Day 242

Good to be Back: A long week finally came to an end. I''ll say this; I knew I'd miss Andrew, but I didn't know it would be this much. I found myself showing his pictures to anyone who I could. Its definitely good to be back home. Jessica was here this weekend and was a great help to Leah while I was gone. After the baby naming Sunday, I took Andrew while the girls went shopping. Andrew, Casey, and I went for a long walk in the neighborhood - it was a beautiful day. Everyone was out in the neighborhood. Tons of kids and dogs. Andrew slept half the time and was just content quiet and chilling while I was pushing him around during the other half. Babies have it pretty good. They are fed, have their asses wiped, play or sleep most of the day, and get a ton of attention. Sounds good to me.

The Road: Canada and Texas - two places that couldn't be any different. I have to say, Texas might as well be its own country. Its so big, there is so many different aspects of the state, and the people are essentially their own species. Those crazy Texans. I love that at one point this weekend I was told that I talked in a "funny accent" by a woman who was clearly born and raised in Dallas. My view of Dallas before I started going there for work years ago was the TV show, Dallas - which is still one of my favorites (Leah thinks I am crazy, but I still TIVO the reruns every day on Soap Net). Strange how JR Ewing had a thick Texas accent, yet his brother Bobby didn't, nor did his mother, but his father Jock did. Anyways, I did have an interesting time discussing the Pactiv buy to everyone I was in contact with. More good news for me - at my biggest account, Edward Don, we won this sales contest for biggest growth over prior year nationally. That should be another feather in my cap when it comes time to make decisions on the Prairie sales force. Every indication I am getting is that won't be able to do anything right away and there will be an evaluation period. I will continue to bust ass until they tell me otherwise.

Is the the beginning?: Could the Cleveland Browns actually be going in the right direction? This weekend's NFL draft gave a very telling look at the Browns brass. GM Phil Savage and Coach Romeo Crennell knew they had to do something drastic and make a splash because they are running out out time to turn things around for this sad-sack franchise that has been the epitome of pathetic since returning in 1999. At #3, I was really hoping they would skip Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn. They did. In drafting Tackle Joe Thomas from Wisconsin, they have finally addressed a serious need for the first time since 1970. That's right. 1970! They haven't drafted a tackle in the first round since I was -6. You now have a guy every scout loves and can pencil him in as a starter from day one - he should remain there for the next 10 years. He will be playing next to the top free agent linemen available, guard Eric Steinbach, signed this offseason. Poor Brady Quinn kept dropping, dropping, dropping. At #22, he was still there and Savage made the bold move to trade next year's #1 pick to get the QB they almost took at #3. This is brilliant on many levels. In drafting Quinn at #22 whom they almost took at #3, they can now pay him #22 money. The difference in price tag is enormous. We are talking a $30 million difference. We all know Charlie Frye isn't the answer. If the Browns had another bad year in 07, that pick would be another top five selection, where odds are they'd be looking at a QB. Now they have Quinn in the fold for less money and can groom him essentially a year in advance. Even if Quinn is a bust, Crennell and Savage won't be around to see the end. It's a move they had to make. Another risky move was taken talented, but red-flagged CB Eric Wright out of UNLV in the second round. They traded up to get him. He has first round talent, but the new conduct rules probably hurt his stock. Bottom line, if he stays in line this is an absolute steal. A+ from this guy on the draft overall. At least they have piqued my interest again.

Excellent Parenting: Don't miss this you tube clip of a 4 year old getting run over at a Colorado State Spring Football game. Its definitely worth watching. The kid gets BURIED. I haven't seen a little kid get run over that badly since a 14 year old cousin Steve floored me during the family softball game in my parents back yard when i was 5.

