My Miami Vacation - Revel, Relive, Recover

Revel, Relive, Recover.  Yeap, that's my Miami vacation in a nutshell.

Numero Uno- Revel.  How can I not revel in my family's love and attention?  Rinquincaya and PicaPica were counting the days until I got there.  How precious is that?  Not only did I spend time with my two eldest children, their families, my grandmother, my comadre/cousin, my father, my aunt and uncle, and medio Miami, I got to catch up with my two bestest beasties BFGF  (Best Friend Girl Friend).  It's been years since we've chilled.  Even though chilled is not a word used too often in Miami- in any sense of the word.

Numero Dos- Relive.  Went to Miami with My Sweetie, so I was the designated driver.  Not because he was drinking, but because it was Miami and everyone there thinks they're the sons of Fangio.  This was where I learned to drive and it's amazing how fast I got back into the Miami madness mindset.  Sweetie learned very quickly to look at the sights instead of the road.

Oh- and what sights we saw!  In the course of 7 days I tried to relive the best of almost 40 years.  The first day there I took him to a beach.  Note I said A beach- not THE beach.  We did not go to South Beach where "the beautiful people" hang out.  You thought I'd purposely expose him to that land of dental floss wearing dainties who didn't have detailed body dimples/dunes acquired so lovingly from time and childbirth? JU SO FONII !!! >No, no, no.  We went to a "family" playita.  Babushka believes in keeping it real.  

I showed him Miami Lakes where I grew up, Kendall where I raised my trio, Flagler where my grandmother had lived,and Dadeland, where while in college he had lived.   Not only did we relive places, we had to relive plates.  As in food, lots of it- in every visita and in every corner.  Sweetie was mesmerized that every block had a bakery and a restaurant.  El es flaco, but loves to eat; he looked like a kid in a candy shop.  How precious is that?  

Pero 7 days of non stop food,fanaticism,and heat takes a toll.  Oh si, I was reliving Miami- for sure, for sure. This was too far South for us Southerners. Ok, ok- he's originally from Pennsylvania and I grew up in Miami, pero ya yo estaba fuera de practica- I was out of practice and he was out of sunscreen. Time to go home- back North to the South.

Numero 3- Recovery.    Having been through many tearful goodbyes -esta bien- it wasn't that many, but when you're a grandmother even one is excessive,  I bribed them with a goodbye goodie which I would leave on the table if they didn't cry.  They promised they wouldn't cry.  Por supuesto that made me want to cry double.

We left Miami at 7 a.m..  Of course we had to stop at a bakery to take home some pastelitos and Cuban bread.  We hoped the 6 loaves would make it home.  After all, it was a 9 hour trip...


Making it home in record time, si, ok, I was still driving Miami style, Sweetie started unloading the car while I made sure the air conditioner in the house was working and set to 60 degrees.  Oh yeah, you betcha.  I was going to make up for that Miami heat y el traqueteo.  I was going to rest.  Rest, relax, and recover  in cold and silence.

How precious is that?

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

El Doctor y La Princesa aka Beauty and the Beast

Just by the picture can you tell which is which?



Oh the dreams we have for our children.  Si, yo se, I know, I know, we're supposed to let them choose their lives and livelihood, but what's wrong with a little guidance?  I mean, really-shouldn't our experience count for something?  Is it so detrimental to wish for greatness or at the very least help loved ones to have high aspirations?  And if we couldn't persuade our offspring, how about the grandbabies?  Honestly, shouldn't we have some sort of compensation for having survived their parents' teen angst?  I say YES!!  It is our well deserved right to steer the sweet darlings to a better tomorrow, to help them reach their potential and chosen destiny. 

And so my first grandchild, my eldest daughter's son, will be a doctor- specifically, a plastic surgeon.  What?  You think Babushka's beauty will last forever? JU SO FONII !!! Si, most definitely, a plastic surgeon.  Thus, the nickname El Doctor is his.

The youngest of my grandchildren, his sister, is the only girl and La Princesa.  What other nickname could I possibly have given her?  Babushka was swimming in a pool of blue and needed a little pink.  Visions of tea parties and tiaras teased us all.  Little did we know- that tease would grow into a terror.

Where her brother is gentle and loving, she's grunting and loud.  Tiaras and tea parties?  Try torn up Transformers, tirado during a tirade.  El Doctor is pensive; La Princesa is pushy.  Dainty, make room for dizzying.  She loves to go into a sprinter's pose and shout "ready, set, go" as she performs sprints around the apartment. Endlessly.  Ever see sprints turn into marathons?  Also, please don't try to rest while she's around.  Anyone shutting their eyes before she does will get a tiny finger in the face, trying to open the offending pupils while laughing and squealing "ding, dong" in their ears. 

I don't know.  No se, no me pregunten.  All I know is the china tea set I had bought might end up being a wedding present- for El Doctor.

Babushka Besos a Todos.  Cuidensen.



Rinquincaya y PicaPica

Rinquincaya y PicaPica,  this is the nickname I gave my grandsons- my son's boys.  You remember my son right?  The 25 year old former marine who was partly (ok, mostly) the reason for my puberty shell-shock.     ::shudder::

Well, karma is delightful!  Guess the Universe figured he gave me a handful, so he was sent 2 handfuls!  Remember- you always get back double of what you give - so Cuidado!!!

Rinquincaya y PicaPica is an old Cuban phrase.  The Anglo equivalent?  Hmmm.... oh yes.   The Anglo equivalent would be-  Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  On steroids.  Seriously.  Si, I know, many of you out there are saying, JU SO FONII !!! and I am, but I'm serious too.

