Children Are Amazing!!

Children do funny things, crazy things, dumb things, smart things, things that make us angry, things that make us proud, things that make us remember, things that make us forget, they are medicine when we are sick, happiness when we are sad, they are energy when we are tired, they calm us when we are mad.
If only I could still see everything like my daughter sees things.....If only I could act  like she does ALL the time.....
Every Loving parent wants to brag about thier child and thinks they are special, and they are.  All children are special. They are us, they are our past, they are our future. They ground us, they lift us. We should be thanking them for all they do for us....
So here starts my bragging about my daughter for just a bit. I am so lucky to have NEVER been one of those parents that can't wait to have "time away" from her. I have never needed "a break". Parents have told me over and over "just wait", "you'll see", that has not happened yet. No terrible two's, no loss of sleep, no terrible anything. She is 5 now, and I still have never not wanted her company. I take her everywhere. If I have to work on my car she is there learning and holding bolts for me, if I am building something she is there learning and helping, if I go shopping she is there, if I am doing yard work she is helping (usually picking the weed flowers before I mow them).  Which brings me to the reason I was inspired to write this today. Did I mention children inspire us?
Anyway, I was walking my daughter to her classroom today and on the way she pulled the one and only little flower out of the middle of a bunch of weeds and gave it to me to "have for the day to think about her". It was all I could do to not shed a tear...
Man, if only we could apply that thought process to our adult lives. I saw a weed that I would have stepped on with no thought. She saw something beautiful to give to her Dad.
My child sees everything from me as a gift. If it is a chore, she's thankful I asked her to help, if it's a toy she's thankful I thought of her. Wow, how can I see things that way????  Her new  thing to tell me is "Daddy, I love you so much I can't stop saying it". I can honestly say I don't believe anyone has ever loved me that much. If that isn't inspiring I don't know what is.
I know there are parents out there that have children that drive them crazy. They can do things that down right make your skin crawl. All I can say is try to laugh with them. It will change things. When they see you laughing it's like a light bulb going off in thier heads. You can become so much closer to them by involving yourself in what makes them laugh! You can get mad at whatever they did and add that anger to the rest of your lifes angers or you can laugh it off, clean it up, fix it, whatever... and give them a big hug and enjoy the craziness! Become a child yourself if even for a minute.....

P.S.
Bye the way, that tiny little weed flower is in a shot glass of water because I just know she is going to ask me about it later.

"Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway".....

One of my favorite T shirts I saw in Key West said "Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway".....

I eat pretty healthy only because the chips happens to fall that way. I grill most of my food so that fat drips away for all you fat watchers (not that I care) I love the fat, especially the skin on whatever! I just like grilled food over oven food. I love seafood and it just so happens most seafood is good for you. I grew up on roast Pork, seafood, and rice and beans.

I have always been a good cook because I learned from my Mother and Grandmother. My Grandmother Blanca Avael (God bless her Soul) used to cook at a restaurant in Key West named "The Fourth Of July". Most Conchs will remember this place. There used to be lines waiting all the way down the street and around the block just to get some of her food.

At her home she had three Bustelo cans full of lard.Yes LARD. One for fish, one for chicken, and one for beef. Yes she re-used this lard over and over. She also had three different cast iron skillets to match the lard. I still remember the backwards box fan in the window sill to blow the smoke out when she was cooking. It used to bring the neighbors running over! She made the best of whatever she was cooking. I miss her so much. Every time I cook something, I think of her.

We grew up on this supposedly unhealthy food but lived pretty long lives. My Grandfather Julio Avael into his 90's. My Uncle Raul smoked 1-2 packs of unfiltered cigs per day and ate the same food. He also lived a long life. 

Even today, I have family members in the medical field that believe without a doubt, what you eat, can kill you. Sorry, I don't believe it. I think it's how you grow up and how you live. I don't mean what you eat or how you exercise. I mean HOW YOU LIVE. Stressful life? early death in my opinion. Get rid of that stress and laugh more and you will live longer. Google it for crying out loud, if you don't believe me.

I also believe it's WHERE you live. My Family for the most part grew up in Key West. An Island life that was laid back and easy going. Everyone worked hard and pitched in, and at the end of the day, Family is what mattered. Not style, or fashion, or TV, or Money. We always had enough and we all always shared. There was something about catching all that seafood yourself and eating it fresh, that just made it all the better. I remember riding my bicycle with a mask, fins, snorkel, and a spear. I would catch dinner only a few yards away from the beach, in a matter of minutes. I miss that sand so much.
Conch Shells that you can't even touch these days? Hell, I stepped on more than I could eat right off the beach. Lobster that you all pay so much money for? I ate so much of it for free to make you jealous.

We also ate a lot of fruit. Not from the grocery stores either. Straight from the trees. Fresh picked mangoes hanging over my Grandmothers fence from the neighbors yard daily. Coconuts straight from the trees, simply because it was fun to climb the trees and they were delicious, tamarinds right off of her back yard tree, and my favorite one, also from the trees in her yard......Mamoncillos. Again, if you don't know what they are...Google them. Conchs know, Sweet and delicious.
I just relived a great part of my growing up, and I understand the style is not for everyone. Especially athletes that require "special" diets. All I'm saying is relax people and eat what you like, laugh more, and find a way to rid yourself of useless stress. Exercise is still important. I just used to get it diving, spearfishing, and climbing coconut trees!

mamoncillos

Traffic Jams

There are only a few things in this world I can think of that I dislike more than traffic jams! It turns every day normal people into Monsters! They stress you out, especially if you're late getting somewhere. Hell, people that don't even curse start throwing out the "F" Bombs! Then there are the idiots that think cutting you off will get them to their destination faster. Then the salt in the wound, a guy on a bicycle goes zooming by you! with that damn grin on his face! ARGHHHH

Well, one day me and my therapist...my 4 year old daughter (she's 5 now), were stuck in a major traffic jam. I just said out loud "look at all this traffic"! My therapist...I mean my daughter, says "Daddy, it's not traffic. It's a car parade". I love parades! To this day, whenever I get stuck in traffic, I remember that it's a "Car Parade" and for some unexplainable reason I feel all better!

We do our best to teach our children everything. I guess sometimes THEY can teach us things.