Well, at least a foot and a half of snow is good for something....

By the way, these things are getting harder and harder to make the older and older I get...I'm a tad sore...)

The Perfect Gift

With my dad's birthday falling the day after mine, my grandma and grandpa killed two birds with one stone- so to speak- and bought us an Expedition Jogging Stroller- complete with turbo booster features; actually, that all depends on how fast my ole' man can get his 41 year old frame movin' along the pavement. Our first race of the year is coming up in April- the Canal Park 3 mile race. In addition to running around the neighborhood with pops, I'm planning on entering a number of shorter races with dad...hopefully the old guy won't tucker out and leave me stranded somewhere...I'll be sure to bring my cell phone with me in case I need to text message mom to come get us.

-Sarah Kay

Obama Rally

Well, I'm 41 and have never attended a political rally...until yesterday when I braved the elements and stood in line outside for 2 1/2 hours to hear Barack Obama speak at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron. 6,000 spots were made available on a first come, first served basis. With the speech scheduled for 6:00 and the doors opening at 4:00, I figured that it would be prudent to arrive around 3:00 to have a shot at getting into the convention center; this turned out to be a wise decision considering that there was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of thousand folks already in line when I arrived downtown Saturday afternoon.

Part of the reason for the long wait had to do with the security detail by the secret service. Every single person had to be hand checked and pass through a metal detector before entering the main auditorium. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I think my feet were entirely frozen; not to mention, I was just a bit perturbed at the large number of folks who were line-cutting...especially considering the fact that not everybody in line was going to be able to get inside to see Barack. As it turned out, about 1,000 folks were herded into the lower level of the convention center and had to settle for watching the program on TV monitors while another 1,000 or so were sent away with no admittance at all.

But, I was one of the fortunate ones to stand about 200 feet away from the man whom I truly pray will be our next president. Barack spoke for about 50 minutes, and unlike the numerous polished televised interviews and debates that I've read/ watched over the past months, this man- on this evening- simply spoke from his heart- with no written speech in front of him- and hammered home the recurring theme of hope...hope that a young minority man from a broken lower-income level home could one day grow up and have the "audacity" of dreaming about the presidency of the United States.

I've never professed to be a political guru or an expert on domestic or foreign affairs, but I think I'm a pretty good judge of character...and here's a man, in my humble opinion, who undoubtedly displays an incredible amount of charisma and passion for this election/ office...and a genuine hope that history can be made with his candidacy...all I know is that I can share with my grandkids one day that I was there the day that Barack came to Akron to share his message of hope.

Sarah's First Haircut

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After lunch this afternoon, Sarah Kay and I visited the local salon for a first haircut. I wasn't sure if she would sit by herself, but she was fantastic. Famous Hair has a children's chair w/ a TV/ VCR setup, so Sarah's attention was occupied on Elmo in Grouchland while the hair stylist trimmed away. And of course, the ultimate reward for my little girl came when she got to choose a lollipop from the drawer. I'm guessing she'll want this same "do" for her senior prom in just a few years.

A New Family Car

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Sadly, my days as a bright red mini-van drivin' dad are over (sniffle, sniffle) In lieu of sinking a boat load of money into the van, which was pushing 140,000 miles, I felt the time had come to ship it off to the dealer's lot and get something a bit more dependable. So, I opted for the spacious backseat, fuel efficient, 1 1/2 square foot cargo area 2008 Jeep Wrangler 4x4. I LOVE this vehicle.

I really was pleasantly surprised how smooth and quiet the ride is- not to mention the 6 speed manual transmission/ 6 speaker Sirius satelite MP3 radio/ 16" off-road tires/ Sunrider collapsible soft-top features. Chrysler has come a long way to assimilte the Jeep to most SUV's- with the exception of the few inconviences already mentioned above. All I know is that I can't wait for the summertime- when I can rip the roof off and cruise around town basking in the sun....oh, yeah...The most enthusiasm for the new car came from- other than myself of course- my son, Josh- who gave me high accolades for such a sagacious purchase (I just now need him to relay this praise to his mother!) the little guy has already nicknamed it- the GI-Joe Jeep. The kid is back in the will.

8th Kyu Blue Belt
January 26, 2008
Test Number 445

After an hour and a half test, the little guy came home Saturday morning with the Holy Grail of karate, an 8th Kyu Blue belt- at least in the eyes of a 6 year old. Josh's teacher told him that the bar has now been set a bit higher, and he's going to have to really work hard over the next year or so to reach the next color belt (green). Josh still really enjoys the classes, so I'm pretty confident that he'll stick with this. Way to go my little kung-foo karate dude!

Too Much to Ask?

"No blinding insights emerged from these months of conversation. If anything, what struck me was just how modest people’s hopes were, and how much of what they believed seemed to hold constant across race, region, religion, and class. Most of them thought that anybody willing to work should be able to find a job that paid a living wage. They figured that people shouldn't have to file for bankruptcy because they got sick. They believed that every child should have a genuinely good education- that it shouldn't just be a bunch of talk- and that those same children should be able to go to college even if their parents weren’t rich. They wanted to be safe, from criminals and from terrorists; they wanted clean air, clean water, and time with their kids. And when they got old, they wanted to be able to retire with some dignity and respect.

That was about it. It wasn’t much. And although they understood that how they did in life depended mostly on their own efforts- although they didn’t expect government to solve all their problems, and certainly didn’t like seeing their tax dollars wasted- they figured that government should help.

