Fat people are harder to kidnap!

That is my new mantra. Actually its just as good as an excuse for not losing weight. This way I am assured to be around longer. The only drawback to that is that I will be alone and around longer. Maybe I better think that one through. Well, the only real update I have is that we all, and I mean the kids too, visited the nutritionist yesterday. She was very nice and the kids liked her. There are and were a few issues to deal with. My oldest seems to think that this means he will starve to death but we are working on it. We got some questions answered and some good information. Now to implement the changes. Slowly, but surely it will get done. I would like to see a definitely change in everyone by next spring. Not necessarily a lot of weight lost but some more positive blood tests. The whole weight thing will follow naturally. We learned about the right kinds of fats. Mono and Poly. Saturated fats are a no no. Fried foods are bad. Duh. I knew that but just kind of ignored it. Dairy is important. Sugar is bad. Lots of things like that. She wants status reports too. I just hope that some of this, any of it, gets through to thier mom. She didn't show up, which left my oldest upset, so she is getting everything from him and me as far as information. There is about a 5 percent chance that she will actually help us with this. But oh well, all we can do is what we can do.
Oh, yeah, one other thing I wanted to touch on. I have started trying to reconnect with some old buddies of mine. From grades school and high school. So far so good. I have had some really good converstations. There was a group of about 6 of us, give or take one or two at any given time. Most have kids and are or were married. Most of them called me back when I called them, which was cool actually. That meant that I hadn't burned any bridges over the years. Its gonna be harder to actually get to see them but I am working on that too. Why all of this, you ask? Because friends are too valuable to let go, even if it seems like you already have. There are a few friends of mine that I have literally not seen in almost 20 years. It seems like not that long ago when I wasn't even 20 years old. A few of these guys I have knows since I was 10. That would be 26 years! School, work, fishing, camping, traveling. All the things I did growing up I did with friends. Calling them, at least some of them, required the appropriate amount of pride swallowing. But once you said Hi, it was like old times. Only now, WE are old and not the times. All of them are around my age, a year or two older or younger maybe. Most of us at the same stage in life. Late 30's, working through the career, kids, wife (first or second). Most of us glad to have the opportunity to get back in touch and recount some memories. Maybe that is what I will update instead of that damned diet thing.

Welcome home!!!!

To the shuttle crew. Home being Earth. They landed in Cali instead of Florida due to weather problems. I am not a huge proponent of the space program. I do like that fact that we can do that and I feel that the experiments are somewhat important (whatever they are) but sit and think about what happens when we goto space. It's mind boggling enough to think about what is involved in making several hundred tons of metal fly across the country, along with hundreds of other similar shaped objects flying at the same time, and land safely exactly where they said they would. But space. That is uber-mind boggling. Putting man in orbit around our planet. Through the atmosphere. Landing safely. I can't wrap my pea brain around that. Hell, I am lucky to understand the mechanics of a hamster wheel. The engineering behind the preparation, take-off, flight, the freakin space walks, and the descent and landing. Even if the space program itself is unimportant, the science and brain power and bravery it has taken to get us to this point is amazing.

The other welcome home is not so amazing. I live in Ohio, if you haven't gotten that from previous posts. Southwest corner, Cincinnati. 14 Marines killed the other day. All from Ohio. 5 from my little corner of the world. As I progress towards true middle age and my kids fly through thier childhood, my view point on war changes a bit. I am still very patriotic. I still believe that the sacrifice for this country, the greatest one for a whole lot of reasons, is the greatest sacrifice that can be made. We are free for a reason. And there are 14 more reasons coming home to Ohio. I am sad for the families. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be free. I am proud to know that I can go down the hall in my office and debate the war, the president, and the local government without worrying that I might be dragged off to jail. But the closer my kids get to the age where they might be the ones fighting the more worried I get. I know it's normal and it doesn't sway my opinion of politics in general but it does make me think just a bit more about the reasons we goto war. Speaking of reasons...gas is $2.50 a gallon!!!! What the hell is going on here? W or someone around him had better get thier you know what together or every republican in Washington is going to be out of a job. I am no idealist, I know one thing sways voters more than any other. What have you done for me lately. I know that morals play a part. I know that character and service and intelligence are all factors. But I also know that if voters have to pay $3 a gallon on thier way to the voting booth in 08, then there are gonna be changes.

Proof positive that not everyone is like that jerk that cut you off this morning

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/12311591.htm

Here is a story that flies in the face of everything that you have been hearing about baseball players this year. Including much of what I have been ranting about since most of what you hear from the media these days is all about the bad stuff. And I am lucky enough to live in the same town that these guys play in. Hopefully you will read this story but let me give you the Reader's Digest version. This boy's grandpa had a heart attack in the stands of the Reds game last night. The security guard took the boy to the bullpen while the EMTs worked on his grandpa. As they took his grandpa to the hospital and before his parents got there, the Reds players (including some very well paid superstars) took him on the field for the post game high fives, they took him to the locker room and showered him with gifts including a batting helmet worn by one of the guys that played in the All Star game. Truly class acts all the way. And the quote by Junior? Its just a game that we play. Finally a professional athlete that gets it. And it gets buried deep. Nowhere on ESPN.com do we see this story. Not even on the MLB pages. The same with SI.com. But we can keep hearing about Palmiero's steroid problem. How festivities are cancelled. How the feds might be looking at purjery charges. I guess that is what sells. I emailed this to just about everyone I knew. Hopefully everyone will get to read it.

Why do men have nipples?

I hafta admit, I love that question. I saw it today and it actually made me stop and think. Those of you who know me at all know that making me stop AND think in the same day is a hard feat to accomplish. But it does beg the question. I know there is a scientific answer but who cares about that.

