Snow Day!

Dorene scared the crap out of me this morning. She was watching t.v. and suddenly said, "Oh my gosh . . ." I bolted up wondering what was going on, heart beating furiously. She finished her sentence " . . .South Bend schools are canceled today."

A little bit later, the other magical words scrolled across the bottom of the screen, "IU South Bend closed." Hey, even us big kids can still get excited about a snow day.

When the Routine becomes Not So Routine

Our pastor's wife Cheryl was due to give birth to baby number 8 (yes, that freaks us out too). No problems with the previous seven, so she was going in last week to be induced. They had been going through a mid-wife, so while they were at a hospital, it wasn't a regular doctor performing the procedure.

All was well until Cheryl suddenly bolted upright in her bed in intense pain. Her placenta broke and blood literally was gushing everywhere. Pastor Greg later told us he just totally lost it. That would be an understatement, I know I would have totally freaked seeing my wife like that.

Luckily, there just happened to be a party going on in the hospital that day of several doctors and nurses, who normally wouldn't be there. As soon as the placenta broke, she was immediately wheeled down for an emergency c-section. When it was all over, Cheryl and the baby (Lucas David) were fine. But Cheryl lost 40% of her blood, which gives you an idea of how serious it was.

As Greg shared from the pulpit on Sunday, had those doctors not been there, or had this happened at home, then both Cheryl and the baby wouldn't be here today. Cheryl was very pale, but still came to the morning service with the baby. Everything happened so fast with the crisis and delivery that the word didn't even go out right away that they needed prayer, so some people on Sunday morning were hearing about this for the first time (pastor wasn't exactly in a mood to call everyone right away, which was understandable). God had it under control, and all is fine now.

Greg and Cheryl are great parents, and exactly the type that should have a lot of kids. Their other seven are very excited about a new baby brother. As for our daughter Anna? When we asked her about what she thought of the new baby, she said, "It's just a bald thing in a blanket."

A NIght with the Globetrotters

Last night, Cameron and I went to see the Harlem Globetrotters up at Notre Dame. This was a daddy/son night out, and the women had to stay home (much to Cameron's delight, especially not having to share the spotlight with big sis).

I used to watch the Globetrotters every year when they appeared on "Wide World of Sports" back in the 70's. This was the era of Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Geese Ausbie. A whole new lineup now, but still very entertaining to watch.

They do much more than just play the game against the hapless Washington Generals. The action virtually stops a times and they have other performers come on. One group in particular were the "Harlem Hi-Flyers," an acrobatic group that were pretty incredible. Also, the Globetrotters always have routines where they bring a kid from the audience to shoot a basket or try to steal the ball, or just clown around. A lot of the routines they do I rememeber from 30 years ago, so they pretty much stick to the same formula. One of my favorite parts was the opening "magic circle" with the famous Globetrotter theme playing. Some pretty impressive ball handling during that time, most of which you didn't typically see in their t.v. appearances.

Cameron's favorite part was when one of the Globetrotters had their pants yanked down and exposed their yellow underwear. He just cackled and later called Grandma Dennie and told her that this was just hilarious. The night may have been just slightly long for him, but overall he really enjoyed it . . .and I enjoyed the one-on-one time with the little tyke.

Just take the Oscar, now

I saw "Juno" over the weekend, and it was much, much better than I was expecting. The star, Ellen Page, has just been nominated for Best Actress. I am not sure I've ever seen a movie when part of the way through I'm like, "yep, just give her the Oscar, now." She is really that good. The movie is guaranteed to win Best Original Screenplay (the writing is superb and be ready to learn lots of new terminology). It may just go all the way and take Best Picture.

Not a movie I was all that eager to see. It's about a 16 year old that gets pregnant. But, well, you just have to see it . . .and contrary to what some may initially think before seeing it, it's not pro-choice and does not celebrate irresponsibility.

Now That's Dedication

On January 1, Indiana University went smoke free. No smoking anywhere on campus. The lone exception is that you can go to your car and smoke and then there are the technicalities of sidewalks that border run along the city streets.

Well yesterday, it was snowing pretty hard and it was very cold. There outside in the midst of this, on one of the sidewalks, was a fellow employee puffing away. I'm thinking, wow, that is really dedication to a cause. By golly, I'm going to pursue this dream of lung cancer no matter what!

Posters around campus have these little tear-off cards that you can give someone if you see them smoking as a "gentle reminder" that the new policy is in effect. The rationale being that employees and students can police it ourselves and don't have to call security to rat on a smoker. I'm figuring, if someone is that desperate for a puff, as long as it's far from me, more power to 'em.

Worn Out

A couple days ago, a colleague invited me to play racquetball at IU South Bend, where we have 3 courts. I took him up on the offer and we played over the lunch hour. I hadn't played in over 10 years and I kinda forgot just the kind of workout it is. I managed to win 1 of 3 games but was totally exhausted by the end. I used to be not too bad, but I spent most of this time chasing the ball all over the place, when you are really supposed to play the angles and anticipate where the ball is going to go. I'll ask for a rematch.

Then later that night, I went to the South Bend Table Tennis Club for the weekly round-robin. On this night I debuted by new Joola Tango Ultra pips-out rubber with the 1.8 mm sponge. Hey, this stuff is serious!

