Strong, Long Lasting Memories?

I envy people who live in one area most of their lives, especially their childhood. Children who grow up like that often cannot wait to leave and get away from everything that they know, but how many of them actually realize the value of what they have? As young adults, I would wage that few if any truly see the value of what they have. Give them ten years or so and perhaps they will see it.

What do they have? They have memories. Memories of playing with the same group of kids throughout their childhood. They have memories of people who know them by name on sight, who watch out for them and can be depended upon to lend a helping hand.

Growing up my family was constantly moving, from town to town, state to state, always chasing the next better job, only to find that it was really no better than the one before. Where others have cherished memories of birthday parties, school, and any number of other such things that one acquires growing up, I have dim flashes of scattered mental images. I remember a snowy winter in Happy Camp, CA, sliding down a hillside on my jacket behind the house, and walking across town to the local library for horse magazines. I remember grade school Olympic games in Hoopa, CA, as I gamely tried to keep up with the other children, while constantly hearing derisive comments from the tribal children about my being one of very few white kids in the school. I have a mental picture of tall conifer trees lining the field outside the school. I think that may have been my first grade school.

For the longest time I resented the lack of stability in my life. I isolated myself from friendship because I knew that there was a very good chance I would not be there to see the other kids when school resumed in the fall. This resentment formed the core of my personal resolution to never do the same to my own children should I have them. I promised myself that if possible I would provide my children with the stability that I never had in growing up.

Now, years later, I am a father, and while my children are still quite young, my mind constantly returns to this time in my own life. Now I realize that I can continue to resent that history, and live my life in that resentment, or I can choose to see the value of it instead. What value am I referring to?

Diversity for one thing. Because of constantly moving my selection of playmates was constantly changing. I played with Native Americans, whites, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and who knows what others. Race was never really an issue, and when it was an issue I was typically the one being hassled because I was typically the only white kid in the group. The result was that I learned to treat everyone equally, based upon their own merits.

I also learned about adversity, and how to survive it when it strikes. We always lived close to, if not under the poverty line, but we survived. I learned that cheap is cheap, and not always best, but that if necessary cheap would suffice. As an adult I prefer to buy quality as I know that in the end, while I may pay more initially, in the end I will typically see more life and use out of the quality item than I ever would out of the cheaper equivalent. I learned how to hunker down and weather the storm.

Now, living in the midst of just such a storm as a parent I can look back and really see the things I learned from that experience.

Everything in life is experience, and has inherent value. How you choose to use that value is up to you. I can choose to view my life as one of deprivation and despair, or I can choose to view it as an enriching time that taught me how to survive when those times hit. It is up to me to see and use what value I want from any experience. I could wallow in self-pity, bemoaning my life, or I could leverage what I learned to help my family survive.

I choose to survive, to stand tall, and to fight my way free of depression. Yes, I may be unemployed with no real prospects on the horizon, but I am also getting an opportunity to watch my children grow that many fathers never get. I choose to leverage my resources, and do my best to be an effective steward of the resources being made available to me. I choose to maintain contact with those in my life who lift me up rather than isolating myself as I deal with depression.

 

Wil Wheaton, A Father of my Generation

I am man enough to admit it, I originally tracked down Wil’s blog simply because he was somebody I remembered from the days when I used to watch Star Trek all the time. Unlike many, I actually liked his work as an actor, and really enjoyed his character portrayal in the show.

Now, after spending months reading his blog and his other work, I find that I have a hard time remembering that child actor. Instead I have in my mind a picture of a man who is close to my age, who is a father, and who is a very talented writer.  Wil strikes a chord in me on many levels, whether it be music, general geekiness, or now as a father. My children are just barely a year old now, but after reading his latest column in the LA Weekly I find a renewed desire to celebrate each day of my children’s lives for fear that I may miss something important simply because I was distracted by earning a living so that I could put food on the table.

Follow this link and see what I mean: http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/wil-wheaton/los-angeles-winter-on-mute-end/

 

Dinner at La Bella Vita Pizzeria

Last night we got done with our Costco shopping and were feeling a touch peckish. We weren’t really interested in getting anything to eat at Costco, and were trying to figure out where to go for dinner. Pizza came up during the conversation, and we remembered that a new pizza place had opened up over by Coyotes Bar & Grill over on Baseline, and we had been wanting to go check it out.

