Down Syndrome Life

2008 to 2010 Ooops! I Missed a Couple of Posts

2010-01-06T22:11:00.004-05:00

It has been quite some time since my last post. My followers have abandoned me as I did them. Life has been quite interesting and full of surprises. Since my last post my wife graduated and is now a nuerosurgery PA. Also our family grew by one.

I really do need to start blogging again. This past time used to be a way for me to vent and keep my sanity. Needless to say, I'm insane.

Life is good, but can always be better. Time is flying by at the speed of light. I'm still persuing the fountain of youth. I used to think it was having children and the activity that goes along with it, but I have the greys to disprove that theory:)

I realize that this post is lacking focus, but at the end of the day this is what you get.

Cheers to all.

The Unexpected Ingredient

2008-11-24T20:15:00.002-05:00

I must tell you that having a big family assures me of never running out of stories to blog about.

This evening Amanda was helping Robin make butter nut squash soup. Apparently you have to cook all the vegetables on the stove top and then while it’s still hot puree it in a food processor. As Robin was finished pureeing the delicious smelling soup and transferring it out of the food processor back into the pot, Amanda pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter to see what her mommy was making. As Amanda was watching her mother throw additional spices into the mix Amanda decided that it was her turn………She picked up our cordless telephone and in it went. My telephone that was a beautiful metallic grey was now dripping squash orange. I thought that it was dead. Obviously if the liquid didn’t kill it, the heat would have….right? I was amazed, I took a damp towel and dried it off; the darn thing still worked. After about a half hour we received a phone call and Robin picked up. She noticed that it was difficult to hear the person at the other end because squash had gotten into the ear holes. I’ll wait until it dries up and I’ll use a toothpick to clear it out.

Consumer Report: If you are in the market for a new cordless telephone, make sure the Panasonic KX-TG 5571 makes the short list.

Next…………..

Voicemail

2008-11-17T21:08:00.003-05:00

It’s a necessary evil in the business world. When one is faced with the decision to leave a message or not, what do you do. There are those who are completely against leaving messages and those that state that a brief message is acceptable.

To leave or not to leave, that is the question. I myself take it on a case by case basis. With that said, have you ever left a message for someone and completely muffed it up? You have no choice but to continue leaving the message with the hopes that after you’re done you can press the pound key making the system go into menu mode. You would hear something like “If you are satisfied with your message, press 1; if you would like to re-record your message press 2. 22222222222 please oh please ….thank God.

I’ve been there and have been thankful. I’ve also been there when a re-record wasn’t an option. I can only imagine what the person that I left the muffed message for was thinking. Hmmm, should I call the police or wait till he calls me back to F*^k with him.

Oh, you’ve been there. Don’t deny it.

The Joys

2008-11-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

So what is one to do when their six year son drops water on the floor and follows it up with “OH SHIT!”. You can’t really yell at him because there’s a good chance that he heard it from you. I really do try to watch myself around the kids, but sometimes you just slip. Anyway, I gave him that evil eye while trying to contain my laughter . It didn’t work, it was just too funny. After everything settled down I took him aside and tried to explain why we don’t use words like that. He knew it was wrong and apologized. I can’t wait to hear the next bad word he learns .

I’m watching TV while typing this up and I’m getting annoyed by all these erectile dysfunction commercials. Can we get a woman hygiene spot to offset all these ridiculous guy spots. Wow, I can’t believe it, an enlarged prostate commercial just aired OH SHIT! How about bringing back the famous spot showing a mother and daughter walking on the beach when all of a sudden the daughter turns to her mother and says “Mom, do you douche?”………………classic

Well, that’s all for now.

Wow! Has it been that long? ..........Really?

2008-10-29T19:30:00.002-05:00

To all my friends, I'm sorry. I think about this blog often, but can never find the time to write on it. I have 3 of the 4 kids sleeping. My 23 month old was taken to the hospital to get play dough taken out of his ear. Yup, the reason I have time to write is because my goofy son wanted to see what having play dough in his ear was like.

My wife just called and it's out. They'll be home in 5 minutes.

All is well at casa de la insano.

PS. Robin is expecting again. This will be number 5............................god help us;) Time to get neutered I guess.

Sorry for the short post.

Hmmmmmmm....

2008-04-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

There was a time early on in my days where I could jump out of bed and greet the world with tremendous vigor. There was a time early on in my life where my memory was sharp and clear.

Now

I get out of bed gently, slowly and greet the world with “oh shit, my back”. My memory loss is apparent whenever I meet someone for the first time and they give me their name, only for me to forget it 10 seconds into the conversation.

Good Times……..good times.

Greetings People

2007-12-26T16:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays to y’all.

What does December 25th spiritually mean to my family? Not much, we celebrate Chanukah in our home. The day off though was much welcomed; we kept the kids home from school and spent time as a family. Our project for the day was making doughnuts. Robin made the dough, the kids cut out the doughnuts and I fried them. After they cooled we topped them off with cinnamon, powdered sugar and regular sugar. The kids really didn’t eat a good dinner that day…..hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder why.

On another note, when there are kids around and you feel the need to swear, if you have common sense you would replace the word with something less harmful. You’d say Frickin instead of F*c”ing or crud instead of S*it; you kind of know what I mean, right, right?. The art of substitution must be paramount for a parent with young children.

With that said. I’m very good with substituting this for that but I am a firm believer now that being silent is better. I heard my five year old son tell his younger sister to give him the frickin ball. That word although much better than it’s relative still sounded bad to me.

Instead of substitution I’m going to be silent the next time I have the urge to swear. I figure if the later rubbed off on my son, this should too. Now, if my son starts to keep quiet, is it an indicator that he’s got all these disgusting swear words running through his head? …………………..Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah Shit, I mean Crud.

The Return of Controlled Chaos

2007-10-17T06:46:00.001-05:00

Robin has gone off to one of her Physician Assistant conferences and will be away until Friday; which after the first day as Mr. Mom feels like it will be a Friday in a new millennium. This is one of those times where a time machine would come in handy.

I believe that this is where my being obsessive compulsive shines. I like order, I need order to survive, and I need order to feel comfortable. That said, trying to be orderly with 4 kids 7 and under doesn’t exactly come easy. To maintain that path I must operate on all cylinders all the time and even then, to sustain order I need to take 2 minutes out of every hour to take a deep so that my head doesn’t explode. My OC is a safeguard and assures me that nothing falls through the cracks when taking care of my kids.

I’m sure you have a clear image in your head of me running around as if my hair was on fire, but I can assure you that things are well under control. The house is clean, the kids are dressed in clean clothes, they’re fed, they’re on time for school, and most importantly happy.

My obsessive compulsive disorder was never diagnosed, but people around me have told me that I have some characteristics of someone whom is OCD. I’ve gotten better at controlling it which has makes my wife’s life a bit less stressful. I don’t get bent out of shape as much anymore if the house is in complete disarray; oh it bothers me, but I try to redirect my energy elsewhere to be more productive.

Well that’s all for now.

I know I’m forgetting to do something this morning.

Time To Move On

2007-09-09T19:10:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since my last post. These long breaks are becoming more frequent and I’m not quite sure why. My life is probably no more hectic than some of yours, so for me to make excuses would be completely reckless.

Many of you may have known that I have been in the media business for many years, and about 5 years ago I partnered with someone to open our own media sales organization. It was an exciting time for me and I’m glad that I did it. We had made significant progress over the years, but at the same time I felt it wasn’t significant enough for me to continue in the partnership. I recently decided to hand the operations over to my partner and the other two companies that we had formed a relationship with. It was time for me to move on.

I was hired four weeks ago by our local Fox Network affiliate, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the largest independent broadcasting company in the country. It has been a crazy few weeks, but things are really starting to fall into place.

I am excited for our future and will try and keep all of you posted on our progress.

The kids are in school and once again we are pleased with the curriculum. Robin is doing extremely well in her classes to become a PA. I keep on telling myself that she’ll only be in school for two more years thinking that it may calm me down a bit. It doesn’t work. I’m sure that once we find our rhythm, things will fall into the proper place.

Cheers to you all.

Guest Post: Dog Days of Summers End

2007-08-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

Hey there everyone, I was asked to blog by my dear hubby, as he has been busy working. So here it goes...

Belovedlife writes:

We have had a busy summer, kids mis-took July for January and we ended up with sick kids (oops!). Now summer is about to end. The hot hot days filled with sweaty kids just home from camp, tired mommy and daddy trying to keep up with them while they insist that "it is not bedtime, 'cuz it is still light out".

Remember those days when summer was just starting and you had that list a mile long of things you wanted to do, places to go and books to read (not the ones on that silly summer reading list either) suddenly your mom has you buying school shoes in the dead of heat - Wait, BOOTS in July..that can't be right, oh no school is starting...You would run like a maniac for the last few weeks of summer, staying up as late as you could, pushing every button you could to get your mom to let you have one more ice cream at 10 o'clock in the morning...God knows once school starts, THAT will never happen again.

Now it is time for back to school shopping, sweaters and boots...oh my! There was a commercial that used to run around this time of the year...picture a mom pushing a shopping cart, humming the popular christmas song 'It's the most wonderful time of the year" throwing back to school items into her shopping cart. Christmas in August! I guess that goes right along with my kids thinking July was January...at least we know where they get their confusion from, right? Seriously though, we will miss our kids, but then again it is nice to have a few hours to ourselves during daylight hours.

Wait...time to myself? Yeah right! Daddy will be having lots of time with the kids, now that I am heading back to school myself. So, the dog days of summer are ending, what the heck kind of days are starting now? INSANE ones!

Now that the weather is getting colder (hey it was only 76 today instead of 88) WE can pull out the winter Pj's and get our kids ready for bed. Guess what kids...it's time for bed...no really...I know it is only 4:30 in the afternoon, but it is DARK out!

Old pic...minus one cute, very fat baby Avi (will have to redo pic in the winter and post it....)

Down Syndrome Radio #2

2007-07-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

Oddly enough, the post(Down Syndrome Radio)I did about the idea of having a weekly radio program on Down Syndrome actually has legs. A local radio station is accepting of the idea of this type of programming. I would have to choose either 15 minutes/30 minutes/1 hour+ for the runtime of the show. Let’s just pick an hour for discussion sake. The hour long segment could run once a week with a possibility of a rebroadcast during the week. There is a catch though; I would be responsible to find sponsors (advertisers) of the show, which shouldn’t be to difficult since I’m in the advertising and marketing business. The one our segment would cost me approx. $200 per week, which means that I would probably be responsible to find at least 3-5 advertisers to commit. The cost of everything actually sounds pretty reasonable.

The station itself is small and broadcasts within a 60 mile radius. I think the distance is far enough to find the ears of some program manager of a larger station that may take an interest, or not.

I’ve decided that I need to cover more than just Down Syndrome on the show. It needs to appeal to a wider audience.

I’m going to inquire a bit more into this crazy idea before I pull the trigger.

Think about what the positive and negative outcomes of a show like this could be.

The Adventures of “What In The World Were You Thinking”

2007-07-18T09:54:00.000-05:00

There comes a time in every parent’s life where the thought of purchasing chains and locks makes perfect sense. Why is it that during the school year our children try and sleep later in the mornings, but during the summer they must get up between 5:30 & 6am (including weekends)? WHY?”

Not to long ago on a Sunday morning I found myself at our local park (1 block from the house) with a coffee in my hand watching 3 of my 4 kids having a blast on the monkey bars. This was all happening before 7AM. You would think that we would be the only nut jobs in the park at this crazy time of day……. You would be wrong. I found out that day that there is a place where the walking dead inhabit the earth. They even have their own language and indulge themselves with coffee. The mommies and daddies of the these, I guess you can call them “children”; I like little demons, were walking around aimlessly, slumped over, obviously wearing what ever they could easily find that morning, grasping their beverage, glancing at each other and without opening their mouths saying: Help Me, Please Help? They would look at me then look towards the entrance of the park as if saying “we're going to make a run for it, are you in”? I wanted to say yes but thankfully the coffee started to kick in and I heard my kids giggling.

An Award For Me......Aaaauuwww Shucks

2007-07-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

Wow, Jeff over at Big Dawg Tales has awarded me with the “Blogger Reflection Award”. I don’t know what to say. Wait a minute; I do know what to say. It just so happens that I prepared a little something; here it goes: I would like to thank the Academy…..wait, that’s not it. Here it is: My fellow Americans, I did not inhale……nope, where the hell did I put that speech. Sorry folks, I know it’s around here somewhere. Is this it…..Eggs, Milk, Bread………., Robin, what did you do with my speech? Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wing it.

Let me start out by saying that there is nothing else that I would rather be doing today than having the pressure of writing a post and thinking about not one, not two, but five other blogs that I read whom are deserving of this award. All kidding aside, this is an award that “should make an individual reflect upon five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and who have provided a Godly example. In other words, five dear bloggers whom, when you reflect upon them, you are filled with a sense of pride and joy...of knowing them and being blessed by them.”

Jeff, thank you for allowing me to bend your ear from time to time, off blog. Jeff is President and CEO of Janus Development Services, Inc. Janus is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “provide individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities the opportunity to participate and contribute within the community through training, education, and the development of social skills.” One great job.

That said, Jeff ranks high on my list of people who are a positive influence to me, my family and to all humanity. Jeff is one of the few fathers who have a blog in which he writes about his experience of raising a child with Down Syndrome. His son Nash and wife Jan (Mauzys Musings)are an inspiration to my family and I hope that all who stumble across this post can take a few minutes to visit them on their respected blogs.

This is what Jeff had to say about me:

Brother B at " Down Syndrome Life" . B. Strong also happens to be a father of a daughter with Down syndrome. B. has been a strong source of belief and reason in a world so filled with neither these days. As I have traveled with him down this road less traveled I consider him a friend I have not yet met in person but hope to soon.

I'm going to assume that you can't award the same blog twice. So before I start I want to hand out two honorary "Blogger Reflection Awards"; one to Kim at ramblings of the bearded one and the other to Jeff at Big Dawg Tales. Thanks for being who you are.

Now, my five winners for the “Blogger Reflection Award” in no particular order go to:

1. Robin my wife at Beloved Life - I can’t say enough about my wife. Robin has been the keystone in my life for the past 11 years; my one true love and best friend. Her determination and strength to make certain that the world is a better place for our children places her deep into my heart.

1. When things are feeling blue I know that I can visit Tara Marie at Emma Sage Tara enjoys telling life’s stories through pictures of her daughter Emma Sage, her friends and family. I feel as if I go on a mini-vacation every time I visit. Thank you.

1. Emily Elizabeth at Lovely and Amazing is another blog that interprets life through photos. The little tidbits Emily adds on her Friday posts seem to always place a smile on my face.

1. Noelle at Jaden's Journal : Noelle should be a lobbyist for the Down Syndrome community. Noelle is a mother of two. Her youngest, Jaden was born with Down Syndrome and has been the driving force for her on her latest mission. Go visit Noelle. Oh, she designs and makes beautiful jewelry too.

1. Archie at Lilienna one of the few dads who blogs about having a child who happens to have Down Syndrome is starting a support group in his community. He is deserving of this award not only because he is a blogging dad and starting a DS support group, but because his daughter Lilienna wears glasses just like my Amanda and I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.

There you have it folks. Now follow the directions below and you to will be given the responsibility of choosing 5 bloggers for this award.

1. Copy this post.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they’ve been given the award.
5. Place the award icon on your site (I will get that soon)

Thoughts

2007-07-16T07:09:00.000-05:00

As a child I remember summer being a time when waking up in the morning began with the overwhelming excitement of “Yes, I have 2 ½ months of freedom. This will be the best summer ever”. My mother made sure that my days were filled with activities such as camp, the zoo, the amusement park and just about everything else that would keep me and my friends out of the house. Summer was fun in our home, really fun. The only issue with being so busy was that my 2 ½ months of freedom quickly became only five days, and the excitement of getting out of bed now required effort.

As adults engulfed in our hectic lives we should still be waking up every morning with the excitement we had as children on the first day of summer break. If for any reason we find our selves yearning for the weekend on a Monday morning, maybe it’s time to think about where we are and what we need to be doing to bring back the Summers of long ago.

My Excuses For Not Posting In Awhile

2007-07-03T17:47:00.000-05:00

I knew my readers had more important things to do than read my blog and I didn’t want to be a distraction.

I forgot my username and password.

Some aliens from outer space borrowed me so they could study how the human brain worked. They were very disappointed with their specimen.

I loaned my only computer to a friend, and he suddenly moved away.

I've been waiting in line for the past 3 weeks for my iPhone (not).

I was kidnapped by terrorists and they only just let me go. They too were dissapointed.

I gave up blogging for Lent. (I’m Jewish and have no idea what this means)

I own a Dell.

Actually I have zero excuses. I just needed to take a break.

Have a happy July 4th weekday(end…….dammit).

If you live abroad, have a great Wednesday.

