as I could talk to at coffee shops, as many interesting song lyrics as I could decipher, and as many books as I could consume.  By that point, I was not only trying on but taking off some of the views I had inherited from my upbringing to see what life was like without them.

There were three misconceptions that I had about the identity search process I was going through when I was young.  It's okay, it was part of my experience, but they were misconceptions according to my current perspective.
1) I was in a crisis situation; I needed to find an identity as I was lacking one.
- I wasn't in a crisis without an identity.  I was in a normal process of developing my identity.
2) I was searching for an identity to suit me for life.
- I was testing identities to suit me for the time of my life that I was in and those facets of identity would not necessarily serve me for ever; I could evolve.
3) I was looking for the real truth.
- It's possible to find something is incorrect, but different perspectives make sense for different people in different situations and that includes family, friends, strangers, and my self.  I was really just searching for perspectives to make up a malleable world view that worked.

Now in my 30's, it would seem that the majority of the trying on, taking off, adjusting and trying on again is in the past.  I find myself more often satisfied to fine tune that which I have already found to fit me well.  That's why it's so fun to have the opportunity, at my age, to try on different styles, personas, and perspectives.  At this point in my life it's not as simple as buying a pair of Vans shoes and walking around for a while.  That's where Matt has provided me with a golden opportunity.  What's it like to be one of those guys driving a cool old VW Bus?  Now I know.  What about a slammed Bug?  Got it.  And now, how about a muscle car?  Maybe a '68 Plymouth GTX?  Excellent.  In middle school I just couldn't borrow a buddy's Airwalks, GT bike, and talent.  But if you are ridiculously fortunate as an adult in the opportunities presented to you as I have been, your friend just might offer you to take care of his GTX while he is in Mexico for a week.  What a difference in driver experience and conversations with strangers that GTX made in my days.  These are not just superficial experiences to me.  I believe that I better understand others who make different choices for their every day lives and don't just borrow the style for a week.  I've been thinking a lot about those decisions we make out of habit as with vehicles, homes, clothing, opinions, politics, etc.  If, for example, I were to go buy a car two years ago I would have bought the nicest car I could afford that was practical at the dealership.  Now I'm thinking: What is interesting out there, what could I lower, what would look good with Mexican blankets as seat covers, what would be entertaining to drive The Kid around in, what would make the commute to work into a cruise to work?  And from that I go on to questions such as: Why live close to work when there are so many interesting places to live that are close enough?  Why wear the same type of clothes when not working?  Why not question the simple and obvious decisions I make to see where there is room to add some color and adventure to the mundane?.  Good questions.  Thanks Matt, for another adventure in self discovery and a week of driving the coolest car everywhere I went.

K.C. Trip Day 8

Home Sweet Home.

K.C. Trip Day 7

We went to the Kansas City Royals game today.  Yes, as you see in the picture, Tami brought Enzo's A's stuff for the game.  She makes me laugh.  Then again, I learned that they were the Kansas City A's before moving to Oakland.  Tami picked up a cool KC Athletics green and yellow hat at the stadium.  What a great stadium.  There is a Royals Hall of Fame, a great video screen, and an extensive kids area with games and activities.  Neat.  Tami likes to see games at various stadiums when we travel so she was very excited that our trip coincided with the Royals playing.  Royals won and we had a good time with family, ten of us in all.  I think Uncle Tito enjoyed his birthday. 

It's been so fun living in this busy house and seeing family come and go every day.  I'll miss this.  I'll also be glad to get back to our family and friends in California tomorrow.  Vacations are awesome. 

Tami and I just remembered that Father's day is almost here and it will be my first as a father.  When I think of it, the opportunity to spend so much of my time with my child like this is the greatest gift and opportunity I could imagine as a father.

K.C. Trip Day 6

Enzo and Tami had their first Waffle House experience!  That's how we started our day.  But first things first.

Enzo got a good night's sleep last night and had plenty of energy today.  His mocos have dried up so his nose is done dripping.  All that appears left of the cold is the occasional cough with that phlem sound but those have been far fewer.  We are glad.  Enzo never looked too uncomfortable but it still affects us to hear his coughs and sneezes so we're glad that this cold is almost passed.  Meanwhile, he is constantly loved, played with, held, kissed, and told how adorable he is by all of his family out here.  He is a lucky and well loved child.

Okay, back to The Waffle House.  It's safe to say that the place is not Tami's kind of breakfast place but she made her best effort to smile for me while I enjoyed it.  Enzo was pretty happy to see his dad enjoying his scattered, smothered, covered, and diced hash browns.  Yes, indeed.  Also, coffee, eggs, and grits.  There was no room for sweet tea or pie but you just can't cram the whole experience in to one event.  You know?

After that we finished picking up the tamale ingredients and headed back to the family's house.  Yum, home made tamales!  They were a hit.  A pretty good day.

