I absolutely LOVE the folks over at Awkward Family Photos. So I decided to see how funny you guys can be. Here is one of my top favorite pictures from their site. It just cracks me up to think of the moment it was taken and what the mindset was. So, in the comments write your own caption.
This isn't too casual is it?
Lucky for me there was no dancing and Tom Bergeron did not host tonight’s meal. I did however have dinner this evening with some major blog celebrities. It was nice finally meeting people I have read and followed for a couple years that share residence here in my part of the world. We ate at a vegan’s worst nightmare of a place and gorged on some of the tastiest meats ever seared. It was quite a fun evening and I hope to do this again more often.
Just in case you do not already read these fine folks, here are links to their masterfully spun tales of life.
I did take a picture of everyone taking a picture but it came out fuzzy and I did not receive prior approval of the photo for posting. No matter how photogenic they are or say they are, no one likes unapproved fuzzy pics of them on the internets.
Mmmmm……meat sweats…..
So yeah, I haven’t blogged much. Truth is, I haven’t had any really great stories of late. Nothing that drives me to come here and write about it anyway. Well maybe I have but by the time I got to sit and write I went to bed instead. I prefer to spend my energy in the pool with my girls and yes we have been spending THAT much time there these past few weeks. They are actually tan with pronounced tan lines. So here is my usual brain fart type post.
This is a funny shirt to wear to your therapist appointment.
The new Rob Thomas record Cradlesong is very good. (Link opens iTunes) I suggest you have a listen and/or buy it. There are a few songs I really like such as Fire on the Mountain and Give Me the Meltdown and several others I feel I may grow to like as much. As with any Rob Thomas related album the first time you hear his album some songs stick and some slide off. Eventually though those songs that slide off stick the more you her them. The more you try to connect and listen to his lyrics and passionate vocals the more you tend to connect to his work in new ways. The guy is an amazing talent and he spoke to me on Twitter today which was pretty cool.
What made Rob Thomas talking to me even cooler was it was regarding one of my old friends band, Big 10-4. I told Mr. Thomas he should have them open for him while on tour in Orlando and he commented they are a really good band. Knowing my old friend is heavily influenced by Mr. Thomas I passed along the tweet and he commented on how it made his day. In turn, that made me feel really good. If that happens, I better totally get backstage for that show Dan!
In family news, my aunt finally got to go home after a 3 week stint in the hospital. She will have many extra needs now for her health but she is at home and that is a good thing. I seriously need to grab a flight and go up for a long weekend or something and visit. I am a crappy nephew in that sense. Just hard to find the time with 2 toddlers I worship with every second of my free time away from work.
If you live in the US or near the US border, this is for you. As you are watching the fireworks on Saturday, remember they were personally arranged by myself. They are not really for America, although that’s how I subsidized the cost, they are for my daughters birthday. The official name is “America presents Hockeyman’s daughter’s birthday fireworks” but the printing companies always seem to forget to print anything after America. Whatever, you now the truth now. So as America turns 233, my little girl turns 5 and that’s way more fun than 233.
I still want to see Transformers 2 and the Hangover. Dammit where are my babysitters…
Here are some random photos from the past couple days/weeks I wanted to share.
A Grandmother in heaven
It was 72 degrees where I snapped this photo
My little fish
I chased HIM off the golf course trying to get this picture
Just a quick note of thanks to all those on Twitter and Facebook for making my birthday wonderful. It’s nice to be thought of so warmly by all of you who commented here or said something online or to my phone or IM. It made my day of meetings at work much easier to get through. Special thanks to the wife for such a wonderful post about me. It was unexpected and very appreciated.
I love you all!
Last night as I laid down to sleep, I thought for a moment that father’s day came early. As I tucked myself in and got settled I felt something odd under my pillow. It was a piece of paper, but not of regular size. Not knowing what to expect I turned the light on and instantly felt tears of happiness and appreciation well up in my eyes. My about to be 5 year old drew me a picture and stuck it there under my pillow to befound just then. It was a picture of just her and I walking into a rainbow complete with a pot of gold. Below is a picture of my wondrful gift. As a kid I kind of always felt making something was an easy way out of a gift for my parents, but now I understand why those were the best gifts of all.
I likely will not post until next week as we travel to spend the weekend with family, and a blogger friend for lunch Friday. Golf, beaches, cookouts and the pool are going to consume my days and who can blame me right? Anyway, I just want to wish all the dads out there a most happy fathers day and to my mom a happy birthday which falls on the sameday this year.
Today I had a daddy date day. We used to have regular weekly scheduled date nights, but the kiddos don’t go to that place anymore and they’re a bit old for it anyway. So these dates have become far less frequent. Today was an exception.
