The Jake Zone---Fat Boys for Life

Over the past few days, there have been incidents in my life that have allowed me to reflect on my time that I spent with my grandfather. My whole life, and I do mean my whole life, people have always commented on how much I look like my grandpa. Most of the time, I passed it off as people being nice and just paying a compliment. Between the two of us, we would joke around about it and he would say, "No we don't. He's too feo!" It was only this past year that my grandpa explained to me that Feo was just a nickname. I knew that, but he never really explained that he had given it to me as a joke, but that it would mean a lot more because only the people that were close to me would call me by that name. The more I think about it, I realize how much I'm gonna miss it. When it comes down to it, if my grandpa was half as proud of me as I am of him, I would take it as the ultimate compliment. Over the last few years I found myself trying to mold myself after him. While I will never be a full success at it, my goal is to do my best at it. After all, I know that would make him proudest. So as I go through my life, I may miss my grandpa, but all I have to do is look in the mirror and I'll see him; and it will remind me to live life to its fullest remembering all the things he taught me.


With this past weekend, the Fourth of July came and went for many people. Yes, we all celebrate our independence, but do we realize exactly what we're celebrating? It's not about barbecue and fireworks, and how good of a tan we can get. It's honoring the men and women who have ever fought for our country. Whether they were fighting on the initial battlefields of the Revolutionary War, or fighting to defend our country against other evils of the world, we should honor all our heroes on more than one or two days out of the year. What I'm getting at is that to me, my grandfather is my hero. He selflessly put his life on the line fighting for our nation.

I just want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. It's hotter than a motha down here, but I love it. While most people are bitchin and lookin for the coldest blowing A/C, I'm cruisin town with the windows down. Don't get me wrong, I wish it would rain soon around here, but I'm also thankful for the sun.

It's nice having this long weekend cuz I really haven't done squat. I got home from work about 6:30 Friday morning and slept for like 4 hours. Then I woke up and took my mom to lunch. After lunch, I went to Frys and bought the new Dave Matthews CD. In case you don't know, I've been Dave-a-cised by Jersey. I must admit, the whole CD is good. Now I'm trying to collect as many of his songs as I can. Weird, huh? Now all I've got to do is turn her into a country music fan. We'll see how that goes.

We went down to Gruene last night and the food and music was great. First, we went to The Grist Mill where I enjoyed the chicken fried steak. Their gravy was so thick and the fries were awesome. Most of all, the atmosphere is nice as you eat while overlooking the serene Guadalupe River. Then we went next door to the legendary Gruene Hall for some wonderful music by Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes. This band, well, namely the drummer Jim, and the guitarist, Phil, are friends of my family, so we go out and support them every chance we get. The place was hot, but it was cool being in a place where so many legends have played over the last 30 years. The beer was warm, the room was hot, but for the most part, the girls were not.

Now it's Sunday and I'm not planning much of anything. I'm thinking about going to a party over at some friends' house with Stacey and Roland and pop some fireworks. That sounds like fun. Oh well, everyone be safe and I'll blog tomorrow or later.