K.C. Trip Day 5

Enzo caught his first cold.  Well, that's my amature assessment. Acording to the infinite knowledge of the internet, one may expect a baby to catch 4 to 10 of them in the first year as they build their immunities to the common cold strains.  The symptoms seem to match. Tami thinks it is possibly alergies to the pollen, etc. that we are encountering out here.  The symptoms are so similar and the internet does not settle such debates absolutely.  Either way, The Kid has sniffles, occasional cough, occasional teary eyes, and plenty of mocos (what my family calls boogers or nasal mucus).  Still, he smiles when people give him attention and that's rather often.  Actually, he looks and acts normal except for the occasioanl signs and discomfort from congestion. He does not like having his mocos wiped from his nose and face, that is for sure. The main discomfort is that neither he, Tami, nor I had the best sleep last night and that has made all three of us a little more tired today.

We did manage an outing today with some family.  We made it to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  It's great.  Tami and I had spent several hours there last year in February when we came out here for another cousin's wedding and we loved it.  We had to skip one section last year so we went back to see that section today.  We would like to go back again next time we come out as the collection includes some fascinating works and artifacts.

The weather has been dramatic.  It's near enough to 90 degrees most of the time but, depending on the whim of nature, it is either a torential down poor that causes us to pull off the freeway on the way to a museum or it is perfectly sunny and dry where you would swear a giant puddle existed an hour before.  In between these two ways of the weather exist bursts of thunder and soft warm wind that carry smells of warm nature and traces of food and flowers.

In fact, the sky is a beautiful strobe light right now.  Cousins just came down to tell us to go out and see it so we stepped out a second to admire it.  The clouds blanket the sky so the lightning bursts, separated by only seconds, are difused across the sky.  The rain had not yet reached the house, only the light show had, so the whole family was outside enjoying it.  After stepping out briefly to appreciate it Tami and I are back in to rest with Enzo and the first rain is now reaching this house.  Inside now, I can hear the loud cracks as the thunder moves closer.  A kid just yelled out from upstairs "Did you hear that?  That was awesome!"  And the rain is again torential while the ground vibrates to the the cracking thunder.

From lack of complete sleep, concern for Enzo's comfort, walking around the museum and the Plaza area of town, my feet are sore after our relatively short outing.  When I rubbed them I was pleasantly surprised.  My feet are SO soft!  Everywhere I touch I can actually feel my finger through the nerves of my feet as there is hardly any hard skin and my orange toes are smooth like glass.  I had forgotten that I had a pedicure two days ago.  My feet feel like the feet of a person much younger than I have become acustomed to.  On the outside anyway.  On the inside they wonder how my fingers continue to move on this phone's keyboard as they crave stillness and they question weather my mind is making  a coherent stream of words.

Enzo is sleeping quitely right now.  I noticed hopeful signs of lessening symptoms through the day and I hope he will get to sleep better tonight and feel better in the morning.

K.C. Trip Day 4

Today we went to Desirae and Matt's wedding.  Everywhere you go people are different and this wedding was different from all others I have been to.  It's interesting  to see how different people ritualize events and add meaning to the important events and rights of passage in their lives.

Speaking of monumentous events, I've been thinking a lot about the process of mourning the loss for each new change in life.  Mourning for the loss due to a change is only half of the event but it's what I have been considering lately.  It started with a discussion and reading in night school last semester.  The point was made that every change in an organization requires mourning no matter how small the change may appear to the one making the change.  The idea is that a manager needs to recognize and allow for the mourning of the loss, of the way things were, when a change is made even if it is as simple as a change in the lunch time.  People adapt and attach their lives to so many aspects of life that changes appearing insignificant to one may be quite significant to the other.  Another aspect of this is that the person making a change may come across resistance when they did not expect it because that person has already had time to mourn, contemplate, and convince themselves of the appropriateness of the change during their consideration before announcing the change.  Others need time to catch up and it is unfair to expect them to instantly see the light of another's ways upon first hearing of them.  These are some of the thoughts I have been considering.  From small to large I am trying to see how I mourn and embrace change and how others do the same.  I appreciate this perspective and it was useful for me as I said good-bye to my life as a classroom teacher and became open to my life as an assistant principal.  I also see now the mourning component of my annual pilgrimage to Santa Cruz on my birthday where I go to contemplate my life as a form of ritual in which I mark the passing of my years through recognition of what has been, acceptance of it's passing, appreciation for what is, and preparation to appreciate what will be.

Enzo has brought great change into my life as well.  I don't feel in anyway that I am missing out on anything in exchange for his presence in my life but it feels valuable to recognize those changes and appreciate them.  I have said good-bye, at least for now, to staying out all night with friends, riding on long distance overnight motorcycle rides, seeing boobs solely as rare and special objects of desire, and the knowing that no one is dependent on me.  It's interesting that I don't feel bad about those losses.  They came as easily as their acceptance; as if a cloud is noticed in passing.  They are only temporary, so perhaps that affects the feeling.  Well, the boob one may be significant in that breasts will never appear exactly the same to me.  They can never be so simplisitic now that I have watched them nourish my child.  I remember a time not so long ago when boobs were magical beacons of attention-grabbing enchantment.  To see an exposed breast would be something to write home about... if I lived in a very odd home, I guess... but you get the point.  I remember my friend in middle school telling me that he and his family went to a nudist colony in the Santa Cruz mountains regularly and me trying to imagine what kind of booby-Meca such a place must be.  I really couldn't understand how a boy could walk through such a place without extreme pressure in his pants all of the time...... if he had pants, which he wouldn't at a nudist colony.  Then again, at the time I couldn't understand how to make it through math class without that pressure either. Oh, memories and hormones.  But now, I have seen exposed breasts more in the last months of my son's life than I can count.  They are so different to me now.  I understand Julia Robert's character's line in the movie Notting Hill differently now.  Paraphrased it went something like:
"What's the big deal with men and breasts? They're just breasts! Half the people on earth have them!"
"Oh, silly Julia", I used to think.  "They are breasts!  That's the big deal!!"  But now, I see the point.  They are first a part of some women's bodies, secondly they may be useful tools to feed children, and only lastly are they apparently magiacal instruments to attract my attention.  I think I could see every bare breast in the world as I walk down the street now and not trip on the curb. I know they will someday cease to be food makers for my child and I look forward to that shift in roles for the magnificent pair, though I don't rush to that day as I find it best to never rush to the future.  Boobs will always be more to me now and that's cool though very different than I would have expected.  Middle school Randy wouldn't possibly understand.  He'd be too busy sitting very carefully in math class.

