Random thoughts from Christmas and New Year's, now and in the past...
Hrm, let's start with the past, and hey, let's start with a bad memory, shall we?
Did you ever doing something you regret, years in the past, and then even just thinking about it makes you annoyed, angry...or even just laugh?
Well, I have a sort of laugh moment. It was Christmas...I think it was either 1998 or 1999. Peachtree City United Methodist Church. We had been working on a Christmas music program. We had a full orchestra assembled and performed a few services and then Christmas Eve services as well. I was tasked with solo singing what I consider to be one of the nicer Christmas songs, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." It really is a beautiful song. I was REALLY excited about it. However, I was at somewhat of a vocal intersection in my life, as my voice had started stabilizing (men's voices don't really "set" until around age 17-25) but I had not really adjusted to it quite yet.
And if you know the song, you know there is a big build in the final verse with a high note that while not impossible to reach (unlike the high note in "O Holy Night") is still rather difficult to hold for your average tenor voice. And to make it worse, the build halts on the high note, then softens immediately into the end of the song. So I've got to belt out this high note, hold it and wait for the director to continue, and immediately go into falsetto for 4 notes and then back into modal (normal) register for the the final 4 notes.
Seriously, if I had the chance to go back and reverse it, I would tell the director - straight up - I'm not going to sing this song. Why? I'll tell you why...
BECAUSE...well, because I totally blew this in ALL 3 PERFORMANCES of the song. I sang 95% of the song perfectly, everything but the 5% of the song everyone waits to hear. I had to basically scream the high note to get it out, and then my falsetto cracked like a 13 year old boy. The final 4 notes of the song were a goner, too, because each time my voice was shaking from the vocal failure I had unleashed on the high note and falsetto.
After each performance, I did a couple of practice runs to fine tune it, but nonetheless, at the successive performances, as if on cue, I did the exact same thing.
If I could have dissappeared behind stage immediately afterward it might have helped my embarassment. But NO...we had to immediately go right into "Sleigh Ride" as if nothing had happened. Sheesh....
So every time I think of that moment now, I have an instant feeling of "holy CRAP...what was I thinking?!?!???" and then I quickly just transition to laughing about it, about how funny it is to sing a song you really like and then to really blow it in front of a huge church audience at the peak of the emotional build, ruining the song immediately. I guess it would have been an even funnier memory if it had been SOMEONE ELSE beside me.
It probably goes without saying that the director didn't ask me to do anymore solos ever again.
Moving along....
This Christmas was a lot of fun. Caleb got some great gifts from Santa Claus (how cool is that?). We did our Christmas here in Dacula a few days in advance as we spent the holiday down in Your Favorite Town with our families. It's really a lot of fun watching him play with toys, and get super excited when he sees all his stuff laid out for him. And this is just the beginning...next few years are prime-time Santa years. I think it's just the greatest thing right now. I'll detail more about it in Caleb's blog sometime in the next few days.
Another funny Christmas memory from the past...
My brother Michael was about 11 or 12 years old I think. He had asked for a drum set for Christmas. That's all he asked for...no candy, no toys, no anything. And as Christmas approached, somehow he got the idea that there was zero chance of him getting his wish. On Christmas morning, he decided he just flat was NOT going to get up and go downstairs to see his Christmas gifts, because he knew there was no drum set down there waiting for him.
At least that's what he thought. But when the rest of us went down there and saw it sitting there waiting for him, we all tried to cajole him into getting up. No dice. BUT...when someone banged on a cymbal and a drum, he practically teleported into the room. Now THAT is a Christmas surprise if I ever saw one. And oh boy, was he bad at playing on that drum set. At least he got Grandma and Grandpa up (their room was about 10 feet away from the drum set). He eventually got better, but that morning he was probably one of the most enthusiastically horrible drummers I've ever seen.
I'm sure his memory of that morning is a little different, probably just "OMG OMG! A DRUM SET! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
A few years later, that drum set was victim of a flood in our basement, but it still sounded okay after that.
And let's not forget New Year's Eve...
Our semi-new tradition is spending New Year's Eve with Andy and Abby. We've probably done it for 4 or 5 years now (except last year, which will always be fondly remembered as the diarrhea/vomiting New Year's Eve in my household).
It's getting more complicated though...kids, dogs, so on and so on. It's nice, though, not going out anywhere and just playing games with some friends all night. We got a bunch of new Wii games for Christmas this year, gonna have to try them out tomorrow night.
Hope you all had a great Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!
Showing posts with label Caleb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caleb. Show all posts
12.30.2009
10.07.2009
Fall is Autumn is Fall
Cut to the chase....random thoughts on the seasons (and the current season)
I hear a lot of people say fall is their favorite time of year. When it's fall.
When it's spring/summer/winter, I hear the same thing (well, maybe not so much with winter). I enjoy all the seasons for what they are, but if I was asked to prioritize, it would be in this order:
BUT!
...I'm serious, winter is better than spring for me. Some pros/cons between winter and spring...
Winter - PROS
Winter - CONS
But fall is now, fall is special. Pumpkins, leaves, football, Oktoberfest, camping, festivals, carnivals...plenty of things going on all the way into Thanksgiving, America's biggest food holiday.
Never mind that fall is when I tend to have the most business. For 2-3 years now, I've had limited business in the first half of the year and blowouts all during the fall months. Dunno why, but I guess there's something to be said about consistency.
Football...not a special year if you're a UGA fan like me. No matter, can't win 'em all, and even thought they're not one of the top games in the country this year, they're still playing good football. And even a bad day of football beats a day of working.
Oh yeah, since I never update my blog anymore, I should mention this....Hilary and I paid a visit to the bro-in-law Blake up in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend. Never been to Chicago before, but really a very nice town. Probably the nicest big metropolis style city you'll ever see. Makes it all the more interesting as to why Rio de Janeiro picked up the 2016 Olympics over Chicago. From what I know of Rio, it is everything that Chicago isn't (and I don't mean that in a good way). Not to be down on Rio, but it seemed like a strange choice. Guess we'll see how it plays out in about 7 years.
