About to turn 44 and I feel that things that I thought would
never change did, in fact, change. I no longer seek fun new experiences the way that I used to. I
feel too old for Burning Man, for out of town music festivals, for any prolonged
gathering of intoxicated obnoxious happy young people. It’s not that I consider
the subject matter boring, on the contrary, if given a possibility of a
drone-view attendance, I’d happily join the fun. But now I find myself truly objecting
to being shoved, pushed, sneezed on, and otherwise affected by the “under-the-influence”
happy majority that these events gather. I no longer wish to come out of my comfort
zone, to get lost in the crowd, to disregard the annoyances as I submerge
myself in the environment. This realization makes me a little sad. It means
that by the time my daughter is old enough to enjoy these events for the first
time, I would not be able to show her the way, share the moment, or vicariously
live through her. It also means that I cannot take my husband to show him the
joys of my once vigorous youth. But, I suppose, this happens to everyone, and I
should feel grateful that my zest for vigor at least lasted all the way through
my thirties..
Friday, August 28, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Summa, summa, summa time!
I can hardly believe how fast this summer is flowing away from us. It seems only a week ago we were so proudly congratulating Sara on finishing the first grade with such excellent marks. And now i already have to start thinking about buying school supplies again.
I feel we haven't done enough yet: not enough trips, not enough summer activities.
Carlos and I managed to have a fabulous 10 day trip to Spain, visiting Barcelona and Madrid. We flew Air Berlin, which was cheaper than other airlines this time of the year, and were quite pleased with the flight. In Barcelona we used as our base for explorations Ella Hostel, which offered comfortable and friendly environment in a convenient location. The room was modest, but comfy, with a balcony and fresh air. The hosts of the hostel are fun girls from Portugal, they definitely added to our enjoyment of the place with their sunshiny attitude and helpfulness. We decided we would come back there again, when Sara is old enough to appreciate the culture. We found Barcelona to be a very pleasant city to just hand out in, so many cool and hip areas, and a nice waterfront. And, mountains of Montserrat are a train ride away, and offer breathtaking views, hiking opportunities, and nature all in one. We were glad to spend the bulk of our time in Barcelona, before heading to Madrid. Madrid proved to be much different in its nature and vibe. Although it holds all of the major art museums, there is actually much less there to see and do. Its a big city and a business center of the country, with more international options, more malls, more of that gentrification that we try so hard to get away from at home. Two takeaway thoughts about Spain: 1) we needed to visit other places of the country, since the culture there is very regional, the experiences in other cities would be undoubtedly unique 2) we need to be prepared with sightseeing agenda in advance, so that we can correctly identify how many days are needed in each location (on the last day in Madrid we spent the day sitting on a bench at the park drinking beer, which was fun, but we could have planned for a day trip instead).
Upon getting back to reality, we quickly shifted gears and went on a little mini-vacation with Sara to Lake Arrowhead, North Bay resort. The resort is pretty basic, with old furniture and outdated decor, but it has an indoor pool, a tennis court, a ping pong table, and a billiards, which was all quite plenty to occupy our time. The initial draw for me was the beach club membership, that allows you to use the lake (since Lake Arrowhead does not have a public lake access, that's the only was to swim in the lake). We were able to take advantage of it on one of the days, when thunderstorms stopped for a moment, giving way to beautiful warm sunny weather, just enough for us to enjoy the fresh lake water and relaxing beach. The thunderstorms though were not an obstacle, as we enjoyed a little hike in the rain, and then watched the sky light up from our balcony, while sipping wine and/or hot chocolate. Falling asleep to the sounds of rain is one of my most favorite things to do, so i am glad i got that chance again, and was able to share this beautiful experience with my family. Sara was interested in seeing the lightening, she was also curious about the strong rain storm. But i think she enjoyed the most just handing out, playing billiards, swimming, eating random snacks (which we normally do not practice) and just being away from home.
I feel we haven't done enough yet: not enough trips, not enough summer activities.
Carlos and I managed to have a fabulous 10 day trip to Spain, visiting Barcelona and Madrid. We flew Air Berlin, which was cheaper than other airlines this time of the year, and were quite pleased with the flight. In Barcelona we used as our base for explorations Ella Hostel, which offered comfortable and friendly environment in a convenient location. The room was modest, but comfy, with a balcony and fresh air. The hosts of the hostel are fun girls from Portugal, they definitely added to our enjoyment of the place with their sunshiny attitude and helpfulness. We decided we would come back there again, when Sara is old enough to appreciate the culture. We found Barcelona to be a very pleasant city to just hand out in, so many cool and hip areas, and a nice waterfront. And, mountains of Montserrat are a train ride away, and offer breathtaking views, hiking opportunities, and nature all in one. We were glad to spend the bulk of our time in Barcelona, before heading to Madrid. Madrid proved to be much different in its nature and vibe. Although it holds all of the major art museums, there is actually much less there to see and do. Its a big city and a business center of the country, with more international options, more malls, more of that gentrification that we try so hard to get away from at home. Two takeaway thoughts about Spain: 1) we needed to visit other places of the country, since the culture there is very regional, the experiences in other cities would be undoubtedly unique 2) we need to be prepared with sightseeing agenda in advance, so that we can correctly identify how many days are needed in each location (on the last day in Madrid we spent the day sitting on a bench at the park drinking beer, which was fun, but we could have planned for a day trip instead).