Down Syndrome Radio

2007-06-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

Is it crazy to think that a radio show on Down Syndrome has the legs to last? Honestly, would there be enough interest out there? Parents of children who have DS and adults with DS are certainly going to listen, but would the typical person listen to a show that discusses Down Syndrome for 2-3 hours on a Sunday? I suppose the only real question that would drive a show like this in corporate America is; would the station be able to find advertising/sponsorships for a show like this? I would like to think so.

I can envision the show having a weekly guest segment where we can accept calls from listeners, a segment on the progress of DS (it’s not your dads DS anymore:)), maybe add a little “put away the fallacies of DS” segment. We can have a star of the week where we would highlight a person and their achievements (write in nomination), or even highlight a business and/or organization that is a supporter of Down Syndrome.

A show like this can bring tremendous attention to DS, both in a good way and in a negative way; there are always kooks out there.

So the question is: Can a radio show dealing with DS or any special needs last?

Sunday Funday

2007-06-04T07:56:00.000-05:00

The baseball game started at 1:35pm this past Sunday. The Pittsburgh Pirates were scheduled to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in a game for the ages. This was no ordinary game that would start and end unnoticed. The excitement was so intense and electric that you could feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight. Our hearts were pounding with excitement, this is it, this is the time, the one that will be remembered, this was my son James first baseball game.

The boy woke up Sunday morning, early and ready. I held him off until about 11am and then gave in; “OK James lets go, but what are we going to do at the ball park for the next 2.5 hours?” I don’t think he cared. We bought tickets through our local synagogue which meant they were inexpensive and high up in the stands; watching on a 13” black and white TV had a better view, not really. It’s not just the game that makes the event exciting, it’s the views, smell of hot dogs cooking, the vendors moving through the stands screaming out the name of the food items that they are selling:

Get your POPCORN here
Get your HOT DOG
CRACKER JACKS, get your CRACKER JACKS
Get your DECAF NO FOAM DOUBLE SHOT SKIM LATTE

What the? That did not happen. He didn’t say what I just thought he said. That man is not selling Lattes, is he? Oh thank god, it didn’t happen; my mind was just wondering. You wait; give it time, IT WILL HAPPEN.

Getting back to the story…..

James and I arrived at the park around 11:15, parked across the bridge which was $5 instead of $20, but only a 5 minute walk. The Roberto Clemente Bridge, the one we walked across is closed during games to allow the mass crowds of people to cross the river to the park. There were many fun activities for the kids to participate in on the bridge leading to the park. There was a real race car that kids could get into to get there picture taken. James loves race cars, but not today, he wanted to go into the park. There was a big blow up trampoline thing for kids to jump in. James loves trampolines, not today he wanted to go into the park. You kind of get the picture.

There was no line to stand in to enter the park because by now it was only 11:20am. Woohoo, 2 hours and 15 minutes before game time. How the hell am I going to entertain my 4 year old son for two hours at a ball park? We walked in and a few of the players were signing autographs, cool, there was a line for that, I could burn at least 5-10 minutes. Nope, James wanted no parts of it; he wanted to go to our seats. We arrived at our seats, section 305 (There was a series on HBO called “From the Earth to the Moon”, for some reason I thought of that as we sat down). We were the only ones in our section because, well, 2 hours before game time. After about 15 minutes of watching the grounds crew watering the grass I asked James if we could go for a walk; nope, wasn’t happening. I forgot to mention, before we got to our seats, we stopped to get licorice and soda, which lasted about 8 minutes. The sugar high was in effect almost immediately and I have the video to prove it. Since we were still the only ones in our section, I let James run freely through the seats. Oh yeah, he was zooming and having fun which is really what this day was all about.

People started to show up and the game was ready to start. We stood for our National Anthem and then it was time. THE BIG GAME!

After about, I’m not joking hear, 5 minutes James turns to look at me and says “Daddy, can we go home now?” Ha, what’d you say? I thought you just asked me if we could go home? I thought that once things started to move along he’d be ok. I started to explain the game to him and point out the different positions the players play. It worked for 2.5 innings and then very politely he asked me again. I acknowledged his request and we went home.

We saw 2.5 innings of a 9 inning ball game which our Pirates ultimately found a way to lose.

Even though we didn’t get to see the whole game, we both had a great time. I’ll chalk this one up as “I was spending time with my oldest son and there just happened to be a baseball game going on”.

Being a dad is cool.

I will paste video and/or pics on this post when I get the chance.

I really do have three other kids and will post about them soon:) Elizabeth will be featured soon.

Gone Fishing

2007-05-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

My son James and I woke up Sunday morning around 6:00 to go fishing. I figured that I should take him someplace that would pretty much guarantee him a catch since it was going to be his first time and I didn’t want him to get discouraged. I took him to a small and safe man made lake. After about a half hour we had our first strike, a cat fish that was half the size of James. I let him reel it in. The fish nearly put him in the soup put he managed.

We had a great time.

*This was a catch & release lake. We don't eat catfish anyway.

Memories

2007-05-25T08:10:00.000-05:00

I'm a weekly attendee at one of my local synagogues, but in the beginning of the month I went to pray (Daven) for my fathers soul (Neshama), something that we as Jews do on the anniversary (Yertziet) of our loved ones passing. I led the prayer services in his memory and will do the same every year.

I was 14 years old when my father died. I remember always wanting to stay home instead of sleeping over a friend’s house or leaving for an extended period of time in fear that something would happen and I wouldn’t be there. Even though I felt this way I still went out and did the things that 14 year old boys do, so when I went to my friend’s house for the weekend I talked myself into believing that everything was going to be ok.....again.

Friday May 3rd, 1985 at approx. 7:15am I remember giving my dad what would be the last kiss I would ever give him. I always made sure to kiss my parents every morning before I left the house to catch the bus to school. Again, I didn’t like being away from home but I told myself that irrational thoughts of something tragic happening was completely ridiculous, and for as many times that I convinced myself that that was true, this time it wasn’t.

The phone rang at my friend’s house Sunday morning at around 6:00am. The phone was in my friend’s hallway so I heard his mother pick up:

Hello?
Pause (15 sec.)
OK, bye
Click (my friends mother was obviously being informed and given instructions at the same time)

She came into our room and told me that Mrs. Weiss was going to pick me up soon to take me home; which I thought was a bit strange. A half hour later she picked me up. The 25 minute car ride was filled with small talk, nothing that I can remember.

Instead of taking me to my house Mrs. Weiss brought me to my sister’s home which was a bit odd, but didn’t really think anything of it. When I walked in I was directed to the back bedroom. An uncomfortable feeling came over me as I headed down the hallway. As I opened the door I heard my mother crying, I immediately ran to her and asked her what was wrong, my sister came in a mess. It was at that moment in time that my life would change forever.

I had mentioned in one of my posts that I make sure to remember some of the little things that my dad and I did together so that I wouldn’t forget them as time continues. There are so many things that we did, but the one thing that I enjoyed the most was fishing. We used to spend weekends out on the boat and a couple of times a year he used to surprise me with special fishing trips to places that we've never fished before. I learned that my dad was going to surprise me with one of those trips the week he died.

Since my father past away, I’ve gone fishing a few times, but it wasn’t the same. A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to teach my oldest son the trade. I went to the sporting goods store with James, he picked out his own rod and reel, and I purchased a fishing license. We’re set. We went back home and my daughter Elizabeth decided that she may want to go as well. There is always room for one more, always.

We hope to create our own memories this weekend.

Searching

2007-05-25T07:15:00.000-05:00

The reason that I like Site Meter is not because I like to measure the amount of visits I receive, it’s to see how people have stumbled across my blog. I pay close attention to the information under Site Meter’s referrals. I commented in a similar post back in May of 2006

The following is a list of searches that people have made using either Google or Yahoo that prompted my blog to pop up.

What will my baby with Down Syndrome look like
Down Syndrome good toys
Down Syndrome big cheeks
Donated embryo Down Syndrome probability
Raising a kid with Down Syndrome
Down Syndrome life lessons
What is it like taking Down Syndrome to school
Open adoption and Down Syndrome
Trisomy 21
How was Down Syndrome named long ago
Blog person Down Syndrome
Biography of a Down Syndrome person
Where did Down Syndrome come from
A day in the life with someone with Down Syndrome
What is everyday life with people with Down Syndrome
Struggles of Down Syndrome
Odds of Down Syndrome, Forum
Near sighted improve with age
Down Syndrome and open adoption
Down Syndrome Life Blog
Lives of people with Down Syndrome
Special thoughts about children with Down Syndrome
Big Face Down Syndrome
Down Syndrome popping eyes
I hate Down Syndrome
Down Syndrome Tiger
Odds of Down Syndrome in Triplets
Oldest living Down Syndrome Person
Down Syndrome Circle of Friends
Down Syndrome lawsuits
Letter from Holland + Down Syndrome
What should a 15 month old with Down Syndrome be doing
How many people in the world have Down Syndrome
Did you know that you were having a baby with Down Syndrome

Groovy Tuesday

2007-05-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

Today is Groovy Tuesday at Amanda's school. The hair is more 50's but the rest of the get up is on target. Her round blue sunglasses are probably hiding in the same place as her toothbrush. I put a couple of joints in her pocket to share with her classmates to ensure a fun day.

Enjoy kiddo!

No Strings?

2007-05-21T07:14:00.000-05:00

An old wise man once said that he was asked whether or not if he ever considered divorce. He said “divorce? Never, but maybe murder once or twice.” Max passed away many years ago. He always put a smile on our faces and for that we will forever love him.

It’s Monday.......again and hopefully it will be better than the last. There are many people that I have met through blogging who I wouldn’t mind meeting in person. Whether they are who they say they are will be decided on whether or not I do meet some of them and actually live to blog about it:) I myself could be one of those nut jobs, and by my last video have proven that that may not be as far fetched as some of you may have thought.

Out of the blue I asked Robin If I could go and visit Kim in Scotland for a few days and without batting an eyelash she said sure go ahead. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, that didn’t go as I planned, something must be up. What do I do now? I was prepared for an argument? This can’t be, there is a catch somewhere, she is a woman ya’ know. Robin said, "sure I think it will be good for you to get away for a few days before I’m back in school for the next two years, and besides after you get back I will leave you with the kids and go to Florida to see my girlfriends…………………………."

AAAAAAAHAAAAA, I KNEW IT!

I think the right thing to do is to take baby steps first. Jeff, are you ready for me?

You Asked For It

2007-05-20T08:34:00.001-05:00

I Hate Mondays

2007-05-14T11:24:00.000-05:00

Back in the day before I had four kids I used to take great pride in my hair and how it looked. My stylist named John charged me $38 for a wash and cut. After the tip and “product” that I purchased, the whole trip would cost me approximately $55 (every 5 weeks). Since the kids came around I basically have given up all hope on my hair. I quit going to John and started going to a place called Fantastic Sam’s. It’s one of those places that hires right out of beauty school and doesn’t care about the kind of grades their applicants get. There are no appointments to make, you just walk in and the next flavor of the month cuts your hair. A haircut there costs $15 plus a 3-5 dollar tip. Very inexpensive, BUT this time around I got what I paid for. I explained the style of cut that I wanted to the new face and she seemed to have understood. She started to trim the sides like I asked (oh, we forgot to give the girl a name. Lets call her Brain Deficient BITCH!), but before I could say stop, she buzzed the front of my head with a number 2 trimmer setting. I’M BALD; I HAVE STUBLE ON MY HEAD. I can grow more facial hair in two days than what I have on my head. I look like a Jewish skinhead. I might as well start beating the hell out of myself now. Instead of bringing Brain Deficient BITCH to tears I kept my feelings bottled up, I even gave her a tip afterwards. I just wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation.

I know that my hair will grow back……..some day, but in the meantime I fear that I may have to put sunscreen on my damn head to keep it from burning. I’m going to walk into my house today and Elizabeth, James and my wife will all laugh at me, Amanda and Alistair will start crying because a stranger just entered their house claiming to be daddy.

I hate Mondays.

Just a Thought

2007-05-12T09:02:00.000-05:00

Do you remember what your reaction was when your mom and/or dad would brake out the silent family video from when you were a child and show it to everyone during a family gathering in the confines of your home. Do you remember how embarrassing that was? Well, how do you think kids will react now a days when they find that you broadcasted full color with sound video over the Internet for the entire world to see. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I can't wait to see the candidates in 30 years running for President. The primary source of all the mudslinging will come from YouTube. "Hey look, that's presidential candidate Dexter Headstrong as a baby pushing a Fisher Price lawnmower while naked eating hot fudge; what an idiot, I'm not voting for him"

Anonymous Comment

2007-05-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

My wife posted the article that ran in the New York Times yesterday that was entitled "Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus " as many other DS sites had. Unfortunately someone left the following anonymous comment which I deleted from her blog because she felt it was offensive. I on the other hand took the liberty of cutting and pasting it to this post. Here it is

From Anonymous

Choosing to have a retarded child is a moral atrocity. There's no way to get around the fact that Down syndrome causes suffering in everyone involved. The parents who support bringing more people burdened with this illness into the world only want to extend their and their children's suffering to everyone else. They should be named for what they are - evil.

Every child should be loved and valued - but a fetus is not a child until he or she is born - and what kind of perverted monster do you have to be to want your children to suffer their entire life? Only the religious dogma behind the hypocritical "culture of life" is capable of sinking people to this level.

Anonymous has a name now, David Veksler.
He has a website: www.rationalmind.net

I understand that this David character searched out sites that posted this article and left the same message on all of them.

He must have been mugged by a person with Down Syndrome;)

Another Boring Kid Video

2007-05-08T06:45:00.000-05:00

When Is It Time?

2007-05-04T07:43:00.000-05:00

My 7 year old daughter Elizabeth lost her third tooth and like the previous ones that were lost my wife and I told her to place it under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. As usual, she was more than happy to accomodate; in our house teeth go for about $1-$2. Since this tooth was damaged do to a tumble a few months ago, it had to be pulled by the dentist which meant that this tooth was worth $2.

I love being the Tooth Fairy. Like before, my daughter goes to sleep with the tooth under her pillow. I sit at the computer typing a little note “from the Tooth Fairy” thanking Eli for her kind contribution to the construction of her new castle (what, you think the Tooth Fairy lives in a brick/stone castle?). I end the note with a “and for all the pain and suffering you had to endure, I’m leaving two dollars”.

My daughter buys into this hook line and sinker. Great right? Well, she went to school this time (1st grade) and told her friends that the TF gave her $2 instead of $1 because she had to get the tooth pulled. A couple of the girls tried to convince Eli that the TF was either her mom of dad, but my daughter stood up for the TF and didn’t want any parts of what they had to say.

When do you let your child in on the little secret so that she doesn’t look like a complete goofball?

Tick Tock - Where Does the Time Go

2007-05-01T07:05:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I really need to stop taking these long breaks between posts. I have no excuses and take full responsibility for keeping you all in the dark; I realize my life is “that interesting”.

Quickly bring you up to date since my last post:

Elizabeth my oldest turned 7.
Amanda turned 3 (no more at home therapy services).
Me, I turned 36.
James feels left out and wants his b-day in April.
Alistair is 4 months and can only fit into 12 month clothing. He weighed in at 20 plus pounds. He can wear the same size diapers as Amanda now. BUY IN BULK$$$
Robin is done with her prerequisites and will be starting her PA (Physician Assistant) program in August.

Ladies and Gents and everyone in between, yesterday was a monumental day for us. Amanda attended her first day of school. I have pictures and video to prove it although I’m not sure when they’ll be posted. My wife Robin and I brought her because we had to meet with all her new therapists and teachers who were attempting to know everything about Amanda in one day that took us three years. To my surprise they did a great job. My wife and I weren’t quite sure who this day would be more difficult on, us or Amanda. It was clear the minute we stepped foot into the classroom; my wife and I were in for a tough day, our little girl was growing up. Amanda didn’t even turn back to look at us, you could tell that she was ready to learn and play. It was all smiles and giggles for Amanda. Her room is huge and is equipped with every toy and learning tool imaginable, but most importantly, the room is filled with love (ok, that’s a little corny, but true). There are seven kids in the classroom and 3-4 therapist/teachers/aids. Every kid gets the attention they need. Amanda wasn’t use to so much space to roam around in and took advantage of what was before her. She played, walked and climbed from 9am – 2:15pm all while having a huge smile that never left her face.

That’s all I have time for. I hope to be back soon.

I have been reading all the comments that have been left for me even though I haven't posted. I'm sorry.

Mission Impossible

2007-03-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

My son James and his friend from school are conspiring to leave their homes in the middle of the night to go to the candy store to buy “LOTS” of candy. The plan is to wait until my wife and I are sleeping; James will then sneak downstairs and grab the keys to the car and leave undetected. James will proceed to drive the car 8 blocks to his friends house where his partner in crime will be waiting outside for my son’s arrival. Together they will go on a covert candy shopping spree and return home as if nothing had happened that night. I mentioned that he didn't have any money to buy candy, but before I could finish my sentance he was pointing to his piggy bank.

