Not Reading
Tim and Kathy were over with Declan last night. Kathy was reading to Tara (good luck coming to our house and not getting caught by Tara for at least one book!) She was reading a Dora story. And of course they always sprinkle a little Spanish in to make it educational. Like putting Vitamin C in a Little Debbie Nutty Bar makes it nutritious.
Anyway, Kathy reads the word Abuelo. Now Tim is fluent in Spanish, so he asked Seamus if he knows what it means. Seamus says sure - it means Grandmother!
Tim is surprised, and asks where he learned that. In Spanish class he responds. Really? You have a Spanish class he asks? No! Says Seamus. He's just messing with him.
Kathy keeps reading and keeps throwing out words. Of course Seamus knows very few. But they fall into a routine.
Eventually as Kathy asks about a word Seamus moves towards the book. Of course Kathy pulls it away from him so he can't cheat. This goes on for a while, and I can tell that Seamus is confused. But it keeps playing out this way.
Finally you can see that Seamus understands what is happening, and yet he still doesn't understand it. That is he knows she's hiding the book from him, he just doesn't know why. So when he can't take it anymore he runs up to Kathy (who is hiding the book) and says "But Aunt Kathy - I don't know how to read!" Oh! Right!
The look on her face was priceless.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sleeping arrangements
We have a 4 bedroom house. Mimi and I get one, and the other three go for the kids. For the longest time Denis and Tara have shared a room. The reason behind this is they're the best sleepers. They both go to bed easily, and they both sleep long and deep. So matching them seemed a smart idea. That left Liam with his own room (the smallest one) and Seamus with his own (the largest one, previously the nursery).
Denis finally started making noise about having his own room about a year ago. I didn't pay any attention - they always need something to complain about! But after he mentioned it a few times I figured it was time. He is the oldest, and he's shared a room for 6 years. And Tara's the only girl, so presumably at some point she's going to need her own space.
So I made the case to Mimi that Liam and Seamus should bunk together (Liam actually has a bunk bed in his room!) and Denis and Tara should get their own places. Resistant to change as always she initially said no, but eventually she saw the light and agreed.
Step one was testing out the new arrangement. I mean, could Liam and Seamus, our two, um, 'active' kids co-exist in the same room? That was far from guaranteed! So we moved Seamus into Liam's room to give it a shot.
We were pleasantly surprised when it seemed to work pretty well. Liam really does love being an older brother, and Seamus is a pretty social boy. So putting them in together far exceeded our expectations.
The next step was moving Tara into her own space. We were still a bit tentative, just testing it out. So instead of making the big move (putting bunk bed and furniture into the large room) I just moved Tara to the old nursery. She seemed happy about it, and took to the new room right away.
Tara goes to bed earliest, and she was immediately asleep in her new room. An hour later it was time for Denis to go to bed. So he went back to his old room and laid down to sleep. Only he didn't sleep. About 30 minutes later a sheepish-looking Denis appeared in front of me.
"I'm lonely" he said. This was new. He's never voiced that concept before. "Do you want me to stay with you for a bit?" I asked. "No." I was initially confused, but then it came to me. "Do you want me to move Tara back into your room?" "Yes."
I just about cried.
I mean, the kid never ones says a word about Tara. Nothing good or bad. Most times it's like she's not even there. But I guess there is some love there.
So I went into her new room, picked her up (yikes she's getting heavy!) and brought her into her bed in their old room. And they slept like they always do.
The next night again Tara went to sleep in the nursery, and again Denis asked for her to be moved. Finally on the third night I just put her back in the old room (I was getting tired of hauling her around!) And that's where they've stayed since.
It's been about 5 months since the initial move and return. And finally just yesterday Denis asked about having his own room.
You'll excuse me if I don't rearrange the furniture just yet.
We have a 4 bedroom house. Mimi and I get one, and the other three go for the kids. For the longest time Denis and Tara have shared a room. The reason behind this is they're the best sleepers. They both go to bed easily, and they both sleep long and deep. So matching them seemed a smart idea. That left Liam with his own room (the smallest one) and Seamus with his own (the largest one, previously the nursery).
Denis finally started making noise about having his own room about a year ago. I didn't pay any attention - they always need something to complain about! But after he mentioned it a few times I figured it was time. He is the oldest, and he's shared a room for 6 years. And Tara's the only girl, so presumably at some point she's going to need her own space.
So I made the case to Mimi that Liam and Seamus should bunk together (Liam actually has a bunk bed in his room!) and Denis and Tara should get their own places. Resistant to change as always she initially said no, but eventually she saw the light and agreed.
Step one was testing out the new arrangement. I mean, could Liam and Seamus, our two, um, 'active' kids co-exist in the same room? That was far from guaranteed! So we moved Seamus into Liam's room to give it a shot.
We were pleasantly surprised when it seemed to work pretty well. Liam really does love being an older brother, and Seamus is a pretty social boy. So putting them in together far exceeded our expectations.
The next step was moving Tara into her own space. We were still a bit tentative, just testing it out. So instead of making the big move (putting bunk bed and furniture into the large room) I just moved Tara to the old nursery. She seemed happy about it, and took to the new room right away.
Tara goes to bed earliest, and she was immediately asleep in her new room. An hour later it was time for Denis to go to bed. So he went back to his old room and laid down to sleep. Only he didn't sleep. About 30 minutes later a sheepish-looking Denis appeared in front of me.
"I'm lonely" he said. This was new. He's never voiced that concept before. "Do you want me to stay with you for a bit?" I asked. "No." I was initially confused, but then it came to me. "Do you want me to move Tara back into your room?" "Yes."
I just about cried.
I mean, the kid never ones says a word about Tara. Nothing good or bad. Most times it's like she's not even there. But I guess there is some love there.
So I went into her new room, picked her up (yikes she's getting heavy!) and brought her into her bed in their old room. And they slept like they always do.
The next night again Tara went to sleep in the nursery, and again Denis asked for her to be moved. Finally on the third night I just put her back in the old room (I was getting tired of hauling her around!) And that's where they've stayed since.
It's been about 5 months since the initial move and return. And finally just yesterday Denis asked about having his own room.
You'll excuse me if I don't rearrange the furniture just yet.
Now *that's* a good boy!
I came home from work last night totally beat. The combination of a win in the competitive VB tournament, a late-night bar celebration, and an early morning phone call with my global team was a trifecta I didn't just bounce back from. So by the time I got back from a full day at work I was asleep on my feet.
To cap it off, Mimi was at a work dinner, so it was up to me to feed the monsters. Like any good dad in this situation I called for a pizza! Once my family obligations were out of the way I headed for my lazy-boy. Liam asked me if we could play pool. I felt guilty, but I said no. I was too tired (I'll make it up to him today).
I grabbed the remote and flipped on some women's college VB.
At this point Denis piped up. I expected some kind of request. Can I do this? Can I get your help with that. Something that would require me either saying no or moving (and the smart money would be on saying no).
But it wasn't that kind of request at all. What he did say was "Dad - can I get you a beer?"
He has never made that offer before. But he knew I was beat, and that I just wanted to kick back and relax. And he knows when I'm just done and relaxing that often (well, occasionally) I'll grab a beer. I didn't really want one at that point, but how could I turn that offer down? That unsolicited offer. I couldn't.
"Thanks Denis. Yes, please."
And somehow it just tasted better than normal.
I came home from work last night totally beat. The combination of a win in the competitive VB tournament, a late-night bar celebration, and an early morning phone call with my global team was a trifecta I didn't just bounce back from. So by the time I got back from a full day at work I was asleep on my feet.
To cap it off, Mimi was at a work dinner, so it was up to me to feed the monsters. Like any good dad in this situation I called for a pizza! Once my family obligations were out of the way I headed for my lazy-boy. Liam asked me if we could play pool. I felt guilty, but I said no. I was too tired (I'll make it up to him today).
I grabbed the remote and flipped on some women's college VB.
At this point Denis piped up. I expected some kind of request. Can I do this? Can I get your help with that. Something that would require me either saying no or moving (and the smart money would be on saying no).
But it wasn't that kind of request at all. What he did say was "Dad - can I get you a beer?"
He has never made that offer before. But he knew I was beat, and that I just wanted to kick back and relax. And he knows when I'm just done and relaxing that often (well, occasionally) I'll grab a beer. I didn't really want one at that point, but how could I turn that offer down? That unsolicited offer. I couldn't.
"Thanks Denis. Yes, please."
And somehow it just tasted better than normal.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Liam's team has had quite a run this season, but the season came to a close Saturday afternoon. As most of you know, they made it to the state tournament. Something like 40 teams qualified for the tournament. They had one game last week, then up to 4 games this weekend.
I still can't understand why last week's team didn't show for the game. That's a little crazy. To qualify then not show up. I'm thinking the coach got the game time wrong. Oh man he must be getting some kind of hate form the parents on that squad! I am glad I'm not in his shoes!
In any case, Liam's team made it to week two. You'll also recall that right before the forfeit game Liam sprained his ankle. He was so thrilled when they won; thinking that for sure he'd be healed by the time the next weekend came around. I'll save the suspense. It wasn't. When Saturday came he was still wrapped up. He was off his crutches, but was limping noticeably. He was so sad.
But if he was sad the rest of his team was crushed. They were sure they'd have him back. And they're no dummies. They know who the top players are. And when they found out he wasn't going to be able to go there were some long faces.
The sad faces were nicely matched by the weather. The weekend dawned cold and rainy. Essentially the worst possible weather. I actually prefer 28 and snow to 37 and rain. But no, I got the latter. It's sometimes worth it to sit in that weather and see your child do well. But when your son isn't even playing? That's no fun!
And yet there we were. Liam cheering on his team, me just taking up space, on a cold and windy Saturday.
Their first game was at 11:45. We got there about 11:35. Plenty of time! I got a parking space in front of the field they played at the previous week and sat and waited. When I didn't see them I called the coach's wife to ask if we were on the right field. No answer. I started to convince myself that game time was 12:45, and that I had gotten us there early for warm-up time. But then that didn't work either as there were no other kids from Liam's team warming up. Hmmm. I called the coach's wife again - and this time I got an answer. Yup - it is 11:45. But a different field. Damn! Well at least Liam wasn't playing! He would have killed me.
