Finale Friday

I’ve been hiding behind a Nikon dSLR for years.

Today marks the end of an (admittedly short) era: This is the final post of Random Snippets & Apertures, my fourth child.

After five and a half years, almost 1,400 blog posts (this is number 1,373, to be exact) and one name change (originally I called it “Get ’er Done,” not that I ever did), it’s time to move on to other writing and creative projects. I’ll miss posting in my tiny segment of the blogosphere, but it really is for the best.

Jake showed off his beautiful blue eyes in 2009.

I started Random Snippets & Apertures as a way of chronicling my family’s adventures. I wanted it to be a legacy for my sons. My first post was on January 5, 2009. At the beginning, Jake, my older son, turned 17, and was a high school junior.

He rocked a giveaway Houston Astros José Altuve jersey last Sunday.

Now he’s graduated from UTSA and is sharing an apartment in Houston with his best friend forever and our “third son,” Chase. He’s gone from student to working man.

C.J. in 2009 was unhappy that I snapped his photo.

Meanwhile, C.J., was a mere 13 and a half and in eighth grade way back when.

The bearded one was annoyed at Jake’s UTSA graduation. Some things never change!

As I blogged earlier this week, he just celebrated his 19th birthday. He finished up his freshman year at Sam Houston State with all A’s and a B. What a great transition for him!

As you can see, with both boys out of the house for much if not all of the year, my blog’s purpose is over. It’s as much fun to look back as it is to look ahead, especially for this sentimental mom who adores her sons to the moon and back.

So now it’s on to the next chapter . . . whatever that will be. Thanks for coming along for the ride, dear readers! Hope you enjoy your summer!!

P.S. The blog will remain here on WordPress; I just won’t be adding any new content to it (probably!).

Making Good On a Promise

C.J. is ready to blow out the candle on his mini pizookie during lunch at BJ’s.

Every so often, my ever-lovin’ though sometimes ornery younger son will look at me and say, “Remember my birthday last year? I still can’t believe we didn’t go to Dave and Buster’s.” Then cue the fake sigh.

As I cue my own real sigh, I must admit that I do feel bad about last year, even though C.J. and the rest of the Core 4 seemed to have a great time at Tilt Studio. Which is why I had promised him an eventual trip to D&B. Yesterday I fulfilled it.

The guys walk towards their world of fun.

Yep, my newly minted 19-year-old got to spend his birthday with his big brother and Ricky, Jared, and RJ at Dave and Buster’s in Houston. The Mister and I went along to act as chauffeur and ATM. Plus we always enjoy watching the guys have a great time. Which they did!

Sharpshooter!

Most of their $20 Power Cards were wasted spent on a couple of basketball games that they played numerous times. All five of them love to hoop it up.

It’s a handful.

One of the best parts for them, besides trash talking each other, was racking up tickets. Once all the money was gone, it was time to see how much they had earned.

As a veteran mom, I knew that most of the prizes were going to be lame and cost lots of tickets. D&B, after all, is just Chuck E. Cheese’s with better food and games and without the rat. But the guys still enjoyed checking out the store and picking out their rewards (except for Jared, who is saving up his winnings).

Jared, Ricky, C.J., RJ, and Jake pose with Bumblebee.

As we were walking out of D&B, C.J. said, “You know, last year’s place was okay. But Dave and Buster’s was a lot more fun!”

Glad you had a birthday that’s as wonderful as you are, my sweet son!

One-Word Wednesday

 

Jake snaps a photo of himself, Josh, Chase, and C.J. before going in to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The boys (plus Ben and Brandon) went on a buddy trip to San Antonio and Schlitterbahn last weekend.

Broventure!

One-Word Wednesday

The Mister, Jake, Josh, real mom Cindy, girlfriend Claire, and real dad Charles surround our “third son,” Chase, after he graduated from Rice University last Saturday.

Proud!

The leaning bros: Jake, Chase, and Josh

One-Word Wednesday

The Mister and I celebrated our anniversary at Hungry’s Café, where we enjoyed our first dinner together when we started dating in late 1988.

Twenty-four!

A lot has changed in 24 years for both of us. I had no gray hairs!

One-Word Wednesday

We posed for an official photo during spring break at Universal Studios.

Family!

The Astros’ Good Luck Charm

It’s been a long time since the Astros have been successful.

When I was a kid growing up on the north side of Chicago, I was a huge Cubs fan. My kid brother and I loved watching our beloved Cubbies play on WGN-TV and, occasionally, in person (my mom actually would take the four of us kids on the train to Wrigley Field on Ladies’ Days).

Back then one of my fondest dreams was to see a Cubs spring training game. I could just imagine traveling to Mesa, Arizona, to watch Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and the rest of my blue-clad heroes. Maybe I’d even be able to work up the courage to score an autograph or two!

The starting lineups

Fast forward to a week ago Sunday. My spring training game dream finally came true! However, this time it was in the Grapefruit League instead of its Cactus counterpart, as our family watched our Houston Astros play the Toronto Blue Jays at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, which is near Orlando.

When we were making plans for Jake’s last spring break, I pitched the idea of going to Universal Studios Orlando for a couple days. Then I threw in what I knew would be a home run: Watching our first spring training game. All four of us love baseball, so all of us were excited.

Too close for comfort?

At the Mister’s suggestion, I bought a fresh baseball in case the guys wanted to get autographs. What a great idea! Our seats were one row from the field next to the Astros’ dugout, which gave us a great, albeit potentially scary view.

