Best of 2008

I started writing this blog on July 17 and have since published 90 articles, to date. I wrote a few more that the general public did not see for one reason or another, and have several more in the hopper, for a rainy day, in various stages of completion. For all intent and purposes then, I have written over 100 stories, or about a post in 2 out of every 3 days, for the last six-months.

That's a lot but, when I began, I thought I would write something every day. Less than two-weeks in however, I realized I wasn't going to be able to keep that pace. After all, I do have a life with a day job, a Son and pregnant wife, a bowling league, two gaming systems and a couple of friends that I like to keep up with from time to time. Besides, to try to write more often I would really have to stretch the limits of the topics I am truly interested in and that would quickly get boring for me and the few regular readers that I do have.

No... I am pretty happy with the volume of articles that I have been posting; I am very happy that I am having fun doing this; but what is most surprising to me, is that I'm not too, terribly bad at it either. This is only my humble opinion and, in the past, I would never consider myself a writer but you'll have to admit there is a lot worse stuff out there on the Internet and a lot worse ways for you or me to spend the amount of time it takes to read or write it.

As I was looking back on the year and the postings in this blog, I wanted to do something to review the Best of 2008. I couldn't do a straight Top Ten or something because there are so many different types of entries that I would have a hard time choosing, so I just went through and picked the ones that I thought had some kind of merit and started to list them for what they were worth. 

I don't expect anyone to sit and read through them all but, if you are visiting for the first time, this will give you a good idea of how we roll. If you have been here before, it may highlight something that you missed or something that you like but forgot about. This is what I came up with:

Best Way to Make a Big Announcement... The Big Question

I would have picked How to Announce Your Expecting (A Baby) but absolutely no one was reading my blog at the time except MLW and she already knew she was pregnant so there wasn't much of an impact.

Best Post for a Good Cause... Beat It, Beat It, Beat It

Here again, I could have gone with I Survived A Major Brain Injury... but it was an earlier article that no one read. I think it was a few weeks later that I really hit a good stride and built some rhythm into my stories. A lot of it had to do with opening up and having the courage to write what I really felt instead of just trying to sell a T-shirt. The story about Tocco helped me do that.

Best Idea That Just Didn't Catch On... Jonah's Brothers Tour T-Shirts

I thought this was so clever. Obviously, the world didn't agree with me. An honorable mention goes to All You Need Is Love. It wasn't as good of an idea but just as many people "got it"-- none.

Best Surprise That It Did Catch On... A Trip to the Land of the Lost

I had no idea that anyone ever watched this show and really didn't expect much interest at all but have gotten a ton of visits from the posting. If I didn't have the sleestack design, I could say the same thing about What Did the Headless Horseman Say to Frankenstein, but I do so I can't.

Best Self Help Article... How to Quit Smoking Overnight

I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but if you are really desperate...

Best Instructional Post... I'm an Excellent Driver

Ohh... please don't get me started!

Best Political Comment... What Is A Bellwether State?

Thank God we don't have to deal with that again for another four or eight years.

Best Spiritual Story... From the Bottom of My Heart

I planned on reading this during the Thanksgiving Sharing Service at church but was almost sure I would chicken out at the last minute. Somehow I worked up the courage to do it in front of the whole congregation. It went over pretty well and I felt great afterward-- Who would've thought? 

Best List... The Twelve Days of Christmas Specials

I'm starting to like this list format. This was the first one I did and I like it but wish I would've included links to each one as I did in America's Top 40: Christmas.

Best Use of Sarcasm... When I Was Your Age...

There is not enough sarcasm in the world today.

Best Post That Required A Lot of Research... What's In Your Name?

Took me a few days to put this one together-- last time I'll do that.

Best "Let's Roll"... 1.07

MLW hates these but, even she will admit, the Halloween Edition was a real Thriller!

Best "You Gotta Be Kidding Me"... 1.01

This one still freaks me out every time I hear it and they are still claiming it's true!

Best Response... Things That I Learned in 2008

MLW liked this article so much that she forwarded it to everyone in her address book. I think we, directly or indirectly, heard comments from every one of those kind folks. Thanks.

