Picture Show

Lots of pics for all the good girls and boys. And cat.

Vacation pics and tidbits

Annie, the kids and I flew to Chicago on 7/31, drove to Hudsonville on 8/2, drove to Big Rapids (Cottage) on 8/5, drove back to Chicago on 8/8, and flew home to SLC (minus kids) on 8/9, our 1-year anniversary. All that time on seats of moving vehicles left me thinking, "Why do men wear wallets in their back pockets, anyway? My left arse cheek kills!"

Happy Anniversary baby! I did exactly what I wanted to do this year: set the bar low. I only get better from here, trust me.

Some of my favorite highlights from the trip:

- Zoey left the other 3 of us in stitches at the SLC airport restaurant. She started doing this weird "duh, du-huh" sound to Preston, and for whatever reason we all started giggling as she just kept doing it, without breaking. It was like one of those uncomfortably long Family Guy jokes. She just kept making that noise.

- The waiter looked like a creepy, ashy-faced version of Michael McDonald from MAD TV.

- I'm not going to compare every anecdote to a TV show, sorry about that.

- Nicknaming the Willis Tower the "What you talkin' 'bout-Willis Tower", and then hearing the kids try to say it fast. TV reference again, dang.

- Preston methodically cleaned out the appetizer plates at Giordano's.

- Zoey played a game at a street fair where you had to throw a ping pong ball into these tiny glass jars, to win a goldfish in a bag. You got 5 tries. These games are designed to be nearly impossible, right? She nailed it on the first try. We won a fish. It lived for 3 days. We tried.

- My Dad unwittingly ego-slapped me while we put together a new trampoline at his house. I just couldn't pull the last few sections of springs far enough to hook them. My hands were blistered, nearly bloody by then (slight exaggeration). He just kept pulling them 'til it was done.

- I saw my cousin Emily for the first time in well over a year, maybe two years? She went and married a man named Steve. Good job, cousin!

- I met my niece Elizabeth finally. She was crying within 30 seconds when I picked her up. We made up and became buddies later in the week.

- Zoey walking through Meijer in one flip flop, having lost the other one at AJ's house.

- Preston deciding to do lots of unpredictable things: Choosing an afternoon with Grandpa John and Grandma Terry instead of taking the train to Heidi's neighborhood with me and Annie and Dave and Heidi for the street fest; Going grocery shopping with Grandma Carol instead of hitting the G.R. Children's Museum with my Dad and Annie; Waking up super early on his own, at my parents' house, to play Gotham Racing on the X-Box. Well, that last one isn't so unexpected.

- Josh Pepper singing - screaming - "Beat It" in falsetto at the top of his lungs on Guitar Hero World Tour at AJ's house.

- Preston and Zoey arguing over the controls of the slowest, least entertaining type of water vehicle: the paddleboat. "I want to push the little handle forward and back!" "No, you suck at turning left while pedaling!"

- Seeing 3-yr old Danny by the campfire with his pants down. He was standing there with a marshmallow roasting stick in his hand, and suddenly his pants were at his ankles. It seemed like no great surprise to his parents.

- On my 2nd ski run of Thursday, catching an edge and going shoulder/face first into the water at full cutting speed. I hadn't fallen in a long time, and it's a trip. In half a second these thoughts occurred: "I am killing this run OH NO GOING DOWN. I think my shoulder just punched my clavicle. Am I upside down? I wonder if this looks cool to the kids. My teeth hurt?"

- Something about vacation makes my wife actually okay with a real, full arms and body hug. With an extended embrace. I know that's really sappy but I'm treasuring it. It was our anniversary after all. And I hadn't showered in like 3 days at the cottage and she was still in for it. That's love, baby.

I'm omitting a few things, surely, but I'm also very tired and this is taking forever. Plus I took the time to put those clever, HI-larious captions on all the photos above, so don't skimp on those. Thanks to Terry and John for letting me drive the Kia Sportage with the "One Hot Grandma!" license plate frame -- very awesome -- and for letting us crash at our favorite downtown Chicago condo. And thanks to Mom & Dad for hosting us at your home and the cottage for a week. It was a lot of running around, but something about the Midwest always makes it feel easy to enjoy. 

Why Reading is Good

[NERD ALERT! This is about reading.]