But Chicago...great town. Apparently every restaurant recommendation there is made based on whether or not President Obama has eaten there. Ask for a good pizza place, you'll be told about a place and then "...and Obama always eats there." Guess that's how it rolls when the POTUS is a hometown man.
Probably went the same way when Carter was in office and all those people went to tour Albany, GA. Oh, wait.....probably not.
Caleb is getting big. He's in like the 89th percentile on height. Runs everywhere, walks only when asked. Best part of it all....whenever he sees something red and black, or sees a UGA "G" logo, or really even a large G of any kind, he says "Georgia." Love it, now we gotta work on his passing skills.
Goodbye.
I hear a lot of people say fall is their favorite time of year. When it's fall.
When it's spring/summer/winter, I hear the same thing (well, maybe not so much with winter). I enjoy all the seasons for what they are, but if I was asked to prioritize, it would be in this order:
- Summer
- Fall
- Winter
- Spring
BUT!
...I'm serious, winter is better than spring for me. Some pros/cons between winter and spring...
Winter - PROS
- Christmas time
- A chance of snow, which means a chance of not being able to leave the house or do anything (which can be refreshing)
- Getting to use the nice coats for a few weeks before they get mothballed again
- Family time, LOTS of family time during the winter months
- No yard work
- Warmer weather
- Pretty flowers
Winter - CONS
- Cold...I mean, C-O-L-D. Even our mild Georgia winters are too much for me. Gimme the heat
- Lack of physical activity, sports (football's over, and basketball does nothing for me)
- Pollen
- Yard work
- House cleaning
- Pollen
- POLLEN!!
- YARD WORK!!!!
But fall is now, fall is special. Pumpkins, leaves, football, Oktoberfest, camping, festivals, carnivals...plenty of things going on all the way into Thanksgiving, America's biggest food holiday.
Never mind that fall is when I tend to have the most business. For 2-3 years now, I've had limited business in the first half of the year and blowouts all during the fall months. Dunno why, but I guess there's something to be said about consistency.
Football...not a special year if you're a UGA fan like me. No matter, can't win 'em all, and even thought they're not one of the top games in the country this year, they're still playing good football. And even a bad day of football beats a day of working.
Oh yeah, since I never update my blog anymore, I should mention this....Hilary and I paid a visit to the bro-in-law Blake up in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend. Never been to Chicago before, but really a very nice town. Probably the nicest big metropolis style city you'll ever see. Makes it all the more interesting as to why Rio de Janeiro picked up the 2016 Olympics over Chicago. From what I know of Rio, it is everything that Chicago isn't (and I don't mean that in a good way). Not to be down on Rio, but it seemed like a strange choice. Guess we'll see how it plays out in about 7 years.
But Chicago...great town. Apparently every restaurant recommendation there is made based on whether or not President Obama has eaten there. Ask for a good pizza place, you'll be told about a place and then "...and Obama always eats there." Guess that's how it rolls when the POTUS is a hometown man.
Probably went the same way when Carter was in office and all those people went to tour Albany, GA. Oh, wait.....probably not.
Caleb is getting big. He's in like the 89th percentile on height. Runs everywhere, walks only when asked. Best part of it all....whenever he sees something red and black, or sees a UGA "G" logo, or really even a large G of any kind, he says "Georgia." Love it, now we gotta work on his passing skills.
Goodbye.
9.24.2008
Tropical storms, hurricanes and football
Crazy last month and a half.
Our vacation with the Bowler family to St. George was a lot of fun as always. It's a great little island if you've never been. This year's trip, however, suffered two major interruptions (well, maybe three or four).
1 - Power went out on the island. A water spout had made an appearance across the bayside of St. George about 4 days before we left, killing power to the island. They set up generators for temporary power, but in the days leading up to our departure, they were still getting it fixed and not letting people onto the island unless they were residents. The affect on our stay was minimal, however, as they restored full power within 24 hours of our arrival. There was a 1 or 2 hour time period in the middle of the night where the power was completely out while they switched from generators to full power, but we were asleep and didn't really get bothered by it.
2 - I got sick, real bad sick. It kind of came on a little before we even left for the beach. It was a fever/cold kind of thing, and it pretty much lasted the first half of the week. It finally let up on me about the time...
3 - Tropical Storm Fay made an appearance. Fay zig-zagged all across the state of Florday, making its final pass clear across the panhandle where St. George is located. By the time it got to us, it was fairly weakened, but there was more wind than I had seen in my life (that I can remember. It only affected the last 2 or 3 days of the trip, but those were the days that I wasn't sick anymore so...ah well. What was very interesting was looking out the window one evening and seeing funnel clouds (yes, plural) forming over head, not more than a mile away. Scary, but not that scary (maybe we should have freaked out more...?). The Gilbert family was over, and Katie Niebes took a picture of the clouds. I got on the laptop and sent her pictures along to the Weather Channel. Whether or not they ever used them, who knows. I felt like a real field journalist. Woo!
4 - I had work to do. A handful of hours were occupied with editing a couple of commercials for a client that had a deadline in the middle of my vacation week. It wasn't a huge deal, but it took away time that I would have rather been on the beach (you know, before the tropical storm arrived).
Good trip overall...Jingles, who was a little bit shy of the ocean last year, apparently forgot all about that and went diving around in the waves without any real encouragement from any of us. At one point, she just laid down at the water line and the waves were coming in on her, like it was no big deal. Crazy doggie.
More recently, I took a trip to St. Louis, MO to shoot Kelley Gilbert's wedding. It was a good trip, never been there before. Spent the first 2 days doing tourist stuff with the wedding party...did the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour, took in a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium (game was against the Cubs, pretty good game), went to a couple of neat local restaurants, went to (and up inside) the St. Louis Arch (sidebar - apparently it's not the St. Louis Arch, but rather, it's the Gateway Memorial Arch. Also, it's not a state property, it's a federal development to commemorate the pioneers who went out west with Lewis and Clark...being federal, we should all be proud to know that our federal tax dollars built and maintain this place). Beautiful grounds on the property, very nice view of the Mississippi River and the city of St. Louis.