I actually have another topic for my little corner of the world today. Baseball. Not the game where pros take illegal substances, lie before thier friends and God, then get caught. I am talking about the game that boys play. I was emailed a wonderful article

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/opinion/31brooks.html?ex=1123819200&en=a92c185d1572be07&ei=5070&emc=eta1

This article says it all about the last several years of my family's existence. My oldest son and now my youngest too, both play for select baseball teams. By select, I mean that they had to try out and make the team. Now, this seems a bit harsh at 9 years old (my youngest) but he requested it. My oldest (13) is still in that world until he joins the high school team after next summer. But that article really describes the world that everyone lives in that shares the dream of being truly good at a sport that you love as a child. My oldest enjoys two things in life...baseball and the outdoors. If he is not playing or practicing baseball then he is fishing or hunting or swimming or something outside. He plays and practices baseball in the dead of winter too. So does my youngest. I will admit, I feed the desire. I am 100 percent behind my kids if they want to pursue something with this kind of passion. I do not push them, I do not live my childhood through them, but I do enjoy going and being part of an extended family of parents that love thier kids as much as I do. That statement may sound a bit harsh. I am not insinuating that parents that don't drive thier kids all over God's creation just to swing a bat for an hour in a cage with a retired minor leaguer love thier kids any less than I do but when you spend a couple of hours a day several days a week for more than 8 months out of the year spread out over several years with the same group of parents and kids, you definitely feel a sense of family about them. It just happens. And its good. My sons have made friends that they would have never made if they had not had this experience. The same with me and my fiancee. When we find out that one or more kids are leaving the team or that the team is breaking up (both of which happen over time, that part is inevitable too), it hurts. Maybe you keep in touch, maybe you don't. Either way, I feel that everyone is better off for the experience. There are two reasons why I went on this rant today, the first one is because of the article that I linked, the second is that my son decided not to return to his main team next year. Why is not important. The important thing is that we made a lot of friends, some that I would consider close. Those experiences and those relationships will carry with me for a lifetime and for that I can never be sorry. I will miss everyone. Some of them I will see again, either through continued friendships or at the baseball field by chance, but I will miss them none the less.

not worth mentioning but who cares....it's my blog

I did read today that the golfer, John Daly, is gonna attempt to hit a golf ball from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to the American side. From table rock point to goat island. The only relevance this has is that I was just there and visited both sites. That's one helluva golf shot. I read that it's 350 yards in the air. It looked a lot farther than that. Ole John is a big boy too, likes his food and beer. Has had some issues dealing with the fame he got in the 90's but is a good golfer since he has one 2 majors. I like him, the every man's golfer. Sort of the Arnie of my generation. Although with not as much winning potential. Good luck John. I will be channel surfing tonight looking for the video.

Let me drop what I am doing and work on YOUR problem!

Not much going on today. Busy catching up some, still. Not sure if the whole diet update thing is a good idea since I know subconciously I am not weighing myself due to the potential for depression when I see that I have made no freakin progress whatsoever. Of course, I haven't gone to the gym either and my excuses (baseball season) are long over. Of course, I probably don't want to change too much since I have a tuxedo to fit into. Yeah, Yeah, that's it. I can't get into losing weight because the tux won't fit right if I lose too much between fittings. Whew, for a second there I thought I was truly out of excuses.

I'm back....

Ah yes, first day back from vacation. What a relief it is to get back to work. All of that relaxation, stressless days, sleep, fun...it was all getting to be too much. I need to hear the grinding of my teeth at night, the coffee induced meetings, the pain flaring up in my wrists from the incesant typing day after day. Now THAT'S fun. Enough sarcasm (if you can ever have enough). Vacation was awesome. A few notes on the Niagara area. The US side, touristy and not as well kept at the Canadian side. The falls...you must see them in person. There is no way that pictures or video or words can do them justice. Awesome. Mother Earth/Nature at her most powerful. There were a lot of statistics thrown around in various tours, brochures, etc...but the amount of water and the power at which it flows is staggering. Along with the amount of people there to see it. We stayed on the US side, due mainly to price and toured the Canadian side while we stayed. While the US side was a bit more touristy, the Canadian side can keep up the area due mainly to it's pricy sites. Almost $20 just to park near the area. There is a main strip just up from the falls that reminds one of the Gatlinburg area on steroids (insert your own Rafael Palmiero pun here). Lets just say that there was enough on both sides for us to stay busy for the entire time we were there. No boredom allowed. The border crossings were good, faster than I had expected given the current climate and the recent London activity. Even though there were lines it moved quickly. The drive up and back, yes we drove, was good. Yes, 4 people in a car for over 8 hours and we arrived without killing anyone. The kids were great the whole trip. I even got to spend some time with my oldest son fishing. He turned 13 right after we got back. He really enjoyed it and so did I. In fact, he got a set of golf clubs for his birthday and I made a tee time for early that morning so he could use them first thing. Dad of the year material right here. Actually, the idea is mostly my sweetie's and I am just taking credit for it. :-)

We bought a few bottles of local wine from the areas. An Icewine from Canada, a local New York wine along with that. Really building up our collection nicely. We also started a magnet collection of all of the states we have visited together. I have a feeling it won't be long before our fridge door is going to look like a really wierd Rand McNally map.

Other than that, we got more of the wedding items marked off. Got the gazebo/chapel booked and the invites sent to the printers. Ordered the boys' gift. Got the Announcements ordered also. Things are starting to fall into place. T minus 84 and counting. I can't wait.