Monterey July 2009

Katie and I decided to take a trip to Monterey to visit her brother PJ and help him out with the kids while his wife, Allison, was attending a wedding out of state for the weekend. Dom and Jess have family in Monterey as well so we met up with them and had a jolly-old-time.

The drive up there was interesting. I got a chance to try out my father-in-law’s GPS (Global Positioning System). I was thinking about getting one myself. Katie typed in the address and it gave the directions, the mileage of the trip, and the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). In addition, it even talked to us and told us when to turn or what off-ramp to take. It did, however, speak in a geeky white dude’s voice. Isn’t there a model or feature where the GPS could talk to you in Angelina Jolie’s voice? How about Angelina speaking in French? I wouldn’t know what she’s saying but I also wouldn’t care. Is there a way I could copyright this idea?

Regarding the ETA, every time we got stuck in traffic the time would increase. Going through L.A. I thought I was stuck in freeway purgatory because the ETA remained four hours ahead of the current time for about two hours straight. Why do people have to use the freeway the same time I do? To compound the matter, there were three accidents on the way to extend the drive an additional three hours. Great. You might be saying, “What a jerk!” “What about the people involved in the accident?” Fair question- the first two accidences were fender-benders. Only the third accident might have been a serious one so I decided to make a compromise and only get mad at the first two. Fair? Fair. Moving on then.

Being in Monterey, CA for the weekend with friends and family certainly was quite the highlight of the summer. Any time I can get out of L.A. and appreciate God’s creation and simply sit back and take in all the beauty, I take the opportunity. I knew that in going to Monterey, that would be a given because I was well aware that it was a beautiful place. In fact, the first night we were there PJ and I drove to Kinko’s, and there was a deer there. How often could you say that happens in L.A.?

Our trip included a variety of activities- having breakfast in Carmel, sampling clam chowder on the wharf, and driving through Pebble Beach with Dom, Jess, and Laura and hiking Point Lobos and watching fireworks with PJ and the kids (Maddie and Grant).

To give you an idea of how the kids are here's Allison posted on my facebook page:

Ally: This morning....
(a few days before our trip)

Me: Hey, are you excited for Aunt Kate and Uncle Junior to come and spend time with you while Mom is gone this weekend?


Maddie: Wait Mom, wait.....Uncle Junior is going to take care of ME?


Me: Well, yeah-he and Aunt Kate and Dad.


Maddie: OH, so Aunt Kate will take care of us and Uncle Junior will play with us.


Me: I think you are right.



Meanwhile in the background...
Grant : (running around and yelling at the top of his lungs) Uncle Dunior! Uncle Dunior! Uncle Dunior!

I'm glad that they know my role in the family. Lets continue . . .

In hanging out with my brother-in-law PJ, I was surprised by something I wasn’t expecting to see, and no, it wasn’t the fact that he actually won a game of Settlers of Catan. It was his parenting skills. PJ’s kids, Maddie (4) and Grant (2), are wonderful children. But they’re still kids. What I mean by this is that no matter how wonderful kids may be you’re still going to have kids type of issues. For example, Grant blew up in the middle of the night both nights Katie and I were there. At those moments I said to myself, “I don’t want kids.” But of course I’m a jerk.

Both times, PJ patiently got out of bed and handled the “crisis” with care and grace. I’m not so sure I would’ve done the same thing. PJ would be firm and constant with both his kids making a clear line that they are not allowed to cross. Being a public school teacher I see the results of parenting everyday and lemma tell ya, it doesn’t always look great to say the least. Firmness and consistency coupled with gentleness and grace are things that parents struggle with whether they know it or not. PJ has a good grip on things.

At the end of each night, PJ would read a passage in the Bible and help his kids memorize a verse. He would also frequently ask questions pertaining to the passage to make sure the kids comprehended what was going on. I’ll have to try and top this with my own kid and have Junior Jr. memorize Greek paradigms and quote the Ten Commandments in the original Hebrew. Top THAT PJ!!!!

The nice example of parenting set by PJ was a nice surprise. I can only infer that he has learned these things from his father and is now passing down his godly heritage to his own children. Of course if you ask PJ himself he would admit that parenting isn’t always easy and that at times he struggles with the lack of time and freedom. What parent doesn’t struggle with that every so often? I struggle with the mere thought of that and I don’t have any kids yet.