The Truth: My friend Betsy G is another of the many women we know who are pregnant. In our never ending crusade to tell whoever we can that it isn't as easy as it looks, Leah and I were filling her in on the realness. We do this is a public service announcement. Nobody told us about the issues one could have during pregnancy. Here we are two days short of nine weeks, and Leah is still not 100%. Hopefully one of these days she will. I will blast the doctor her botched her episiotomy and delivery - Dr. Barry Peskin. Call it slander, I call it the truth. This guy did a half-ass job and Leah has been feeling the effects ever since. The sad thing is that a friend of Leah's told her a few weeks ago that someone else this woman knew had the exact same problems with her delivery and afterwards. The doctor? Barry Peskin. Thank goodness Andrew has been so good. You take the good with the bad. My cousin Susie had a son, Griffin, a few weeks again and we attended the baby naming yesterday. She didn't go through the same problems at all and she goes to the same practice as Leah. (By the way - props to Susie and Bill. At the naming yesterday, they spoke of how Griffin's middle name is Royce, a family name, but the R is Royce is for Robert after my father. A classy, and much appreciated move).

Congrats: My old friend Aimee Lurie, aka "Germ (hard G)" had her second baby, a son, Joey Ryan Lurie. He was born Thursday in Cleveland. Germ and I have re-connected after being close in high school and she has become one of Leah's best friends here. She is one of the sweetest people you will ever come across. Props out to her and her husband Steve. Also gotta send happy b-day shoutouts to Sheri and Teddy.

Weak: Anyone else but me think Sopranos has been pretty weak thus far? Same thing for Entourage. The Ari Gold character minus Vince is not interesting. Although my guy Artie Lange did an excellent job as Ari's old college buddy in last night's episode.

Song of the Day: "Higher" by Q-Tip

Day 241

Finally: There is nothing better than when you have the first good days of the spring. The weather turns and it seems like everyone comes out of the woodwork and is outside. This weekend we couldn't have had better weather. It was 70 and sunny both Saturday and Sunday. We did out best to take advantage and make the most of it. We spent Saturday walking outside at Legacy for a couple of hours and chilled on our deck in the morning. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours walking through the Metroparks with Casey and Andrew. Andrew slept pretty much the whole time and Casey loved it. A side-note: I haven't been to the Metroparks in years and it is very quiet with lots of places to walk dogs, ride bikes, and they have horse trails as well. My dad used to go to the Metroparks by himself during the summer, throw his headphones on and go for a walk. So when we were looking for a place to park we ended up down a big hill where other calls were. We started walking up this big hill pushing Andrew and walking Casey. Halfway up I turned to Leah and I said "I know my father, there is no way he was hiking up this hill, he must have found the only flat trails and walked them." Sure enough, my mom said that was indeed the case. We ended the weekend by grilling with my mom and grandmother at my mom's house. Andrew was pretty good across the board - real quiet and slept a lot. That was a positive. On the other end, he probably didn't eat as much, therefore didn't sleep very well. He was up at 3 AM Sunday morning and last night 11:30, 2:30, and 6. Leah and I took turns. Since I am gone the majority of this week for work, the guilty conscious kicked in. No naps for me this weekend and two 6:15 wake ups for me. I did get in The Godfather over Saturday and Sunday mornings (which by the way, is better than II - I don't care what others say. As good as II is, I is still the best.) Andrew also had his first meeting with one of his new girlfriends, Laila Bilsky, on Saturday night. He is eagerly anticpating his first date with Ella Schneider.

C-Town Sports: Some of you will be proud of me - yesterday was Game 1 of the Cavs/Wizards playoff series. The game was at 12:30. It was such a beautiful day and as much as I wanted to watch the game start to finish, it was just too nice to sit inside all day. I was home by halftime though. I was working the solid split screen technique with the Tribe/D'Rays game. It shows you where my priorities with my teams are though. This was one of 162 regular season Tribe games while the Cavs were playing a playoff game, but they got equal standing. If this was a later round, things would be different; but I love my Tribe. So the Cavs are in the playoffs where with their draw they should easily dispose of the Wizards. The Tribe is always a hot topic and have kicked into their season. Yet everyone in this town wants to talk about the Browns still. All of the sports talk shows are "who should we draft, Brady Quinn or Adrian Peterson." I've been hearing this for the last month. What have the Browns done to deserve all of this attention and love? Since they have come back in 1999, we've seen nothing but a pathetic product, overhaul of management three different times, terrible drafting, and an overall lack of talent. Yet, the people of this town come back for more. I just don't get it. MD dropped the Browns from his radar screen back in 95 and never looked back. He's all Tribe all the time. Meanwhile, my uncle Kenny loves one team and one team only, the Browns. The best sports writer in town, Terry Pluto wrote a similar column this past weekend. He doesn't get it either.

