A Very Special Mother’s Day Gift…

What would life be like without our Moms? It doesn’t matter really if your mother is with you or not, there is always a piece of her inside of who you are. In my case, my mother was instrumental in me becoming the man I am today. She gave me a great life and I hope that she understands how much she means to me. The mother of my children, my wife and partner, is also a very important cog in my life. She has been a terrific mother for our 2 children and has managed to teach me a thing or two about life and how to live it. I can’t imagine being with someone who is a better mother, friend and partner than she is.

Here is a little video I put together for her. Time has just flown by over the last 11 years and I wish there were a way to slow it down. So many times I return home from a road trip and find that my kids are a little more grown up than they were when I left. The clock manages to continue to tick away when I’m gone and there are moments that I wish I could bottle up and keep forever. Here are a few that I managed to capture to keep and now I can share with you again.

Thank you for being such a great mother for our kids Stephanie! I love you…and I know they love you more than anything in the world!

Your Husband

Being Mom For A Day

Twice a year my mother-in-law makes her pilgrimage to Cleveland Clinic to have her bi-annual checkup. So, twice a year the roles are reversed and I get to be Mr. Mom for a day or so while Stephanie accompanies her. It’s fun to see the “other side” every now and then, just like I imagine she gets to see what I get to put up with when I’m on the road. Granted, I don’t usually have my mom with me wherever I go but still…having to stay in a hotel and eat horribly at some hole-in-the-wall dump restaurant (like a PF Chang’s or Olive Garden) and then having to use hotel shampoo and conditioner? It’s a life not made for someone with a light stomach.

Aaaaaanyway…

So tonight I had things to do. Actually…I had a schedule. It was hand-written on a blue sticky note and it had my itinerary for the night. It looked like this…

This was all fine and good but it’s what ISN’T on there that was the more challenging aspect of it.

First, let’s break this down. Stephanie pulled away from our home today at approximately 12:33pm. I remember this because I glanced at my watch while I was wheeling out the lawn mower to tackle the jungle formerly known as our yard. As I watched her mother’s tail lights disappear up our street, I put in my earphones, cranked up the music and chuckled to myself…”I got this.” And I did! For maybe a couple hours. Then I picked the kids up from school and it was showtime!

2:58pm – 8 minutes late getting into the pickup line at school because I forgot I had to run to the bank. I get a phone call on the Batphone…
Christopher: “Where are you?”
Me (trying to hide the fact that I’m late and at the back of the line): “I’m in the line. Don’t you see me?”
Christopher: “No. We’ll walk to the BACK of the school so we don’t have to wait here longer.” *click*

There ya have it. I’ve been in charge for a whole 8 minutes and I’m already a failure.

After picking the kids up, my (internal) itinerary says I have 2 hours for them to get their homework done, get them a snack, get them organized and off to the first stop of the night…Christopher’s baseball practice. 1 hour and 47 minutes later, Ava has her homework binder in her arms, paper falling out of it, an eraser-less pencil clutched in one hand, her new cell phone in the other. Christopher is rushing down the stairs, bag full of clothes his mother packed for him over his shoulder, his new birthday IPhone in one hand, basketball shoes in the other. I rush to get him a water bottle before we leave (it’s on the list!) and conveniently leave it on the table as we rush out the door to baseball practice. And so the night begins.

Upon arriving at baseball practice, I drop our children off at the park and, realizing we (I) forgot the water bottle, return home to get it. I also grab a water bottle for Ava and a soda for myself (calorie free Vanilla Coke. Perfect!) and proceed out the door with both dogs staring at me with that “Please take us!” look in their eyes. I pretend not to see them and keep on movin’!

Back at the baseball field, I watch the clock as time starts to grow short. I have 15 minutes to get Christopher from baseball practice to a basketball skills practice and it’s 6:13. In my head I crunch the numbers…6 mile drive, maybe 7 stop lights, gotta get them in the car…that’s at least 18 minutes…UNLESS I hit 5 of the lights! THEN it’s possible! As we head to the car, Ava asks for her phone. I have conveniently left it on the bleachers right where she gave it to me so she wouldn’t lose it when she went off to play with her friend. *sigh*

Ava runs and gets the phone, rushes up to jump car as we’re pulling away. Chris changes in the backseat while Ava and I search for something to listen to on XM radio. Ava wants Disney, I want 80′s On 8 and Christopher is busy answering texts in the backseat while trying to pull on his basketball shorts. I somehow managed to make it with 2 minutes to spare (hey…4 of those lights were on YELLOW mister!!!) and Christopher is shooting layups in the gym by 6:30. WIN!!!

Unfortunately, Ava had decided to roll in the grass at the park and is all kinds of itchy. And so, with a little under an hour before her gymnastics class, I rush her home to get her a quick shower and a snack. When we arrive, Barkley and Stella are staring at me. It’s 6:45. Their dinnertime. Ava showers, I feed the dogs, update my Facebook status and somehow end up descrambling Ava’s english words for HER homework (I dunno how this happened) and then we’re off and running her to her class.

7:22pm – I drop Ava off at the studio for her 7:30pm class and I watch her walk into the building. I have to pick up Christopher in 10 minutes. I don’t like leaving Ava but she assures me that it’s okay and I’m not doing anything wrong. So I head south to get Fer.