We finally got there towards the end of the 3rd period. There was no score. So I stood in the rain and watched as Liam tried to motivate his team. The 4th period started, and while his team had some great chances they couldn't convert them. And so the game ended in a 0-0 tie. But of course it didn't *end* like that. It couldn't. Someone had to go on. So they went on to penalty shots.
They grabbed 5 kids from each team and each of them, alternating by team, got a chance to convert a penalty kick. Our first one missed high. Then theirs missed too. Our next one missed, but they scored. 0-1. We both missed on the next round. The 4th round we scored and they didn't. 1-1. The 5th and final round we missed, and then our goalie made an amazing stop on a great shot. So we again tied, 1-1.
But of course it can't end on that. So they got the next 3 players from each team (they only play with 9 on the field, and they take all of the non-goalie player into penalty kicks, so that leaves 8, which they split up 5 and 3). So they get the next 3 and try it again. And again we get behind, but again pull even (but not ahead). So once more it ends 1-1. And the game isn't over yet.
So we go to a third round of kicks, with the original 5 players. This time we got off to the fast start. We got up 1-0. Then two misses. And then 2-1 in round 3. From there neither team scored and we won! Oh joy! So now I can't go home and instead have to come back for another 90 minutes in the rain. Lovely. On the other hand the kids were ecstatic, and it's impossible to be grumpy in that situation.
So Liam and I ran off to get some lunch. As we walked in to Wendy's I noticed my blue jeans. They were a nice pale blue in front, and a lovely dark blue in the back. Now I didn’t recall buying them two-toned. So I looked again and realized that the entire back on my pants were soaking wet. Ugh. Not comfortable. At this point I vowed to take a nice long bath when I got home. I told Liam and he looked at me incredulously. At his age baths are still a form of punishment for having too much fun. So he can't imagine someone taking one of purpose. But I was already picturing it. I finally smiled.
We got our lunch and got back to the fields. Liam had only brought a light jacket, and I happened to have an extra in the car, so I gave it to him to wear. And as chance would have it the jacket he got was my old HS letter jacket! The one with State Champs written across the front. He looked at it and thought it was a good sign. Several of his teammates commented on it. Liam told them that his dad's team won their state championship. "In soccer?" they asked. You could see them picturing me as a 9 year old dribbling up the field! Too funny. No, Liam said, some kind of running. Oh well, I guess my 25 year old exploits have somehow failed to impress the next generation.
Liam's team was now in the top 8 in the state. Pretty impressive, especially since they were missing their #2 player and best defender. They started the next game, and early on in the 1st period got behind one goal. I could see Liam seethe. I knew he was thinking that if he had been in they wouldn't have scored. And he was probably right! But he wasn't in, and they did score.
The rest of the game was a slug-fest. A few opportunities on both side, but no more goals. Eventually they lost 1-0. There were sad faces, and some tears (including Liam), but the parents were thrilled. And not just because they didn't have to come back to these cursed field the next day! They were amazed that there little boys had gone so far and done so well. There was a lot of pride there, even in a loss.
And I am certain they'll be back next year. All I have to do is keep Liam healthy! Wish me luck!
I still can't understand why last week's team didn't show for the game. That's a little crazy. To qualify then not show up. I'm thinking the coach got the game time wrong. Oh man he must be getting some kind of hate form the parents on that squad! I am glad I'm not in his shoes!
In any case, Liam's team made it to week two. You'll also recall that right before the forfeit game Liam sprained his ankle. He was so thrilled when they won; thinking that for sure he'd be healed by the time the next weekend came around. I'll save the suspense. It wasn't. When Saturday came he was still wrapped up. He was off his crutches, but was limping noticeably. He was so sad.
But if he was sad the rest of his team was crushed. They were sure they'd have him back. And they're no dummies. They know who the top players are. And when they found out he wasn't going to be able to go there were some long faces.
The sad faces were nicely matched by the weather. The weekend dawned cold and rainy. Essentially the worst possible weather. I actually prefer 28 and snow to 37 and rain. But no, I got the latter. It's sometimes worth it to sit in that weather and see your child do well. But when your son isn't even playing? That's no fun!
And yet there we were. Liam cheering on his team, me just taking up space, on a cold and windy Saturday.
Their first game was at 11:45. We got there about 11:35. Plenty of time! I got a parking space in front of the field they played at the previous week and sat and waited. When I didn't see them I called the coach's wife to ask if we were on the right field. No answer. I started to convince myself that game time was 12:45, and that I had gotten us there early for warm-up time. But then that didn't work either as there were no other kids from Liam's team warming up. Hmmm. I called the coach's wife again - and this time I got an answer. Yup - it is 11:45. But a different field. Damn! Well at least Liam wasn't playing! He would have killed me.
We finally got there towards the end of the 3rd period. There was no score. So I stood in the rain and watched as Liam tried to motivate his team. The 4th period started, and while his team had some great chances they couldn't convert them. And so the game ended in a 0-0 tie. But of course it didn't *end* like that. It couldn't. Someone had to go on. So they went on to penalty shots.
They grabbed 5 kids from each team and each of them, alternating by team, got a chance to convert a penalty kick. Our first one missed high. Then theirs missed too. Our next one missed, but they scored. 0-1. We both missed on the next round. The 4th round we scored and they didn't. 1-1. The 5th and final round we missed, and then our goalie made an amazing stop on a great shot. So we again tied, 1-1.
But of course it can't end on that. So they got the next 3 players from each team (they only play with 9 on the field, and they take all of the non-goalie player into penalty kicks, so that leaves 8, which they split up 5 and 3). So they get the next 3 and try it again. And again we get behind, but again pull even (but not ahead). So once more it ends 1-1. And the game isn't over yet.
So we go to a third round of kicks, with the original 5 players. This time we got off to the fast start. We got up 1-0. Then two misses. And then 2-1 in round 3. From there neither team scored and we won! Oh joy! So now I can't go home and instead have to come back for another 90 minutes in the rain. Lovely. On the other hand the kids were ecstatic, and it's impossible to be grumpy in that situation.
So Liam and I ran off to get some lunch. As we walked in to Wendy's I noticed my blue jeans. They were a nice pale blue in front, and a lovely dark blue in the back. Now I didn’t recall buying them two-toned. So I looked again and realized that the entire back on my pants were soaking wet. Ugh. Not comfortable. At this point I vowed to take a nice long bath when I got home. I told Liam and he looked at me incredulously. At his age baths are still a form of punishment for having too much fun. So he can't imagine someone taking one of purpose. But I was already picturing it. I finally smiled.
We got our lunch and got back to the fields. Liam had only brought a light jacket, and I happened to have an extra in the car, so I gave it to him to wear. And as chance would have it the jacket he got was my old HS letter jacket! The one with State Champs written across the front. He looked at it and thought it was a good sign. Several of his teammates commented on it. Liam told them that his dad's team won their state championship. "In soccer?" they asked. You could see them picturing me as a 9 year old dribbling up the field! Too funny. No, Liam said, some kind of running. Oh well, I guess my 25 year old exploits have somehow failed to impress the next generation.
Liam's team was now in the top 8 in the state. Pretty impressive, especially since they were missing their #2 player and best defender. They started the next game, and early on in the 1st period got behind one goal. I could see Liam seethe. I knew he was thinking that if he had been in they wouldn't have scored. And he was probably right! But he wasn't in, and they did score.
The rest of the game was a slug-fest. A few opportunities on both side, but no more goals. Eventually they lost 1-0. There were sad faces, and some tears (including Liam), but the parents were thrilled. And not just because they didn't have to come back to these cursed field the next day! They were amazed that there little boys had gone so far and done so well. There was a lot of pride there, even in a loss.
And I am certain they'll be back next year. All I have to do is keep Liam healthy! Wish me luck!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Seamus the 5-year-old soccer god
I just wanted to take a minute to recap Seamus' soccer season. As you know from my note back in July. Seamus had an amazing year on the field. I think it is safe to say that every parent of a 4-6 year old child who plays soccer now knows who Seamus is. And mostly for good reasons.
His team didn't lose a game all season. I think they played 10 times. They scored something like 60 goals in total. Pretty good for only 10 games.
Oh yeah, and Seamus scored over 50 of the 60 goals.
His coach came over the other night to drop off his and Tara's trophies. While he was there we reminisced about the season. He was telling me a story about the last game. It's a very relaxed league, and the coaches work together to make sure everyone has a good time. So at one point, after Seamus had scored his normal 4 goals in a single quarter, his coach put him in goal. And naturally as soon as he went in there the other team couldn't find the net. Finally the opposing coach asked our coach to pull Seamus from goal so his kids would have a chance to score. Our coach answered, sure, but where can I put him? If I put him on defense your kids won't get near the goal. And if I put him on offense your kids won't see the ball. And I have to let him play - he's already sat out a full quarter! So he stayed in goal. And the other team didn't score.
Just last night Seamus was talking about the season. And when it came to the overall results he said "I won every game." But Seamus, don't you mean your team won every game? "No." he said "I won them." I wanted to say he was a part of a team, that he can't win without his teammates, etc. And some day that will be true. But for today the honest truth is that he probably would go undefeated as a 1-man team. Crazy!
This is his last season of instructional play (thank goodness). I am very interested to see what he does on the bigger fields with the bigger kids. You can bet I'll be bringing my camera!
I just wanted to take a minute to recap Seamus' soccer season. As you know from my note back in July. Seamus had an amazing year on the field. I think it is safe to say that every parent of a 4-6 year old child who plays soccer now knows who Seamus is. And mostly for good reasons.
His team didn't lose a game all season. I think they played 10 times. They scored something like 60 goals in total. Pretty good for only 10 games.
Oh yeah, and Seamus scored over 50 of the 60 goals.