I wonder if Desirae and Matt took any time to mourn the losses and anticipate the changes as part of their marriage ritual today.  For my wedding, I definitely took the time to anticipate the changes and the time to appreciate the significance of the event.  I don't believe I was wise enough to mourn the losses, however.  Instead, I gradually said good-bye and adapted to those losses that came with my marriage over the course of a few years.  Ha! That process always provided for interesting conversations.  In less than two months from now Tami and I will have been married for five years.  It has been such an interesting experience. Humbling, to be sure.  A maturing experience, as well.  My favorite aspects have been the fun and the silly parts.  And traveling.  We make great traveling partners.

Well, today on this marriage day of a family member.... Here is to mourning losses great and small, appreciating what we have, experiencing what we may, and making the most of the new from every change.

K.C. Trip Day 3

Tomorrow is the wedding so the ladies went in to get their nails done. My plan was to walk around with Enzo until Tami and the ladies were done.  When we got to the nail place, however, Enzo stated the he was already hungry.  So, I ended up in the waiting area for a couple of minutes when I decided I may as well go for a first walk alone because Enzo would be eating for a while.  On my way to tell this to Tami, one of the guys that worked there said that I could sit in the empty seat while the others got pedicures, no need to wait in the outer area.  He convinced me when he mentioned the seat was a massaging seat.  "Okay, I'll hang out hear for a bit."  But massage chairs are aparently a gateway salon expereince. One thing led to another and I walked out with my first pedicure.  Complete with bright orange nails!  Sweet! Enzo seems to like them.  The experience was cool and my feet look pretty happy about it all.  Maybe it was the massage that's part of the pedicure or maybe it's the fact that it's impossible not to be happy when you are bright orange!  Happy orange feet!

K.C. Trip Day 2

This is a photo of Enzo taking a nap on me. I know, you can only see The Kid. I assure you we both look adorable together. Enzo has that affect of imparting beauty on all scenes.

Oh wonderful world of fireflies! They are everywhere here.  Tami, Enzo, and I went out for a walk in the neighborhood after eating to take in our surroundings as the sun was getting low.  The lower the sun got, the more the grass came alive with briliant short bursts of happy mini fireworks in light.  Beautiful and endlessly entertaining.

Today has been fun for another reason as well.  The house we are staying in was host to many of the family for a big and delicious dinner complete with Puerto Rican rice and Puerto Rican eggplant.  The eggplant dish was Tami's contribution.  There was so much life in the house with children running around playing and adults eating, talking, and playing with the kids.  Enzo got so much attention and even met Micah, a boy born just one day before Enzo and who is also staying here at Auntie Leonilda and Uncle Tito's house for the wedding.  Right now both of these nearly 5 and a half month olds are hanging out on the couch getting love and attention as I type.  The party is winding down now and so am I.

K.C. Trip Day 1

We're in Kansas City, Missouri for Tami's cousin Desirae's wedding.  This is Enzo's first big trip out of California.  I was originaly worried about the flight; concerned that we would become the loud family with crying baby. Of course, no such issues happened. Tami fed Enzo on the way up and on the way down to help prevent any discomfort in Enzo's ears as the pressure in the cabin changed.  On the way down, Enzo got a little fussy but Tami convinced him to eat a bit more and that seemed to do the trick.  Most of the flight time, Enzo slept. When he was awake we chatted and I got some good pictures of him looking out of the airplane.  I'll add those pictures when I get home. 

We decided to bring Enzo's potty on the plane instead of packing it in the checked luggage.  When planning for this trip we considered getting disposable diapers for convenience.  The adventure of doing this the old fasioned way, and the environmentalist way, won out.  We'll be here for a week so we brought all of our cloth diapers and picked up baking soda, vinegar, and a good healthy soap  from a grocery store when we got here.  I'm glad we decided on cloth. Enzo also has a little potty for when we are at home so we brought that. Near home Enzo goes in the potty and on the road we generally pull over and Enzo goes in nature, or potty, or in a restroom.  But the plane would be different.  There is not a lot of room in an airplane bathroom for an adult to help a 5 month old go.  Should we bring the potty on the plane or have him go in his diaper?  The diaper sounded easier but Enzo doesn't like to... who likes to pee in their pants?  So, we went with the potty.  That meant I got up twice to empty the potty in the little restroom.  The flight attendant gave the potty a second look but I'm not sure if she figured out what it was.  Anyway, the flight went well and we arrived safely to the beautiful weather and skies in Kansas City, Missouri.

