Santa Claus is Dead!!!

Well it’s back to work for me. I didn’t have the luxury of an extended holiday break. But, I think I’m doing better than my wife, who I suspect is slowly going mad, trying to entertain the kids during Christmas vacation. Hopefully you all had a great Christmas holiday. Mine was okay. It didn’t quite live up to the vision I had, but was nice none the less. The biggest challenge was our household being overrun by illness. My step-son was the most severe of group and kept my wife (who was also sick) on edge most of the weekend with his cough induced vomiting and lack of appetite. I felt sleep deprived due to waking up in the middle of the night to help administer breathing treatments or clean-up vomit. However, the wife and I pulled it together and upheld our holiday promises to the kids. Santa arrived on Christmas Eve, as expected, and the children seemed to enjoy their gifts. The night took an unfortunate turn when my youngest daughter started mentioning, with disappointment, the things that she didn’t receive; all while standing next to the tower of gifts that Santa brought her. This occurred a mere day after she embarrassed me at my mother-in-law’s house, by acting unappreciative of some of the gifts she received there. I had a stern talk with her on the way home about being a considerate, grateful, thoughtful and gracious receiver of gifts. So I was very disappointed about this development that occurred on Christmas Eve. I sent her to her room and collected my thoughts for a moment. I recalled being her age, and loving the act of opening presents. It was exciting to me. But I remember appreciating the gifts I received, and never really felt like I wanted for anything. I joined my daughter in her room and I did it…I killed Santa Claus. I felt like her greed was overshadowing the magic of Santa and the meaning of Christmas, and it would do her a disservice to allow it to continue. I explained to her that the gifts under the tree were provided by the hard work and sacrifices of her dad and step-mother, not some jolly fat-guy dressed in red. I further explained that she was so lucky to have what she does and there are so many less fortunate people. I also tried to make clear that this lesson isn’t just for Christmas but for everyday of your life. If you live your life around material possessions, you will never be happy because there is always something bigger, brighter, faster, etc. I stopped short of using her biological mom, by name, as a perfect example of how being self-centered blinds a person from enjoying the simplicities of life and the things they have. Plus, since the individual only thinks of themselves, they have very few friends and tend to exist in a state of unhappiness and loneliness with only their possessions, and the drive to get more things, to keep them company. Maybe these concepts are too advanced for an 8 year old to fully grasp, but I feel like it is important to at least “plant the seed” and try to reinforce the message.

For all that went wrong with the holiday, I was able to keep things in perspective. Last year during Christmas, my first (starter) marriage was breathing its last dying breaths. I felt unloved, unappreciated, and both physically and mentally exhausted. With the exception of impending divorce, I was uncertain what the new year had in store for me. This year started rough but it eventually brought me more happiness than I thought possible. I’ve written before about how fortunate I feel and even though my new family’s first Christmas together was less than perfect, I still feel that way. I think about how far our family has come in such a short amount of time and it is pretty amazing really. Life isn’t always easy and sometimes doesn’t measure up to our expectations, but that’s okay. The fact that I feel so loved and needed, makes it’s easy to maintain a positive attitude. I think my attitude helps me to be a better husband, father, and all around person. So, here is hoping you had a great Christmas and you’re granted many blessings in 2007….Until next time.

Pet Peeve

The nice spammer, who infected my last post with three comments, has prompted the subject of today’s blog entry. Is there anything more annoying than unsolicited advertisements or information? I mean…do these tactics really work on anyone? You spammers out there…get a life…just think of all the good you could do if you directed your efforts towards something constructive instead of trying to get people to make millions of dollars from home or increase their penis size.
Okay…here is another pet peeve…people who own dogs, yet leave them permanently outside chained up or fenced in. I’m sure the dog just loves being subjected to the elements and totally ignored by their owners. It seems like every neighborhood has one of these. We neighbors also suffer when we open our windows to enjoy some unseasonably warm weather and are subjected to the insistent barking of an attention starved animal that sounds off at every passing car, person, insect, falling leaf, or plane flying overhead. My question is…why even own the animal if the only interaction between pet and owner is when the human caretaker slings some food at the animal once a day? The answer can’t be for companionship. Maybe the answer is protection. Hmm…Let’s see…maybe instead of owning a dog, try installing motion sensitive perimeter lighting around your house and have an alarm system installed. The alarm companies are always running specials and the monthly charge is probably comparable to the cost of feeding ole Sparky, especially when you consider the home insurance discount for the alarm. Or maybe, just keep the dog inside. I’m sure it could “protect” you better from in there and it would allow your neighbors a, much appreciated, peaceful nights sleep. So…what are some of your pet peeves?
P.S. I’d hate to sign off on a negative tone, so I’ll leave you with a little saying. I took it from a good friend of mine, who includes it in all of his emails. Here it is:

Sing like no one is listening
Dance like no one is watching
Love like you have never been hurt before

Why Do Weekends Go By So Fast?

