A Post from July 9th 2010:
A Brief 4th of July
The boxes are all stacked and the fireworks still echo from Sunday night. �Our mission to move continues this week after celebrating our Independence day. The Vasquez Family spent all of our 4th of July packing and planning for a move across town to Oviedo.
Our moving truck will drive a great 15 minutes to our new little spot. We leave many goods things behind but in letting go we seek solace in the wonder of discovery, of the unexplored…
The 4th of July 2010- the beginning of a journey that will call for more blog posts. It is a day that ended with my kids in awe of the loud spectacle in Downtown Avalon Park in Orlando Florida. �The annual firework show impressed us yet again. The kids kept their ears uncovered this year and cheered with us as our sky lit up with the �joy our nation shares.
More Fun on the 3rd of July
Even though the Big Move called for us to start packing on the 4th of July weekend, our determination to enjoy small family traditions got our creativity juice flowing on the day before Independence day. �While my wife and kids prepared our Independence Day cake I chronicled each landmark moment that got us closer to a finish dessert we could enjoy all weekend.
Moving Time is Growing Time…
When the sun sets on the empty walls and the pile of boxes potently smells of permanent marker we know its moving time. And yet there is time for the 4th of July, for holidays and community fun. There must always be family time amidst the madness.
Leaving our townhouse has been a character builder. It’s amazing how having kids enables a sensitivity toward maintaining a sense of wonder in what a family does as opposed to where a family lives. Our economic situation led us to short sell our home and to return to the world of leasing apartments.
Are we downsizing? yes. Does it hurt? Of course, growing does in its nature. Did we fight for our house? As hard as a sane man can without losing sanity. Our children have seen our sincere and yet devout struggle; we cry but we pray and we laugh again. Wepersevere.
“Moving”Films leading to our Move:
Every night of packing ended with the attempt to catch up on some films. Here are our “moving” films: I say attempt because for some we were too tired to stay awake for. Some we ventured into with the kids while others were strictly for the wife and me.
1. Extraordinary Measures – Talk about an eye opener. A film based on a true story that humbles you where you stand or sit, because the option to remain laying down disappeared with the intensity of the struggle of a father to find a cure for his two kids with Pompe disease.
2. Old Dogs – After a long day we needed to laugh and I never imagined that John Travolta and Robin Williams could work so well together.
3. Invictus – a glimpse into the life of Nelson Mandela starring Morgan Freeman and directed by Clint Eastwood, need I say more…oh yeah Matt Damon plays a great rugby player humbled by Mandela and embraces the call to action. Make sure you check out the DVD features on this one, very moving.
4. James and the Giant Peach– a late night adventure with my little warrior, Joshua. We watched an oppressed orphan boy set himself free via a Giant peach only to land in the Big Apple, New York City. We fell asleep at our initial attempt to watch it so we finished it the next day with the rest of the crew.
4. The Sandlot– Perhaps the most entertaining 4th of July movie I’ve ever seen! And now my kids know all about the Beast and the Great Bambino!
5. The Little Rascals– Learn how to deliver a “hate note” and how to escape your bullies in a “tutu”
6. Everybody’s Fine – Robert De Niro, please stay alive long enough for me to work with you! This film made me reflect deeply on who my kids are and whether or not I am doing my best to make sure they can talk to me, no matter what. Beautiful film, wonderfully made. Highly recommend it. Gentlemen admit it, only Robert De Niro makes it cool to cry…
7. Terminator Salvation– Just when I think I can’t go on any longer I realize, hey at least I am not on death row with my signature on a Cyberdine Systems form authorizing them to turn me into a cyborg….wait, that actually sounds pretty cool.
And the one film I’ve seen but need to share with my family is Avalon
Ironic that its name is Avalon and we are leaving Avalon Park huh? I will return with commentary once we screen it at the Vasquez household.
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Invictus (beliefnet.com) July 4th as a Symbol (laf.ee) Happy 4th of July (constructionlawva.com) Ten things you didn’t know about the Fourth of July (bettyconfidential.com) My Fourth of July DVD Picks (beliefnet.com) Gretchen Rubin: Balanced Life — Find Ways to Make July 4th Traditions More Fun. (At the Very Least, Have Some Holiday Traditions.) (huffingtonpost.com) Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic 2010 (stillisstillmoving.com)
Actor's Film Lounge 
Posted on December 27, 2010
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