On The Road Again

Yep, that's me riding. What you can't see the smile on my face?
Oh yes it really was long overdue but last week my FatBoy was finally serviced and is now back on the road. When I received the first phone call from the dealership and they asked me how long it had been out of service I told them a little bit over three years. Well Mr. Joe Cool the bike won't start, and it's not because your battery is dead but due to it being parked for so long... And so it started, the long list of things that needed to be replaced. Brittle hoses, blown lamps, dead battery, fluids and on and on and on.

On Saturday I received another call this one was bitter sweet. Bitter because I knew the big hole that my pocked was about to acquire, but sweet because finally the FatBoy would be on the road. "Mr. Joe Cool, your bike is ready, you may pick it up at your convenience". I drafted my daughter Nikki to give me a ride to go pick it up. "So dad how long has it been since you last rode it?" Nikki asked. "Well baby, I can tell you exactly the last day I rode it. It was a Friday, I rode it to work, then rode back home, parked it, got on my car, picked junior up, and we were on our way to California for your wedding". "Dad, that was FIVE years ago!".

Poser? I think not. But I did pose for this picture. lol
So while at the counter going through all the damage Nikki says. Dad are you going to come out clean and tell them the truth. She tells the guy at the counter it had been five years since I started it. The guy at the counter laughs and says, we figured on five to six years. lol

How did I go without riding for that long is beyond me. But boy I mounted that thing and got it on the freeway and it felt as if I had just ridden it recently. I added the insurance, got it through emissions, renew my tags, and now I am legal to ride it again. Needless to say I already rode it to work once.

Arizona Bike Week is about to begin and I intend to do a ride or two. I deserve it for being so patient. Who knows maybe even do Laughlin and Sturgis this year, yep I'm going all out, got lots of ground to recover and ride.


.

"J" is for Jikes!

JIKES!

Jikes! But Sexy.
Jikes! is what I say everytime I see this image.

And "J" is also for... Well me! Jose.
Joe Cool.

.

The Choirboy Saga Continues...

Well as you all know by now "Little Joe" is out the crock pot is bravely facing this world. The first of three to come this year. Numero ocho as I affectionately called him before. Nine and ten are soon to follow, and when it's all said and done it will be ten for 2010.

I couldn't be at church on Friday's mass to sing with the choir but I was told that they (the choir) dedicated the performance first to God and then to Ramon Jose. How awesome is that? Mass was at 7:00 pm and he was born at 7:15 pm on St. Joseph's day.

This coming Thursday we will be having a mass and it's dedicated to all moms but specially to all pregnant women. I have invited my daughters to go at leas one has confirmed she will be there. Staying busy obviously has not been an issue with me.

This last two weeks will be our busiest. And for Good Friday we will sing mass completely a Capella, now that will really be interesting but I can't think it will go wrong, the music is inside all of us anyway, so I am really looking forward to it.

Being in the choir is not as much a challenge as I first thought as it is a pleasure just being able to serve and to be a part of it. My sister did tell me I would feel something like that. She wasn't wrong.

He's never led the Benediction
He never sang in the choir
But he's an angel with no halo
And one wing in the fire.

.

What a Saturday!

Ah, my FatBoy is so ready to hit the road with his master.
Well, the FatBoy still did not make it to the shop but it's getting closer. Maybe by Monday at the latest it should be on it's way to being road worthy again. Too many cool rides coming up, bike nights are just popping up everywhere and I am so itching to ride.

So this morning as a warm up we drove to Arrowhead Harley Davidson just to window shop and dream a little. It is my hobby to try for size all the bikes I like but in the end I opt that my 94 FatBoy is still a great looking bike.

We got hungry so a quick stop at Hooters for hot wings was required. My oh my, what great looking wings (wink, wink) yep, can't eat just one. Spring training has started so there was a lot of traffic and add to that an Chili Cook off at Arrowhead HD and yes, there was plenty so see. But did I mentioned what great looking wings they had there?