I will admit a little disappointment, as I was always under the impression that the arch spanned the Mississippi River, but it's actually all on one side of the river. Kind of like my visit to The Alamo 3 years ago. See, I always thought The Alamo was surrounded by mostly nothing, maybe some desert sand and a few trees. I was surprised to find out that it's right in the middle of the city of San Antonio, and the city has been built up around it - buildings, streets, tourism stuff. I just remember we were walking towards it, and we turned a corner and all of a sudden it was just there right in front of us, like it wasn't supposed to be there at all.
Disappointment aside, it was a great little arch, and the Alamo was cool, too.
The wedding was very nice and everyone had a good time. The DJ was wild...he really got out on the floor and interacted, teaching the crowd some crazy dance move stuff. Reception ended sometime around 1am, but the bride and groom were out of there shortly after midnight.
The next morning, what was left of Hurricane Ike made contact with the city (actually arrived around 2:30am). The next morning, it was real treat packing my equipment and luggage into the van. There was a portico we parked underneath - which was very helpful - but still, the wind and rain blew in under there pretty fiercely. I was riding with my in-laws, and as we made our way out of the city around 8 or 9 in the morning, there were huge pools of water on the interstates, road closures going the other way, poor visibility, gusts of wind pushing at the car and general horrible weather like you would expect from a previously category 3 hurricane.
It didn't let up until around Kentucky, but at that point the damage was done. We were heading around Paducah, KY when the interstate was closed off, routing us along some side roads for a few miles. As it turns out, we arrived only a short while after a tornado came through. This was apparent from the damage we saw going through these towns. At one point we were going through a Wal-Mart/Home Depot parking lot where carts had been blown around and the little aluminum cart corrals were all twisted up and blown around. The giant interstate-visibility signage was torn off the pole and lying twisted and destroyed on the ground over to the side of us. The power was out for the most part, and the traffic lights were out as a result, so it was a relief to finally get back on the interstate and continue our escape from the storm remnants.
The rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful (thankfully) aside from a few small storms coming through Tennessee and north Georgia. Gotta say, that was the absolute worst weather I have ever experienced in my life. Even though I wasn't genuinely freaked out, there were moments when I wondered whether or not we would make it out of town that day, or at least make it out without being in some kind of car accident.
Fall is usually the time of year when I see my business slow down, but this fall has been extremely busy for me...and it seems to be getting busier. I've been shooting the weekly meetings for the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. That's been a lot of fun, getting to hear people talk football for an hour. We're shooting it for the website, and we're actually going out live during the meetings. Very cool. This coming week, Mark Richt is the guest speaker, so assuming that UGA beats Alabama this weekend, it should be a packed house. Well, it'll probably be packed regardless.
Speaking of football...UGA is looking a lot better than I think people realize. They haven't really had to do a lot of fancy stuff yet, since all their competition has been pretty minimal. South Carolina wasn't a huge test...it was a close game, but it's not like you're going to see UGA throwing all they've got out on the field for 4 quarters at the beginning of the season, especially when you're closer to winning than you are losing. Arizona State should have been more of a test, but I think that even though Arizona State may be the 2nd best team in the Pac 10, they're a distant 2nd from USC. Georgia played well, and Knowshon looked like a Heisman candidate alright, but it wasn't a big test of skill.
Penalties are gonna lose a game for us sooner or later if that doesn't get figured out. Giving up a full field (over a 100 yards) in penalties to Arizona State is a bad move...it only really cost the dawgs 3 points in the end, but it could have been much worse. Against a better team, like Alabama or Florida...that sort of stuff loses you the game.
Speaking of Bama...I'm excited. It's a BLACKOUT game, and ESPN GameDay is going to be there. I'll probably be showing up just in time for the game (gotta work a shoot from 9a-5p on Saturday). No matter, though...the game's the main thing. I think Alabama has built a good team so far this year, but I'm not buying into the hype quite yet. At this point, they've played a clearly struggling Clemson team, two teams with no real chance (Tulane and Western Kentucky) and Arkansas, which never even threatened in a year where nothing is likely to go their way. Georgia's opponents haven't been much more impressive, but my point here is that Alabama's win over those much lesser opponents have catapulted them from unranked in the preseason to #8 currently, whereas Georgia's wins have dropped them from #1 to #3. If Alabama beats Georgia, they'll deserve their ranking. But that's not going to happen. Georgia has two wide receiver threats in Mohamed Massaquoi and AJ Green, and two running back threats in Knowshon Moreno and Caleb King (three threats, if you count Richard Samuel). It's an awful lot to try to defend such powerful running and passing offensive options, especially with a quarterback like Matthew Stafford who can change it up on the fly when the defense lines up against the play.
Alabama's got a guy on special teams who likes to run the ball back for big yardage and good field position. That's probably Georgia's biggest weakness - special teams - for both punting and receiving units. If they can shut down Alabama's punt returns, I think that'll be all Georgia needs to do to ensure a win. To ensure a BIG win, however, Georgia will need to make sure that Stafford has plenty of time to get the play off, and I'm not sure the offensive line can hold off Bama for very long.
Alright, that's probably more than enough for now. I've posted on Caleb's blog, so you can check that out, too.
Our vacation with the Bowler family to St. George was a lot of fun as always. It's a great little island if you've never been. This year's trip, however, suffered two major interruptions (well, maybe three or four).
1 - Power went out on the island. A water spout had made an appearance across the bayside of St. George about 4 days before we left, killing power to the island. They set up generators for temporary power, but in the days leading up to our departure, they were still getting it fixed and not letting people onto the island unless they were residents. The affect on our stay was minimal, however, as they restored full power within 24 hours of our arrival. There was a 1 or 2 hour time period in the middle of the night where the power was completely out while they switched from generators to full power, but we were asleep and didn't really get bothered by it.
2 - I got sick, real bad sick. It kind of came on a little before we even left for the beach. It was a fever/cold kind of thing, and it pretty much lasted the first half of the week. It finally let up on me about the time...
3 - Tropical Storm Fay made an appearance. Fay zig-zagged all across the state of Florday, making its final pass clear across the panhandle where St. George is located. By the time it got to us, it was fairly weakened, but there was more wind than I had seen in my life (that I can remember. It only affected the last 2 or 3 days of the trip, but those were the days that I wasn't sick anymore so...ah well. What was very interesting was looking out the window one evening and seeing funnel clouds (yes, plural) forming over head, not more than a mile away. Scary, but not that scary (maybe we should have freaked out more...?). The Gilbert family was over, and Katie Niebes took a picture of the clouds. I got on the laptop and sent her pictures along to the Weather Channel. Whether or not they ever used them, who knows. I felt like a real field journalist. Woo!
