Making Up For Lost Time
Posted By AmyD. on March 12, 2012
I wouldn’t recommend planning a big weekend family party the same weekend that the time changes.
Or as Mike’s cousin, Jessica, puts it:
“Yeah especially when you party hard that night lol 1:59am-3:00am sucks lol”
Exactly.
Mike hasn’t really seen his aunt or cousins in more than 10 years. They live in San Pedro, CA (where Mike was born) and we live almost 3 hours away. You never want it to, but life gets in the way. People have kids and get married and start lives.
It took several weeks to plan it all out but this weekend worked and the weather was certainly on our side. Saturday afternoon family arrived. Mike’s aunt, Michelle (his dad’s only sibling) and her three kids (Genee, Melissa, and Tommy) and their kids. I can’t say enough good things about everyone. They are all so wonderful, smart and genuinely funny. Jessica is Genee’s daughter, she is a sweetheart and she has the most amazing fiancé, George, who is so warm and wonderful, interesting to talk to and absolutely hilarious. Genee’s son, Stephen, is Katie’s age and is very funny and ridiculously sweet. Melissa and her husband Jason (who bears a striking resemblance to Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band, in the best way possible) have two adorable (UNDERSTATEMENT) little girls, Maya and Zuri. Tommy (looks like Vince Vaughn, I swear) has a wonderful girlfriend, Mallory, and a cute daughter, Layla, who has these ginormous, gorgeous blue eyes.
Maggie was beside herself. Three little girls all in a similar age bracket. They were fast friends and had so much fun that no one wanted to leave on Sunday.
Cousins (l-r) Stephen, Maggie, Layla, Maya, Katie, Zuri
(Thank God, Melissa had the genius thought to take this pic.)
Then there were the adults. Mike’s family is notorious for loving life, which is Doran code for large, loud parties well lubricated with alcohol. I made a big pitcher of margaritas (approved by the family’s two professional bartenders!) and that was the first of roughly 4 pitchers that night. Everyone seemed determined to make up for lost time and no matter where you went kitchen, patio, or family room people were laughing and talking like no time had passed and even the people we had just met were like old friends.
Mike grilled 3 huge tri-tips, 4 chickens, and hot dogs. It was a full blown barbecue feast that everyone seemed to really enjoy. Then the guys had cigars out on the patio and the time flew by. I have a couple of semi-dark blurry pictures but we were all having so much fun that my camera was left in the other room completely forgotten. I can’t tell you how much I regret that now.
We laughed so much and there were so many conversations that never actually finished, we jumped from topic to topic like schizophrenic monkeys. The last time we had seen any of them, Katie was 3 and she and Melissa had a mutual adoration society going then. It wasn’t any different this time. All the girls crowded around the patio laughing and teasing the guys as they popped in and out of conversations.
Around 3am I found myself in the kitchen with Tommy, Jessica, George and Mike. The guys had moved on to Maker’s Mark with their cigars. Everyone else had filtered upstairs and all the little girls were sound asleep in the family room floor.
We woke up Sunday morning to all the little girls giggling and screaming while Stephen chased them around. Watching all these people interact was a little bittersweet, I’m not going to lie. I thought of all the years between visits and what a tight-knit, wonderful family they have. Everyone was always in sync even amid the utter chaos, herding the little ones and everyone watching out for everyone else. It made me sad that we live so far away and don’t share quite the same bond that they do. The sweet side is that we also felt so immediately accepted and very much a part of the clan.
We piled into cars and drove to a local restaurant, Hodel’s, for breakfast with Melissa proclaiming loudly, “Embrace your funk!” when people started discussing showers or anything that might delay the food and coffee that we required. Nothing is better than taking people from out of town to a local joint and having it be a raving success. Hodel’s is “old school” around here and my family has eaten there from time-to-time since long before I was born. It was awesome getting to share that with everyone and having them enjoy it so much!
Most of us were bleary eyed and sporting mild headaches but the laughter and fun continued right up until everyone had to say goodbye. All the little girls were sad and not ready to leave, isn’t that great? You know you’ve done something special when no one wants to go home. I’ve never had so many house guests at once and it was the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. I can’t wait to do it again, hopefully soon. 
Heritage In Nissan Cars
Posted By AmyD. on February 28, 2012
There’s a lot of history when it comes to Nissans. From the early days in 1970’s with the datson 240z that eventually became the Nissan 240sx. To the continual evolution of the z line. 240z, to 260z, to 280z, to 280zx, to 300zx,to 240sx, to 350z, and finally to now the newest addition to the family, the 370z. As a huge fan of this family of cars, it has been amazing watching each model be appreciated still by so many in the streets. In southern California, you will still see many fully restored 1990 Nissan 240sx with some mesh drifting wheels on them. There has been a huge growth in fans in the world of drifting and Nissans are notorious to dominate this sport. You can normally find a whole parking lot looking like a car gallery of Nissans lined up. Every so often you will see a few other car makes, but majority would be Nissan cars.
You don’t need to be a race car driver to be in a Nissan. There are dealerships like fontana nissan that offer amazing deals on cars for everyone. They have vans, cars, trucks, and supercars like the Nissan GTR.
