Bittersweet Day: Sunday was my first father's day as a father. As you can understand, father's day is not something that I circle on my calendar every year. But this year was obviously different. Now that I have Andrew, this day that has been horrible for me the past two years turned better. When I woke up Sunday morning, the first thing I did was walk to Andrew's room and take a look at him in his crib. Instantly, it made everything better. Just to look at him laying peacefully asleep was the highlight of my day. Andrew and Casey got me a bottle of my favorite wine, Jordan Cabernet, and Leah got me a Lacoste shirt. We spent part of the day attending the baby naming of Andrew's girlfriend Ella Schneider at Fairmount Temple. Because it was Ella's day, Andrew was good enough to sleep through the whole ceremony and subsequent brunch. How solid is that? Much props out the Fairmount Temple caterers - the food was the whup. Much better than the food at our baby naming. The kugel was legit. We sat with our friends The Frankel's and their five year old son Jacob. I cannot wait for Andrew to be that age. Matt is big on programming Jacob to say things that are hilarious and he just says them and giggles. As they drove past us on the way out Jacob yelled out the window to me "You look like Daniel "Boobie" Gibson." It was so cute.
From there we stopped at Leah's grandparents so they could see Andrew. He was ready to get out of his car seat at that point and was happy just chillin on a blanket on the ground kicking away. Leah and her mom went back to the house and Andrew and I had a stop to make. I have yet to take Andrew to the cemetery to see my father and in fact, I haven't been in quite a while. I have been waiting to go on father's day to take Andrew. He cried the whole time from Leah's grandparents until we pulled into the cemetery. The second we pulled in, he fell asleep. It was odd. So we parked and I took Andrew in his car seat and walked over to my father's grave. I brought 409 and towels to clean off his stone, as well as my grandfather, and my mom's parents. I have my usual routine when I go - I see my dad first, then go over to my grandparents on my mom's side, then my grandfather, and I have now added my neighbors Peggy and Cliff's daughter Lindsay who died 9 years ago of sepsis. I put down Andrew right on top of the ground where my father is, facing his gravestone. I cleaned off the stone and stood with my thoughts. I wanted Andrew to feel the energy and love of his grandfather. Any sort of vibes he could get. I am not one who talks out loud and speaks to the ground, but for the first time, I did. I just said "Daddy, this is your grandson." I did the same at all of my grandparents graves as well. MD asked me how it went at the cemetery and I told him "its just great introducing my son to his grandfather who is in the ground." No matter how far removed I get, I can never get over the fact that he is gone and missing out on this. My kids will never know my father and that just kills me.
Going to the cemetery always makes the rest of my day pretty gloomy, but I had a nice rest of my day. I took a little nap in the basement while watching some Golf and them my mother and grandmother came over for dinner. Leah and her mom (came in town Thursday) cooked me a master feast of my favorites; Flank Steak, Hash Brown Casserole, wine, and a mint chocolate chip ice cream pie for dessert. It was great. I put Andrew down to bed, took a bath, watched Entourage, and went to bed. All things considered, it was a pretty good day. I toasted to new beginnings with Andrew and never forgetting my father; the circle of life.
Bobby D: You all know how much I revere my father. In honor of Father's day, I figured I should give you one of my favorite stories about my father. There was no more unselfish man then pops. He always put MD, Mom, and me first. Every year Dad used to take MD and I to Spring Training games in Palm Beach where the Braves and Expos trained. One year, we went to a Braves night game against the Mets. Like most little kids do, MD and I wanted food during the game. Of course we asked a bunch of times. So during the 6th inning or so, we badgered him again. He said "lets wait until after the Mets bat." MD and I of course couldn't''t wait, so he went anyways. He returned with popcorn, drinks, and hot dogs about 10 minutes later. That was the good news. The bad news was that the Mets hit back to back to back home runs. All he could do was shake his head and laugh. Classic.
Oh Oh Oh Bye Now: This morning Leah, Andrew, and Stacey left for Arizona. Leah had planned this months ago so she could spend extra time there as I have to stay behind and work. This is Andrew's first plane flight. Yes, I am not on the flight, but Stacey is, so Leah has help. I dropped them off at the airport this morning and Leah called after she got through security with no issues. I am anxiously awaiting to hear how the flight went. I got up with Andrew at 4 AM and fed him, I couldn't really fall back asleep and Leah was up at 6, as was Andrew. It was definitely sad saying goodbye to them - I felt like Andrew was going off to camp, but I won't lie, I am very much looking forward to uninterrupted sleep for nine days and attending three Tribe games. Its just me and the Casey dog. I will be joining them on the 28th and looking forward to it (I need to work on my tan).
