Fall 2012 slideshow

Thanksgiving stuff

Ariel and Chris arrived Thanksgiving day, after their connection in Houston was cancelled. They stayed overnight there, provided by the airline, but I think they were rerouted the next morning, hopping over New Mexico to Phoenix before getting to Albuquerque. Anyway, we managed to see them Friday, after they did a trail run in the foothills. We had lunch and a birthday cake for Ariel. We drove to Santa Fe, where we met Janey and Nikki, who took the train, and mostly wandered about the plaza. I tried to get reservations earlier at The Shed but the reserved block was booked through the weekend and we tried the walk-in route. The wait time seemed very foreboding but worked out well in the end. We managed to get a couple of tables in the bar area, and about the time we were into our second round of Margaritas and chips and salsa, they said they could serve us dinner there. (They made an exception, it seemed, because there was a snafu with another large party.) It worked out well and any doubts we had about the chilly day disappeared with the tequilla and food. On our way out, we walked through the plaza, which was bright with strings of lights throughout the trees.

Oh, we did stop as usual at J Crew, where both Cyndi and Ariel found some deals, while Chris and I took the boys to the toy store. Jackson found a $5 magnetic toy (Jack knew my limit, especially before Christmas) and Ry found a new play figure. Looked like the Riders of the Apocalypse, the horse and the rider sold separately. Combined, they were well above the limit. So Ry suggested just getting the horse, and getting the rider next time we are in Santa Fe. That was great. Chris was taking notes on possible Christmas gifts.  We also stopped for hot chocolate in the shop in the La Fonda, visited Cyndi's favorite shoe store, and sat in the basilica for a spell. Ariel and Chris found some New Mexico food gifts to take back.

Thanksgiving Day was pretty good. The weather was good. Ry and I got up about 5:30 to put the turkey in the oven. Cyndi had already pretty much taken care of everything else. So when it was time to take the turkey out of the oven, I first poured out the juice in one jar, the stock from the giblets into another jar, put the turkey in the back of the truck to rest, and we drove with Janey joining us. We played some travel bingo on the way, while the radio was already playing Christmas songs. This was Janey's second time playing with us.

I couldn't keep track of what the boys did. Jack was mildly disgruntled because we said no computer or other electronics on this trip. But I saw him having fun on a scooter later. Rylee loved  the turkey. It was one of the better family holiday meals. Good food, well organized and orchestrated by Cyndi. Everyone in good spirits. Ursula broke her wrist again from a fall, and Cyndi was quite concerned. In fact, she went back on Saturday to take care of her mother.

Ariel and Chris went to Ojo Caliente on Saturday and we saw them for a brief time on Sunday to get some coffee (and hot chocolates and scones for the boys) and take them to the airport, with a quick stop to buy a bag of whole red chiles.

They are planning to travel to Argentina (and Patagonia) for the Christmas holidays through New Year's.

Ry got a haircut the other day. It's very short. People comment on it all the time, but he loves it. Jackson seems very happy these days. While he knows my administrative password on the computer, he wanted to try his hand at hacking it anyway. It almost was a disaster, but we managed to repair the damage. The boys have been playing more indoors lately, lots of rambunctious running around and jumping on furniture. They came up with their own secret handshake.

Thanksgiving eve

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, plans are to spend the day cooking the turkey and then an early dinner in Belen with all the Sanchez family. Janey is coming today and will stay with us, along with Nikki. Ariel and Chris arrive today, too, and we will spend all of Friday with them. We're thinking about taking the train up to Santa Fe, have some good New Mexican, and maybe stay for the tree lighting on the plaza before heading back.

Jackson was very excited when he got home. He wanted to show me what he taught himself on the computer. Remember MS-DOS? Command prompts? Batch files? Okay, I don't remember much of that, but there he was coding commands, creating his own shortcuts, all sorts of little apps, if you will, on his computer. I told him he was now doing old school computer and getting into the guts. He was very excited, and I could understand why. He'd figured out something on his own.

Rylee, meanwhile, wanted to build a Lego flashlight, and seemed to concede to Jack's electronics expertise. But, of course, Ry just hasn't had the exposure yet.