There is also another wonderful dealership in Southern California. If you are ever in the area, make sure you check out riverside nissan. They have a wonderful staff that will help you every step of the way.
They also have a beautiful showroom and a huge selection of cars to choose from. They always give you a great deal even if your credit is not the greatest. Nissans are known to make some amazing cars. You can continue the heritage of being part of the Nissan family. There’s always a car for everyone at Nissan dealerships in southern California. Nissan has been around for a long time and they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
Guest post brought to you by Riverside Nissan & Fontana Nissan
Passports to Fun
Posted By AmyD. on February 22, 2012
Admittedly, I am NOT a “stepford” homeschooling mom. We try to get the most out of every lesson, but I do not have one of those geeky “stepford” students. It’s a common misconception that children who have school at home are always happy to jump into lessons simply because they are at home and can do the lesson in their pajamas if they want. Truth is, even homeschooled kids get sick of school. They get complacent, whiny and bitchy. I don’t care how much fun you make a lesson or how much one-on-one attention they get, at some point a kid is just going to want you to leave them alone and let them play some video games or watch television without it becoming a freaking learning experience.
I have no doubt that Maggie gets sick of the sound of my voice. More than once at the dinner table I have been asked, “Mom can we NOT do school right now?!?!?!?” It’s very hard to turn the “teacher” button off and very close to impossible to separate the mom hat from the teacher hat.
Maggie loves history, science and Spanish. But, even those get old. She’d rather watch TV, play video games or go outside and harass her pets. Believe me, there are days when it would be easier to catch gnats with baseball netting than it is to get Maggie to settle in and get to work. Instead of fighting, begging, bribing and cajoling I created passports.
She currently has 2 passports. One is for video games and the other for the television. Each day she has to earn her passports in order to play or watch tv. In addition, she can’t use her passports until her lessons are finished or she is on a break. I printed out the title of the passport and how it is earned. I used clear packing tape to “laminate” it on to a smaller manila envelope and I decorated it with fun stickers that coordinate with the purpose of the passport.
Everyone in the household understands what the purpose is and Maggie is often asked, “Do you have your passport for that?” and she proudly presents it upon request to prove that she earned her fun time. It has worked brilliantly for months now.
Home schooling is really a constant learning curve for both the student and “teacher” – I don’t have a set system that I have to force 30+ kids into, instead I have to be creative and mold the system around one student. When it’s molded correctly the results are obvious and almost immediate. Fortunately, I have the advantage of really knowing my student so I know what is going to provide strong incentive and what isn’t.
The Thrill of the Chase
Posted By AmyD. on February 10, 2012
To this day my husband brags about the load he took home from an equipment auction. Air compressor, Craftsman roll away tool chest, etc. All for a great price. My husband is an absolute freak about getting the best deal on pretty much anything and everything. Craigslist, pawn shop, auction, you name it… he’s shopped there. It’s never junk and it’s always a great deal.
Unfortunately, that includes my engagement ring. Seriously. Really pretty, solitaire cut diamond ring… pawn shop.
He managed to get the best deal on all of our motorcycle riding gear in a similar fashion… Craigs List. It wouldn’t be so bad, I guess, if he would keep quiet about it. But, the better the deal the more he has to brag about it.
Even when he doesn’t have anything to be shopping for he’ll peruse Craigs List with a lonely look on his face, like he wishes he had something he needed to buy. Sometimes, I think it’s more about the thrill of the chase than the acquisition.
I Live with a Mad Genius Type
Posted By AmyD. on February 9, 2012
Maggie is a multi-tasking mad genius when she wants to be. I noticed this one night when I was in the front yard and saw the glow coming from her bedroom window. Upon further investigation I found her with earbuds firmly in place and connected to an ipod, a lap top on her lap as she searched for help on a video game she attempted to master, the soft glow of said game beaming from the television and all of this bathed in the neon light of a lava lamp perched on her dresser. Her room looked like it was utilizing all the juice a Mongolia power plant could muster and then some.
My husband swears she is the youngest teenager on the planet. 8 going on 16, I guess. She wants a motorcycle and a helmet “with flames on it.” Her favorite songs are “Some Beach” by Blake Shelton followed shortly by “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith.
She’s technologically savvy as long as it benefits her. She is also capable of playing ridiculously dumb when it suits her. She can get this really befuddled look on her face followed by a widening and blinking of those big, blue eyes and for a brief moment almost convince me that she is borderline “special.” Then I recall the look of her sprawled on her bed multi-tasking like the world’s smallest hacker and she realizes she hasn’t fooled me as much as she thinks she has.
She’s been known to pretend she doesn’t know where the silverware drawer is and later I’ll find her unloading the dishwasher in hopes of scoring a favor from Katie. The television remote is completely lost but it’s clear she had it at some point because the tv keeps automatically tuning to every single one of her favorite shows.
She can manage 3 browser windows with multiple tabs at one time but seems to be completely lost when it’s time to switch over to the software she uses to study her spelling words.
I have given up arguing and explaining. I now issue orders and stand there until she sees resistance is futile. Most of the time it works.
Now, if I could just get her to grasp that she doesn’t need to DVR every episode of Dogs 101, SpongeBob SquarePants, and 9 or 10 other shows on the Disney Channel.