We're staying with family here in a house full of good people.  It was fun to watch the kids get excited to see and play with Enzo.  I got a kick out of listening to Enzo's seven year old cousin Kamia sing an impromtu song while acting out the words for Enzo with his stuffed panda that he likes so much.  She sang:

"The itsy-bitsy panda went on the baby's back. Down came the rain and washed the panda down. Out came the sun and dried the panda out. And the itsy-bitsy panda went up on the baby again."

Awesome. Experiences like this remind me why I love people.

My Sister

Katrina is now a High School Graduate!

A tribute in reverse order...

The Graduate.

Walking the stage.

Feels like only a year ago my sister was graduating Middle School.

This does seem like forever ago.

Look at that cuteness!

My favorite attitude photo of my sister.

Congratulations Sister.  I love you.

Picnic

We went for a picnic on Monday and I have to share this, my new favorite picture.  If we were in a family band right now, this would be our album cover.

Bastard

I love the word bastard.  I tell people it's a great word. I'm not certain what lead me to this word but I like it.  I have some friends that are 100% true bastards and I've complimented them on it.  I, as life would have it, am only half bastard.  That's what I tell people.  Bastard means a child whose parents weren't married.  Not a big deal of a definition but a very cool word in my opinion.  Speaking of cool words, the first cool word I remember liking and proclaiming to the world as such is hemorrhoids.  I heard the world on a commercial as a child and it began, as far as I can remember, my pleasure in hearing and saying certain words more than others; one word poems, so to speak.  Hemorrhoids is a very neat sounding word that deserves a much more interesting definition.  Seriously, just say hemorrhoids a couple of times and let the word fall out of your mouth.  As for me, my biological parents were married for two years before they had me and then were not divorced until a year later, as I recall.  So, you are thinking, "then you can't be a bastard."  But wait, there's more.  Somehow, the divorced ex-groom managed to get a Catholic annulment of the marriage all that time after the fact.  I don't know much about Catholicism but the idea of that annulment seems a bit silly to me.  None the less, I reap some small reward from it as I now say, perhaps not with complete accuracy, that according to at least one church organization on earth I am a BASTARD!

Few people seem to be as enamored with the word bastard as I... or hemorrhoids for that matter.  But tonight, I saw the movie Sunshine Cleaning.  Interesting movie.  A couple of sisters become the kind of cleaners that are called in after someone dies.  The son of one sister asks the other, his aunt, what a bastard is because he was called one.  My ears totally perked up.  And the aunt had a neat answer that went something to the effect of: "It just means your parents weren't married, no big deal.  You totally pull it off and you can use it to attract girls when you're older.  You are the coolest bastard I ever met."  Excellent.  I'm paraphrasing from memory here so my quotes could be a bit off but, "You are the coolest bastard I have ever met" has got to be one of the best compliments an aunt could give to her nephew.

Monte vs Window

Wednesday evening I was at an awards ceremony for students.  It's amazing how much you can brighten the life of a person by simply acknowledging him or her for who they are and what they have done.  Many students were acknowledged that night.

At home, Tami and Enzo were dealing with a different issue that was a little more stressful:  Monte vs one of the living room windows.  It's difficult to declare a decisive victor in such a situation.  Monte has a plastic cone around his head and stitches across his nose.  What's left of the window is temporarily being held together with tape.  Ahhh, just like old times.  The house Tami and I used to own had cellophane tape windows for about a year.  I liked to say they were double paned because I had taped them closed from both sides until we were able to replace them.  Memories.  Well, this window will be fixed sooner.  In the meantime, poor Monte is learning to get around with a giant cone and a little extra love and attention from us.

I am so grateful to our friends.  Tami did not want to call me because she didn't want to worry or stress me while I was at the awards ceremony.  Luckily she called Matt who was able to get hold of Mitra.  There are not many people better than Mitra to have around in a situation like this.  Mitra helped Tami and Enzo get Monte to an all night emergency vet after Mitra assessed that Monte's wound was serious and bigger than her pet-first-aid kit was designed to help with.  Everything worked out in the end.  I came home and helped Tami finish cleaning up Monte-blood and broken glass and we helped each other feel better about it all while Enzo slept.  After all was cleaned up, I went back to the vet hospital to pick up the glorious Count of Monte Cristo complete with $650 stitches, medicine, drainage tube, and stylish white collar.  I'm pretty sure that collar will become the coolest doggy trend once they see Monte sporting one.

Electric Motorcycle TTXGP Race

On May 16th the first ever in the US all electric motorcycle race in the TTXGP series took place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County, California.  Video coverage of the race is not out for television yet but the Zero Motorcycles team has already created a full length video of the race and made it available on the web.  Super cool racing with more position changes than any race I've ever watched.  Thanks to green.autoblog.com for the information.  The race starts at 8 minutes into the video and gets interesting very quickly.  Enjoy.  This is the future of racing- electric motorcycles!

