Rituals are an important aspect of life. More than routine, rituals often offer a sense of comfort, familiarity, and mark important passages of time. Over the past few months while Rich has been gone, TJ and I have developed a special Saturday morning ritual: our weekly trip to Hyde's Diner.
How lucky are we that our house is literally 300 steps away from a good, mom and pop greasy-spoon diner? We love it. Its on the corner of our cross street and is built from a single wide trailer and an addition to accommodate the kitchen. It is truly Americana at its best. I am not a big coffee drinker, but Rich will even attest to the fact that the coffee is strong and diner quality "bad"-- whatever that means.
Our family would frequent this diner before Rich's deployment. We know the waitresses. We know the owner. We'd recognize the faces of other patrons. But now, with TJ in tow every Saturday, I can say that I feel like a "regular" and a new sense of community has developed as a result.
Our waitress is usually a young woman by the name of Jessica. She has two children herself, so we often compare notes and cute stories about our children over the week. Without asking, she knows to bring me a diet soda, a small cup of water for TJ, and to bring out the toast as soon as it is ready. TJ and I share our usual breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. I eat the pancakes, and believe it or not, TJ usually eats everything else. Man, this kid sure can wolf down his sausage links. He loves 'em.
The owner stops by our table gives TJ a high five and always remarks on how well behaved he is. Another waitress who has a nephew in Afghanistan makes sure to pop by and ask what the latest is from Rich. We both share our count down dates until our loved ones are home. We then shake our heads and both say, "not soon enough."
Every other week there is a "girls morning out" table of middle-aged women. Apparently they get together every so often on Saturdays to dish the latest dirt on their neighbors, share stories about their kids, and complain about their husbands. Cortland's own "Desperate Housewives". If I have the option, I will take an open table next to them just so that I can eeves drop! But more than just listen in, I am also starting to interact more with the other patrons as we start to see the same people week in and week out. They usually comment about TJ (he is an easy conversation starter) and we go from there.
TJ feels right at home at Hyde's. He gets oodles of attention, has great food, and has even ventured back to the kitchen to blow a kiss to the short order cook in appreciation. I think he is well on his way to being a diner regular in his adult life too.
I appreciate this sense of community while Rich is away. It is something I look forward to. It is nice to feel connected in my neighborhood-- even if the conversation is full of small talk. Coming every week helps me appreciate the small town nature of Cortland. And it has also been a way to mark the completion of yet another week on our own.
Thank you, Hyde's for sharing your Saturday mornings with TJ and I. We look forward to seeing you in a couple of days!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Travel, Thanksgiving, Weddings and Basketball
TJ is a bi-coastal traveler. In the last 12 days he has boarded 6 different planes, rode on 5 different shuttles, slept in 5 different cribs, and explored various nooks and crannies of 4 different airports. And through it all TJ was a trooper. I could not have hoped for a better traveling companion.
This Thanksgiving TJ and I went to Nashville first to meet his Great Uncle Bob and Great Aunt Janet, hang out with Grandma and then travel to San Francisco to be a part of the Barnett-Raijmara wedding. Sure it was exhausting, but with TJ being such an extrovert, he loved meeting so many people and getting so much attention.
One of his favorite parts about Nashville was playing with all of the musical toys at the McKeown's house. You know those "press my foot or hand and I will move, dance, and sing" toys? Uncle Bob and Aunt Janet have over eight of them. TJ learned how to operate each one and to dance along. Of course he also liked hanging out with their pet bird, Valentine, who by the way has free reign to hop out of his cage and walk all over the dinner table during meal time. What a sight.
The long flights back and forth to California went very well. He did a good job of napping and reading books with mommy. I found it particular that he actually preferred to sit in his own seat than on mommy's lap (yes, I did get him is own seat so we could strap the car seat in-- good move). He LOVED looking out the window when we were still at the airport to look at the other planes and all the little cars and luggage trains driving around. He would get so excited. During stretch breaks when we would walk up and down the aisle of the plane he would blow kisses to everyone who smiled at him. And yes, he stole many hearts while flying. "Is he always that happy?" people would ask. I had the great opportunity to brag and say, "yes, and I feel very blessed."