His coach came over the other night to drop off his and Tara's trophies. While he was there we reminisced about the season. He was telling me a story about the last game. It's a very relaxed league, and the coaches work together to make sure everyone has a good time. So at one point, after Seamus had scored his normal 4 goals in a single quarter, his coach put him in goal. And naturally as soon as he went in there the other team couldn't find the net. Finally the opposing coach asked our coach to pull Seamus from goal so his kids would have a chance to score. Our coach answered, sure, but where can I put him? If I put him on defense your kids won't get near the goal. And if I put him on offense your kids won't see the ball. And I have to let him play - he's already sat out a full quarter! So he stayed in goal. And the other team didn't score.
Just last night Seamus was talking about the season. And when it came to the overall results he said "I won every game." But Seamus, don't you mean your team won every game? "No." he said "I won them." I wanted to say he was a part of a team, that he can't win without his teammates, etc. And some day that will be true. But for today the honest truth is that he probably would go undefeated as a 1-man team. Crazy!
This is his last season of instructional play (thank goodness). I am very interested to see what he does on the bigger fields with the bigger kids. You can bet I'll be bringing my camera!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
It's Fall.
The way you can tell this is that it's impossible to see the lawn any more for the carpet of leaves covering it.
This does not bother me. You see, I've got a fairly large yard. So I have one of those riding lawn mowers to cut the grass. And a few years back, my old college roommate Chris Brown (aka CB, aka Cool Breeze), who had a lawn service company at the time, gave me an amazing tip. "Just put the bagging attachment onto your tractor" he said. "It'll suck the leaves up like a vacuum." Best lawn care advice I ever got! On top of bringing up all the leaves it also mulches them, so they take less space. What a deal!
I've been doing this for the last 5 years and I love it. It takes what used to be an incredibly tedious job and makes it just another day mowing the lawn.
Well it was Saturday, and the leaves were out there waiting, so I prepared to go vacuum the lawn.
As I was getting my clothes together little Seamus came up. He was very excited! "Dad!!" He said. "The lawn is covered in leaves" [I knew that part] "Let's make a leaf pile we can jump in!"
Damn!
What do you say to your 5 year old? "Sorry son - I've found a much more efficient way of dealing with the leaves that doesn't result in leaf piles"? Not that I wasn't tempted. But I just couldn't do it.
So instead of riding on the tractor for 45 minutes I spent 2 hours raking leaves so the kids could jump in them for 3 minutes.
And it was worth it.
Go figure.
The way you can tell this is that it's impossible to see the lawn any more for the carpet of leaves covering it.
This does not bother me. You see, I've got a fairly large yard. So I have one of those riding lawn mowers to cut the grass. And a few years back, my old college roommate Chris Brown (aka CB, aka Cool Breeze), who had a lawn service company at the time, gave me an amazing tip. "Just put the bagging attachment onto your tractor" he said. "It'll suck the leaves up like a vacuum." Best lawn care advice I ever got! On top of bringing up all the leaves it also mulches them, so they take less space. What a deal!
I've been doing this for the last 5 years and I love it. It takes what used to be an incredibly tedious job and makes it just another day mowing the lawn.
Well it was Saturday, and the leaves were out there waiting, so I prepared to go vacuum the lawn.
As I was getting my clothes together little Seamus came up. He was very excited! "Dad!!" He said. "The lawn is covered in leaves" [I knew that part] "Let's make a leaf pile we can jump in!"
Damn!
What do you say to your 5 year old? "Sorry son - I've found a much more efficient way of dealing with the leaves that doesn't result in leaf piles"? Not that I wasn't tempted. But I just couldn't do it.
So instead of riding on the tractor for 45 minutes I spent 2 hours raking leaves so the kids could jump in them for 3 minutes.
And it was worth it.
Go figure.
Liam's continued soccer success
Liam has had another great season of soccer. His team has again done extremely well. They actually had a loss this time around in league play. They lost 4-2 to St. Mike's. But they didn't have their top goal scorer and they had their weakest goalie in the net. So they were caught on a less that stellar day and lost.
They got to play St. Mike's again in the finals of the league tournament. This was a high stakes game. The winner would go on to the state tournament. Liam's team was totally fired up. And they struck quickly and decisively, scoring fast to go up with a 3-0 lead. They did allow some goals, but finished the game 4-2.
Which meant that they were on to the state tourney.
They made it last year as well. But the weather was terrible. They had one game called for weather. Another one delayed then finally cancelled. When the second week came around they finally got the chance to play and lost to the previous year's tournament champion. They had higher hopes for this year.
Yesterday was Saturday, and their first game was today, Sunday. Liam was playing in the yard with the neighbor boy. They were climbing trees, running around, the usual boy stuff. I was raking leaves. Eventually Seamus came up and told me that Liam was hurt.
Kids at that age simply haven't developed the gift of understanding severity. "Liam is hurt" could mean anything from he has a scratch on his cheek to his legs are no longer attached to his body. And I have a policy of not overreacting when the kids get hurt. I think they take their cues on concern from their parents. And when the parents freak out they do as well. So I don't freak out. In this case I didn't even stop raking leaves!
Eventually I see Liam hopping in my direction. Oh shit. My first thought is of the game today. He is not looking good.
He makes it to me and I ask him what happened. His answer is the same as always - a distracted "What?" like I had awakened him from a nap. Um, you can't walk, you hopped to me on one leg, what the hell do you expect me to ask you?
Well he was chasing his buddy, who ran down the patio stairs of the neighbor's house, slipped, fell, and rolled his ankle. Not good.
I got him inside and took a look at it. It was already huge! Really not good. I immediately put ice on it. I left the ice on for 30 minutes, and then compressed it in an ACE wrap. Later in the evening we iced it again.
Around bedtime I asked him how it felt. He still couldn't even put weight on it. It was then that it finally struck him - there was no way he was going to be able to play today. He was devastated. I guess he just assumed that 15 or so hours would be plenty for a badly sprained ankle. I wanted to tell him "Wait 'til you're 40, it'll be 15 days!" But I didn't. He was pretty distraught already.
Morning came and he still couldn't do anything. I got out the crutches, iced him again, and went off to the fields with him. Even though he couldn't play I wanted him to be able to cheer his team on. I had called his coach the previous night to let him know the scoop. Liam is one of the best defenders, so he'd need to re-think his lineup well in advance.
We got to the field late - the traffic was incredible. There is no good way to get 20 teams worth of kids/parents/grandparents into a park smoothly. When we finally did show up the game hadn't started yet. And why hadn't it started? Because the other team hadn't shown up yet!! Liam was beside himself with joy. He was so worried they'd lose because he couldn't play. But with no competition that wasn't going to be an issue.
We hung out for 15 minutes and they finally called the game. So they will advance. They'll play up to 4 games next weekend. With any luck he'll be healed by then. I'm not 100% sure he will be. I'm going to keep icing and wrapping every hour to maximize his chances. At this point all I can do is keep my fingers crossed. But (give his bad luck) he's been pretty lucky so far!
Liam has had another great season of soccer. His team has again done extremely well. They actually had a loss this time around in league play. They lost 4-2 to St. Mike's. But they didn't have their top goal scorer and they had their weakest goalie in the net. So they were caught on a less that stellar day and lost.
They got to play St. Mike's again in the finals of the league tournament. This was a high stakes game. The winner would go on to the state tournament. Liam's team was totally fired up. And they struck quickly and decisively, scoring fast to go up with a 3-0 lead. They did allow some goals, but finished the game 4-2.
Which meant that they were on to the state tourney.
They made it last year as well. But the weather was terrible. They had one game called for weather. Another one delayed then finally cancelled. When the second week came around they finally got the chance to play and lost to the previous year's tournament champion. They had higher hopes for this year.
Yesterday was Saturday, and their first game was today, Sunday. Liam was playing in the yard with the neighbor boy. They were climbing trees, running around, the usual boy stuff. I was raking leaves. Eventually Seamus came up and told me that Liam was hurt.
Kids at that age simply haven't developed the gift of understanding severity. "Liam is hurt" could mean anything from he has a scratch on his cheek to his legs are no longer attached to his body. And I have a policy of not overreacting when the kids get hurt. I think they take their cues on concern from their parents. And when the parents freak out they do as well. So I don't freak out. In this case I didn't even stop raking leaves!
Eventually I see Liam hopping in my direction. Oh shit. My first thought is of the game today. He is not looking good.
He makes it to me and I ask him what happened. His answer is the same as always - a distracted "What?" like I had awakened him from a nap. Um, you can't walk, you hopped to me on one leg, what the hell do you expect me to ask you?
Well he was chasing his buddy, who ran down the patio stairs of the neighbor's house, slipped, fell, and rolled his ankle. Not good.
I got him inside and took a look at it. It was already huge! Really not good. I immediately put ice on it. I left the ice on for 30 minutes, and then compressed it in an ACE wrap. Later in the evening we iced it again.
Around bedtime I asked him how it felt. He still couldn't even put weight on it. It was then that it finally struck him - there was no way he was going to be able to play today. He was devastated. I guess he just assumed that 15 or so hours would be plenty for a badly sprained ankle. I wanted to tell him "Wait 'til you're 40, it'll be 15 days!" But I didn't. He was pretty distraught already.
Morning came and he still couldn't do anything. I got out the crutches, iced him again, and went off to the fields with him. Even though he couldn't play I wanted him to be able to cheer his team on. I had called his coach the previous night to let him know the scoop. Liam is one of the best defenders, so he'd need to re-think his lineup well in advance.
We got to the field late - the traffic was incredible. There is no good way to get 20 teams worth of kids/parents/grandparents into a park smoothly. When we finally did show up the game hadn't started yet. And why hadn't it started? Because the other team hadn't shown up yet!! Liam was beside himself with joy. He was so worried they'd lose because he couldn't play. But with no competition that wasn't going to be an issue.
We hung out for 15 minutes and they finally called the game. So they will advance. They'll play up to 4 games next weekend. With any luck he'll be healed by then. I'm not 100% sure he will be. I'm going to keep icing and wrapping every hour to maximize his chances. At this point all I can do is keep my fingers crossed. But (give his bad luck) he's been pretty lucky so far!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Denis (no longer) the grouch
For about the last 6 months (year? 18 months?) Denis has been a realy pain. Nothing is ever perfect and all he would seem to focus on were the parts that weren't perfect. Seriously. We could have the world's best day. We could do 20 awesome things. And if there was one shitty one in there it would be a bad day. It was very frustrating. He was turning into a moody teen at age 10/11.