James told me of their plan last night before bed. I don’t know about you, but I found some holes in their arrangement starting with the fact that he’s 4.

First Steps

2007-03-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

By the way, in the video you hear my wife and therapist call Amanda by a different name. Ahuva is her Hebrew name.

At A Loss For Words

2007-03-08T08:02:00.000-05:00

I’ve got nothing, really. Being absent from my blog for a few weeks, one would think that they would have something to blog about. In most cases that would be the case, but with me, nothing.

Instead of boring you with long drawn out paragraphs filled with words that aren’t really coming to me anyway, I’ll just give you a brief, one sentence update on the past few weeks.

Work:
It’s been thankfully busy and have a meeting coming up that could be of tremendous benefit to the company.

Family:
Overall family life is good, but a bit crazy. I suppose that’s what keeps me on my toes.

Faith: Still got it.

Robin: Finishing up the last of her prerequisites before PA School. She’s getting pretty excited and I’m getting nervous.

Eli: She’s doing well in school, which can only mean that she takes after her mother.

James: He has really grown up over the past few months. I need to give him a bit more attention. Being the second oldest, it seems that he gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. We snuggled on the sofa last night before bed to watch an episode of “Danny Phantom”

Amanda: She’s really starting to walk (15-20 steps at a time without holding on to anything) She still likes to but scoot though. This truly is big news, I was actually weepy eyed when I witnessed this accomplishment for the first time.

Alistair: 2 months / 3 weeks and he’s as big as a ninth month old. He’s wonderful. The cheeks on this kid are so pinchable that we need to keep our guard up when ever we go out.

Later……………

Snow Day #2

2007-02-14T16:33:00.000-05:00

If you don't see a video Google may still be processing it, or they may have screwed up AGAIN! Please don't tell me about user error and garbage in, garbage out. It does not apply here.

Fun in the Florida Sun Baby..................NOT!

2007-02-14T08:39:00.000-05:00

Amanda attempted the snow, but it appears that she's going to be our beach baby. We'll try again tomorrow.

Sorry for the lousy video. Now you know why I need to find a decent camcorder; the video option on my camera just doesn't cut it anymore.

enjoy.

PS. They have off AGAIN!

Pressure

2007-02-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

I was directly reminded of the age old question that has not been properly answered since the beginning of time. The planet that I have been living on for the past 35 years felt as if it had stopped spinning and that someone had placed a “you are here” sticker marking the latitude and longitude over my current position. Although I was within the confines of my comfortable warm home, I could feel the pressures of world weighing down on me and the souls of past waiting to see how I would respond to the uncomfortable situation that I had not welcomed. My heart started to beat noticeably faster, I started to sweat. I contemplated an exit strategy that would not, could not be executed. I made a quick assessment of the situation and answered with tremendous precision that would allow me to continue my evening peacefully.

What is a father to do when changing his newborn sons diaper and the little bugger decides to puke and finish pooping at the same time while the diaper is off, having the fear that at any moment he could pee on me and everything else within a 4.5 ft. radius?

Have a nice weekend.

Dear Google

2007-01-29T08:32:00.000-05:00

Dear Google,

Thank you for making my life miserable and indecisive. I am in the market for a new camcorder and because of the vast wisdom, knowledge and information that you allow me to obtain through your search engine, I can’t make up my frickn’ mind as to which one to buy. I sit here reading up on all the different formats of camcorders that magically appear before me with just a couple of clicks on my keyboard and I have made one decision, I hate you. You think you have everyone fooled with your colorful and sometimes whimsical logo, depending what holiday it is or if it’s the first day of one of the four seasons, but you don’t. I can very easily use yahoo and get screwed by them if I wanted too.

Should I buy the Mini-DV, DVD, HDD, HDV & Pro HD, or should I buy the DVCAM format, I hate you. Once I decide on which format to use, knowing that it will be obsolete “yesterday” I will then have to decide on the brand, I hate you. What are expert reviews anyway? I look at one expert and he is telling me that this camcorder is the best on the market, and then I look at another expert review and their telling me about a different one, I hate you. Why the hell should I even read a user review? All a user review tells me is that some dumb shmuck that read an expert review got suckered into buying a product that he/she too knows nothing about, then after two days or five minutes of trying their new product decides that they know enough to write a review “I just received my DVD player, I’m happy with it but the remote control doesn’t have an eject button so I have to go to the player to eject the disc. I’m giving this product 3 out of 5 stars”. YOU’RE A FLIPPING IDIOT!!! All my remotes have an eject button and I think it’s probably the dumbest thing on the planet. The last time I checked you really do have to go over to the player to change the disk, right?

Once the brand and format is decided upon I will have to figure on which store to purchase it at, I hate you. Let’s just say I were to buy the Panasonic PV-GS400 which is last years model, but is in my opinion (I mean the expert reviewers opinion that made me think that I have an opinion on this item) better than the newer PV-GS500, I can shop on line for this camcorder and see a price ranging from $800 to $1,400. What the hell is that all about? If I buy the camcorder for $1,400 I will be getting screwed every which way, but if I buy it for $800 I’m still getting screwed, but it leaves me wondering how screwed. Buying the camcorder at $800 seems to be a great “deal” but being an avid consumer I know that the only way to truly obtain a great deal is by stealing the damn thing, something I would never do but I’m sure if I Google “how to shoplift” you would tell me, you thief.

Mr. Google, because of you, by the time I make the purchase of my new shiny camcorder I will only be able to use it to record my grandchildren.

Thanks Asshole.

PS. Since Google owns Blogger, the Google police might come after me. This could be my last post.

Down Syndrome FYI

2007-01-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hey folks, I received this email this morning from the National Down Syndrome Congress and thought that it would be appropriate to share with all of you.

Please read the following:

After careful review of ACOG Practice Bulletin 77, the NDSC has issued the following statement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Tolleson
770/604-9500 January 23, 2007

ATLANTA – The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) condemns recent recommendations by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) that convey tacit approval for terminating pregnancies where the fetus has Down syndrome.

The recommendation for first trimester screening of all pregnant women is a change from the current practice of primarily screening women over age 35 who have a higher probability of having a baby with Down syndrome. Women under age 35 are also being screened, often without their full knowledge or consent.

Among the concerns cited by the medical doctors comprising NDSC’s Professional Advisory Committee:

The primary medical reason for first trimester screening is to encourage earlier diagnostic testing in “at risk” pregnancies, in order to facilitate early terminations. Other reasons for prenatal diagnosis, such as hospital selection and delivery management, do not require first trimester testing.

Based on ACOG’s figures, the recommended screenings will produce numerous false positives, potentially leading to unnecessary patient distress and possible termination of pregnancies where medical concerns do not exist.

All screening or diagnostic tests need to be fully explained to patients, who should be provided the opportunity to decline or give their informed consent for testing. If patients decline certain tests, physicians and other medical personnel should respect the individual’s wishes and not overtly or covertly pressure patients to undergo undesired screenings.

Recent studies by Dr. Brian Skotko, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2005) and Pediatrics (2005) note that many doctors are inadequately prepared to deliver a diagnosis of Down syndrome, and often use negative language or out-of-date information. ACOG’s recommendations do not address this situation, nor how it will be corrected.

Studies have shown that parents and siblings of children with Down syndrome overwhelmingly report that having a family member with that diagnosis has been a good situation. Early intervention and inclusive education have led to largely positive outcomes for children with Down syndrome. It is unacceptable that many obstetricians present negatives -- and seem to emphasize pregnancy termination -- rather than reporting the facts, which paint a much more positive picture.

Parents who receive a diagnosis that their fetus has Down syndrome should have the opportunity to meet a family that includes a person with the syndrome, a move in keeping with the spirit of the Kennedy-Brownback bill.

NDSC Executive Director David Tolleson notes that “Down syndrome is a serious diagnosis; however we have seen families thrive.” “We empathize with obstetricians who fear ‘wrongful life’ lawsuits,” Tolleson adds, “but the cure for that problem is tort reform, not preventing the births of a whole class of people.”

Jeff Mattson, a man with Down syndrome, agrees: “People with Down syndrome want to live life to the fullest.”

According to Tolleson, “the NDSC is here to support doctors in delivering a diagnosis and parents through the pregnancy, birth and life of their child.”

Yup, That's About Right

2007-01-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

This song/video came up in the comment section of my last post "Brain Dead" via Sara and Jessica. I found it appropriate. Thankfully, I still have a job.

I don’t think I could do this 5 days a week/full time.

Enjoy

Brain Dead

2007-01-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

Robin is back in class finishing up her prerequisites so that she can start on her PA Masters this Fall…….Wait a minute, let me rephrase that; Robin is back in class which means that when I get home she leaves me “Mr. Responsibility” with four kids, one obviously being a new born.

It was difficult, but I’m sure it will get better. To sum up the evening for you, this is all you need to know.

Amanda had a wet diaper so I changed Alistair twice.

The above statement is not a riddle.

Bartender, Jack Daniels on the rocks please………………….sir, may I have another.

Revision:

After reading a comment I realized that I made a mistake: Alistair had a wet diaper so I changed Amanda twice. Yes, I realized my error last night and did change Alistair

The Slow Change

2007-01-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

With the addition of our son Alistair and the sum of our children currently holding steady at four, I am starting to notice the comfortable routines of our past are no longer applicable to our family today. The few quiet times that were once attainable with three children are now replaced with “ Daddy, I want to hold him, no I do; but daddy James got to hold him longer, Daddy, Elizabeth got to hold him longer…………..” For those of you who can remember, these are “Calgon, take me away” moments. My wife and I will soon have no choice but to pull a Forest Gump and RUN!
I suppose that really won’t happen so we’ll just have to find a new routine that works for us.

The call for change is upon my family. I noticed this not only when my bank statement came earlier this month, but also when I opened the medicine cabinet in the bathroom this morning. Although Alistair doesn’t brush his teeth just yet, it seems that we outgrew our toothbrush holder; now we have two of them. “Daddy, I want my toothbrush in the new one……AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaargh!

Quick Question: Am I the only one that gets frustrated when the kids’ toothbrushes don’t fit into the standard tooth brush holders. Damn you Hello Kitty, Damn you Lightning McQueen, Damn you Disney Princess, Damn you all to hell!

Ah, much better.

Since Amanda isn’t walking just yet (She’s coming along nicely and should reach that milestone shortly) I have found myself holding both her and Alistair at the same time which isn’t so bad unless they’re both crying; stereo sound, which in this particular situation is better than THX Surround sound 5.1 and/or 7.1. Robin has also figured out that grocery shopping now is best done in the evening when the kids are sleeping or I’m home than in the morning or afternoon when she has Alistair and Amanda.

Question #2: Do you think that if I invented a box that was colorful with cool designs and shapes and called it a “Kiddy Closet”, it would be socially acceptable to lock the kids in it for a couple of hours a day?

Moving right along…Oh wait, one more question:

Is it common for parents to consider alcoholism so that they can vacation at the Betty Ford Clinic? Just asking. My apologies to any recovering alcoholics out there who I just offended. You have to accept my apology, isn’t it one of the steps?

On a more serious note, things are bit hectic, but not out of control. My wife and I are searching for our new routines which are slowly being found. Kids in general are a lot of work whether you have 1 or 12. When people ask me how things are going now that I have 4, I’m just honest with them. I let them know how crazy things are and tell them some silly story about the day and then shrug it all off and say “Par for the course”.

20/20 Baby!

2007-01-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

I went to the eye doctor this morning and left with some good news (it’s about time). Doc told me that my eye sight was actually improving. Something about people who are near sighted improve as they get older. Yup, that’s probably one of the few things that improve with age judging from all those commercials that are on for guys that have “MAN” issues, and no it’s not the prostate problem. So I walked out of the office with my head held high grinning from ear to ear, just like “smiling Bob”, the Enzyte guy.

I had to purchase new contact lenses and was told that I should replace my eye glasses as well. I use contacts as my primary aid for sight and only use glasses between the hours of 8pm until I go to sleep. However, I was told that I should give my eyes a rest by wearing glasses more often. Looking at glasses I discovered the reason why I haven’t purchased a pair in the last twelve years (yes the glasses that I have been wearing in the evenings are twelve years old and have a twelve year old script in them), it's because there are to many styles to choose from and I can’t make up my damn mind. After trying on about 22 pairs, I settled on this nice little number from Marchon. A very nice simple rimless titanium frame that will blend in nicely. People won’t see the glasses coming, only me.

$350, what the hell. I said to the guy “Jeff, these frames DON’T Even have a frame, they have a freaken lens with a couple of things attached to it so they stays on my face.” After he stopped laughing at me he told me that I could choose from this area over “there” were the frames are about $149. I looked briefly and concluded that the $149 Elton John look was not for me. I ordered my contacts and told Jeff that when I come back to pick them up I will probably take the Marchon’s, but only after shopping on ebay and at other online retailers for a better price.

Jeff happens to be a good guy and we have done business together for many years so he is not easily offended when I go all ape shit on him. The fact of the matter is I found them on ebay and at this online retailer for half the cost, but I have no idea what size frame and adjustments I’m going to need. Jeff knows that I’m going to come back and give him the business. He also knows that I’m going to try and beat him down on the price until I’m either blue in the face or in handcuffs.

Warning! Not For The Faint At Heart

2006-12-31T11:55:00.001-05:00


Just Having A Little Fun.

The Name

2006-12-26T08:35:00.000-05:00

We named my new born son this past Saturday in Synagogue who was better known as “Buster” before we officially named him. His English name is Alistair Park. We liked the name Alistair which my friend Kim told me is more popular in Scotland than England, we thought the reverse. Park was my mother-in-law’s fathers name, she was very pleased. We also gave him his Hebrew name which is the name that we use daily; Avidan Ephraim (A-vee-dun / Ef-rie-em). Being a guy, I’m not real sure of either of the spellings because there are a couple of different ways to spell his name both in English and Hebrew.

This is just another short post to keep all of you updated. I’m still pulling double duty, but Robin is starting to feel a bit better.

Talk to y’all soon.

Just a Few More

2006-12-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

Baby Pics!!!!

2006-12-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-12-16T20:44:00.001-05:00

At 11 am Saturday December 16th my wife and I, mostly my wife, gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Robin was in labor for approx. 11 hours but did a fine job. Our new son will be named 8 days from now in our synagogue when he is circumcised. Baby Bstrong is a real bruiser weighing in at 9lb 12oz and 22” long, that’s one big kid.

I’m going to keep this post short just because I’ve been up since 3:30am Friday, but that’s a story for another day.

Oh, yes ladies the baby was delivered vaginally and Robin is looking great. Funny thing is, I didn’t feel a thing.

Cheers

Gearing Up

2006-12-05T07:27:00.000-05:00

No kid just yet. Everyone is on high alert though. My mother-in-law is the babysitter for when we go into the hospital so she is staying close to home and carrying a cell phone everywhere she goes. We’re pretty excited, however it appears that my mother-in-law takes the cake, she wants us to have twins. If it happens it happens, but I already told her that she’s taking one.

Robin is feeling big, she can’t get comfortable, she’s wobbling instead of walking and it’s hard for her to get up from any position. All that and she’s still beautiful. My posts may become less frequent until the baby arrives so I apologize in advance for not visiting your blogs and commenting.

I will let you all know when he/she arrives.

Cheers to all

Death of a Holiday

2006-11-27T07:23:00.000-05:00

The term Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year (in the U.S.) was given its name by retailers because the day after Thanksgiving is the day that their profits take them out of the red and into the coveted black. That being said, it appears that Thanksgiving is no longer a day to give thanks for the things that we have or a day to spend time with family, it’s a reminder to people (in the United States and Canada) that Black Friday is approaching and it’s time to make out our shopping list coordinating it with the sales in the newspaper circulars and online websites such as GottaDeal. Hundreds of buses holding thousands of Canadians cross our borders to take advantage of the sales. There was a traffic jam to one of our outlet malls that exceeded 10 miles. There were riots and people getting shot over these sales. What’s happening to our culture? Retailers are no longer opening their doors at 6am or 7am on Friday morning, but at 5am. Some retailers such as CompUSA opened at 9pm Thanksgiving to give us cattle a head start to part with our hard earned money and take advantage of the sales.

I was driving home from the Thanksgiving dinner we had at my sisters house around 7:30pm this past Thursday. We happened to have passed a Best Buy store that already had people lining up for the early bird specials. Now I know that some people have their dinners early on Thanksgiving and some people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but still standing in the cold for 10 and 11 hours to get a hold of a laptop for $300, nuts. I really shouldn’t blame these consumers because they may not be able to afford it any other time, I should blame the retailers. It just seems that there is only one day out of the 365 that retailers aren’t bending us over as hard and giving it to us.

Now there's a new tern called Cyber Monday. This is the day that people return back to work from Thanksgiving and shop on-line at the office instead of actually working. Yep, it keeps on getting better. I wonder how much money these companies are losing because of the lack of productivity.

