We Have a Football Player In The House!!!!....

Growing up in Southeast Texas, High School football games were not simply something you attended, they were a part of your life!! Second only to deer season, High School football season is a MAJOR part of the year for the whole town, not just for people who have kids on the team. There are Friday afternoon pep rallies before every game. Half the town will pack up and go the away games,and you sure better get their early if you want to sit in the stands to watch a home game.

I attended school in Silsbee, Texas, Home of the TIGER football team. We even had a large replica of a Tiger getting reading to leap that was mounted on a platform with wheels so it could be moved up and down the sideline when Silsbee made a touchdown.
I have so many great memories of attending football games with my Mom and Dad and little brother. I am serious when I tell you the WHOLE town turned out for the game on Friday night. During my JR year in High School, we were district champions and when we played the semifinal State game in a town a couple of hours away...all the stores closed early..I mean every single store in downtown Silsbee, close at 3pm so everyone could be at the game.

I was really surprised to find out how different it was here in California. Out here, unless you have a kid on the team or are friends with someone who has a kid on the team, you probably never think about going to a game. For a couple of years I did attend the home games for a town close to Palm Springs. I had a close friend at work,Kathy, who was a single Mom and she had 2 great kids. The youngest was Brian.
Since I hung out with them quiet often, Brian and I got to be buddies. Since there was not a Dad around, he and I really bonded and did a ton of stuff together. Me being Gay was not a big deal to him at all. So when he got into High School he asked me if I would go to football games with him, I was pretty surprised but of course I said yes. So every home game there we were, and we both had a blast. Never once did I embarrass him by cheering for the wrong team!! After a while I had not only Brian to go with but about 5 or 6 of his school friends whose Dads would not come with them to the games. I had my own little entourage! The thing that was really wonderful
to me was,all of his friends knew I was Gay and it was not a big deal to any of them, no more than I had brown hair and wore glasses. To them, I was their friend Jaymes and we all had a blast on Friday night when we all attended their football game and then went out for ice cream after the game. It really gave me hope for a brighter future for these guys.

Now fast forward a few years, now I live here in good old Los Angeles and we have a
football player in the house!! The nephew is playing on the Jr Varsity football
team at his High School, Woodrow Wilson. He is living his dream... he has said he was going to play High School football since he was in Elementary School and here he is on the Jr Varsity team.

Since last March or April, he has practiced every afternoon after school. Every weekday during the Summer he was at practice from 3-6pm and never missed a practice.
Now that school has started he is a practice every afternoon till about 7pm.
I am so proud of him, we all are. I pick him up everyday after on my home from work and for me that is a great thing.

So today he had his first game. Patrick and I dropped him off at the High School around 1pm so he could ride the bus over with the team. Since the game was not until 4pm, we had some time to kill. So at 4pm there we were, Patrick, Miss Anna (patrick's mom)and the niece and Patrick's sister all ready to cheer for the team.

Now I need to stop for a second and explain something to you. Like I said before,
in my hometown, we are the Fighting Tigers...here at this school....they are the Mules. Mules...I asked Patrick who would name their High School football team the Mules? So I guess I have gone from a Fighting Tiger....to a Mule. I have been practicing but I have not been able to shout " GO MULES" at a game yet...I am trying
but it may take me a little time on this one...

So the first game was really exciting and his team did really well...I was surprised how well the team really worked together.. I was jumping and down
and shouting and having a blast, almost like I was back in Texas at a Tiger game.
The nephew is # 77, he was a starter for the first game and even recovered a
fumble! We are very proud. They actually won their first game, 26 to 6.
We are very very proud of our very own in house football player..our own
little Mule!!!

later

Quick Trip To Vegas

Now one of the little joys in life that PKL and I enjoy from time to time is going to Las Vegas. Now mind you, we are not heavy gamblers, you could say we are not much of gamblers at all, but we sure do enjoy just being in Vegas!! For the first several years we have been together we would manage to make it there 2 or 3 times year, sometimes we would catch a show at one of the Hotels or just go for the weekend and shop and eat and hang out. But for the last couple of years, with times being what they are, I have not been able to make the trip. PKL has gone a time or two with some of his kin folk, but it has been awhile for me. Since summer is quickly coming to an end and the Niece and Nephew will be heading back to school in a couple of weeks, we decided a quick trip to Vegas was in order. So we packed up the whole family and headed down Interstate Hwy 15 to "LAS VEGAS".