It's not because your parents tell you it's good. They're right, but the reason they say it at the time is because they simply want you to quit asking for snacks.

"No, you can't have a brownie sundae with crushed candy canes on top. What even made you think of that? You should go read a book or something. It's good for you."

Seriously, if my kids haven't asked for a snack during a particular 15 minute time period, I start to worry. And if I haven't responded in complete disbelief that these children ask child-like questions with impunity, they start to think I'm not an old grumpy bugger after all. But I normally do. This paragraph is like a triple negative. I’m not even sure what it says now that I haven’t continued writing it.

 

To reading, then. I started writing a thoughtful, what-does-it-all-mean essay on the effect reading has on our psyches, but it disappeared. Twice. I saved it as a draft here in this Blogger control center, and it completely vanished. So I re-wrote it, naively in Blogger again, and it vanished again. It was Blogger's way of saying, "Dude, that was way over your own head. Stop now before you subject your readers to this painful, meandering interpretation of the long-stirring thoughts in your usually sealed off brain."

 

So instead, I'll try and summarize in a few sentences. The more I read, the more information I absorb. Duh. More specifically, the more I read books set in historical, real-life contexts, the more I understand about myself and my own humanity. I haven’t even read these books with that purpose (I’m off to find myself! blah blah blah), but the result is just that. Confused? I’ll use a quick example with the book I’m reading now, Angela’s Ashes. Frank McCourt, the author, is a kid growing up first in Brooklyn, then back in native Ireland in the 1930s and '40s. He’s Irish-Catholic of course, lives in squalid conditions I’ve never had to endure, sees the depression in America and something altogether more bleak in Ireland; basically, we have nothing in common. Except he is a boy, and he is human. And when I find myself relating to the dreams, needs, questions, and “sinful thoughts” of little Francis in his boyhood, I just feel like my life is a little more normal. I also feel really grateful to have been born and raised in the late 20th century in America, in West Michigan, to my parents, in my little world.

 

See? That’s just one perspective out of one part of one book! I go through this like 3 or 4 times every time I read something now. Reading is good because the stories are experienced in your own head, using your own creativity, and stirring your own emotions. I love TV and movies, but they’re created with someone else’s imagination, and often produce false senses of emotion through musical crescendos or REALLY INTENSE CLOSE UPS.

 

Your teachers were right. Reading is good. They just weren’t explaining it right. It’s not because you’ll know the correct answers to a test, or because you’ll be able to recite Shakespearean lines when you’re picking up chicks, or because you truly need to understand transcendentalism. It’s because you’ll understand your place in this world a little bit better.

 

And you may pick up a few answers (questions?) on Jeopardy!, which is never a bad thing.

What up

So TheStepDude.com is on hold. I have nary the time for this little blog/journal/column as it is, much less one with much deeper contrivances. I'm giving myself 10- no, 12 sentences to summarize the past month.

1. Our family vacation to greater San Diego with my parents was filled with memorable moments like swimming, sailing, Sea World, a wife's 30-ish birthday, boardwalking, pizza, bad college hoops, an uncle and aunt, 2 cousins, one traumatic kid injury, 3 nights of hacking coughs keeping me awake, fantastic downtown Del Mar restaurants, adjoining rooms with said parents (which we survived...and had fun!), Coronado Island, and a recommended Double Tree in Del Mar.

2. Zoey has recently transformed into a mega-diva thanks to an upcoming dance recital, the recital's costume, the recital's makeup, glitter and hair requirements, the rehearsals, the theme park locale of recital #1, and her natural self confidence.

3. A new fun thing we do is put this hair net, required by Zoey's dance troupe for the uncomfortably tight bun-style hairdo, on Disco Kitty's head while singing, "sloppy joe, slop-sloppy joe".

4. A certain someone who pursues athletic endeavors to combat aging has played two (co-ed lower-tier rec league) softball games, producing several hits and catches and throws and very few trick hamstring developments.

5. A certain Preston in my house has played three soccer games, resulting in many shouts to "run!" and "kick it" and "no really, run!" whilst congratulating him on his new coordinating accessories gear, which includes fancy shin guards and new cleats, which he'll grow out of by Thursday.

