Miracle

My last blog was about death (and many months ago). I still miss you Michael. My son hasbecome more than a fan of your music and we jam to your masterpieces regularly. He yells out your name when your song is playing in the background at the mall. It is hysterical and a bit embarrassing all at the same time.

Tonight, I'll flip the switch and blog about birth. Yesterday, we had a new addition to our family. Our fourth member of our team joined us at 12:05pm creating 7lbs 2ozs worth of downward pressure. She (yeah, she) is a tiny little thing. In all honesty, the approach this time around (versus with our first) was more of a "been there done that" kinda thing. The birth was anything but!!

Nothing unusual happened during labor or delivery. My wife was a strong, ass-kickin' trooper like she is every day in life. She made things for me, "easy as a Sunday (ash wednesday) mornin'" as she also does every day in life. But, when our little girl came out, my tear duct malfunctioned (I wasn't crying, it was definitely a mechanical malfunction) and released a lot of fluid. Not because it was a girl, but because we brought a human into this world that we created through the miracle of life. That feeling, the exact moment the baby is handed from the doctor to you, just overwhelms with emotion, excitement, pride, responsibility and joy. Such an unbelievable rush of wonderful-ness. I couldn't help but think about how truly amazing the circle of life is.

Baby Mo, we love you so much. Welcome to the world. It is crazy and wonderful. Be wonderful, and wonderful will surround you. Welcome to our country. It is crazy and wonderful. Appreciate the freedom and opportunities that this combination has created for you, and the millions of other citizens who live here with us. Welcome to our family. We are crazy and wonderful. Be crazy with us and you will have a wonderful time as our daughter / sister.

Baby Mo, you have an unbelievably caring, smart and loving mother. Listen to her and learn from her and you will become the smart, strong and loved woman that she is. You have a brother who has been SO excited for you to join us. He loves playing with trucks, reading, music, and helping out. Enjoy your brother, as I know he will love you as much as you will look up to him. Your mother and I look forward to seeing your relationship grow with each other. I will be there for you no matter what. I will always love you. I will, at times be upset with you, purely out of love. I will so often be proud of you, and smiling in happiness knowing you are happy. I love you very much already and will never stop.

RIP Michael

As sad as his last several years have been for him in the media, his impact on music and dancing cannot be denied or tainted.

The night before he died, I was in hollywood (was out in Anaheim with students for a national conference) on the stars walk and had my my students take my picture on his star. I explained to them how big of a deal he was to me, my generation, and several outside of my generation. They seemed to understand. The next day, we were walking back from Disneyland when I received a text informing me of his death. I am sad!!

Michael was my first concert. I was 8 and my dad took me to see him at the old Comiskey Park. I loved his music, his videos, his dancing. I memorized his dance moves, but never duplicated them. I spent hours listening to "Billie Jean" to memorize the words. I owned one silver glove. If not for him, I know I wouldn't love dancing as much as I do. He was my generation's Elvis.

I will do what I can to pass on his amazingness to my son (and any other kids that come along). We have been listening to his music in the house and car for the last several days now. This is the biggest celebrity death I've experienced and I'll never forget where I was when I found out.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, especially his three children. May peace and happiness find them quickly and remain.

Good bye, Michael!!

Smoke 'em if You've Got 'em!!

I've not blogged about cigars in the past, but I have a craving to do so right now... so I will.  I've been drooling over the H. Upman Vintage Cameroon for several weeks now.  I had my first one several weeks ago and cannot get it off my mind.  It was delicious.  I've not had one since because I don't like getting locked into things (although I am guilty of that with the BBQ Bacon Double Cheeseburger at Cheesecake Factory).  So, I've been trying different cigars to see if anything replicates the taste of the Vintage Cameroon for around the same price range (4-6 dollars).  I finally came across a Punch Gran Puro that was also delicious, but a bit thicker in taste (not in a bad way at all).

Anyways, the H. Upman Vint Cam is awesome and I am waiting patiently and anxiously to buy a box.  My buddy (who I'm waiting on for him to try it and see if he wants to split a box with me) sent me the following story / historical tid-bit about the cigar:  http://coffeeandcigars.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/cigar-review-h-upmann-vintage-cameroon-petite-corona/

I'm not necessarily a huge history or JFK fan, but I know this will make me appreciate the cigar more next time I have one (which I hope is VERY soon).  If you have a few minutes, check out this story and also check out the link inside of this story from Cigar Aficionado.  They are both well worth the read!!

Reflecting: Why I Didn't Vote For O'Bama

I think I've stated before that I like the guy, as a guy.  This is not a common thing with politicians for me, especially democratics.  I've been thinking quite a bit lately about my decision not to vote for him (I actually did consider it).  I came to the following analogy, which I truely believe applies to all of those who were actually considering both candidates:

 

I go in to register my kid for 1st grade and the school has two classes and two teachers at the first grade level.  Both classes still have openings and I am involved in PTA, so the school lets me choose which class he gets placed into.

 

Miss Perkins is 22 and she just graduated from college.  She's never taught before, but she did do student teaching (ooh, ahh).  She is hot, perky, energetic and getting me in trouble with my wife because of the way I'm smiling and nodding during our conversation with her. She has great, fresh, fun sounding ideas and explains to us that she doesn't plan to actually teach the alphabet because kids don't like learning it.  But, they learn it eventually through their other "activities".  She tells us how she is excited to use the smarter kids to help the slower kids because it makes them all feel better afterwards.  She is a good model to the kids for health and would definitely be able to catch my son when he decides to start running around the room de-pantsing kids.  She'll be great for him, I can't wait for parent teacher conferences!!