Reliving the Sickness: I had to go to Florida for a conference for my biggest client from Thursday/Saturday. Randomly, the Tribe was playing the Marlins in Miami Thursday night so clearly I had to be there. There was a little trepidation on my part going to that piece of crap Dolphins Stadium. 10 years ago, the Indians were two out away from winning the World Series and getting me my first ring. Well, we all know what happened, Mesa shakes off Alomar, blows the games, Edgar Renteria in extra innings wins it for the Marlins who win their first title, a mear 5 years after they began play. Of course in typical TD luck, the game I go to is the night they were honoring the 97 Marlins. They brought back all the old players. They showed highlights of game seven on the jumbotron. They handed out replica 97 World Series rings as you walked into the stadium. The Marlisn wore the 97 uniforms they wore duing game seven, and the Indians were in their Blue jerseys as they were that fateful night 10 years ago. I bought a $16 upper deck seat behind home plate. As I sat there watching all of this, all of the awful memories of that series came rushing back. I couldn't look at the jumbotron. The whole thing just sickened me. I called Ags. I called MD. I called Jeremy. I called Fritzer. I had to share this with the others. Jeremy was actually at game seven and for years has been telling me how horrible the experience was. While I cannot even begin to imagine how bad it was for him, it is a little clearer now. You should see this stadium. Its a piece of crap football stadium in the middle of nowhere. There is one parking lot and nothing around it. The Marlins have NO FANS. The ones that were there didn't care. yet they have two championships? Its a sick joke to real long-suffering fans like me. The silver lining was Jason Stanford came up for AAA Buffalo and pitched a gem. Victor Martinez homered off of Dontrell Willis and the Tribe held on for a 3-2 win and exacted a tiny bit of revenge. Its still not good enough, but for one night, it was sweet.
The conference went well. My Florida rep Bonnie won Vendor of the Year for her distribution center for the third consecutive year. My guy George has been on the Atlanta DC for three years. Last year, I got nothing but negative feedback about his work ethic and he was officially on the hot seat. His numbers still aren't great, but he has worked his ass off. To my surprise, he too won vendor of the year for the Atlanta DC. I was stunned and so happy for him. He is really a good dude. I shot my boss and email telling him the good news and later in the day, he fired me back the following: The real credit goes to you and don't think I don't know it. Pat yourself on the back my friend. I believe winning them all is something that has never been done before and you are the guy driving the bus! It was really big for me, especially with the new company taking over. My boss is still in place and hopefully I can now be used in a big role to integrate the Pactiv line into the Prairie line with all of my key accounts. When I got hoime Saturday, I got a treat as my boy Doug was in briefly from Atlanta and he got to briefly chill with his daughter Natalie. Jeremy and Amy and the girls came over as well before we went to Red Robin with the kids for an early dinner. We got some solid photos, one is above.
Down and Out: So the Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs. I say who cares. At the beginning of the season, if you would have told me that the Cavs would have made it to the Finals and lost, I'd have taken that in a heartbeat. This series showed more than anything how flawed this roster is and how much GM Danny Ferry has to do to improve the team in the offseason. We need a point guard badly. We need more shooters badly, and we need Lebron to rest. But I am not bummed out at all. Well, maybe a little - I was offered a ticket to Game 5 Sunday night; a game that never ended up happening. The sweep also cost the city of Cleveland. It has been reported that each Finals game made the cith of Cleveland $4.5 million dollars in revenue. Our city can always use more money pumped into the economy. Bottom line is that with Lebron, anything is possible and we could be seeing more NBA Finals appearances in the near future with the weakness of the Eastern Conference.
A True American: Love him or hate him. Call him what you want. But I call filmmaker Michael Moore a true American. One of the most controversial figures in the country, Moore's movies definitely move the needle. I loved Fahrenheit 9/11. Bowling for Columbine was extremely thought provoking about this country's gun laws, and now Moore is going after the healthcare industry in his new movie, Sicko. Sicko is a documentary scheduled for release on June 29th. It investigates the American health care system with a focus on the behavior of large health insurance companies and contrasts the U.S. system with those of other countries with universal health care coverage. I am very anxious to see this film. I still have yet to see An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary on Global Warming done by Al Gore and will be renting it soon. There is definitely a place for movies like this, as this is for movies like Oceans 13 and Knocked Up (which everyone keeps telling me is great). I am very interested in seeing the Right-Wing spin that is put onto his movie. Moore says at the beginning of the movie, he states, this is not a Democratic issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is an issue for all Americans. It is getting great reviews. I wish I could say I'll be seeing this right when it comes out, but the days of us going to movies have pretty much ceased. Hopefully we can see one or two when we are in Arizona. We haven't been to the movies since Andrew was born. I am a Michael Moore supporter, even though many say he skews the facts. That may indeed be true, but he is out to make the American public think. You gotta at least respect that.
