Congratulations San Francisco, you’ve ruined pizza!

From the movie Inside Out

Anger: [seeing slices of pizza with only broccoli on top] “Congratulations San Francisco, you’ve ruined pizza! First the Hawaiians, and now YOU!”

If you’re a regular reader of my newsletter, you know Yan and I recently purchased a triplex in Koreatown. And if you’ve ever taken on a fixer-upper yourself, you also know what a daunting project we’ve undertaken. We spend a good portion of each weekend working on the property and one of our main goals this past weekend was to pull up all the old carpet to get to the hardwood floors below. And thanks to Cade and Ella, we accomplished that mission!

They are both usually disappointed (to say the least) when we head over to the property as a family, but this time we promised that if we could get our work done before it was too late we’d take them to see the new Disney movie, Inside Out. Well, before we knew it they were donning dust masks, picking up shovels and brooms (the old carpet padding had disintegrated into a huge mess) and pitching in. I have never seen my kids work harder or better together as a team.

At one point Ella asked, “how much longer is this going to take?” Cade replied, “it’ll take however long it takes and we’re not going to stop until the job’s done.” Ella agreed heartily. Wow. The work ethic Yan and I hope to impart to our children is already alive and well in them. They didn’t complain; they didn’t fight; they didn’t quit. They kept at it, tirelessly, enthusiastically, and determinedly. Yan and I couldn’t have been prouder. In fact, we were more than just proud. We were awed.

So we all cleaned up and headed back to Pasadena to grab dinner before catching an evening showing of Inside Out. The movie was really good. It was thought provoking, emotionally stimulating, and absolutely hilarious. About half way through, though, I became concerned my kids would lose interest because the plot was so cerebral. But Cade was completely engrossed and despite being really, really tired by that point, Ella remained entertained throughout.

As I carried my sagging daughter from the theater after the show’s end, walking behind my wife and son who were hand in hand, I felt incredibly content (even if more than a little sore from the day’s labor). I saw a depth in my children I hadn’t seen before and it delighted me. Our Koreatown “project” seems to finally be over the hump and beginning to come together. And on top of all that, I got to spend lots of quality time with the people I love most in the world. Life is good.