And then someone flipped a switch. Still don't have any idea what it was. Did he have a near-death experience and not tell me about it? Seems unlikely. But then the attitude change was pretty unlikely as well. So who knows.
Lately the guy has just been a joy to be around. He's more physical - he gives hugs when a year ago he wouldn't. He helps out around the house. Sometimes without being asked. He doesn’t grumble much at the tasks he used to complain about previously. I am loving it!
And I *really* wish I knew what brought the change one. I'd like to market it!
For about the last 6 months (year? 18 months?) Denis has been a realy pain. Nothing is ever perfect and all he would seem to focus on were the parts that weren't perfect. Seriously. We could have the world's best day. We could do 20 awesome things. And if there was one shitty one in there it would be a bad day. It was very frustrating. He was turning into a moody teen at age 10/11.
And then someone flipped a switch. Still don't have any idea what it was. Did he have a near-death experience and not tell me about it? Seems unlikely. But then the attitude change was pretty unlikely as well. So who knows.
Lately the guy has just been a joy to be around. He's more physical - he gives hugs when a year ago he wouldn't. He helps out around the house. Sometimes without being asked. He doesn’t grumble much at the tasks he used to complain about previously. I am loving it!
And I *really* wish I knew what brought the change one. I'd like to market it!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Denis and Death
There has been a lot of death hovering over the house lately. Most of it not horrific, but it's always a tough topic. Mimi's sister's dog had to be put down recently. Denis' pet fish died. And Mimi's father has been very ill and has recently come out of a rough heart surgery.
Each one individually is a tough thing to have. Together they got to the point where they were weighing heavily on Denis' mind. I didn't really have any idea that it was affecting him until after getting out of the shower the other night he was waiting for me. He was very quiet and subdued. I asked him what was going on and he choked out "I'm scared of death!"
That's a tough one! What kind of answer do you give an 11 year old on that topic? I tried the "everything lives and everything dies" approach with little success. I tried the "You'll see everything again in Heaven" approach. That worked a little better when I confirmed that yes, his fish will be waiting for him there.
In the end I think he just realized that I didn't have the perfect answer on this one, but that talking it out made him feel a little better. I am glad he felt better, but I have to say I feel like I failed him a bit on this one.
Anyone else have any ideas?
There has been a lot of death hovering over the house lately. Most of it not horrific, but it's always a tough topic. Mimi's sister's dog had to be put down recently. Denis' pet fish died. And Mimi's father has been very ill and has recently come out of a rough heart surgery.
Each one individually is a tough thing to have. Together they got to the point where they were weighing heavily on Denis' mind. I didn't really have any idea that it was affecting him until after getting out of the shower the other night he was waiting for me. He was very quiet and subdued. I asked him what was going on and he choked out "I'm scared of death!"
That's a tough one! What kind of answer do you give an 11 year old on that topic? I tried the "everything lives and everything dies" approach with little success. I tried the "You'll see everything again in Heaven" approach. That worked a little better when I confirmed that yes, his fish will be waiting for him there.
In the end I think he just realized that I didn't have the perfect answer on this one, but that talking it out made him feel a little better. I am glad he felt better, but I have to say I feel like I failed him a bit on this one.
Anyone else have any ideas?
Mile Swim
Denis went on a scouting trip with the rest of his troop for an entire week over the summer. It was really his first ever time away from home (really far away from home) without either parent. He did very well. He told me later that he was a little homesick for home, but it wasn't until the day they were driving back!
While he was there the troop did a ton of badges and advancements. And on top of that they did one major event - the mile swim.
Now as you all know, Denis has a small disability that makes things like swimming very challenging for him. He is on the pool swim team, but in 3 years of racing the only position that he's every finished in was last. So he clearly has no speed whatsoever.
What he does have is determination! He decided that he was going to do the mile swim. I'm glad I wasn't there. I probably would have tried to talk him out of it. But I wasn't, so he went on with it.
And against my prediction he finished. He was one of only 2 11 year olds who finished. It took him 75 minutes!! I think that amazed me even more. Being in the water for 75 minutes gives you a ton of opportunity to quit. But he didn't quit.
I don't know that I could keep my head above water for 75 minutes. I am so proud of him!
Denis went on a scouting trip with the rest of his troop for an entire week over the summer. It was really his first ever time away from home (really far away from home) without either parent. He did very well. He told me later that he was a little homesick for home, but it wasn't until the day they were driving back!
While he was there the troop did a ton of badges and advancements. And on top of that they did one major event - the mile swim.
Now as you all know, Denis has a small disability that makes things like swimming very challenging for him. He is on the pool swim team, but in 3 years of racing the only position that he's every finished in was last. So he clearly has no speed whatsoever.
What he does have is determination! He decided that he was going to do the mile swim. I'm glad I wasn't there. I probably would have tried to talk him out of it. But I wasn't, so he went on with it.
And against my prediction he finished. He was one of only 2 11 year olds who finished. It took him 75 minutes!! I think that amazed me even more. Being in the water for 75 minutes gives you a ton of opportunity to quit. But he didn't quit.
I don't know that I could keep my head above water for 75 minutes. I am so proud of him!
Poker fascination
I guess it's because it's all over TV these days, but Liam has become completely fascinated with poker. Not that we've ever watched it ourselves in our house. But it seems you can't get away from it in some restaurants.
Specifically he loves Texas Hold 'em. Now I grew up playing poker with my broithers and the boys in the neighborhood. But I have never played that game before. So that made it kind of fun. He was able to teach me something, which I'm sure for him was a nice change of pace from being constantly instructed by me!
After he learned he decided he simply *must* have a poker set of his own. A couple hundred clay chips, a couple decks of cards, and a case to carry it all in. I thought it was crazy - why all the ornamentation? Just play the game! But he really wanted it.
I certainly wouldn't buy it for him, but he had saved enough allowance money to get it. So he did. And unlike so many other things he buys, he's actually stayed interested in it. He brought it on our family vacation. Not just a desk of cards - the whole case! And we used it several times.
So I guess there is something about letting him get things on his own.
Amazingly he knows what he likes better than I do!
I guess it's because it's all over TV these days, but Liam has become completely fascinated with poker. Not that we've ever watched it ourselves in our house. But it seems you can't get away from it in some restaurants.
Specifically he loves Texas Hold 'em. Now I grew up playing poker with my broithers and the boys in the neighborhood. But I have never played that game before. So that made it kind of fun. He was able to teach me something, which I'm sure for him was a nice change of pace from being constantly instructed by me!
After he learned he decided he simply *must* have a poker set of his own. A couple hundred clay chips, a couple decks of cards, and a case to carry it all in. I thought it was crazy - why all the ornamentation? Just play the game! But he really wanted it.
I certainly wouldn't buy it for him, but he had saved enough allowance money to get it. So he did. And unlike so many other things he buys, he's actually stayed interested in it. He brought it on our family vacation. Not just a desk of cards - the whole case! And we used it several times.
So I guess there is something about letting him get things on his own.
Amazingly he knows what he likes better than I do!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Calling Peter Pan
Last night Mimi and I were off playing VB again (and winning the league tournament, I might add - yay for us!) When we got home, Lima (9) had the following story for us:
Tara (7) is obsessed with Peter Pan. She reads the book, listens to the tapes, and wants to see the movies. She is totally in love. At various times she's told me she's going to marry John, Michael, and Peter. Too cute.
Last night while we were away it got to be more than cute. She decided she needed to speak to the characters. It seems she got every worked up about it, on the edge of being hysterical! She was yelling and crying and making life hard for everyone home.
So Liam got an idea. He told the babysitter to go out into the garage with his (the sitter's) cell phone. Then he got out phone out and called the garage. He handed the phone to Tara and told her he had called Peter Pan. She was ecstatic! She talked to 'Peter' and the rest and had a great night the rest of the night.
I don't know how the sitter pulled off the voices so well, but there may be a career on the stage for him after this!
Last night Mimi and I were off playing VB again (and winning the league tournament, I might add - yay for us!) When we got home, Lima (9) had the following story for us:
Tara (7) is obsessed with Peter Pan. She reads the book, listens to the tapes, and wants to see the movies. She is totally in love. At various times she's told me she's going to marry John, Michael, and Peter. Too cute.
Last night while we were away it got to be more than cute. She decided she needed to speak to the characters. It seems she got every worked up about it, on the edge of being hysterical! She was yelling and crying and making life hard for everyone home.
So Liam got an idea. He told the babysitter to go out into the garage with his (the sitter's) cell phone. Then he got out phone out and called the garage. He handed the phone to Tara and told her he had called Peter Pan. She was ecstatic! She talked to 'Peter' and the rest and had a great night the rest of the night.
I don't know how the sitter pulled off the voices so well, but there may be a career on the stage for him after this!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
An American in Poland
I was in Poland for business this week. There were 4 days of someone else's meetings, then 1 day for my global team to meet. Since I'm a very informal guy I made a point to my team that dress for the day was casual.
Before I leave for a trip to Europe I make a decision. Do I want to try to blend in (pack earth toned clothes) or not (my normal stuff). On this trip - for no real reason - I decided not. So I just packed whatever was on top in my closets.
As I came down for the Friday meeting I had basic clothes on. Nothing special. Well, at least not to me.
I turned the corner and ran into Andy. He's my business partner. He's an Irish who grew up in England. He take a quick look at me, gives me the kind of look that suggests I should maybe check my zipper, then says in his very cool English accent "Denis! Could you *possibly* look any more American?"
I took a moment to look at myself. American flag motif polo short, blue jeans, bright yellow running shoes I won in a race a few years back, and a black Starbury baseball cap. Hmm. He may have a point.
Andy was still incredulous. He went on "Really! I mean it. This is the equivalent of a French guy coming down with a vest covering a blue and white striped shirt wearing a beret!"