4 - I had work to do. A handful of hours were occupied with editing a couple of commercials for a client that had a deadline in the middle of my vacation week. It wasn't a huge deal, but it took away time that I would have rather been on the beach (you know, before the tropical storm arrived).
Good trip overall...Jingles, who was a little bit shy of the ocean last year, apparently forgot all about that and went diving around in the waves without any real encouragement from any of us. At one point, she just laid down at the water line and the waves were coming in on her, like it was no big deal. Crazy doggie.
More recently, I took a trip to St. Louis, MO to shoot Kelley Gilbert's wedding. It was a good trip, never been there before. Spent the first 2 days doing tourist stuff with the wedding party...did the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour, took in a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium (game was against the Cubs, pretty good game), went to a couple of neat local restaurants, went to (and up inside) the St. Louis Arch (sidebar - apparently it's not the St. Louis Arch, but rather, it's the Gateway Memorial Arch. Also, it's not a state property, it's a federal development to commemorate the pioneers who went out west with Lewis and Clark...being federal, we should all be proud to know that our federal tax dollars built and maintain this place). Beautiful grounds on the property, very nice view of the Mississippi River and the city of St. Louis.
I will admit a little disappointment, as I was always under the impression that the arch spanned the Mississippi River, but it's actually all on one side of the river. Kind of like my visit to The Alamo 3 years ago. See, I always thought The Alamo was surrounded by mostly nothing, maybe some desert sand and a few trees. I was surprised to find out that it's right in the middle of the city of San Antonio, and the city has been built up around it - buildings, streets, tourism stuff. I just remember we were walking towards it, and we turned a corner and all of a sudden it was just there right in front of us, like it wasn't supposed to be there at all.
Disappointment aside, it was a great little arch, and the Alamo was cool, too.
The wedding was very nice and everyone had a good time. The DJ was wild...he really got out on the floor and interacted, teaching the crowd some crazy dance move stuff. Reception ended sometime around 1am, but the bride and groom were out of there shortly after midnight.
The next morning, what was left of Hurricane Ike made contact with the city (actually arrived around 2:30am). The next morning, it was real treat packing my equipment and luggage into the van. There was a portico we parked underneath - which was very helpful - but still, the wind and rain blew in under there pretty fiercely. I was riding with my in-laws, and as we made our way out of the city around 8 or 9 in the morning, there were huge pools of water on the interstates, road closures going the other way, poor visibility, gusts of wind pushing at the car and general horrible weather like you would expect from a previously category 3 hurricane.
It didn't let up until around Kentucky, but at that point the damage was done. We were heading around Paducah, KY when the interstate was closed off, routing us along some side roads for a few miles. As it turns out, we arrived only a short while after a tornado came through. This was apparent from the damage we saw going through these towns. At one point we were going through a Wal-Mart/Home Depot parking lot where carts had been blown around and the little aluminum cart corrals were all twisted up and blown around. The giant interstate-visibility signage was torn off the pole and lying twisted and destroyed on the ground over to the side of us. The power was out for the most part, and the traffic lights were out as a result, so it was a relief to finally get back on the interstate and continue our escape from the storm remnants.
The rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful (thankfully) aside from a few small storms coming through Tennessee and north Georgia. Gotta say, that was the absolute worst weather I have ever experienced in my life. Even though I wasn't genuinely freaked out, there were moments when I wondered whether or not we would make it out of town that day, or at least make it out without being in some kind of car accident.
Fall is usually the time of year when I see my business slow down, but this fall has been extremely busy for me...and it seems to be getting busier. I've been shooting the weekly meetings for the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. That's been a lot of fun, getting to hear people talk football for an hour. We're shooting it for the website, and we're actually going out live during the meetings. Very cool. This coming week, Mark Richt is the guest speaker, so assuming that UGA beats Alabama this weekend, it should be a packed house. Well, it'll probably be packed regardless.
Speaking of football...UGA is looking a lot better than I think people realize. They haven't really had to do a lot of fancy stuff yet, since all their competition has been pretty minimal. South Carolina wasn't a huge test...it was a close game, but it's not like you're going to see UGA throwing all they've got out on the field for 4 quarters at the beginning of the season, especially when you're closer to winning than you are losing. Arizona State should have been more of a test, but I think that even though Arizona State may be the 2nd best team in the Pac 10, they're a distant 2nd from USC. Georgia played well, and Knowshon looked like a Heisman candidate alright, but it wasn't a big test of skill.
Penalties are gonna lose a game for us sooner or later if that doesn't get figured out. Giving up a full field (over a 100 yards) in penalties to Arizona State is a bad move...it only really cost the dawgs 3 points in the end, but it could have been much worse. Against a better team, like Alabama or Florida...that sort of stuff loses you the game.
Speaking of Bama...I'm excited. It's a BLACKOUT game, and ESPN GameDay is going to be there. I'll probably be showing up just in time for the game (gotta work a shoot from 9a-5p on Saturday). No matter, though...the game's the main thing. I think Alabama has built a good team so far this year, but I'm not buying into the hype quite yet. At this point, they've played a clearly struggling Clemson team, two teams with no real chance (Tulane and Western Kentucky) and Arkansas, which never even threatened in a year where nothing is likely to go their way. Georgia's opponents haven't been much more impressive, but my point here is that Alabama's win over those much lesser opponents have catapulted them from unranked in the preseason to #8 currently, whereas Georgia's wins have dropped them from #1 to #3. If Alabama beats Georgia, they'll deserve their ranking. But that's not going to happen. Georgia has two wide receiver threats in Mohamed Massaquoi and AJ Green, and two running back threats in Knowshon Moreno and Caleb King (three threats, if you count Richard Samuel). It's an awful lot to try to defend such powerful running and passing offensive options, especially with a quarterback like Matthew Stafford who can change it up on the fly when the defense lines up against the play.
