At JR's Work

5 Generations

I wish we could of gotten this pic before Grandmother was in the hospital.

Left to Right: Joseph (my dad), Uncle Leeroy (Dad's uncle), Zula (Leeroy's Mother), Filip (Zula's Great-Great-Grandson), Me (great-granddaughter)

Back Home

We got in around 11pm last night from Knoxville, TN. It was about a 9 hour trip, including our hour-long dinner break and stopping for gas.

I wanted Filip to sleep for the car ride, so I wore him out. I made him stay up late watching TV the night before. He woke up at his normal time anyway. Then we went on a long walk. He did a trip around both floors of the hotel, then he covered 3 parking lots. He played toys with the hotel manager and helped us pack the car. Then, we drove to the hospital, and he walked 4 floors of that. After lunch in the cafeteria, we were on the road at 2:30.

He slept the first 3 hours and woke up happy. After an hour of him being awake in the car, we took our dinner break. Then he watched me play video games and movies in the car for 2 hours, and fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Perfect!

Walk Walk Walk

Filip is sleeping better on this trip than at home. It's because I took him on 5 walks yesterday. He toddles all over the hotel property talking (jibber-jabber) his head off. Then, we went to the hospital, and he played animals with Grandmother and walked all over the floor she was on. Therefore, he slept through the night.
I think it also lends to him being self-disciplined. It's hard to go on a rampage when he has been walking and talking all morning. He's too worn out.

Not Home Sweet Not Home

Filip and I left town with my parents last night on short notice. My great-grandmother is in the hospital down here in Tennessee. This was the first time she's seen her great-great-grandson. She acts perky when we talk to her, but you can tell she's pretty sick. So we're going to be here for a few days and try to be of service to my great-uncle, who has been the only one there to care for his mother.

When JR and his boss got back in town, Ravi was talking how nice people are in Dallas. I notice that in Tennessee as well. In fact, whenever I leave town, I notice strangers are nicer there than at home. I love leaving the DC area!

I don't see actual rude people where I live that often. I believe my own attitude will have a bearing on what kind of expressions I see on other people. Therefore, I smile when I walk down the street, and greet people I pass. So most (not all but most) people I see, react friendly back. If I don't do this, the average person will just walk by without making any contact.

Whenever I go somewhere besides my area, I notice more people take the initiative to be friendly. Today, in the Knoxville TN hospital, I had young and old people, men and women strike up conversation with me! 4 people wanted Filip and I to sit and chat with them in their room.

In my experience, it hasn't been just in the South. I've visited Toronto, ON (Canada). People may be more reserved than in TN, but they smile. In upstate NY, people in stores will strike up conversation. I just don't see people smile as they walk down the street at home. It's rare for a fellow customer to chat with you in a store.

Granted, I may not have traveled extensively, so maybe my perspective is limited. But while I'm down here, I'm going to enjoy Tennessee people and their chatty ways. Besides, it kills time, which I have alot of in the hospital right now.

MST3K Candidate

Saw this movie last night. This is a great one to watch ironically. Even if you liked the movie seriously the first time, you should be able to make fun of it the second time.

It's 'Forrest Gump' meets 'A Beautiful Mind' meets 'Amadeus' meets 'Oliver Twist'.

It's about a boy who grows up in foster care because he was the product of a one-night-stand between a rock star and a concert celloist. He resists being placed with a real family, because he feels he can get back with his real parents through music. So he 'follows the music' to the streets of NYC and lives there for six months.

He gets discovered as a street musician and is accepted into Julliard without a real name, parents, address, phone number or a high school diploma. His Mom-turned-music-teacher finds out that he's actually alive during that short time that he is untrackable, living on the streets and studying in college. Or maybe he was living on campus for free? It dosen't matter. His Dad had given up playing in the band because he was so distraught over that one night and went into the business world.

So this is a family adventure of uniting the three through music and, you know, looking around for each other. It ends in an amazing climax of more music, and looking around and finding each other.

Yum