6. A certain wife of mine deftly stayed out of my way while I attempted to install the new, "easy self installation" bathroom flooring we purchased from the Home (Cash) Depot-sitory in order to avoid me taking out all my defeatist frustration on her.

7. The floor looks amateurish and less than perfectly square, but constitutes a huge improvement over the state of the floor immediately prior featuring remnant paper backing from the ripped out linoleum.

8. Was that "Home (Cash) Depot-sitory" line a reach?

9. I purchased the MLB subscription from Comcast for $199, justifying, "$25 per sports bar visit to catch out of market game times anything over 8 visits over a 162 game season equals 'it pays for itself!'"

10. If the Tigers don't have a successful season to redeem my dreadful home-team sports year, then I will be forced to pretend I love hockey.

11. Every time I saw the words "Double Tree" at the hotel, I immediately though of

12. I want to full-fist punch that bathroom right in the throat.

Rocket kid...

From Rocket

We launched Preston's rocket yesterday at the park. Click the preview above to watch, but if the video doesn't play right away, try refreshing, or try clicking back and forth between the 2 videos in Picasa.

The Office

I got a promotion! Sort of. The Company I Work For has, let's say, slimmed down recently; however, we are still located in a large office building full of perimeter offices surrounding cube farms. As a way to boost morale (and because they probably need to sell the cubes for cash), many of us were moved from cubes into nicer offices with a door and a window. Perky!

Here was the old...












And here is the new!











I picked the kids up early from day care last week and took them to see my new digs. They had not yet seen my office at all, so I thought it would be cool for them to get a glimpse of my daily environment, and I could show the kids off to some of my lingering co-workers. When I told them where we were going, they were less than thrilled. But I reminded them about the ICEE machine in our break room and that I work for a cookie company. Suddenly, we were on the road to Disneyland! Once there, they were impressed with several things:
The Elevator
The cookie showcase in the lobby (old, display product only - sorry!)
The maze of empty cubes
The views of the Salt Lake valley (they are quite nice)
Blue Raspberry ICEEs
A cookie from this one nice guy
A piece of candy from this one nice lady
This foam la-z-boy phone holder promotional item











So to summarize: Steve works in this building with a huge elevator, and they have this cookie thing and we got ICEEs and a treat from the really nice people who work there, and he has this phone thing that looks like a chair. Geez, who needs school? We want to go to work, too!

The kids were a hit, and everyone was extremely warm and friendly. The best moment was when my boss began chatting with Z, the talkative one, and asked her if she had ever been to the office before.

Z: "Yeah, um, well no, we just picked up Steve once but we didn't come in."
Me: "When was that? You must have been with Mom."
Z: "No, we were with Heidi. Remember, it was when you got in the car and you farted."
Co-workers nearby but out of sight: "snicker"
Boss: "Ohhhhh, OK."
Me: "Wow, Z, thanks for that great story." [turn to boss] "That one has no filter!"

I'm always shocked at how well the kids remember certain events. I barely recalled being picked up by Heidi and the kids, much less breaking wind (accidentally... what?) Good good times.

The Kids

Annie and I have had a longer than normal stretch of days with the kids. Based on a somewhat informal custody arrangement, the kids are normally with their paternal grandmother every other weekend, and most Friday nights in between. The past several weeks, grandma has been away or busy, and had actually taken the kids more often the weeks prior due to my travel schedule, so we were basically catching up.

It shouldn't be a big deal, because we're the parents and this is our house and this is where the kids live. But wow, it feels exhausting lately. Two other factors: one, the weather turned, and it is no longer normal for the kids to be outside with friends in our complex all afternoon - so that means indoors, and needing structure and attention (and snacks); and two, Annie was out of town Mon-Fri last week. So I got the Mr. Mom treatment pretty good. My nerves were frayed a bit last weekend, and I snapped at Preston Sunday night - by Tuesday, I flipped out on Zoey, too. Not surprisingly, the kids were better behaved the rest of the week.

So yesterday came as a relief. I got to watch Michigan WIN (yes WIN!), relaxing in my room while the kids cleaned rooms and Annie caught up on laundry. I joined in the organizational fray once the Wolverines were wrapping it up, putting up a new shelf in Preston's room. For a sort of fun family day, and as an early birthday present for Pres, we planned a lunch at his choice of restaurant, swimming and diving at the rec center pool, trip to Dairy Queen, and we'd let the kids "make" dinner at home later that night. Training Table was the restaurant of choice. For the non-Utahans, it's a sit down burger joint, where you order from a telephone at the table. It reminds me of Russ' as a kid, or Mr. Burger in terms of food. So we had big sloppy burgers and some great cheese fries.