The pen confuses Jonathan Singleton.

All of the players walked past us, with some of them stopping to sign. At first, C.J., who had the ball and the pen, seemed a little shy. But with prodding from his mom who didn’t want him to have any regrets, he stood up and handed the tricky SHSU pen and ball to Jon Singleton, our hopefully great first base prospect.

C.J. holds the ball with his first autograph.

After that, it was easier for him to ask. Plus our hometown heroes seemed glad that we cared.

Carlos Corporan, our catcher, gives the ball and pen back.

Up until that point, C.J. had told me he was sick of me snapping photos of him. But, suddenly, having his own personal photographer (I was wielding my small but mighty Nikon V1) was advantageous.

Thank you, Jarred Cosart!

What a great memory for my boys! I must admit I felt a pang of jealousy wishing that had been me back in the 1960s.

Rudy Owens, who was the starting pitcher, will begin the season in the minors.

When the game finally started, we couldn’t help but notice that even though this was the Astros’ home park, we were surrounded by Blue Jays fans. We had seen cars in the parking lot with Ontario license plates, so it looks like Canadians also like to travel to Florida to watch baseball. They cheered loud and long for their favorite team.

The Astros’ mascot Orbit was large and in charge.

Some aspects of the game reminded us of the Sugar Land Skeeters, our town’s Atlantic League team. There were condiment and tricycle races, as well as Orbit the mascot mixing things up with the fans. You can’t beat fun at the ballpark, spring or summer!

One thing that was odd, though, was what happened during the game. After watching the Blue Jays plate two runs, the four of us visited the team shop. When we got back to our seats, we were surprised to see the score was 2-2. At no time did we hear the crowd yelling about a two-run Astros’ homer. Weird.

After the Jays went up 3-2, we made our usual early exit in the bottom of the eighth to beat the traffic and head to Orlando and the Hard Rock Hotel. So imagine how shocked we were when we found out that the good guys actually won 4-3! We spent all that time at the game without seeing the Astros score a run. Talk about your reverse good luck charms!

Our family selfie (the sun was so bright!)

Don’t be surprised if the Astros pay us to stay away from the games this season!

Then and Now Screaming

The boys’ hair is windswept as they ride the Incredible Hulk roller coaster.

As I perused a Universal Studios Orlando guidebook in advance of our recent spring break vacation, my stomach started feeling queasy. Just the descriptions of the rides, which I figured my sons would love, made me stop and ponder the wisdom of trying to enjoy myself in a theme park.

It made me think back to when I was eight or nine years old, riding the venerable Tilt-A-Whirl for the first . . . and last . . . time. I screamed so loudly at those first couple whirls that the operator stopped the ride and escorted me off. It was extremely clear to all—especially everyone else I traumatized—that going around in circles was not my cup of tea (as well as heights and sudden accelerations).

Since then I’ve been understandably wary of amusement parks. But when you have two boys who got their father’s love-those-thrills gene instead of my totally-chicken one, it’s important to take one for the team every now and then.

So embarrassing! Poor Jake had to sit next to me.

I present for your humble consideration Exhibit A above. This was the Test Track ride at Disney World, our 2003 spring break vacation. I wanted to put my (obviously bogus) bravery literally to the test (track), agreeing to go on the ride one time. As you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed it (ha ha!) and never rode it again (but the boys did, going on it six more times).

So why in the world did I think I could actually go on a ride at Universal? Because I foolishly figured that the one I chose, Men In Black: Alien Attack, was like the innocuous Buzz Lightyear arcade ride at Disney World. I loved that one! I went on it multiple times with nary a whimper.

Know what? It wasn’t the same at all.

I appear ready for action . . . but looks are deceiving.

The guidebook said that there were several spins during the ride. However, it did not describe them in their more accurate term: Death whirls! Oh, my goodness! The devil must have designed this torture trap.

As my head went one way and my stomach the other, I remembered something that C.J. had told me. He said that when he started screaming during the ups and downs, roller coasters weren’t as scary. So guess what I did. Yep, I screamed through every revolting revolution.

I definitely felt better. However, certain other occupants of the car were mortified! But just for awhile. Since then they’ve teased me about my bellowing bout many, many times.

At least it made for a great story for them to tell . . . probably forever!

Yay!

No flipper (temporary tooth) = no smile

It may not look like it, but Jake really is excited to be on spring break from UTSA (he has no classes today plus he came home early). Now all we need is for his little brother to finish his classes (he has a history test today, which I think is kind of mean) and drive home from SHSU this afternoon.

Then their week off can truly begin! Along with all of their chaos and clutter, which is what I plan to enjoy while I can.

Jake’s last spring break . . . who woulda thunk it?!?

A Taylor Swift Birthday

Jake and I when he was 10 months old

Today is this guy’s 22nd birthday.

The brothers

This guy’s brother came in from SHSU this weekend to help him celebrate.

Jon, Tanner, Josh, C.J., Chase, and Jake

This guy’s friends helped make the weekend memorable (bowling, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” [loved it!], and iHop Friday with gaming Saturday).

Yes, this guy, aka my older son, who was the highlight of 1992, is one of the brilliant lights of my life, the person who changed me into a mom. I am truly blessed!

And I’m infinitely glad that this guy decided to start smiling for photos! Dance like you’re 22, my sweet boy . . . because you are!!