We headed out Friday night after the Nephew got home from football practice. We always drive, never even really considered flying over. I am usually "The Driver" for such trips but this time PKL started out commanding the SUV. Now for those of you
who may not know it, I drive a small car, a Honda Fit, I can't tell you how much I love it. But for this trip we rented an SUV, turned out to be a Chevrolet Traverese,
really nice vehicle, but to me it was HUGE! We changed drivers in Baker and let me tell,for me it was like getting behind the well of an 18 wheeler. We made it into Vegas very early Saturday morning and once we were settled into our room, I was out
like a light.

Saturday was a really beautiful day, the weather was very cool for Vegas, in the upper 70s. We ventured out to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall for while, had lunch at
Makino (it is a gourmet sushi & seafood buffet...VERY tasty!) and then headed
back to our hotel. PKL's parents headed out to the casino for a bit, and he and the
kids decided to head to the pool. Me, I needed a nap, so I stayed behind, grabbed a short nap and enjoyed some quiet time reading my book. It was delightful!!

After dinner we headed to The Strip to walk around some and check out a couple of stores. We can not go to Vegas without going to the Coca Cola Store and the M&Ms
store.
Thankfully they are right next to each other. We had a good time checking out the newly remodeled Coca Cola Store, but let me tell you, we had WAY too much fun
in the M&M store.


Afterwards we headed back our Hotel. The Parents went back to the Casino for bit and the rest of us retired to our room where we were all asleep in no time.

Sunday brought us another beautiful day, windier than the day before but really beautiful. We had the breakfast buffet at our hotel and I ate enough for at least 2 people. I always seem to do that at a buffet!!! PKL and I and the kids headed off
to one of our favorite places to visit, the Belliagio Hotel Atrum and also to check out the new City Center.

Of course the Atrium at Belliagio never ceases to amaze me. This time was no exception. It is so hard to realized every thing you see is made up of real plants and flowers. They change the designs with the seasons so we got to see the summer time exhibit. It was truly wonderful.

When we left tht Atrium, we headed over to the newest spot on The Strip, City Center. The last time I was in Vegas they were just starting to build it. It is made up of several Hotels and Condominium Complexes, Night Clubs, Art Museums and it also had its own shopping area called The Crystals, only VERY High End Shops. The entire
Center is really beautiful,but because of the economy,it is mostly empty. The one hotel that is finished and opened is Aria.

In the Crystals the one thing that really caught my attention was Mastro's Ocean Club. The dining area is enclosed in this beautiful wooden chamber that is suspended out in the open area of the Mall itself. To me it was beath taking to see it when we first entered the Mall.

After our visit to City Center we headed back to our Hotel for some pool time before we headed back to LA. Only problem was the Hotel's pool area had a sandy beach area and with the strong winds, we got more sand blasted than anything else.

After dinner we headed back to LA. Since the kids are still on summer break and PKL is on vacation, I was the only one who had to pull themselves out of bed the next day to face the real world.

Although it was a quick trip, we really had a fun time and hopefully before long PKL and I can make a trip back over there, just the two of us.

later!

A Weird Kinda Scary Feeling.....

So I am minding my own business,driving to work last week when something catches my attention on a side street as I pass by....now here in LA when you are driving anywhere in the City, ALOT of stuff catches your eye, trust me! But I passed whatever it was rather fast because the traffic on Melrose was moving along really nicely that morning. But whatever it was I thought I saw left me with an weird kinda scary feeling for a few moments. I decided that I would try and remember to pay more attention the next morning to see what it was that I thought I saw.

Well the next day I did remember to take notice and when I came to that part of my
drive, I slowed down just a little and I when I saw it, I knew why it left me with a weird scary feeling....it was a clown, not any clown but this clown......

s



Now truthfully, clowns do not usually bother me. I know some people are actually afraid of any kind of clown, but I can usually take them or leave them. But ever
since Stephen King's "It" came out, there are certain kinds of clowns that give me
the creeps....well like this one. Just the expression on his face and he is staring out into the traffic, watching us as we go by. But that expression combined with the
words..."Children's Hospital"....REALLY gives me the creeps. I am sure it is an advertisement for a TV show that is either on or will be coming on soon. And you can bet your money on it that is one I will not be watching!!