That was pretty funny. But it had no effect on me - I headed of to the meeting with me team softly humming the "I'm proud to be an American" song. Now of course I'm not always that proud, but in this situation I really couldn't escape it.
Now I really have to think hard about what I pack next time over...
I was in Poland for business this week. There were 4 days of someone else's meetings, then 1 day for my global team to meet. Since I'm a very informal guy I made a point to my team that dress for the day was casual.
Before I leave for a trip to Europe I make a decision. Do I want to try to blend in (pack earth toned clothes) or not (my normal stuff). On this trip - for no real reason - I decided not. So I just packed whatever was on top in my closets.
As I came down for the Friday meeting I had basic clothes on. Nothing special. Well, at least not to me.
I turned the corner and ran into Andy. He's my business partner. He's an Irish who grew up in England. He take a quick look at me, gives me the kind of look that suggests I should maybe check my zipper, then says in his very cool English accent "Denis! Could you *possibly* look any more American?"
I took a moment to look at myself. American flag motif polo short, blue jeans, bright yellow running shoes I won in a race a few years back, and a black Starbury baseball cap. Hmm. He may have a point.
Andy was still incredulous. He went on "Really! I mean it. This is the equivalent of a French guy coming down with a vest covering a blue and white striped shirt wearing a beret!"
That was pretty funny. But it had no effect on me - I headed of to the meeting with me team softly humming the "I'm proud to be an American" song. Now of course I'm not always that proud, but in this situation I really couldn't escape it.
Now I really have to think hard about what I pack next time over...
Statistically Impossible Encounter
I have been a FaceBook user for many years. Initially you could only be on FB if you had an EDU address. But even back in those days P&G had a relationship with the founder and we were allowed in. It was a brave new world - the future of society. So naturally I signed right up.
Every now and then I'll get blasts from the past through it. Someone from work who I haven't worked with in many years will send me a friend invite. But never anything like this.
I was in Budapest for business (see my other post!) and had finished the meetings for the day. So I was back in my room, taking advantage of the in-room internet connection (Only $70/day!) As I was going through my email I saw a FB friend request. So I opened it up.
Initially I didn't even recognize the name. This is not unique. I am horrible with names. In fact an old HS friend recently told me that this is nothing new - I was even bad with them in HS. This actually cheered me up - at least it wasn't an effect of getting old!
Anyway - since I didn't recognize the name I clicked the link. As soon as I did the memories started flooding back. I remember this guy. Drew - I went to college with him at Beloit. He lived on the same floor of the fraternity house as me. I could picture his door - he had a poster of Marilyn Monroe on it, and an article from a newspaper with the title "Kids are Tools." He was a good guy. We weren't close buddies or anything, but I knew him and thought he was cool.
As I looked at his profile a couple things were odd. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them at first. I was in Budapest so I was thinking that maybe the Hungarian FB servers were overlaying info into his profile. But after I had seen enough curious entries I really started to wonder. There was a lot of Hungarian written on the page, and something about a place called budacast.hu. Finally the incredible dawned on me - Drew lived in Budapest!!!!
Now c'mon. How do you even figure the odds on something like this? Haven't seen the guy in 21 years. Never really close to him. He had no connection to Budapest in college. Hell, I don't think he even knew I had gone there. I haven't been to Budapest I 22 years. And the one week I return is the week that he finds me and reaches out through FB? I think million to 1 is way too low for something like this. It's just not possible.
And yet there it was. Of course I immediately sent an email off to him. "Hey man - I'm here in Budapest too!" was the essential gist. I got a quick reply "Yeah, right." It took me describing my hotel for him to believe the unlikely. I don't blame him, it took me a while to believe it too!
Clearly the fates clearly wanted us to get together. So we got together for dinner and a few drinks. It was great seeing him again. He's exactly the same as in college. A little quirky, but smart, funny, and fun to be around. We had a great night. He's lived in Budapest for something like 15 years. Budacast is his work - he does podcasts. If you find this all hard to believe I don't blame you. But check out his podcast entry for the week after I was there:
http://www.budacast.hu/shownews.php?newsid=255&cat=5
I have been a FaceBook user for many years. Initially you could only be on FB if you had an EDU address. But even back in those days P&G had a relationship with the founder and we were allowed in. It was a brave new world - the future of society. So naturally I signed right up.
Every now and then I'll get blasts from the past through it. Someone from work who I haven't worked with in many years will send me a friend invite. But never anything like this.
I was in Budapest for business (see my other post!) and had finished the meetings for the day. So I was back in my room, taking advantage of the in-room internet connection (Only $70/day!) As I was going through my email I saw a FB friend request. So I opened it up.
Initially I didn't even recognize the name. This is not unique. I am horrible with names. In fact an old HS friend recently told me that this is nothing new - I was even bad with them in HS. This actually cheered me up - at least it wasn't an effect of getting old!
Anyway - since I didn't recognize the name I clicked the link. As soon as I did the memories started flooding back. I remember this guy. Drew - I went to college with him at Beloit. He lived on the same floor of the fraternity house as me. I could picture his door - he had a poster of Marilyn Monroe on it, and an article from a newspaper with the title "Kids are Tools." He was a good guy. We weren't close buddies or anything, but I knew him and thought he was cool.
As I looked at his profile a couple things were odd. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them at first. I was in Budapest so I was thinking that maybe the Hungarian FB servers were overlaying info into his profile. But after I had seen enough curious entries I really started to wonder. There was a lot of Hungarian written on the page, and something about a place called budacast.hu. Finally the incredible dawned on me - Drew lived in Budapest!!!!
Now c'mon. How do you even figure the odds on something like this? Haven't seen the guy in 21 years. Never really close to him. He had no connection to Budapest in college. Hell, I don't think he even knew I had gone there. I haven't been to Budapest I 22 years. And the one week I return is the week that he finds me and reaches out through FB? I think million to 1 is way too low for something like this. It's just not possible.
And yet there it was. Of course I immediately sent an email off to him. "Hey man - I'm here in Budapest too!" was the essential gist. I got a quick reply "Yeah, right." It took me describing my hotel for him to believe the unlikely. I don't blame him, it took me a while to believe it too!
Clearly the fates clearly wanted us to get together. So we got together for dinner and a few drinks. It was great seeing him again. He's exactly the same as in college. A little quirky, but smart, funny, and fun to be around. We had a great night. He's lived in Budapest for something like 15 years. Budacast is his work - he does podcasts. If you find this all hard to believe I don't blame you. But check out his podcast entry for the week after I was there:
http://www.budacast.hu/shownews.php?newsid=255&cat=5
Return to Budapest
As you all know, I went to Budapest for the first semester of my Senior year of college. I was there for 3 months, went to school, lived in an apartment, and dated a wonderful girl (Noemi).
I had always planned to go back, but somehow never got around to it. I had been to Europe several times, but never with enough time to space to make a return visit.
In April I started to hear of a work meeting that was going to take place there. I made sure to get myself invited to it! I was overjoyed at the chance to go back.
Mimi was something less than overjoyed. Not only was I going to go back to the city of a previous girlfriend (and see her!), but also I was going to be there over our wedding anniversary. To her credit she didn't complain about it. She only had one rule - no hanging out with the ex on our wedding anniversary. That was more than fair! Actually she had one more rule. She said that Noemi had to be fat (in my friend Drew's parlance - that she had been hit by the Babushka bomb). Well she wasn't. But I stayed true to the first rule!
I got in an Sunday morning. Noemi met me at the airport and brought me to my hotel - the West End Hilton. It carries that name as it is next to the West End train terminal.
Coincidentally this is exactly the same terminal I arrived in when I took the train from Brussels 22 year previous. Just walking through it was a personal time warp for me.
Over the course of my time there, Noemi and I went back to our old apartment building, to my old school (try as I could I could not find our classroom!), on the old trams and busses I used to take, and through tours of various parts of the city we had traveled in our previous life together. It was wonderful.
Weird too though. You know how when you're with someone you have a really strong bond with that just being in their presence is enough? You don't have to have deep conversations to make it meaningful? This was one of my first times experiencing that. We would be together having an ice cream on a bench talking about the weather. And I was having a great time. I kept thinking to myself - you've only got 6 days here, talk about something important. But I didn't have to. The weather was plenty.
Obviously the last time I was there the country was under communist rule. So what has changed? Not a whole lot from my brief tour. The people don't look over their shoulders when they talk. They don't lower their voice mentioning their disapproval of the government. And they have no visible ties to the Soviet Union any more.
The biggest physical change was the buildings. I remember Budapest being a very dirty city. Not trash on the road - that was swept by the babushkas every morning. The buildings looked dirty. Like the beautiful architecture under them was of no particular interest. Many of these buildings have been cleaned up now. They are nicely painted in attractive colors. And they look wonderful. It's like someone has removed a film from the entire city. There are still visible war scars, but even they look better with this refurbishing.
Leaving this time wasn't nearly as tough as the last time around. I took a taxi to the airport again, but it was at 5am, so Noemi didn't accompany me. I think the fact that I was 1/2 asleep kept me from welling up the emotions of my previous departure. It was a wonderful visit - my only regret is that it took me 22 years to get around to it!
As you all know, I went to Budapest for the first semester of my Senior year of college. I was there for 3 months, went to school, lived in an apartment, and dated a wonderful girl (Noemi).
I had always planned to go back, but somehow never got around to it. I had been to Europe several times, but never with enough time to space to make a return visit.
In April I started to hear of a work meeting that was going to take place there. I made sure to get myself invited to it! I was overjoyed at the chance to go back.
Mimi was something less than overjoyed. Not only was I going to go back to the city of a previous girlfriend (and see her!), but also I was going to be there over our wedding anniversary. To her credit she didn't complain about it. She only had one rule - no hanging out with the ex on our wedding anniversary. That was more than fair! Actually she had one more rule. She said that Noemi had to be fat (in my friend Drew's parlance - that she had been hit by the Babushka bomb). Well she wasn't. But I stayed true to the first rule!
I got in an Sunday morning. Noemi met me at the airport and brought me to my hotel - the West End Hilton. It carries that name as it is next to the West End train terminal.
