family soup

I love Ava and I love having a dog in general but when the weather doesn't get above 18 degrees, it's nice to not have to go outside to walk a dog. I went for a quick walk this morning and swore that I wasn't going outside again for the day.

The weather was great for hanging out inside with the family, playing more games, and making soup. My mom had me make my West African peanut soup yesterday and today, she relied on me to make my vegetable soup too. I love being able to cook for the whole family and it was extra special this time because my brother, my mom, and I all chopped veggies together for the soup (while my dad entertained the baby and my sister-in-law took toddler duty). I love cooking with family and they loved the soup so it was a win-win!

amazing rockets

Being an uncle means I get to buy toys that make noise and fire objects. I bought my oldest nephew Ethan a foam rocket launcher. At first I didn't think he'd be able to play with it until the spring but he launched them around the house. It's a simple concept and it's safe and easy enough for him to operate. He kept saying, "These rockets are AMAZING!" I was pretty proud of myself for a while...until I heard him say, "Mom, these almonds are AMAZING!" :)

What else?

When I was home this summer, I brought home my board game Agricola. It's just big enough that I didn't want to carry it in my luggage and Andrew doesn't have any interest in playing it. The only people I'd play it with have a copy already so it can just stay here. We played two games throughout the day. My brother and sister-in-law really liked it and were excited to play again. My mom was unsure about it even though she won the first game. My dad picked it up pretty quickly when we played again in the evening and ended up winning. I love board game holidays.

xmas in january

A few months ago, I used my Alaska AirMiles to buy a free round trip ticket to Omaha. Unfortunately, it couldn't be during the holiday season but we've celebrated Christmas late before so I thought it would be okay. Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating so it won't be a full family holiday. My niece can't get away from college for another weekend and the road conditions wouldn't have permitted her or the rest of my sister's family to travel up here anyway. Still, I'm going to try to make the most of it.

I got up early to make my flight, thanks to Andrew taking me to the airport. Since I'm flying all Alaska, we're headed up to Seattle first and then to Omaha. Normally, I would take Frontier to Denver but this was free and a lot better. I've heard that half of the flights to Kearney from Denver get cancelled and I only took a long weekend so I don't have a day or two to lose. During my flight from Seattle to Omaha, I saw the back row in the plane was empty (two seats on each side) so I asked the stewardess if I could move and she allowed it. It made for a nice ride.

My brother picked me up in Omaha and drove me halfway to Gibbon where our parents met us to take over. I forgot that he has limited seating in his car now with two car seats but we managed anyway. When I got home, it was like we picked up right where we left off when I left in October. We watched Wheel of Fortune and an episode of Elementary, drank a bottle of wine, and played a few games of cribbage. My brother's coming back tomorrow with the kids so it will feel a little more festive but I'm cool with it just being a vacation instead of stressing over it being a holiday.

familial familiarity

 

Facebook had provided me with an odd sense of familiarity with family. Even tho I'm so far away from everyone else in my family (especially my extended family), I feel like I know what's going on with most of them. For example, whenever I post anything, I can almost always count on one of my aunts liking it and possibly (positively) commenting on it. This gives the illusion that we're interacting but when I stop to think about it, I realize that she doesn't post anything really personal about her life and I don't get deep in mine. Hell, I don't get as deep as I could here but on Facebook, I keep it all friendly, mostly funny, sometimes opinionated, and rarely heartfelt. 

Therefore, it's nice to see the people that I see on FB in person instead of just their avatar reposting a cartoon or a meme or that they like X, Y, and/or Z. Today, I got to see three of my aunts on my mom's side, one of my cousins, and my second-cousin. I also got to go to my cousin's farm. This cousin isn't on Facebook and she's a cousin I feel kicks ass because she's a vet so I was really glad I got to see her, in person.

Also, I was glad that Ava got to meet everybody and she got to see the horses that were on my cousin's land. Big farm animals are very intriguing to her (you can hear her whining for them in the video and they came to the fence as a result).

and then i just chilled

Like I predicted, the days began to blend together. It's been nice just relaxing and not having any big tasks or journeys ahead in the immediate future. Still, I've been trying to get new things done and spend time with my family. 

On Friday, my mom and I went to "town" (that's what we call Kearney) and I used the HyVee gas station pump. I also tried the Chile Relleno for the first time at the mexican restaurant/store here in Gibbon. I thought I had had it before but after seeing it, I realized that it was new (and pretty damn good). My aunt and uncle came up from Kearney to join us for dinner and to see me and meet Ava.