The pool we go to has a diving board and high dive, so we had fun challenging each other to jump, twist, and dive. I burned some of those fries off swimming laps and chasing the kids around the shallow play pool. A few minutes in the hot tub and sauna completed the therapy, and it was off to DQ for treats.

Dinner was stir fry, with the kids acting as wait staff and serving us plates and drinks. Pretty funny. They did a good job. We were then treated to a "concert" - the kids trying their best to sing or lip sync High School Musical songs - or worse, this "Naked Brothers Band" that Preston likes - and faking the keyboard and drums. An entertaining half hour show, and we captured it on video. Miraculously, the kids were in their beds by 7:30 and Annie and I finally got some peace and quiet. But the busy day and pool exertion had bested me, and I was dozing on the couch myself by 8:30.

Today, everyone was up early. I woke up to the sound of Preston running the bath, and seemingly making as much noise as possible. Zoey followed by entering our room to tell us that Preston was splashing water all over the bathroom. Half of Zoey's life is spent asking to have what Preston has, or do what Preston's doing, or telling on Preston if he's doing something naughty or which she wishes she could be doing - which are generally the same things.
I'm hoping to catch a little NFL and hit the gym today, and this afternoon we're off to Annie's Mom's for dinner and celebrating Preston's birthday with the fam.

This is the end of a full couple of weeks, filled with last minute dinners, multi-leg trips from work to daycare to gym to Z's dance class to picking up our truck from the shop, frequent tears (Preston tripped me on the stairs!) and protests (No I didn't!), one episode of puking, homework and reading help, play-wrestling that starts with giggles and always, always, always ends with Zoey's tears and Preston's protests (I didn't do anything!).

But I always remember that Annie's been doing this on her own for years, and I compare my responsibilities to those of my last few years as a bachelor in Michigan, and I realize this is right where I want to be. It's family life and it's challenging and fulfilling and we learn something new every day. So that's a snapshot of life as a Stepdad in my house.

Did I mention Michigan actually won?!

Big Tuesday Part I

It was Tuesday. A big day. A big night, really. After sending off the boss at work, it was soccer game for the kid, softball game for me, Pistons-Celtics game on DVR. New wrinkle for soccer: Coach out for the game, Annie volunteered in. Annie technically in, Steve actually in. Annie brought snacks, and really good ones. Preston's 1st-2nd grade league allows 6 players on the field at a time including the goalie. Normally, 7 or 8 kids show up for each game. Tuesday night, however, was a big night. An eleven kid night. Eleven kids for 6 positions. Eleven kids who want to play the three "forward" positions. For those disinclined to the beautiful game, forwards get to kick it toward the goal more than the rest.

We were there first. Preston. Then Kaitlyn. Cade and Rhett arrived together. "Hi guys, Preston's mom is the coach tonight, she's over there. I'm Steve."

"I wanna play forward! I always play forward!"

William and Colin arrive - that's six! We got a team, baby! Let's start Preston in goal, and then we'll - wait, here come two more girls. You're Julia? I'm Steve. Preston's mom is the coach tonight. And you're Kendall? Are you even on this team? You play forward?

"Can I start at forward?"

So Preston in goal, Kaitlyn and Julia and William up front, Rhett and Cade can start on defense. I know, Kaitlyn. Wait, there's another Kaitlyn? Oh, hey. Preston's mom is coaching tonight. You wanna play - yeah, I'll get you in there later. Hey, where's that really good kid, the one that scores all the goals? Oh - Clayton, there he is, he's their best forward. Sheesh - that's ten kids, we're going to have to sub a lot, keep these parents happy. Who's that red head? Is he on the team, too? His name is Colton - are you serious? I'm going to put him on defense.

"I play forward the whole 4th quarter, and don't take me out."

Cute freckles kid. Let me get this straight: Cade, Colin, Colton, Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn, Kendall, Clayton? Needless to say, Preston, Rhett, William and Julia are starting, with Cade and Kaitlyn.