Best Issue That I Would Most Like to See Go Viral... It Only Seems Fair

You can help! Read this and forward to anyone you know that visits a chiropractor, anyone who knows someone in chiropractic treatment or anyone else who may be interested in joining the cause.

Best Post... Memories of "The Lot"

It's just my opinion but, then again, the whole thing is my opinion so if I say it is the best... it's the best.

That's the best I can narrow it down. I can't imagine how tough it will be to do this next year when there is a whole year's posts to consider. I think the articles are getting better as I go so as long as I can keep coming up with decent subject matter, 2009 should be looking good.

Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading. Buy T-Shirts. Peace.

Things I Learned in 2008

For the life of me I cannot remember who first told me that, a good measure of what kind of day you had is to ask yourself, "What did I learn today?" but it has stuck with me because at the end of most every day for as long as I can remember, I lay in bed and try to recall something new that I learned. Some days, especially when I was younger, it was easy-- and others I would struggle to come up with anything significant but, even then, I learned that you can't learn something new every day. 

Here, at the end of 2008, I thought it would be interesting to, similarly, think about the things I learned in the year to determine if we can consider it a success. Obviously, I will not be able to include all 300-some-odd things that I learned every day throughout the year, but after careful consideration, I have been able to categorize most all of those individual things into one or more of three basic themes:

You can teach an old dog new tricks-

When you lose the ability to do so much, as I did when I had the stroke, it is very easy to see the whole learning process. I had a new found understanding of how we learn new things that opened my eyes to what my two-year-old Son was going through.

I was very lucky that the brain attack had little-to-no effect on any of my cognitive abilities. Even the challenges with speech that I had were, mainly, motor problems in my face, mouth and tongue. My mental capacity was not affected so I didn't have to re-learn anything I knew and I could concentrate on re-learning how to do things like walking, talking, writing, typing, driving and anything else that we take for granted every day.

Stuff that I had seemed simple to master decades before, like juggling, were way too complex and, even though, my brain knew how to do it my body just couldn't pull it off. Most of that stuff did come back as I practiced and re-taught myself to do it, however not everything has been that easy as I found out at my niece's Birthday Party. I have roller skated very well since I was seven or eight years old, even playing on roller hockey leagues growing up, but when I strapped on the skates and stepped on to that familiar wooden floor, I was painfully reminded about the laws of gravity. I thought, for sure that would come back to me but, for some bizarre reason, I just couldn't get the whole balance thing down and I looked like Cox or a first-time four-year-old out there.

It was like a new experience all of the time for a while-- I had a lot of good days because I was learning so much and seeing, at least, some improvement every day. This inspired me to seek out other ways to gain enlightenment and learn about as much as I could. I think of myself as pretty smart, to begin with, but I really dug in to research things that I was interested in by reading books, searching the Web and talking with people. Having a, somewhat, obsessive personality anyway, it wasn't hard for me to get seriously into subjects like the brain, strokes, anxiety, health, religion and many others.

Feeling that spending too much time with these endeavors would be unhealthy I also set out to find some more creative outlets. What started out as trying to sell some of my designs in the SkeetzTeez cafepress shop turned into me getting involved with and learning about many other Internet applications. Squidoo, Twitter and Facebook taught me about social networking, guerrilla marketing and even some basic Web design and html and this blog has taught me that writing can be fun and I am not too terribly bad at it.

If there is a lesson I can say that can be learned from this it is: we are never too old to learn. I thought that I was, but when thrown into a situation that I was required to use my brain again, I liked it-- and even thrived on it. I can't help to think that many of the older folks that I saw struggling in rehab with me would have had a better time with it if they embraced the learning experience a little more.

Make what's important... important-

You are, probably, thinking-- just like I used to... "Oh yes, I do that. I have all of my priorities all ironed out and I'm sure that I would never second-guess myself." 

I hope that you never find yourself in the predicament, but until you are in a situation that you are sure you are going to lose everything you have... you can not, truly, appreciate it. As you can probably tell from reading this blog, I am quite the idealist--I am very opinionated and am not afraid to tell you what I think of anything. Whereas this has been true for most of my adult life and did not change when I had the stroke, the same cannot be said about the message that I was preaching.