I’m not innocent. I knew of someone who was going to stand out in line so I gave them my order.

Oh Sh*t

2006-11-22T08:42:00.000-05:00

Did you ever have one of those days where you just knew that staying in bed was the better choice?

Sometimes you just feel like giving the one finger salute to the world because it feels like everyone in it has just one objective (refer to picture).

But

I will have my revenge, oh yes my actions will be swift and discreet.

Chop Chop

2006-11-20T07:05:00.000-05:00

So I finally had the surgery to remove the Basil Cell Skin Cancer from my ear this past Friday. I mentioned in an earlier post that the procedure the doctor was going to use to remove the cancer was called Mohs. They essentially slice the infected area then freeze the removed piece and slice it into very thin layers to analyze the tissue. If they find that no cancer exists in the bottom layer than you’re done, but if they find that the cancer still exists they will cut deeper. The time between cuts takes approximately 1 ½ hours; I had to be cut twice, so that meant that I was there for a little over 3 hours.

The whole experience was quite comical. My mother went with me because the doc said that I shouldn’t drive after the procedure. I'm not sure which was more dangerous, my mothers driving or the surgery. My wife stayed home to be with Amanda and to relax in her ninth month of pregnancy. I wish I had brought my video camera because the experience was laugh out loud hilarious, even though I didn’t make a peep in fear that I met get thrown out. You basically go to the doctors office where everyone in the waiting room is there for the same surgery, on different parts of their body of course. So it was 7am and people start to trickle into the waiting room. I would have to say that there were about 18 patients there when all was said and done. They all looked healthy and fine, a bit older. I must have been the youngest by at least 35 years. Again, everyone looked fine. All of a sudden the nurse starts to call us back one-by-one (I was the second called). You go back to where they perform the surgery, they take a picture of your ear, audio document it, analyze it, numb it, cut it, cauterize it, bandage it, then send you back into the waiting room for about an 1 ½ hours so that they can check the tissue. So again, I was the second one called back which meant that I was the second to return to the waiting room. The funny part was, me included in this, everyone that appeared healthy just 20 minutes ago started to return with bandages all over their faces obviously without various parts of their body. It was absolutely hilarious, you walk through this door looking spiffy and you come out looking like Frankenstein. People had multiple bandages on their face, some on their head, nose, ear (me), neck, cheek and brow. There were wives looking at their husbands and husbands looking at their wives thinking “Wow, your hideous, you’re not riding home in the same car as me”, they each grinned at each other and waited to see if they would be called back for a second round of slicing and dicing. Again, husbands praying for their wives and wives praying for their husbands not to have to go back to get butchered.

The Mohs surgery is probably the best procedure for skin cancer because there is very little scaring if done correctly, and this doctor did know what he was doing; he had the 3,576 diplomas, certificates and citations hanging on the wall to prove it. I asked him which frame smith he was keeping in business. I also asked him to stop cutting if he saw daylight on the other side of the wound.

They didn’t prescribe me any pain medication, damn, so I just took 800mg of Motrin to take the edge off. It’s Monday and I’m feeling great.

The Blame Game

2006-11-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

Isn’t it interesting that when a child misbehaves on a continual basis people are always quick to blame it on bad parenting? Something that was reported in the media this week got me thinking about how difficult it is to discipline children today.

There was a non-issue in the media this week where Bob Knight, a college basketball coach popped a player in the chin when he was yelling at him because the player’s eyes fell. He popped his chin to bring the players eyes back up. Now Bob Knight certainly is no saint. Coach Knight has a history of questionable physical behavior when it comes to his coaching style. Needless to say, Bob Knight is a very intense, passionate, hard nose coach who steps over the line at times, so when ever something like this happens, the media is all over it like flies on sh*t. At the end of the day even the parents of the player said that they didn’t have a problem with Knights’ behavior towards their son. This incident will go away fast just like most “issues” the media covers.

I was listening to ESPN Radio this morning where Mike & Mike where talking about this non issue. They were interviewing another basketball coach who felt that Knight did nothing wrong. He also said that incidents like this would be a non issue if the media wouldn't be so aggressive in their pursuit for a story. The problem was that it is becoming increasingly difficult to coach and discipline players when cameramen and reporters are at every turn looking for their Pulitzer. Now, I’m not condoning punching, hitting or throwing a kid a across the court to get your point across, all I’m saying is actions such as the above incident should not be a story.

What’s my point? Getting back to my first sentence “Isn’t it interesting that when a child misbehaves on a continual basis people are always quick to blame it on bad parenting?”. It seems that technology today allows for information to circle the globe in the matter of seconds where years ago it would take hours and/or days, and that’s only if the information was worthy of being shared. All you need to do now is click send. If you want to play it safe and hold on to your children, practice no contact parenting because if you don’t the consequences are a bitch.

Parents today are hesitant to discipline (put the kid over their knee) their children for the fear that someone including their kids will report them to CYS (Child Youth Services) or some other organization that is charged with keeping a watchful eye on our children. If your child is at the make-up counter in your local department store taking a tube of lipstick and applying it to a $2,500 Armani coat, make sure not to discipline the child with a tap on the bottom because you might find yourself being interrogated. Remember, there are cameras everywhere, especially at the mall. Society has put the fear of god into parents. They are constantly reminded through public service ads, literature, the news, their superintendent and their physician that they stand the chance of being reported if they discipline their kid. If your kid has a couple of bruises on his leg, I can assure you that you will be getting a phone call from his school or questioned by the physician if noticed. No parent wants this or needs the headache so they just decide to abandon discipline and hope that putting little Tommy in “time out” will do the job. Oh by the way, little Tommy is all grown up now and lives in a BIG HOUSE where he eats 3 square meals a day, gets free cable TV, enjoys pumping iron 4 hours a day and gets to wear these very fashionable orange jumpsuits.

Beating a kid is wrong and should not go unnoticed, but giving your child a smack on the bottom should be perfectly acceptable as long as it doesn’t happen daily. Bill Cosby used to say that his father used to come home and announce “Let the Beatings Begin”. That’s probably a bad thing.
Technology advances (Video, Internet, the speed of how fast information travels) along with these much needed organizations (we truly do need them) who have inadvertently tied the parent’s hands behind their back (no pun intended) are also to blame for the unfortunate disregard that today’s youth has for society.

A little Lawyer Humor

2006-11-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
___________________________________

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? _____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years. _____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan. ______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty year old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty
________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when you're picture was taken?
WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?______________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh....
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?______________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? ______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh?
____________________________________________

And saving the best for last...

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

10,000

2006-11-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

Well it’s been quite a ride so far as my blog nears 10,000 visitors. I’m still amazed that there are people out there that find my blog the least bit interesting. Many of you are probably mental health professionals who use my blog as an example to scare your patients or students straight. “Jim, if you want to continue your journey down that dreary road that you have become so familiar with, and give up on your dream of becoming a respected and productive member of society continue reading and commenting on Down Sydrome Life. “

My blog has gone through many changes, from posting only about DS issues to posting about life in general, to not posting anything at all for a time. I’m still not certain as to what “Downsyndromelife” is supposed to be or what it’s supposed to accomplish. Maybe it’s just an outlet that allows me to cope with all the insanity in my life. One thing that I can truly state is that my blog has proven to be medicinal for me.

To all those who have decided to make my blog a small part of your daily activity, thank you.

Now,

I suppose that I should stay the course like other bloggers who have written profound posts as they get closer to the “magical” 10,000 mark. So here it goes.

There are many things that one learns while going through their early years of life.

1. Listen to your mom and dad because if you don’t your bum will start to sting.
2. Don’t listen to your friends when they tell you to lick the end of a 9 volt battery because it tastes like chocolate.
3. Fire extinguishers are not to be used to make fog FX in a class room.
4. Do not perform the Heimlich Maneuver on someone if you DON'T KNOW HOW TO PREFORM THE HEIMLICH MENUEVER ON SOMEONE.
5. Don’t ever snort Sweet & Low up your nose.
6. Don’t climb an apple tree that fell over from a deep freeze until all the frost is gone.
7. Be nice to that kid that sat in the corner in your 3rd grade class eating and playing with his boogers. He might be worth millions one day.
8. When playing baseball, don’t use your face to stop a line drive.
9. Be wary of African American singers who have high pitched voices, dance with zombies, and grab their crotch a lot.
10. If you grow up with sisters, hiding and scaring them at every possible moment can be hazardous to your health.
11. It’s ok to sneak a peak at your sisters’ girlfriends while they are changing into their night attire during a sleepover. Just don’t get caught. Disclaimer: This only applies if your 7-13 years old. If you’re peeping when you’re an adult you better find yourself a good attorney.
12. You’re not as sexy as you think.
13. If you lie, you will get caught.
14. If you get caught, don’t lie.
15. Smoking cigarettes are really bad for you. Eating a cigarette on a dare is worse.
16. Stay away from tainted meat. Getting multiple enemas daily is uncomfortable.
17. Playing with matches is bad, especially if you throw a lit one into the kitchen garbage.
18. When your dad gets pulled over by the police, and you’re in the back seat, don’t tell the officer to “stick a can of beer in his ear” or mouth off by saying “Up your nose with a rubber hose”. Dad may be a little upset. (Ah yes, the “Welcome back Carter” days)
19. Remember: “liquor before beer, in the clear; Beer before liquor, more the sicker”
20. If you have a dog and keep it in your back yard, don’t play tag with your friends until you clean up the poop. You might slip and get a face full of it.

This is not a complete list, but probably a good start. I will keep you all posted on life’s lessons as I learn them.

Cheers to all

Update:

My good blogging buddy Kim just made me aware of another life lesson. Go check out the post "Remember Remember the 5th of November".

Calm

2006-11-03T07:35:00.000-05:00

I was sitting on my back porch last night while the children were asleep, taking a break from the craziness of life. I settled into my patio chair which was a bit chilly, it sent a sudden shiver up my spine, but quickly disappeared. The November air was cool and smelled of burning hickory. I listened while the winds sent the leaves on their journey to another yard. The sky was extraordinarily dark which made the evening stars appear a bit more spectacular than normal. I took a deep breath filling my lungs with the icy air, it made me feel good, alive; it was almost comforting, I exhaled. So here I am I thought, 35 years of age living the life that I hadn’t planned on living.

Hmmm, it’s a better one.

How You Know The Holidays Are Coming

2006-11-02T06:58:00.000-05:00

That’s right folks, you too can own this beautiful 103” Plasma Screen Flat Panel Television. What would you pay for such an amazing television? $100,000, noooo; ok, $80,000, nooooo; $70,000, noooo; how about $69,999.95, plus if you buy now Panasonic will throw in an unprecedented 3 year in house limited warranty. Who the hell is lining up to buy this?

You can’t live in it.
You can’t drive it.
You can’t invest in its education so that one day it will become a productive member of society.

You sit there and look at it.

That said, I can understand buying a 37”, 42”, even a 50” Plasma screen TV. It’s not really the price even though I can’t afford to drop $69,999.95, it’s just a monstrosity. My brother-in-law just bought a 42” Plasma and he has it in a decent sized room in the house, but it’s so flipping huge that it’s almost uncomfortable to watch.

This TV will actually be available in the United States this Christmas so get in line.

It's Intimidation

2006-10-31T07:33:00.000-05:00

Since this is the last day of “Down Syndrome Awareness Month”, even though awareness should be a priority throughout the year, I have decided to write one last post on the subject. This past Sunday we were invited to a Sunday brunch to celebrate the birth of a baby girl that our friends had last week. It was a very nice catered event. There were approximately 100 people there including the kids which made for an interesting time because most of these kids were young and running around which meant that the parents were running around looking for their kids. Many of the guests were familiar to us, but then there were a few that weren’t. It was apparent to me that a few eyes were on Amanda because she’s so damn cute of course. I suppose I noticed this more this time because I spent a good bit of the morning holding her since Robin is expecting shortly and Amanda’s no baby any more and getting heavy. The looks that we received really didn’t bother me because it wasn’t Amanda or me that were tongue-tied; it was the on-lookers. Some of the people there appeared to be intimidated by us which is a bit awkward don’t you think? I know I have this Rambo thing going on where I strap grenades and rocket launchers (oh shit, my insertion of this sentence probably has Homeland Security sneaking my blog now) on to myself, chew C4 as bubblegum and feel the need to fit in and who ever gets in my way gets a side kick to the throat. But really, the only thing that I had attached to my hip was a 2 ½ year old girl with Trisomy 21 (Extraordinary Design). I can see that being intimidating.

So once again we are right back at ignorance right. If the populace really knew what DS was, what people with DS are like and what they can accomplish than there probably wouldn’t be an intimidation factor; or maybe there would be. People would see that individuals who have DS are good hearted honest people who let you know where you stand with them on a personal level at all times. Those are qualities that are hard to come by in typical people.

I'm done rambling .

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Hello

2006-10-27T06:24:00.000-05:00

Since it’s still “Down Syndrome Awareness Month” and I recently blogged about DS, I owe you a picture of my inspiration. This is Amanda, our 2 ½ year old daughter who plays little sister to James and Elizabeth.

Name Change?

2006-10-25T05:42:00.000-05:00

How did Down syndrome get its name?

Down syndrome gets its name from the British doctor, John Langdon Down, who first clinically identified the condition in 1866. The actual chromosomal nature of Down syndrome did not become documented until 1959 by Dr. Lejeune. However, Down's name remains associated with condition.

Now

Sometimes egos should be shot down. Do doctors and/or scientists need to name their discoveries after themselves?

Just for fun; I think there should be a movement to change the name of Down Syndrome to something a bit more Uplifting. First thing we need to do is drop the word Syndrome and replace it with something else.

I propose that we change DS to: Extraordinary Design.

Any opinions or suggestions?

This is probably not going to be a very popular post. Just a vibe I'm getting.

I'm Skipping October 2007

2006-10-23T06:04:00.000-05:00

The first picture is of the three stiches that were needed after I cut myself with a child proof letter opener, genius.

The second picture is of a little skin cancer that my daughter Eli made me aware of a couple of weeks ago and was just diagnosed on yep, Friday the 13th. The picture makes it look worse than it really is. I was told that if I was going to get cancer, this was a good one to get. Ok, I guess I'm relieved. I suppose that there are many types of cancer that makes a statement like that appropriate. They are scheduling me for Mohs surgery which is basically slicing of the cancer layer by layer and analyzing the tissue until no more cancer is present.

My wife would like me to jump into a bubble and stay there. Can you blame her?

Open Letter

2006-10-19T13:50:00.000-05:00

There are many ways that this letter could have been written. I could have pointed fingers throughout, I could have used anger as my motivation and have it reflected in the words you are now reading, or I could have calmly and peacefully written about my disappointment in the community without pointing any fingers. I chose the latter, but you should all know that I strongly considered using anger. I think disappointment is a better reflection of my feelings.

I am disguising the name of the town being discussed so that opinions are not swayed either way for the community I love. The community as a whole is wonderful as are the people in it. There were just enough encounters that made me feel that this letter was warranted.

To the people of Riverbank, it has been personally difficult for me over the last 2 years to keep my opinions of our community to myself. What made me decide to acknowledge my feelings now? Honestly there is not one event that swayed me but a combination of idiotic, ignorant and outright mean behavior that prompted me today to write to you about it. I am not going to derive any pleasure from this letter, only grief because of my true love for the community and the people in it.

Over the past couple of years my wife and I have given the community the benefit of the doubt when it came to my daughter Amanda, who in our eyes just happens to have Down Syndrome, but in your eyes has a terrible disease that justifies you to speak with each other and express pity and concern for us. In two little one syllable words STOP IT. I ask you to do this not to scold you but to educate you. From the start we did not keep Amanda’s DS a secret; we didn’t keep her locked up in our home out of shame, she was strolling around with us from day one. After Amanda was born we did what we had done previously with our other two children, we called you up to let you know that we have a new beautiful addition to our family, but yes with Amanda we told you immediately that she was born with down syndrome.

Honestly, the first day or two was difficult for my wife and I because Down Syndrome was foreign to us just like going to a new country (read Welcome to Holland), but having a new baby wasn’t and that soon overshadowed her Downs. The few who came to the hospital were given a true look into my feeling for our new arrival. I think it’s appropriate for the rest of the community to hear it. The following were my purest of feelings put to paper within the first week of our daughter's arrival.

“When ever I saw a child with a disability I always thanked God for blessing my family with healthy typical children. When Amanda was born and we found out that she had down syndrome I went through the classic emotions; anger, denial, and guilt. I went to sleep that night afraid of what tomorrow would bring.

I woke up early the next morning and found that I had a dilemma on my hands, so I thought. If I always thanked God for giving us healthy typical children, what should I do now? God has given us a child who has something called down syndrome, something I knew nothing about. I thought about it for a moment, then stood up in bed, looked towards the heavens and said... thank you.