Let me translate a little further.  Rinquincaya to me is a human tornado or hurricane- knowing the path they want to take and just plowing to their destination.  PicaPica is the same, but to another degree.  Their destination is reached through cunning and persistance- like a mosquito.  Actually, that's a pretty good description considering "pica,pica" means itch,itch.

The eldest of the two  was originally Rinquincaya- until his brother arrived.  His little brother , which by the way has the same name as the little boy in The Omen, (parental premonition?) made it clear pretty quickly who the plow machine was, so the eldest was renamed PicaPica.  Now let me illustrate.

I was visited by my son's family last Thanksgiving.  The eldest (who had just turned 4 and adored his Babushka) came running into my room, calling my name with joy in his voice.  He stopped as soon as he saw the stranger.  Not only was it a stranger, it was a male stranger, watching TV from BB's bed!  Quickly sizing up the situation, PicaPica decides to climb over this stranger to hug his grandma, making sure to step on the intruder's manhood along the way- literally.  Have you ever seen a 6'4" man be smaller than a 4 year old?

Introductions were made with the responses being a "hello" in a child's "whatever" tone and a grownup, almost inaudible, low  grunt when in comes  the two year old pushing the stranger to get to his destination.   "Grandma- where's my lollipop?"


 Hurricane and Mosquito, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, Rinquincaya y PicaPica.


And what ever became of the stranger?  The stranger, my poor Sweetie, who had been ignored, shoved and almost castrated by these two  grew to love the boys.

 My  boys.  Rinquincaya y PicaPica- brains and brawn, always energized, always intense.  Definitely two  handfuls and tiring.

  But I wouldn't want them any other way.

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.




P.S.  A story written in Spanish about R & P is posted under Pages.

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Extremes are Excellent!

Come on, be truthful, if not with me at least with yourself.
"Sometimes you feel like a nut-sometimes you don't."
The In and Out.  The Sane and Insane.  El Caliente y el Frio.
We all have it, do it, live it.

Ejemplo.  Ever had a super size fast food meal- with a diet drink?  Or how about those "lite" chocolate bars?  And don't think this only applies to food, (though being Cuban I had to mention food first) it's pretty much across the board.  Mini vans with mad rims, remixes of old songs, (how surreal is that?) telling children to lower their voices and then screaming at them when they didn't...


Gotcha on that last one didn't I?


Don't be ashamed or embarrassed.  Extremes are excellent!  They get the blood a pumpin' and keep people from taking you for granted.  A word to the wise though- use caution here.  "Extreming" must be done tastefully and in moderation.  Try to limit yourself to 3 extreming episodes a day.  4 if you're Cuban.  Ok, ok- El  absolute max is 5 "si se te sube lo Cubano".  Better a mosquita muerta que una loca!  Although crazy has its advantages too.  But that I'll leave for another time...

Being a "grown up" can be boring- and being an even keeled, always controlled, in check individual makes you...actually, I've never met anyone like that.  So, I guess that makes you dead- or at least not Cuban.  Same difference.  JK.  Though if you think about it, the straight line is a symbol for smooth, and also a symbol of flatlining- death.  Coincidence?  Just a thought.  I know- JU SO FONII !!!

For me, "que le pongan salsa"- give me my extremes, my high heels, and my attitudes, 'cause nobody is gonna sleep when Babushka's around!




Babushka Besos a Todos- Cuidensen  









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Introductions

Hola- or as we say around here, "Howdy".  Yep, Babushka's in "The South", which is funny if you think about it, because I spent most of my life in South Florida (Miami) which is further South than here, yet it's NEVER considered part of "The South".  North Havana maybe, but never "The South".  But I go off topic... get used to it- it's one of my many talents.

Babushka, full name Bohemian Babushka, BB if I like you, or THE Bohemian Babushka if I don't, has had in my 49 years, 2 marriages, 2 divorces, ____ lovers (being presently in "The South" I fall back on the Southern Belle's code of propriety and leave that blank, instead of a Miami "¿ Y Santa quien? )  many jobs, many businesses, many heartaches, but many heart sings as well.  Of course my Number One heart sings are my children.  Si, they also gave me heartache, but we all made it through puberty so, why dwell on that?  Borron y cuenta nueva.  My trio are my rocks- ok, at times rocks in/at the head, but again- why dwell on that?  My rocks, my reason for being (being crazy- sorry, beginning to dwell on that), my joys my true loves.  Until the grandchildren came into the picture.  Not that my trio aren't my true loves anymore, it's just that grandbabies are so tiny, so precious, and still so far away from puberty.  Ok, I'm dwelling- ever heard of shellshock?

Grandbabies- I've got 4 so far.  I say "so far"  because my eldest ( a 26 yr old beauty) has 2- a boy and a girl.; my son (a 25 yr old ex-Marine who has done his mom proud in so many ways)  has 2 boys and my little one (19 yr old intense yet sweet girl/woman who is striking, intelligent, gifted and better not be thinking of making babies yet) are still young enough to add to the family.  But not right now- por fa.  Let BB enjoy people saying "but you look so young to be a grandmother!" a little longer.  While I can still semi believe them.


Babushka has enjoyed this immensely and hopes you will dance with me again.  This has been but a little tease of who I am.  Tease- reminds me of my high school days, but again I'm going off topic. (such talent!) My blog will be on family,being female, being bilingual, being human -while always being brilliant.

And to those who don't understand YOUR brilliance, just look at them, smile, and say-
JU SO FONII !!!

Babushka Besos a todos-  Cuidensen

P.S.  If you've enjoyed this post please go to Facebook and "like" my page.  Mil Gracias.