While the misses was out with her sister shopping for clothing to wear to her blogging conference in July, I took the girls out on a little afternoon date. There was lunch at the girls favorite place, Chili’s, followed by some miniature golf(next door) and then off to the pool. Below are pics from the afternoon except the pool because I don’t like cameras around water, especially my phone.
Notice the picture at the mini golf course. Get a good look. The kids are down next to the hole and I am standing about 5 feet in front of the “tee” box. The 3 year old aced this hole. Yep, she hit a perfect shot that graced over the hole as though it were on a track and sank it for a hole in one. I could not believe it, but it was a true legit and legal 1 on the card.
Needless to say, it was a wonderful day. My oldest watched game 7, AGAIN, this morning and off we went. She was celebrating as though it were happening live. She loves her Penguins and they rewarded her with the Stanley Cup. Upon tucking her in tonight though, she said “My favorite part of today was that it was a daddy day.” Damn, I need to schedule these more often.
Lovin' lunch with my sister
She aced it!
A tad warm after golf, time for the pool
Just to follow up with what I mentioned the other night, and so my mom doesn’t freak out too much, here’s an update.
So a couple weeks ago I had an episode where I felt some pain in my chest, more like pressure, but my left arm and side got all numb like and I broke into a sweat, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, the only symptoms I was missing from a heart attack was the shortness of breath and I did not feel overwhelmed by the pain. Therefore my stubbornness would not allow me to go to the hospital. Besides, we were leaving town the next morning. I decided to check my blood pressure on the way home and be done with it. I didn’t like the first test result so I did it again and didn’t like that either so I did it one more time and stuck with the last number which was 153/96. I did see 160 and a 100 in the other 2 readings. It scared me, but only enough to tell me I need to check it each day for a while.
So I have been, not EVERY day, but most. 8 of 10 on average and although I saw a couple normal readings on average it has been elevated. So since I have a family history of heart troubles I decided I should go see my doctor just to be safe. I did and he thinks its related to a muscle kink in my neck. It makes sense when he explained it which I could not possibly do here, so you have to trust me. Just to be safe though, he referred me to a cardiologist so we can rule out any actual heart troubles.That and I need to go to one of those crappy ass lab places and have blood work done. Meh.
So I got the first appointment of the morning which should only have made me a little late for work I expected. Probably some questions and an EKG as I had in my docs office. Well I guess when you see a cardiologist, getting an EKG is the same as having weight and temperature taken. Only they didn’t take my temperature, just height, weight, blood pressure (106/84), and then an EKG. Boy am I glad my sunburn was on my back and not my chest, those stickies hurt coming off. Anyway, the doc came in and we talked and I gave him my genetic history, he looked at my stuff and decided to do a stress test and an ultrasound. We would also be doing it right then. Ok I thought, why not. I’ve had an ultrasound before but had no idea what a stress test meant.
**Side Note** This doctors office was so efficient, I was not able to finish the 6 forms of new patient paperwork until I was in between tests. I foud that cool.
So the stress test. I sat waiting for it looking at the treadmill a little nervous. Especially since I was in my work jeans and doc martins and I had my nice polo on. Plus I had not been able to have caffeine since yesterday. In came Nina and her student assistant. I don’t know his name but he was very nice. Nina was a fun quirky little teeny tiny Russian lady who explained all that was going to happen. I thought the walking on the treadmill would be no problem. What made me feel odd was the “stand up and lift your shirt” part. I do still have a sunburn, but the height of which I had to hold my shirt felt like I was a hot chick at Maris Gras. Only Nina now informed me she would have to shave my chest a little bit. That was awkward indeed. I didn’t even get any beads! Maybe next time. I did get a juice box when I came off the treadmill though about a half second away from passing out. That was fucking rough man, especially at 10 in the morning.
Everything else went fine and Nina gave me confidence I did well, but the results won’t be known until next week. Bah!
So mom, I’m all fine. No worries okay? See you next weekend.
On a different subject, I wanted to mention my excitement for a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7. There is nothing more exciting in sports than a game 7, and especially when the cup is on the line. Even if you never watch hockey, this would be the game to watch. Our hometown Magic took game 3 which was exciting to watch and is exciting just to be here in Orlando right now. The town is Magic crazy and it’s pretty neat to live in a town so excited for it’s team. I haven’t experienced that since leaving New York as a kid.
Today I found a neat blog on the web called Bicoastal Baseball. It’s run by a Mets fan and a Dodgers fan. I actually have a bet over the season with the Dodgers half of the duo, but the site looks like it could be fun to follow. We need some more Mets related articles though, that Dodgers fan is a bit wordy! 