I talked briefly with Beth. Mom, Dad, Lisa and Sarah will be there for Thanksgiving. I asked her to resend Eric's posts from Rome. I think it's okay to show his link. A very impressive tour of Europe. It sounded like the family (with Emily and Gary, too, of course...just wanted to include them here) was making holiday plans to all meet up in Europe for the holidays.

teacher conferences

Rylee has a bad cough. He woke up Wednesday morning, having trouble breathing. We stood in the hot steaming shower for a long time, and that helped. Thursday seemed better, but he woke up this morning again with troubled breathing. We did get the new Wimpy Kid book Wednesday night, and he finished it by Thursday night. He reads in the car; he reads in bed; he reads on the couch hunched over his book in his lap. Things like television don't distract him.

The boys had Thursday and today off from school. There were parent teacher conferences. Cyndi and I went this morning. Generally, good praise for both. I was glad to hear Jackson remains an active participant in class. He's been saying some of the children tease him, and I wondered how that was affecting him. I think it's a harbinger of what may be coming up in middle school. His teacher said his participation in class is very thoughtful, and he likes to help the other kids. I wish he enjoyed reading and writing more, but I don't remember doing a lot of reading and writing at that age either. He gets mathematics pretty easy. He apparently especially liked classroom projects about inventions and the Mars robot. And now they are reading about the Revolutionary War, and he seems to be getting into the book.

He's using a pretty basic laptop computer at home. Some might not even consider it a real computer. He's got it filled with coding software he's downloaded, as well as video editing software. He's been complaining about the computer speed, and I thought, oh-oh, we were headed to getting him a serious computer, maybe an Apple. Well, with persistence he figured out on his own how to use an SD card to boost the RAM on his computer. He's quite pleased; he even had to call me right away to tell me. Right now, we are actually chatting about it on our computers. So glad we don't have to get a new computer.

He had his soccer scrimmage this week. It was cold. He did great. He plays hard, skillfully, with enthusiasm. I love watching him. Afterward we went to Dion's, the pizza place, with his team and the other team and all the kids sat squished into one booth and told stories and jokes and had lots of boisterous fun, while the parents sat nearby.  Jackson was in the middle of it all. Nice kids, about even boys and girls, all around his age. Ah, nice to see him in his element.

I know Rylee is having a good year at school. He's always telling me little bits of what he's learning. You can tell that every new thing he learns makes a big impression on him. He retains the information--he must be listening--and likes to talk about it. The teacher said this is one of the best classes he's ever had. Ry tests right at the very top in mathematics, with perfect scores. The teacher is going to recommend Rylee for the enrichment program, which is what Jackson is doing now, too. I saw Ry's desk, too. It's the smallest, and sits right next to the biggest. I thought that was a bit unfair.

It's a quiet time for Rylee. No sports at the moment. Too cold this week to go out to play. Thanksgiving is next week. Ariel and Chris will be here, but probably won't be with us on Thanksgiving Day. It sounds like me and Cyndi will do most of the cooking here and then take it with us to Belen. That's okay. As Cyndi says, it mostly means all the good day-long smells won't be at Grandma's.

a weekend before Thanksgiving

Last weekend was one of those I often write about because not a lot happened. It started on Thursday, because Rylee just had to go to the bookstore to get another Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. He's reading those at a clip of finishing one every two days. He and I went next door to get a waffle iron at Sears. The two we had broke, and we found a new one on sale. Friday night we had waffles, bacon and eggs for dinner so we could try it out.

The weather changed from a string of 70s to a string of barely 50s, with freezing nights and even some wind and rain on Friday and Saturday. Saturday morning I ran two miles around the Academy track while Rylee ran up and down the football and soccer field, kicking a soccer ball. He probably ran two miles, too. We went to Whole Foods and bought some bread and sausage and juice, a honey stick and a small bottle of juice for Rylee. We cooked the sausage, sliced the bread and added some cinnamon sugar to the bread for breakfast.

Jackson had soccer after noon and for a while we weren't sure anyone was going to show up. It was very cold and blustery. We had on multiple layers, even stocking caps and mittens, and Ry wrapped up in the wool car blanket. Only six of our players showed up, just enough to field a team but with no chance of substitutions or rest. By the end, Jackson was bitterly cold and exhausted. We ended up getting hot soup and lunch at our usual Chinese restaurant. At some point, Rylee went with Cyndi to Target, for some clothes he wanted for school (skinny jeans) and yet another in the series of Wimpy Kid books. This he finished, again, in about 48 hours. I made chicken soup and we had that with the rest of the French country bread that evening. Jackson said he even loved the crust, "for some reason." Some lazy moments that day, watching movies.