Coincidentally this is exactly the same terminal I arrived in when I took the train from Brussels 22 year previous. Just walking through it was a personal time warp for me.
Over the course of my time there, Noemi and I went back to our old apartment building, to my old school (try as I could I could not find our classroom!), on the old trams and busses I used to take, and through tours of various parts of the city we had traveled in our previous life together. It was wonderful.
Weird too though. You know how when you're with someone you have a really strong bond with that just being in their presence is enough? You don't have to have deep conversations to make it meaningful? This was one of my first times experiencing that. We would be together having an ice cream on a bench talking about the weather. And I was having a great time. I kept thinking to myself - you've only got 6 days here, talk about something important. But I didn't have to. The weather was plenty.
Obviously the last time I was there the country was under communist rule. So what has changed? Not a whole lot from my brief tour. The people don't look over their shoulders when they talk. They don't lower their voice mentioning their disapproval of the government. And they have no visible ties to the Soviet Union any more.
The biggest physical change was the buildings. I remember Budapest being a very dirty city. Not trash on the road - that was swept by the babushkas every morning. The buildings looked dirty. Like the beautiful architecture under them was of no particular interest. Many of these buildings have been cleaned up now. They are nicely painted in attractive colors. And they look wonderful. It's like someone has removed a film from the entire city. There are still visible war scars, but even they look better with this refurbishing.
Leaving this time wasn't nearly as tough as the last time around. I took a taxi to the airport again, but it was at 5am, so Noemi didn't accompany me. I think the fact that I was 1/2 asleep kept me from welling up the emotions of my previous departure. It was a wonderful visit - my only regret is that it took me 22 years to get around to it!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bad Things Seamus did Last Night
Mimi and I were out at VB last week. When we got back we asked the babysitter (the neighbor boy) how things went. As usual he said the kids all did great. I pressed him - this is what he always says and I don't believe it. But he stuck to his story. OK; maybe they really did behave themselves.
The next morning as I was eating breakfast with the kids Denis asked me if I saw his note. "What note?" I asked. He showed it to me. It was scrawled in pencil and sitting on my mail pile. It was titled "Bad Things Seamus did Last Night". The items noted were:
- Stood on his chair
- Tried to climb onto the table
- Wouldn't listen
- Tried to worm his way to get more snack
- Made excuses to come downstairs when he was supposed to be in bed
- Wrecked the chair in my room with the bears
- Just misbehaved!!
- I don't know what he did before that
- Tried to steal Tara's Pokémon cards
Going to have to ask the sitter about this next time I see him.
In the mean time we are going to apply technology. I told Denis he was free to use my new flip camera (extremely basic digital video camera). So next time I expect a multimedia presentation on his brother's (poor) behavior. I can't wait.
Mimi and I were out at VB last week. When we got back we asked the babysitter (the neighbor boy) how things went. As usual he said the kids all did great. I pressed him - this is what he always says and I don't believe it. But he stuck to his story. OK; maybe they really did behave themselves.
The next morning as I was eating breakfast with the kids Denis asked me if I saw his note. "What note?" I asked. He showed it to me. It was scrawled in pencil and sitting on my mail pile. It was titled "Bad Things Seamus did Last Night". The items noted were:
- Stood on his chair
- Tried to climb onto the table
- Wouldn't listen
- Tried to worm his way to get more snack
- Made excuses to come downstairs when he was supposed to be in bed
- Wrecked the chair in my room with the bears
- Just misbehaved!!
- I don't know what he did before that
- Tried to steal Tara's Pokémon cards
Going to have to ask the sitter about this next time I see him.
In the mean time we are going to apply technology. I told Denis he was free to use my new flip camera (extremely basic digital video camera). So next time I expect a multimedia presentation on his brother's (poor) behavior. I can't wait.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Liam the chef
I came downstairs this morning to find that Liam had already made his breakfast. My first clue into this observation was the smell of something burning horribly. My second was him sitting at his chair with a bitter-beer face on nibbling at his oatmeal.
I asked him what had happened. He told me that he burned his oatmeal. How? I asked. He didn't have a good answer for that. He thought he had done everything right.
Looking at the bowl provided no clues. There was oatmeal swimming in milk with bits of black everywhere. Curious.
So I dumped that bowl out and asked him to show me what he did. He went into the cupboard, got a packet of oatmeal, opened it, put it into the bowl, then moved off to the microwave.
Anyone paying attention? Did you see the missing step?
Yup - he put powdered oatmeal into the microwave completely dry! That doesn't work so well. I asked him "What about the milk?" He immediately slapped his head (Hey - it saved me from doing it!)
Duh.
I think he'll get it right from now on.
I came downstairs this morning to find that Liam had already made his breakfast. My first clue into this observation was the smell of something burning horribly. My second was him sitting at his chair with a bitter-beer face on nibbling at his oatmeal.
I asked him what had happened. He told me that he burned his oatmeal. How? I asked. He didn't have a good answer for that. He thought he had done everything right.
Looking at the bowl provided no clues. There was oatmeal swimming in milk with bits of black everywhere. Curious.
So I dumped that bowl out and asked him to show me what he did. He went into the cupboard, got a packet of oatmeal, opened it, put it into the bowl, then moved off to the microwave.
Anyone paying attention? Did you see the missing step?
Yup - he put powdered oatmeal into the microwave completely dry! That doesn't work so well. I asked him "What about the milk?" He immediately slapped his head (Hey - it saved me from doing it!)
Duh.
I think he'll get it right from now on.
A (soccer) star is born?
Seamus is playing soccer again. This time he is actually 'of age.' He played last season but wasn't quite at the 5-year entry point. But he's been coached by his brother Liam for 2 years, so we figured he was ready.
He had speed, skills, and aggressiveness. But he had no focus. So he'd run quite fast - just in the opposite direction. He didn't do too well over the season.
I took him down for his first game Saturday. We got there late (of course). They had already started, so the coach had him sit out the first part. I sat down to watch, and immediately two strong girls on the other team zipped down the field and scored a goal. Not a good sign - the game was all of 2 minutes old. Nobody on Seamus' team even really moved.
So I called Seamus over and showed him what had happened. I wanted to impress on him that he needed to put in some effort to help his team. He seemed to be paying attention.
Right then his coach called for him and put him into the game. Sure enough here come the two girls. But instead of scoring, Seamus met them, stole the ball, and took it down the other way. He missed his shot, but put in exactly the effort I asked for from him.
The rest of the game was much of the same. Seamus and the opposing girls going head to head. He only played about 1/2 the game, but played hard the entire time.
At the end the score was 6-2 in favor of our team. They scored their two goals while he was out.
Oh, yeah. And our 6 goals? Seamus scored 5 of them!
My happiest part of the day was watching Liam cheer him and encourage him. And then to see Seamus run to him after a goal and jump into his arms. It was a total Kodak moment!
Seamus is playing soccer again. This time he is actually 'of age.' He played last season but wasn't quite at the 5-year entry point. But he's been coached by his brother Liam for 2 years, so we figured he was ready.
He had speed, skills, and aggressiveness. But he had no focus. So he'd run quite fast - just in the opposite direction. He didn't do too well over the season.
I took him down for his first game Saturday. We got there late (of course). They had already started, so the coach had him sit out the first part. I sat down to watch, and immediately two strong girls on the other team zipped down the field and scored a goal. Not a good sign - the game was all of 2 minutes old. Nobody on Seamus' team even really moved.
So I called Seamus over and showed him what had happened. I wanted to impress on him that he needed to put in some effort to help his team. He seemed to be paying attention.
Right then his coach called for him and put him into the game. Sure enough here come the two girls. But instead of scoring, Seamus met them, stole the ball, and took it down the other way. He missed his shot, but put in exactly the effort I asked for from him.
The rest of the game was much of the same. Seamus and the opposing girls going head to head. He only played about 1/2 the game, but played hard the entire time.
At the end the score was 6-2 in favor of our team. They scored their two goals while he was out.
Oh, yeah. And our 6 goals? Seamus scored 5 of them!
My happiest part of the day was watching Liam cheer him and encourage him. And then to see Seamus run to him after a goal and jump into his arms. It was a total Kodak moment!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Single Parent Weekend
Over the years since we've been married I've had many (many) great weekends away with my buddies. They have been great escapes, and I find them to be very positive for my overall mental health. And while I've positioned it to Mimi in this manner she hasn't exactly bought it. I've encouraged her to do the same, but she is of a mind that if you need to get away then there's something you need to get away from. And that's bad. So she wouldn't do it.
At least she wouldn't do it when I encouraged her to. But it seems her friends have more pull than I do. So when her girlfriends from college called her and said "Come to Chicago" she took the opportunity. I was very happy for her. But very worried for me. She got to go away and have fun for a weekend, but I'd be on task for watching the kids. Ugh! Now I know how she's felt all these times.
Mimi took off at noon on Friday, timing things perfectly and got into Chicago with no issues. Good for her! For me I came home after work and immediately got a little help. The neighbors called to see if Denis Jr. wanted to go with them to a basketball game. Cool! One down!
We had a quick dinner and then - per spoil weekend guidelines - sat down for a movie. I had watched The Music Man on a recent flight, and thought they'd really like it. I figured Denis wouldn't, so it was perfect. As I expected, Liam and Tara loved it, and Seamus couldn't sit still. But overall a good success. I got them all off to bed and kicked back with a movie of my own to relax.
Saturday morning was an early start. Tara had ballet, and it was visitor's day. So I packed up Tara, Liam and Seamus and headed out. I gave Denis a break and let him stay home. Since he had been out late the previous night he was quite pleased with that! So the 4 of us went to the lesson. I stayed and watched, while Liam and Seamus played (nicely and quietly!) with a toy car in the dressing room. A small one - but another success!
When I got back from ballet I had to head out to do a team race with some friends (see other post). So I got another nice break while Amy came over to watch the kids. I got back early from the race and got cleaned up. Once everyone was settled we spent some time playing DDR. This has been a huge hit in the house. Kids of all ages (up to 42!) have a great time with it. And everyone is getting better, so new scores all the time!