The rest of you - wait until I call out a name, like "Cloytlin", and then just run in there for someone.

Well, the game went great - Preston was strong in goal and got a good 2 minute stint in the forward rotation. I stopped the game at least 5 times to shift kids around and move 2 of the 5 forwards to defense for one possession. Cloytlin scored like 8 goals and we rolled. First coaching experience, Great Success! Oh, and Annie played her part - the kids loved the oranges and Creamies. If you're from Michigan, "Creamies" might not ring a bell. For a minute I thought they were eating Coffee-mate on a stick or something. Turns out they're just what we midwesterners call fudgesicles or ice cream pops.

On the way to the softball field, a storm was a-brewin...

Being all growed up

Life is swarming all around right now. It hasn't stung me directly, but it's constantly shifting shapes and actually seems to be taking little stabs at family and friends in a lot of ways. At the same time, I'm finding lots of opportunities for change and new challenges amid the chaos.

First the fun. Let's see, I joined a softball team with some co-workers. We lost both games I played in, while they won the first game I missed. So I'm obviously having a huge impact. It's a co-ed team, and my friend Kimberly is playing with us since Annie finds softball about as interesting as she finds, well, sport. The first grounder I got at shortstop was hit by a dude, and kid was getting up the line quick. I thought I had a chance so I whizzed one over to first - to Kimberly - but the throw was low and somehow eluded her glove. It did manage to find her tibia, however, and made a thud the left fielder could hear. Kimberly bravely shook it off, but I saw her a couple days later and the bruise was pretty much from foot to knee. Glad she's my fiance's bff, because otherwise I'd probably have to pay her medical bills or something. I followed that up with 2 more fielding errors, while making maybe 2 putouts. In a related story, I played left field in the next game.

Preston is in soccer this summer, and the improvement from last fall is amazing. He's scored two goals already - in the two games I missed - and is quite the goalie as well. Zoey decided to call it a career, since last fall her involvement in soccer was a mix of chasing a boy named Noah and asking out of the game so she could snuggle with Mom on the sideline. At least she knew to walk away while she was at the top of her game.

At work, on the same day I found out my marketing coordinator was not returning from maternity leave, I found out my boss was leaving. She is a super dynamic businesswoman, a great leader, and I learned a lot from her. She's taking a job with a company that sells skincare products - a brand Annie happens to love, too, so she's on the list for free samples already. The question most people have is "do you get her job?", to which I respond "they wouldn't offer it to me, and who needs that kind of pain anyway?" It will leave a gap for a while, but I'm excited to work directly under our President, who has major marketing savvy developed under some big name brands.

Annie has an exciting potential opportunity that would involve us moving across the country if they offer her the job (they will) and if we accept (we'll see). My initial reaction to a change like that was my standard hemming and hawing and general skepticism. But the more we talk about it in realistic terms, the more used to the idea I become. I mean, I did pick up and move across the country once, it should be that much easier if we do it as a family, right? Yikes. Speaking of family, I'll be excited to finally see them in about a month when I head back to G.R. for Jr. P's wedding. I miss my nephews! I heard them on the phone a few days ago, and they sound like they're growing so fast. I think the oldest has a beard now.

As a new (almost) stepdad to school age kids, I have a bond with them that grows and grows, but obviously lacks the depth that must come from your own blood and the experiences of having a newborn. A number of friends and my sister have at least given me a vicarious glimpse of that bond. It saddens me then that I've received news in the past month from no less than 4 friends or family involving struggles with newborns. From miscarriage to genetic disorder to infant trauma and pregnancy risk - it's just a flood of reality checks for one who still imagines having his own children someday. My own family had unique experiences with my autistic sister and some of her complications as a newborn. It's amazing how frequently families face these types of situations. Does anything have a greater risk/reward dichotomy than pending childbirth? The comfort is found in witnessing these families rally around each other, as they face their challenges with love and selflessness. I need reminders at times that life is not only delicate, but precious - something to be enjoyed as much as possible while we are lucky enough to breathe.