Here's the proper way on how to eat wings, sauce all over the cheeks.
When I returned home my youngest daughter was here and she volunteer for us to go out and do something. But first I had to take a nap. lol Couple of hours and a shower later we were on our way. I chose to go to Target as I needed some things and we just totally made an outing out of it.

Nikki just being... well Nikki.
We came back home and we were on our lap tops listening to music and what not, when I decided I was hungry. Technology being as advance as it is I sent her a Facebook comment asking her if she was hungry, never mind she was only four feet away from me. She quickly replied and in a matter of minutes we were on our way. There's this place that has the best tortas around and if I was not going to have tacos it had to be those tortas. I opted for a torta de milanesa, she opted for the same except while mine was beef hers was chicken. I'm telling you these tortas are to die for. To wash them down they also sell the best aguas frescas I had a fruit punch and Nikki the melon flavor, both ummm ummm good.

So I had my cheese smile and she said it looked creepy. Ummm I just don't see it. lol
After that we said goodbye and were on our way home. What a nice Saturday filled with family and friends time.

.

Blessings

Isn't she lovely?
Oh yes, today is the day. My little numero ocho should be here soon. I just got word from my son that they just got to the hospital, ummmm I wonder is they made a pit stop to stop for some food, that seems to be popular with him. "What? Me,having a kid on an empty stomach, never!" of course that was Juan talking and not Jennifer. lol

So I'll be doing this post in pieces and bits so make sure to catch up with any addendum to it, for now suffice to say that I am overjoyed to know that my grandson is almost here. Oh and by the way I believe if it's a boy he will have my name... I think! So I am crossing my fingers and cheering for a boy, je je je but if it's a girl I'll thank God just the same, after all it is the girls that are my little magnets.

Two of my three crock pots.

From where you are baby, I know your hand will be there holding Jeniffer's legs and telling her to push and breathe and push again. Send your blessing to us and pray all goes smoothly as in the previous times. We miss you but I know you are with us.

Ja,ja, ja, I was right they stopped to eat at a restaurant before checking in. I left the house at around 11:00 am and almost made it to the hospital when I realized I too was starving so I stopped at a McDonalds and got me a Fillet-O-Fish, and a coffee. When I finally got to the hospital Linda and Fred were already there. Kika showed up half an hour later and so we all went to the cafeteria to eat.

There were no delivery rooms available so we were in this small but cozy room waiting, and waiting, and waiting, finally hours later two rooms became available, so we all went to this room which happened to be the very same room where Juanito was born. Linda right away said, "Yes, indeed Sylvia is with us today". So how cool is that Juanito and "Little Joe" (je, je, je, I'll call him that, you all can call him Ramon) were born in the same room.

Kika stepped up to the plate and did exactly what Sylvia would have done. I believe she said it was an experience for her too. When we were finally allowed to come back into the room we just took that opportunity to introduce ourselves to the new little bundle of joy whom by the way is a mini Brianna/Juanito. These kids cannot deny eachother, they all look alike.

Calm and collected she waited for the moment when "Little Joe" would come.
Waiting is for the birds, we'll just text the whole world in the meantime.
I was going to say the happy couple but Juan's face...

World may I present to you my grandson Ramon Jose Melo. "Little Joe" the world.

Grandpa, "Little Joe", and daddy.
The other grandpa, the better looking grandpa, "Little Joe", and daddy again.
Hi tia Kika, thanks for helping my momma.
Tia Kika, grandma Linda, and "Little Joe".
Tia Kika and "Little Joe".
Hello son!

.

Just Bare With Me

I know I have been absent from blogging, trust me it's not laziness as many times I open up the page but when I stare at the text square my mind is blank. I continue to do the things I love and family gatherings happen almost every weekend but then again what else is new. Exactly, nothing is new and that is just the point, life kindda becomes a routine where friends and family almost predict what the next move is going to be. I found out today that I am that predictable and it got me thinking that something has to change.