I am so thankful that TJ got to spend a good deal of time with his Grandma. I think they really hit it off. It was fun to see TJ run up to Grandma and give her hugs around the legs. I really counted on my mom to help with the travel and play fill in parent when I was busy with wedding stuff. Thanks, mom. I appreciate all the help.
Thanksgiving involved a good nap, a good meal, and good company. Isn't that what the day is all about? We joined the Raijmara and Barnett clan had had our Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant. It was nice not to worry about the cooking with so many other things going on. TJ had some turkey, but turned his nose up to the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie (thats my boy!).
TJ also got to dress up and go to his first wedding. He was able to be there for the start of the ceremony and apparently wanted to run down the aisle after the bride. Grandma held him back. He was able to run around on the lawn with all the other kids during cocktail hour. He sat through the entire reception without a care. He even had his first official dance with his mommy. He was an excellent dance partner.
And to conclude our adventures, the first night we got home we were able to go to the Syracuse vs. Cornell basketball game in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. We had third row seats. Man, I could see the sweat fall off of the players faces, we were that close. How excited was I to share my love of college hoops with my son in this way. He would clap when everyone around him clapped. He even ate the standard stadium hot dog. TJ's first basketball game was a good one.
How wonderful that I have such an easy going, good natured child. It makes adventures such as the one we just had much easier. He makes me laugh, smile, and count my blessings each and every day.
This Thanksgiving TJ and I went to Nashville first to meet his Great Uncle Bob and Great Aunt Janet, hang out with Grandma and then travel to San Francisco to be a part of the Barnett-Raijmara wedding. Sure it was exhausting, but with TJ being such an extrovert, he loved meeting so many people and getting so much attention.
One of his favorite parts about Nashville was playing with all of the musical toys at the McKeown's house. You know those "press my foot or hand and I will move, dance, and sing" toys? Uncle Bob and Aunt Janet have over eight of them. TJ learned how to operate each one and to dance along. Of course he also liked hanging out with their pet bird, Valentine, who by the way has free reign to hop out of his cage and walk all over the dinner table during meal time. What a sight.
The long flights back and forth to California went very well. He did a good job of napping and reading books with mommy. I found it particular that he actually preferred to sit in his own seat than on mommy's lap (yes, I did get him is own seat so we could strap the car seat in-- good move). He LOVED looking out the window when we were still at the airport to look at the other planes and all the little cars and luggage trains driving around. He would get so excited. During stretch breaks when we would walk up and down the aisle of the plane he would blow kisses to everyone who smiled at him. And yes, he stole many hearts while flying. "Is he always that happy?" people would ask. I had the great opportunity to brag and say, "yes, and I feel very blessed."
I am so thankful that TJ got to spend a good deal of time with his Grandma. I think they really hit it off. It was fun to see TJ run up to Grandma and give her hugs around the legs. I really counted on my mom to help with the travel and play fill in parent when I was busy with wedding stuff. Thanks, mom. I appreciate all the help.
Thanksgiving involved a good nap, a good meal, and good company. Isn't that what the day is all about? We joined the Raijmara and Barnett clan had had our Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant. It was nice not to worry about the cooking with so many other things going on. TJ had some turkey, but turned his nose up to the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie (thats my boy!).
TJ also got to dress up and go to his first wedding. He was able to be there for the start of the ceremony and apparently wanted to run down the aisle after the bride. Grandma held him back. He was able to run around on the lawn with all the other kids during cocktail hour. He sat through the entire reception without a care. He even had his first official dance with his mommy. He was an excellent dance partner.
And to conclude our adventures, the first night we got home we were able to go to the Syracuse vs. Cornell basketball game in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. We had third row seats. Man, I could see the sweat fall off of the players faces, we were that close. How excited was I to share my love of college hoops with my son in this way. He would clap when everyone around him clapped. He even ate the standard stadium hot dog. TJ's first basketball game was a good one.
How wonderful that I have such an easy going, good natured child. It makes adventures such as the one we just had much easier. He makes me laugh, smile, and count my blessings each and every day.
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