Saturday BBQ

This Saturday Melanie and I threw ourselves a BBQ to celebrate finishing with our Master's Degrees.  So, it would be expected that we were the center of attention and we were, to many people.  Empirical evidence suggests that the center of attention for some, particularly me, was another person.  When I downloaded the day's pictures from my camera I found 165 pictures with at least 120 of them having Enzo as the subject.  I'm in none and Melanie is in a few, half of those having The Kid in the picture as well.  He's so darn cute.  We had a good time and it felt great to mark the occasion of graduation with friends and family and a beautiful day at the park.

I was also told that I took a tree hostage, but it was for a good reason.  

We used washable plates, utensils, cloth napkins and table clothes, etc.  We had four biodegradable bags one for each of napkins, plates and utensils, recycling, and landfill waste.  Santiago mentioned that this is how everyone did it years ago, before disposable products became ubiquitous.  It really was not that difficult to bring reusable items and take them home for washing afterwards.  Clearly it is easier to throw things away but it's not that much more work to reuse and it feels better to know that a whole bunch of resources were saved and garbage for the landfill was avoided.

Big News

I still have my hair, and I still have my sideburns.  What could the big change be?  It must be the job.  Last Friday it was announced that I will be Vice Principal beginning July!  After eight years in the classroom, my job will change significantly.  It's a big deal and I have been delving into the change philosophically, mourning the loss, and welcoming the new.  I'm looking forward to it.  I'm ready.  And, while this is huge news, significant to a high degree in how it will affect my life's course and experience, tonight there is another big reason to celebrate.

(Professor Smith Addressing the Graduates and Families)

Two years, thousands of dollars and thousands of words typed, hundreds of pages read and hundreds of hours in contemplation..... have brought me to tonight when I graduated with my Master's Degree.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhh........ And that's just the beginning of a relaxing release two year's in the making.  The best things about graduating?  One, I now have more time with my family again.  Two, I have significantly grown as a person through this program.  I didn't just jump through hoops; I developed as a human and as an educator.  Thirdly, I HAVE GRADUATED!!!!!  What a great feeling.  It's late as I type this and I'm very tired so I won't carry on much more as I look forward to blissful sleep that involves no back-of-the-mind thoughts about homework or papers to write.  I'll just say that I am very proud of myself and colleagues tonight and I love my son and my family.  What a year!  2009 was so impressive and now 2010 just keeps 'the interesting' coming.  Yes, I did use 'the interesting' as a noun.  Master's of Education are allowed such liberty.

While I'm writing I'll throw in a few more updates.  Recently, Enzo received his second set of vaccine shots and liquid drops.  We spoke to him about it just as before.  Then, he got the dropper and the shots and it was even less of a deal than last time.  He fussed and cried briefly while the first shot was coming out of his thigh and until the second shot came out but that was only a seconds long period of time; that nurse was quick.  Then, I held him to my shoulder and he was done.  No big deal.  The drops he swallowed before the shots and he didn't fuss this time at all other than by making a funny face that said, "This is neither how I take my meals nor the flavor I am accustomed to, but I 'll give it a try if you think I should."  And that was that.

To bring these topics together.  Many people came up to tell me how cute Enzo is at the graduation ceremony.  I know people must say that kind of thing all the time to parents about their children but I have to whole heartedly agree with these fine people and say they are right, Enzo is SUPER adorable.  And so, I can not help but believe that while many words are said in this world out of kindness and custom, when speaking about the adorableness of Enzo the words are surely 100% genuine.  He is simply that adorable!

Oh, one more thing.  Tami and her sister go to the A's game every year for Mother's Day with their mom.  After me giving Tami breakfast in bed (I picked up breakfast from a taqueria that we like and rushed back) and then Enzo giving his mom the cool hand prints that he made for her, Tami was already enjoying her special day.  But, then, the big deal happened.  Tami took Enzo to the A's game to celebrate Mother's Day with her sister and mother.  Yes, that game!  Tami, Enzo, Traci and Phyllis were there for the 19th Perfect Game in Major League Baseball history!  I had to look up what this meant online.  Essentially, it means a game where a team wins by allowing no hits and no walks and this has only happened 19 times since 1880.  Tami was SO excited to be there watching the A's win this 19th ever Perfect Game.  I asked how this compared to taking Enzo to his first game and her answer was that his first game was important because it was part of Enzo's history.  This game, however, was important because Enzo was there for Major League Baseball history.  Tami said it was "the perfect Mother's day" getting breakfast in bed, her son's hand prints, and seeing a Perfect Game all on her first Mother's Day as a mother.

It's been eventful around here, to be sure.

Now, off to blissful sleep.........

Happy Mother's Day

12 years and 12 days - A Self Indulgent Ride Down Memory Lane

Friday, May 7th, 2010 marks 12 years and 12 days since I rode home on my first motorcycle.

1986 Yamaha Radian

I remember parts of that ride in 1998 quite clearly.  Most notably I remember riding home down Meridian Ave. singing at the top of my lungs, I was so excited and happy.  I  was just making up songs and lyrics as I rode and singing to the inside of my helmet.  At stop lights I was practically dancing on my bike looking around and belting out verse with a smile so big people must have seen it coming out of my helmet.