Alabama's got a guy on special teams who likes to run the ball back for big yardage and good field position. That's probably Georgia's biggest weakness - special teams - for both punting and receiving units. If they can shut down Alabama's punt returns, I think that'll be all Georgia needs to do to ensure a win. To ensure a BIG win, however, Georgia will need to make sure that Stafford has plenty of time to get the play off, and I'm not sure the offensive line can hold off Bama for very long.
Alright, that's probably more than enough for now. I've posted on Caleb's blog, so you can check that out, too.
5.21.2008
My New Job
Today is an important day for me. It marks two things in my post-college life. First, it marks the day that I started my foray into the working world after graduation. I became part of the rat race 5 years ago on this date, and for a long time it seemed I'd never need to leave, never want to leave....never leave, period.
The second important thing about today's date is that it also marks my final day working in this office. I have 2 more days working full-time for the company (tomorrow and Friday) but they are on-location productions at the client's site, so I will not be involved in anymore office shenanigans here after this afternoon.
I put my resignation in nearly 3 weeks ago to give my employer a little extra time to replace me (small company, it's harder to replace folks in a small company when each person wears so many different hats). It was time for change (a change unlike my recent post on Caleb's blog...but change nonetheless). I've spent enough time here, I did what I came to do, and now I'm moving on.
Having Caleb come into my life was the primary reason for me to depart. Hilary decided that she would go back to work after her leave of absence, and so the question of child care arose. In the end, however, we decided that I would leave the company to pursue TradeWind Productions from home while I raised our son. Financially, it isn't too bad of a stretch since child care is so expensive. Likewise, I've had a healthy amount of growth in my business so I will hopefully be able to sustain our current standard of living or possibly even better.
Even better, I'll still be acting as a subcontractor for the forseeable future with my soon-to-be past employer, so I'll still be able to make some decent money there. I won't be the "Production Manager" anymore, but I will be taking on the title of "Mr. Mom" instead, which I think is a pretty fair trade.
So with child in arm and camera on tripod, I will be making my departure today with a small box of wall hangings and desk paraphrenalia. It's been real. It's been fun. Can't say it was real fun, but maybe this next jaunt around the race track of life will prove more valuable than anything else I've done to date.
Here we go...
The second important thing about today's date is that it also marks my final day working in this office. I have 2 more days working full-time for the company (tomorrow and Friday) but they are on-location productions at the client's site, so I will not be involved in anymore office shenanigans here after this afternoon.
I put my resignation in nearly 3 weeks ago to give my employer a little extra time to replace me (small company, it's harder to replace folks in a small company when each person wears so many different hats). It was time for change (a change unlike my recent post on Caleb's blog...but change nonetheless). I've spent enough time here, I did what I came to do, and now I'm moving on.
Having Caleb come into my life was the primary reason for me to depart. Hilary decided that she would go back to work after her leave of absence, and so the question of child care arose. In the end, however, we decided that I would leave the company to pursue TradeWind Productions from home while I raised our son. Financially, it isn't too bad of a stretch since child care is so expensive. Likewise, I've had a healthy amount of growth in my business so I will hopefully be able to sustain our current standard of living or possibly even better.
Even better, I'll still be acting as a subcontractor for the forseeable future with my soon-to-be past employer, so I'll still be able to make some decent money there. I won't be the "Production Manager" anymore, but I will be taking on the title of "Mr. Mom" instead, which I think is a pretty fair trade.
So with child in arm and camera on tripod, I will be making my departure today with a small box of wall hangings and desk paraphrenalia. It's been real. It's been fun. Can't say it was real fun, but maybe this next jaunt around the race track of life will prove more valuable than anything else I've done to date.
Here we go...
5.05.2008
Walk Through the Fire
For those of you keeping score at home, it has been a little over a month now since I last posted on any blogs (including Caleb's blog). This has not been for lack of any interesting things to talk about, as I'll detail below.
Since this post is relevant for me personally and also about Caleb, I'm double posting it on both blog sites.
As of the date of my last post, my life changed a little bit. Not quite as drastic as the actual birth of my son, but mind-altering nonetheless. That evening of April 1st, Caleb's situation with the constant vomiting finally came to a head (see previous posts for more details). Around 11pm, we contacted the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and asked what could possibly be wrong with our little guy. All of a sudden, we get a diagnosis for something called "pyloric stenosis" which we had never ever heard of in our entire lives. Essentially, it's a condition where the muscle (pylorus) that allows food to flow from the stomach into the intestines becomes overgrown or swollen to the point that nothing - no food, no liquid - can pass through the system. This apparently started off relatively unnoticed when Caleb was born and became more pronounced in the ensuing weeks to the point that he was getting no hydration and no nourishment.
We don't know how much longer he would have actually survived with this condition. Suffice it to say that we left for the emergency room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta within the hour to begin a crazy 5-day trip at the hospital that included multiple rooms for multiple days, a trip to the ICU and a simple surgery with scary unexpected complications - in fact, the complications were probably more disconcerting than the whole situation at the time, since we were expecting a straightforward procedure.
So when you come through the other side of this thing like we did, you can look back and feel quite blessed that you're all here to tell the story. At the same time, you can look at it all and say, "wow, THAT was close." It's scary to think what could have happened if the condition wasn't finally diagnosed correctly.
I thank God that all we're left with is a little surgical scar and some bad memories. And the results of the surgery are that we have a baby now that eats and eats and is growing bigger (not smaller) with each passing day. He's happy most of the time and just seems to enjoy life all the more because we're all here together.
There's a song that says "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I would agree, but I'd add that sometimes you know exactly what you have once you just come close to losing it. Going through the fire and being able to hold on is an amazing blessing.
Since this post is relevant for me personally and also about Caleb, I'm double posting it on both blog sites.
As of the date of my last post, my life changed a little bit. Not quite as drastic as the actual birth of my son, but mind-altering nonetheless. That evening of April 1st, Caleb's situation with the constant vomiting finally came to a head (see previous posts for more details). Around 11pm, we contacted the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and asked what could possibly be wrong with our little guy. All of a sudden, we get a diagnosis for something called "pyloric stenosis" which we had never ever heard of in our entire lives. Essentially, it's a condition where the muscle (pylorus) that allows food to flow from the stomach into the intestines becomes overgrown or swollen to the point that nothing - no food, no liquid - can pass through the system. This apparently started off relatively unnoticed when Caleb was born and became more pronounced in the ensuing weeks to the point that he was getting no hydration and no nourishment.