I used to proclaim things like, "Work hard-- Play hard!", "Don't be a Wimp!" and "Nice Guys Finish Last!" but, now, I am singing a different tune. I have written about my feelings on this subject on several occasions but it is very important to me so it is worth repeating... tell the people that you love that you love them-- be so very thankful that you have them in your life.

There was a time when work was the most important thing in my life. Even after I was married and had a family there were times-- even if it was only a few minutes-- that work or a TV show, video game, sleep or one of a hundred other stupid little things were more important than the things that were supposed to be important. Even now that I have been through that experience when I knew I could have lost them, as a selfish person, there are still times that I make the wrong choice about what is important.

I don't feel like I need to drive this point home because almost everyone knows what is truly important and I think that they also know that they probably don't do a good enough job of making the important things most important. Most, however, could use a gentle reminder now-and-then to counter the effects of the things that make it hard for us to do-- selfishness, pride, greed, anxiety and shame, to name a few... I know that I can.

You are not in control-

This is, by far, the most important thing that I learned this year. It, too, was a lesson learned as result of my brain attack, but this lesson is what all the other ones are based on, the reason for such a remarkable recovery and why I am a stronger and, just all-around, better person from the whole experience.

I originally learned this lesson in Sunday School in first- or second-grade and it is the basic theme of what you are taught in church most weeks and everything we read in the Bible. I was listening to the lesson most every time I heard it but I was convinced being a strong, intelligent, experienced man, that I had at least some control of my life. It took a stroke to, literally, take all of that control away, for me to realize that God is in control.

Not only is God in control, but we have to embrace the fact that He is because it is only going to be harder for us if we do not accept it. I learned this, first-hand, when I finally realized that nothing I did was going to make my recovery faster or more complete-- not working harder or longer, any amount of money, worry, medication or treatment. No one else could do anything to help me either... except God.

I was given a second chance at, exactly, that moment-- a second chance to live and a second chance to take what I had learned from the lesson and apply it to my life. I took that chance (What other option did I have?) and I am still learning from it. Why, just last week, at church I learned that God has a plan for all of us and there is no way for us to change that plan or even find out what it is. All we can do is seek Him through His Son, Jesus, and He will meet us and change our lives. 

Trust Him. I have seen it happen!

Here's wishing that you and yours have a happy New Year and that you learn a lot in 2009! Peace.

Monday Morning Quarterback 1.14

As I was going through my notes from the weekend, I noticed that almost anything I had to say today was related, in some way, to the Holidays so I am going to save those couple of other things for another day and make this a special Christmas edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback:

• I have thought that I was done shopping now three times only to have to go out again-- each time to a more hostile environment.

• Last night, on what I thought was my last time out, I picked up our Christmas Cards. We, not only, waited until the very last minute to send the cards, we didn't shoot the picture until yesterday afternoon. Thank God for one hour photo cards.

• I think I made my last Christmas gift sale on SkeetzTeez yesterday, too, as it will be too late to guarantee shipments before the 24th. I will put together a full report when the month is up but, overall, I did pretty good and I think the sales I made will generate a lot of additional traffic in the coming months.

• I was also getting a lot of visits directly from my blog posting on The Twelve Days of Christmas Specials and the article on My Top 14 Christmas Song Performances was getting enough hits that I put together a Americas Top 40: Christmas lens.

• We had a extended family member that we used to make fun of some 25-30 years ago because they would send out an update on what everybody was up to in a typewritten photo-copied family newsletter in the Christmas Cards that we received every year. The joke is on us as they were way ahead of their time and that is more of the norm than the exception now.

• When are we going to finally give in and go with Christmas e-cards? They are faster, easier and more eco-friendly than the traditional method.

• I don't want to come off sounding like a Scrooge here because, really, I'm not! I love Christmas and I love the holidays. I think it is for sincere reasons that I like to give rather than receive gifts-- and not that I don't like what people give me. I get the best feeling from someone (usually a child, because you know that they aren't faking it) opening the present that I picked-out for them and their face filling with joy.

• Some people, however, I absolutely dread shopping for because no matter how much effort you put in or how much money you spend, you can't pick a winner. You know the type... you may get an insincere, "Oh, it's just what I wanted!" or "Coooool" and then it's tossed off to the side with the other stuff while the ungrateful bastage looks for the next box to unwrap... but I digress...