See, although it has only been five days since Amanda was born, I can already feel the joy that she has brought to our lives. Yes, we have ups and downs, but over all we look forward to our lives with Amanda. I can already feel the strength she has given us. Because of her, I will be a better husband, father, son, brother and friend. I know that I am the one that is supposed to teach her how to live, but she has taught me so much already. My only regret that I have is how I initially felt when she was born. I hope she forgives me.”

The first few days of our lives with Amanda were quite devastating, but not in a way you might think. It wasn’t the down syndrome that had us scratching our heads; it was the overall response from the community. When we were in the hospital, unlike with the birth of our other two, we didn’t receive balloons, stuffed animals, cards and flowers. We received an occasional phone call which usually ended up sounding like a sympathy and condolence call. My daughter was just born and we receive condolence calls? Note to the community; I mentioned that my wife and I had given many of you the benefit of the doubt, not knowing how to react, this was completely understandable however, this wasn’t the first time a child with special needs was born in our community. Let me give you a quick word on how to react if someone in our community should give birth or adopt a child with special needs. Ready for this…….CONGRATULATIONS!.......It’s that easy. Trust me that’s all the parents want to hear.

Let me not forget to mention that a few of our friends did come and visit us at the hospital and did call us and wish us a congrats. You know who you are and just know that I love you and thank you. Your families will always be held close to our hearts.

Also, since Amanda was born we have made new friends and have become closer to others. I find it interesting that our newer friends have accepted Amanda more openly and willingly than some of the friends who we have had longer relationships with which hints to me that maybe my family has changed since Amanda’s arrival. I can truly say that our outlook of life and the things that we used to consider important has certainly been altered. Things that we used to take for granted and some of life's simplicities are more important than some of its complexities, if that makes any sense.

Typically, after a birth in our community, friends get together to provide meals for a week or two to help the family so that mom can rest. We were amazed that the community provided over a months worth of meals which at first on the surface was quite nice, but soon gave us insight into what was approaching. The gesture was nice and we certainly appreciated everyone for pitching in, we never had so many bags of salad in our fridge, but let me ask you, where were you after you dropped off the meal? A day, a week, a month later, we never heard from you again. Your kindness was overwhelming but lost its genuine feel when all became silent. The silence was soon replaced with gossip. I can’t tell you how much hearsay was floating around about us. I’m sure there was more but I could only vouch for what I heard and let me tell you, it was painful.

What hurts even more is my wife and I are expecting again and people for the most part can only role their eyes wondering what the hell we were thinking. People automatically assumed that my wife and I were done having children because of the arrival of Amanda. Why? Just the opposite. The beautiful sole of our daughter had us wanting more kids. Are we a bit concerned of the possibility of our next child being born with Down Syndrome, yes, a little, maybe, but isn’t that natural? The odds are in our favor that we’ll have a typical child, but it really isn’t as significant as it once was. My wife and I have even considered adopting another child with special needs.

For the women out there who say things like “I don’t understand how Robin does it. I could never do what she does”. Let me share a little secret with you. Yes my wife is an incredible and special individual, but you know what, if you should ever be faced with the same circumstances, you would be able to do it too. Honestly think about it, you bend over backwards for your children now, what makes you think you couldn’t do it for your child who needs more attention? If for some reason you should need help smoothing over those little bumps (and that’s really what they are, bumps) look on the positive side, you have us. We’ve been there, done that and still doing it.

My daughter is not sick nor should she be pitied. Down Syndrome is the presence of an additional chromosome in our genetic make-up, we typical beings have twenty chromosomes, she has twenty-one. Down Syndrome is apart of Amanda the same way the color of our skin is apart of us. DS does not define who Amanda is; Amanda defines what Down Syndrome is. Amanda is my loving, beautiful, funny, inspirational daughter, who has a wonderful future ahead of her. If there was ever a button to push or a switch to flick that would make Amanda typical, I WOULDN’T TOUCH IT, EVER. AMANDA IS PERFECT JUST THE WAY SHE IS.

I love my community. Please understand that this letter is to educate and hopefully help you understand that having a child with special needs doesn’t make a family as different to yours as you may think. Please remember this letter the next time a family is blessed with a special baby.

For those of you who are new to “Down Syndrome Life” I started this blog around the time Amanda was born thinking that I would have overwhelming experiences to share with you because of her DS. As you read from my early blogs to the present, the blog becomes more about life in general because as I mentioned above, our family is really no different than yours.

Peace

PS. I encourage everyone who took the time to read through this letter to leave a comment, specially my regular readers who have children with special needs.

CORRECTION:
I have been corrected by Dani, mom to Alyse of the following error in my letter:

My daughter doesn't have 21 chromosomes, she has 47 chromosomes, and triplet copy of the 21st.

Thank you for the heads up call Dani. I guess this was a Newbie mistake:)

I Blinked

2006-09-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

What the hell happened to me? All I can remember is on the evening of April 20th I went to sleep dreading the fact that tomorrow was going to be my 35th Birthday. The morning came and nothing out of the ordinary happened. But here I am today 20 pounds heavier. Since My birthday it seems that my metabolism slowed and the crap that I normally eat hangs out with me a bit longer. People tell me that it doesn’t appear that I gained any weight, but than there are those who make the comment of how nice it is for me to be pregnant with Robin. What the hell does that mean? Anyway, my eating habits are not primo, which probably has something to do with stress and my exercise routine of lifting a cup of coffee to my lips along with curling a doughnut in the same manner. However, it was my friends’ 40th b-day last week and as a gift to him me and a few buds went on a 24 mile bike ride with him (he’s a big cyclist) which yes, I did finish. He wanted to do 40 but my friends and I agreed that it was too early for our wives to spend the life insurance money.

So what did happen? Why is it that all of a sudden I’m gaining weight when my entire life to this point I was a stick?

I feel the need to buy a new leather jacket and a very red sports car.

The Trip

2006-09-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

As far as Elizabeth my oldest daughter knew, the day was to start like any other day. Little did she know that the minivan driven by her mother that takes her to school would divert from its usual course and lead her to a place of pure terror. As they drew closer to this place my wife’s true self was becoming apparent to my daughter. Her beautiful skin was pealing off to expose the scaly green below, her eyes seemed to become reptilian and her nails grew to sharp points. The thing that sat in the drivers seat was no longer the mommy that is supposed to care, love and protect my daughter at all costs. Without warning the route the van was taking revealed itself. Yes, it was on a collision course with the dentist’s office where Elizabeth was scheduled to have two cavities filled. Oh the terror, pure terror.

Niagara Falls

2006-09-15T08:38:00.000-05:00

This past Labor Day weekend Robin and I took the kids and my mother to Niagara Falls for a couple of days. We figured that since the kids are 6, 4 and 2, they would take one look at “The Falls” and say “that’s nice, can we play now”, but to our surprise Eli, James and Amanda really enjoyed the magnificent sights and the Maid of the Mist boats. Anyway, their fascination lasted for about 45 minutes, 45 minutes longer than I thought it would. Planning ahead for their lack of interest, Robin and I booked a hotel with an indoor water park. Wow! What I time we had. At first Eli, my oldest was a bit hesitant to go on the big BIG slides but on the second day it was full throttle. James didn’t meet the height requirement for the big stuff but was happy with the wave pool and smaller slides and sprinklers. The two big slides which were completely enclosed like a pipe were tube slides, meaning that an inner tube is used. These slides started out in the building, but since they are so big they exit the building only to come back in at the end of the ride. The first time my daughter and I went on these slides we went on a double inner tube so that we could go down together. After we pushed off I was completely blown away; I thought that even though the slide is completely enclosed with fiberglass that light would still be able to penetrate the walls. PITCH BLACK ALL THE WAY DOWN. I’m not sure if I was terrified for my daughter or that I was actually terrified for me, I think it was for my daughter. I was expecting Eli to freak out but the only sound that came from her was laughter and a couple of WOOHOO’s! We must have ridden that thing 20 times. Amanda enjoyed the little slides along with James. Since Robin’s belly is home to our fourth, I was pulling double and triple duty between the small slides, big slides, sprinklers and wave pool to keep all the kids happy. Amanda loves the water. I don’t think her smile left her face the entire time we were there. My mother who still works and really doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with the kids really enjoyed however, she opted not to take advantage of the slides.

We also went to the Aviary in Niagara which to my surprise was absolutely wonderful. The kids loved it because we were able to get close to all the birds, and the set up was pretty unique. The whole Aviary spiraled down in one big observatory complete with a huge waterfall.

We did a bunch of other touristy things, but to sum it all up, the trip was good.

It Takes All Kinds

2006-09-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

I'll get back to writing about daily life soon, but until then you'll have to put up with reading stuff like this.........

Have any of your friends ever called you crazy for doing something stupid? If so, here is your rebuttal ; No, I'm not crazy, you want to know who's crazy:

Sheriff's Deputies Make Bizarre Arrest
Wednesday September 6, 2006 ]

Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies come across a bizarre encounter at La Purisima Mission in Lompoc. Around midnight they found a 69-year-old Huntington beach man...naked and covered in oats. Deputies say the man had covered himself in olive oil, rolled around in oats and allowed the horses at the mission to lick him clean. He apparently told deputies this has always been a fantasy of his and drove up from the Los Angeles area to play it out. Alfred Thomas Steven was cited and released for trespassing, animal cruelty and sexually assaulting an animal.

What's your fantasy?

Quick Question

2006-08-29T13:49:00.000-05:00

How in the hell does someone publish a Winnie the Pooh cook book and get away with calling it "Cooking with Pooh"?

Good Intensions

2006-08-24T11:13:00.000-05:00

Since Robin is in class three nights a week now and it’s my responsibility to take care of the children, I decided being cooped up in the house would probably be a bad idea. I decided to walk down to the avenue with them to pick up some Rita’s Italian Ice Water. On our way I called up my 14 year old sister-in-law to see if she wanted to go with us since her house is on the way. (I’m going to use a different name to hide the identity of my silly sister-in-law). I called and said “Hey Sarah” She asked who this was which through me for a loop, I thought I got her sister Mimi instead so I said “hi Mimi”. Sarah again said “who is this?” So I said “Sarah this is Frank the Plumber, I hear that you have a leak over there” I heard the phone hang up and wondered what the hell happened. I called back 4 times and got busy signals. Finally, on the fifth try I got through, but know one was talking to me, all I could hear is my sister-in-law in the background crying and freaking out. Someone gets on the phone and says “who is this?” and I say that it’s her brother-in-law.

Apparently my sister-in-law who just happens to be the sweetest thing was home alone and got freaked out by my phone call. She tried to call the police but couldn’t get through because I didn’t hang up on my end, so she ran over to the neighbors. Since I was already on my way I stopped by her house to calm her down and assure her that Frank the Plumber wasn’t coming over.

All was settled within minutes.

When my in-laws came home I asked them to please invest in Caller ID.

What did I learn? When calling over to my in-laws I should identify myself first and not assume that my calling there for the past 10 years would make my voice a bit more identifiable than Frank the Plumber. Second and lastly, never ever again invite Sarah for some Rita’s.

Oh, one more thing, I should probably hang signs at their house to warn all the plumbers in town that they will be arrested on site.

Mistake Made

2006-08-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

It became clear only one day if not sooner into my week long experience with the family that I mentioned to all of you that we were going on vacation. I was wrong, this was a trip. I’m not sure if it is possible to have a vacation with a six, four and two year old.

The true definition of VACATION is: freedom from any activity; rest; a period of rest and freedom from work, study…

Those of you whom have young children at home are probably laughing by now because we parents do not have freedom when we go somewhere with our kids. We certainly have plenty of activity and what the hell is rest, it sounds like a four letter word to me and god forbid we should say or do it. Work, do we ever stop? And studying; I’m constantly studying each of my kids to see what they will get into next. I figure that if I’m able to stay one step ahead, VACATION can be had.

My kids are not evil, but there are moments that make me wonder. We adults are not completely innocent either. While we are on our week long experience we keep the kids up later so that we can go to the beach at sunset to fly the kite and watch the waves come in. We feed the kids candy at all hours of the day. Basically, any routine that was once present is thrown out the window for the week. So, we are to blame as well.

I will post some pictures of our trip hopefully this week so that you can see us crazy people trying to have a good time.

All in all it was a good time and much fun was had, and maybe, maybe a little rest, maybe.

Still Around

2006-08-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry all for not keeping up my blog lately. Everything is great. We are going on vacation tomorrow for the week and will have my sister-in-law house sit. Hopefully the vacation will help me energize that writer battery that I think I have which I know I don't.

Robin's looking very pregnant and has that glow to her. Maybe if I'm good she'll let me post some pictures from vacation.

1..2..3..FOUR!

2006-06-07T18:55:00.000-05:00

Mommy I want you to have a Spiderman baby. These were the words spoken by my 3 year old son upon receiving the news that his Mommy is going to have another baby.

Robin just got off the phone with her parents and I just spoke with my mom. Robin’s pregnant with our 4th child, how cool is that?! We have no clue whether it’s a boy or a girl, just that she’s due in December. We will keep the exact date under wraps.

I’m keeping this post short so that Robin can talk about it in her blog, eventually. I’m sure that you will hear many stories (from me) in the coming months regarding her pregnancy, and I can assure you that there will be a post touching upon the weird things that get put in the fridge by a pregnant woman……………..Brian have you seen the deodorant?.......................check the fridge dear.

Oy.

Communication

2006-05-26T07:54:00.001-05:00

Good communication in a marriage is probably one of the most important things that couples need to practice. I believe this is one of life’s evil tricks simply because women believe that all men are mind readers and all men believe that women say what they really mean.
There is only one way to clearly communicate your wants and needs to each other; talk as if you’re both idiots, deaf and one of you speaks a foreign language.

Example: Typical

Husband: I’m running to put gas in the car. I’m thinking about stopping to get some ice cream. Do you want?

Wife: Eh, that’s ok. No thanks.

Husband: Ok, see ya soon.

………….20 minutes later.

Husband: I’m home.

Wife: What are you eating?

Husband: I told you I was thinking of stopping to get some ice cream, and I did.

Wife: Oh

Husband: What’s wrong?

Wife: I thought you’d be nice and get me some.

Husband: But I thought you said you didn’t want any.

Wife: Yeah but…………………..

STOP RIGHT THERE

For all you guys out there the above was a deliberate test by the wife. This all could have been avoided if the IDF(Idiot, Deaf, Foreign Language) method was used.

Revised Conversation using IDF: (spoken a few decibels higher and a bit slower)

Husband: I’m…running…to…put…gas…in…the…car. I’m… GOING…to…stop…and…get…some…ice…cream. Do…you…want?

Wife: YES

Husband: Ok,…see…you…soon.

………….20 minutes later.

Husband: I…am…home. Here…you…go.

Wife: oh,…mint…chocolate…chip,…my…favorite.

Husband: I…know.

Wife: I…love…you.

Husband: I…love…you…too.

The End…..and they lived happily ever after

How difficult was that.

Advice to women: Please don’t test your man unless you warn him beforehand that there is going to be a test coming soon. Also please state what you mean and don’t assume that your man is a master interpreter of the human mind.

Advice to my fellow victims: Keep your mouths shut at all times and if your wives ever say no to ice cream, they are probably lying to you.

Visitors to My Blog

2006-05-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile I like to check my Site Meter and find out how readers have stumbled across my site. Most of the time it’s someone looking for information about Down Syndrome. Just recently someone did a Google search for “Can people with Down Syndrome Fall in Love” and since I had love and DS in the same sentence my site popped up for them. Now, I’m not writing this because of that search or even to answer that persons question; but real quick… Hell Yeah. I’m no specialist on DS, just a parent so I’ll go out on a short limb and say yes, people with DS can fall in love. Also, they are good house cleaners. Now that I have wood floors and my 2 year old butt scoots instead of walks at the moment, I tape a Swiffer onto her butt. Let me tell ya, my floors are clean enough to eat off of and if they need a good scrubbing I just put in one of her music cds.

Oh, please that was a joke people; it’s a music video not a cd.

Anyway, I initially started my blog because of my daughter Amanda; I thought the entire blog would be devoted to her. I wonder what people think when they find my blog and the last post discusses cats, South Park, or even the post entitled Very Funny…Ha Ha! Yes, a little while after Amanda was born I started my blog to discuss my feelings and all the other stuff that comes with DS, then a short time after that I figured out that my universe isn’t about having a child with DS, it’s just a part of it.

So, for those just looking to read my posts regarding Down Syndrome, please view the links on the sidebar under the heading "Down Syndrome Related Posts".

Cheers.

Me

2006-05-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

It appears that many of my blogging buddies have created a South Park character in their liking. It also occurred to me that after working on my own that there wasn't enough choices in the parts department with flaws that would help the character resemble me.

This is the best that I can do.

Cat Story

2006-05-23T09:25:00.000-05:00

While getting our hardwood floors we were told by the installers that we had to be out of the house for a few days while the polyurethane dried because of the fumes. We decide to stay by my in-laws which worked out pretty well. We had two cats up until two weeks ago and that’s where my story begins.

