Weekend With the Family

Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well, that laundry that was going to be done Thursday morning...got done Saturday morning. It's okay though. I had yet another start...and I'd rather spend time with my dad. So I went over there and we watched "No Country For Old Men" and "The Hitcher" and I helped him with a few things around the house since his mobility was down a little bit with the leg...but he's getting better every day. He's been through the process a few times with his knees, neck, and back being messed up before...so it's just the same old stuff. It still hurts to see him hurt...but he knows I'm there for him like he would be for me...so it's all good. He really liked the movie. The original "Hitcher" with Rutger Hauer & C. Thomas Howell is one of his favorite all-time movies, so he really liked the remake with Sean Bean. We're also setting up plans for a trip to Vegas in May/June for just the two of us because he hasn't been there since I was a kid...and he's gonna need to have a vacation with his boy after being cooped up in the house for the next six weeks or so. Anyway, more on that to come.

Around sunset, I headed down to see my brother & sister-in-law for a few hours before heading up to my mom's. By the way, congratulations to my sister-in-law Ashley on her new job. She's been a top performer in her Medical Assisting program for a while...and even was the student representative the other day at a conference...and now starts a new job soon in the field...all while raising a few kids & a husband. Congratulations to her!!! I also saw my 4-year old niece Kelaudri just before her baby daddy came to pick her up. She was super excited to see me. How excited? She saw me...and ran at me for a hug. "AAAAGH, what's up sweetie? How you doin'?" "Good." Then the baby daddy showed up, so I left the scene (don't like him much) and went inside the house. A few minutes later, I hear Ashley say, "Where you goin' Kelaudri?" Then she comes running around the corner and gives me a hug goodbye. She's gonna be a real heartbreaker one day. The thing that really blows my mind...is that I don't even see her that much...and she still likes me like that. Apparently, I have a way with kids or something. Maybe it was because I read to her. Read to your kids everybody. They love that stuff.

Anyway, I was there for a few hours just to catch up and say hi real quick...but then I went to my mom's. Along the drive, I talked to Bubbles and she's still lovin' Vegas. As I pulled up to the house, I noticed that all the lights were out...and it wasn't even 9 PM yet. They've been babysitting my nephew Vinny with his acid reflux the past few days...so sleep was a little commodity these days. There was a note on the door that read "Don't make a sound!!! Love, the B**ches!!!" I'm not joking. My mom & Kris wrote it.

I snuck in and noticed the lights in the basement were on, so I went down there and Kris was watching TV, so I sat down and talked with her for a while. She's a little crazy...but she's a female...so it's always interesting to sit back & listen to her. She told me all about her life, ex-husbands, kids (apparently her daughter's a hottie doctor student thinking about going into marketing), a bunch of situations that she's honestly brought on herself...but overall she's a cool cat, just a little crazy. Aren't we all though? Around midnight, I decided it was bedtime...so I snuck into my bed in the guest room where Kairi was sleeping.

About an hour into my rest, I heard Kairi starting to fuss. She has nightmares once in a while...so I gave it a minute...but after a few, I went over and picked her up so that she wouldn't wake up Vinny (because him sleeping happens fortnightly). She was wide-eyed surprised to see me. "Shhhhh, it's okay baby girl. Shhhh, it's okay." She was quiet but her eyes were wide open. Maybe she was thinking that seeing me was a dream or something. After a few minutes of standing & comforting her, I decided to just lie down on the bed and let her fall asleep on my chest (since setting her down in the crib didn't work). She lied there staring at me listening to my heartbeat...and putting her arms wide to give me a big bear hug before closing her eyes. It was honestly one of the cutest moments ever. I sat there waiting for her to really fall asleep and remembering how small she used to be, how she's grown, what she's going to be like when she grows up, and the few other ladies who have rested their head on my chest before, listening to my heartbeat, and feeling at ease until they fell asleep. Eventually I put her back in the crib and she slept like a baby (oddly enough) until morning...and so did everybody else.

"Hi Unco Teve!!! Hi!!!" That's what I woke up to the next morning. I'm not gonna lie. I thought it was a dream at first. Then I saw Kairi in her crib. "Oh, hi baby girl. How you doin'?" "Hi!!!" "Hmm, just like your daddy. (Laugh to myself) Lemme put some clothes on. We'll get us some breakfast. Sound good?" Shakes her head yes. "Alright. Did ya sleep good?" Shakes yes. "Well, you're welcome." She laughs at me. I think she can sense when I'm trying to be funny already...at seventeen months. Anyway, here are some pictures from the morning when Vinny woke up too...