On Saturday, I got my car worked on and ready to come back to Oregon and then went to the Goodrich ice cream here in town and had a cone with Ava in the park while the rest of the town watched the Huskers game.

On Sunday, I got up early for sunrise pics below. My dad and I also went to see The Martian which I really enjoyed. However, the movie cut out 80 minutes into it and we had to wait for a bit for the management to fix it. I also downloaded Words with Friends onto my Kindle and my mom and I have been playing a lot.

Like I said, it's been chill and easy. It's what I came here for.

one new person

I don't think I've ever held such a young human before.

Today, I got to meet my new nephew little Caleb James on his first day home from the hospital. He was born on Sunday and he's just adorable. He doesn't do a lot but he is just two days old so I shouldn't expect much. He can just lie there and look cute.

born under a super harvest moon eclipse

Despite having dropped my camera in the water two months ago and not having it work, I brought it to Nebraska with the hopes of reviving it. Thankfully, the old rice trick worked again and cleared the water out of the lens so I was able to take pics of the lunar eclipse. I sat outside on my parents' back porch and watched it happen, photographing it every now and then just to see how much progression had actually taken place (and to get a good photograph).

It was the harvest moon, a super moon, and a lunar eclipse. It's pretty cool that all of that came together, especially because I became an uncle again today. My brother and sister-in-law welcomed little Caleb James into the world today. I'm glad I'll be able to see him so soon after arriving into the world!

What else?
Two new things today: walking over the viaduct in Gibbon today to go to their big park which Ava loved and cooking sweet potato chips with my mom and sister. I loved it all.

the most charming little pumpkin patch

 

My sister, niece, and nephew arrived last night. They had a long drive so my nephew Merrick was crying for a bit when they arrived. After he stopped, he went to hug each of us good night. My sister jokingly told him to hug Ava but when he approached her, she growled. I was initially upset at her but I read that a growling dog is a good thing because it's properly communicating.

However, this morning, my niece Marley who loves dogs was gently petting Ava and she snapped at Marley without any warning. Fortunately, she didn't bite her but it devastated me for a bit. Dean was so good with kids and I don't know really how to deal with a dog who would do that. I took her downstairs to my room and isolated us for a bit.

When we came out, my niece was okay and my sister very kindly brushed it off, casually warning her kids to avoid the dog. I spent the rest of the morning separating Ava and them. In the afternoon, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch outside of town and leave Ava with my dad to watch during his football game.

The break was nice. For a solid five days, Ava hasn't left my side. She's even been sleeping in the same room as me. She was in good hands with my dad and the pumpkin patch was a lot of fun. The kids loved it and I got to pet goats, rams, horses, baby bunnies, and a sweet dog who Marley really enjoyed seeing. I love how much she loves dogs and it pains me that my dog doesn't reciprocate that love but maybe she will with time. As Andrew said when I texted him about it, she has no idea what's been going on for the past five days and if her life and routine has permanently changed. Having a dog with negative behaviors with kids is just a new experience for me.

grandma stories

Every time I come back to Nebraska, my mom arranges for me to come up to see my grandma. Typically, we play cribbage and make small talk about the family. But recently, one of my cousins posted on Facebook that my grandma was the last living WWII nurse in the US. That served as a good opening to ask about get her to talk about her life. So here's what I learned:

My grandma was a teacher right after school. She worked at a number of different local schools, staying in boarding houses around. One day, my grandpa came over to return or borrow a horse and that's how they met. My grandma had one too many unruly children and decided that she could try nursing. She had $100 and that was enough to cover tuition, room, and board for a year. The school she went to was hands on training where she worked during the day and went to classes at night.

During WWII, she enlisted and was sent to Missouri and some other state-side hospitals before going over to the Philippines. She and a lot of other nurse arrived there but the fort/hospital wasn't expecting them so they put them up in an empty hall where all of the bathrooms were set up for guys. They were over there for some time. She stated that she spent some time in Manila. I believe that she was there when she heard about Hiroshima and the end of the war.

Afterwards, they went to Hawaii, shortly after Pearl Harbor I believe. They were going to get shipped back to the US but a group of the nurses including my grandma wanted to go to the beaches of Waikiki first so they went AWOL. They prepaid a taxi driver to come back and pick them up in time to get back but he didn't come back so they had to talk some sailors into getting them back. I don't think she faced any charges.

My mom stated that her hearing and her eyes are going but it's clear that her memory is still solid, making her an awesome source of information and stories. I'm glad that I could take the time to sit and take advantage of her experience.

What else?