Just a couple of months later I was on that bike riding, with Nathan on his first bike, a 1986 Suzuki GSXR1100, to Corvallis, Oregon to visit Dan and Kim in their new home.  I assure you neither of those  bikes were designed for a 600 plus mile each way road trip but we loved it!  Our butts?  They were tired.  I remember us lying down in a parking space at a fast food restaurant just to rest our butts and stretch our bodies on the way there.  By the way, we also learned there that motorcycles do not trigger the sensor to let someone know you are in the drive through.  I have clear memories of a gorgeous ride and of Mt. Shasta looking beautiful, of a tired butt, of walking around Corvallis with the Vega family the next day, enjoying the sites, driving mountain roads in the dark and wishing I had more lights, being covered in little green bugs going through an agricultural area in California, and feeling immensely satisfied from a long ride when we got home.  

I loved to ride that Radian.  I took apart the motor and replaced the rings and pistons and put it back together in my Grandma's back yard.  I was so nervous to start it back up when the day arrived.  What if it didn't work?  It did.  I rode down to my local motorcycle shop and asked Pete, who had given me so much free advice along the way, to check out my work and tell me what he thought and to tell me if it was safe.  Pete said it looked good and he was impressed.  That meant a lot to me.  It really did.  I had never taken a motor apart before and I respected this guys opinion and was grateful for all the free advice he was giving me patiently while he had a shop to run for paying customers.  His being impressed was the best stamp of approval I could get on that project.  The bike not blowing up as I rode made me feel pretty good, too.  Eventually I sold that Radian to Don to become his first motorcycle.

1998 Kawasaki KLR650

I was going to San Jose State University when I sold the Radian and purchased my KLR 650.  I believe it was the year 2000.  I loved having the water proof hard luggage to carry my books as I didn't have a car and rode all year to school and work in all weather.  I found the bike on craigslist.org and went to check it out.  Riza, the seller, was such a cool guy.  After checking it out and going home to think about it, I arranged with Riza to go to his house the next day to purchase it.  I expected to hand over money and take a pink slip but Riza was different.  I suppose being from Turkey had something to do with his way of interacting.  He invited me into his home where we sat and ate chocolates and sipped coffee talking for an hour.  I loved it.  The guy was so interesting and so I took the KLR and Riza's phone number.  By that summer, not only had we gone on several rides together and become friends, but we decided to spend a week camping off of our motorcycles and riding in Baja California, Mexico together; me on the KLR and he on his BMW 1100GS.  I have such fond memories of that ride and my time with Riza.  I am sad to say that the number and email I have for Riza no longer work.  Riza, if you find this, please leave a comment and let me know how to contact you!  

That KLR and I got to know each other very well over the years.  I did eventually sell that bike to Don in 2004 to be his second motorcycle, but we are  still close to this day as you will see below.

1996 Honda Goldwing

Oh, Big Blue!  That's what was painted on the back, "Big Blue" so I knew this bike's name before I bought it in 2002.  This was the smoothest and most comfortable motorcycle I could ever imagine riding.  Tami and took a ride to go camping on this to King's Canyon National Park back when we were friends.  That was the longest ride I had gone on with a passenger at that time.  Our time together, me and Big Blue, was not long, however.  Big Blue and the KLR were sold, along with my car and bicycle and so many other things, in 2004 as part of a strategic and ambitious financial plan.  That worked out pretty well and started the only stretch of time that I did not own a motorcycle since April 25, 1998.  It was only a couple of months, thankfully.

1986 Yamaha Radian

 I was feeling nostalgic and found another '86 Radian on craigslist.org that summer of 2004.  We had a good time together.  It was a brief affair of only a couple months, however.  "Ruby" was backed into, while parked, by a crazy driver.  "Ruby" was totaled but I used the insurance money to buy back an old motorcycle love.

1998 Kawasaki KLR650

That Fall of 2004 Don sold me back my same KLR.  I missed her and she had always been good to me. We spent a lot of time riding the old roads and a few new ones.  It was like we had never been parted.  In 2009 I sold this lovely machine to Sam to be his first bike.  He still let's me ride the KLR and I can see her some days as I drive by his house to or from work.

1999 Honda Valkyrie Interstate

In 2006, surfing the internet I came across this rare beauty.  The Valkyrie Interstate.  Honda had taken the superb Goldwing and made it look like a cool cruiser that they called the Valkyrie.  Then, they made the Interstate model which added back in some of the cool Goldwing features that had been removed in the conversion to a Valkyrie cruiser.  This meant that the Interstate model got back the stereo, intercom, CB option, auxiliary audio plug in and three integrated and watertight bags for for luggage.  A brilliant bike.  Tami and I took "Val" on a very memorable two week camping road trip to Canada that same Summer of '06.  This is the bike that I took cross country in 2009.  What a fantastic motorcycle.  Maybe I'll take Val out for a ride tomorrow.

2002 Honda RC51

 For my birthday in 2009, my friends Matt, Mitra, Nathan, and Laurie surprised me with this beauty of a motorcycle gift.  The RC51 is such a smooth and impressive machine.  Maybe if we spend 10 years together I will become half as capable at sport riding as this bike is capable of being ridden.  Fantastic, beautiful, impractical, bold sounding, precise turning, instantly stopping, magnificently quick and always fun.  Hmmmm.  Maybe this is the bike I should ride tomorrow.