7:35pm – Arrive back at the gym as things are wrapping up and my phone rings. Ava’s instructor hasn’t arrived and Ava is all alone. Luckily, her assistant principal (a friend of our family) is there and calls me. So now I feel REALLY bad as I’m rushing Christopher out of the gym to hurry back to get Ava! As I’m pulling out of the parking lot, I get a text that the instructor has arrived and no need to hurry. I sigh and slow down after peeling out of a school parking lot. All is good.

After Ava’s class is over, I take both of the kids to Skyline for dinner, get them home, get Fer showered and everyone is in bed by 9:35pm. Except I’ve left the windows open upstairs all day and it’s about 85 degrees so…after a little bit of complaining…I allow both kids to head downstairs to sleep in the much cooler basement.

It’s now 10:55 as I wrap this up. Being Mom for a day has its headaches but ya know what? I kind of enjoy it when I get a chance to do it. It shows me how much Stephanie does for this family and I should never take that for granted. And now…I’m off to bed. Gotta get the kids up and moving tomorrow for school!

Destin 2013

Our vacation to Destin, FL was EXACTLY what I needed during this busy time of year. Ok…it was EXACTLY what my wife and my kids needed also and I think I can say that it was perfect for us in every way. We got a chance to lay at the beach, do a lot of swimming, spent some time with friends, hit the links and do a little outlet mall shoppin’. Here are some photos of our trip and I think you can tell by the smiles that everyone had a really good time!

Going 9 With Fer

Nothing like a little Florida sunshine for spring break! This year, like last, we find ourselves in Destin, Florida, soaking up a lot of sun, enjoying the beach and getting a lot of much needed R&R. We are here with a bunch of our friends and yesterday, 12 of us headed out to do some golfing at a nice little par 3 course called The Golf Garden. This was the first time I have taken Christopher out for a round of golf and I am proud to say he did really well! He was getting under the ball and managed to hit it up on the green from the tee a couple times! A couple things he will need to work on before he hits the grown-up course though…his putting (which can ALWAYS be difficult) and his driving skills. I let him drive the cart most of the way but he managed to roll it over a wood path guide on the 7th hole, effectively freaking him out a little bit. But we rolled it off and got back on course without any issues! Here are some pictures of our day with our friends Jax & his dad, Doug. We had a great time and then went out for some wings after. It was an afternoon I will never forget!

On their own!

Jax is lining up his shot…

Wings & pretty girls after (it was like going to a 6th grade dance…LOL)

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! He’s DRIVING?!?!?!

The Explicit Version

Hopefully NOT listening to Lil Wayne.

I post a lot of things on here that involve my kids. Obviously, right now, they are the most important things going on in my life and to be perfectly honest…trying to raise kids these days is becoming more & more difficult. Take for example…today. My son texts me that he accidentally downloaded an explicit version of a song by rapper Lil Wayne. For those of you who don’t know who Lil Wayne is, let me give you an example of his lyrics…

Uh…

Hang on…

Well…

Ok…on SECOND thought…I don’t think I CAN post any of his lyrics because quite frankly…they’re all pretty crude and I don’t want to even bother trying to edit this stuff down.

So let’s just say that Lil Wayne has some pretty x-rated lyrics that are NOT for kids. So Christopher owns up to the fact that he has downloaded an explicit song and on THAT level, I’m proud of him. So I go and listen to this song and it is EXTREMELY vulgar and NOT for kids Christopher’s age. Now I have THIS to deal with: I KNOW my son listens to this stuff and despite the fact that I hate that he’s heard it, there’s no taking it back now.

This situation is not unique to just my kids. I’ve ready articles on how parents have tried to lock up their internet and police all media and put passwords on everything and use a deadbolt on their bedroom doors and I have to wonder…where do I draw the line? He’s 10 and he has friends who have older brothers and sisters and I’m pretty sure THEY’VE listened to it and that’s how all this stuff gets circulated and so here we are.

I get why Christopher likes rap music. Rap music is “cool.” Personally, I think most of it is crap but I imagine my parents thought the same of my music when I was younger (and probably still do, for that matter). I can’t fault him for liking something I don’t. Part of the great thing about music is that it’s anti-establishment. I used to be a big fan of Eminem…until I grew up and got tired of hearing how he would *bleep* the *bleep* until the *bleep*-ing *bleep* got *bleeped*. I fed my rock palate on Nirvana and Marilyn Manson and the KINGS of double entendre, AC/DC. They’re just words. But when you’re 10…ARE they just words?

There’s a reason why there’s a sticker on the CD case at Best Buy. But when ITunes sticks Lil Wayne’s latest album on the top of their “New Releases” list and Christopher’s friends are all listening to it, what am I gonna do about it? One of the cool things about ITunes is that you can sample the songs before you buy them. But when the songs are by Lil Wayne and are beyond vulgar, how am I supposed to control that? Some will say he shouldn’t even HAVE access to it. But is that simply hiding him from the reality that some media IS obscene? Obviously I don’t want him listening to it but I remember when Nazareth was singing about “messing with a son of a bitch” when I was a kid and I thought that was the most insane thing I had ever heard! So now MY kid is listening to a guy who came from the rough side of Atlanta rapping about sex and violence and things he probably won’t understand for another couple years and I don’t know how to stop it. It’s already out there…so what do I do?