Upon getting back to reality, we quickly shifted gears and went on a little mini-vacation with Sara to Lake Arrowhead, North Bay resort. The resort is pretty basic, with old furniture and outdated decor, but it has an indoor pool, a tennis court, a ping pong table, and a billiards, which was all quite plenty to occupy our time. The initial draw for me was the beach club membership, that allows you to use the lake (since Lake Arrowhead does not have a public lake access, that's the only was to swim in the lake). We were able to take advantage of it on one of the days, when thunderstorms stopped for a moment, giving way to beautiful warm sunny weather, just enough for us to enjoy the fresh lake water and relaxing beach. The thunderstorms though were not an obstacle, as we enjoyed a little hike in the rain, and then watched the sky light up from our balcony, while sipping wine and/or hot chocolate. Falling asleep to the sounds of rain is one of my most favorite things to do, so i am glad i got that chance again, and was able to share this beautiful experience with my family. Sara was interested in seeing the lightening, she was also curious about the strong rain storm. But i think she enjoyed the most just handing out, playing billiards, swimming, eating random snacks (which we normally do not practice) and just being away from home.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Gymnastics, "for realz"
It has been exactly a year since our big move to Anaheim Hills. We have already become accustomed to our comfortable suburban life.
Sara has settled into a familiar routine at her school, has gotten to know more kids from the neighborhood and from the complex.
But this post is not about that, it is about Gymnastics. In July we enrolled Sari into Kips gymnastics, just to give it a try. The class was once a week, and Sara was entertained by it sufficiently to continue going. She was learning, getting some exercise, in the location and time that was convenient for our schedule. All was good, but, after a while, in September, i started to feel that Kips was more about phys ed, and less about actual gymnastics. I spoke to the school director and he suggested a different coach, which seemed to help, for the first month or so....We had to make a decision: wait until she is 7 to put her in Kips team, or go somewhere else. So, one fine day i took her to Yorba Linda Gymnastics Academy, which is a school ran by two Russian Olympian brothers. The brothers were out of town, so the girl i spoke to suggested i start with trying out Girls1 class. I watched painfully how for an hour her group-mates were fumbling with trying to perform the most basic moves that Sara could do months ago. After the class i spoke to the coach, she expressed reservations about Sara's readiness for Girls2, but suggested i speak to the head coach when he comes back. The following week, the head coach took Sara out to the floor to test her skills, he said, definite Girls2, and then added, "she is very strong, i think she will be good going competitive. Would you like to put her on the team?" I know it was all about Sara's arm strengths: she had done enough monkey bars to develop her arms enough for good bunch of pullups, -- all very valuable for gymnastics! It was all very exciting, but being on the team was a big commitment, 4 days a week, 2 hours a day. When i told Carlos about this, he got very excited. I had expressed my concerns about timing, about homework, about having enough time to cook and work, but we decided to give it a try and see how it goes. Ever since then we had been arranging our homework, our cooking and working around her gymnastics schedule. Sara's coach, coach Gulia, is a Russian lady with a heavy accent and a very Russian style of coaching: demanding, strong, and loud. I think as a byproduct of this, Sara has reached a better understanding of me and my style of communication. I also think the discipline of gymnastics is invaluable in teaching Sara the value of listening, of complying, of hard work, and personal excellence. I had been so pleased seeing her practice a move, learn it, perfect it, and show it off. Every time i see an improvement, i feel an immense sense of pride, and joy. Cheers to new successes!
Sara has settled into a familiar routine at her school, has gotten to know more kids from the neighborhood and from the complex.
But this post is not about that, it is about Gymnastics. In July we enrolled Sari into Kips gymnastics, just to give it a try. The class was once a week, and Sara was entertained by it sufficiently to continue going. She was learning, getting some exercise, in the location and time that was convenient for our schedule. All was good, but, after a while, in September, i started to feel that Kips was more about phys ed, and less about actual gymnastics. I spoke to the school director and he suggested a different coach, which seemed to help, for the first month or so....We had to make a decision: wait until she is 7 to put her in Kips team, or go somewhere else. So, one fine day i took her to Yorba Linda Gymnastics Academy, which is a school ran by two Russian Olympian brothers. The brothers were out of town, so the girl i spoke to suggested i start with trying out Girls1 class. I watched painfully how for an hour her group-mates were fumbling with trying to perform the most basic moves that Sara could do months ago. After the class i spoke to the coach, she expressed reservations about Sara's readiness for Girls2, but suggested i speak to the head coach when he comes back. The following week, the head coach took Sara out to the floor to test her skills, he said, definite Girls2, and then added, "she is very strong, i think she will be good going competitive. Would you like to put her on the team?" I know it was all about Sara's arm strengths: she had done enough monkey bars to develop her arms enough for good bunch of pullups, -- all very valuable for gymnastics! It was all very exciting, but being on the team was a big commitment, 4 days a week, 2 hours a day. When i told Carlos about this, he got very excited. I had expressed my concerns about timing, about homework, about having enough time to cook and work, but we decided to give it a try and see how it goes. Ever since then we had been arranging our homework, our cooking and working around her gymnastics schedule. Sara's coach, coach Gulia, is a Russian lady with a heavy accent and a very Russian style of coaching: demanding, strong, and loud. I think as a byproduct of this, Sara has reached a better understanding of me and my style of communication. I also think the discipline of gymnastics is invaluable in teaching Sara the value of listening, of complying, of hard work, and personal excellence. I had been so pleased seeing her practice a move, learn it, perfect it, and show it off. Every time i see an improvement, i feel an immense sense of pride, and joy. Cheers to new successes!
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