I told them that they were right: government couldn’t solve all their problems. But with a slight change in priorities we could make sure every child had a decent shot at life and meet the challenges we faced as a nation. More often than not, folks would nod in agreement and ask how they could get involved. And by the time I was back on the road, with a map on the passenger’s seat, on my way to my next stop, I knew once again just why I’d gone into politics."

The Audacity of Hope
-Barack Obama

What a shame that presidential elections can’t be simplified and re-focused to address simple, relevant issues like these that directly affect our everyday lives. This is not an endorsement for one individual candidate…but rather a simple wish that whoever receives the nomination for president…he (or she) will embrace the notion that- when it comes right down to it- most all of us just want our kids to grow up well-educated, safe from harm’s way, and genuinely happy in life.

Josh's Theatrical Debut

Well, the little guy will be performing on March 14-15 as he has landed a role in the Chapel Kids Ministry production of Something's Up on Damascus Road- a modern day tale where kids learn how to love and care for each other.

Josh attended his first rehearsal with the rest of the Straight Street Singers last night. In addition to Wednesday evening rehearsals, he has a choir camp scheduled for Feb 18 and two dress rehearsals the week of the performance. Wednesday have now become an evening for the two of us as we get to church around 5:30, have dinner together out in the atrium, and then both go to our own rehearsals. On the car ride home from practice, my son serenaded me with his first tune that he learned from the show..."I'm just a little squirt."

Get your tickets now...it's certain to be a hit! I know that I can't wait to see it.

13 Miles...no big deal, right?

No whimping out for me now…I finally got around to registering online for the Cleveland 1/2 Marathon yesterday, so let the training begin through May 18th. Up until just a few weeks ago, I was still dragging my feet on this commitment, but having joined the new Barberton YMCA will serve as a wonderful alternative to running in sub-freezing temperatures over the next couple of months.

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The program that I’m following provides me with a specific running/ mile count schedule as well as a target weight, which I’m currently about 15 pounds away from…ugh!!! Talk about a vote of confidence- or lack thereof- this online survey/ fitness profile that I completed the other day indicated that if I don't lose the weight/ clock the specified miles (@ 150 miles over a 10 week period), the possibility of me actually completing this run was somewhat remote at best. Oh well, I figure that come the day of the race, and after 10 miles or so I can't lift my legs for one more stride...I'll just hit one of the many pubs in the downtown area, kick back, feast on some chicken wings, and watch the "real" athletes conquer the course. Wish me luck.

What I Did on My Winter Break...

I can honestly say that in the 17 years of teaching English, I never assigned this pathetically unoriginal theme to my students. Now to blog on this, though, is entirely different.

But as tempting as it is to lay out in minute detail how I bummed around my house for two weeks, I'll refrain. (Although, I did become quite proficient in assembling Josh's Star Wars/ Pirates Lego sets- each one with a minimum of 500+ pieces...ugh!) But instead, - as I just spent the last 15 or 20 minutes looking back at my 2007's posts, it struck me as to how easy it can be to forget all the things that go on in your life in just a year. So here's my top monthly highlights from this past year...

• January: Josh's testing for his gold karate belt- the little dude was ecstatic!


• February: Monster Jam at the Gund with Josh and Marie


• March: Some old geyser turned 40


• April: Tribe snowy home opener


• May: trip to Boston for the Advancement Council seminar


• June: Father's Day at the Jake with the little guy


• July: Boettler Park Sand Volleyball with Sandman, Quick-Serve, and the rest of the gang


• August: Back to school and learning the Admissions gig


• September: The Labor of Love Run with Josh, and the Akron Roadrunner Relay Marathon Race with Maureen, Emily, Jeff, and Glen


• October: Marie's 13th birthday on the Nautica Queen


• November: Kalahari Thanksgiving- nothing like eatin' turkey in your swim trunks


• December: Chapel Christmas Concerts and chillin' with the kids over the break

So what's ahead for 2008? I'm definitely, positively, without any doubt, going to run the 1/2 marathon in Cleveland. We all just joined the new YMCA that opened up in downtown Barberton, and I'll do some running and light cross-training up through the end of February. Then- come March- I've got a program that I intend to follow to build up the stamina that I'll need to complete the 13 mile race. I'm hoping that I can convince a certain piano guy that I know to run the race with me this year...we'll see.

Secondly, I'm going to continue my Bible study with Greg. I started an on-line Bible blog site last year at this time, and God love Greg, he has stuck with me for an entire year. We've gotten almost all the way through the history books (we're currently on Nehemiah), and then the game plan is to tour the gospels throughout the Lenten period. No doubt I would not have persevered with this project had I not had somebody to bounce ideas off of...again, thanks so much for sticking with me on this Greg.

Thirdly, I'm going to make a concerted effort to set aside time each week- more than likely when the kids go to bed- to really hone my guitar skills- or lack thereof. I'm privileged to be able to play with such incredible musicians, and there is so much that I want to be able to do on the acoustic- it just takes that dreaded "p" word...practice, practice, practice.

And then I guess I'll keep blogging away. Hard to believe, but this will be my 242nd post, as I started in December 2005. What began as a unique little hobby has really taken off for me as an opportunity to reflect on the events and people in my life. It's fun and it keeps me out of trouble.