Sorry for the dramatic tone! I do funny better than reflective, but it's what's on my mind. Quickly, then, I switch to sports: Go Pistons! Those of us who have followed the NBA for the past 20+ years think Detroit-Boston playoffs and drool. The chowder eaters have an abundance of championships lately between the Pats and Sawx (plus I heard they got a no hitter tonight - from a dude who beat cancer, no less!). Motown has a lot of almosts and inflated expectations lately (not to mention a thug-mayor scandal), but no "'Ships", as 'Sheed would say. If the Pistons and Wings both make their leagues' finals, I may have to fly to Michigan just to sit in a BW's on one of those nights they both play and get my fanhood on. Where have those days gone, boys? Oh well, at least I have a little thing called "DVR". Soccer game? Softball? Neighborhood kid scooter drama? No problem. Just don't text me and spoil the ending, Parents. That's right - my folks are texting like pros, LOL.

Fake instruments

So we bought Rock Band for PS2. I became fairly adept at the fake guitar while unemployed, playing Guitar Hero until my left hand fingers cramped into a permaclaw. But oh, the joy of FAKE DRUMMING. If you know me at all, you know I'm a rock 'n roll drummer at heart - my dream of thrilling arenas full of people with ear shattering fills and big finishes unfulfilled only because my Mother never bought me that drum set that I had on my Christmas list for like 15 years. (I love you, Mom, it's not really all your fault.)

Rock Band comes in a bundle with wireless guitar, 4-head drum kit with bass drum pedal and Ludwig drum sticks, and a microphone for the singer. The guitar is a bit heftier than our Guitar Hero axes with a softer feel - I like it much better. The drums are 4 rubber heads, sort of like the drum pads that you practice with if you take percussion in junior high. The plastic kick pedal is weighted well, but it feels like it will break if you kick too hard. The day Annie bought it, I was playing drums on the Medium level within 4 minutes of getting home from work.

[Flashback: end of 6th grade, band tryout day. An array of instruments in the library includes various brass and reed instruments on tables. No xylophones or snare drums to be found, but I'll check out some of the horns. I try out several, settle on the trombone. Unknowingly, I am now committed to trombone in the band. Later, I found out the kids who did get into percussion, like my friend Travis, simply told the teachers "I want to be in percussion", and were granted said wish. Fastforward 3 years, I am a freshman in high school, 1st Chair trombone ahead of 2 seniors, and in no way did that make me a huge geek. I quit at the end of the year and joined the choir. And in no way did that make me...]

My point is, if I had been a more assertive youngster, my future may have involved much longer hair and way more bus trips and ruinous addictions. As it stands, I can accept my 3 year stint with the slide T-bone - we did have a sweet marching program freshman year - music from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Anyhoo, we now have a fake family band. Preston is really good at the drums, which makes me insanely happy but privately bitter, and Zoey loves to sing into the mike, but only to Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive. She struggles reading the scrolling words on the screen, but she knows just enough to keep the game alive. Heh - get it? Annie is a dual threat on mike or guitar, doesn't really care for the drums it seems, and me, well - I of course can rock them all. Oh, I forgot - I won a Yamaha keyboard at a work luncheon raffle, so we have a fake piano, too!

The song selection in Rock Band totally sucks, but that doesn't really matter. Playing fake drums and fake guitar and doing karaoke through the TV is pretty much the coolest fake thing ever. I'll drop in some pics of us jamming soon. If you're lucky enough to come to our house (Is anyone ever going to visit me in SLC?) we can give you a demo. Maybe I should call it a "session".

Thanks to my parents for reminding me of one of the best and funniest reads of the year: Dave Barry's Year in Review. Here's a snippet:
"In other show-business news, the surprise contestant on American Idol is llama-hairstyled Sanjaya Malakar, who, with the support of millions of viewers, all apparently deaf, manages to reach the late rounds of the competition before being eliminated by a blowgun dart from Simon Cowell. Upon being revived, Sanjaya is signed by the Miami Dolphins."

He also has some hilarious coverage of the political races. Check it out.

Musings from the ORD

Oh wow - I'm in a hotel room again, big shock. This time a plush Comfort Inn within range of approaching 747s just outside of O'Hare airport, or ORD as we travellers like to say. Annie and I take unusual pride in our knowledge of 3-letter airport codes and use them frequently to refer to cities, even when the airport has no bearing. LIH baby! It's like text message codes for grownups, LOL.