For the interim, I politely asked Christopher to delete it from his ITouch. I then offered to buy him the edited version if he really wanted it. I can’t help that he’s already heard the words that are in it. I imagine he’s already heard most of the words anyway. It’s the way that Lil Wayne uses the words that worries me. If anything, I don’t want my kid growing up thinking it’s okay to use certain words that he uses in his songs. It’s derogatory and disrespectful. Christopher and I have had “The Talk” about using cuss words. He knows where I stand on that issue. However I don’t know if MY thoughts on certain cuss words ever went beyond cussing with his buddies, saying the occasional “S” word or using profanity when he gets hurt on the football field. The level of cussing used in most rap today is WAY beyond MY version of using profanity.

So I am a bad parent who allows my kids access to ITunes. I also allow them access to NetFlix (which puts adult titles right next to kids titles) and they know the password on our television if they really wanted to watch my recorded episodes of “The Walking Dead.” My kids (and most kids these days) are really smart like that. They figure it out and can get around it. Luckily, I have a kid who knows when he’s gone over the line with certain things and he can talk to me or his mother about it. I don’t like what my kids have already heard or seen in this day of media overload, but I don’t know how to stop it. I guess the best I can do is hope that we have raised them correctly to this point and allow them to decide if what they are seeing or hearing is too much. I hope Steph & I have done right by them. Because obviously Lil Wayne doesn’t give a shi…er…crap.

Making Your Bed

Today my son forgot his homework for school. Lucky for him, I was home and willing to bring it to him but it made me wonder…at what age do I say, “You forgot it, you suffer the consequences”? There is no great book of parenting, so there is no right or wrong answer for this question but Christopher is getting to an age where I think he should be accepting more responsibility and so, eventually, it has to happen…right?

Friends of our family recently had their teenager get into some hot water. I’m not gonna say what he/she did and it doesn’t really matter. The parents are our friends and I can’t imagine what must be going through their minds in regards to their teen. You have to question yourself obviously. What did we do wrong? Why weren’t we there to stop it? What happened to our child to make them do something like this? I have to imagine there are a lot of questions that they are asking about their parenting and if they did it correctly. So when does it stop? At what point do you have to say to yourself that you’ve done the best you can and then let him or her deal with the situation they have made for themselves?

This is a tough one. When I was 10, I had a lot more responsibility than Christopher has today. I don’t want to get into the “Back in MY day…” conversation because, quite frankly, my son has an entirely different life than I had. When I was 10, there wasn’t the technology that there is today, there weren’t the pressures and there certainly wasn’t the social fears that we are consumed by today. His lifestyle is COMPLETELY different than when I was 10, so it’s not fair for me to compare my life to his because it’s NOTHING like his. But I’m pretty certain I had certain responsibilities then, I just don’t recall what they were.

This has nothing to do with the love I have for my kids. Honestly, it’s just a question. I’ve read some articles on this topic and none give an EXACT age. Usually they tell you take into account the age, the mindset, what he or she is going to be responsible for and you go from there. An obvious one would be their bedrooms. I think all of my siblings would say that I was the neatest of our brood. Being the oldest of 6, I was always just a clean person. I’m big on having everything put in its proper place and so when our home gets into a little bit of disarray, I get a little crazy. Christopher and Ava are NOT what I would call “neat.” Like most kids their ages, they have a tendency to throw their dirty clothes on the floor, spread their toys out all over the room and are okay with it being that way. I was never that way. So, for me, this tendency is maddening! When is it time to say enough is enough?

I’m hoping there will be plenty of comments on this topic (hopefully my mother can remind me of my responsibilities at Christopher’s age) and I’ll be interested to see what you say. This generation of kids is growing up under such pressure already. Christopher is studying geology in 5th grade & he has been involved in sports all his life. Ava is studying fractions in the 3rd grade and is already having to deal with social pressures at school. I don’t know when grade school became so mature but it amazes me how little time our kids get to be kids. So this makes me want to step back a little bit on the bigger responsibilities. I want them to enjoy being kids! But learning some responsibility is also an important part of growing up. So it’s just a matter of time before I feel I’m going to have to force them to have some and let them know that if they don’t live up to their end of the bargain there will be consequences. It’s a life long process and some have a longer learning curve than others so…when do we start? When do we, as parents, pull out the trump card and finally say, “You made your bed, now you get to lie in it?”

Your comments are appreciated. Aaaaaaand….go.

Here is a good article on this topic. And here’s another!

Phonin’ It In

Lately, the naughty word around our home has been “IPhone.” Just so you know, EVERYONE has one…EXCEPT for Christopher. Last summer, Steph & I got Christopher a phone so that if he were to be out riding his bike with his buddies or needed to get a hold of us, he would have one. Unfortunately, I wasn’t THINKING that his phone was gonna be a status symbol for coolness. I was THINKING he would use it to COMMUNICATE with us if he NEEDED us. So obviously this was short-sightedness on my part.

So for the past 2 months, all I’ve heard is, “Daaaaaaaaaaad…can I get an IPhoooooooone?” and “Daaaaaaaaaad….everyone ELSE has an IPhooooooooone…why can’t I get one?” Well…let’s see…let me count the reasons WHY Christopher can’t have an IPhone…

1. He already has a phone (as mentioned) and I’m not paying to break a contract with AT&T that will lead to me paying some ridiculous cost for a phone AND a new contract.