Speaking of the Red, White, and Blue - I have officially seen it all with them. Thursday the Indians were attempting to avoid a three game sweep at the hands of the hated NY Yankees. After a big Victor Martinez three run HR and an insurance run, the Tribe led 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. New closer Joe "Bob Wickman redux" Borowski retired the first two Yankees and was one out away from the W. Then the wheels came off the wagon. Next thing you know its 6-5 with two on Alex Rodriguez, baseball's hottest player, stepping to the plate. Borowski uncorks a wild pitch and the runners move to second and third. So now first base is open. Its a no-brainer, A-Rod's run means nothing and he is on fire - you walk him. Not our genius manager Eric Wedge. The next pitch, A-Rod hits a three run home run to center. Tribe loses 8-6. Cleveland teams continue to find new ways to lose. Classic. In the meantime, the Tribe was in town last weekend when it was 35 degrees and this weekend it was 70 and sunny and they were in Tampa Bay. They did win two of three and are 8-7 to start. With all things considered - the four cancellations because of snow, moving to Milwaukee for three games, being the worst fielding team I've seen in years, and the fact that we can only score by hitting home runs, things could definitely be worse. I scared Andrew again when I went nuts on Ryan Garko's game winning three-run homer in the 9th.

Thoughts on a Tragedy: There is no doubt in anyones mind, what happened at Virginia Tech last week was a horrible, senseless act of violence that is beyond tragic. You start to hear these stories of the people killed by this mad man, and it really makes things so much worse. This could have happened at any college in the country. That is what is so scary. None of us are safe - there is a mad man roaming in every town in America. So this nut job puts together an 1800 page manifesto, takes pictures of himself pointing his weapons at the camera, and sends a videotaped message blaming everyone but himself for what he was then about to do. So NBC News received all of this information and went straight to the air with it. At first, I thought it was ok that they aired this - we all had the right to put a face to this nut case. The more I thought about it, the more I thought the videotapes should not have been aired. This is exactly what this guy wanted - to become famous and let the world see and know the reasons why he committed 32 murders before putting the gun on himself. That's about the only good thing - the guy is dead. But with these videotapes, the families of the victims as well as the people who escaped will be haunted by his words for the rest of their lives. Its just so sad. The whole thing. my thoughts are with everyone in Blacksburg, VA.

Gun Control: Piggybacking on the Virginia Tech tragedy, I have to talk about guns. Now I am not one to go hunting. There are plenty of people I know who do and love it. But is there any reason that handguns are legal in this country still? I haven't done the research, but how many people die because of guns every year? Whether its an accidental shooting, a murder, whatever, to me, there is little to no reason why anyone should own a handgun. So many people own them for protection. Maybe I'm naive - I never lived in a world where anyone needed a gun to protect themselves. They say Guns don't kill people, people kill people. I don't buy that. The access to guns in this country is a joke. They can be obtained legally with no problem assuming one passes a background check, but in any city in America, if you want to get a gun illegally, you can. Call me too liberal, but it is what it is. Is there any good reason that semi-automatic weapons are legal? For sporting reasons? Please with that. To me, all handguns and semi-automatic weapons should be banned. Let the hunters stick to rifles, old school style.