My new thing for the day was meeting lots of new people at the retirement home since I brought Ava. She did a good job there and on the road. It was about two hours in the car again each way but she was just happy to be included.

coming out as a pot-smoker

 

Last holiday season, Dan Savage talked about how holidays are typically time for people to come out to their families. They can come out as gay, bi, poly, or even as a pot-smoker. I didn't come out over the holidays but I did take it as a cue that this should happen sooner than later, especially since it's legal here in Oregon now. I am a pot-smoker.

I've been a casual smoker for a while. It's so much better than alcohol. There's no bloating, no hangover, no messiness. It's just a happy high. In the past, I've had some issues with paranoia but since it's been legal, you can get the strain you want with the effects that you want and none of them include paranoia.

A while ago, my mom was told that she was going to have to have her thyroid removed because it was pre-cancerous. Just recently, the US acknowledged that cannabinoids are good for cancer and cancer treatment so I called my mom yesterday and offered to get her some. She declined but then I took the opportunity to let her know that I smoke occasionally. She had questions but didn't seem alarmed which was good.

Really, it feels good just to be honest. I've been smoking off and on for a while now and I've always just avoided saying it. Now, I don't have to worry or make up stories or say I was drinking when I was really smoking. And I can be honest here. Yay for the truth!

In order to set the scene for coming clean, I went to Laurelhurst Park in the dog area and sat down for a bit to enjoy a new cider, which was my new thing.

 

fathers' day

This is the first year I've been home for Fathers' Day Weekend since I left Nebraska in 2002. Typically, I come home in July for the 4th and Hayleigh's birthday. Also, Portland Pride has always been on Fathers' Day Weekend except for this year for some reason. I had a trip planned back through accidental calendar confusion on my part for the weekend as my family and I were all going to head to a cabin in the Black Hills. Since my dad had a minor stroke, my mom cancelled the cabin but I came home as planned anyway just to see my dad (and the rest of the family).

He seems to be doing well. We learned a new card game (Five Crowns) this weekend and he not only picked up on the rules but won a few games and was consistently on top. I've never been so happy to lose at cards! Speech is his main issue and I'm happy to see that my mom is making him talk more, giving him topics and telling him to speak on them.

Today, we didn't do a lot, mostly just sat around playing cards. I got to babysit Ethan while the rest of the family went to church. He's a really smart and funny kid. It's cool to watch him try to figure things out, like how he was spraying the hose, turned it on underside of his ball-cap and shot water onto it and it would come back down on his face. He would stop and be stunned for a second, and then would realize that he liked it so he would do it again and for longer. :)

For my new thing, I changed out my mom's bike tube with my dad providing some assistance. I love changing out tubes and patching them. We waited until late so I didn't feel like patching it and we had an extra tube anyway so I just changed it out. It's kinda cool that I was able to do this with my dad. When I was a first or second grader, he would force me to ride my bike and I would throw a fit but I managed to learn. My love of bikes didn't really manifest until I was in Portland and saw how easier they were for transportation but I don't think I would have ever considered them if it hadn't been for my dad.

on the anniversary of my dog's death

I woke up today knowing that today was going to suck. A year ago, I went through one of the worst times in my life as I had to choose to terminate the life of my best friend for his own good. I've healed a lot since then, thanks to the support I've gotten from Andrew and Ava. However, I wasn't really prepared for this day either.

Shortly after I got up, I checked my phone and saw that my mom had sent me and my siblings a text, notifying us that our dad had a minor stroke. She recognized the symptoms and got him to a hospital but then there's a lot of unknown. We don't know what the care will be afterwards, we don't know the extent of the stroke, and I'm all the way up here, so far away.

Fortunately, my brother and sister are closer and are able to get there soon. I feel so damn helpless right now.

getting tanked

Tanking has to be a uniquely Nebraskan event. Basically, you sit in plastic cattle tank with benches and a table inside and float down the river. We floated down the Cedar River which is pretty shallow. I walked through several parts of it and it never got above my waist except for one part. That's why tanking is preferable to tubing or rafting. You're still floating but your butt isn't skimming the bottom of the river bed.

It was a lot of fun and a great family activity. We gathered at Lake Ericson in Ericson, NE and were bussed to our starting location. You can fit 4-6 people in a tank comfortably and there was eight of us so we took two tanks and tied them together. The dogs didn't go because we didn't think there would be room for Dean so Oliver stayed behind to keep him company. Along the way, we hit the river banks, stopped at a beaver dam, looked at and held the tadpoles, splashed each other with cold springs water and watched the wildlife, all while drinking cheap beer. I'm so glad my mom suggested it!

trying to play the cool uncle

In 1994, a group of us from high school went to Lincoln for a state convention. In the evening, our sponsors would usually let us go to a movie independently which also gave them a break. For one Lincoln trip, we all decided to go see Threesome. From the advertisements, it looked like it was going to be along the lines of Reality Bites. However, it was a lot more risque. Mary, a junior who was by far the most religious out of us, was shocked. Still, I think that it was an eye-opening experience for her. Whether it ended up being good or bad though, I don't know.