2. He has an ITouch…which has a shattered front because he dropped it and now THAT needs to be replaced.

3. The ITouch he has now replaced the FIRST ITouch he was given which he lost.

4. He SEES his friends at school, at practice, around the neighborhood ALL THE TIME. If we moved to Seattle and he wanted to keep in contact with his friends via Facetime (which he has on the ITouch) or there was some other truly inspirational reason WHY a 10-year old boy needs an IPhone specifically to be able to be a 10-year old boy that is not simply “because it’s cooler than a flip phone,” then MAYBE I would consider it. Be that as it may, at this point in his young life, I’m not buying it.

So WHY don’t I want my son to be the coolest kid on the block? Well…it has more to do than just money actually. Honestly, I could care less what kind of phone Christopher has as long as when I call him, he answers. This, however, has been a problem. Because normally when I DO call his phone, it’s sitting on the counter in our kitchen or is at the bottom of his backpack set on vibrate or it’s at his friends’ house where he left it last night. 9 times out of 10, when I call the 10 digits that are my son’s phone number, I get an answering machine. And THAT drives me CRAZY!!!!!

Why does he HAVE a phone if he isn’t gonna answer it? Obviously, today we use our phones for a lot more than just calling people. I use mine to text, to take pictures, to keep my calendar, to play games to whittle away the time. There are multiple uses for a phone anymore and the IPhone, despite some downward trending on Wall Street, is the big daddy of them all. I have a 64 gig phone that I keep thousands of songs on, some movies, all of my contacts and who knows how many apps that I never use but they are free so I own them anyways. Obviously I have a reason to have an IPhone! But the NUMBER ONE reason I have a phone? Is so that if there is a problem, if one of my kids are sick at school, if my wife’s car breaks down on the side of the road, if a friend needs me to pick him up at the airport, if my Mom wants to chat about her daily medicine intake, if an employer wants to hire me for a job…ANY of the above things…I have a phone that I can magically pick up and talk to them. NOT for my music, not for sending hearts and kisses to my wife via text, not for snapping photos of my feet in my hotel room watching tv. No…it DOES serve a purpose and that is for communication.

So when I call my son while I’m waiting to pick him up in the school pickup line and I can’t reach him and I have to go around the line again because I don’t know where he is? Yeah…THAT’S irritating. When I call my son when he’s over at a friends’ house to tell him we need him to come home for dinner and as I dial the phone rings on the kitchen counter? Yeah…that’s annoying. When his friends want to video chat while he’s doing his homework and can’t seem to concentrate on the difference between “they’re, their or there?” Yeah…THAT is NOT what I got the phone for.

So I’d like to apologize to Christopher but I am not footing the bill for an IPhone at this time. However he MAY leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to him at a later date.

beep.

A Letter To My Kids

This is a post for my children. Someday, I hope they are reading through the massive amounts of writings that I have done through the years and come across this and realize a few things…

This morning, I woke up, poured myself some coffee and watched my wife, your mom, as she was preparing your school lunch. She had already been up for about 45 minutes and had already gotten a shower as she was getting ready to go to work at 8am. It was 7:05. I asked her if I could help get your lunches ready and she told me I could make the sandwiches if I wanted to do something. As I was making your turkey & cheese sandwich with mayo, mustard and lettuce sandwich on hawaiian rolls (she was VERY specific about this), I noticed that she was also preparing you a side salad with carrots and a little cup of dressing that she was putting in little Tupperware cups, vegetable soup that she had made from scratch and was heating up on the stove, a small bowl of strawberry jello that she had made and a snack bar. I note the contents of what she packing because, quite honestly, if it had been ME packing your lunches, you would have gotten a peanut butter & jelly sandwich on regular white bread, some potato chips, maybe some grapes and a juice box. I MIGHT have POSSIBLY used wheat bread (if I’d seen it in the bread drawer first) but a SALAD with SOUP that I had made from SCRATCH? Not a chance.

Sounds like an average morning so…my point to this is?

Well…it’s not that your mother loves you more than I do. We both love you equally. However your mother goes ABOVE & BEYOND when it comes to taking care of you and she loves you so much that she will take the time to make sure you have the best she can give you. And this isn’t just in the case of just your lunch box either. Your Mom works harder at making sure that you have a great childhood than I have ever done in your short time here on this planet. Despite what you may think of her sometimes, there is no one who will do the things that she does to make your life as good as it can be. I’ve watched her. I’ve seen her struggle with you over your homework. I’ve seen her bust her butt to make sure she can get you, Christopher, from practice then to a game, pack you a bag of clean clothes so you can change, make sure someone can take you home, run to the store to get a gift so that she can take you, Ava, to your friend’s house for a birthday party, drive across town so that she can get something from someone for some charity engagement she has that night, drive back to get Christopher from the game, take you home to get a shower, take you to your friend’s house to play for a while then go get you, Ava, from the party, drop you off at another friend’s house then go home, change, and then go to a meeting, etc & so forth. Just WRITING this is exhausting to me, so DOING it sounds like a nightmare! But she does it and she doesn’t say a word about it to either of you.