There are so many other motorcycles that have affected my motorcycle adventure over the years.  So many I have seen, or touched, or ridden that were not "mine."  I've been lucky that way.  But these are those bikes whose maintenance, enjoyment, and preservation were my responsibility for at least a portion of history.  I would say I've done a pretty good job of protecting them and enjoying them while they were in my care these 12 years and 12 days as a motorcycle lover, addict, protector, dreamer, enjoyer.

Thinking of Enzo

Last Friday was Enzo's four month birthday.  He is living beautifully.  I miss him when I am at work so my loving wife sends picture/text messages to my phone on most days and they make me smile.  Here is an example of a picture/text message Tami sent me Monday:

1st time n shorts... so friggin cute! BTW- his shirt has a pic of a lobster and says "u crack me up". Clever & cute. Wat a combo!

How can you not smile when you see that kid and read that message?  Lately I have really been enjoying my time in the morning with Enzo.  I've been waking up and lying in bed for an extra half hour or so watching, playing, and talking with my kid.  He is adorable.  He is beautiful.  I can not get enough.  He wakes up and likes to just relax in bed for a bit.  Today we chatted while he looked at the ceiling, smiled at me, tasted the blanket, and enjoyed the morning.  Enzo was practicing and playing with making sounds a lot this morning.  That was fun to listen to.  When he got on a roll I would stop talking so as not to interrupt.  It's fun to interact with this beautiful child as he discovers the world and it is also intriguing to simply observe.  But then he'll turn to me, smile, lay his hand on my chest or face and I melt inside while expanding on the outside; I become simultaneously bigger and smaller.  It's fantastic and peaceful at the same time.  Each morning he surprises me with a new version of a radiant smile.  I carry these with me all day and I am a happy and fortunate person.

A Different Kind Of Ride

(Nathan's new KTM.  Very nice.)

It was a different kind of ride than I expected today.   The kind where I got home with a full tank of gas still in the tank.  The kind where I covered about 10 or 15 miles in four hours.  The kind where Nathan sat in the back of an SUV and Don and I rode around on the street in front of his house like kids playing bicycles.  Yep, it was a good, though unexpected, day's ride.  Well, good except for Nathan's ankle.  It was twisted in the parking lot of the coffee shop we were all meeting at before the ride really got started.  He made it back home before he realized he couldn't put weight on it anymore.

(Nathan on the "Ride" from the shade of an SUV on his driveway.)

I have no way of knowing now for sure that the mountain roads weren't straightened in the night.  I'm okay either way so long as Tuesday's forecasted rain frizzes them up again. Luckily, when a motorcycle goes down, even very slowly over something slick in a coffee shop parking lot before a ride starts, there are things that need to be adjusted.  And that means that Don and I had an excellent reason to ride ALL THE WAY to Laurie and Nathan's house to play with tools on Nathan's new KTM with him while he hopped around on one leg.  A little bit later, the three of us had the turn signal fixed up, the forks had been loosened out of the triple clamp, wriggled around, re-set and re tightened down.  Sometimes when a bike lays down, one of the forks will bind up a little in the triple clamps making the steering a little off.  Anyway, easy fixes all but it was a good excuse to play with tools with friends.  Nathan's new KTM looks as good as it did when he started out that morning.

(Don on the new KTM.)

(Randy on the new KTM.)

(Nathan relatively near his new KTM.)

Do you remember riding your bike back and forth in front of your house as a kid?  Maybe riding around a block or two and then just playing with u-turns and quick stops and riding in loops in front of the house?  Did you ever pretend your bike was a motorcycle?  Yeah, me too.  It turned out to be every bit as fun as I thought it would be.

2 am Diaper Change

This morning at 2 am Enzo was making a bit of noise and I went to change his diaper.  I kept the lights low, took off the old, and placed the dry cotton under him.  Then it got funny.  His eyes were still closed and he was playing around with his legs.  Super cute. One of his hands grabbed my arm as I was trying to wrap his diaper around him.  His other hand grabbed at his feet (he has recently discovered his feet and likes to hold them- super adorable and fun to watch) and he pulled his legs all the way up making it impossible to finish with the diaper.  I could only chuckle.  I gently moved his legs down and thought I had a chance to finish with one hand... I didn't dare move the arm he was holding because that just felt too good.  Of course, his legs sprang back up.  This happened a few times and in my sleepiness all I could do was chuckle.

And then, Enzo's eyes just opened up... he looked at me for one second and then just smiled the widest happiest morning smile I have ever seen!  I love this kid.  I finished with his diaper in seconds, picked him up and let him snuggle up in my arms.  It was too early to talk but still I went and told Tami.  She said, in her own half sleep, "He woke up and smiled when he saw you... he was happy to see you."  Yes!  What a great day already.  How perfect this is and it is not even 8 am now as I get ready to cover myself in gear and go for a motorcycle ride with friends.  Today is one of those days I will smile in my helmet the whole morning even if I find every mountain rode had been straightened in the night.

Happy Saturday to Me.

Enzo's Big Day

(Hiking in Castle Rock.)