It's the simple meals, waffles for Rylee, chicken soup for Jackson, that the kids really fill up on. They ate good at the Chinese restaurant, too.

Sunday, Cyndi's Aunt Lola had a memorial mass for her father, who died 30 years ago on Veteran's Day at the age of 89. She has done this from time to time, invites all the family to attend church with her and then takes everyone out for breakfast or lunch. We picked up Nikki and Cristina on our way to the Las Lunas church and then ate with the family, about 50 aunts, uncles, cousins, nephew and nieces at a nearby restaurant. Jackson was happy with a full-sized whole bean burrito with cheese and Ryee had a short stack. I'm sure Cyndi had huevos rancheros at her end of the table, while I had chicken enchiladas with potatoes and whole beans with red and green chile and a sopapilla with honey. When we were leaving, it was discovered that Elley's car had been broken into, the passenger window shattered. We cleaned that up and patched the window with a shower liner and duct tape from the supermarket across the street and we all got home safely.

Jackson gave a presentation that night, with charts and records, of his school work and test results, a self evaluation I presume in anticipation of parent-teacher conferences this week. He came home last night, very unhappy about a substitute teacher, with lots of homework. He and I spent a lot of time together, figuring out fraction and ratio and percentage problems that were new and then reading the opening chapters of a fictional account set in the time of the Revolutionary War. It was fun for both of us. He loves the chance to talk about stuff.

Have I mentioned enough how affectionate Jackson and Rylee can be? How smart they are? How they are growing up so well?

Ariel and I tried to talk on the phone but it got cut off. She and Chris will still be coming out to New Mexico for Thanksgiving, which is also the time of her birthday.

a short update on Sandy, soccer, and the wimpy kid

I talked briefly with Ariel on Sunday as she and Chris were looking for water in Manhattan. The power was off all week in New Jersey where they stayed with Chris's aunt and they returned on Friday or Saturday but the towers they live in along the East River are still without power and water and it may be a couple of days before power is restored. They may be among the last buildings on Manhattan to get their power and water back. There are no working elevators, so whatever water they found they will have to carry up many flights of stairs. I couldn't talk long, because she was saving the phone battery.

Jackson had another soccer game Saturday afternoon. He has two more before the season ends. His team, Germany, was well matched against the other, Manchester, and I overheard the coach for Manchester was suggesting the two teams play again during the week for a scrimmage. Nice idea. The coach is very excited about Jackson's play. He says he plays very aggressively and likes to play him at midfield so he plays both defense and offense. Jackson tires out after a while and likes to switch at goalie. It was Jackson's day for snacks, and he wanted what Rylee did for a recent baseball snack: a baggie of pretzels, a maple icing shortbread cookie, and a couple of ginger snaps, with bottles of gatorade. The team needed it at half time. When he's not playing soccer, he's almost always on the computer, doing some tricky stuff. One new "game" he likes is Minecraft.

Rylee often plays on Cyndi's iphone or on an ipod when he's not rollerblading outside (or in the house). On Saturday afternoon, he and I went to the bookstore because he wanted "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." He's read a couple in the series already. It's about a mid schooler, and the books are reserved for 4th and 5th graders in his school's library. By Sunday afternoon, he had finished the book.

We saw Hotel Transylvania at the movies together on Sunday. Fun movie. A beautiful weekend, by the way. Ry and I spent Saturday outside working around the yard, painting some lanterns, after we went to early voting. We went to dinner with Nikki after the soccer game and wandered around ABQ Uptown, where the boys check everything out at the Apple store and I talked to the candidate for congress, whom I knew from school. At dinner, the boys sat by each other, very well mannered, lots of talking between them, oblivious to the rest of us. Ry had a small plate of buttered pasta, which he ate between talking with Jack and reading his new book. Jackson tried the black bean soup and some meatballs, but both were mildly spicy and his palate is still not ready. The clocks changed that night.