Whelp, my days of bachelorhood (revisited) are over. The family hath returned. Thank the lord! I never sleep well when they are away and I can finally get some much deserved rest. Anyway, so many of you are probably asking… where did they go? Why were you not with them? Well… the answers to those questions are pretty easy. Serena and Gray spent the last week on the Italian coast just outside of Venice. And listen… I don’t want to hear it… I am jealous too.
A few months ago, Serena was informed of another business trip, this time just north of Venice. Now, the thing about her work is that she is contracted on a daily rate. So, no matter where in the world she is sent, she is paid per day. And her travel to get to the location comes out of her daily rate. It sounds weird, I know… it took some time for me to get used to it… but it really works since the daily rate is closer to what a normal person would make in a week… (But it evens out after travel costs are taken out) and most of the time she is contracted for two days worth of work which makes paying for her own travel totally cost effective. But, a couple of times she has only been contracted for one day… and that can cause some problems. This has only happened twice since being in Europe… the first being Croatia. Which is was only a four hour drive from home, so it was a no brainer. We turned it into a family trip.
The second time this happened was Venice. Which was a pretty “major” problem. You see, flying in and out of Belgrade isn’t exactly the cheapest endeavor in the world. Although Belgrade is the largest city in the former Yugoslavia, it is over shadowed by Budapest (which is only 4 hours away) when it comes to affordable airfare. As Serena began to research the trip it became very apparent that round trip airfare to Venice was going to be more expensive than driving eight hours and renting a condo off the beach for a week (off season). I am not pulling your leg… the condo for the week was about 150 Euro cheaper than her round trip airfare would have been… which comes out to be about $215.00 cheaper. Bargain? I think so.
Originally we talked about going as a family… but being that this is my first year in this new job and that we wanted a chance to return to the States for a visit sooner than later, eating up a whole week of annual leave just didn’t seem like it was in the cards.
So, Serena started talking to our neighbors and the next thing we knew… it was a mom’s trip (with kids). Which sounded great to me! And it was… for about a day and a half. Then it simply got down right boring.
But! They are back! Hurray! And Grayson and I had a wonderful time at his schools international day festival today for three hours while Serena finished up some work and recovered from the excessive driving.
The festival was a lot of fun, not just for Gray, but for me as well. A lot of my friends here have kids at the school so it was a very social time for everyone. And Gray and I won a restaurant gift certificate worth 3,000 Dinar (you can do the math yourself)!!! I also really enjoyed to time to simply be with Gray… I don’t like being way from him for extended lengths of time. He grows up too fast. I made some of my friends laugh today when I would ask Gray how he grew up fifteen years in just one week… it sounds funny… but it feels true.
The best part of the festival was when we went to the face painting booth and we were waiting in line. I asked him what he wanted painted… and he said… Luke Skywalker. I couldn’t help but laugh… but Gray was insistent. He wanted he face painted like Luke Skywalker.
Being that I am a total geek… all by brain could think of was… “does he want pre-car accident Mark Hamill, or post-car accident Mark Hamill?” Either way, I got some laughs when I asked if anyone knew how to paint Mark Hamill on my sons face…
In the end, we were able to distract him with a drawing of a Ninja Turtle. I think the teacher at the face painting station was thankful… she didn’t seem like a Star War fan.
So, for the rest of today we have been instructed to call Gray, “Raphael” … he has refused to wash his face… and is no longer calling Serena “mommy”, she is now “April”… and I…. I have been properly remained “Master Splinter”. I have to say that I am very impressed with Gray’s imaginative play skills. He is so in character that he has found two sticks (which he calls his “sai”) and alternately refers to me as “Teacher” and “Master”.
Now… I have to admit… I was a Star Wars and a Ninja Turtle freak growing up… but I have never pushed either on him. But, when he comes to me asking… “What is Star Wars”, “Who are the Ninja Turtles”… my hearth melts… and I know it is time for a serious father/son talk… “You know Gray? The Ninja turtles started out as normal turtles… just like the ones you have in the fish tank at school… but the people that had the Ninja turtle couldn’t take care of them and let them go into the wild of the New York City sewer system…”
Anyway, I won’t bore you with anymore… but I will tell you this… It was a wonderful conversation.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Day 308: Meeting the "Big Bosses Best Friend"
Okay… so, politics and political leanings aside I have an amazing story to share with you… to go along with the picture.
