Party on Christmas Eve??

When I was a kid, I remember going to church on Christmas Eve, lighting the candle and singing, then heading home to race into bed so that Santa would come.  Well, it came as a shock to me that my wife said Christmas Eve was a huge party when she was growing up.  She and her family would go to church, complete with the Catholic 500 (a nickname I gave to the practice of getting up for communion, receiving the gifts, then instead of returning to your seat, you hit the exit door), then she would return to her house where upon all the family friends would appear and the party would last into the night complete with lots of food, booze, and merriment.  The kids would eventually be put to bed, but the party wouldn't stop.

Fast forward a bunch of years.  When Marlina and I got together and we were preparing to spend our first Christmas together, of course there was some culture shock on my part when she would describe the annual Christmas Eve bash.  We were both living in the city then, surrounded by friends who never needed a reason for a party.  I was in.  If it made my future wife happy, I did it.  And, of course, I am the guy who has been know to say that "Tuesday only happens once a week; you had better celebrate it."

We threw our first annual Christmas Eve party on 12/24/2003.  We have been going strong ever since Some years the attendance is larger than others, but we decided that it is pretty nice to gather with family and friends before Santa comes down the chimney.  Ours may not last as long as the ones that Marlina grew up with, but they do seem to give her a memory of her past that she cherishes.  And what an important part of the Christmas holidays that is.

And besides, Christmas Eve only comes once a year, you had better celebrate it!!

The Periscope App

The Periscope App is amazing.  It is a live streaming service that lets users film events and stream them to others.  You could just use the video on your phone, but then you are left with a gigantic video file that you usually cannot email to others due to the size.  You could post them to YouTube, but they too have file size restrictions.  Periscope allows you to film the events, and stream them to anyone in real time.  In the past year, I have watched my kids at various sporting events and school events because Marlina used Periscope.  I can be in my office working and she is at the Spelling Bee.  I was able to watch Luke spell his word correctly, then get back to work.  I also watched his first basketball practice this way last night.  Of course, me overthinking things, leads me to ask the question, "Is this good?"

I mean, I am able to watch these events, but I am not present when they are taking place.  I can discuss the events with him when I get home in the evening, but he cannot look over and see my face.  As long as I am present for the mega important events I think I am fine, but at what point does technology make it too easy for me to say, just Periscope it and I can both work and be a good father? 

But besides my trivial bull shit, just imagine what an app like this does for people in the military who are away in another country.  They can now watch their kids even while away.  They can take part in the events, and at least feel like they were somewhat present.  It truly is amazing.  I know there are probably different apps that do the same thing, but I use Periscope and am pretty happy with it.

Ok, enough of a commercial for a product that I don't even have any stock in. 

BTW, we picked up the new golf cart on Saturday.  It is pretty sweet.

New toy! Almost

Well, I am about to pull the trigger on a new golf cart.  I usually am a slow and methodical person when it comes to making large purchases except when surfing the interwebs while drinking.  A while back Marlina and I had some company in and wanted to take them for a cruise around the island.  We had to take turns because the kids are too young to be left alone so they had to come with us.  Marlina would take the visiting lady and give her a tour of the island, then I took my friend around.  This would be a lot better if we could all go at the same time, we agreed.  Seeing as how we don't want to wait a few more years till the kids are old enough to stay home alone, we decided we would "look into" selling our golf cart and upsizing.

Usually this means that we will discuss it for a bit, then decide that I don't want to spend the money and we would revisit it again after I get pissed off about not having enough room on cart.  However, this time, I found a buyer for our blue golf cart, which was a necessary first step.  I am adamant about doing things in order and selling the old one before purchasing the new one is imperative.  Step one, complete.  Now finding the new one and making it have everything we want should be fun.  Stay tuned for the adventure (and pictures).

But for now, we say good bye to Bluefoot, or Old Blue (we could never really decide on a good nickname).

 

My dad

A little while ago, my father turned 70.  18 months ago to be exact.  My mother asked me to write a little something about this.  That was all the direction I had.  Well, I let it slip my mind and got busy with work and family and I didn't get around to doing it.  Well, I started it, but never finished it.  I will, I know, but for now, I want to share a story about my dad that just popped into my head.