Vinny, Mom, & Kairi

Kairi & her Blankie

$teve without a shave & Vinny

After a few hours, we headed into town to get our taxes down. First, we dropped the kids off at their parent's house...and my buddy Isaihia was at my brother's. I hadn't seen him in a while so we caught up and all that...then he said, "Dude, I know that I still owe you money. I don't want you to think that I forgot about that. It's just...well, you know." "Oh yeah, I know. You're getting married, have kids already, lost your job, it happens, man. Obviously I'm not hurtin' right now or anything. I know you're good for it. Don't worry about it until you're ready. That's what family's for." "Yeah, I'll pay you back that...what was it? Fifteen, twenty bucks?" Smiles. "Yeah, something like that...with a few zeroes at the end...but close." I was hoping to hang out with him for a bit...but I had to get my taxes done & his fiance was getting off soon anyway. Still good to see him, if just for a moment.

My taxes went well. They were very simple and done within five minutes by my mom's accountant. Their taxes though, took much longer...and to put it simply, they owe more in taxes than I made last year. Enough said. It's a shame they couldn't claim my brother & sister-in-law on their taxes...but oh well. After that, we decided to go get something to eat at Red Lobster. Rock lobster tail, coconut shrimp, mango mai tai, even lobster on my mashed potatoes. Good lunch, thanks mom. Then we had to make a quick stop at Target to pick up daipers for the kids...and that took about two hours...because my mom can't be trusted shopping. About a hundred dollars in extra groceries later, we finally headed back. She even went back in to get mayo...and didn't come out for twenty minutes...and had three bags when she came out. Love ya mom!!!

At my brother's, we basically just hung out...and my buddies Bartles & Jaymes came over too. I hadn't seen them in over a year, so it was good to catch up with them. Not really much to talk about with that...so then I drove home and slept. Lame on a Friday night, I know...but I guess that's what I am.

This morning, I finally did the laundry...and have pretty much decided that I'm going to wake up earlier, work out more, play basketball when I can, and give up soda. Many of you may know that I drink Mountain Dew...a lot. So I'm going to give it up and see how it goes. What about the caffeine? No need. I'll be waking up earlier and working out to get the juices flowing. What are you going to drink? Water, juices, and all the other non-carbonated stuff. Why? I need to be more healthy. I've decided that I'm not going to work out to look better...but to feel better. Not that I'm particularly feeling bad...but just lazy really. Also, it was brought up by my mom...that I haven't been to a doctor for a checkup in a long time. How long? Well, I was playing basketball back then...so it was more than three years ago...more like five or six years ago. I should get that done...just to be safe. A lot has happened in my life since then. I'll keep ya posted how this stuff works out. Not exactly a major change...but I wanna be more healthy. Already started today with jogging and push-ups and stuff like that...and just water so far. Then again, it hasn't even been a full day. Wish me luck, huh?

I also watched "The Darjeeling Limited" earlier today. It's about three brothers (Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson) who meet up in India for a spiritual journey...and to find their mother who they haven't seen in years. The brothers are kind of bitter towards each other and have their own vices & problems...but the story's about the power of family...sort of. It was a standard Wes Anderson directed movie like "Life Aquatic" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" that seems to just be really weird and awkward the whole time...but still has its funny moments...and then you wonder why it's funny. It has that whole bright Technicolor 70's film kind of look to it. Yeah, the dialogue & feel may be a little more real to life than most...but it's very different from most films. Quite a unique look to say the least. Probably the best thing that I pulled from this movie was a question asked "Do you think we'd be friends in real life, if we weren't brothers?" I have thought about that many, many times. My brother's kind of a jackass sometimes (but he did start paying me back some money that he owes me). If we weren't related, I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't be friends...but that's why we're family...because we're there for each other in times of need...and usually in times of want too. I'd recommend checking out this movie if you like Wes Anderson's movies. There was also a short film made as a little back-story to this film called "Hotel Chevalier" starring just Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman on the DVD that was pretty good. You get to see a little more of Natalie than you expect...and both are pretty good from a moviemaking perspective...but if you like action and lots of it, this will not be the film for you.

I guess that'll do it for tonight. Just burning the midnight oil working tonight and then back again tomorrow. Congratulations to Memphis for going to the National Championship on Monday, where they'll play the winner of the Kansas / North Carolina game. Should be good...if you like basketball. Have a great night everybody!!! See ya tomorrow.

By the way, does anybody know what these Chinese

characters mean? It's my sister-in-law's tattoo.

I know the one on the left means "Woman" but we

were unable to find the meaning of the right character.

Help would be appreciated...but I'll be googling too.