Anyway, I played 5 matches and every match went 5 games. Luckily I went 3-2, because I always hate losing in a 5th game. But, boy, I am tired! Guess I'm not in as good of shape as I thought.

Why I Don't Want Hillary as President

I don't want Hillary to win this year. It has nothing to do with her stand on anything. In fact, I think she might actually do okay. But let's assume she wins this year and is then re-elected to a second term. I give you the following evidence to ponder:

• 1980 - Vice President Bush
• 1984 - Vice President Bush
• 1988 - President Bush
• 1992 - President Clinton
• 1996 - President Clinton
• 2000 - President Bush
• 2004 - President Bush
• 2008 - President Clinton
• 2012 - President Clinton

Simply put, I'm just tired of these two families. I don't want a 32 year cycle of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. Time for someone else with a different last name to get in the White House, and I don't really care a whole lot at this point who it is, just somone different.

Manning Advances to Championship Game!

A good headline to read tomorrow . . .if you are a Giants fan! The wrong Manning advanced this year. Colts really had a bad day. One of those off days for Peyton where nothing went right, even though they had plenty of opportunity to win. Not as crushing of a loss this year, because the Super Bowl run last year was very memorable.

Next week's NFC championship has two good storylines. Brett Favre at his age looking at possibly one more shot of glory. The last time he led the Packers to the championship was against . . .the Patriots. On the other side, you have the chance for Peyton's little brother to go to the Super Bowl. I think the Packers will win this one, but the Giants may give them a run for the money. At least Brett Favre won't have Jessica Simpson in the stands rooting for him.

One reason I wasn't as crushed with the Colts losing is I really think anyone that went into New England next week was looking to get toasted. I don't see how the Chargers could possibly beat the Patriots, but if they pull the upset of the century, I'll take it. I'd still like to leave the Patriots coach on the verge of history with this undefeated season only to have it ripped away. But, I think I may need to get over it and just deal with a historic 19-0 season. Oh but how sweet that would be to see them go down.

The Happiest Place on Earth? Yeah, Right!

Over Christmas break, we went to Disney World, aka The Magic Kingdom, aka The Happiest Place on Earth. This was our second visit. Back in 2003 we went and Anna absolutely loved it. Had breakfast with all the princess characters which she loved, rode on "It's a Small World" countless times. Overall, a great day. Cameron was just 1 1/2, so he didn't remember any of it.

So we thought now was a good time for a return trip so Cameron could experience the magic. We were staying at a beachfront condo in Tampa (thanks to Dorene's sister) and drove over to Orlando on Christmas Eve to re-experience the Disney magic.

Flash forward to the next day. Anna and Cameron were pleading to us to never, ever take them back to Disney World. So, what did Mickey and Minnie do to them to make them feel that way?

They just weren't all that enthralled by it all. Let's start with Cameron. When we get there, the first thing we go to is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, which he loved. When you leave the ride you oh so conveniently exit through the gift shop. We told each kid they had $20.00 to spend however they wanted to. Cameron saw a toy pirate gun he wanted. We told him we'd come by and pick it up when we were leaving. About an hour later, Cameron starts asking us when we're leaving, and basically doesn't stop asking us all day long. Didn't he realize we paid $61.00 for him to come to Disney? Come on kid, it's the land of Mickey, Pluto, etc. You're supposed to HAVE FUN. But no, he wanted to get his gun and get out of Dodge.

Anna just wasn't into it either. She enjoyed the rides, especially the ones that were more of the thrill ride variety (which Disney doesn't really have, so our next amusement park visit needs to be along the lines of Cedar Point or Kings Island). By the end of the day, she was in tears. It was time for the electrical light parade, but she didn't care. She just wanted out of there. One problem is she got motion sick on back to back roller coaster rides. That coupled with the fact of probably too much snack food, and just being tired out from all the walking, she was d-o-n-e.

For me and Dorene? We don't care if we ever go back, unless it's an all-expense paid trip to one of the Disney resorts where we have several days and we go on an off-peak time. To say Disney was insanely crowded would be a massive understatement. It was literally wall-to-wall people and just going from place to place was difficult, and we had a dual stroller to make navigation even more difficult.

So farewell Magic Kingdom. The rest of the week was just spent on the beach collecting sea shells or in the pool. The kids never said one word about Disney. Cameron spent most of his time running around the condo with his gone and shooting at dolphins or birds in the ocean.

Just a couple days ago at breakfast, Cameron again said, "Dad, remember, never, ever, ever, ever, ever take us back to Disney World." Not a problem, kid.

Re-entering Politics

Since the 2006 mid-term elections, I've basically ignored everything political. Have rarely watched any news program focusing on the candidates running for President. I kinda got burned out on the 2006 election when I was heavily involved in an unsuccessful campaign for state representative.

But, now I think I'll get back into it. The Iowa caucus is finally over, and I don't think the result was all that surprising. I figured Huckabee would have a strong showing, but you also have to factor in that both McCain and Rudy weren't there, so I'm not sure how much you can read into that victory.

As for Clinton finishing third? That's where things could get interesting. But then again, she may come roaring back and Obama's Iowa win will just be a footnote to this presidential campaign. Nevertheless, I'm ready to start getting back into it. There's a long, long way to go before we hit the polls in November. Although for a while I've figured it would be Hillary v. Rudy, I'm not completely sure anymore if that's a done deal or not.