When I was a kid, I loved wrestling.  Not the fireworks shooting WWE stuff that is on Monday nights nowadays, but rather the rough and tough Mid South wrestling and WCCW that we used to have here in Houston on Saturday nights at the Sam Houston Coliseum. 

I would watch every weekend, buy all the books and magazines I could find, buy all toys, and attend matches on special occasions.  Some of my favorites were Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jake the Snake, The Rock N Roll Express, and the Von Erichs. 

In 1985, I was 9 years old.  Pizza Inn ran a promotion that if you buy a pizza, you get a free poster of the Von Erichs.  I knew I just had to have those posters.  My dad took me up to Pizza Inn on a Sunday night to obtain my prize.  When we got there, I was ecstatic.  They had the posters mounted up on the wall for all to see and to, no doubt, encourage you to buy a pizza.  My dad ordered the pizza and I instructed him to ask about the posters.  "I am sorry, but we are all out of posters," the man's voice said as I tried to hold back tears.  I remember trying to take disappointment like a grown up, but I have no recollection if I was successful or not.  I slunk off to the corner of the restaurant to be alone while my father waited for the pizza.  I was floored.  I was devastated.  I watched as my father said something to the man behind the counter, who nodded.  I then watched as that man went and got a ladder and began to remove the poster that had been hanging on the wall.  I wiped my tears away and started grinning when they rolled up the poster and handed it to me.  To this day, I don't know what my dad said to the man behind the counter, or if he even remembers this event happening.  I don't remember if I even said thank you to my dad.  I don't have that poster any more, and I am positive that even if I did, I wouldn't want it hanging up in my house.  But I will always have the memory of my dad doing this for me.

Voting Day

Yep, its voting day.  What makes this election more significant than any I can remember lately is that my kids are old enough to vocalize some opinions.  They don't mean squat, but at least they are paying attention and can name who the current President is. 

I remember as a kid I was in elementary school when Texas' Governors race was between Clayton Williams and Ann Richards.  I couldn't name you one of their positions on anything, but that didn't stop me from telling everyone entering the building to "Vote Clayton."  I was the kid door monitor so I had a pretty good spot from whence to espouse my political views.  I think I just liked his name.  I have no idea why I chose Williams.

And this year, I have heard both my kids tell me "Trump" or "Clinton" at least 20 times.  I tried to sit with Luke and explain the dilemma his mom and I were facing, but he didn't really care.  He did emphatically tell Katie that Trump was better, to which she replied "Hillary".  Luke has been stuck on Trump and Katie has flip flopped a few times.  I think she likes the idea of a female president, but hears her mom tell her why Hillary is crooked, so she changes to Trump.

Anyways, the big day is here.  I have already voted.  So many are looking forward to this being over, but honestly, they will all find something else to bitch about next week, so who really cares?

Carnival time!!

At Luke and Kate's school, every year they have a Fall Carnival.  Last year was great.  They have blow up inflatables, ring toss, cake walks, petting zoo, arts, crafts, basketball games, and of course, food.

Jim Adams asked me to help him out last year with the concessions.  He had put together a team of people on the island that I know and drink with.  I thought it sounded like fun.  I get to see the inside of the school cafeteria, and I didn't have to volunteer to work the ring toss or something like that.  Little did I know what I was getting into.  Jim's youngest son was in the 5th grade.  What that means is that this was the last year that he would be running the concessions stand at the carnival and he was needing to pass the torch onto someone.  Sure, I said.  It will be fun, I said. 

So, fast forward to this year.  I get reminded that I had agreed to do this.  I have to go to PTA meetings and listen to critiques of last year and suggestions for this year.  Oh, and BTW, I have to create a menu, purchase all the supplies, including cutlery, and cook, and serve.  I tapped on Jim for advice and his files from last year.  He will get me a copy of the receipt he has from Sams Club, he says.  That will make it easier.  So, he and I discuss the menu over emails, and he has some suggestions for me.  How many people do I need to cook and buy for, I ask?  Ask Trish, ask the PTA leader Angie, they all say.  And don't forget to recruit volunteers, they all say.