Realizing that 50 isn't really old is cool then bam all of a sudden you think darn I am 50 and that isn't really young either. I have my beard which actually has been with me almost like forever, OK that is an exaggeration, but at least since I was sixteen or so. I can count with one hand the times I shaved it. Now the mustache is another thing I think that one only came off once many moons ago and quickly found it's way out and stay there forever. So why I am talking about this nonsense of beards and mustaches, well my mom seems to think if I take it off I would look so much younger. I just laughed and asked her, "Mama, what for?". Then again she has been asking me since I was 30 years old or so. She just doesn't give up. I keep hearing that 50 is just a number, a state of mind, but darn it, it's getting heavy.

Well, I know I still have a young mind, how can I not when I am surrounded by nothing but youth. My kids, my grand kids, my friends. So I will continue to do what I do best which is adapt to the environment around me, and absorb as much as I can so that I don't fall in the trap of not knowing what in the heck they are talking about. You gotta keep up with their lingo, their codes, their everything.

A long time ago I was asked this question: "Why are you getting married so young", and I remember answering that I really wanted to be able to meet and play with my grandchildren. Well, that wish was fulfilled seven fold and three on the way. By the way, God willing this coming Friday grand kid numero ocho will be among us. My daughter in law is going to be induced and I can't wait to meet this little new bundle of joy.

So, please bare with me during this period of adaptation, in the meantime I continue to be involved in the choir that by the way is keeping me very busy. Although very fulfilling it is such a huge commitment and it seems we will be very busy over the next couple of weeks. I promise if I find my way to the computer I may try to go beyond just staring at the text block and actually write something.

.

My Weekend

What a weekend, from Happy Hour, to Happy Birthday Carne Asada, to my continued new career as a choirboy, to a free concert/spiritual hour after the six o'clock mass, not a dull moment in this kids life.

It was Junior's birthday last week and my father in law's birthday today so last Saturday we decided to have a Carne Asada to celebrate. As always we had plenty of of food. My sister in law made the rice, my daughter in law brought beans with chorizo, (uuum they were good too), her mom baked the cake, and I blended a couple of my very tasty salsas. We had a really good time and I think everyone left on a full stomach. I for one am still paying the price for overeating but if you know me then you know I can't say no to the Carne Asada. I may be biased but I trully think our family gatherings are the best.

Sunday we had a special guest singer at church. His name is Michael John Poirier and along with his wife, three kids, and a dog, he travels throughout the United States visiting one church after another while spreading his message through some very impressive music which he composes.

As he sang one of his songs, my niece and I picked up the chorus which was very repetitive and started singing with him, we were soon joined by most of our choir members and just sang along with him. It was moving and inspiring as most of what he does is improvised. He has the ability of just putting words to the sweet melodic music he played. Talented individual indeed. When I paid him a compliment on his voice instead of just saying thanks he told me so do you. To say a big smile came out of my face would be an understatement. That was one of two major compliments I received yesterday. Ummmm, I think I'm sticking around this choir. It's nice to know that if your fellow parishioners like the music, then God must also be happy.

A huge feast at my sisters followed. More carne asada, mole verde, rice, beans, etc. etc. etc. I'm telling you I'm liking this Sundays more and more. lol Party in my tummy is definitely so yummy.

In the afternoon my sister and I went back to church. Michael was going to have a sort of motivational mini concert and we were all invited. It was free of charge and totally worth the hour and a half we were there. Again this guy just motivates with his stories and his music. And even though he is not bilingual as he does not understand Spanish, he sang many songs he composed in Spanish (Go figure) of course it was all phonetically but he still sounded awesome as his enunciation was really good.

Spending all that time at church has been really good for me. As I told my sister, right now I have nothing but time so if they call me I'm there. We are heading towards two very busy weeks as holy week approaches, and I am totally looking forward to it.

.

Update on Joe the Choirboy.

I know you are all waiting to hear how it went at the church with the solo. Well, wait no more, I believe yesterday I pulled it off just fine, my voice was still hoarse so I still got a little help from one of the other members but as soon as it warmed up I was fine.