When we got done playing we went out with Mimi's parents for dinner. This took a while as cursed restaurants here don't take reservations. But it was acceptable, and it was a good meal. Even better, we had a ton of leftovers - which I collected and brought home so I could use later. Liam went home with Mimi's parents after dinner, so I only had 3 to deal with again.
Since Denis didn't get a movie on Friday night I got the younger ones into bed and he and I kicked back with a movie. I wanted to give him one slightly more mature, one that he wouldn't be able to watch with the other kids. So we settled on Tomb Raider. Lots of excitement, shooting, etc. But not really a whole bunch of killing. A lot of bad shooting, I guess. In fact, near as I can tell there was only one actual shooting death. So that's not to bad. He naturally wanted something more (and R or better!) but he happily settled on TR. It went very nicely, and he enjoyed the show.
Sunday morning I got up early (for me - they were all awake already). I started breaking eggs to make pancakes. Denis immediately started to complain - "I don't want eggs!" So naturally I continued to tease him on it. Even as I mixed in the batter powder I called it eggs. It wasn't until they hit the griddle that he finally realized what he was getting. And then he was happy!
We ate a nice fat breakfast and went to church. I had to remember to bring snacks for Seamus' class, which I did (I am so proud of myself!) We got him to his class, and we went to church. After mass started I suddenly realized that while we brought the snacks, they were still in the car. Damn! I couldn't leave to get them and leave Liam and Tara by themselves in church. So I took a risk and asked Liam to do it. He pulled it off beautifully! Unlocked and locked the car and got the treats to the right place. Hey! The kids are finally being somewhat productive! Man I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
As we were leaving mass, Denis asked if his friend Eric could come over to play. While this adds another kid to the mix it's actually something that makes life easier by giving them more to do. So I said yes and we brought him with us.
For lunch I took all the leftovers from the previous night and fried them up in a pan and served them again. It was yummy! Even as leftovers nobody complained. I was quite pleased with myself!
The day was beautiful, so we all went outside to play. Eric and Denis playing BBall. Seamus in the mud, and me flying a kite! Got that sucker up 200'. Tara asked to hold the string and how could I say no? Naturally she got bored in a couple minutes and just dropped it. Yikes! I immediately went sprinting across the yard to catch it before it disappeared. I got it just in time, but that was the end of that game for her!
And just like that Mimi was back! She had a great time, and we did too. She's already talking about doing this again, and I'm already much less stressed about the idea!
Over the years since we've been married I've had many (many) great weekends away with my buddies. They have been great escapes, and I find them to be very positive for my overall mental health. And while I've positioned it to Mimi in this manner she hasn't exactly bought it. I've encouraged her to do the same, but she is of a mind that if you need to get away then there's something you need to get away from. And that's bad. So she wouldn't do it.
At least she wouldn't do it when I encouraged her to. But it seems her friends have more pull than I do. So when her girlfriends from college called her and said "Come to Chicago" she took the opportunity. I was very happy for her. But very worried for me. She got to go away and have fun for a weekend, but I'd be on task for watching the kids. Ugh! Now I know how she's felt all these times.
Mimi took off at noon on Friday, timing things perfectly and got into Chicago with no issues. Good for her! For me I came home after work and immediately got a little help. The neighbors called to see if Denis Jr. wanted to go with them to a basketball game. Cool! One down!
We had a quick dinner and then - per spoil weekend guidelines - sat down for a movie. I had watched The Music Man on a recent flight, and thought they'd really like it. I figured Denis wouldn't, so it was perfect. As I expected, Liam and Tara loved it, and Seamus couldn't sit still. But overall a good success. I got them all off to bed and kicked back with a movie of my own to relax.
Saturday morning was an early start. Tara had ballet, and it was visitor's day. So I packed up Tara, Liam and Seamus and headed out. I gave Denis a break and let him stay home. Since he had been out late the previous night he was quite pleased with that! So the 4 of us went to the lesson. I stayed and watched, while Liam and Seamus played (nicely and quietly!) with a toy car in the dressing room. A small one - but another success!
When I got back from ballet I had to head out to do a team race with some friends (see other post). So I got another nice break while Amy came over to watch the kids. I got back early from the race and got cleaned up. Once everyone was settled we spent some time playing DDR. This has been a huge hit in the house. Kids of all ages (up to 42!) have a great time with it. And everyone is getting better, so new scores all the time!
When we got done playing we went out with Mimi's parents for dinner. This took a while as cursed restaurants here don't take reservations. But it was acceptable, and it was a good meal. Even better, we had a ton of leftovers - which I collected and brought home so I could use later. Liam went home with Mimi's parents after dinner, so I only had 3 to deal with again.
Since Denis didn't get a movie on Friday night I got the younger ones into bed and he and I kicked back with a movie. I wanted to give him one slightly more mature, one that he wouldn't be able to watch with the other kids. So we settled on Tomb Raider. Lots of excitement, shooting, etc. But not really a whole bunch of killing. A lot of bad shooting, I guess. In fact, near as I can tell there was only one actual shooting death. So that's not to bad. He naturally wanted something more (and R or better!) but he happily settled on TR. It went very nicely, and he enjoyed the show.
Sunday morning I got up early (for me - they were all awake already). I started breaking eggs to make pancakes. Denis immediately started to complain - "I don't want eggs!" So naturally I continued to tease him on it. Even as I mixed in the batter powder I called it eggs. It wasn't until they hit the griddle that he finally realized what he was getting. And then he was happy!
We ate a nice fat breakfast and went to church. I had to remember to bring snacks for Seamus' class, which I did (I am so proud of myself!) We got him to his class, and we went to church. After mass started I suddenly realized that while we brought the snacks, they were still in the car. Damn! I couldn't leave to get them and leave Liam and Tara by themselves in church. So I took a risk and asked Liam to do it. He pulled it off beautifully! Unlocked and locked the car and got the treats to the right place. Hey! The kids are finally being somewhat productive! Man I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
As we were leaving mass, Denis asked if his friend Eric could come over to play. While this adds another kid to the mix it's actually something that makes life easier by giving them more to do. So I said yes and we brought him with us.
For lunch I took all the leftovers from the previous night and fried them up in a pan and served them again. It was yummy! Even as leftovers nobody complained. I was quite pleased with myself!
The day was beautiful, so we all went outside to play. Eric and Denis playing BBall. Seamus in the mud, and me flying a kite! Got that sucker up 200'. Tara asked to hold the string and how could I say no? Naturally she got bored in a couple minutes and just dropped it. Yikes! I immediately went sprinting across the yard to catch it before it disappeared. I got it just in time, but that was the end of that game for her!
And just like that Mimi was back! She had a great time, and we did too. She's already talking about doing this again, and I'm already much less stressed about the idea!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Animal Abuse
I had just returned from Christmas break and was having my first phone call with Mourad. We spent a little bit of time catching up on our vacations. Now I know that Mourad is Islamic, but I didn't know if there was a Holiday they celebrated on this timing. So I asked him.
Turns out there is a Muslim Holiday that coincided with Xmas this year. It floats, so it was coincidental, but he was able to celebrate it. He had gone back home to Morocco to be with his family, so he could do it in all aspects. I asked him about the celebration. Despite having dated an Islamic girl in grad school I know very little about their holidays. So I asked him what he did. His response was both simple and complex: "I slaughtered a sheep." I wasn't completely sure how he meant this.
So I had to follow up. What does he mean, exactly, when he says that? Is it that he puts an order in with his butcher and gets a nice leg of lamb dropped off in the afternoon? "No. I take a knife and I cut the sheep's throat." He can tell that I am a little shocked, so he tells me this is my cultural diversity for the day!
The trick of the ceremony, he tells me, is explaining it to his children. His two young girls. It used to scare them a bit. I can undersatnd that - I think it would scare me! But he was has been successful with his 6 year old to the point where she asked if she could help this year! Turns out she can't yet, but the fact that she expressed the interest was great.
After I hung up the phone I shared the story with my cube-mates. I expected them to be shocked. But I didn't expect what came next. It would appear that by sharing the Mourad story it opened the door to everyone sharing their animal death experiences. Their very personal experiences!
Michelle went first. She said that a previous year she was working on building a garden. And she had a load of soil dropped off to build it out. As she started to move the dirt from the pile to the garden she discovered that is was populated by two fat moles. So of course she did what any reasonable young lady would do - she bludgeoned them to death and diced them to pieces with her shovel!!!! Trust me, if you ever met Michelle you would swear that she couldn't watch anyone else do this much less do it herself. And yet here she sat, dressed in her professional best, calmly describing the bloody act. Chilling.
It had a different effect on Cathy. Because she immediately launched into a description of the problems she and her husband had with their deck. It seems that after it was built they found that it quickly became a home to a colony of raccoons. I had no idea that they gathered in such numbers, but she shared that there were at least 15 of them there. Big nasty ones too. And you just can't have that with a couple kids running around. So they had to be removed. No big deal. Cathy's husband got himself a trap and caught them one at a time. Piece of cake. But the question is - what do you do with them after they're trapped? Well, if you're Cathy's husband you take the trap to the fountain in front of the house and hold them underwater and wait for them to thrash and scratch until they drown. 15 times in a row. It takes a rare man to be able to do that.
And this is how my Monday morning started. One by one by one stories that shock and amaze from the kindest gentlest people I know. You always hear that people are capable of crazy things in the right situation. You have now heard it from me too - it's true!
I had just returned from Christmas break and was having my first phone call with Mourad. We spent a little bit of time catching up on our vacations. Now I know that Mourad is Islamic, but I didn't know if there was a Holiday they celebrated on this timing. So I asked him.
Turns out there is a Muslim Holiday that coincided with Xmas this year. It floats, so it was coincidental, but he was able to celebrate it. He had gone back home to Morocco to be with his family, so he could do it in all aspects. I asked him about the celebration. Despite having dated an Islamic girl in grad school I know very little about their holidays. So I asked him what he did. His response was both simple and complex: "I slaughtered a sheep." I wasn't completely sure how he meant this.