We don't know how much longer he would have actually survived with this condition. Suffice it to say that we left for the emergency room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta within the hour to begin a crazy 5-day trip at the hospital that included multiple rooms for multiple days, a trip to the ICU and a simple surgery with scary unexpected complications - in fact, the complications were probably more disconcerting than the whole situation at the time, since we were expecting a straightforward procedure.
So when you come through the other side of this thing like we did, you can look back and feel quite blessed that you're all here to tell the story. At the same time, you can look at it all and say, "wow, THAT was close." It's scary to think what could have happened if the condition wasn't finally diagnosed correctly.
I thank God that all we're left with is a little surgical scar and some bad memories. And the results of the surgery are that we have a baby now that eats and eats and is growing bigger (not smaller) with each passing day. He's happy most of the time and just seems to enjoy life all the more because we're all here together.
There's a song that says "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I would agree, but I'd add that sometimes you know exactly what you have once you just come close to losing it. Going through the fire and being able to hold on is an amazing blessing.
3.17.2008
What a mess
Caleb is having a problem with his food (or his feeders, maybe both). We are getting some serious vomiting. Serious!He sprayed one a full3 and a half feet of good upholstery yesterday. THREE AND A HALF FEET! I CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!
All this is apparently quite normal though. We have nothing to worry about, since all babies vomit like drunks on a booze cruise after 3 hours of fully-loaded sea-sickening, boat-rocking, good-times sailing.
That's what I've been told anyway.
In all fairness, we have tried a few different formulas out by now, and all of them have been tried in varying quantities from different bottles and different positions, so on and so on. No dice...
Seems to be getting better now, though. I really think he was just fooling with us, like "ha, just kidding, I just wanted to see how many times you would change my clothes today." He's at least keeping some of it down, so that's plus.
It's kind of funny in fact....I actually burst out laughing yesterday because 1) I totally could see it building, like a wave on the horizon, and 2) it was a freakin' 3 and a half foot blast!
If you were paying attention earlier, you probably noticed the use of the word "formula" in place of the usual "breast milk" or the more humorous yet improper "boob juice." Yes, Caleb is on formula, not the boob. There are reasons for this, suffice it to say that we have a good set of reasons. Nonetheless, some people are looking upon our act of [so-called] child abuse with shameful eyes. I totally get it..."breast is best" and all that. Great, I'm glad that's out there. Now, for the rest of us, there is formula and I couldn't be more happy about it. Sorry if it makes you angry and whatnot.
I'm back at work today for the first time in two weeks. Nothing has changed. Crap.
And Happy St. Patty's! We'll even slip a little whiskey in the formula tonight for a big family celebration at the Jolly house (haha...only kidding!). Flogging Molly blasting on the radio.
Can you believe UGA men's basketball winning the SEC championship game? I heard a guy had a sign made up that said "Worst to first!" and it's pretty much spot on. UGA basketball (men's, again) could not be less interesting on an average year. Doesn't help that I don't really like basketball anyway, but still...UGA basketball is just not that good. So kudos to them for making those last 4 games count! I'm actually doing a bracket for the NCAA tournament this year. Wanna guess how far I let the Dawgs ride in the tournament?
3.12.2008
Giving birth to a car and buying a baby
They say a picture tells the story of 1,000 words, but here are about 1,000 more in case you wanted them...Baby time is NOW! Caleb Nathaniel Jolly was born on March 4, 2008 at 6:26am. 7lb, 9oz and 20 1/2 inches. His official due date was about one week later on March 10. After about a week of getting to know the guy, I've finally found a few moments to blog about the whole thing. (FYI - the car thing is at the bottom of this post, just so you're not too confused by the title).
I keep reminding myself how wrong it is for me to claim this (being a dude and all)...but the labor and delivery went surprisingly well. Water broke around 11pm on Monday night, and after 7.5 hours and about 4 pushes the little guy was outta there. We were completely prepared for this marathon, sweat-it-out, profanity-laced endurance test that would last for 12 hours or more, but it was over so quick I barely had a chance to respond. I think my first words after the delivery were ".............."
I just couldn't believe we were done with it all! Hilary couldn't either, just shocking how fast it was. The remainder of the day was filled with doctors, family, friends and a little bit of rest. Two days later we were out of the hospital and headed home for a little quiet time (yeah, right).
They say you can never really prepare yourself for parenthood. Knowing that early on, I felt emboldened, not afraid - hey, if I can learn as I go along, that works for me. The whole preparation line is quite true if you've never experienced parenthood (or at least these very early stages). I knew there would be nights of lost sleep (I just didn't realize how horrifying 3 hours of screaming could really be). I knew there would be a lot of feeding and diaper changing (....yeah, I'll just leave that one alone for now). All told, however, I'm very excited about this turn. It's weird, it kind of makes my marriage itself seem brand new as it changes the rest of my life around as well.
People support has been super awesome this past week, and that is a big thank you to those of you reading this who have come by to visit, called, e-mailed or just said a prayer for us. You will never hear me say that "it takes a village," but I will acknowledge that the people in my life are more important to me than I might have realized.
There's not really a lot else to say...it's just happened so fast!
I will be setting up a separate blog for Caleb to keep people posted on pictures, news and emotional stress levels (NO, I won't be writing it from Caleb's perspective - though I could try it once or twice if requested...). That will free me up on this blog to continue the useless writings you have become accustomed to seeing here. As soon as I get that ready, I'll park a link here for you all.
[NOTE - parts of this car blog were drafted the day before Caleb showed up, so I'm mainly posting it now so I don't feel like I wasted so much time talking about a car just to not post it at all. Make sense?]So as we got closer and closer to baby time, we realized we probably wanted a different car...something bigger, easier to get stuff in and out. However, we had two perfectly good cars, and despite being a little cramped, they seemed like they'd pretty much fit the bill for a good while longer. It's been a couple of years since we've had a car payment, and that's nice.