Song of the Day: "Why" by Jadakiss

Day 240

A Shocker: Since Andrew was born, I have always started off by giving you an update on him. But this past week, I was knocked a little bit off kilter. My company, Prairie Packaging, is a family owned business. The Shapiro family owns and runs it. Not for long. I was informed via conference call that Pactiv bought Prairie for $1 billion dollars. Pactiv is a giant in the disposables and packaging business. They are a gigantic corporation who owns Hefty, makers of trash bags, foam plates, plastic cups, etc. They are also the kings of the foam hinged carry-out containers that you see everywhere. I had just spent three days on the road and prepared two Power Point presentations for reviews at my two biggest clients. I sat through these meetings discussing the future. Turns out it may have been all for naught. From everything I have heard and read, Pactiv bought us because we have been so successful in an area that they need the most work in - foodservice. That is our bread and butter. Pactiv's CEO has been quoted as saying they have been long attracted to our company and have been trying to buy us for 6-7 years. Now was the best time for them and for the Shapiro's. Our plants are at full capacity and have $600 million in projections for 2007. We are strong with the three biggest foodservice distributors in the country - Sysco, Edward Don, and GFS. I wish my last name was Shapiro. How would you like to cash out for $1 billion? So how does this affect me? I won't know until June 1 at the earliest. I am choosing to think positively. Part of the reason Pactiv was so attracted to us is because they love how our sales force and system works in the market place. My two accounts have numbers that are all growing like gangbusters. I have great relationships in place and hopefully when and if my number is called, the Pactiv team we see my value. The key for me is my boss. If he ends up in a position where he is running an aspect of sales, I will be ok. But again, i think this could be a great thing for me in the long term if I can weather the early storm. I have to give Ags credit on this - he went through a similar situation with his old company. He too worked for a family owned company which was sold to a big corporation. He said I am now an all star for the Milwaukee Brewers and have been traded to the New York Yankees. We will see how I work under the spotlights. Obviously, I will keep you all posted on what happens, but it is probably going to be a few months before I know anything. It has been eerily quiet at work since the announcement.

Out Like Imus...: To nobody's surprise, that old windbag racist Don Imus was fired by CBS Radio after is now infamous "Nappy-headed Ho's" line referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team. Here is my take. What he said was obviously stupid, but he didn't deserve to be fired. He has been saying crap like this for years and getting away with it. Nobody seemed to care before. Where he lost his career was not by the comment, but rather when he went on his bad publicity tour apologizing to anyone who would listen. Had he just taken his two week suspension without saying a word, this would have gone away. Whoever handles his public relations should be fired. Imus went to the "some of my best friends are Black" card during his apology tour and it came off so hollow. How many times do we need to hear about how he helps little black children on his cancer ranch and how he is a champion for sickle-cell anemia? How dumb can one man be to go on the Al Sharpton show to apologize? I knew it was over when a woman called in to yell at Imus and his response was "I can't win with you people." The guy is and has been a racist for years. Several employees at WNBC where both he and Howard Stern used to work have said for years that Imus used to call two black women the "N" word in public. He doesn't even deny that fact, blaming his drug and alcohol abuse. Please. Keith Olbermann has said on his show that everyone at MSNBC and CBS Radio if given a vote, would gladly get rid of him in a heartbeat. He has treated everyone around him like garbage for years. Guess what, the chickens have come home to roost. All I can say is good riddance this fossil. How disturbing is he to look at by the way?

"Sharp" Criticism: Since when did Al Sharpton become the #1 African-American in the country? Any time their is a racial incident in thsi country, everyone runs to Sharpton for his opinion. Why? Ok, the man is definitely down for the cause whenever he is needed, but he sees everything is Black and White, regardless if he is wrong or right. So he was all over the Imus incident, taking up for the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. Where was he defending the Duke Lacrosse players who's lives have been ruined and had all of the charges dropped against them last week in the highly publicized rape case? These kids' lives were ruined by these trumpeted up charges. Do you hear Al Sharpton defending them? Of course not. I'll give Sharpton this, while I know what he is all about - the cameras - he at least steps forward on a national level for the African-American community. But its more self-serving than anything I believe. You want to see a classic - Don't miss this you tube clip. Its Jason Whitlock, a black sports writer for AOL and the Kansas City Star, ripping into Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Great stuff. The best article and quotes I have read are in this Dan LeBatard Miami Herald piece. He interviews legends Jim Brown and Charles Barkley about Sharpton and Jackson:

”I hate it,” Brown said when asked how he felt about Sharpton being a voice for black America. “I really hate it. It is a cheap shot. It is too easy. Look for the headlines. Go where the cameras are. Jump on these basically helpless individuals and don’t put in the real work. We’ve got language by these rappers. We have a gangsta culture. We’ve got athletes on the page of USA Today not doing the right thing. We have a community of kids killing each other. Our schools are going down the drain. Why not try to elevate real situations? We can’t make a living off Imus and chasing ambulances.”

Says Barkley, “People went crazy. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are like gods. It drives me nuts. That’s why black people are struggling. All our black leaders are jocks or entertainers. We’re not really leaders. We didn’t suffer any hardships or indignities like other black leaders. We’re rich and famous. That doesn’t give you the right to be a black spokesman. Only hardship I went through was having to decide whether to stay at the Four Seasons or the Ritz-Carlton. It is unfortunate and sad that all our great leaders are either passed away or really old. It is a reflection on our community.”

The Enterainer: Friday night Leah and I went out for the first time and leaving Andrew with a baby sitter. Props out to Maddy Friedman, mama Fritzer, for watching him. We went to see Billy Joel at the Q. I've seen him twice before, but we love his music and this was something fun to do to get away for a night. I'd give the concert a B-. He started off and played too many songs from the early 70-'s that nobody knew. Nothing worse to me than a guy who does a self-serving move like that. We are all paying $100 a ticket to see him do his hits, not "Zanzibar" from the 52nd Street Album. He tried a little too hard to entertain though. He should stick to singing. Dude should not be trying to dance. After about 5-6 bad songs, he went on a big run of all of his hits. It was solid. I bet you can;'t guess what his encore was? There were two kids, probably 14 years old, sitting behind us and they were having the best time. They knew every word to all of the hits. It was funny to see that. This was the single most white-bread crowd I've ever seen. When I went to see Paul McCartney a couple of years ago with Mark P, we counted the amount of black people there were in the crowd. I believe we counted 8. Friday night? That would be zero. Overall though it was great to spend a night out and a much needed breather for Leah.

Andrew Update: Nothing really new to report. He is growing like a madman and seems like he is always hungry. The last few nights the sleeping has been a lot tougher - he is getting fussy earlier in the night and it is taking longer to put him down. Its still the best thing going. Nothing better than seeing his face in the morning.

Rental Review: I watched United 93 yesterday morning. It was very well done and a fitting tribute to the passengers and flight attendants who were on that plane and were true heroes. I won't lie - the movie is not for everyone and is tough to take. You know how it is going to end and the buildup to the actual hijacking was unsettling. But the footage on the plane is about 35% of the movie. What is most interesting was the inner-workings of the military and the air-traffic controllers who were watching it all in horror. I would advise seeing it if you can handle re-living 9/11.

Props: Andrew's got a new friend! Last Tuesday, my cousin Susie and husband Billy welcomed their second child, a boy, Griffin Royce Preisler. He was 7 lbs, 11 oz, and 20.5 inches long. He is my grandmother's ninth great-grandchild. I saw some great pics of Griffin being held by his big sister Shayna. They are both adorable. Congrats to the Priesler clan.

Song of the Day: "In the Woods" by De La Soul

Day 239

Andrew and Leah Update: The good news this past week is that (fingers crossed), Leah's bladder problems may be a thing of the past. She went to the doctor on Friday to have her catheter removed and to see if she could go to the bathroom on her own. What they do to test it is fill her with 300 cc's of saline to see if she can pass it 200 or more. She passed 200. They said she needed to do it again before they could make the decision. She did 200 again, so they let her go home catheter-free. This was as happy as Leah has been in a while. Having to walk around with a leg bag and not knowing whether or not her bladder was going to function definitely weighed on her. You have that on top of her regular mother duties of feeding seemingly every two hours and the lack of sleep that comes with it and it can be a lot for anyone to handle. As for Andrew, he had another solid week of sleep. This was our first week nurse-free, so we were hoping for good results. He had a solid end of the week streak of 4 nights sleeping from 10:45-6. Nothing really changed with him this week - he is still the same great kid. My brother and his kids were in town this weekend and there is nothing better than seeing all the kids together. Its so cute. Reese just adores Andrew. She is always wanting to hold him and give him kisses.