Your mom makes sure you have what you need and gets you to where you need to go to get it. She makes sure that you understand all the things that are happening in your life. She is concerned about your future. She worries about you when you’re unhappy. She takes care of you when you’re sick. She has never once complained about doing ANY of these things. When I get frustrated when you whine about someone not passing you the ball during the game or dealing with having to make you something for breakfast that’s NOT cereal (seriously…what is WRONG with just eating cereal for breakfast?!?!), she will take the time to listen, she will make you eggs, she will understand your logic and make it all work.

My point is this…love your mother. Unequivocally. Don’t ask questions. Don’t talk back. Don’t take her for granted. Don’t think for a second that you can live without her. Because I’m here to tell you…you can’t.

I’m a a 44-year old man and I still have an undying love for my Mom. She did for me exactly what your mother is doing for you today and she has never asked me for anything more than a hug and a kiss before I leave her home. Your mother will be the same way. Live your life, enjoy it! But don’t EVER think you got it for free. Your life was not free. Your mother gave you your life. She gave birth to you, she cares for you, she loves you and when the shit hits the fan, she is gonna be there to help you get through it. Will dad be there? Of course I will. But trust me, MY take on things will always be peanut butter & jelly to her turkey & cheese sandwich with mayo, mustard and lettuce sandwich on hawaiian rolls. And it’s in THOSE details where you will find that she matters the most. I’m not belittling the things that I do for you. Trust me, I know my role. But it’s your Mom who is the angel on the top of your tree and so any time you think it will be okay to mouth off, be disrespectful, complain about the little things that don’t really matter, I want you to think of ALL of the things your mother does for you and I want you to reflect on those things.

Peanut butter and jelly will get you through, but turkey & cheese sandwich with mayo, mustard and lettuce sandwich on hawaiian rolls with homemade soup, salad and jello are the things that make your life special. Treat your mother with respect, love her as much as your heart will give and NEVER take her for granted. This matters very much to me because if you don’t understand that, then I have failed you as a father. Love your mother with all of your heart and your life will be greater than you know. Trust me when I tell you…mine has been.

Love you both,

Your dad

Ava’s 2012 ITouch Photos

A year ago, Santa brought Ava an ITouch for Christmas. Since then, she’s taken a LOT of pictures! She definitely loves snapping shots and so…after looking at a few of them…I thought it might be fun to share my daughter’s talents. At the age of 8, she has a flair for the goofy, for sure!

Old Ava

I don’t even wanna know…

Her new doll, Eva

Red!

Cousins!

Needless to say…the girl has some skills! Aaaand a somewhat wacky family…

My Top 10 of 2012

2012 was an AWESOME year for so many reasons! Of course there were the family reasons but this was also an excellent year for other reasons…including movies, music and fun! So here are my Top 10 Best Things About 2012. Here’s hoping 2013 is HALF the year 2012 was. Wait…strike that…here’s hoping that 2013 is BETTER than 2012…for EVERYONE!

10. Dublin, Ireland
I travel a lot but not normally overseas. This year I was lucky to get to visit Dublin, Ireland for work and it was a great experience! I got to see so much of the city and enjoyed riding the buses/trains/cabs to see some of the historic sites such as the Guinness factory and Kilmainham Gaol. It was a nice breakup from going to the same U.S. cities that I’ve already been to several times AND I got good miles out of it also!

9. The Constellations – “Do It For Free”
My favorite album of 2012. I can’t say that this year will go down as my favorite year musically but I CAN say that this album has so many top notch songs on it that I burned it out listening to each track over & over & over again. Hailing from Atlanta, GA, I thoroughly enjoy their blues/pop/soul sound and I had this one on repeat most of the summer. Check out these tracks to get a good feel for their sound: “Black Cat,” “Hallelujah,” “The Ol’ Speakeasy”

8. Philo Class of 1987 25th Reunion
It’s ALWAYS fun seeing friends, but this year’s class reunion was more than just a “fun time.”…it was literally like being 17 again! We stayed out late, hung out til dawn and relived the glory days for a single evening. I can say that Facebook has brought many of us together again but it’s the reunions that bring our friendships back to life! I can’t wait to see everyone again in 2017! But next time…I dunno if I wanna stay out til 6am. I’m thinking THOSE days might be over…LOL!

7. Top 5 Singles of the Year
I’m struggling with my favorite song of the year. There are a FLOOD of really good singles out there but albums (or complete bodies of listenable work) have become scarcer to come by. If I WERE to narrow it down…these are my Top 5 favorites singles of 2012 (but not necessarily in this order):

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – “Roulette”
Morning Parade – “Under The Stars”
Taylor Swift – “State of Grace”
The Constellations – “Black Cat”
Robert Francis – “Perfectly Yours”

6. Fantasy Football
Nothing consumed more of my time than my new found interest in fantasy football this year. From the moment I was asked to join during baseball season to the final weekend, I was obsessed with finding the right mix of waiver wire finds to match with my “go-to” players to try to win from week-to-week. I ended the season 6-7 BUT I made the playoffs! It’s been a lot of fun and considering my interest in the NFL, I’m definitely gonna have to expand to a few more teams next year!