We recently met US Vice-President Joseph Biden. Yeah... Biden... crazy right? Honestly, celebrities and figures of his stature rarely meet my expectations when I meet them. And of course, these expectations are formed merely by what these people want you to see. Whatever you think about Biden, there is one thing I have to say having now met him... he is the real deal. Exactly what you see is what you get. Only two celebrities have ever exceeded my expectations: Joe Biden and Malcolm McDowell. Biden is no-nonsense, he speaks off the top of his head, he oozes love and respect for family, and he loves kids. And he surrounds himself with kids… you will see a lot more of that in May’s video… but my point is that a person cannot fake these attributes around kids… they can smell fakes… and Biden is not one.
During his recent to the Balkan’s, which was his first overseas visit as VP, Biden took out time in his very busy schedule to host a meet and greet for all families associated with the embassy. Apparently, these kinds of evens are not the norm for high level visits. And when they did happen, they almost never included spouses and children. There was a lot of speculation from my colleagues, that the meet and greet would be cut short… or last no longer than thirty minutes. One colleague “knowingly” said that Biden would probably give a short speech, shake the hands of the 10 people in the front row and then leave… at least this is what people in my line of work has been accustom too… I don’t think anyone was prepared for Biden. In fact, earlier that faithful day, I was talking with a woman who worked on Biden’s campaign who commented on the fact that the VP is known for sticking to his schedule and didn’t expect any issues on timing… but then volunteered her opinion that he would probably only go long at the meet and greet… “he likes those kinds of things.” And he most definitely went long.
When he first arrived to the meet and greet, he was introduced and he began to address the crowd, but quickly stopped himself, walked off the front of the stage, took down the rope keep us back, and invited all the kids to have a seat around the stage with him. When he got back to the podium… before starting his formal remarks he took a moment to talk about how our kids and spouses make the greatest sacrifice for the work we do and he just can’t let the kids stand roped off like cattle. Sure, everything is a photo op, I am not that naive... but these are not photos for a national paper, there were no reporters... it was just for us. This kind of event doesn't make the papers. And what he did was very rare for officials of that level.
Grayson was one of the youngest... and although he behaved VERY well, he got a little bored and had been walking back and forth, periodically, from his seat on the stage and Serena and me (who were standing by the ropes) during the speech. He would get up to come stand with us... and would then go back to his spot. It happened a couple of times… nothing too distracting.
Anyway, the VP spoke for about 10 minutes and Gray was standing with us when Biden got off the stage to meet the kids. Biden asked if he could sit with them and when they made space for Biden, Gray's spot was obviously the one that disappeared to accommodate. Grayson wasn't interested in going back at first... kind of shy (like with Santa), but when he saw Biden shaking hands and talking to all of the kids like a grandfather would, everything was okay and Gray wanted to go back, without any suggestion from us. He went back to where is spot was... no room... he asked Jacob (a six year old friend) if he could sit on his lap... Jacob said “no”… But, another older kid told gray that he could sit on his lap if he wanted. But, before Gray has a chance to react. Biden reached over saying "you can sit on my lap", picked him up and planted him there.
Gray was very funny at first, I could see it in his eyes, “What just happened? Where am I?” And when he realized he was on the lap of “The Big Bosses Best Friends” (As Gray calls him), he was totally cool with it… he dug it. Gray was very interested in being Biden's "right hand man" while he continues to shake hands and talked to the other children. I took a ton of pictures and switched over to video just in time to catch Biden give Gray a very warm kiss on the top of the head as he stood up to give some attention to us parents.
Just a little bit later it was our turn in the receiving "mingle" to say hi... Biden instinctively greeted Gray first by bending down and scooping him up in his arms... and then greeting Serena and me. What was even more impressive is that the VP stayed to greet and take a picture with every single one of us. It’s the small thrills right? But we’re talking about 100 to 200 people… outside on a hot Serbian day after a long day of meetings. It was quite a commitment on the VP’s part. Pretty amazing.