• I have heard a lot of people saying that they are cutting back this year because of the economy. Let me be perfectly clear when I say, "I think this is a good thing", because I think we all do (and spend) way too much around the holidays. We should spend less money at Christmas and more time with friends and family and thinking about the true meaning of the blessed day. If you do have two nickels to rub together, though, this is the time to spend your money for three reasons:

1. There are some great deals out there because of the law of supply and demand. Manufacturers and Retailers are slashing prices because people aren't spending as much. The pie is, therefore, smaller and businesses are being aggressive to be sure to get their piece.
   
2. It will help the economy. Capitalism is like a machine-- with many moving parts. If one of those parts stop working, the rest of the machine breaks-down. We, as consumers, are part of that machine and our job, as consumers, is to consume or buy things. 
3. Invest in the future. There are three possibilities of what the economy is going to do in the next twelve months-- get worse, get better, or stay the same. If you have a job now, you should enjoy yourself because we don't know what things are going to be like next year. Don't get me wrong... You should be responsible with your money (save for a rainy day and stuff like that) but don't worry about things you can't control.

• On a similar note. Give. The tough economy will hurt the people that it are already hurting more than the people who are not in trouble. One of the first things in the budget that is cut when things get rough is charitable contributions so the organizations that help the individuals in need-- need your help. I have three reasons for this, too, but I should'nt have to and I won't elaborate: It's the right thing to do, it could someday be you, it will make you feel good.

• I was so mad at my parents when they told me the big news about Christmas and everything that I believed. They lied to me for so long and I was naive enough to fall for their bogus fables (this was worse than my Dad's "square-needle in the left-nut" stories) and, what made it harder to deal with is, every adult that I knew was in on the conspiracy and was aware that I was that incredibly, gullible. That is why I felt so horrible when I had to use the old, "now be a good boy or Santa won't bring you any presents", line with M3S this weekend. It felt so cruel that I couldn't think of a reply when he asked, "How does Santa see us?" and I had to defer to MLW... I still want to believe...

• After several years of over-politically-correctness by the general public, many people that I have run into this year are again wishing others a Merry Christmas. I, honestly, don't mind when someone says Happy Holidays to me; I wouldn't be offended if someone would tell me to have a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Ramadan, for that matter; however I prefer Merry Christmas. Here's what I don't understand, though-- What's the big deal? Why are there lawsuits about what Holiday decorations can or cannot be displayed in public places? How can wars be waged for decades and people die by the thousands for no better reason than differing beliefs?

I am no theologian and I have not extensively studied any religion or culture other than my own-- Christian but, from what I understand, all of these and most other cultural beliefs in the history of the modern world are based on the Golden Rule-- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Seriously--check it out!

Although I may say Happy Holidays or Happy Hanakkah to any Jewish person I know, I usually greet others with Merry Christmas around this time of year because I am a Christian, therefore I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Others may be celebrating or observing different things, but all of us could certainly use as many well wishes as we can get in this crazy, mixed-up world that we live in. I sincerely hope that I don't offend thee with any Holiday Greeting that I give you because, when it really comes down to it, I am just wishing upon you all of the peace, love, joy and all of the other good things that we all deserve so much.

Merry Christmas.

From the Bottom of My Heart

I am looking forward to the special sharing service at our church tonight. There will be two worship sets of four songs each, with an open mic opportunity for individuals to stand before the congregation and say what they are thankful for. 

In past years, there would be little chance that I would even be there, much less, opening up publicly in front of all those people. Not because it is one of the biggest party nights of the year, because I haven't really partied in years, but because it would be an understatement to say that I don't feel comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people (although I am OK singing in front of crowds, but that story is for another day).

