Grandpa's House (V1)

 

We’d arrive at Grandpa’s on Friday night

Pulling into the driveway and seeing the living room light

Our cousins eyes filled with delight

Some Aurelio’s pizza and 50/50 and then off to play

Or create art for the picture sale

Aunt Lori would tell the girls to get in their jammies

Grandpa’s house meant Christmas, but not only Christmas

Downtown on Christmas Eve

Two level bookstores and escalators galore

Seeing Grandpa behind the counter at Carson’s with Judy

Waiting not so patiently for Dad to get the car

Opening one gift that night

Getting dressed and the drive to Ruth’s

With Dad’s Christmas mix in the cassette player

How was that all one day

Lasagna and laughter

The church service after

And a Greek restaurant

Eyes straining to keep open

The skies always shaded red on the way back

Did Santa already arrive

But no, we hustled to bed and fast asleep

Seven or eight we’d crack the door and peep

All the presents that he delivered

By ten they’d all be in a pile

It wasn’t just Christmas, that place

Mischief, the terrifying cat

I once left the TV on the Playboy channel

Trying to see things through the scramble

It was Grandpa yelling “GET OUT OF MY CHAIR!”

Sending his grandchildren running everywhere

It was everything to us and then it was gone

My First Love

I'll never see you again

Haven't seen you in decades in fact

But you were my first love

First love, and it there was no romance

Next door neighbors for seven months

In Lisieux, France

You had a boyfriend back home

I'd come with you at night to the pay phone

You were a calm, quiet type like me

Quite the opposite of our friend Jenny

We watched TV in your room every night

Life

Maybe I'll just do a post every Friday.

Current mood: relaxed.

This has been a tough week, with the ICE shooting and Venezuela. I think I've been overstimulating myself as well. Listening to podcasts non-stop during the workday has cluttered my mind. I made an effort today to not do that, and so I didn't listen to anything until 10:30. Just hearing the heater or whatever ambient noise has been enough. I should not do two days in a row at home. Sarah is always there, and that's fine, but I start getting cabin fever. It's nice to have a place to go work and have a lot of space to walk and get the blood flowing.

This morning, I did my first Innovative-Summit morning in several years. I re-joined Innovative as part of my fitness routine. I had no plan for the last part of the year. I was just eating and not burning it off. So I re-joined and feel more at home there now. I did a cycle class on NYE and my neck was sore for a while, but good to try something new.

Hopefully I can stay in this state of mind. Maybe no-news Friday or unplugged Friday? I'm not going to swim every Friday. I'll probably alternate between a workout and a swim. Good to get some laps in.

Onward...

NFL 2015

In the NFL playoff spirit, let's go back 10 years with TSB.

Today, the first six weeks of the season.

AFC Div Leaders

Buffalo Bills

Baltimore Ravens

Indianapolis Colts

KC Chiefs

Wild Cards:

Pittsburgh

Tennessee

NFC Div Leaders

Washington

Minnesota

Atlanta

Seattle

Wild Cards:

Carolina

Dallas

Christmas and Christmas Eve

Before I left this morning, Levi complained that today would be boring. No one was coming to the house and we weren't going anywhere, he said. After an action-packed two days, I can't blame him for that sentiment. 

We left the house at 1:15 for church on Christmas Eve and went to church. I told Levi to bring something to do, but as usual he asked how soon the service would be ending. It finally did end, and we headed to the Fernandez house for Bolgert Christmas. 22 people in the house and we had a lot of fun with white elephant and other Sam Bolgert games. I won $50 at can roll, which totally surprised me.

A Thing About Travel

D'you know what I love about travel and taking trips?

I love freshly arriving and not knowing anything about anything and then discovering it piece by piece. I love the feeling of checking in and everything's a mystery, then taking a final lap on the day of departure just to check everything out one more time.

Life

Ah yes, my stomach feels like it's dropping again. I had a realization just before lunch. I'm mentally co-dependent. I stress out while I'm not with other people about their moods and the way they feel. Can I do anything about the holiday rush while I'm here? No. Can I do anything about Sarah's mood while I'm here? No. Why am I spending so much time thinking about other people and not just relaxing and enjoying myself?

It's like the DMB lyric

If you close your eyes cause the house is on fire/think you couldn't move until the fire died. 

Does everything have to be just right for me to relax? The constant feeling of being "at attention" is wearying at best and exhausting at worst.

My birthday was a mixed bag. Good birthday, getting the fridge and meat loaf and cake. Good Friday with work lunch and friends dinner. But I spent the whole weekend sick and still don't feel 100% all the time. 

Anyway, time to relax.