All I can hope is that they will paint over it soon with a different advertisment
for a different new TV show...maybe something with kittens.

later

ps...when I stopped the next day to take the pictures...yep I left my motor
running and the car door open....you just can't trust some clowns.

Something I Need to Remember.....

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it about learning to dance in the rain.

O YES!!

And She Dances......

It was very late in the day on that warm July 4 afternoon. I had taken the train down to Union Station and walked across the steet to El Pueblo. Now for those of you who do not know, El Pueblo is where LA all started in 1781. The buildings there around the old town square is where it all started for LA. Now it is pretty much a tourist attraction, but I enjoy going down and watch the people who come and go through the center square.

By the time I got there all of the July 4th celebrations had long been over. The crowds were gone and a cool breeze had started blowing in. The place was pretty much deserted and it had a peaceful feeling to it. I walked around and found me a place to sit on the far side of the square. I was just going to sit there for awhile and enjoy the peacefulness until it was time for me to catch the train downtown to meet up with the nephew.

I had not been sittig there very long at all when I saw them slowly start coming into the square. There were several Hispanic families making their way slowly to
the far side of the square from where I sat. A few of the men had guitars, they
were all in their late fifties and up I would say. They had not come in a group, but
it seemed like they had all just met up there in the square. As the sun was setting and the light breeze was blowing across the square, the men with the guitars started to play, soft slow melodies made their way across the square. You could hear the woman talking among them selves and the music,that was about all you heard. I sat
there and took it all in, feeling like I was easdropping on them.

I first notice her as she was making her way into El Pueblo and coming toward the
square. She had to be 80 years old if she were a day. An older Hispanic woman,
carring a bag of what looked like groceries in each hand. She was holding them
by the loops in the top of the bags and the bottom of the bags almost scraped the ground. She was walking with determination in her walk as if she were in a hurry and had some where she had to be.

She was wearing a dress like my Grandma use to wear alot, a one piece shift that
draped over her and hung straight down, no belt. She hurriedly made her way through
the square between me and the guitar players on the other side. She had almost made her way across the square when the men changed the song they were playing, which had been a lively one, to one that was like a slow waltz of a song. She stopped so
suddenly I thought she was going to fall and I started to jump up and help her if she did but she stopped and slowly turned toward the men, watching them as they played. Then she slowly started making her way back across the square until she stopped just a few feet away from the men. She stood there a few seconds and slowly
bent over and set the bags she was holding on the ground.

Then she slowly raised her arms to about shoulder level, and she started dancing.
With her arms raised she would twirl around as if she was dancing with a partner in a slow methodical way. She would sway from side to side and spin around slowly.
She kept in perfect time with the music, and then one of the men started singing
in Spanish, a beautiful melody. It was then I notice she had her eyes closed as she
danced and it was at that moment I realized that though her body was dancing in
front of us, in her mind she was remembering a time in her life long ago when she danced to this as a younger woman. Maybe in was with her boyfriend or maybe in was with
her husband when they were a young couple. It was something so beautiful to watch.
She continured dancing and the men continued to sing and play. Then the song slowly started coming to an end and she slowly lowered her arms and stopped dancing as the song ended. For a brief second or two she just stood there, then she slowly reached down and picked up the bags, she turned and made her way across the square in the direction she had been going and disappeared into the evening.

I was not sure what to do. I just sat there for a few minutes and took it all in. I had just been privelged to watch a very personal moment for this woman.
Things kept running through my mind, wondering about her, her life, who she had been dancing with as we watched. El Pueblo is filled with many spirits of people from
the past. They are all around us as we visit there. But I witnessed what I felt
was a very special event, an old woman dancing with one of those spirits of the past,
and for those brief few minutes, she was in both worlds.

When you walk out the door in the morning and see this in the sky......








....just go back inside, have another cup of coffee, and stay home. It's NOT going to be a good day.