But, I must make another comment as the very proud parent that I am. Gray’s photo op on the VP’s lap was not like his yearly trip to see Santa. For Santa… ever kid gets the honor to sit on his lap… for Biden’s visit… Gray was in the right place at the right time… he was the old kid to have the honor.
.JPG)
We recently met US Vice-President Joseph Biden. Yeah... Biden... crazy right? Honestly, celebrities and figures of his stature rarely meet my expectations when I meet them. And of course, these expectations are formed merely by what these people want you to see. Whatever you think about Biden, there is one thing I have to say having now met him... he is the real deal. Exactly what you see is what you get. Only two celebrities have ever exceeded my expectations: Joe Biden and Malcolm McDowell. Biden is no-nonsense, he speaks off the top of his head, he oozes love and respect for family, and he loves kids. And he surrounds himself with kids… you will see a lot more of that in May’s video… but my point is that a person cannot fake these attributes around kids… they can smell fakes… and Biden is not one.
During his recent to the Balkan’s, which was his first overseas visit as VP, Biden took out time in his very busy schedule to host a meet and greet for all families associated with the embassy. Apparently, these kinds of evens are not the norm for high level visits. And when they did happen, they almost never included spouses and children. There was a lot of speculation from my colleagues, that the meet and greet would be cut short… or last no longer than thirty minutes. One colleague “knowingly” said that Biden would probably give a short speech, shake the hands of the 10 people in the front row and then leave… at least this is what people in my line of work has been accustom too… I don’t think anyone was prepared for Biden. In fact, earlier that faithful day, I was talking with a woman who worked on Biden’s campaign who commented on the fact that the VP is known for sticking to his schedule and didn’t expect any issues on timing… but then volunteered her opinion that he would probably only go long at the meet and greet… “he likes those kinds of things.” And he most definitely went long.
When he first arrived to the meet and greet, he was introduced and he began to address the crowd, but quickly stopped himself, walked off the front of the stage, took down the rope keep us back, and invited all the kids to have a seat around the stage with him. When he got back to the podium… before starting his formal remarks he took a moment to talk about how our kids and spouses make the greatest sacrifice for the work we do and he just can’t let the kids stand roped off like cattle. Sure, everything is a photo op, I am not that naive... but these are not photos for a national paper, there were no reporters... it was just for us. This kind of event doesn't make the papers. And what he did was very rare for officials of that level.
Grayson was one of the youngest... and although he behaved VERY well, he got a little bored and had been walking back and forth, periodically, from his seat on the stage and Serena and me (who were standing by the ropes) during the speech. He would get up to come stand with us... and would then go back to his spot. It happened a couple of times… nothing too distracting.
Anyway, the VP spoke for about 10 minutes and Gray was standing with us when Biden got off the stage to meet the kids. Biden asked if he could sit with them and when they made space for Biden, Gray's spot was obviously the one that disappeared to accommodate. Grayson wasn't interested in going back at first... kind of shy (like with Santa), but when he saw Biden shaking hands and talking to all of the kids like a grandfather would, everything was okay and Gray wanted to go back, without any suggestion from us. He went back to where is spot was... no room... he asked Jacob (a six year old friend) if he could sit on his lap... Jacob said “no”… But, another older kid told gray that he could sit on his lap if he wanted. But, before Gray has a chance to react. Biden reached over saying "you can sit on my lap", picked him up and planted him there.
Gray was very funny at first, I could see it in his eyes, “What just happened? Where am I?” And when he realized he was on the lap of “The Big Bosses Best Friends” (As Gray calls him), he was totally cool with it… he dug it. Gray was very interested in being Biden's "right hand man" while he continues to shake hands and talked to the other children. I took a ton of pictures and switched over to video just in time to catch Biden give Gray a very warm kiss on the top of the head as he stood up to give some attention to us parents.
