Apples

Apple picking

William in Hawaii with the Buddha

Albuquerque

We woke up in Albuquerque and Andres' told us his dream. He was near a swimming hole and an animal took over his brain. They got rid of his brain. They made humans the animals. William kept on dunking Andres in the water. He had this long tongue.

Cori had a dream where there's a one way bridge, and you have to wait for the other car to go over, and the other car falls off the bridge. She says this is a recurring dream. It's a different car every time.

The boys are pretty good travelers. There's a 2 hour difference to NYC time, it's earlier here.

William's alarm woke me up at 5am. He set his alarm for Wednesday morning when he needs to get up so I can take him back home so I can go to work. He forgot to turn it off. He's pretty considerate overall, and I figure I rested for 90 minutes before I got tired of following my thoughts, and got up. Read an article in the times about a family who went hiking, and the son survived but the two parents died of dehydration on a 4 mile hike.

A lovely good samaritan gave us her table at the Midway Food court. I kind of wondered why one person was sitting at one of the few four person tables. She watched our stuff as we tried to figure out our food. Andres was the happiest with salad and a slice of pizza. William liked his fajitas. I got fish tacos and Cori got falafel.

On the flight from Chicago to Albuquerque I sat next to a girl who ate popcorn and wiped her hand on her leg every bite and then brushed off her leggings. She kept brushing up against my arm. Haven't you seen the skit where the middle person gets two arm rests.

l'art pour l'art: art for art's sake

Going to see Kandinsky at the Guggenheim today, which the boys call the cinnabon museum, which they got from some movie.

I got The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art which is a fun little book about Kandinsky and his synesthesia.

You can read Kandinsky's ideas about art, Concerning The Spiritual In Art.

In other news, William was reading The Complete Maus, 25th Anniversary Edition. I'd bought one and was reading it, and so we're reading the same book!

Andres is reading The Little Prince.

Neymar

My dream came true

My son asked me to play chess.

William turns 11 weekend celebration (3 days early)

Goodbye great grandmother Parks

The boys lost their great grandmother yesterday. They saw her in November, and I told them to take a selfie with her, and the picture is above. She lived a long life. She got to see her many great grand children. I don't know the exact count, but one obit lists it at 11.

She would tell cute stories of me when I was a kid. I used to pronounce "ladder" with a Y. So my grandfather said, "No, L Ladder." So I said, "L Yadder". That she was the repository for some of my childhood memory demonstrates her commitment to her grandson. She was a good grandmother. I can remember the food she made, and that she would take me to swim at the Sprayberry pool when I was a kid. I spent a month with my grandparents every summer growing up and I was truly enriched by it. 

I remember once I saw the wedding picture of grandma, and I said to grandma, "you were pretty when you were young." She got a laugh out of that instead of feeling bad. I remember she would say the wrong name, and then repeat the wrong name as if to say "what was I thinking." She would go down the declension of the men in the family. "Ralph! Ralph? Zane! Zane? David! David? Stephen." As a kid I thought that was a pretty weird error, but now at my age of 47, I can totally see how that would happen. Spending time with my grandparents prepares me for my own old age that I hope to have.

She wasn't perfect, but she was a pretty pure person. The worst you could say about her was that some of her personality quirks could get at you sometimes. I hope that's the worst they could say about me at my funeral. This is my funeral too, because with her passing, so goes a part of me. My grandmother was part of my life, even though there were great distances throughout my life.

I remember holding her hand in November. The last thing she said to me was that she always thought it was her sister who was the strong one, but she's had to be strong, including the difficult of watching her partner of many many years disappear to Alzheimer's. I can't help but pair this loss with the loss of her partner's personality and memories, even though he's still here physically. Grandpa is playful in ways he wasn't. He used to be a pretty serious guy. Ralph and Liz were quite a couple, and I'm proud to have them as my grandparents. They shared their strengths and fortitude with me, and I'm forever enriched by them.

My aunt and uncle really helped the last years, as Ralph and Liz lost their powers, and I want to thank them so much for taking care of grandma and grandpa. I know it must have been challenging at times. I wish I had had more of that hassle, because now she is gone, and while I don't want her to suffer unnecessarily,  I selfishly wish she were not gone. I'm going to miss you grandma.

The funeral is 3/15 in Newnan Georgia.

Want to go to a home game in these cities

Andres inspired list

1. Barcelona FC in Barcelona Spain

2. Chelsea, London England

3. Santos, São Paulo Brazil

4. Barcelona, Guayaquil Ecuador

5. PSG, Paris France

6. Bayern, Munich Germany

7. Juventi, Turin Italy

8. 2018 Russia for World Cup

Aunt Diana

Offshoot blog

Angel Fire

WilliamJughead

You know what I like about Jughead?

What?

I like his crown and the fact that his eyes don't open. They're backward L's.

Andres and Ella

Slough Park

Photo day

William

Missing the boys

William and Andres have gone to Ecuador with their mother and grandmother (Abuela). It hurts to have them away from me for so long. I hope they are learning Spanish, another culture, exploring the world, seeing new and interesting things. I think it's really good for them. I don't begrudge them this journey. But it hurts to have them away from me. Their mother could do a blog about all the various different things they're experiencing. I cannot.

I suggested a book for William. He read a few pages, and then moved onto what he wanted to read. He tried it.

I'm finding Star Wars figurines Andres plays with.

Cute boys