Work doesn't provide me a laptop yet, so I decided to take Annie's home laptop for this trip to get some work done, and it was the best decision ever. Not only can I get work done, but I can download recent episodes of Rescue Me, write this, and watch Monday Night Football all from the relative Comfort of my Inn. I'm always late to embrace the convenience of certain technologies, but I always really appreciate them once I do.

It seems like I write about sports in just about every blog...well, it ain't changing here. The kids are on a parks & rec soccer team, and I've been able to see several of their games. They're in that 6-8 age group so they either follow the ball around in a confusing mob, or stand in one place because someone told them to play a 'position'. It's fun. I can't sit still during these games. I want to coach them up with my limited knowledge of soccer (2 yrs in H.S., woo-hoo!) but they're not ready for skill-specific coaching yet. I want to encourage them to 'compete' and 'win', but they don't really care yet. And I want to yell at the team parent-coach sometimes because the assigned parent-coach doesn't do any coaching. Parent-coach's strength is in choosing who brings snacks each game. I don't have much of a point to this paragraph yet, so... I should probably coach one of the kids' sports someday.

I miss home and especially my core group of guy friends a lot lately. Fall is the best in Michigan, and I always looked forward to busting out the hoodies and jeans and sweaters, going to tailgates at GVSU and watching the Wolverines every Saturday. I can do most of that stuff here (hoodies are outlawed), but not with the same friends. Fall is the time where we always find more excuses to get together with friends, I think because from childhood through college we're accustomed to a new school year starting and it feels like a sort of reunion. I haven't gone to school in 6 years, but I still get that feeling. Anyway, friends: A shout-out to you, and you know who you are. My inner circle of testosterone-laden, bad joke making, mini-muffin tossing, horrible poker playing buds. The Dudes. You're all fatter, balder, and uglier than last time I saw you, but I still love ya just the same.

I finished reading High Fidelity, and I'll give it 2.5 out of 4. I never could separate the characters from their Hollywood film counterparts. Imagine a quasi-British John Cusack, drifting in and out of accent with sometimes moppy black hair and other times spiky blonde hair and ruddy complexion. It doesn't quite work. I'm reading non-fiction again, Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer. Where religion goes wrong, and how! It's actually not funny, and rather disturbing. Speaking of, I was reminded of the power of religious emotion and selfish extremism when my company was accused of "banning" Christmas by a powerful political action group. Not caring that their claim was false, many of my colleagues and I received hateful emails and voice mails from people around the country claiming to be Christians and patriotic Americans. I don't want to tell the story here, but call or email me and I'll fill you in and send some entertaining links. I also received some understanding and thoughtful emails from others whom I personally know to be Christians - we're not all nutty, arrogant judgers - whew! Either way, it reminded me that as humans, we all fail miserably and frequently, but I have a lot of respect for people who maintain religious faith and do so with class and perception and grace.

How did I get on that topic? Anyway, I'm tired and this laptop is burning my legs through my dungarees. Good night now!

Whew.

I'm whipped. Back to working full time +, had my first Mrs Fields, um, field trip last week in Chicago, and just spent the evening taking Z & P swimming, getting them fed, doing laundry, helping them pack for their weekend with Grandma at the cabin, getting them to bed, paying bills, and providing some smalltime business consulting for a friend. It's 10:00 and finally peaceful. Annie and I have a nice reprieve this weekend - Sat and Sun are her first consecutive days off since about April - and we're going to enjoy some Utah outdoors, although I haven't revealed our secret destination yet.

Michigan sports fans: How weird is it that the Tigers are so good still? Chris Berman on Baseball Tonight yesterday said something like "...and the Tigers, who are always so fun to watch with their great young pitching..." Step back in time with me, just 15 months ago, and imagine any respectable analyst saying that sentence. You'd either assume he was being a sarcastic jerk, or you'd recommend his transfer to ESPN7.

One thing I love about my first spring/summer in Utah is this:






I'm trying to think of some witty and wise anecdotes to share but it's not going to happen. I remember when a 'bed time' of 10:30 was laughable. Now it's a necessity. I'm nearly 29, after all.

Amazing Moments

Nothing too topical here. Just some random thoughts from the past week.