So we are supposed to also do the six o'clock mass once a month, our turn is not due for another two weeks, however I received a text from my niece where she asked me if I could sing with her and my sister as the six o'clock had no choir. Somehow they found a lady that plays the piano during the English nine o'clock mass and that was going to be all the music we would have. No practice, no nothing, basically just show up and go for it. Wow!

Well, we did have a chance to go over the songs and I felt comfortable with the piano and the lady was comfortable knowing what tempo to play the music in. Keep in mind she is Anglo and sings the English mass, now she has to adapt to Spanish which she probably didn't even understood.

In the morning I still shook a little as I did my solo but somehow in the afternoon with the added pressure I had not time for that. I could be wrong but I think we did a really good job and I could hear the congregation singing with us, that in itself is the OK we need as choir members.

So my sister and niece tell me I do good but of course they will tell me that every time because they are my family and they love me, but when the pianist told me she enjoyed playing while I sang was an unexpected complement.

So, the bottom line is that my sister has a good chance of still making a choir boy out of me. As for me, just like Wanda, ChrisJ, Beth, Pennie and many other wonderful friends I have told me I would do, I want to thank you all for the vote of confidence and to let you know that I am really enjoying it. Make no mistake, it is a big commitment and I am spending more time at church. But that can never be a bad thing.



'

"G" is for God

So today is ABC Wednesday and we get to the letter "G". My first thought was God and because I don't have any pictures of Him I will have to let Him manifest Himself through these other pictures.

A granpa is someone you never outgrow your need for...

"Do you know why children are so full of energy? Because they suck it out of their grandparents"
~Gene Perret

Here are a couple of Great quotes:

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. ~Eleanor Powell

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. ~Duiana Robinson

.

Tidbit Day

No I haven't been lazy but there really hasn't been much to write about these days. Today I was greeted by one of the most gorgeous sunrises I have seen in a long time, and as luck would have it I left my camera at home. Actually my camera is in it's last days, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, it has been a loyal camera for the past four years and considering that I used it and abused it I am surprised it didn't break sooner. As I said it still works but I really need to replace it and keep this one as a souvenir. If you are wondering why my Photo Blog hasn't been getting new posts, that's the reason why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is my computer black out day, I visit my mom and stay with her so no computer at all. I also visit my sister and she takes the time to give me a Bible lesson. Our bible studies are still going pretty good. Add to that the fact that our new priest is terrific and a great orator, I think I am finally learning. Hopefully I will go to bed early too because I really need to catch up on my zzzzzzzzz's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy is how the song goes. Even though I partially lost my voice over the weekend I was still able to sing during mass. Of course my solo became a duet as I could only sing the soft part of the song but when the time came to let the voice out it would sound like I was a teenager in the middle of puberty. lol So I had to let another member finish the verse and in the end it all sounded really nice. Yeah, God works in mysterious ways.

Beer is good, ummmm!!! I am not a drinker but Friday I was invited out by my coworkers and I did have a couple. OK, more than a couple, this place we went to brews all the beer they sell in house so even tho I ordered light beer, I found out it wasn't that light. Needless to say I got a little too drunk but I had a fantastic time.

***Disclaimer*** For those of you wondering, I was not driving so all was good.

And people are crazy. I think if we weren't at least a little crazy we would totally be insane. Crazy is good and I love associating myself with a crowd that is crazy enough to have fun and enjoy life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, two baby showers out of three are in the books. Only my little baby is left but hers won't happen until next month. In the meantime we patiently wait for my first grand kid to be born, the first out of the three we soon expect. The phrase is "10 for 2010". Yes, pretty soon I will have ten grand kids running around my legs screaming "Grandpa, grandpa". I love it. I think I mentioned this before but I'll say it again. Back in the day I was asked why I married so young. I don't think I was that young as I was already 21. Anyway I always told them that it was because I wanted to have a chance to meet my grand kids. Thank you God for granted wishes. I know I am blessed when I see them running around and being happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now here is a picture of the past. My niece posted it on her facebook page and I quickly lifted it and put it on my files.

Can you find Waldo on this one?
.