When Robin and I were married she won in the pet department. She came from a cat lover family and I come from a dog lover family. Early on we lived in a one bedroom apartment which I still miss to this day, so if we were going to have a pet I guess cats were probably the logical choice. Over time I grew to enjoy them and they became apart of our family. We started with one, but we noticed that Tiger was becoming extremely overweight, even with diet cat food. So I decided to adopt a friend for him so that they can chase and play with each other. The running around together should have helped Tiger lose the weight right? NOPE, he just kept on getting fatter. Anyway, tiger was apart of our family for 9 years and Mocha for 5. Did I forget to mention that we discovered that I’m allergic to cats?

We gave the cats to my mother while the floors were being done and after about 5 days Robin and I decided that now would be a good time to give them away. My mother is a widow and lives alone so we thought the cats would be good company for her. Even though she likes the cats, she refused to keep them. The kids only asked about the cats a couple of times so we thought that they may soon forget about them. My mission was to look for a no kill shelter. I found some but they wouldn’t take them because they were filled to capacity with cats and my little fellows were too old. I finally settled on a shelter that would take them and put them up for adoption if they didn’t have any behavior issues. This shelter was also an open door shelter which meant that if they ran out of room they would start euthanizing. Anyway, giving the cats over may have been one of the hardest things that I have ever done. The shelter told me that I could check their website to see if the cats got adopted or not. I just couldn’t bring myself to check up on them, it would have been too painful.

So I left them at the shelter.

Later that day I called my mother to tell her that I took the cats to the shelter. She was shocked that I actually did it. I told her that I was going to do it, but she didn’t believe me. She got all upset and decided that she wanted Tiger. I went on line a couple of days later because it was the weekend and I couldn’t get to the shelter until Monday. I noticed that Mocha was up for adoption, but not tiger. I then thought that Tiger was already adopted. I was mistaken. I called up the shelter a dozen times until I got to speak to an actual human. They told me that Tiger was having some behavior issues and that he was not suitable for adoption. That struck me as odd because he is the calmest gentlest cat on the planet. I told them that I would come pick him up today. They asked me if I wanted Mocha too; I said no because he was up for adoption, the website said so. Well, they said that he started to have behavior issues as well and they had to pull him from adoption. I called my mother to explain the situation and she was hesitant at first but committed to taking them both. I went to the shelter and the place charged me $100 to get my cats back. I gave them a donation when I dropped the cats off, plus I gave them the Kitty crates, and now they are charging me $100 for room and board….whatever.

(The whole reason both cats were having issues was because they were separated from each other. Once they put them in the same cage they were fine.)

I took both Mocha and Tiger to my Mothers where they will live happily ever after.

Oh by the way, the day that I dropped the cats off at the shelter my oldest asked where the cats were. I used the same story that my parents told me when my dogs had to be put down because of illness, but I tweaked it a bit. I told her that I received a phone call from a farmer who needed Mocha and Tiger to help him with his mice problem. She was visibly upset but didn't cry. She asked a million questions and I answered them. I thought I dodged a bullet until 20 minutes later when she broke down and cried for an hour. It was a really tough evening.

When I broke the news to her about grandma adopting the cats she was excited and overwhelmed with joy by the thought of seeing her pets again. She wanted to know why they weren’t on the farm catching mice, so I told her the farmer called me back to tell me that the cats did an incredible job and that he didn’t need them anymore. To her the cats were heros, but the real hero is grandma. Maybe when she gets older I'll tell her the real story.

She knew that I was allergic to the cats and understood why they couldn’t live with us.

Mocha was a little freaked when I picked him and Tiger up from the shelter. I’M STILL TRYING TO GET THE URINE SMELL OUT OF MY CAR………ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Spring Time Update

2006-05-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

Firstly, thank you all for showing your concerns regarding my absents. I received emails wondering if I was pushing up daisies all the way too being abducted by aliens. Although the latter may have been a bit interesting, I am sorry to say that I have just been a bit lazy in my efforts to post something new.

Things are going pretty well for me and the family. Robin is doing well in school and is on her way to becoming a PA. Elle is looking forward to the beach this summer; she will be going into first grade this coming August. James is on the verge of being potty trained but still has some accidents. Apparently, it’s more convenient to crap yourself then to take five minutes away from your busy 3 year old schedule. Here's a classic, we put him in underpants yesterday and at the dinner table he dropped his pants to show everyone that he can pull his ding dong out from the hole in the front, brilliant just brilliant. Amanda is doing well, but is still really behind in certain things. It seems that as she gets older the Down Syndrome along with its challenges becomes more noticeable. It really doesn’t bother me that much, I’m just happy that she’s healthy.

Business is picking up; we just landed a national client that will probably help us attract more national business. Plus we are now looking to expand into the top 10 media markets. As you all can imagine, that is probably where all my energy is lost with nothing left to put into my blog.

We’ve been working on the house too. We just put in hardwood floors, painted the walls and bought new living room furniture. Isn’t it amazing how when you buy something new you are psychotic about keeping it clean, but after the first stain or scratch you just don’t give a damn anymore. Needless to say, it is quite difficult keeping our new furniture showroom clean with 3 little ones, but we are still winning the battle, barely. I just unclogged the gutters around the house. When water starts to spew over your front door there’s a pretty good chance that you have a clog somewhere. I was unaware of the problem until my doorbell rang with my soaking wet mother-in-law giving me that “I can’t believe my daughter married you” look. Actually, we get along very well. When I got up there (on the roof) my gutters actually had vegetation. I think some squirrels planted some nuts in the gutters this past winter and forgot about their bounty. Also, my neighbor who I do get along with decided to cut down his hedges that separate his front lawn with mine. I was a bit thankful because those hedges caught everything that was blown down our street and it all eventually came into my yard, so initially it was a good idea. Now that there is no barrier between my yard and his there is no barrier holding back his SIX kids. It’s as if my yard became the fifty yard line. Just to let you all know, I am very into my lawn, it’s nearly perfect. The kind of perfect where people stop me while I’m working in my yard and ask me if I laid down a new lawn kind of perfect. I WILL BE PLANTING ROSE BUSHES ON MY PROPERTY LINE, BUT I’M HAVING THEM ENGINEERED SO THAT THEY HAVE SIX INCH POISONOUS THORNS THAT WILL TAKE DOWN A HORSE. Ok, maybe not, but it will take some time to get used to them playing in my yard. I really don’t want to be that mean guy who lives next door who “the rumor has it” sits by his window with a shotgun ready to blast anyone who steps foot on to his property.

So that is what’s going on in my life. What’s happening in yours?

Very Funny.........Ha Ha!

2006-03-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

Holy Shit………Really, I mean HOLY SHIT!

These past couple of months have been quite interesting to say the least. It felt as if god was telling a joke and I was the butt of it. The joke wasn’t a one liner either, this joke took time to develop and at the end, it wasn’t even funny. Let’s just say that when the day comes that my ticker decides to stop telling the time is the day that I make it up to heaven just to be sent straight to hell for putting a whoopee cushion on gods chair just to get back at him. It wouldn’t be complete justice, but hey where talking about god here, there really isn’t much you could do to him.

It’s been a little while since the last time I blogged. My last message to you all was that I was still alive; usually when someone says that, it means that they are still around just a bit distracted or preoccupied. What you all didn’t know was that I was literally thankful to be alive.

I’m going to be 35 next month, but it’s not going to come easy as one would expect. I’m thinking of crawling into a room made of Nerf, locking the door and eating only pudding for the next 3 weeks so that I don’t choke on anything.

About two months ago I discovered a lump that had me a bit concerned because cancer runs deep in my family. After a week of struggling to keep it to myself because I didn’t want to alarm anyone I went to the doctors to find out that it wasn’t cancer, but something that would eventually go away without surgery. During that same time I started to have chest pains and terrible heartburn. Did I forget to mention that heart disease runs in my family too? Yep that’s right if you’re looking for bubonic plague, malaria, or something exotic that makes your flesh melt, I bet I can find someone in my family who had it, shingles anyone? So, I just recently went to the cardiologist because my wife, mother and close friend wouldn’t shut up about it. The doc gave me a stress test which I found pretty interesting since it requires taking a bunch of pictures of your heart, attaching electrodes to your body, running on a treadmill until your heart gives out, taking more pictures and getting injections of this stuff that is billed as radio active before, during and after the treadmill sprint. What the hell is up with that anyway? Didn’t people build shelters to avoid being exposed to nuclear fall out if nuclear war should happen upon us, and here I am having some guy who specialized in nuclear medicine injecting this stuff into my body three times. What ever, I’m stressing just thinking about it. Hey honey looks what glowing tonight.

The doctor calls me back after the test to tell me that everything looks fine and that I passed. Thanks do I get a sticker? No, of course not. I need to make an appointment with a GI guy so that he can scope my esophagus, which means that they are going to put me to sleep and stick a camera down my throat to see what the hell is going on inside there; that’s in May.

Thank god I have good healthcare. I’m convinced now that I’m not going to die anytime soon because god is having too much fun. However when things were looking a little bleak I managed to buy my wife a new car and completely re-carpet the house.

to be continued.......

He's Alive, Alive I Say

2006-03-02T11:23:00.000-05:00

Ok ok, I’m hear and alive. I’ve been so consumed with everything else lately that I kind of put my blog on the back burner. Sorry to everyone who I left hanging but thanks to those who’ve been checking up on me to make sure that I am still enjoying the land of the living.

All is well at home. My five year old Elizabeth is starting to read and enjoys reading her short books to Amanda. James my 3 year old is doing well in school and is really enjoys playing with his little sister. We just can’t get him potty trained and it’s driving me nuts. Amanda is almost 2 and doing very well. She is starting to sign and is very mobile. She has developed such a personality over the last couple of months that she is actually a little person now. My wife is in school to become a physician’s assistant and is holding straight A’s in both her biology and anatomy / physiology classes. As for me, my life doesn’t change much and is as pathetic as it was the last time I posted:) I’m getting tired and in need of a vacation but I know that it won’t come until the summer. I just want to lay on the beach and listen to the waves crashing against the sand while a gentle breeze blows. I yearn for that first shower of the day after I walk in from the beach to get all the sand off (you know the one I’m talking about.).

I’m not depressed even though it may sound like it. I’ve just been nursing my left foot that I had minor surgery on and am coming of the amazing journey I had with my very best friend Mr. Percisett a.k.a. Pain Killers.

So I’m alive and well and looking forward towards an even better day tomorrow.

Cheers.

Celebration In Pittsburgh

2006-02-06T08:52:00.000-05:00

There’s a party in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL by a score of 21-10. It wasn’t pretty but the Steelers got the job done. The game was full of interceptions, incomplete passes, dropped passes and questionable officiating. The Steelers gave the Seahawks many opportunities to win the game but thankfully the hawks couldn’t capitalize.

After the game the snow covered streets were filled with thousands of inebriated fans holding up their index fingers chanting “We’re #1 – We’re World Champions”. It’s an exciting time for our city; it has been 26 years since our last Super Bowl victory.

Anyway, I’m not sure why I haven’t posted on a regular basis lately. I guess a break is needed so that I can come up with new material. I apologize to my readers not only for my lack of posts but for not visiting your blogs. I will hopefully get back into the swing of things soon. The family is doing well and our lives are uneventful which is a good thing.

Cheers to all

HERE WE GO STEELERS

2006-01-27T10:18:00.000-05:00

It’s been one heck off a week so far in the great city of Pittsburgh as our Steelers are going to the Super Bowl for the first time in 10 years. We will be playing the Seattle Seahawks whom are making their first Super Bowl appearance ever. The Steelers road to the Super Bowl was not easy, we were the 6th seed going in to the playoffs which meant that we secured the last possible slot for the playoffs; this also meant that we had to go on the road and win three times in order to secure a Super Bowl appearance. I probably could go on to write a small book on the Steelers road to the Super Bowl, but because of the lack of time and the shivers and shakes I get just thinking about our Steelers getting back to the Super Bowl makes it difficult to type.

The Big Game is being played in Detroit’s which is only 5.5 hours away from Pittsburgh which makes it very tempting to go to the game, but the $2,000 price tag per ticket (market value, not actual value) is a bit steep for me. I’m sure the Steelers will make it to a few more Super Bowls before Big Ben retires (Steelers quarterback), giving me another chance at going.

Well I’m off to take my medication to calm myself down.

GO STEELERS!

Catching Up

2006-01-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

Firstly, I would like to thank my blogger friend Kim for checking in on me. I haven’t been posting on a regular basis like I used to and I have no explanation as to why that is. Thanks Kim, I didn’t fall of the face of the planet although sometimes it seems like I have.

Work has been getting busier and busier and a bit more hectic. My wife started last week on her quest to become a Physicians Assistant, and the kids are/were sick these past couple of weeks. My oldest is going to get her third round of tubes in her ears on Friday which is no big deal but it’s not me getting it done, is it. Winter vacation will start in a couple of weeks and we’re not going any place special this time around. I was thinking of taking a couple of days to go to this indoor water park mini resort with the kids that is about 2 hours away, we’ll see what happens. I know the water park is for the kids, but if we go I will be the one in the water with them and I’m not one for public pools. I’m more of an ocean or bust guy; I think the phobia has something to do with hundreds of kids in the pool for hours and none of them having to leave the pool area for a bathroom break, hmmmmmmmm. Don’t tell me that the chlorine will do the trick.

Amanda is mobile now, butt scooting all over the place and she has developed such a beautiful personality. She’s starting to follow me all over the house. I could be standing in the kitchen talking with my wife and a few minutes later feel a tug on my leg only to see that beautiful girl staring up at me with her gorgeous smile and captivating almond shaped eyes.

I hope to get back into blogging regularly soon.

Cheers.

Whoops! I Have A Blog

2006-01-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

Hello all, I’m back and as confused as ever. The holidays were nice and I was able to spend all of about five minutes with my family. Oh, not necessarily because I was working although I did have work because a story ran in the USA Today newspaper about my company that prompted a few networks to call for an interview, no that’s not why; my kids received all these presents that required dear ol’ dad to dig deep in to his toolbox and put everything together. Also, I complained a while ago about how these toy manufacturers are fastening the toys into the packaging with these little plastic twisty things (Salesman Wanted), you know what I’m talking about, well I think it’s becoming an epidemic. My mother bought Elle a doll house that had 33 of these twisty thing-a-ma-frikin-bobs, no joke I counted them, and it took me about 45 minutes to get them all with the help of a chicken bone scissor thing. Not only did they twist tie everything, but they taped the twisty things down; WHAT THE!

I celebrated New Years Eve by sleeping. I made no New Years resolution, I see no point. I only wrote 05 on my checks once this year and on December 31st I didn’t say to my friends “See ya next year”. What did I do? Well this may be a little immature but I discovered XBOX, yes the video game console. I didn’t buy it; I more or less inherited it. All I have to say is WOW! These gaming machines are a far cry from the Pong and Atari systems that I grew up with. The graphics are mind blowing and almost to close to reality. Playing some of the games was very therapeutic especially the shoot’em up WW2 games. I found myself giving the enemy soldiers names of some people that I didn’t care for only to blow them up with a grenade or chop them down with a machine gun, and let’s not forget about driving a tank. That fascination lasted about a week. I guess my matured attention span can only handle so much sensory overload, besides I remembered that I have kids.

Elle is still having a blast in school. I attended a holiday party that her class through while my wife attended one for my son James. Amanda is growing up quickly; we noticed last week that she no longer looks like her baby self but more like a toddler now. She started to climb stairs which is exciting, but at the same time a reminder to put the gates back up. She still doesn’t crawl in the typical fashion, but she isn’t typical is she. She Butt scoots which is the funniest thing to watch, and she moves so quickly now.

Life for 2006 should be a bit interesting with my wife going back to school to become a Physicians Assistant. The whole thing should take her about 3 years which is 21 years for all those dog lovers out there. She’ll start off with night classes and then go into full time for her 2nd and 3rd years; my kids are going to love me. Hopefully my business will start to pick up and expand into new markets. People ask me if I regret going into business for myself and I tell them that it’s probably the best and worst thing that I have ever done, but I love it. I’ve been through many battles with my business and lost a few, but I will win the war.

Cheers to all

Like Clockwork

2005-12-22T08:57:00.000-05:00

Every year around winter I decide to grow a beard and every time it comes off after a few weeks. I usually wait until my wife hints to me that she prefers my baby face. Things were going well; she didn’t say anything to me for the past two weeks (the time that I started growing it). That all ended one Monday morning when she hinted her dislike by saying to me “oh, your growing a beard” in a tone that was laced with her disapproval. I kind of ignored her comment and went to the office. The next couple of days went by and she didn’t bring it up, until this beautiful morning. She just came out and said “Shave it, I don’t like it…etc.” I enjoy my status as a husband and the duties that come with it, so this weekend the beard will come off. It’s really no surprise to me because it’s been close to three weeks which is average as I stated above. I think the tradition will end because as I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, the beard is turning gray; I guess it wants to match my hair. You can hardly see the gray in the picture because I have my hand in front of the area where it’s turning. Coincidence, I think not.