I develop my team, thanks to all the ladies help.  Trish volunteered her husband Trent, and their friend William.  And Amy volunteered her husband Patrick.  Sweet, I now have a team of 4.  That should be enough, I think.  And Patrick has a mobile grill.  And William is an expert at grilling.  This thing is working out great, only I still don't know how many people to buy or cook for.

As the day grows closer, I decide to throw out a number to Trish. How about 250 people?  Do you think I should plan on cooking for 250?  Yes, she says.  That should be about great.

Ok, Jim and I go over the list one more time before I head to Sams Club.  Don't forget this.  Don't forget that.  And BTW, plan on about 500 people.  WTF, now I need to double my stuff.

I spend Thursday night doing a Sams Club recon mission.  I write prices of everything down.  Then come home to finalize the menu.  The final verdict:  Frito Pie, Cheeseburgers, Meatballs, Chicken Skewers, Corn Dogs, Hot Dogs, Sausage on a Stick.  Also thrown in, pizza delivered from Pizza King.

On Friday, I hit Sams Club twice, and WalMart once. On Saturday, I hit WalMart again and we finally have enough of everything.  It is time to cook.

I slipped on my chef jacket and really enjoyed myself.  I got to know some of the kids teachers and heard nothing but good things about the food, even though I know it was all up to snuff.  William helped out tremendously and I enjoyed working with him so much, I volunteered to be on his cooking team at next month's BBQ cookoff in CLS.  Patrick's help was also greatly appreciated as he was the runner for WalMart twice more during the event as well as the main food runner and head dish washer.  And Trent was awesome as well.  He came right from his main job and

I have ideas for next year, and will have at least some sort of idea of how many people to cook for.  I intend on keeping my records.

To concuss, or not to concuss, that is the question....

Well, it finally happened.  Luke got knocked on his butt in practice and fell backwards and hit his head on the ground.  It shook him up pretty bad and he was seeing stars for a bit.  But let me back up just a bit.

The previous weekend, during Luke's game, the other team took some very cheap shots including several late hits.  After one particularly troublesome one, one of the parents on our team ran onto the field.  Marlina saw a concerned dad running to check on his injured son.  I saw an angry dad running onto the field to confront the opposing coach about the late hits.  Either which way, the game was called and we took Luke home.  Later that evening, Marlina and I of course discussed the days events where she gave me her version of what happened.  She said she would have done the same thing and running out there to protect her boy would be what any normal rational person would've done.  I decided to let it go by saying "At least where Luke plays on the offensive line, the collisions are violent enough for him to get hurt like that."

Fast forward to the very next week in practice where Luke gets his bell rung.  The very next week.  Anyways, I got a good ration of "I told you so" when they got home.  I asked Luke what happened, and you could tell he had been bumped pretty good.  He took some Advil and relaxed on the couch for the night, with his mom right by his side all night.

The next day, he went to school and complained of a headache. When he saw his mom in the hallway, he told her he was having trouble concentrating.  This set off a tidal wave of fear into Marlina and she immediately wanted to contact the doctor.  The next appt. wasn't until the next day, so Luke went to practice (not participating of course), and then came home.  The next morning, I asked him how he was feeling, if he felt any pain, if he had a headache, if he was dizzy or nauseous, if he saw stars, if he was having trouble concentrating.  All of which came back a resounding NO.  I made the casual suggestion to my wife that he is fine and I didn't think he needed to go see the doctor.  How do you think that went over?

Anyways, she took him to the doc.  The verdict:  mild concussion.  Maintain rest and no contact sports for a week. 

I bring all of this up not to illustrate a difference of opinion between me and my wife.  Not even to illustrate the differences between moms and dads.  I bring all of this up to ask the question, is my son trying to act tough for his dad, and is he being totally honest with his mom?  In other words, it is really tough being a parent.  The tugs at the heart are strong and evenly matched with the knowledge of the brain that every kid must grow up.  No parent wants his kid to get hurt and it is very painful watching him when he is not at his peak.  Does it make me a bad dad because I said that a bump on the head might be good for him in the long run?  That challenges, including physical ones, will help him grow up?  That the best stories in life are ones of overcoming adversity?  I don't think so.  Especially when I have the ying to my yang, perfectly contrasting my every move, right by my side, to make sure I don't go off the deep end, as is my job with her.