November Highlights:
- Visit Lilah in Santa Cruz and we go see our first concert together
- Luke gets his first new surfboard
- The Hill fire gets close but never threatens thanks to our location away from winds and chaparral
- We visit grandma
- We celebrate Thanksgiving and Lilah is with us for quick break
Seeing The Damned with Lilah in Santa Cruz
Some time in October Lilah sent me a text letting me know that The Damned, a punk band I used to listen to, was going to be playing in Santa Cruz, apparently touring for their new album. I jokingly suggested I should come and take her and a friend to the concert. She did not seem put off by the idea so I took two days off work and took her to the show.
It was the first concert the two of us had ever seen together and we enjoyed it immensely. The small venue, called the Catalyst, meant that we had a very intimate viewing experience close to the stage. We would have gotten even closer if not for the frenzy of the mosh pit — nothing like seeing 30 and 40-year old people still moshing. While possibly fun, we both thought it was best to keep a safe distance. The Damned played for a solid 2+ hours coming out for three encores and provided some good dad/daughter bonding time.
Lilah is still enjoying her life in Santa Cruz although she said she’s got some professors who are pretty hard graders, meaning she had received a B on one of her papers. She wasn’t particularly happy with that outcome, but I assured her that she is still a solid student and just to keep giving it her best effort.
Surfboard and Car Shopping with Luke
Since it appears that Luke has retired his boogie board in and effort to become better at surfing, we decided to get him his first new surfboard as an early Christmas present. On the day we took his surfboard out on its maiden voyage, conditions were nothing short of perfect — blue skies with wispy clouds, slight offshores, and the beach pretty much all to ourselves so we didn’t have to battle other surfers for waves. We surfed for 3+ hours with Luke scoring several nice waves that kept his stoke up and motivation tank full for future outings. He’s got a long way to go before he can do all the tricks he’s seen in his YouTube videos, but from my standpoint, it’s cool seeing him take on this new challenge and make progress. It’s also cool to have another sport to do together.
Another thing we shopped for this month was a potential car for Luke now that 16 is just around the corner. Luke is a Japanese sports car fanatic — namely the older Subarus, Mitsubishis and Mazdas (he would love an old RX7) — so when I spotted a 2002 Subaru Impreza for sale in our neighborhood, I let Luke know. Coincidentally, a 2000 Acura Integra also showed up in our neighborhood, giving us two potential car buying opportunities. Actually, there was a third opportunity — his grandma’s 1996 Honda that’s been sitting in her garage for 10+ years — but that one didn’t work out because Luke was too big for the car (knees hit the steering wheel). We test drove the Acura and Subaru. Luke was smitten with the Impreza as it was the first year they came out with the bug eye headlights, his favorite design. But he also understood that we would need to get it checked out by our mechanic.
Getting the car checked by our mechanic was a great experience as he was able to tell us all the things that were gonna be coming up for repair soon — around 3K worth of repairs. That brought Luke and me back down to earth, reminding us there was nothing wrong with Luke driving the same car Lilah used to drive in high school, my 2003 Mazda Protege. Luke agreed this was the wise move as it would allow him to get a job, save up his money and get the car he wanted in the future. Love it when Luke makes grown up decisions like that. Still, it was cool to go through the process with him — I think I was actually more excited about the potential new member of our 4-wheel fleet, but for now, the Protege will get some more love.
Thanksgiving with the Folks
My Tio Mario joined us for Thanksgiving this year at my parents’ house. Having Lilah around was also a special treat — it was her first visit back home since leaving for her first Fall quarter of school and she seemed genuinely happy to see everyone. We had turkey, pork, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, corn and generous helpings of wine to officially kick off the holiday season. And it’s nice to know that Lilah will be back home before we know it as she gets out for Fall break December 13, which means she’ll be with us for 3 weeks. Will be wonderful to have her around.
That’s all for now. More next month!