Yesterday was a good day all things considered. I had planned on attending my grandaughter's dance recital but it turned out that I had other plans. (tongue pressed firmly against cheek) David's eldest, Jason, wanted nothing to do with such girly things so he decided that spending the evening at gramps would be his best option. Dave and Sue usually would have insisted that he go with them, but he was most persistant. So old gramps had to miss one of the highlights of his grand ones young lives. I was a bit annoyed at first but then I thought, "Well I don't get all that much alone time with Jason, so this will be good too." There will be other recitals and I could see the whole thing later on video. David's not much for just dropping the kids off without significant advance warning, so he was profusely apologetic when he escorted Jason to the door. I told him not to fret over it, we'd have a fine time. And we did.
Jason, now thirteen, surprised me somewhat with his 'mastery' of the english language by using a few expressions I hadn't heard from him before. Nothing bad, simply teenspeak for the most part. It seems I have yet another one growing too big for his breeches. He's a bit more outgoing when his older cousins aren't around. It was good to see that aspect of the lad. He's my reader though. He nearly always has a book in front of him, even while watching television. Hell, I've seen him playing a video game and reading at the same time. Kids are facinating to watch. He's also my athelete. He plays soccer, wrestles and plays baseball in jr high. His older cousins played sports when younger, little league, soccer and such, but once they hit jr high they favored the arts more than sports, both being in the school band and chior. Nathaniel is the photographer of the family, he gets that from his dad. Aaron is the sketch artist. Some of his work is rather interesting. I can envision him with a career in graphic design at some point. Hmmm! They could use a couple good artists at the office from what my son's tell me. They recently lost one of their best artists to an ad firm in the city. I wasn't surprised, the young man had been talking about making such a move for two or three years. The draw of big city life finally became strong enough for him to make the move.
Today I had lunch at Dave and Sue's, viewed the videos of the recital and had a pleasant chat about family memories. I am finding it increasingly difficult to watch the grand ones grow up. I remember being impatient for the day when my own grew up, but with the grand ones it is different. I want them to stay young forever it seems. It's the old man in me I guess, or maybe it's the kid in me. One or.
After a pleasant afternoon with David and his I traveled the few blocks to Daniel and Janet's and had a light supper with them and the kids. I once again viewed videos of the recital as their youngest, Allicia is in the same dance class as David's girls. She, being the oldest of the three, was quite proud of her younger cousins. She didn't seem too impressed with her own performance however. She pointed out each and every mistake she had made during her routine. I was impressed over all with both her support of her younger cousins' and her critical eye toward her own.
After another pleasant visit, Nathaniel and l left for my place. He has convinced me to take him out in the morning for a round of golf. He has always told me that he doen't really like the game, but I suspect he has an alterior motive. There's something about being out on the course that tends to open a man up at times. And yeah, I have to admit that he is rapidly becoming my young man, replacing my little boy of not too long ago. We'll play the front nine at a local public course close by. He says he wants to play a full round but we'll see.
Nathaniel has long since gone to bed. Quite early for him really, but he has had a busy few days. He's been on three school field trips this past week alone, his favorite being the trip to a mid-sized theme park about eighty miles away with the high school honor society. I guess with the school year winding down they try to keep the kids as busy as possible, and of course reward them for certain achievements, I don't seem to recall this mad rush to fit in so many activities at the end of the year when mine were in school, maybe I was just too damn busy to notice and Edna dealt with it all. If that is the case I certainly have much to regret in that area. I know I missed a lot with my own.
Well, I have most likely put you all to sleep by now, so it is time for me to head off to bed. I have to resist the temptation to look in on Nate before retiring. He's not a little boy anymore.