Song of the Day: "Dancin in the Moonlight" by King Harvest
From there we stopped at Leah's grandparents so they could see Andrew. He was ready to get out of his car seat at that point and was happy just chillin on a blanket on the ground kicking away. Leah and her mom went back to the house and Andrew and I had a stop to make. I have yet to take Andrew to the cemetery to see my father and in fact, I haven't been in quite a while. I have been waiting to go on father's day to take Andrew. He cried the whole time from Leah's grandparents until we pulled into the cemetery. The second we pulled in, he fell asleep. It was odd. So we parked and I took Andrew in his car seat and walked over to my father's grave. I brought 409 and towels to clean off his stone, as well as my grandfather, and my mom's parents. I have my usual routine when I go - I see my dad first, then go over to my grandparents on my mom's side, then my grandfather, and I have now added my neighbors Peggy and Cliff's daughter Lindsay who died 9 years ago of sepsis. I put down Andrew right on top of the ground where my father is, facing his gravestone. I cleaned off the stone and stood with my thoughts. I wanted Andrew to feel the energy and love of his grandfather. Any sort of vibes he could get. I am not one who talks out loud and speaks to the ground, but for the first time, I did. I just said "Daddy, this is your grandson." I did the same at all of my grandparents graves as well. MD asked me how it went at the cemetery and I told him "its just great introducing my son to his grandfather who is in the ground." No matter how far removed I get, I can never get over the fact that he is gone and missing out on this. My kids will never know my father and that just kills me.
Going to the cemetery always makes the rest of my day pretty gloomy, but I had a nice rest of my day. I took a little nap in the basement while watching some Golf and them my mother and grandmother came over for dinner. Leah and her mom (came in town Thursday) cooked me a master feast of my favorites; Flank Steak, Hash Brown Casserole, wine, and a mint chocolate chip ice cream pie for dessert. It was great. I put Andrew down to bed, took a bath, watched Entourage, and went to bed. All things considered, it was a pretty good day. I toasted to new beginnings with Andrew and never forgetting my father; the circle of life.
Bobby D: You all know how much I revere my father. In honor of Father's day, I figured I should give you one of my favorite stories about my father. There was no more unselfish man then pops. He always put MD, Mom, and me first. Every year Dad used to take MD and I to Spring Training games in Palm Beach where the Braves and Expos trained. One year, we went to a Braves night game against the Mets. Like most little kids do, MD and I wanted food during the game. Of course we asked a bunch of times. So during the 6th inning or so, we badgered him again. He said "lets wait until after the Mets bat." MD and I of course couldn't''t wait, so he went anyways. He returned with popcorn, drinks, and hot dogs about 10 minutes later. That was the good news. The bad news was that the Mets hit back to back to back home runs. All he could do was shake his head and laugh. Classic.
Oh Oh Oh Bye Now: This morning Leah, Andrew, and Stacey left for Arizona. Leah had planned this months ago so she could spend extra time there as I have to stay behind and work. This is Andrew's first plane flight. Yes, I am not on the flight, but Stacey is, so Leah has help. I dropped them off at the airport this morning and Leah called after she got through security with no issues. I am anxiously awaiting to hear how the flight went. I got up with Andrew at 4 AM and fed him, I couldn't really fall back asleep and Leah was up at 6, as was Andrew. It was definitely sad saying goodbye to them - I felt like Andrew was going off to camp, but I won't lie, I am very much looking forward to uninterrupted sleep for nine days and attending three Tribe games. Its just me and the Casey dog. I will be joining them on the 28th and looking forward to it (I need to work on my tan).
Reliving the Sickness: I had to go to Florida for a conference for my biggest client from Thursday/Saturday. Randomly, the Tribe was playing the Marlins in Miami Thursday night so clearly I had to be there. There was a little trepidation on my part going to that piece of crap Dolphins Stadium. 10 years ago, the Indians were two out away from winning the World Series and getting me my first ring. Well, we all know what happened, Mesa shakes off Alomar, blows the games, Edgar Renteria in extra innings wins it for the Marlins who win their first title, a mear 5 years after they began play. Of course in typical TD luck, the game I go to is the night they were honoring the 97 Marlins. They brought back all the old players. They showed highlights of game seven on the jumbotron. They handed out replica 97 World Series rings as you walked into the stadium. The Marlisn wore the 97 uniforms they wore duing game seven, and the Indians were in their Blue jerseys as they were that fateful night 10 years ago. I bought a $16 upper deck seat behind home plate. As I sat there watching all of this, all of the awful memories of that series came rushing back. I couldn't look at the jumbotron. The whole thing just sickened me. I called Ags. I called MD. I called Jeremy. I called Fritzer. I had to share this with the others. Jeremy was actually at game seven and for years has been telling me how horrible the experience was. While I cannot even begin to imagine how bad it was for him, it is a little clearer now. You should see this stadium. Its a piece of crap football stadium in the middle of nowhere. There is one parking lot and nothing around it. The Marlins have NO FANS. The ones that were there didn't care. yet they have two championships? Its a sick joke to real long-suffering fans like me. The silver lining was Jason Stanford came up for AAA Buffalo and pitched a gem. Victor Martinez homered off of Dontrell Willis and the Tribe held on for a 3-2 win and exacted a tiny bit of revenge. Its still not good enough, but for one night, it was sweet.