It seems hard to be so wordy when your team plays in the weakest division in baseball. Hehe.
I know, quiet like a mouse of late. Just haven’t had much of the writing bug.I’ll do a list form type of post for now, until my creative juice flows again. I actually have some ideas I’m chewing on to revamp the site to showcase other things aside from a blog. We’ll see…
My aunt is up and down, 1 step forward, 2 back and the dance continues.
Hockeyman is starting to become a poor nickname as I am spending more time on the soccer pitch. I will not become soccerman by any means, I just enjoy playing what is a relatively new sport to me. I feel like I play fairly well too, scored a sweet header last week.
I am a pretty big dumbass. I am a pale Irishman and I went to a waterpark and did not keep up with my sunscreen application. Ouch is all I can say now. Also, I suddenly love aloe. I was distracted by how much fun the girls had though, including my oldest riding an adult slide and then going back for a second go.
Orlando is Magic crazy with our NBA team in the finals against the almighty Lakers. Needless to say I’ve watched more basketball in the past 2 weeks than I have in 33 years. It’s more fun when it’s your team, but I’m not buying season tickets anytime soon. It’ll be good for the city to showcase the town for the next 3 games. Yes, I said 3 as I’m hopeful the Magic can win at least 1 game at home. Go Magic!
Physically I think I need to go see my doctor. My blood pressure has averaged on the high side of late and I have also had some pain in my knee for a few weeks. I’m not worried, just feel I should check it out. Don’t get all stressed mom, I’m ok. Really.
Got some events coming up around here as well. Father’s Day is shared with my mom’s birthday this year. My birthday comes 3 days after that and 6 days later my baby girl turns 5. I only have fireworks planned for the last of the 3 events. If you live in the United States you can go outside and see for yourself the fireworks I have arranged for my baby girls birthday. You only thought it was to celebrate our nations Independence. Silly you.
If you’re still reading this garbage I call blogging, thanks. I appreciate your patronage to my site. Shirts and shoes are not required and in some cases discouraged. Perhaps I’ll have more worth sharing as I approach the start of the schooling years. For now, I’m just my 5 year olds best friend, the silly dad willing o do anything for a childs giggle, and working my tail off in a job I used to love.Even though I don’t comment, I still mostly read all the blogs in my reader.
Office politics suck. Some priorities are just stupid in the workplace and it’s frustrating to deal with. Se la vie I guess, it could be worse.
I know, I haven’t been writing much lately. I’m even pretty much non-existent on the Twitter pages. Sorry to say I’m not sorry about it. I only want to write or twit or whatever when I feel a good story or tale I wish to share. Not much of either happens very much for me so if you’re still reading my “online diary” for lack of better words, thanks. I’m trying not to overload you with all my stories of visits to Disney World. I’d ask you to continue voting for me in that little Nick poll with the badge to the right, but not even I vote for myself every day. How pathetic is that! I guess I really don’t care even if the prize is $2,000 or something. Guess I don’t want the pressure to make my blog anything but just that.
Getting back to my title of this post, I recently learned one of my aunts is probably on her last days on Earth. As I have uniquely special and dear connections with all my aunts and uncles, 99% anyway, she is very special to me. As a wee lad, as in before school days, this aunt raised me and my sister. Not knowing if there even were day care centers in those days, it was my grandmother’s house where my aunt lived that my sister and I were dropped off to every parental work day. Even though it was not even in the same county as we lived, I think, I went to kindergarten to the school around the corner from her house because that’s where I’d go after school every day. She fed me tuna fish on toasted rye, or peanut butter and jelly also toasted but sometimes on white instead of rye. I remember watching Days of Our Lives with her and General Hospital but all I remember was Luke and Laura. We also watched Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Electric Company and the Mets if they were on. We played in the pool and colored and I loved her very much. I still do. When she was much younger she had a stroke and often had small spells that required a hand to hold but nothing more. Several years after my sister and I were in her daily care she had another stroke that left her in a wheelchair and difficult speech skills for the past 20+ years. Since moving to Florida 21 years ago it is rare I get to see her. In the past 18 months though I have gotten to see her 3 times. At her mother, my grandmother’s funeral, her vacation trip with other family here to Orlando, and recently at my sisters wedding.
Before the wedding I learned she had some cancer in her cervix area and recently had a hysterectomy to remove said cancer and all went extremely well. Until 2 days ago when she awoke with some hemorrhaging and a trip to the hospital ensued. Docs checked her out and all was well until today. Today she took a turn for the worse and now her brothers and sisters, with power of attorney, are following her wishes of a DNR and to remain without tubes and machines and medicine to allow her to return to the care of her “mommy and daddy” in afterlife. All the nieces and nephews presently engaged have been married and all those expecting children have had their babies meet her. To me it seems her bucket list is complete and she is ready to give up a not so high quality of life and be at peace.