In all of my years...: Friday was set to be the Tribe home opener here in Cleveland. MD, Jeremy, and I went down to the Jake for the festivities. The three of us haven't been to a Tribe game together since the mid-90's. Last Tuesday I was in shorts and a t-shirt and it was a record setting high, 80 degrees. Wednesday the temperature dropped 45 degrees. No Joke. Thursday the snow began. It it hasn't stopped since. We were still on schedule to go to the game, despite sub-30's temps and dressing we were going to a December Browns game. Keep in mind it has been snowing for a day and a half straight. We get in at 3:40 for a 4 PM first pitch. We find out the game is delayed an hour. So we walk around for a while, go into the team shop and get stuff for the kids, etc. The game starts at 5. The snow began to get heavier and during the second inning, the players were called off the field for about a 2 minute delay with the Tribe up 1-0. Out they came again and as they came back out, the snow got heavier. Tribe pitcher Paul Byrd threw one pitch and was again yanked off the field by the umpires. So we re-grouped and decided to get a hot chocolate and make our decision on whether to stay or go. As we were doing this, out came the grounds crew with leaf blowers, blowing the snow off the field. A drunken fan ran onto the field and made a snow angel; the crowd went wild. After another 20 or so minute delay, the players came back onto the field and we headed back to the seats. The Tribe led 4-0 going into the top of the fifth, needing three outs for the game to become official. The heavy stuff then really started. Byrd walked the bases loaded with one out. Then a line drive way caught by SS Jhonny Peralta for the second out. Needing just one out, Byrd was ahead of Mariners 2B Jose Lopez 1-2. Lopez pointed to his eyes and then Mariners manager and ex-Tribe skipper Mike Hargrove came running out of the dugout in protest, claiming it wasn't fair to his players, they couldn't see the ball to hit it. Tribe manager Eric Wedge came firing out of the dugout to yell at Hargrove. Meanwhile, a blizzard had broken out. Needing just one strike for a win, the umps once again ordered the players off the field. They waited an hour and 17 minutes before cancelling the game. I've been to roughly 1,000 sporting events in my day, and by far this was the single strangest.

The snow literally has not stopped since. They tried for a doubleheader yesterday to no avail. They tried again, no luck. So they will try again tomorrow for two games. What is so stupid in all of this is the fact that the Mariners are here once all year for four games. The Indians play once in Seattle in September. They play in a retractable dome stadium. Why would they start here where the weather is so bad? More scheduling that doesn't make sense - Florida started on the road in Washington. Arizona started on the road in Colorado. Tampa Bay started on the road in New York. Genius scheduling. The weather is supposed to be bad again this week, and the LA Angels come to town for their sole visit to the Jake. More brilliance by the MLB schedule makers.

A D.C. FYI: A few week ago, our friend Jamie Ratner was walking in a popular trail, Capital Crescent. Out of nowhere, she was struck from behind by a guy on a bike and blacked out. She woke up with blood gushing out of her head and a crowd of people surrounding her. She is also pregnant. As it turns out, the guy stood there for a little while, then left with nobody getting his information. What if she had lost the baby or suffered permanent damage? Nobody thought to call the police or get this guy's contact information? Meanwhile, two separate people wrote in to the Washington Post about the incident and Jamie was contacted, causing her to respond. its a pretty interesting story. To read the Post story, click here. Anyone who has lived in a big city and rode a bike/rollerblades/run outside can relate. Again, the good news is that Jamie and the baby are ok and she and her husband Brian are expecting a boy in early September.