5. The Avengers
The only movie I HAD to see in a theater twice this year, Joss Whedon managed to bring together not only some strong actors but a strong group of CHARACTERS and make an honest-to-goodness amazing action flick. With so much going on, this could have been a mess but instead we got great writing, a great story AND some of the best action sequences of the year! Easily my favorite popcorn film of 2012! As of this posting, my 2nd favorite flick is the Bruce Willis thriller “Looper.” But there are MANY films I have yet to see that I HAVE to see that recently came out in theaters so….

4. Zip-lining
What a thrill to fly through the air over lakes and trees! Who knew it would be so much fun? This year, all of us in our little family gave it a go in Gatlinberg, TN and enjoyed it so much that we are DEFINITELY gonna do it again as soon as possible!

3. Homeland
I can’t remember being so drawn to a show EVER. As much as everyone tried to turn me onto other shows, I have a limited capacity for following storylines and having the time to actually watch several shows with my schedule but Steph & I MAKE time for this Showtime series. The writing is impeccable, the plot is perfectly convoluted and we HAD to know what was gonna happen to Brody in the end. The finale this season was PERFECT! I can’t wait til next season! A close second would be the AMC gorefest “The Walking Dead.”

2. Kitten
Another mouth to feed? Sure. But seriously…the most ridiculously cute kitten in the world has become a part of our family so quickly that it’s hard to deny that she was MEANT for our family. She may act like a dog at times but she’s all cat and she enjoys swatting at my feet under the covers, being held like a baby and torturing Hannah (our other cat). She’s perfect!

1. The 2012 Olympics
When I look back on this year, my hiring for the Wrestling events in London will be what I remember the most. I have heard so many people tell of their Olympic experiences and some of them are absolutely horrific with stories of long work hours and poor living conditions. In MY case, I can honestly say it was a work event of my lifetime. I enjoyed every part of it, from meeting people on the plane while heading to London to working or seeing gold medal events to my co-workers. The added trip to Stonehenge on a free afternoon was also an experience of a lifetime! I am proud to have been a part of the 2012 Olympics and it will always be an event that I will always remember it fondly!

2012 Was A Very Good Year

First off, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I am a Doritos junkie. Seriously…as I sit here and type, I can barely manage a thought without eating a chip. What IS it with these things anyway? I’m a 44 year old man with a serious love for Doritos. Is it weird? I dunno. I DO know I’ve been eating these damn things since I was a kid and they NEVER get old!!! They keep adding cheese and flavors and I have to eat them ALL!!!

Ok…with THAT out of the way…let’s get down to the brass tax of this post.

2012.

What can I say about 2012? What do I NOT say about this amazing year? So much to say, so little time. So you want “highlights?” There are too many. So…let’s get started…

Ava has had a remarkable year which started out with her playing violin. She then decided to opt out of that for a bit to concentrate on swimming, volleyball, basketball and her artwork. After taking a week-long horse-riding camp in early summer, she has been bitten by the horse bug and now she is taking horse-riding lessons. She also enjoys hanging out with her many friends and playing on our neighbor’s trampoline. To say she has an amazing sense of humor would be doing my daughter a disservice. Her laughter is contagious and I can only hope she manages to keep it as she prepares for next year and the dreaded 4th grade.

Christopher turned the BIG 1-0 this year and double digits has been good for him. Although he’s been incredibly busy with a full baseball schedule in the summer, another season of Spartan football (in which he was the starting QB and got them to the Junior Youth Super Bowl) in the fall and now with 3 basketball teams, he has managed to keep his grades up and is still as animated as ever. He’s growing quickly though (and so are his friends) and so there have been some interesting conversations we’ve had but that’s all to be expected. Life goes by too quickly for Christopher (who is now called Chris at times or “Fer” when playing sports) but he does enjoy the occasional hang with his mom or me, and those times are awesome!

Stephanie continues to work at Sephora as well as being “Team Mom” for Christopher’s baseball & football team. She also has been involved in many school-based activities and manages to have a strong interest in our small community here. A lot of people in our area know Stephanie and she has become involved in many activities on many different levels. I am proud of all the hats she wears and I am glad that she has seemed to find a great niche for herself.

As a family, we had some great times this year! We went to Gatlinberg, TN for a tournament with Christopher’s baseball team and we all went zip-lining for the first time! We also took a trip to Destin, FL with many of our friends and their families. I wasn’t able to stay the entire trip but I DID manage to get a nasty sunburn on the top of my feet! OUCH! And we watched the Kentucky Wildcats win the NCAA Final Four with a decisive victory over Kansas! The highlight of the tournament though was watching Ohio University get to the Sweet 16 before getting beat in OT by North Carolina. Still…a pretty great run for my Bobcats! We also went to Patrick & Katie’s wedding in Williamsburg, VA. What a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast! It’s always good to see family and on Thanksgiving we went home for turkey dinner and lots of dessert!