It takes a certain degree of psychological tension for me to write.  An almost-satisfied-but-not-quite-there kind of vibe.  The sort of distance from satisfied where the writing itself feels like the cure.  For a blog post this might happen when telling about Enzo or my day's adventure is exactly the last bit-of-perfect I need to get to that satisfied feeling. Feeling too good already and there is no reason to write; I can just be.  Feeling too down and writing is too much work.  I still write at least a blog post a day in my mind but they don't make it out unless there is a convenient distance separating me from perfectly satisfied and a 0 distance separating me from an internet connection.  I am okay with that.  My wife, however, is not okay with that at this time.  You see, way back on April 3rd Enzo experienced what his mother appears to believe is among the all-time greatest milestones in Enzo's early life.  And, I've not written about this momentous event because I have simply not been within that perfect writing zone.  Until now, that is.  Tami has made it abundantly clear that my peace lies on the other side of this blog post so here I find myself, as luck would have it, in that perfect writing zone.  What could be so important in Enzo's life?  (Do you really need to ask?)


Drum roll..........


Enzo went to his first baseball game!!!!!!!!!!!!

We three joined Tami's parents for Enzo's first baseball game on April 3rd at the Oakland Coliseum to watch the A's play the Giants in a pre-season game.  Yes, I said 'we' and if you have read previous posts you may have noticed that I don't tend to go to baseball games.  But I had to.  This was Enzo's first and I knew it would be a HUGE deal for him... (okay, we all know to substitute 'his mom' for 'him', right?).. and I knew that Tami would be tempted to exaggerate this glorious day in our son's history over the years.  So, I had to go as a historical record keeper, you know, to keep her honest.  This way, Enzo doesn't start telling teachers and friends in kindergarten how he went to his first baseball game on that great day when there was a record 25 grand slams hit by the greatest team ever in history called the A's.  My wife is generally honest but she may be tempted to overly exaggerate for an event like this when the A's and her son were together in the same place for the first time.  This is a special event for her indeed, the importance of which likely rivals her professed love for her husband by several magnitudes.  I can't blame her for slightly exaggerating when speaking to me directly, but this is different.  The art of steady exaggeration in an argument with me, for example,  is a necessity to keep the argument fair as I LOVE to exaggerate shamelessly.  It just makes life that much more interesting.  But when the future credibility of our son is at stake, I figured I had better suck it up, borrow an A's sweatshirt, and go to the field.

(Enzo's Grandma Phyllis made that jacket for him.)

So, how was the game?  It was fun.  There is something attractive about a large field of vegetation surviving in a paved world and a sun that pops in and out of the clouds.  We sat near center field and that was cool because center field player for the A's is number 11 Rajai Davis and that is Enzo's favorite player.  Why?  Here is my telling of the story, pulled together from the retellings I have heard.


Last season, when Enzo was still in Tami's belly, Tami and her sister Traci were at one of the many games they go to with their season tickets.  Traci yelled out "Rajai! Throw up a ball to my nephew!" and Tami smiled and pointed to her giant pregnant belly.  Rajai threw a ball up for Enzo.  Cool.  So, before he was born, Enzo had a ball from the game, his mom's ticket from that day, and a Rajai Davis baseball card.  This season, on the day before Enzo's first baseball game, Traci and Frankie were at the Coliseum and Traci took the ball, hoping to get Rajai's autograph on it for her nephew.  When Rajai was going by, Traci asked for his autograph but he said he didn't have the time right then as he was going to batting practice.  Traci yelled out the whole story of how this was her nephew's baseball and that Rajai himself had thrown the ball into the stands for Enzo last season when he was still in his mom's belly, etc., etc.  I like to imagine all this being blurted out in that excited way people do when trying to sell you something before you slam the front door.  "Well, now that you told me that story of course I'll have to sign it!" said Rajai coming over to sign the ball for Enzo.  Cool. Thanks Aunt Traci and thanks Rajai Davis.  I never did ask if Rajai mentioned the condition of the ball, 'autographed' by Enzo's dog who found it before Enzo could play with it.


As for Enzo's first game experience, I think it was obvious that he had a great time.  I know I did.  And how about Rajai?  He was the first A's player to score a run that game and he made a fantastic catch at one point.


(There you go love.  This day is now recorded for ever in the indelible records of cyberspace!)


In other Enzo news,  Traci threw a Meet Enzo Party for some local friends and family recently.  I think everyone enjoyed being around him very much.  Enzo probably met more people in that one day then he had in his entire life previous.

(Enzo entertaining his Great Grandma.)

(Pat and The Kid.)

Enzo has now been to four A's games, I believe, including the A's season opener that followed two days after his first game.  Me?  I went to just that first game.  While he was at the game this last Sunday, however, I did have a blast at the 26th Annual Spring Meet VW show with Matt, Mitra, and Don.

(Matt and Don taking a break from checking out the VWs and venders.)

(That's the edge of Matt's bus at the very right of this photo.)

I drove Matt's Bus and he drove his Bug.  We decided that I won the "Best Blue And White Bus Driven In From Campbell By The Owner's Friend" award.  We looked for the award plaque but couldn't find it.  Turns out the judges weren't awarding in that category this year.  Maybe next year.