Not quite sure what to expect, I ran in and got a take-out menu and came back to the car with it. I figured it was easier to do that and review it without taking the kids out and having to put them back in if we decided we didn’t want to eat dinner there.

After consulting the menu we figured that we would give it a try, and I will never regret making that decision. They only had one high chair, but one of the owners offered to run down to Coyotes to borrow one of theirs so that we would have one for each of the kids. Bang! Right off the bat, before we had even ordered, we were getting astounding service. That set the tone for the evening. They had a room in back with some games and a movie playing on the tv. As it had only one entrance it seemed a great place to be able to let the kids run a bit and still keep them cornered without having to really run around much ourselves.

As I entered the room I noticed that a gentleman was just finishing up his dinner, and I announced that we were invading with the twins. Not the best introduction that I have ever made, but this gentleman quipped that he knew what it was like as he was the father of two sets of twins himself! Two sets!!! Yikes! We later learned that this was the other owner, his wife having been the one to go get the other high chair for us.

The service was fantastic. Right off the bat they offered to change the movie, and put on a Disney flick for the kids. Their granddaughter served us our drinks, and was just enamored with the twins, constantly checking back in on us to see how we were doing. As the food came in we learned that they had split the kids food into two bowls (something we had forgotten to ask for) and had let it cool before bringing it in, so that we were able to give it to the kids right away.

So, about the food. The cheesy bread sticks…to die for. I can honestly say that I have NEVER had better. Then the pizza came. OMG!!!! It was terrific! Just enough sauce to give it good flavor and to help bond the toppings, but no so much that it felt like it was swimming in sauce. The toppings…nice thick slices of Canadian Bacon. Yes, I said thick slices for something that is never sliced thick. Sarah actually ate the crust, and she never eats pizza crust. Sarah also ordered a salad and tried the house dressing. Now to set some expectations here, our prior experiences with house dressings have always been bad, but this time around…Sarah was in paradise!

Then there was the service. Did I mention that it was fantastic! Great food, fantastic service, gourmet quality and style pizza without the gourmet prices. It wasn’t the cheapest place in town, probably on par with Round Table, but the pizza blew away Belagios and Pizza Schmizza. Made their dishes seem like Godfathers Pizza in comparison…

So, will we be going back? Oh yeah! The place even does birthday parties and family night! Family owned and operated, quality customer service, fantastic food, even decent changing facilities in the women’s bathroom. So, if you feel like taking the family out for a nice pizza meal and getting top notch food and fantastic service, I heartily recommend La Bella Vita Pizzeria. You can find them on their web site where they have their menu available for perusing, and even the number so that you can call in an order.

 

Work Updates

Well, once more I have let far too much time go by between postings. Such is life I suppose, and life is what seems to always get in the way of my posting updates. So, without further ado, it is time to get to the updates.

 First up, for those following the continuing saga of my employment issues, I am still employed. The temporary work assignment that was to carry me through to the middle of January has been extended, and now I am looking at early April as my new final date. Of course that is all presuming that things don’t change here at work, and the stage is set for some really nice changes. Back in October I was brought over to a fledgling unit that was created to address problems stemming from the economic environment that we are now dealing with.

 

Ultrasound Results

Friday we went in to get the one ultrasound test that we planned to have this pregnancy. One thing that both of us agreed on was that we did NOT want to know the gender of this child. Instead we were focused on a healthy heart and normal development. Gender is not that important to either of us.

So, the results are that there is indeed just one child growing in Sarah’s womb this time. Talk about a relief! We haven’t heard from the radiologist yet, but the preliminary results seem to be right on track, and the ultrasound tech said that based on the current size we are most likely looking at a March 31st birthdate. Anything after March 30th is fine with us since the 30th will be my final day in class in the third class in a string of 3 classes. Of course, the baby will come when it is ready, but we are having talks with it, advising it that it can’t come before the 31st.

Now then, for those who just have to know the gender, this data is known, just not by Sarah or myself, and we prefer to keep it that way. If you really find that you need to know please contact Sarah’s folks, and if you ask real nicely they might tell you.