Well, one of those cars got a little less reliable (that would be "The Chief," our '96 Cherokee). High mileage, old car, time to rethink. We took a look around, but everything was a bit pricey, and we were figuring a zero-sum on the trade in value for the old car. In fact the Kelly Blue Book value was only around $400-$500, maybe $1,400 if you labeled it as "great condition." So on a whim (and a lunch break) I took the car over to CarMax to get an appraisal. Even though they basically refused to make an appraisal the first time, another guy chased me down as I was leaving to let me know they could try to offer me something. Long story short, they offered WAY more than the car was worth, and so the idea of getting rid of the old car became more of a possible reality.
We looked over our options for a new car and settled on a handful of different SUVs. Big ones and small ones. We mainly wanted to buy a pre-owned with low mileage like we did with our first car back in '03. The one we wound up really liking was the Saturn Outlook. It still seemed a bit outside what we wanted to pay, but we crunched the numbers, moved some stuff around and made it happen.
Now it should be noted that Saturn is a "no-haggle" car company. It's like they say...you pay what the sticker says. That's really not so bad, because they're not charging a whole lot on the car when you compare it to others in the same class (invoice, NOT MSRP), and most of the features you'd want are standard (tinted class, floor mats...the basics that you normally have to pay hundreds or thousands extra for). However, we felt the need to do SOME haggling just to make sure we got what we came for and nothing more. It almost didn't happen, but....well, long story short, we bought one new and are now officially ready to transport Caleb around in something that rides less like a theme park ride and more like a family automobile.
Caleb is riding in style.
It seemed like a dangerous thing to do...buying a new car (let alone a "new" new car) in the days leading up to your baby's due date. But...the offer on the old car was only good for 7 days, and so we made good on it while we could. Now we have a car payment again, but we have safe, reliable transportation.
Our sales guy was awesome (I never thought I'd say that about a car salesperson...ever). He (and the other people at Saturn of Gwinnett) were very helpful throughout the process. Turns out he and his wife go to our church (we never know...our church has something like 11,000 members and we've only started getting to know people). He's around our age, so he and his wife are going to look into joining our Sunday morning class before worship service. Pretty amazing that you'd be able to join your car salesman at church...I think you usually end up being at odds with a guy once you've debated over a car purchase. What's next, lawyers and tax collectors in the church?
Unheard of!
Anyway, I think this is one of those situations where you spend a lot of time researching something, you feel like you know it backwards and forwards, but then a few months later you hardly remember anything you learned while researching your purchase. I'll be happy for that...right now, I am wasting WAY too much brain space on car knowledge and sales/purchase tactics. I could really use that section of my brain for something else right now.
Like a baby.
Maybe. Ya think?
2.10.2008
No, it's not another tech-heavy post
Okay, so enough tech crap for a while, right? At least the blog is safe for now.
Right now...today, this hour, right this minute, right this very second...this is where it all starts.
I'm going to be a daddy-o, and that's just about a complete certainty at this point (praying nothing goes wrong).
Am I worried? Really, honestly, no. Not a single bit. I've seen the birthing videos, witnessed the screaming child in church....I guess I'm not concerned. So...where does that put me? Am I soon to be blindsided, smacked in the face with the dirty diaper of reality? It's possible, but folks, I am quite optimistic.
First and foremost, I consider myself to be at least average intelligence, so I'll wait while some of you contain your laughter.
Got it together? Let's move on...
With all the morons out there making bad decisions, no decisions and indecisions, I think I've got a leg up. Law of averages. There are so many uneducated and unprepared people out there making a major impact on the world (better or worse) that I'm sure that I'm at least a little better off than they are.
Even better, I fully accept two very important things:
On that second part...well, does ANYTHING really ever work out the way you think it will? Certainly, that is not the case for me, otherwise I'd probably still be on the road with SCAP right now, making millions and recording our 5th album (mostly covers, sorry). I think that knowing AND accepting the fact that anything can happen is a real good position.
So, being fully ready to give myself into this new endeavor with my wife, and being fully aware that anything is possible, I guess you could say I'm completely comfortable. I'm not assuming I'll always be tiptoeing through the tulips of life's garden...I just think that sometimes you gotta know that the bitter mixes with the sweet, and that no matter how bad it gets, you still get the sweet more often than not.
This little kid is going to change my life, and that is awesome.
Bring it on.
Right now...today, this hour, right this minute, right this very second...this is where it all starts.
I'm going to be a daddy-o, and that's just about a complete certainty at this point (praying nothing goes wrong).
Am I worried? Really, honestly, no. Not a single bit. I've seen the birthing videos, witnessed the screaming child in church....I guess I'm not concerned. So...where does that put me? Am I soon to be blindsided, smacked in the face with the dirty diaper of reality? It's possible, but folks, I am quite optimistic.
First and foremost, I consider myself to be at least average intelligence, so I'll wait while some of you contain your laughter.
Got it together? Let's move on...
With all the morons out there making bad decisions, no decisions and indecisions, I think I've got a leg up. Law of averages. There are so many uneducated and unprepared people out there making a major impact on the world (better or worse) that I'm sure that I'm at least a little better off than they are.
Even better, I fully accept two very important things:
- your life is what you put into it
- $&*# happens
On that second part...well, does ANYTHING really ever work out the way you think it will? Certainly, that is not the case for me, otherwise I'd probably still be on the road with SCAP right now, making millions and recording our 5th album (mostly covers, sorry). I think that knowing AND accepting the fact that anything can happen is a real good position.
So, being fully ready to give myself into this new endeavor with my wife, and being fully aware that anything is possible, I guess you could say I'm completely comfortable. I'm not assuming I'll always be tiptoeing through the tulips of life's garden...I just think that sometimes you gotta know that the bitter mixes with the sweet, and that no matter how bad it gets, you still get the sweet more often than not.
This little kid is going to change my life, and that is awesome.
Bring it on.
9.20.2007
Enough is never enough
I should have put out my "UGA is going to win the SEC this year!" post a few weeks ago when it was still relevant. I guess I'm glad I didn't, now that the odds are lower.