This year, however, I feel compelled to give praise where praise is do and try to pass on the understanding and enlightenment that I have learned from my experiences over the past year to anyone else who will listen. I see it going something like this:

I am thankful that I had a stroke. I know that may sound a little strange as I could be thankful for so many other things like that I have had such a remarkable recovery and, although it was hard, I am here and I can walk and talk and do most anything that I could do before. I could be thankful that I have such an wonderful wife and awesome son or that we are going to have another little miracle in February and we are all happy and healthy for the most part. I could be thankful that I have family and so many, many friends that love and care for us and a decent enough job in these tough economic times that we can have all that we need and most of what we want. I could be thankful, as well, for hundreds of other things as little as the ability to play RockBand and as big as the giant hugs from my best buddy in the whole world.

Don't get me wrong... I am so very thankful for all of these things, no matter how big or small, but if it wasn't for that short time last November that I was sure that I had lost so many of the things that we daily take for granted, I wouldn't be up here thanking God for all that he has given me. To be perfectly honest, I would be sitting out there half-listening to someone else share and partly thinking about why turkey makes you so sleepy or what tight-end to start on my fantasy football team tomorrow or where I am going to find a Wii before Christmas.

I know this because last year I had just as much, if not more, to be thankful for. As far as I knew, I was on top of the world and everything was going great until a minuscule little piece of plaque became lodged in a blood vessel in my brain. I discovered that everything I had learned about control in my life was wrong because, before that moment, I thought that I was in control. From that point on, however, I didn't matter how strong I was, how smart I was, how determined I was or even how lucky I was, I knew that I was in control of nothing. 

Nothing I did made a difference of how quickly I was going to be able to do all those things I had been taking for granted for so long-- and I tried just about everything. Although we saw a little bit of progress with the rehabilitation almost every day, there were a few weeks of frustration before, with a broken spirit, I gave up on myself and gave it all to God. 

What took me so long? Stubbornness, pride, ignorance... all of the things that I had thought made me tough and gave me good character. I don't know for sure but I suppose I liked myself pretty much before the event and, honestly, didn't know that I was going about a lot of things in the wrong way.

I know that God doesn't give us anything we cannot handle. I know that what doesn't kills us will make us stronger. I know that God loves us, wants the best for us and that we should give all of our problems to Him. I know, even though I do not totally understand how, His grace transcends all worldly things. It just took a massive brain injury for me to truly understand what all of this meant-- God is in control and the more we fight that fact or try to take control from Him, the harder and more painful it is going to be.

I would not wish what I went through an anyone else but I think it was the most sincere learning experience in my whole life and I am truly a better person for it as I have three new Ps-- new perspective, new priorities and new passion. I hope that you too can find your little stroke that helps you see what we should be thankful for.

Be Thankful. Read This. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Monday Morning Quarterback 1.11

I really should change the name of this weekly post to Tuesday Morning Quarterback or something because I think it has been a month since I published on a Monday. I don't know if it is that I am too busy because of the time of year and all of the stuff that's been going on or if it is that I am getting a little bored and I haven't made it a priority to write when I do have the time.

Spare time is always hard to find around the holidays but this year I'm going to take advantage of the technology and use the internet to handle most of my shopping chores. From the looks of the reports on my Website, many other smart consumers are doing the same.

Top Five keywords that resulted in visits to SkeetzTeez or SkeetzTeez blog:

5. land of the lost

4. stroke-chiropractor

3. suck for a buck

2. trivia

1. schweddy balls

Top five designs sold at SkeetzTeez:

5. Smallville Athletic Department

4. Suck It Trebeck

3. Charlestown Chiefs/Slapshot

2. I'm Cute

1. Big Brother/Big Sister

I have neglected the shop lately, hardly adding any new designs yet I have quite a few concepts started that I need to knock out before Thanksgiving so I can be included in the Holiday gift-giving rush. It is encouraging to see some interest in designs other than the political and baby stuff though. Many of my ideas are a little obscure but I am banking on there being enough interested customers out there, if I can just get the exposure on the shop so they can see what I have to offer.

If you know any of these, so-called, interested customers, forward this blog or tell them about my WebShop or, even better, just buy the gift and give it to them for Christmas! Here's the notes from the weekend:

• When I first opened the shop, I thought that most of my business would be from customers that requested custom designs for one or a few T-shirts but it was awfully easy to just throw a design up on the site and see who would buy it. I did, however, complete my first special order last week for a friend of MLW who is participating in a Walk for Breast Cancer. If you need a special event design-- just drop me a line.

