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.
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