Sunday Night TV Review: Last night was the season premiere's for two of my favorite shows, The Sopranos and Entourage. I thought Sopranos was solid, started a little slow but (IF YOU DIDN'T SEE IT YET, STOP READING HERE) things really picked up when Bobby Baccala buried Tony in the face that started an epic brawl between the two. Things haven't really up yet, other than the potential RICO case building on Tony. Was it just me, or did Carmella look real attractive in a bathing suit? My other favorite was AJ's girlfriend's kid who looked like he was 6 with a pacifier in his mouth. The show has only eight episode and will go down in TV history as one of the all time greats. Truly a groundbreaking piece of TV. Entourage I give a B-. Not one of the better episodes I've seen, but there is still no better character on TV right now than Johnny Drama. How good was it when he was making Turtle take pictures of him in front of the billboard for his new pilot TV series to see if anyone would notice him?

The Week: We have reviews at my two largest accounts this week. This morning I'm off to Grand Rapids, back tomorrow. I go to Chicago Wednesday for meetings all day, but on my way I am stopping in to meet little Ella Schneider. I also have reservations with my boss and clients at Joe's Stone Crab. Solid. I cannot wait. I am back Thursday morning and hopefully will be going to Tribe/Angels Thursday at noon, weather permitting.

Song of the Day: "War" by Nas

Day 238

Here is your Andrew update: Another week and more growth for the little guy. We took Andrew to the doctor last week and were delighted to hear that doing great. He is up to 9 lbs 20 ounces and grew an inch in length. The doctor told us to keep doing what we are doing. Andrew seems to be on a mini-schedule right now. He has a bottle goes down anywhere between 9:30-10:30, sleeps until 2:30-3, gets changed and has another bottle, then goes back to sleep again until 7:00-8:00. It definitely could be worse. We have been lucky so far. Without the nurse, Leah is doing most of the week night 3 AM feedings, I do the weekends and this week I told her I would switch off on the late night shift since I am not travelling. Saturday afternoon we took Andrew on his first foray that didn't involve the doctor's office. We went to the mall, had lunch, and walked around. Leah asked me which day I'd rather go, Saturday or Sunday. My response was simple "Saturday - Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sunday's." It turned out to be great. We got out of the house for a couple of hours, I buried a Chik, no pick, nuggets, and waffle fries, and Andrew slept the whole time. (On a side note - props out the new food court for building spacious, door to the floor stalls in the bathrooms.) Sunday we took him over to my Grandmother's for lunch. Again, he was relatively quiet and it was nice to get out. After a month of pretty much staying in, Leah and i finally were able to go out for our first meal alone since Andrew was born. My mom watched Andrew. It was a quick meal at Taza on a Tuesday night, but it was so nice to get out for a quiet meal. I so took that for granted before Andrew was born. We've got some more outings planned in the upcoming weeks that I am very much looking forward to, including Tribe games aplenty and seeing Billy Joel in concert at the Q.

Work Travel is definitely not the whup: I said a few posts ago that I missed work travel, and while that was true and I am back to the schedule, Friday's trip was weak. This is why people who think business travel is glorious sometimes need to re-think that statement. I had a two hour sales meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 12:30 CST. To get there from here is not easy. i flew on a 7AM flight to Cincinnati on Delta. If you've never been to the Cincinnati airport, its about the dumbest setup of all time. I landed in one concourse and had to take a shuttle bus literally through the middle of the run-ways to another concourse. There you sit in what can only be described as a train station terminal. Everyone is headed into one area where every 5 seconds they announce another flight is boarding, you then line up and walk down some strange corridor where there are probably 20 entrances to planes. It was odd. So I then fly to Cedar Rapids, get in my car, grab a quick bite to eat at some dive, then go to my sales meeting. Its over by 2. I drive back to the Cedar Rapids airport and the cycle repeats itself in reverse. I didn't get home until 9:30 Friday night. Sounds like fun huh?