So I had to follow up. What does he mean, exactly, when he says that? Is it that he puts an order in with his butcher and gets a nice leg of lamb dropped off in the afternoon? "No. I take a knife and I cut the sheep's throat." He can tell that I am a little shocked, so he tells me this is my cultural diversity for the day!
The trick of the ceremony, he tells me, is explaining it to his children. His two young girls. It used to scare them a bit. I can undersatnd that - I think it would scare me! But he was has been successful with his 6 year old to the point where she asked if she could help this year! Turns out she can't yet, but the fact that she expressed the interest was great.
After I hung up the phone I shared the story with my cube-mates. I expected them to be shocked. But I didn't expect what came next. It would appear that by sharing the Mourad story it opened the door to everyone sharing their animal death experiences. Their very personal experiences!
Michelle went first. She said that a previous year she was working on building a garden. And she had a load of soil dropped off to build it out. As she started to move the dirt from the pile to the garden she discovered that is was populated by two fat moles. So of course she did what any reasonable young lady would do - she bludgeoned them to death and diced them to pieces with her shovel!!!! Trust me, if you ever met Michelle you would swear that she couldn't watch anyone else do this much less do it herself. And yet here she sat, dressed in her professional best, calmly describing the bloody act. Chilling.
It had a different effect on Cathy. Because she immediately launched into a description of the problems she and her husband had with their deck. It seems that after it was built they found that it quickly became a home to a colony of raccoons. I had no idea that they gathered in such numbers, but she shared that there were at least 15 of them there. Big nasty ones too. And you just can't have that with a couple kids running around. So they had to be removed. No big deal. Cathy's husband got himself a trap and caught them one at a time. Piece of cake. But the question is - what do you do with them after they're trapped? Well, if you're Cathy's husband you take the trap to the fountain in front of the house and hold them underwater and wait for them to thrash and scratch until they drown. 15 times in a row. It takes a rare man to be able to do that.
And this is how my Monday morning started. One by one by one stories that shock and amaze from the kindest gentlest people I know. You always hear that people are capable of crazy things in the right situation. You have now heard it from me too - it's true!
Champagne tasting with Charlie.
Before we got up the GR, Charlie sent me a note and asked me if I had any interest in going to a champagne tasting. Now to be clear - I don't like champagne. In fact I don't even drink wine, and have never been to a wine tasting. So this sounded like a really bad idea. On the other hand Mimi loves wine and champagne. So naturally I told him we'd love to go. Of course I didn't bring nice clothes, so before the event I had to go to Charlie's house and borrow a jacket. They were all a little tight, especially around the middle. It was quite a shock to find out later that they actually fit him. Hmmm. May have to start paying attention to my diet!
The event was in the University Club, while already sounds a little snooty. Because, well, it is. It's at the top of the biggest bank in town. So I guess it's a ritzy executives club kind of thing. And as we walked in it was clearly populated by exactly the people you'd expect to see in such a place. Well, except for our table. Our table had brother Tim and his wife Cathy. Brother Charlie and his wife Sheila. And Charlie's friend Michael and his wife. It wasn't quite like one of those "What doesn't belong in this picture" exercises, but it was close.
It didn't seem to bother any of us. We immediately connected as you'd expect adult brothers who don't see each other very often. Which means quite well, and quite loudly. We were having a great time. There was an MC kind of guy who was introducing each bottle, but it got increasingly hard to hear him as we continued our own table's entertainment. I could see we were getting some dirty looks from some of the other guests, but I was having too much fun to worry about it.
After about 3 bottles of champagne we were getting what could be best described as boisterous. In general I consider myself a pretty funny guy. But on this night I was in rare form. I was cracking myself up, which is normal. But I also had an appreciative audience, which stoked the fires well beyond normal levels. I was killing them! And Tim, Charlie, and Michael were right there with me. The wives weren't quite as carried away, but seemed to be enjoying themselves.
It would appear from the events that were about to unfold that this was not the universal POV. It's hard to describe exactly what happened because it was so unexpected. As Charlie is right in the middle of delivering his latest add to the session a pencil bounced across our table. It kind of came over Charlie's shoulder and bounced to the middle. Charlie didn't even notice. But I saw it and Michael and Tim did as well. It didn't take long to figure out that someone from the table next to us had thrown it. Yes, at a snooty exec club someone actually threw a pencil at Charlie!! Unexpected doesn't even come close to expressing my reaction. I couldn't recall this happening since maybe 6th grade.
I actually saw the guy who did it. He was an older guy. Kind of heavy set. White hair. Beard. So I guess it gets even worse - Santa threw it! But no red suit. Instead he had a blue sweater-vest. In other words, not exactly the picture of the guy you'd expect to be throwing pencils.
I was in such shock I had absolutely no response. But not Michael. He knew exactly what to do. He stood up, picked up the pencil, and strode off to Santa's table. I held my breath. I didn't know this guy at all. And he was a friend at Charlie's. Which meant that he's either really cool or psychotic. Or both. I'm already starting to think of my course of action if he stabs Santa in the eye with the pencil - how am I going to explain that to the kids? I needn't have worried. He was so cool. He strides purposefully over, get's sweater-vest's attention and tell him that it appears that he has lost his pencil and returns it to him. Oh yeah! Totally served cold and way too cool.
When Michael returned Charlie finally caught on to what had happened. He was furious. You could really see Dad in him. But he restrained himself (unlike Dad), Still, when Santa walked past to use the restroom he couldn't resist following him. When they met in the hallway, to his credit, pencil-man actually apologized. He said it was wrong of him and that he was sorry. He should have stopped there. But he didn't. Instead he flowed directly into "Although I believe you owe me an apology as well." His point was that a gentleman would not have been as disruptive. Naturally Charlie couldn't resist responding "A gentlemen wouldn't have thrown a pencil!" Justifiably he was quite proud of himself. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it in person, but Charlie shared the details with each of us several times through the night. And the next day. And after that too.
The perfect ending to the story is that on Christmas at mom's house I got a present from Charlie. This was odd, as we do family presents and don't usually get presents for individual brothers and sisters. So I was quite curious. But I understood as soon as I got it open. I am now the proud owner of my very own pale blue sweater-vest! The only thing missing was a pencil!
Before we got up the GR, Charlie sent me a note and asked me if I had any interest in going to a champagne tasting. Now to be clear - I don't like champagne. In fact I don't even drink wine, and have never been to a wine tasting. So this sounded like a really bad idea. On the other hand Mimi loves wine and champagne. So naturally I told him we'd love to go. Of course I didn't bring nice clothes, so before the event I had to go to Charlie's house and borrow a jacket. They were all a little tight, especially around the middle. It was quite a shock to find out later that they actually fit him. Hmmm. May have to start paying attention to my diet!
The event was in the University Club, while already sounds a little snooty. Because, well, it is. It's at the top of the biggest bank in town. So I guess it's a ritzy executives club kind of thing. And as we walked in it was clearly populated by exactly the people you'd expect to see in such a place. Well, except for our table. Our table had brother Tim and his wife Cathy. Brother Charlie and his wife Sheila. And Charlie's friend Michael and his wife. It wasn't quite like one of those "What doesn't belong in this picture" exercises, but it was close.
It didn't seem to bother any of us. We immediately connected as you'd expect adult brothers who don't see each other very often. Which means quite well, and quite loudly. We were having a great time. There was an MC kind of guy who was introducing each bottle, but it got increasingly hard to hear him as we continued our own table's entertainment. I could see we were getting some dirty looks from some of the other guests, but I was having too much fun to worry about it.
After about 3 bottles of champagne we were getting what could be best described as boisterous. In general I consider myself a pretty funny guy. But on this night I was in rare form. I was cracking myself up, which is normal. But I also had an appreciative audience, which stoked the fires well beyond normal levels. I was killing them! And Tim, Charlie, and Michael were right there with me. The wives weren't quite as carried away, but seemed to be enjoying themselves.
It would appear from the events that were about to unfold that this was not the universal POV. It's hard to describe exactly what happened because it was so unexpected. As Charlie is right in the middle of delivering his latest add to the session a pencil bounced across our table. It kind of came over Charlie's shoulder and bounced to the middle. Charlie didn't even notice. But I saw it and Michael and Tim did as well. It didn't take long to figure out that someone from the table next to us had thrown it. Yes, at a snooty exec club someone actually threw a pencil at Charlie!! Unexpected doesn't even come close to expressing my reaction. I couldn't recall this happening since maybe 6th grade.
I actually saw the guy who did it. He was an older guy. Kind of heavy set. White hair. Beard. So I guess it gets even worse - Santa threw it! But no red suit. Instead he had a blue sweater-vest. In other words, not exactly the picture of the guy you'd expect to be throwing pencils.
I was in such shock I had absolutely no response. But not Michael. He knew exactly what to do. He stood up, picked up the pencil, and strode off to Santa's table. I held my breath. I didn't know this guy at all. And he was a friend at Charlie's. Which meant that he's either really cool or psychotic. Or both. I'm already starting to think of my course of action if he stabs Santa in the eye with the pencil - how am I going to explain that to the kids? I needn't have worried. He was so cool. He strides purposefully over, get's sweater-vest's attention and tell him that it appears that he has lost his pencil and returns it to him. Oh yeah! Totally served cold and way too cool.
When Michael returned Charlie finally caught on to what had happened. He was furious. You could really see Dad in him. But he restrained himself (unlike Dad), Still, when Santa walked past to use the restroom he couldn't resist following him. When they met in the hallway, to his credit, pencil-man actually apologized. He said it was wrong of him and that he was sorry. He should have stopped there. But he didn't. Instead he flowed directly into "Although I believe you owe me an apology as well." His point was that a gentleman would not have been as disruptive. Naturally Charlie couldn't resist responding "A gentlemen wouldn't have thrown a pencil!" Justifiably he was quite proud of himself. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it in person, but Charlie shared the details with each of us several times through the night. And the next day. And after that too.
The perfect ending to the story is that on Christmas at mom's house I got a present from Charlie. This was odd, as we do family presents and don't usually get presents for individual brothers and sisters. So I was quite curious. But I understood as soon as I got it open. I am now the proud owner of my very own pale blue sweater-vest! The only thing missing was a pencil!
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