• I'm a poet and don't know it.

• Christmas shopping for M3S has been made very simple this year as he has so eloquently informed me that all he wants is... everything-- every toy he sees on TV, in catalogs, at the mall and in some other kid's dirty little mitts.

• Is it normal for three-year-olds to know the word humungous and use it correctly in a sentence?

• Trivia is still a top keyword that is driving visitors to my Websites. I'm not sure why because I rarely write about trivia, but we have taken home two-firsts and one-second in the last three Trivia Nights we have competed in.

• My 20-year-old nephew's 19-year-old girlfriend said she has cleared upwards of $850 a day waiting tables at Hooters. You have to come up with your own punch line for this because there are just too many ways I can get myself in trouble with this one.

• Just for kicks, I was helping my fourth-grade niece with her Geography homework on Sunday. The first question was, "What is the capital of Washington, D.C.?" Who is checking the teacher's work?

• Unless your going to plan on making a career out of the military or as a travel agent, Geography is pretty much useless-- made that way by easy access to MapQuest and portable GPS units.

• If the feds are going to bailout the big-three automakers now, what's next? You can come up with your own punch line here too. I didn't mean it to be a joke... but it is.

• I can't imagine how one gets poison ivy this late in the year after more than one hard frost when all of the plants should be dead but, somehow, I managed to get a doozy of a batch. Pray that it doesn't get in my nook and crannies.

• It is going to be a tight race and come right down to the wire to determine if the Rams or our Fantasy Football team sucks more this year.

• My 22-year-old niece was finally convinced that I may "have something" with my theory that the stroke was caused by chiropractic treatment after seeing a video of a woman in Canada that had a similar story. Now that I have most (but not yet all) of the family on the bandwagon, I'm coming after you! Read my story, It Only Seems Fair, and then visit my Squidoo page, Stroke-Chiropractors to see all of the evidence for yourself!

• If you have a cause or even just an interest that you would like to get the word out about, Squidoo is an excellent, easy, free vehicle to do so.

• I'm sure glad Mimi is alright. Yes-- for her sake, but also Nanu's. He's a tough guy but I don't think he would get along very well without her.

• Can't say it enough... tell the people you love, that you love them... now!

No... I really mean it! Stop reading this blog and and call your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Brother, Sister or anybody else that you care about, and tell them how you feel; step away from the computer and give your Wife, Husband, Girl or Boyfriend a kiss; find your kids and give them a big hug and then spend a few moments playing or talking with them because a time will come when you won't be able to do these things-- and I don't want you to blame me that you didn't take the time when you had the chance...

Then come back here and Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

The Big Question

Today was the big 20-week ultrasound. Any parent knows that this is the test that they are usually able to tell the gender (we say gender instead of sex) of the baby in Mama's tummy. I am writing like I am talking to a three-year-old because, since MLW and I found out that we were expecting our second child, I have been spending most of my time explaining, as best as I could, the whole pregnancy thing to our first-born.

From the moment he could understand that he was going to have a new sibling, he was sure that he wanted to have a little brother. His mother and I were torn between a boy and a girl for several different reasons. When we had this test with the first child, we were both hoping for a daughter. There was a little bit of disappointment even when we heard, "It's a Boy!" I know it sounds weird because expecting parents are always saying, "We don't care as long as the baby is healthy," but I think it's alright to want a healthy baby boy or girl. 

Now that we have had three wonderful years with our Son, we both would want nothing more than to have another boy but it's not that simple. There are so many things to consider when you are talking about raising a boy or a girl and when you add up all of the points for each gender, it makes it hard to have a preference.

MLW wants a daughter because we have a girl's name picked out and, although she won't say so herself, I think she would like to be able to dress up a little girl and do her hair all cute and stuff. On the other hand, she would like another son because she is convinced that all girls grow up to hate their mothers at some time in their life and we don't have to deal with wedding planning.

My opinions are similar in that I think it would be fun to have the All-American family with a boy and a girl. I think it would be great to have a little Daddy's girl and I want to experience as many different things in my life and we are planning on this being our last child so a daughter would be good.