In MY life, I’ve never been so busy! And the events were bigger this year than they’ve ever been! I can only believe that this year will go down as my most successful of my career. Here is a list of the events I was a part of this year…

1. The AFC Championship game (Baltimore @ New England)
2. The Super Bowl in Indianapolis
3. The Senior Bowl
4. NCAA Basketball Tournament (Louisville & Boston sites)
5. The NFL Combine
6. The NFL Draft
7. The Masters
8. FOX Reds Baseball
9. AT&T National
10. The John Deere Classic
11. The Olympics (Wrestling)
12. Navy vs Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland
13. NFL On CBS and Thursday Night Football for NFL Net

It was an honor to be involved with any and ALL of these events. Of them all, the Olympics will forever be a highlight of my career. I was lucky to be on a great crew that was televising the Wrestling events and I will always remember that particular trip. I also managed to squeeze a visit to Stonehenge out of that trip which was a thrill for me. I’ve always WANTED to see those druid stones! The AFC Championship is the most viewed event I’ve ever worked here in the U.S. and with a HUGE audience watching, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff pulled a chip shot field goal attempt wide that would have tied the game but instead gave the Patriots a shot at Super Bowl XLVI. I also received my 2nd national Emmy for working with the FOX National crew on baseball this past year. So THAT happened…

On a more personal level, this year has been just as successful at home. We gained a new family member with the addition of our new kitten that was originally named “Reece Cup” but was soon changed to…well…”Kitten.” I hit the big 4-4 in December and got a new wallet out of it. We had our bathroom renovated after a water disaster that left me a little waterlogged in August. We also  stabilized our house by having steel pierings installed that will hold the foundation in place so there will be less shifting in our little house on the hill. I went on a mini-vacation with my best friends to New York City in May. I had my 25th Class Reunion in August and had a BLAST with all my former classmates! I’ve also somehow managed to have more family time even though I’ve been on the move quite a bit. My mentality on my job has changed this year. This year I’m accepting it for what it is. In the television industry, doors open and they close. With family, that door is ALWAYS open. Here’s hoping the upcoming year will find more doorways open and the continual growth and happiness of my family.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

GO 2013!!!

HEY!! What about ME?!?! I was BORN this year! Don’t forget about me!!!

Oh yeah…and we welcomed Ava & Christopher’s new cousin Drake into our family this year. Congrats to my sister and her husband, Chris, who seemingly know how to have cute kids!

Just ’cause…I love this shot!

Oh yeah…and I beat my brother at basketball on his OWN court! (And you thought I’d forget…didn’t ya Frank? LOL!!!)

Thanksgiving 2012 (Drake’s 1st!)

My favorite holiday. Period. And this year we had everyone at Mom & Dad’s to celebrate the stuffing of our faces! With this being cousin Drake’s first Turkey Day, we all had fun taking pictures and posing with him. I imagine as he gets older, he will look back on these pictures and think…”Man, everyone looked so YOUNG then!”

That “New Baby” smell!

CMON MOM! He’s got a camera!!!

Aunt RuthAnn put the fishing rod away for a few days to visit! (Frank is still cheesy.)

Kasey & Normandy were TOTALLY into watching football all day!

Wonder who gave THIS to my Mom…?

I seriously need to learn how to get rid of red-eye… (JK…I’m just lazy.)

The Kids Table

The eyes…the hair curl…Oh Mah GAWD!!!

Uncle Billy…uh…”carving?” one of the turkeys…

The desserts were YUMMY!

Dad had 2 helpings!

Cousins

A few of the grandkids

Oh…for crying out loud…NO MORE PICTURES!

Halloween 2012…OR…The One I Missed

Let me tell you…I HATE missing holidays with my family. HATE is a strong word but when I have to miss one of my favorite holidays? Yeah…HATE would be the appropriate term. So this year, I was in San Diego while my kids were trudging around our little town, collecting goodies and having fun. The weather wasn’t cooperating apparently. It was cold and crappy and so I was told there wasn’t a lot to miss but still…

I love Halloween! Not as much as Thanksgiving but maybe a little more than Christmas and a LOT more than Sweetest Day (which is a made up holiday!!!). Anyway…here are some photos of the kids as they trudged. The best part about all this is that I didn’t have to walk around in the rain and I still get to reap some of the winnings while the kids are in school!

Taking Advantage Of Not Taking Things For Granted

As I’ve been learning, there are things in my life that I take for granted every day. I take for granted that my wife will take care of my kids when I’m at work. I take for granted that whenever I go to visit my Mom & Dad there will be pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner. I take for granted that my friends will always be there whenever I want to pop in for a visit. What I’m learning is that I shouldn’t take these things for granted…ever. Because you never know when things will change.

Last week I received some bad news…one of my closest friends is leaving Cincinnati for a new job. It’s a great job, I’m sure, but it is gonna suck not having he and his family around. I guess I always thought our kids would grow up together, play together and they’d always be around. Now that they’re going to be leaving, I feel as if I didn’t spend enough time with them. I should have been around more this past summer, hung out in their yard, had a few more beers and a lot more laughs. But sometimes busy schedules and a lack of time gets in the way of friendships and that’s just how it goes. Now that I know that they’re going to be gone, I wish I hadn’t taken my time with my friend and his family for granted. Either way, I wish them well (and I am not saying who it is because they are still making the announcement at this time) and I look forward to visiting their new home during my travels but it won’t be the same. I’ll miss their friendship and their kids. It’s always sad times when people move but this family has been a part of my life for so long that I can’t fathom them NOT being there. Hopefully we will get the chance to visit them once they get settled in their new home. Is it bad that I also hope they hate it where they are going and want to come back immediately? Yeah…probably… lol