I can't believe how quickly a 5 year old can make a mess. Of anything. At light-speed. Seriously, I can be looking right at her while she's eating some lunch, say a bowl of noodles. I look away for a nanosecond, and when I look back, there is Ramen on the chair, floor, and pink sticky stuff all over the counter. She's not even drinking anything! Where does the pink stuff come from? And why is it always pink?

Kids don't really care what they do yet. They just want to do what the other kid is doing. We had the kids' cousins over to Annie's (yes, I used her name, I'm so over the paranoia) house Saturday night, 2 boys. Ages 2 and 5 maybe. And 2 neighbor friends, maybe 6 and 8 or so. So 6 little monkeys of varying age. From the 2 yr old to the 8 yr old, it didn't matter. Someone grabs a piece of paper and a marker and starts drawing? They all want to draw. They're all drawing stuff within minutes. Someone wants to watch Flushed Away? They all want to watch. Within minutes, they're gazing in awe at the animated British rats. (This lasts for, oh, 18 seconds. Then they're back to drawing and spilling pink stuff, even the boys.)

Did you see Rasheed Wallace's 3/4-court shot last night? I didn't either. Until hours later on SportsCenter. The cable network "Altitude", presumably out of Denver, showed clearly on the cable menu "Denver Nuggets at Detroit Pistons, 5:30 PM (that's Mountain Time, yo)" - Hooray! Steve finally gets to see a game! Only what was being shown instead? COLLEGE HOCKEY. And get this little nugget of irony: It was coverage of the regional tournament games being played at Van Andel Arena... that's in Grand Rapids, MI for those who don't know. Which is near sea level. So why is it on Altitude anyway, hmmmmmm?

I'm working again. For Grabber, the same company, as a part-time "consultant". I used those "quotation" "marks" because I don't really consult, I just read emails and review files and look for spelling errors or misplaced logos. It's good work if you can get it. And the best part: I can wear anything I want. That's right baby, it's no pants necessary! A smart pair of khaki shorts does just fine. Sickos.

First update

Not that nothing has happened since Feb. 22nd when I arrived at Salt Lake airport to begin 'living' here, but this is the first time I've felt compelled to share some experiences. Why? Well, the past 3-ish weeks have been spent living out of a suitcase at A's house, and included a weekend mini-holiday in New York City - which I will recap at some point in the near future, pictures and all. Nope, no job yet, no mind awakening revelations, and no Mormon conversion. Not that there'd be anything wrong with that. But...

...I finally signed a lease today! A quiet, ground floor apartment in an eclectic area known as Sugar House is now in my name. For you West Michiganders, think a more upscale Eastown, complete with local shops, coffeehouses, oxygen bars, hippies, and the ubiquitous gorgeous mountain views. Seriously, it never gets old. Every day, everywhere you look, towering peaks and slicing canyons are visible. This is neither unique to the west, nor new to me after many visits to Salt Lake, but it is truly the defining characteristic of the area. A large city literally plopped down on the edge of a valley immediately after passing the western slopes of the Wasatch mountain range. That's pretty cool.

As anyone reading this is probably aware, I moved here solely to be with A. Not to enjoy the fresh powder or because I got a great job offer. As such, the majority of my time here has been simply enjoying our day-to-day life together. She's a rare woman with brains, wit, self-confidence, strong character, and a natural sexiness that's not lost on these blue eyes. I will continue to spend a lot of time at her place, where I recently helped fix/replace the entry door lock/deadbolt and re-paint the living room. How domestic! I even take out the trash sometimes!

Being the new 'man' around the kids has been fun and stressful at times. I'm trying to suck it up and be a trooper for A, but it's hard to go from single and living alone to the constant questions, demands, complaints, spills, and thrills that children can bring. I did have some great bonding time with Z this past Friday, including 2 hours of Legos, some Disney trivia, helping her roller blade around the parking lot, and falling asleep on the couch while she narrated her favorite movie, the Phantom of the Opera. Master P is a smart, thoughtful little guy, but I find it harder to connect with him. As long as we get in some NASCAR racing or Guitar Hero on PlayStation, and maybe wrestle a little bit, I'm a pretty cool playmate. He also started playing basketball for a junior league, so this summer I'll give him some tips and have him dunking left-handed by fall. ;)

That's it for now. I'll get up some pics of my new home, the NYC trip, and a few other things very soon.