I can't help thinking, though, of how much fun we can have wrestling around with two little boys. We already have all the stuff we need to raise a boy and I would not have to paint any rooms or anything if we have another son. Most importantly, though, is the fact that I don't really think I could handle the tween and teen years with a young lady. I, truly, think that I would lose my mind when she starts dating and stuff.

My wife's OB is a wise lady and has some good stories about her own kids. Her husband was happy when they found out that they were going to have a son because they would save money on toilet paper. I don't really agree with him on that statement but he also said, "With a boy, we only have to worry about one penis..."-- good point.

At this point you are probably thinking, "What is it going to be?" especially if you are one of the individuals that I made read the blog to find out. Well, without coming right out and saying, let me tell you... we did have the ultrasound today and we are all soooooooo happy.

Mama will just have to convince one of her future daughter-in-laws to name her baby girl Anna Bella Sophia because Paulie is going to have his baby brother. Now if I can only explain to him how the doctor's going to get him out of Mama's tummy. While I try to come up with something... buy T-shirts. Peace.

Thank God It's Tuesday!

As I recall, it was Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats who did the song "I don't like Mondays" in the mid-eighties and in the seventies there was a Disco tune (and movie) declaring "Thank God It's Friday". Both were fine pieces of music in their respected genres and eras but, as a student of pop-culture, I think it was what the lyrics said rather than the whole composition of the songs that made these moderate hits. I, especially, like Geldof and appreciate his humanitarian efforts, but this song, sort of, went the way of Johnny Paycheck's, "Take This Job and Shove-It", as a angry working-man's anthem. Besides... I love Mondays.

I must have heard six or seven people say, "Thank God, It's Friday," or something similar from the time I woke up last Friday until the time I made it to my desk. I don't know why I even noticed the comments as I am pretty non-functioning in that 85-minutes as my body runs on auto-pilot. That day, though, by the third or forth time, I was openly questioning the statements, and by the time I made it to the office I was just waiting for someone to mention it again so I could jump on them and start beating them about the head and torso.

Sadly, though, no one said word one to me that morning and after sitting puzzled about the whole thing for several minutes (that seemed like several hours) I had to bring it up to whoever would listen. Unfortunately (for them), this was the other members of my department-- three very nice, young ladies that didn't want to have anything to do with my rant.

Fridays are pretty much like every other weekday except I am more tired than Thursday-- the day that I'm more tired than every other day of the week. In addition, people tend to be more anxious on Fridays than other days and, in my vast experience with anxiety, I have learn that stress and anxiety produce more stress and anxiety resulting in more stress and anxiety. In my research, I recalled reading a report that more heart attacks occurred on Fridays than any other day of the week but I now am finding conflicting statistics claiming there are more on Saturdays or Mondays.

I just don't understand why most people you ask would say Friday was one of their favorite days of the week and probably their favorite weekday. If you would go further and ask why, I bet most replies would include something about work and before my brain attack, I would have answered the same way. Afterwards, however, I have gained a new perspective of things.

Jobs are a necessary evil. Don't get me wrong! I think you should put 100% (or 110% if you do that) effort into your job and everything else you commit to getting involved in but let's get our priorities straight-- work to live... don't live to work.

I understand that days that you have to do things are not going to be as nice as days when you do but, the fact is, there is always something that's got to be done and never enough time to do it. Make sure that you take some of that time and spend it on the things that are important to you because when you have one of those moments when you realize that we don't have enough time in our life... it is too late to do anything about it.

I'm sure you have heard this before but I think it is worth mentioning again. I don't know of anyone that when asked on their deathbed, "What would you do differently?" that would reply with anything like, "I wish I would have worked a little more."

I think it is a great practice to thank God for Fridays, but we don't often enough remember to thank him for the other days of the week, hours of the day, minutes of the hour or seconds of the minutes.

I've been thinking about this story for several days now and I wasn't really planning on it going this far in this direction or being this preachy, but on Monday morning I had an epiphany, of sorts-- one of many since my as near to death experience that I ever want to experience:

I rolled out of bed and tried to shower and get ready as quietly as possible because MLW works the noon - 8:00 PM shift on Mondays and I really don't want to wake her or M3S who may go to sleep in his own room on most nights, but almost always ends up in our bed by morning. Every other weekday I wake alone because they leave at such a ridiculous hour that I don't even know what time it is, because I've never been up that early.