"Pass" me the Haroset: Happy Passover to you all by the way. Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday. It has nothing to do with the religious aspects and everything to do with the food. I love me some haroset and bitter herbs. Nothing better. I want to know why haroset is not an all year long kind of food. Am I right? That is so tasty stuff. Nothing wrong with a little bitter herbs on matza as well. My dad was the king of the bitter herbs. The spicier the better for him. He used to love loading up. When we lived in Chicago, we would go up to the burbs to our "Chicago Family" the Rosenstein's for Seder. They took such good care of us. Their seder was relatively short, which is right up my alley. Tonight we are going to my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Keith's. Rumors are swirling of a long Seder, an hour or so. Hey, that's all good for others, just not my cup of tea, but we must play the cards we are dealt. Lets see if Andrew stays quiet during that time frame as well. I'm giving it 50/50 tops. Leah did make some chocolate covered matza that I am also looking forward to getting my hands on. For the story on what used to be the Dery family Seder featuring "The Wrestling Rabbi," click here.

Best Day of the Year: There is no better day to me than opening day. Today is day one of the major league baseball season. Every team starts with renewed optimism that this is their year. I equate opening day with so many great memories of my father. He was as big of a baseball fan as there was. It was no surprise to catch him in his robe and slippers past midnight on a Tuesday watching the Dodgers and Giants on the west coast. We went to so many opening days together. From when I was in college until last year, we went together every year. Two seasons ago was the first opening day without him. My mom, MD, and I went together and put my dad's Indians hat in the aisle seat where he belonged. We of course lost that game, proving once again that there is no good karma surrounding Cleveland luck. 94 opening day, the first game at the Jake was perhaps the best opening day I've been to. The Tribe was no-hit by Randy Johnson through into the 7th inning before rallying and winning it in extra innings on a Wayne Kirby RBI single. Another classic opening day was in 2000 when I flew in "for the game," as Leah thought. Actually, on my way to the game, I picked out Leah's engagement ring. Friday is the Cleveland opener. MD, Jeremy, and i will be trekking down to the Jake. I cannot wait. Of course, its been 65-70 degrees here for the last week and Friday is supposed to be a high of 33 with potential snow. Today, the Indians start their quest for the postseason in Chicago, where they have the last three years. We haven't won on opening day in four years. Ive got a good feeling about this year's team. I don't want to be a total homer, but I love our young talent, we've got a rock solid rotation headed by C.C. Sabathia. Either Travis Hafner or Grady Sizemore could be MVP this year. It all is going to come down to our revamped bullpen, which was completely overhauled after it was the worst in baseball last season. My predictions: I enter April with a lot of optimism, but it is tempered. I see big years from C.C. Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, and a breakout season from Jeremy Sowers. The rotation's strength will keep this team in contention through September. Trot Nixon will be a bench player by July - he may be finished. Andy Marte will flame and Casey Blake will be at third by June 1, giving Ryan Garko the first base job he rightfully deserves. Joe Borowski does one stint on the DL. The problem is the strength of the AL Central. All of that will add up to a 90-72 record, and a second place finish to the Detroit Tigers.

It Should Be Us: Of course I am bitter, but tonight is also the national championship game in College Basketball and my Kansas Jayhawks are not playing. Ohio State and Florida are meeting again in what is a rematch of the college football national championship game. It would be nice to be a fan of those teams. How about Florida? They are going for the unprecedented feat of winning back to back to titles with a football title sandwiched in between. That is sick. When watching the final four Saturday night, all I could think of was how my team is jinxed. UCLA's Arron Afflalo and Darrin Collison couldn't miss against us, yet against Florida, they went 5-14 and 3-14 respectively and Affalo's last three FG's came with under a minute to go in garbage time. I've got to get over the bitterness, we lost 9 days ago. I think Florida wins with ease tonight.

EDIT: As I typed this, the Tribe has jumped out with 9 runs in the first two innings to take a 9-2 lead on the White Sox. LOVE IT!!!!!

Happy B-day: Shout outs to Allison Kaufman, Todd "Fritzer" Friedman, and old school friend Elissa Levine on their B-days this week.

Song of the Day: "Can U Hear Me Now" by Erick Sermon