Santa Claus and Noah

I have a 6 month old son, Noah. He went to see Santa Claus on Saturday. To say the least, he wasn't very happy. He likes playing Santa, just not seeing him.

So, today I go into work after a Browns defeat. I have to remind myself that football games scores are beyond my control. This was a game the Browns gave away. I do know we've played spoiler to the Bengals before, so it must have been our turn.

I want to wish all of you the very Merriest Christmas! If you're traveling, be safe. If you're staying home, I hope all is well.

Raking Leaves

I hate raking leaves. It's mindless work, and I just can't seem to make it fun. I was motivated to do it because a community liason officer in my township said there were enough leaves in the front of my house to cause problems in the drain systems.

The boy scouts used to do it as a money maker. I guess the 30 bags they filled at my house each year didn't constitute a fund raiser, but more of a pain in the rear. I paid them well. I'd love to see them do it again. Boys, if you're out there, please come see me in 2008.

As I am raking, I was trying to think of things to take my mind off of all the other activities I could be doing on a Saturday in December.

I begin thinking about the cycle of the leaves. Every year, they grow on trees and provide shade. Then, the fall comes, and they turn beautiful colors. When the daylight become scarce, they fall to the earth, turn brown, and we deal with them. If left to be, they actually break down to become compost for the earth. Somehow, society has managed to tell us to pick them up from the ground, landfill (or compost if you have a community who cares), and do it all from year to year.

So, I started thinking about the number of times I've seen this cycle. It's been a few, and it seems to come faster every year. Now, I'm thinking of other cycles in my life. Trash day seems to come every day (I know it's just once a week), it feels like I just graduated college, seems I just hired in my current job (I'm in my fifth year), on and on.

As I finished bagging the last of the leaves, I was left wondering about these cycles: Does life begin to slow down once again? Am I doing all that I can to live the cycled moments to their fullest? Am I missing the out of ordinary moments because I'm too caught in the "regular cycles" of life?

Wow, who knew so much could come from the scraping of the rake against the dormant green gold grass, gathering the offending vegitation?

Maybe this is why we rake leaves, to free our mind to get to the bigger picture...

What will they say?

Yesterday, one of my fellow builders and I were speaking about Epitaphs. Indeed, what will I be remembered for at my funeral?
As I've been pondering this in the past day, I think it will be like a cake. The conversation may be layered based upon my life points.

In elementary school, my teachers would always write on report cards about what I liked to do vs. what I didn't like to do. Wow, who knew I had an Opus beginning to show at 7 years old? They would note that if I had passion for something, I would focus my energies and give 110%. If I had no interest, I would do enough to "get by". To say the least, my grades reflected this fact. I loved band, math, and socializing. Writing, and paying attention when I wasn't curious, well, you can guess these were not the times I was hitting on all cylinders. Grade Card day wasn't my favorite time to walk home. I know my parents would talk about this.

In high school, I realized I was a student at heart. I'll never forget when a teacher from 4th grade told me at a high school musical I MC'd, "we always wondered what would happen to you, I guess you've turned out OK". Confidence in me? Not in the early years. I didn't warrant it, I was too different for status quo.


Books had always been part of my life. When I would be punished to my room, there was no TV. Just "Book of the Years" and classic novels my Grandmother had given me. So, I read a ton. Probably I was being punished for not doing things I had no interest in. But, in high school, that's where I began using this to advance my studies. I came into my own, being led by my love of music. I actually became an A - B student overall, with enough of a grade point to make it in honor society. I couldn't believe what a change I took in just a few short years.

This is also where I realized I wasn't a normal guy. Shoot, I continue to be weird. When other people would go to the pizza shop after our football games, I would go to model railroad club. I'll never forget when I girl I asked out couldn't believe I wanted to stop at the club after we went to dinner. She was blown away by what we were doing at the club with our hobby, and actually came up a few times after. I wonder if this is what she would talk about? I know my club friends would talk about this, because they STILL mention it to this day...

Those four years of high school began to fly by. I was voted biggest bookworm (Ok, top 3 out of 186 people) my senior year. I was always reading. I still didn't like English class. Don't tell me why I like a poem or book! I still don't fully understand graphing sentences and the like. I am sure my English teachers would tell a much different story than my band director during my funeral.

Time for decisions about post high school...

Marine Corps, here I come... I was so enamered with marching band, I could be part of the Marine Honor Corps band. Perfect, everything I thought I wanted. Hello Mom, guess what I'm doing for the next four years. Travel, uniforms, my family Marine Corps tradition, music...

Next time..... The cake continues to grow, and I keep learning...college and beyond...