Yesterday, while we were taking my niece out to dinner for her 16th birthday, she said that she wanted to go see Magic Mike. Her friends had already seen it with their mothers and they all loved it. So, being the good uncle that I am, I figured it was my job to offer to take her to see it. It's about male strippers so it couldn't be all that bad. From the advertisements I've seen, I was expecting something more like Coyote Ugly but with guys. Instead, it was more like Boogie Nights but stripping instead of porn.

I think the first minute or two really shocked Hayleigh and it just kept coming. The stripping/dance sequences were fun but overall the movie was just lackluster and relied too much on vices without a lot of redeeming moments for the characters. Anyway, it really reminded me of watching Mary watch Threesome except I was supposed to be the adult in this situation. Knowing that her friends' mothers sat thru the movie was one of the only things that kept me from telling her we should leave after the second scene.

What else?

Before the movie, Hayleigh and I watched this children's performance group from Africa. It was a cute group of kids raising money for assistance in Africa. Very sweet and pretty talented.

Also, Dean met his cousin Oliver for the first time. There's a considerable age difference between them. Fortunately, Dean's tolerant enough to put up with Oliver jumping at his face to lick him. They're pretty cute together.

small town holidays

We got up this morning and headed down the block to watch the Gibbon 4th of July parade. It was Dean's first time meeting his little cousin Marley. She absolutely loves animals, especially dogs and horses. I've said before how I don't like this holiday but I did enjoy the small town atmosphere of it all. The parade was cute although the first half of it was emergency vehicles from here and the nearby towns that felt they needed to blare their horns. In the afternoon, we went on the Road Rally which involved us driving the country roads, looking for a series of clues that would lead us on a specific route. If we finished the route in the exact miles the clues were supposed to lead us on, we could win a prize. We missed a few clues so I'm sure we didn't come close but it was still fun to play.

What else?

We had an early birthday celebration for my oldest niece Hayleigh today at El Portero in Kearney this evening since she's going to start detassling tomorrow. I thought it was bad having my eight hour class on my birthday this year but I'd just as soon have a 16 hour class rather than go detassling in the corn, wading through the mud in the 100 degree weather.

christmas 2011

Happy holidays!

speaking my language

Eric and Alyssa went back to Lincoln today so I got to babysit my nephew Oliver (pictured above) until they return tomorrow. My mom, my dad and I took Oliver to see my mom's side of the family today, including my aunts, my grandma and my uncle Hank.

Hank lives in an assisted care living facility in a smallish town near the rest of the family. He doesn't work anymore but he's only 49. He has Down Syndrome and a speech impediment. He also speaks in a low voice so he's relatively difficult to understand. Despite the fact that I work with a number of people who have Down Syndrome, I still had a good amount of problems understanding Hank. Many of the people I work with reference names or places with which I am familiar or they repeat the same phrases consistently so I can generally get what they are saying. Being unfamiliar with Hank's general life, it made it more difficult for me. However, I then realized that he would use sign language when he would talk occasionally and suddenly I got it. I don't know a lot of signs but I know enough to get a general understanding of people.

I've been second-guessing my job lately as one can probably surmise from my tone in my posts concerning work. However, seeing my skills put to use in a situation outside of work really affirmed my sense of purpose. I still have some issues with the way my job handled firing my friend. However, I do love working with people with DD and I'm going to be doing it for a while longer while I am still in school so I may as well make the best of it. I already started to turn my attitude around right before I left for vacation (primarily because I got called out on texting during meetings). I'm going to continue on with that and reinvest myself in the work, if not for the agency, then for the clients.

What else?
We took Hank and my grandma to the Pizza Palace for my first visit there since the sandwich shop that I went to last time I was in town was closed. Sigh, no hippie for me. ;)

family game time

Playing card games is a tradition in my family. On my mom's side, most of the aunts, uncles and cousins would play poker in the basement for change. They would also play cribbage quite a bit. On my dad's side, we played pitch. Also, my aunt Diane taught my cousins and I how to play hearts so we would frequently play that. I really look forward to seeing my family just because I miss them but the prospect of card games is a wonderful bonus.