The title comes from my emotion on this whole thing. I’m just numb. Of course I am sad, but I have seen so much death in the past 3 years that I have become numb or maybe just fully accepting to the only guarantee any of us have in life. The knowledge that someday it will end. No one knows when, where, or how, but we all know it will happen. I am of course saddened by the news, but I don’t know if I will feel that sadness until I make a pilgrimage to say goodbye. I’m just numb. I do not want her to go but I know someday she will. I also don’t want to visit her in a hospital, as I did with her mother, knowing those moments would be our last together. I will never forget the strength in my grandmothers hand and she squeezed mine 2 days before she died and I don’t want that last memory for many of my relatives. The last time I saw my aunt was at my sisters wedding. She was smiling, happy, full of life, and it was beautiful. If I lived in New York, I would be there as much as possible no doubt. Since I am not, I know she would not want it any other way if given the choice.
No doubt I will likely keep my blog updated with news and developments. In the meantime, I will spend as much time at Disney World that I can before my pass is blacked out for the summer. Today I too my girls to one of the parks all by myself and we had a great time while their mother got a much needed and deserved day of rest and relaxation. It probably seems like I am a Disney nut, but I really am only a nut for the parks. Even there, I have plenty of complaints or changes I would make to better suit me but alas I still go. I don;t just go for my kids either. I go because every single time I do I get that feeling of excitement and happiness as I did the very first time I went to Disney World as a teenager. Seriously, every time I go I get that feeling of happiness before we go in and that feeling of sadness when the day is over and it’s time to go home. I do my best to make each experience special to my girls so they don’t take it for granted. We are fortunate though to live here and I will take advantage for as long as I can. My goal is for my kids to feel that happiness coming through me and as they grow older to feel the parks are places that invoke great family memories and happy times spent with their mom and dad. For me, that place was the pool in my grandmothers backyard. For my kids, maybe it will be Disney World.
Every parent loves those moments when we get to brag a little bit about our kids. My moment came yesterday, not in glory or amazing feat, but in pride for my baby girl just doing her best. Yesterday completed my daughter’s very first foray into competitive sports in the form of U5 YMCA soccer. Since she has always been a very shy child and very reserved we were really nervous about signing her up for a team based activity, but she insisted she wanted to play and so we gave her the chance. The first practice went pretty well by any standard, but not the second. The second practice, which was the last before the first game, met with great resistance and hesitation. It was a struggle as was getting her out to the first game just 2 days later. But something happened during her first minutes on the pitch, her team scored. We didn’t see teeth, but her expression was unmistakable, she liked that.
The rest of the season never again saw a struggle for participation. She never even thought of quitting again and expressed her enjoyment for playing. In practice, she is the only kid who does everything the coach asked exactly as she is told. She is active and gives her all and never quits or even breaks for water unless she is given permission. During games she stayed on the outside of the pack, away from the ball, but always with the group. Despite her parents cheering her to just go kick the ball she would actually step away from the ball if it came at her. The last game her coaches tried positioning her right next to the opponents goal to steal her a goal but she wasn’t biting. She kicked the ball in a game 4 times this season, plus a throw in and an indirect kick and maybe one kickoff. For her, that made her feel good and she enjoyed herself as much as her mom and dad did watching her.
All this leads to the end of season party on Saturday. We expected her to get a trophy for the season and knew how excited she would be to get it. She was quite excited to see them lined up on the table before the presentation. What happened next was unexpected by all of us. Her coach, who does her U5 and a U7 team, pulled out another box with all kinds of special trophies he bought himself. Coach awards were presented as well as some medals and an MVP award for each team. (OK, I’m choking up a little writing this part.) Then her coach pulled out a neat little bobble head type trophy and gave a little speech about a player on his team that won him over. A player who was hesitant in the beginning but refused to quit all year. A player who worked harder than anyone else on his team week in and week out. He mentioned how no other player had come so far all season and of course he was talking about my little girl. My little girl won a special trophy for the Most Improved Player and walked to the front of the crowd with her biggest shy smile and accepted her special trophy along with a hug from her coach. She returned with her 2 trophies to her tear heavy parents stunned by the events and so full of pride and elation. After all, this was a child once evaluated to be 18 months behind in her social skill development and had special therapy to try and shrink that gap. Dammit, I could not be more proud of her. She has come so far and even though she still has a lot to work on, I know for a fact she’ll never give up.
The hardware from hard work
Waiting for lunch to arrive at Disney World
Daddy's little girls indulging his love of Star Wars
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