The conference went well. My Florida rep Bonnie won Vendor of the Year for her distribution center for the third consecutive year. My guy George has been on the Atlanta DC for three years. Last year, I got nothing but negative feedback about his work ethic and he was officially on the hot seat. His numbers still aren't great, but he has worked his ass off. To my surprise, he too won vendor of the year for the Atlanta DC. I was stunned and so happy for him. He is really a good dude. I shot my boss and email telling him the good news and later in the day, he fired me back the following: The real credit goes to you and don't think I don't know it. Pat yourself on the back my friend. I believe winning them all is something that has never been done before and you are the guy driving the bus! It was really big for me, especially with the new company taking over. My boss is still in place and hopefully I can now be used in a big role to integrate the Pactiv line into the Prairie line with all of my key accounts. When I got hoime Saturday, I got a treat as my boy Doug was in briefly from Atlanta and he got to briefly chill with his daughter Natalie. Jeremy and Amy and the girls came over as well before we went to Red Robin with the kids for an early dinner. We got some solid photos, one is above.
Down and Out: So the Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs. I say who cares. At the beginning of the season, if you would have told me that the Cavs would have made it to the Finals and lost, I'd have taken that in a heartbeat. This series showed more than anything how flawed this roster is and how much GM Danny Ferry has to do to improve the team in the offseason. We need a point guard badly. We need more shooters badly, and we need Lebron to rest. But I am not bummed out at all. Well, maybe a little - I was offered a ticket to Game 5 Sunday night; a game that never ended up happening. The sweep also cost the city of Cleveland. It has been reported that each Finals game made the cith of Cleveland $4.5 million dollars in revenue. Our city can always use more money pumped into the economy. Bottom line is that with Lebron, anything is possible and we could be seeing more NBA Finals appearances in the near future with the weakness of the Eastern Conference.
A True American: Love him or hate him. Call him what you want. But I call filmmaker Michael Moore a true American. One of the most controversial figures in the country, Moore's movies definitely move the needle. I loved Fahrenheit 9/11. Bowling for Columbine was extremely thought provoking about this country's gun laws, and now Moore is going after the healthcare industry in his new movie, Sicko. Sicko is a documentary scheduled for release on June 29th. It investigates the American health care system with a focus on the behavior of large health insurance companies and contrasts the U.S. system with those of other countries with universal health care coverage. I am very anxious to see this film. I still have yet to see An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary on Global Warming done by Al Gore and will be renting it soon. There is definitely a place for movies like this, as this is for movies like Oceans 13 and Knocked Up (which everyone keeps telling me is great). I am very interested in seeing the Right-Wing spin that is put onto his movie. Moore says at the beginning of the movie, he states, this is not a Democratic issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is an issue for all Americans. It is getting great reviews. I wish I could say I'll be seeing this right when it comes out, but the days of us going to movies have pretty much ceased. Hopefully we can see one or two when we are in Arizona. We haven't been to the movies since Andrew was born. I am a Michael Moore supporter, even though many say he skews the facts. That may indeed be true, but he is out to make the American public think. You gotta at least respect that.
Song of the Day: "Dancin in the Moonlight" by King Harvest
4 comments:
Michael Moore has lost all credibility to me. Do your home work and see how fabircates, misleads and stages events in his movies. the man is a joke. i used to like him untill I learned he actually DID interview Roger Smith even though he says he didn't. He is a blohward and nothing more. Read the book "Micheal Moore IS a big fat idot" and see just how uses editing techniques to create something that did exists. here for your reading pleasure
http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html
TD,
Reading your blog is total niceness. You have suchan amazing way with your words that seems to always leave me wanting more.
I feel so greatful to have a friend like you who always keeps it real. Positive vibes 24-7 without appologies.
Inity
Hey anonymous at the top. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Get some uniterrupted sleep now, because you won't when you are here. As for the tan, I am going to fight you for the floats!
Miss you!
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