I think the beard makes me look older, something that I would have wanted if I was 18 but now that I'm thirty-four the whole idea is to look younger.

Happy Holidays to all.

B

Fun In The Snow

2005-12-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

It was a mild winter night, the wind was calm, the snow was falling and the lights from the street were illuminating the snow in our backyard. It was a perfect evening to take the children out for some fun. We put on our boots, gloves hats and scarves; it was as if we were preparing for battle. There was approximately 5 inches of virgin snow in our yard that was beckoning for our presents. We carefully stepped down from our deck and into the snow; I had to hold James’ hand since he is three and the depth of the snow made it difficult for him to maneuver. Once we reached our destination the decision was made that a snowman was to be born. We went to work starting out with little snow balls, rolling them around the yard until they were the perfect size. While I was making the base my daughter Elle was making the snowman’s mid section, while James was attempting to make the head, but it was difficult for him since he was wearing mittens and not gloves like his sister and me. Mommy and Amanda were looking out from the house while we were attempting our first snowman of the season. The base and midsection were done and placed on top of each other; it was now time to help James who had been struggling do to his age, height and mobility. We all pitched in and the snowman’s head was ready. I placed the head on top of his body and reinforced it with a little snow were his head and midsection came together. All that our creation needed was a face. I asked Elle to go inside and get a carrot for his nose and some broccoli for his eyes. Mommy knew what she needed and was standing prepared by the door. His face almost didn’t make it. Elle came back down into the yard and informed me that she was hungry and asked me for permission to eat what was to be his face. I obviously said no and told her that we would go inside after we were done to have macaroni and cheese; that seemed to satisfy her. I made little holes for the eyes and nose, gathered a couple of twigs for his mouth and had the kids assemble his face. Our snow man was born and then died three seconds later. My son who had been watching football with me earlier that day decided that he was a linebacker and tackled the snowman to the ground. Nothing was left. That’s when the snowball fight broke out. We all reached into the snow to arm ourselves. I was amazed on how accurate I was, nailing the kids from 20 feet away. They didn’t stand a chance. They tried, they really did, but the force was with me that evening and their fates had already been etched in the snow. James and Elli did hit me a few times, from point blank range, but that was also the time when I thought I was a linebacker and I tackled both of them to the ground. We rolled around laughing and giggling and that’s when the snowball fight ended and the snow angle making began. After we were finished we compared our angles and decided that it was time to go inside to take a warm bath and have dinner.

The kids were tired and slept well that night.

Back From Florida

2005-12-08T15:12:00.000-05:00

It has been a little over a week since I last posted which is a bit unusual for me. Everything from becoming swamped at work to technical difficulties forced me to give the blog a rest. I’m not sure where to start really considering the past week was a complete blur.

As you read in my last post I have been dealing with a computer issue that hasn’t been resolved yet. I was also sick in bed with a stomach bug this past Sunday which made life for my wife real interesting. On top of it all I had to travel to Florida on business this past Tuesday and Wednesday which was kind of nice even though it was business. Getting out of the 17 degree weather and into 80 degree weather was a shock to my system, but it was also a reminder that I need to get my butt in gear and make a ton of money so that we can move to some place warm. The meeting went well, but not as well as I wanted it to go. My meeting was with a couple of guys who run the same kind of business that I have. I was hoping to learn something from them to progress the success of my business. Unfortunately, I think I knew more about our industry than they did so they benefited more from the meeting than I did. Overall it was nice to meet them and I think we will be able to help each other out in the near future.

While I was in Florida I was able to see the aftermath of the last hurricane that past through. The State did a fantastic job of cleaning up, but there were still downed trees, signs, roofs and some fallen debris. I had a chance to go to the beach, not to swim or lay out, but just to walk. The power and energy of the ocean amazes me every time I see it. The waves were rather large giving surfers perfect conditions. There were also a group of guys and gals kite surfing which is basically attaching a huge kite to your body, then getting on your board and letting the wind pull you across the water. These pros were moving fast along the water and jumping waves, sometimes getting as high as 10 feet above the ocean. It was very cool.

Coming home is always nice. I'll take a freezing cold day with snow on the ground with my wife and kids over a warm sunny day alone anytime.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I rented a convertible?

Computer From The Underworld

2005-11-30T15:45:00.000-05:00

I’ve been pulling my hair out over the last couple of days trying to reinstall all my software back on to my computer. My hard drive decided that death was more bearable than enduring the everyday abuse of its master. It had been acting up over the last few weeks, freezing on me, shutting off when I was in the middle of proposals, giving me a blue screen with a bunch of numbers and letters telling me that there was an error with some doodad-hickamajig. I ignored it until my computer posted an error message that was almost human like. It said “Hard drive is malfunction, loss of data is imminent”. That message had me looking over my shoulder; I felt like the thing was threatening me. I took the darn thing to Best Buy’s “Geek Squad” and they fixed it……………yeah riiiiiiiight. $360 and a few days in the shop later I have my computer back on my desk and it crashes not once, not twice, but five times within one hour. I called the “Geeks” back up and explained the problem to them. They told me that they ran a full diagnostic and my computer was clean at the time of their tests and that I must have done something to it. YEAH I DID SOMETHING TO IT, I TURNED IT ON! They proceeded by telling me to bring it back in for another diagnostic and it might be my mother board or cooling assembly. Which ever one it is, it will cost me no less than an additional $200. So now I am contemplating on getting a new laptop.

I can’t believe it, as I was getting ready to post, the damn thing shut down on me. Luckily I use MS word to write my posts and it automatically saves my work……sometimes.

Hey look, more hair!

B

Having A Little Fun

2005-11-23T07:38:00.000-05:00

Since I started my company, two years ago, and took on President as my title it seems that I have been entered into a database of the Elite that every single investment company across the country uses. It’s funny, I don’t feel elite, my house doesn’t look elite, my cars say Toyota, my dinners are not caviar and fillet mignon, and my bank account (pausing for laughter……) certainly isn’t elite. The calls that I have been receiving are from investment companies that want me to invest in oil drilling expeditions. The first time I received this type of call I listened to what the person had to say and was quite interested with the information he gave me. After he was finished with his rant I asked him to send me some more information on this opportunity . He kindly explained to me that before anything could be sent out I would have to qualify for the investment. He had me on the first question, “Do you have long term assets of FIVE MILLION DOLLARS or more, I said no do you? He laughed and then asked me if I had current assets over TWO MILLION DOLLARS? Ah ha, I said hold on let me check my lottery ticket……( I actually had him on hold for an entire minute) NOPE. Sorry sir, you don’t qualify for this specific type of investment. Before he hung up I asked him to keep me in mind for future opportunities. I receive about 3-4 of these phone calls every month but instead of hearing them out I just tell them that I won’t qualify.

I’ve decided to keep a list complete with names and telephone numbers of all the brokers that call me with the same type of oil investment opportunity. The next time I receive a phone call asking me to invest in their expedition I will tell them that I don’t qualify, but that I have a friend that does. I will proceed to give them one of the names from the list.

How fun!
B

Down Syndrome Thoughts

2005-11-22T07:45:00.000-05:00

I guess my wife and I are still pretty new to the whole Down Syndrome game(19 months) and even though we’ve settled in and look forward to our lives with Little Peanut we still wonder how people are going to react when we go to some place new like we did this past weekend. The anxiety of waiting for a reaction from people is certainly not at the top of the list when we go away, but it’s there and I wonder if that feeling is ever going to disappear.

My nephew got married this weekend in Baltimore, MD which meant that family and friends from both sides were there to enjoy the festivities. For the most part people didn’t give us a second look, but on occasion there were those uncomfortable stares. I made eye contact and stared back at those who had decided to practice this rude behavior, but guarded my tongue, something I wouldn’t have done a year and a half ago. It’s getting easier to contain myself, but a part of me still wants to go nuclear on the “enemy”. I can’t be the only one that feels this way, I hope not. Like they say misery loves company.

Families that have been touched by a child with special needs are always (I realize always is an absolute and there are those that may feel differently) talking about the glory’s and the beauty’s of their child and how wonderful life is. I certainly subscribe to that, but sometimes I feel as if I’m lying to myself. I love Amanda for who she is, with or without DS. She certainly has proved to be a pillar of love in our home and the very sight of her will put a smile on anyone that walks through our doors. We have noticed a big change with our other two children as well. Elle and James are both accepting of others without prejudice and a bit more patient with other children. James has a girl in his class with DS, the teacher told us that while the other kids in his class are less tolerant when it takes this girl a little longer to do something, James sits/stands by her until the activity is done. Because of this, the little girl has taken a liking to my son and both are good friends. I’m not quite sure if James knows that his classmate is special, we are just now talking with Elle, my oldest, about her baby sister’s special needs. I think it’s safe to assume that James realizes that something is a bit different, but he’s probably not certain of what it is, nor should it matter.

BUT

Life is difficult, it isn’t always a bed of roses, we will likely have more bumps in the road than typical families, Amanda requires a lot more attention than our other two kids, there are things that my wife and I may not be able to do as we get into our golden years, however this is our life and we will know no other. At the same time, our over all outlook of life has changed for the best, the bumps in the road over time will become our norm, the extra time we spend with Amanda is incredibly wonderful, the interactions that all three of our children have together is breathtaking, and our golden years are to far away to even think about. We have accepted and embraced our destiny lovingly and enthusiastically.

Holiday Sales & Gadgets

2005-11-16T07:39:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves sales and the holidays are just around the corner which means that retailers are going to start stuffing your mailboxes and newspapers with coupons that say 10% of this, 20% of that, Buy one Get one FREE, Monster Sale – Open till Midnight, One Day Blowout, Free gift with purchase……. It’s crazy, it seams that these holiday sales start earlier every year. For me these big sales are just a reminder of how Mr. Retailer screws us during the rest of the year. I can’t believe a sweater that cost $40 yesterday only costs $15 today with coupon. I’m all for capitalism and understand that supply and demand drive cost but I’m also for holding on to some of my money and paying reasonable prices for my material wants and needs. The sales people are so courteous during this time of year too. Isn’t it nice that when you’re ready to pay for your items at the register they give you a coupon if you don’t have one so that you can save an additional 10%-15%? Wow, I saved an additional 10%-15%, that means I could buy more STUFF.

Oh yes, and aren’t those sales people that walk around the cosmetic department annoying with there little spray bottles of perfume ready to strike if you look in their direction.

Here’s a suggestion, before going to the department store pack a bottle of your own perfume in a cute little spray bottle and when they come up to you and ask if you would like to try their new fragrance say yes on the conditions that you get to spray them with yours first. What are the chances that they’ll say yes? If you don’t want to go through all the prep work just tell them that you are completely offended that they are suggesting that you smell awful.

Let’s not forget about the tables filled with the most, shall we say INTERESTING stocking stuffers that they have strategically placed throughout the store. Hey it’s a miniature chess board that doubles as a whisky flask. Oh, just what I always wanted a 22 piece grooming kit. If I ever received a grooming kit as a gift I would take it as a tremendous insult and attack on my personal hygiene. Also, when did electric nose hair trimmers become so popular? Anything that runs off of electricity and has spinning blades should not be shoved up the nose. The talking remote meat thermometer; however did they know when steak was done in the “olden days”. Cup warmers, scrolling LED belt buckles, motorized coin vault, the all in one radio/flashlight/cd player/alarm clock, and my personal favorite, the cake knife that sings happy birthday.

I have added a button on my sidebar (Holiday Sales) that will take you to the Black Friday website; as seen on CNN. This site will bring you up to speed on all the sales starting on "Black Friday". Good luck and happy shopping.

Aren’t you glad the Holidays are here?

My Wife The Student

2005-11-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

I remember being in school staring at the clock and counting down the minutes till the day was over so that I could go home, and that was in Kindergarten. Nothing really changed over the years, I just didn’t like school. My poor study habits, laziness, and lack of performance forced my parents to hire a tutor for me. School was boring. This attitude of mine lasted up until high school. I knew that I wanted to attend college and that the only way I would be able to get into someplace decent was to have good grades and a killer SAT score, so I applied myself. It really wasn’t that difficult, and I graduated at the top of my class. I went to collage had fun, studied hard and graduated Suma Cum Laude. I really shocked the hell out of people.

After my graduation I swore that I would never again step foot into another school. I was able to keep that promise until my kids came along. The very smell of the school’s hallways and classrooms where my kids attend leave me feeling queasy. School has scarred me for life. Because of school, I will not eat eggs unless I make them myself and I won’t go near Spanish rice, but I’ll leave that for another story.

That Said,

My wife has decided to go back to school, a bachelors wasn’t good enough for her. She is truly excited about her decision as am I, but I’m also glad that it’s her and not me. She has my full support because it’s something she is very passionate about. I can be passionate about things too, vacations, the beach, football, my business, but not school. Don’t get me wrong, I think an education is very important and I try to learn things every day, but just not in a structured environment. She’s going to start of slowly by taking some night classes for a year(her prerequisites) which will make it a bit easier for me and the kids, but then it will be full steam ahead, full time baby for two years. Thankfully, Amanda will be in school by then with her other two siblings, so that should make things a little easier. I have a feeling that we’ll be eating Pizza and take-out for a while, which is going to be a big change since my wife spoiled us with her delicious cooking. This is only speculation though, she could very well find the time in her already crazy schedule to cook for us.

I’m sure that I will have some interesting and fun stories to blog about when she starts school (January). For god sake man, it’s going to be me and three kids.

Congrats dear.

Summer Camp

2005-11-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

When I was thirteen years old my parents sent me to overnight summer camp in Kalkaska, Michigan. This was the first time that I was away from home for an extended period of time so the first week or two were very difficult for me, but once I started to make friends and get involved in all the activities things got easier. The things I did as a child makes me wonder how I survived long enough to reach adulthood as a free man. I remember that our camp was on a small lake where we used to go swimming and the changing room was an old broken down school bus with the windows painted over. One day I said to myself, gee wouldn’t it be funny if I threw a smoke bomb under the bus while the younger bunks were changing? Sounded like a good idea at the time, but four exhausted fire extinguishers later and a lot of water proved it to be bad, very bad. Apparently when you light a smoke bomb a flame shoots out before the smoke and when fire mixes with very dry brush, well you get the picture. It’s quite amazing that I was never caught, it was also at that time I learned the definition of the word alibi.

I was in the oldest bunk and we pretty much had free reign of the camp. One evening we all decided to go on a raid of the younger bunks. We had actually planned long and hard for this evening. This was going to be the defining moment in our young and now that I look back at it, stupid lives. The following is a list of gags we performed that night.

1. Toothpaste on the eyelids of our sleeping victims. Result: Impossible to open your eyes.
2. Clear plastic wrap on the toilet seats. Result: You can’t see the plastic, and when your victim goes to do their business, you get a mess.
3. Honey around the door jam. Result: Bee’s love honey (this was a bad idea because of bee allergies. Kid’s don’t ever try this one).
4. Removing the doorknobs from the cabin doors. Result: Funny as all hell. The entire camp was late for line up.
5. Removing the lunch room benches and lining them up in the lake. Result: BIG TROUBLE FOR US.
6. Dumping about 10 gallons of powdered paint on the beach near the water. Result: after your feet get wet from swimming, you’ve got another mess.
7. Sending the canoes out into the lake. Result: Missing out on the water slide trip.

That’s about it for summer camp. We had fun, got into trouble and weren’t allowed back the following year. Adults, they’re such party poopers.

* No kids were seriously injured as a result of our pranks.

Women, They Just Don't Understand

2005-11-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

It’s not just a tattered old sweatshirt, baseball hat, T-shirt, it’s something that’s comfortable, familiar, and holds memories. IT’S NOT GOING IN THE TRASH, NOT YET.

I have a few articles of clothing that my wife would love to retire because of the condition they’re in. My Everlast sweatshirt that I have had since before college, that I still fit in to, is being held together, not by thread but by the will to live. My T-shirt that I bought in St. Maartin the summer of 95 has more holes in it than a golf course, but it still wants to hang out with me.

Every time I throw my pals in the laundry I fear that it will be the last time I will see them. Holes, seems popping, fading colors, stains, all add character.

Honey, I promise that I won’t throw you away when you get old.

Down Syndrome Google Search

2005-11-08T07:49:00.000-05:00

I went to my site meter this morning to see where some of my hits were originating and my blog came up on a google search that someone made. Ready for this, the person typed in “How does down syndrome spread”

Oh no, it’s an epidemic RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

I know this could have been read a few different ways, but my initial reaction was one of confusion.

Football, Is There Anything Else?