For Christmas, Eric and Alyssa bought my the game pictured above: Wizard. It's a game so fun that they actually didn't wrap it and they gave it to me early so we could play when I woke up this morning. It involves a regular deck of cards but there's the addition of four wizards and four jesters. Basically, you try to guess how many hands you can take based upon your cards, the trump suit and how many points the other players think they can take. It's easy when you start playing it and very addictive. Needless to say, we played it a lot!


What else?
We went to Dona Mary's tonight for dinner. It's a Mexican restaurant established in the back of a Mexican Grocery store in Gibbon. The food was okay but the drinks were amazing and amazingly cheap. My favorite was called Paradise. It was amaretto, midori and some other things mixed together. Just sweet enough and refreshing!


On the episode of Dexter where he goes to Kearney, he goes to visit an old acquaintance who works in a hardware store so a couple crucial scenes take place in hardware stores. Today, I went looking for a Christmas present for someone and had to hit several hardware stores in Kearney. I just thought it was a funny coincidence.

long distance uncling

When I decided to move up to Portland years ago, I knew I had to do it but one of the hardest things was knowing that I wouldn't be able to see my niece Hayleigh very often. At the time, she was six years old. Sometime soon afterwards, she wrote a short little story in school about how if she was the state of Kansas, she would move to Oregon because then she could be near me. It was very touching but ultimately Portland was the right place for me and I couldn't convince my sister to visit, let alone move up here.

Tonight, I was checking my facebook feed when I saw that Hayleigh posted that nobody has ever had a worse kid than her and that she was so stupid. I wasn't sure what it was in reference to but then I saw my sister had posted something right before that, stating that she was sure she left the car that she owned in the driveway...

Anyway, I wrote to my niece and told her that it probably wasn't as bad as it seems and plenty of people were worse and did stupider things at the age 15, like her mom and other uncle but not me. ;) Honestly though, after working with homeless youth, I have seen and heard enough stories to make me see my niece as a little saint. And please, even I rolled the car at age 16. Hayleigh managed to return the car in one operating piece so she's a step ahead of me.

It felt good to be able to be there for her even it was just through facebook. But, after all, she is the reason I am even on facebook in the first place so I'm glad it could be used as a tool for good.

What else?

Sophia, Dean and I walked around the Belmont Street Fair and I bought a little kid's shirt from a vendor for Mr Whiskers! I hope it fits him! Also, when we were walking by a booth selling lawn ornaments, Dean stopped to relieve himself on the merchandise. I yanked him away and Sophia quickly threw water over the items to wash it off. The vendor was cool though and didn't make us pay for it.

I also went on the Diabetes walk again for work. Dave, who organizes it just told me about it on Thursday but he always goes on the AIDS walk so I agreed to go with him. It was okay but not very well organized. Still, I'm glad I could support him.

preparing for 90

Today was the hottest day of the year so far in Portland. I think it may have gotten to 90. One of my co-workers is originally from Oklahoma and said that it got to be around 115 degrees there. That's insane. I complained today that it was too hot and Ashes, Victory, Raven and I all headed out to Oneanta Gorge to save ourselves.

It was awesome! I love the hike in there with the log jam and the deep pools in the cavern. It was too deep in parts for most people to touch the bottom and they had swim it. Raven and I tried to climb the rock walls over the deepest pool but you could only go so far so I gave up and dove in. Ashes said that I let out the loudest, highest pitch scream that the Gorge has ever heard because it was damn cold. I also lost my sandal. I started looking around the bottom for it, dreading the seemingly inevitable dive to the bottom to look for it. Fortunately, it floats and some guy down the way found it for me.

What else?

 On our way back from the Gorge, we stopped by Ashes' parents' house where Raven showed me his treehouse there. He and his cousins hang out in there and have even slept in there. It reminded me of the fort that my sister, my cousins and I had at my grandparents' farm. While I was back in Alaska, my aunt, uncle, dad and one of my cousins reminisced with me about the fort. My cousin Tesha reminded me how I pulled a dead chicken out of the bare-bones spring mattress that we wanted to use for our fort. As a reward, they made me a certificate for doing the deed.

It was nice seeing Ashes' parents again. Since I moved out of the house, I don't get to see them very often. While we were there, his mom had us move a treadmill from downstairs to the garage. I was happy to do it just because they're good people.

And...

 I also went to 442, Portland's best soccer bar to watch the Timbers game. We won and it's an awesome bar with great atmosphere. I think we'll be watching games there from now on.

Afterwards, I went to see TrollHunter with Dominic, Jesse, Sophia and her friends. I've been wanting to see it for a while and I think I let my expectations get too high. Still, it was pretty cool.

Overall, just a stellar day!!!