 

Mrs. Bengelstraum is 50, very matter of fact, wears "that dress" that all old gradeschool teachers wear and has gotten an impressive amount of use out of her spectacles.  She tells us about the different methods she uses in class, why she uses them and why she will continue to use them.  She tells us about what she does with the kids who are advanced to keep them progressing ahead of "grade level" and what she does with those who fall behind to quickly get them caught up so the rest of the class doesn't fall behind.  She also gets me in trouble with my wife because she can't keep my attention well enough to prevent me from being caught looking at Miss Perkins and being jealous of the father who's currently having a "discussion" with her.  I begin to think of follow up questions for Miss Perkins so we have a reason to go back and give her more of our time.  There's no way Mrs. Bengelstraum would be able to catch my son in his de-pantsing endeavors, however, he would never think to try it with her.

 

30 years later, my son is still mad at me that the kid next door (who still lives there) had a hot 1st grade teacher while Mrs. Bengelstraum is now one of his patients who needs a pap!!

Happy... Birthday!!

You thought I was going to go with Valentines Day?  Nope.  Today is my son's 2nd birthday and I wish him a HUGE happy one!!  He's already in bed, but we had a great day.  The three of us (mom, dad, son) played a lot (trains, baseball, basketball), went on a few errands, went out to dinner.  Yes, we were the couple that brought their kid to the nice restaraunt on Valentine's Day!!  We got some looks.  I love it.

He is extremely well behaved in restaraunts and I love everytime we go out.  We don't hesitate to go out to eat because of him.  He surprises the people around us all the time.  We have gotten comments from people about how well behaved he is at the restaraunt.  He's used to the environment and he knows what's appropriate behavior in that setting.  It's not that tough.

Anyways, back to my son and his birthday.  This is mainly to him, so you can stop reading if you want.  Son, I am so proud of you.  I love you more than you will ever know (until you have a child of your own).  I cannot believe how quickly these two years have gone by.  You amaze me all the time with the things you say, your humor (although there are glimpses of me in it which makes me feel bad for you), your compassion, your klutziness, your love for music and dancing and singing.  Nothing feels better than when you put both of your arms around my neck and plop your head on my shoulders.  I love how worried you are every night about making sure that your trains get the propper "good night" treatment from you.  I love your appreciation for ad-hoc parades.  I love the way you look at your mother.  

I love you!!  

Happy birthday booger!!

We're Gonna Be Alright

No, I don't think the stimulus package is good.  No, I've not done a 180 on O'Bama.  But, I still think we are going to be alright.  Long term, way after O'Bama's 4 years (that's all he's gonna get) our country's "future" is going to be just fine, if not great.  There is so much crap in the news about kids / teenagers screwing up.  Teenagers acting irresponsibly demanding the question, "What is wrong with our youth?"

Nothing.

I see these kids every day.  There are idiots, yes.  There are also idiots in their 40's (I work with a few).  I have the privelege not only of teaching, but of also being the advisor for our school's student business club.  These kids are good.  Scratch that, these kids are unbelievable.  I recently took them to a conference (this is not a rareity).  Aside from what they accomplished at the conference (which was impressive), their decision to go was enough for me.  Here's what their decision said:

I will get up at 6am on a Saturday!

I will put a suit on!

I will spend ALL day Saturday in that suit at a high school!

I will spend several hours of that day taking a test!

I will spend a few more hours listening to teachers speak to me!

I will have a good time doing it and thank my advisor afterwards for the opportunity to go!

These kids are good and there are thousands of them across this state, let alone the country.  These are the kids who are going to run our country, our businesses, our schools, my grandkids' daycare.  These are the kids who allow me to know that we are going to be alright.  I tell my buddies (who aren't teachers) to ignore the moron teenagers in the news for doing this stupid thing or that.  The good ones outnumber the bad, easily.  The bad are just louder.

No worries, we'll be alright!!

Tribune Disapointing Again

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I've lived in a state of constant disappointment with the Tribune Company.  They have never been committed to building a winning baseball team and that's a killer when it comes to my passion for baseball (first) and the Cubs.  Their decision to not sell to Mark Cuban has been a tremendous let down to me.  I am not going to go anywhere near claiming to know the specifics.  I don't even think (yet) that Mr. Ricketts  is necessarily bad for the Cubs.  What I do think, is that Mark Cuban would have been great as a Cubs owner.  This is meant to be no offense to Mr. Ricketts.  I hope the best for him, because I am a Cubs fan.

After reading the book "Republican Millionaire" I decided to follow a piece of its advice and choose a financial hero (much like we choose favorite athletes).  In doing research, more reading, and more paying attention with this task in mind, I decided that Mark Cuban was my "meant to be" option.  He loves sports.  He is a techy geek at heart.  He operates in a bit of a non-traditional manner but gets the job more than done.  He has relentless passion for whatever he chooses to do (although this backfires at times for him, you can't question his commitment to endeavors).  He went to undergrad in Indiana (although the wrong school, I still forgive him).  He wanted to be the driving force behind the Cubs becoming a winning team.

I don't know the specifics of the offers, decision making process, rationale, or emotions that occurred during the past several weeks with the "Cubs buyout" situation.  I also don't care.  What I know is that the Tribune Company, fittingly, took their last chance to make a decision that would help the Cubs become a winner, and dropped the ball.  It was the bottom of the ninth and they have committed their final, curtain call, error.   The headline, if not tremendously influenced by where the paycheck is coming from, in the Chicago Tribune should have been "One Last Error".  If the manager is the 10th player and the GM is the 11th, the owner is the 12th and this was definitely an E-12 in the books!!  Good riddance Chicago Tribune!!  I have cancelled my paper subscription and I am done with you!!