It's still early though. I won't be going to another UGA game until GA/FL at the end of next month. The trip and the tailgate are always more fun than the game - at least for UGA fans - and this year doesn't look much better. Florida appears unstoppable, even though they haven't really played anyone yet (Tennessee doesn't count for much in my book since they hardly showed up for that game). But that's a month away and a lot can happen in between.
Speaking of in between, there's a lot going on for me personally in the next month. For starters, Hilary and I are taking a beach trip with Andy and Abby next week!! WOOOOOO!!! Been planning this one since earlier this year. We originally planned to go with them to Hawaii last year, but getting off of work for me didn't happen...too much going on at that point.
Of course, that hasn't really changed around here, but we're going this time anyway.
Gonna be a great time...no big plans or expectations, just hanging out at the beach, eating a lot of good food, hanging out with good friends and hopefully a whole bunch of sleeping, too. REEEEAALLY looking forward to it.
As of October 1st (roughly), TradeWind Productions will be re-organized as TradeWind Productions, LLC. Why? Liability. Operating as a sole proprietor for these last few years has kept me rather exposed. When you operate as yourself (instead of a corporation, LLC or LLP) then all of you personal assets and business assets are intertwined. The primary problem arising from something like that has to do with litigation. If someone sues me because they tripped over a video cable at an event, damages will be limited to the company. As a sole proprietor, my damages would have been limited to everything Hilary and I own...house, cars, savings....everything. So that's the main reasoning there. Also, I'll be able to organize and manage other areas of the business operations more easily, but that's too much detail for one blog post.
The company website overhaul project will also be completed soon as well. I'll post here when that happens so everyone can go check it out and let me know how awesome it is.
Next on the agenda is Oktoberfest! I think the camping trip to Helen is out for this year, what with members of the group being Full-O-Baby and such. However, that does allow for a couple more options on designated driver. Sorry Abby, that's just how it's going to be. Maybe they'll be serving O'Douls.
After that, I've got the aforementioned trip to Sea Island and the GA/FL game in Jacksonville. This might be the last year for this trip, which is too bad since it has been a nice get-together.
Baby Jolly is still growing. I forget what size it's supposed to be right now...we get another ultrasound one of these days, and I'll post the details here. Just like I posted the last one...oops. Maybe next post.
I need a vacation. Here it comes!
It's still early though. I won't be going to another UGA game until GA/FL at the end of next month. The trip and the tailgate are always more fun than the game - at least for UGA fans - and this year doesn't look much better. Florida appears unstoppable, even though they haven't really played anyone yet (Tennessee doesn't count for much in my book since they hardly showed up for that game). But that's a month away and a lot can happen in between.
Speaking of in between, there's a lot going on for me personally in the next month. For starters, Hilary and I are taking a beach trip with Andy and Abby next week!! WOOOOOO!!! Been planning this one since earlier this year. We originally planned to go with them to Hawaii last year, but getting off of work for me didn't happen...too much going on at that point.
Of course, that hasn't really changed around here, but we're going this time anyway.
Gonna be a great time...no big plans or expectations, just hanging out at the beach, eating a lot of good food, hanging out with good friends and hopefully a whole bunch of sleeping, too. REEEEAALLY looking forward to it.
As of October 1st (roughly), TradeWind Productions will be re-organized as TradeWind Productions, LLC. Why? Liability. Operating as a sole proprietor for these last few years has kept me rather exposed. When you operate as yourself (instead of a corporation, LLC or LLP) then all of you personal assets and business assets are intertwined. The primary problem arising from something like that has to do with litigation. If someone sues me because they tripped over a video cable at an event, damages will be limited to the company. As a sole proprietor, my damages would have been limited to everything Hilary and I own...house, cars, savings....everything. So that's the main reasoning there. Also, I'll be able to organize and manage other areas of the business operations more easily, but that's too much detail for one blog post.
The company website overhaul project will also be completed soon as well. I'll post here when that happens so everyone can go check it out and let me know how awesome it is.
Next on the agenda is Oktoberfest! I think the camping trip to Helen is out for this year, what with members of the group being Full-O-Baby and such. However, that does allow for a couple more options on designated driver. Sorry Abby, that's just how it's going to be. Maybe they'll be serving O'Douls.
After that, I've got the aforementioned trip to Sea Island and the GA/FL game in Jacksonville. This might be the last year for this trip, which is too bad since it has been a nice get-together.
Baby Jolly is still growing. I forget what size it's supposed to be right now...we get another ultrasound one of these days, and I'll post the details here. Just like I posted the last one...oops. Maybe next post.
I need a vacation. Here it comes!
7.25.2007
WHOA!!! A baby on the way!! (also see "Oh Baby!")
Well, big news folks. A few of you are already aware, the rest of you are probably shocked out of your minds...we're having a baby! Hilary is about 9 1/2 weeks along now (still not sure on the math, we'll find out for sure once we have the first ultrasound in a few more weeks).
The baby is due the last week of February. So there's a chance we'll have ourselves a leap baby (February 29th is within the range of possible dates for now...depending on the math).
I'm pretty psyched, though really not sure what's all in store just yet. Lots of doctor appointments, fixing up the house and baby room and all that jazz. There's a little bit of hesitance for the two of us right now, thinking about all the stuff to do. For now, though, the main thing is going to be just staying positive and keeping healthy. We're in the last part of that window where the likelihood of a miscarriage or other complication is still high(er), so we're just going day-to-day and hoping for a healthy kiddo.
I just hope the kid likes ska, 'cause otherwise he/she is gonna be quite disappointed.
So yeah...WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The baby is due the last week of February. So there's a chance we'll have ourselves a leap baby (February 29th is within the range of possible dates for now...depending on the math).
I'm pretty psyched, though really not sure what's all in store just yet. Lots of doctor appointments, fixing up the house and baby room and all that jazz. There's a little bit of hesitance for the two of us right now, thinking about all the stuff to do. For now, though, the main thing is going to be just staying positive and keeping healthy. We're in the last part of that window where the likelihood of a miscarriage or other complication is still high(er), so we're just going day-to-day and hoping for a healthy kiddo.
I just hope the kid likes ska, 'cause otherwise he/she is gonna be quite disappointed.
So yeah...WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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