Just a little bit later it was our turn in the receiving "mingle" to say hi... Biden instinctively greeted Gray first by bending down and scooping him up in his arms... and then greeting Serena and me. What was even more impressive is that the VP stayed to greet and take a picture with every single one of us. It’s the small thrills right? But we’re talking about 100 to 200 people… outside on a hot Serbian day after a long day of meetings. It was quite a commitment on the VP’s part. Pretty amazing.
But, I must make another comment as the very proud parent that I am. Gray’s photo op on the VP’s lap was not like his yearly trip to see Santa. For Santa… ever kid gets the honor to sit on his lap… for Biden’s visit… Gray was in the right place at the right time… he was the old kid to have the honor.
.JPG)
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day 289: New Segment
Whelp the SchutzHappens blog seems to be ever evolving... which is good... I like that... it keeps me fresh. I have to say that I am enjoying the videos quite a bit and it also seems like you guys have been enjoying them. It has become a much needed creative outlet that I look forward to each month. And actually it is time to start April’s movie. I am very excited. This month I will be working with a new editing program. Up until now, I’ve been getting used to the media... as in working on the computer. For those that know me well, you will remember that I spend the summer of 1999 in Manhattan going to film school. And to put it bluntly... they didn’t use computers there... on purpose. Instead they made us do everything by hand: 16mm film reels, a blade, splicing tape, and a huge flatbed Steinbeck editing machine. It was pretty awesome. I learned a lot... but not having a 16mm or regular access to a Steinbeck... my days of movie making went on hiatus. At least until now... ten later two things have happened: 1) I have a little expendable income and 2) the prices of computers and cameras that are, at least, capable of processing video editing have become affordable. So here I am... finally getting back to my roots. Not that I am producing anything over complicated right now... I’m just getting my confidence back and learning a lot about what I can do on the computer. Little by little right!
Anyway, so I’ve been using Windows Movie Maker... which is an okay program, but I feel like I have out grown it pretty quickly. So, I am moving on... I should probably stop typing and start installing... but before I started my diatribe, I meant to give you a teaser for a couple other things... first, over the next few months of Schutz Happens I will begin moving from blogspot to another location and I plan to enhance the site with some fun extras... so be on the lookout for “schutzhappens.com” coming late this summer! I think it is going to rock! Don’t go now... this is just a teaser!
Also... because I have a warped sense of humor and I like to include people in my warped sense of humor... and well...combined with the fact that we are many, many miles away and I thought it would be a fun way for all to stay connected, I now present to you:
“Ask the Schutz’s!” That’s right, ask us anything that is on your mind... and if we like the question... we’ll feature it on our blog and maybe even in our movies. It can be anything from questions about life in Belgrade or living overseas... to questions about Grayson... or ask Grayson a question... ask Grayson to teach you to use a hammer! Now that would be awesome. Okay I will stop. You get the idea. I not only want to keep this blog fresh... but I want to create a platform for Gray to interact with people directly... in a disconnected sort of way. Follow me?
Anyway, start sending in your questions to schutzhappens@gmail.com today!
Anyway, so I’ve been using Windows Movie Maker... which is an okay program, but I feel like I have out grown it pretty quickly. So, I am moving on... I should probably stop typing and start installing... but before I started my diatribe, I meant to give you a teaser for a couple other things... first, over the next few months of Schutz Happens I will begin moving from blogspot to another location and I plan to enhance the site with some fun extras... so be on the lookout for “schutzhappens.com” coming late this summer! I think it is going to rock! Don’t go now... this is just a teaser!
Also... because I have a warped sense of humor and I like to include people in my warped sense of humor... and well...combined with the fact that we are many, many miles away and I thought it would be a fun way for all to stay connected, I now present to you:
“Ask the Schutz’s!” That’s right, ask us anything that is on your mind... and if we like the question... we’ll feature it on our blog and maybe even in our movies. It can be anything from questions about life in Belgrade or living overseas... to questions about Grayson... or ask Grayson a question... ask Grayson to teach you to use a hammer! Now that would be awesome. Okay I will stop. You get the idea. I not only want to keep this blog fresh... but I want to create a platform for Gray to interact with people directly... in a disconnected sort of way. Follow me?
Anyway, start sending in your questions to schutzhappens@gmail.com today!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)