Ahh…there is nothing like a 4 day weekend to recharge the batteries. It was quite an action packed weekend. A few of the highlights:
We started out the weekend with a mini-date night (grown-ups + one child) on Friday. We celebrated in our traditional way…a couple of ribeyes and a nice bottle of wine. Although I must admit, I’ve been struggling to reach my lofty standards of grilled steak perfection. My last two efforts have been good, but not the awe inspiring feats of steaky goodness, that I’m accustomed to. It’s the lack of daylight and the colder outdoor temperatures that have thrown off my routine. Yes, it’s true; the winter time is unkind to us hardcore grillers. But, with a little more practice, I’m sure I’ll return to my place as the “grill master”.
Saturday was official date night. We dropped the little one off at his Nana’s, and we were off to enjoy our freedom. My feelings of liberation were short-lived when my lovely wife suggested that we go to the mall to find her the perfect shirt to match the rest of the crew for our impending family picture. The parking lot was packed. I drove around for 10 minutes trying to find a parking spot before my bride suggested getting dropped off to get a jump on shopping. I told her I would call her once I found a spot and had entered the said mall. She called twenty minutes later and was wondering if I was having phone problems, since I hadn’t called to give her an update. Nope…the phone was working fine, just hadn’t found a parking spot yet. It is amazing what goes through ones mind when they seem to be wandering aimlessly through this blacktop hell. But, I’ll spare you the details, because it is the holiday season after all. I finally found a parking spot and rejoined my wife inside and we resumed the search for the matching outfit, that was color coordinated but not to the point that we were all the same. See matching but not too-matching like some creepy clones. She found the perfect blouse, after thoroughly searching no less than 7 stores. I was a trooper through it all and didn’t complain once. We went out for dinner and to celebrate our one month anniversary. I was wondering what the symbol is for the one month milestone….is it paper or maybe…umm…a kitchen appliance…I don’t know. I personally think it should be the tissue, because thinking about the wedding day still waters the eyes (more on this later). We finished up the night at home watching grown-up TV.
Sunday’s highlight was wrapping all of the kiddo’s Christmas presents while watching Christmas shows. I introduced my wife to one of my favorites, A Christmas Story. I was amazed that she had been deprived from seeing this classic movie for so long. It is truly a great movie and it makes me giggle like an idiot every time I watch it. The kids all returned home in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day playing and watching the tube.
Yesterday we attempted the most feared feat for all families…the family picture. It is quite a challenge, especially when there are so many strong willed personalities in our family. But, I’m happy to report that we made it through relatively unscathed and I think there are actually a few good pictures that came out of it. I’m sure there will be some good ones, since we had our photographer from our wedding do the pictures. She is so talented and comes up with many unconventional poses and situations to capture stunning images of special moments. After the shoot, we were talking with our photographer and she was telling us how she was striving to get our wedding pics finished this week (I forgot to mention that we chose to have our family photos taken at the same place we held the wedding). (Okay…get your barf bags ready) She said that there are so many awesome photos of our amazing day. And continued by saying, our wedding was the smallest one that she ever shot but was the most intimate, romantic and heartfelt ceremony that she ever attended and looking at the pictures brought tears to her eyes. That meant a lot to me because I felt like it was an amazing day, but wondered if it had an impact on our guests and if they could feel the love that was expressed that day. In fact, my dear bride and I both felt that the honeymoon couldn’t even live up to the joy and happiness that we experienced that day. We heard many compliments from the attendees, but since they were either family or friends, I wondered just how genuine their praise was. The photographer confirmed our feelings about the wedding and it makes me wish you could bottle the feelings and emotion of that day. Of course…bottled or not…our mushy, sappy, and disgustingly romantic feelings keep getting stronger each day.
Okay…I’ll spare you any further punishment. Hope you have a great week and remember…only 12 more shopping days until Christmas.

Come On Weekend!

Boy am I exhausted. I’m just finishing up 11 straight days of work…and I was knee deep in maintenance those 11 days. Some of you may not know, but this is the worst time of year to be an aircraft mechanic. Something about the transition from warm to cold weather compels aircraft to expel large quantities of their vital fluids (such as fuel, oil and hydraulic fluid) out of their tanks, lines and reservoirs; onto the flightline or parking ramp. Some attribute this phenomenon to rubber seals and metal aircraft structures contracting under the colder temperatures (or it could be related to the fact that the youngest aircraft in our fleet is a mere 44 years old). I personally believe it is the aircraft themselves consciously creating the leaks as some sort of punishment to get even with their human care takers. The aircraft say to us, “if I’m forced to sit and suffer out in the cold temperatures and driving wind, you will be out here with me.” I know…you may be saying to yourself, “aircraft are inanimate objects and don’t experience feelings or thoughts”. I would have to disagree. Aircraft are much like humans, in that each one has its own personality. I’ve seen some that were so dependable, that you could always rely on them. They have very few mechanical problems and when problems did arise, they were usually minimal and the aircraft seemed to love to fly. They thrive on knowing that the aircrews and maintainers are proud of them. However, these aircraft always had issues when you were forced to keep them down for extended periods of time for scheduled inspections and maintenance. It is almost like you could see the demeanor of the aircraft change. But once you finished up the inspections and nursed it back to health, you would just rub her nose and she was ready to fly again. I also have seen the other side of the spectrum. You know…the problem child. The one that will fight you every step of the way and wants all of the attention it can get, even if it means getting its innards removed to fix it. These planes hate to fly and will do anything in their power to sabotage the mission and make the maintainer’s job as frustrating as possible. Another characteristic of these creatures is once you are working on them and things are going badly; the only way to make progress is to cuss, kick and scream until the aircraft submits and starts cooperating. NOTE: Sometimes cussing, kicking, and screaming do not actually aid in fixing the particular circumstance that has caused the mechanic frustration, but it does make the said mechanic feel better.
Okay…so I admit…I have rubbed a couple noses this week and cussed up a storm on a few occasions. I have run the gamut of talking sweetly and yelling a tirade at some of the 4-engined, flying, children that I care for. No…I’m not psycho (despite what the voices in my head tell me) I just need a day off:) Hope you have a great weekend, I know I will.