2005-11-07T07:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon my wife went shopping and I was summoned to daddy duty. Sunday is a very important day for me because of football (Kim, the game that uses the oval looking brown ball, not the football where the hitting is harder in the stands), so it’s paramount that I find something to keep the kids occupied for a good 3-4 hours. For Elli and James, my two oldest kids, the choice was painting and/or the computer. Thankfully James chose the computer while Elli chose painting because when those two want to do the same thing all hell breaks loose and daddy becomes the referee. Amanda is pretty easy to take care of, she either sits on the floor and plays with her toys or she sits on my lap and we play together, nothing to distracting because it will take away from football. That said, Amanda who is now 1 ½ years old (for those who are not familiar with Amanda, she is my youngest who happens to have Down Syndrome) is the easiest to take care of. I whish my other two had her temperament.

I had Amanda on my lap while I was watching the game, we were playing “catch your nose“ when I noticed that she was actually watching the FOOTBALL GAME. She made me so proud, it was like a dream come true. I’m hoping that my son will soon take an interest; he’s only three and is more interested in taking the clothing off of Elli’s Barbies than watching football with his dad. I’m on a mission to get James interested in football so this week I will bring home an official NFL pigskin for us to toss around.

I realize that once Amanda knows better she will forget about football and move on to more productive things, but for now I’m loving the moment.

Flat Lining

2005-11-02T07:45:00.000-05:00

I had a very important meeting yesterday with a potential client that went extremely well, all I had to do was produce a document that he needed and he was mine. Simple, I go back to the office retrieve the document from my D drive, print it, and fax it to him; in the bag right?

Not quite. I go to the D drive and the document that I’m looking for is missing. This isn’t any document, this is a very very important piece of paper from my State that allows me to conduct business in the State and they will not issue me another one. Basically, if I don’t have this document a lot of money will have to be spent in order to stay open in my State. Sounds exaggerated right? It’s not, this document must be found.

After applying CPR to myself and apologizing to everyone in my office for using expletives to characterize my true feelings of the situation I decided that now was a good time to do some Spring cleaning in my office even though it’s November. I almost always print out a hard copy of everything that I have saved on my computer just in case my computer crashes; a few months ago I did have a slight malfunctioning of my laptop that would have wiped out some files. My rational behind the Spring cleaning is that the document is laying behind a pile of papers that I have in my office and that if I start throwing away things I’ll eventually come across it; process of elimination. You know why our rainforests need saved? It’s because half of it is sitting on my desk, shelves, and floor in my office.

I start my pursuit and start throwing irrelevant and unimportant papers away. I’m half way through all my files and still nothing. Finally after about an hour of teetering between failure and success I uncover the document that I needed. Sitting on my bookshelf hidden between two trade magazines was where it was hiding. After my heartbeat returned to normal I faxed the document. The client called me back and is ready to do business.

Cell Phone Woes

2005-10-27T06:50:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of my self phone ringing. The person on the other line asks me “is Christine there?” I tell them that they must have the wrong number, but DAN tells me that I’M mistaken. I say “Dan, there is know Christine here you must be mistaken because this is my cell phone YOU are calling”. He continues to tell me that my number came up on his caller idea with a message for him to call her back. Ah ha! I figured it out. This mystery woman, Christine just got herself a new cell phone service and her carrier accidentally gave her my number, which I have had since the time cell phones came in suitcases and weighed about 25 pounds. I get up and do the usual stuff before heading to the office and my cell phone rings again; it’s another person for Christine. I again repeat the same damn story and hang up. After about eight calls for Christine my phone rings; “Hello, hi Christine, yes, yes, Christine can you please call your service and let them know about their mix-up”. She tells me that she already did, but the reason she’s calling me is to ask if I can call her when someone calls for her on my number. Did you all get that? SHE WANTS ME TO BE HER SECRETARY! Firstly, I don’t know this woman, secondly, I DON”T KNOW THIS WOMAN! and thirdly, HER FRIENDS ARE WASTING MY MINUTES BY CALLING ME! I said that it would be an inconvenience for me and reiterated that she needs to call her cell phone carrier back.

I called my service and they told me that they will handle the problem. They also apologized for the inconvenience and told me that they will reimburse me for any minutes that were used involving this issue.

Dan called me back a couple of times; we are becoming good friends now.

Field Reporters Should Be Nominated

2005-10-24T06:37:00.000-05:00

I’m finding that more and more networks are sending their reporters into harms way with all the hurricanes that are hitting the States this year. How much of the reporting taking place at ground zero is theatrics and how much is real? I’m not denying that these reporters are standing in the middle of a hurricane; I’m questioning the force of the storm at the time of their reporting. It amazes me that when you see them reporting that they are being blown all over the place, attempting to hold on to trees, mailboxes, and telephone poles so they don’t blow away and all the while the camera that’s shooting their apparent demise stands still. Are the camera men that CNN hires perforated so that the wind passes through them, or is it actually an Oscar winning performance by our honest media?

Growing Up in a Small Town

2005-10-21T06:46:00.000-05:00

I was thinking back to my childhood and realized how thankful I am that I grew up in a small town. Sparrows Nest was the finest place on the planet for any child. I remember the warm summer nights playing in our sprawling backyard trying to catch fire flies, going down to the corner drugstore to buy a fountain soda from old Mr. Withers and sometimes bumping into Mr. James there, our mayor who also owned the local bowling alley. Every once in a while Sam would take me for a ride in his police car and let me sound the siren and flash the lights. I’m not sure why we had law enforcement in our town, nothing ever happened except for the time Mrs. Littleton’s chickens broke loose after a big storm. It was a funny site to see all these chickens running around town, one even made its way into the mailbox destroying all the letters that were to be sent out that day. Mrs. Littleton was a widow; her husband was the town drunk and was killed when he decided to take a nap on the train tracks. Rumor has it that they never found his right leg and if you go to the tracks on the anniversary of his death and listen closely you could hear something or someone crawling along the tracks. Some people say that it’s just the tracks settling while others insist it’s Jack looking for his leg. I never went to the tracks.

My town was actually kind of strange because it was as if time stood still while the rest of the world moved on. It wasn’t the 1940’s or 50’s that I grew up in, it was the 70’s and 80’s, and yet we had that laid back life from long ago that had never seemed to pass us by. It was kind of like a twighlight Zone episode.

When I was ten my friends and I discovered a cave in the hills surrounding our town. Being kids we had to explore. It was me, Tom, Glenn, Jason, and Bobby; we were the best of friends and swore to each other that we would remain friends forever. We sealed our promise by spitting on our palms and shaking hands. That was 24 years ago and the only person I ever here from now is Jason. We ventured forward into the cave, we had Glenn run back to Tom’s house to get some flash lights; Tom’s dad was a coal minor so we assumed that he had flashlights or lanterns, he brought back three lanterns. We lit the lanterns, well Jason lit the lanterns, he seemed to be an expert when it came to lighting things, which made us a little uneasy because we had our suspicions about him and the fire that was set to Mrs. Littleton’s chicken coup that killed everything inside and made the town smell like roasted chicken for 3 days. As we entered, the air started to get musty and thin, we were probably 50 yards in when we heard that sound that still haunts me today, which is a little unsettling, now being a dad. It was a sound that we were all familiar with and yet we looked at each other as if we couldn’t place it. It was the sound of a crying baby, but what was a baby doing in here? We went further trying to follow the cry, it was difficult because the sound echoed off the walls of the cave which turned out to be bigger than we had imagined. Finally after 10 or 15 minutes we came to the source of the crying. It was a baby, wrapped in a blanket placed along the side of the right cave wall. We were ten and eleven and had no clue what to do. Our suspected arsonist picked up the little guy who turned out to be a girl and began to rock her. It was pretty neat that he knew what to do; it made sense though because Jason’s mom had a baby girl last year and Jason could always be seen holding her. We exited the cave and walked down the hill until Mayor James on one of his daily strolls through town stopped us. We explained the story to him and he took the little girl to our local doctor’s office/house. The baby was healthy and it turned out that the little girl belonged to Ms. McKreely, who disappeared about a year ago. Everyone thought that she got tired of this place and just left. The story that was printed in the Sparrows Nest Tribune was that Ms. McKreely had an affair with Tom’s dad and became pregnant. Tom’s dad gave Ms. McKreely some money to leave, but she only moved a couple of towns over and lived in secrecy until she had the baby. Not wanting the responsibility she brought the baby back and put it in the place where she and Tom’s dad would always meet.

A few months later Tom’s mom and dad broke up and they both moved away. That was the last time I saw Tom. As for Glenn, Jason and Bobby, we remained friends through our teenage years. Both Glenn and Bobby went to work in the mines while Jason and I moved away with our families. Jason became a veterinarian in Delaware after serving some time for setting fire to an abandoned house that turned out to be home to several cats. Me, I moved to Pittsburgh where I attended college and currently working in the media industry.

The above recollection from my childhood is a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people and their lives is completely accidental.

Cheers,
B.

Kids are Strange

2005-10-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

The other day in our living room Elle, James, and Amanda decided to have a screaming contest, James won. It was so funny to watch. I think it started when my oldest, Elle screamed for no apparent reason, kids do that you know and usually without warning so the cup of hot coffee you WERE holding is now spread evenly on your new pants that were bought last week and worn for the very first time. Anyway, Elle and James were going at it then Amanda joined in. Amanda is now 18 months and has really developed quite a personality. She’s actually turning into a little person. Elle finally gave up, I think the little vein on the side of her temple told her to stop or else. So then it was James and Amanda, what a hoot. Amanda was grinning from ear to ear just taking in the communication she was having with her brother, if you could call that communication. The kids get along so well and it is always a joy to see them having fun with each other.

I decided to settle everyone down by playing a game of starfish. For those of you who have no clue what this is, you will thank me and may even send me money*. It is a game where you tell your kids to lay on the floor and act like a starfish. Now for all you non-marine biologists out there, starfish barely move and don’t make any noise (well as far as the human ear is concerned), they just lay there looking pretty. If one of your kids should move, you start over again. Works like a charm.

Try it!

Credit Cards and Personal Checks Accepted. Paypal preferred. LOL

Reality TV

2005-10-20T07:29:00.000-05:00

What is it about reality TV shows that make them so popular? I have to admit that I watched the first two seasons of survivor religiously, but that was it. What are they up to now Survivor 23 – The Manhattan Jungle? Reality shows have taken over good programming, ok good may be to giving of a word.

The show that I would like to talk about is Extreme Makeover – Home Edition. When it first aired, the makeover team would take the existing house and improve on it, great concept for apparently worthy candidate’s right? NO, it got boring people didn’t want to see improvements; they wanted to see demolition, which in today’s society makes a heck of a lot of sense. Now the improvement team takes down the entire house and builds a new one in its place. The last preview I saw had them take down the house with ropes tied to a bunch of horses, hah, yes horses, not the truck kind of horses, the four legged kind. What’s that all about?

What really has me questioning this show is the position they put these lucky makeover winners in. The Network usually awards the makeover to a poor family, a family that has special needs children, a family that has 24 kids living in a two bedroom, a family that has adopted 37 kids from some third world country, a family that has been hit by the loss of one or both of its parents, OR a poor family with 61 kids some with special needs who have been adopted from some third world country living in a two bedroom and the mother or father died.

I’m wondering what these families are thinking when they get their first tax or utility bill, considering the “Wonderful Improvement Team” took the 2 bedroom, one bathroom, run down shed and replaced it with an 8000 sq ft, 15 bedroom, 12 bathroom, good lord gourmet kitchen, backyard pool, plasma screen TV on every wall HOUSE (which was built in a week; I have some construction questions). The reason these people have the kind of houses they lived in was because they couldn’t afford the later house. I agree that some of these families need help, but to put them in a position of failure sure won’t help them in the long run, it’s like putting a band aid on gun shot wound to the chest. Building a house that is fit for royalty doesn’t solve any problems. Maybe a little remodeling, and whole lot of savings with trust funds for education and special services would help a bit more, but I guess that wouldn’t make for good TV.

I’m interested to know how these people are doing a year later. I’ll bet these families are back to where they started or maybe worse off, having sold their beautiful house to pay their debts and trying to keep the last of their dignity and self esteem.

It’s a TV show that was put on the air to bring in ratings at the expense of people that have fallen on hard times. It’s not about the people.

Winning - What Would You Do?

2005-10-14T07:28:00.000-05:00

I’m not one that plays the lottery that often. Our lovely state of Pennsylvania participates in a multi state lottery called Power Ball. I believe that there are 27 states that partake in this lottery which means that if know one matches all the numbers for a while the jackpot will reach eye popping proportions. My personal rule of thumb is that once the jackpot reaches an amount that attracts media coverage I’ll go and buy a ticket. Today the Power Ball is worth $290 million with a lump sum payout of $141.9 million. The last time I checked that was a lot of dough even with the increasing energy costs that all of us are experiencing in the states.

Ok, so I have a better chance of growing a second head named Harvey than hitting the numbers, but isn’t it worth $1 to find out? When the lottery hits a jackpot of this size people always ask “What would you do with all that money?” Then they say it would put me in a higher tax bracket, plus with all the taxes being taken out you would be left with only a fraction of that amount. To all those people I say SHUT UP. I’ll take a fraction of $141.9 million dollars any day of the week.

So going back to the original question, what would I do with all that money? It’s quite simple actually. Winning that much money comes with a lot of responsibility. After notifying my immediate family, attorney, financial advisor and family spokesperson (I wouldn’t be in any condition to stand in front of the media after winning $141.9 Million) I would take $1 million dollars and blow it to get the whole spending thing out of my system, then I, along with my family would put a plan together that would involve family, education, charity, and a few close friends. This money would be put to good use for my generation and future generations. Trusts and foundations would be started for my kids and certain causes that my wife and I are already involved in. The bulk of the money would remain untouched, put away earning interest somewhere.

I'm human too, so I would be a little materialistic and buy a bigger house (not mansion), drive a nicer car (replace my 2000 Camery with a 2006 - I just love that car), I have always wanted a Rolex so I guess that would go on the list. We would do a lot of traveling and enjoy being with our kids.

What would you do?

Soup Day

2005-10-12T07:38:00.000-05:00

I was in Target this past Saturday night to buy diapers; we accidentally overlooked the fact that we only had two diapers left so before things got messy I made the run. While I was heading towards the check out line a group of young adults between the ages of 19-22 made a rude comment to me about my diapers and how whooped I must be. I started to laugh and told them that I couldn’t recall ever being in a variety store at 10pm on a Saturday night like they were, and that I was usually partying somewhere with my friends when I was their age. I topped it off with “Who’s the loser now?” By the redness in their cheeks and the complete silence, I knew that I had won.

Kids, do they really think they can out smart us. I probably shouldn’t talk, I’m not that old just a little wiser.

The interaction was kind of fun. I should do my shopping on Saturday night more often.

__________________

I’m in my mid 30’s and wondering what the hell went wrong. I never thought that I would be so excited about poop, but I am. Amanda, our daughter who is 17 months old and born with Down Syndrome has had problems for quite awhile POOPING. I’m sure that one day she will stumble across this post since it will forever be in cyber land now and have a few choice words to say to me. Anyway, she has fissures that are extremely painful to her when she goes to the bathroom and because of that pain she has been withholding, causing her colon to grow larger. Because of this it backs up into her intestine where it starts to harden, making it more difficult to pass and more painful. Also, because her colon is larger than normal (once she starts pooping regularly her colon will shrink back to its normal size) she is able to hold it in for days. We started her on medication, my wife knows the name of it, about a month ago and it’s only now that it’s starting to work, she’s pooping up a storm. Poor kid woke up this morning covered in it, we call these poop-outs, and appropriately named I think. So over the past few weeks my wife and I have had our share of discussions relating to………..POOP.

I’m happy to say that Amanda is making up for the past couple months and Victor Mills, the founder of Pampers would be very happy, Victor past away in 1997. He was a chemist with Proctor & Gamble when he invented the disposable diaper; he used his grandchildren as test subjects. I bet you those failed experiments were pretty nasty.

Pooping, it’s a natural thing, but sometimes it just needs a little encouragement.

____________________

I had trouble sleeping the other night for no apparent reason. I was bored and sleep obviously didn’t want to embrace me. I found myself staring up at the ceiling fan trying to focus on one of the fan blades to see if I could follow it going around and around. I moved my eyes rapidly in a circular motion trying to keep my eyes on one blade. I was unsuccessful, as the blades were moving quickly. I thought about it for a moment only to realize that what I was trying to do is exactly what I try to do in life, keep up, and lately it has been a challenge.

It seems as you get older life starts to speed up, but really you are just doing more things to fill up the time, time remains the same, but what if I was able to slow down time? I grabbed the remote to my ceiling fan and hit slow. It was pretty easy to follow the blade, a little too easy and it became boring so I pressed the medium button and found that I was able to still track the blade, but it was a little more difficult. It took a lot of effort to keep track of the blade on the medium setting but it kept me interested and as silly as it may sound, gave me a feeling of accomplishment. Weird ha. I think that’s what I need to do in my life, find a speed that I am comfortable with, but not to comfortable, maybe somewhere between the fast and slow setting. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

I guess that’s what it means when “they” say “take it one day at a time”. It’s easy to get caught up with things that are going to happen a week a month or even a year from now.