There is something about those mornings and them just being there-- a peace that is incredibly hard to come by when they are awake. Even though we have a king-size bed I spend half of my night trying to find a little piece of mattress to myself but on Monday mornings, I want nothing more than to crawl back into bed between them-- and most Mondays I do.

At three, my son has become a little less of a Mama's boy, recently, and is hanging out with Dada more but he usually doesn't want to give hugs out too easily. Something amazing happens, though, when he sleeps early in the morning. If I lay by him, very quietly, after a few moments he will, eventually, feel my presence, roll toward me and cuddle up tight wrapping his strong little arms around and "hold me". At the same time, if everything is positioned just right, I can reach out and hold my wife and "the baby in her tummy" without her asking me to do so and without her knowing that I did.

This is why I thank God for Mondays. Since last November 28, I can find a reason to thank Him for every other day of the week, too. I find reasons to thank God for minutes and seconds that I am lucky enough to spend with the people I love. I thank Him that I am still better than most of my friends on the drums at RockBand and that I am able to write every day in this blog if I can find the time.

I asked an old friend that I haven't seen in a very long time if they ever freaked out because they realized that we were adults. We were just kids and next thing you know we are all grown up! I guess it is going to happen whether we are ready or not. I thank God for things like that, too, (and for not reminding me about them too much) and things like work even though they aren't my favorite things.

I lay there in my bed holding my two best friends in the whole world-- my family, that I dreamed that I would have, but never thought I would-- for as long as I can until I have to get up and head to work... the necessary evil that will allow me to be thankful for the things that are really important... like Tuesdays.

Be Thankful. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Is it me or am I getting old?

Today it finally happened. There is a new guy at work that was born after I started here almost 19 years ago. I am definitely getting old but I am extremely lucky to have a really good core group of friends that has been together since our childhood to soften the blow by growing old with me.

I was very lucky to have a lot great friends come a visit when I had my brain attack. So many, in fact, that we had to limit the number of people and at what time people could come to see the freak. 

In the beginning, that is exactly how I felt and I was unsure about allowing anyone to see me in my pathetic condition. My concern over modesty, however, diminished quickly as I had to rely on others to help with the most simple of acts. There is something about being almost totally helpless that makes you re-evaluate your priorities and gain a new found faith in the human race so after a day or  two, when I fully understood what had happened to me, I was fine with visitors. Many of my visitors, though, were not fine with me. 

I can't really explain the looks on my friends faces when they saw me for the first time... pity, worry, fear, mortal, fragile? I don't know exactly but I know that I had felt the same thing in the past. I tried may best to make my friends feel comfortable with the situation– joking around with them and letting them know that everything was going to be alright. It worked, to some degree, with most of them... but not Stew.

I have known Paul (Stew) for 35 years. I had never seen him so white, so quiet or so disturbed to that day or ever since. We finally got a chance to discuss it, Saturday, at our annual fantasy football draft and he came clean about how uneasy he felt in that situation. Because I have made a truly remarkable recovery to almost 100%, we can now laugh about how I had to flop my right arm around with my left for the first month or so after the stroke, when it freaked the bejesus out of him before. Hopefully, he has grown from the experience and will not feel as awkward next time he is in a similar circumstance.

It is probably just because we are getting older but it seems as if we have to deal with more tragedy as we age. It is no longer your contemporaries' grandparents passing away, but their parents now. I just heard that a young lady that I worked at McDonald's with when I was in college died of cancer over the weekend and there were more than several of my High School classmates that didn't make the 20 year reunion because they were no longer with us.

I can believe that everyone is truly uncomfortable with death, illness and aging when they're young and as you age, yourself, and are exposed to more sick and dying people, your tolerance grows and you learn to accept that growing old and passing on are just a part of life, itself.

Stew and the rest of my friends are starting to warm up to me and treat me like they did before the event. They are somewhat amazed that I can do most of the stuff I did before and even some of it I can do almost as well so they feel I can take some teasing from them again. One of them said on Saturday, "I think you just had the stroke so you could get the attention!"

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