This past weekend my parents came down to visit us in Cincinnati. In their time here, they got to see Ava’s volleyball team win their first playoff match, Christopher’s football team win their first round playoff game (with Christopher making a great INT and scoring the game winning TD) and one of Christopher’s basketball games (which didn’t turn out as well as the football game). It was so much fun having them here and it was exciting for the kids to have them see them in action. I know for a fact that I take my parents for granted. I am so fortunate to have such a great family and so I this weekend I tried to just enjoy our time with them. I shudder to imagine my life without my parents or my siblings. I love them so much and despite the fact that I don’t get to see them often, I always consider them to be with me wherever I go. There will always be a part of me connected to ALL of my family members. We are such a tight-knit family that it’s impossible to NOT feel that connection. Do I miss seeing them more? Absolutely. And so I try to take advantage of the time I get to spend with them, even if it is only a quick stop while driving through town.

On a completely different level, I also found out last week that I won’t be working an event that I have been fortunate to work for the last 7 years. My first Super Bowl was in Detroit in 2006. Since then I have been lucky to be invited back for 6 more. It’s a HUGE event and I have enjoyed being a part of the broadcast team that works to make it that way. This year I didn’t make the cut to go to New Orleans and now I’m feeling nostalgic about it. Despite the fact that it’s “just a job,” I guess as someone who gets to travel and work some really cool events for a job, I take for granted the fact that those gigs will be there from year-to-year. That is obviously not the case. So this year, I’m not going to be at one of the more prestigious events in the country. That being said, what I WILL do is appreciate the fact that I’ll be able to maybe attend a Super Bowl party with my friends and hope that maybe someday the opportunity might come around again some day.

So a new day is dawning. Friends come & go, family time is compromised, work events change from day-to-day. Life is like that. It’s an ebb & flow and I have to learn to row with the tide and not swim against the current so much. So in that regard, here I am learning that life isn’t something I should take for granted. I need to learn to appreciate what I have and take advantage of the moments I get because you never know when things will change and then *poof*…what you thought you would always have is gone. Take advantage of the best of times and love the ones who are so important in my life.

To quote from one of my favorite movies, “I am at home with the me. I am rooted in the me that is on this adventure.” So…this is me on this adventure and I am going to do my best to not take that for granted.

 

In Stride

It’s not easy being 10, I imagine. When I was 10, I didn’t have the kind of pressure Christopher has on him these days. He’s in 5th grade and has homework and sports and friends and family and…well…maybe my life wasn’t THAT different, when I look at it that way…but yeah! He has it a LOT different than I did and I’m trying to adjust. What do I mean by ME trying to adjust? Well…

When I was 10, I don’t remember having the amount of homework that he has. I’m sure I had homework, but I don’t remember it taking me 2 hours to complete and then 20 minutes of reading time at the end of my day.

When I was 10, I wasn’t the starting quarterback for a football team. When I was 10, I wasn’t even playing basketball yet! Christopher has been playing sports since he was 4! So he has had THAT going on for well beyond when I got started.

When I was 10, I didn’t have a pack of friends to compete with. For me, living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, being able to have a single friend over to play was a treat. For Christopher, it’s normal for him to have 3 or 4 friends over at any given time. And they are all in sports. All the time. So it’s very competitive around here day in & day out.

When I was 10, my Dad was home every weekend. Christopher’s dad is not. Not making any excuses…just sayin’.

So there are a LOT of differences between my son and I at his age. But the most glaring difference is just how much faster he has had to grow up. I don’t know what it is…I can’t quite put my finger on it…but chatting with him the other day, it seemed almost as if he was 15. He has so much to learn and yet he is WELL above where I was when I was a preteen. I don’t know if it’s technology, or where he lives, or his schooling, or his mother or what. But when we have a really good conversation, I realize that he a lot smarter, a lot more athletic and a lot more advanced than I ever was.

I hear a lot about education and our social environment. There are a lot of things to worry about when you’re a parent. One of the things I worry about the most is that my kids are growing up in a society filled with pressure. Pressure to perform at the highest level in school, in sports, at home, with his friends. I want him to not feel that pressure. I want him to take his time growing up, to enjoy NOT having pressure. Unfortunately, I think it is in our culture now that kids his age have to grow up faster in order to stay ahead of the curve. Gone are the days of easy living in Mayberry. Now it’s all about getting ahead, being stronger, bigger, faster! The schedule my kids keep is exhausting to me. Just looking at their schedule gives me the shakes. It’s crazy but they both seem to enjoy it that way, especially Christopher who is besides himself whenever he has to stay in the house due to weather or illness. Today he received this note from one of his teachers…
Like any proud parent, I gush over this because a lot of times, I worry that he is falling behind. But he’s not. I imagine he is right on pace with all the other kids his age and doing very well for himself. He might not grow up to be an astro-physicist but he is doing a lot better than I did at his age, I’m sure. And who knows? The sky is the limit these days. I just hope he can keep his demeanor and his wit as time goes by. Don’t let things get to him and keeps a level head, even as the world seems to be exploding around him. He’s a great kid, an awesome son and one of the best friends anyone could ask for and it seems that as much as I worry about him…he’s doing A-okay on his own. He seems to be taking life in stride and, at his age, that’s really all I could ask for.