Swing On Sweet Girl....

OK.....so it's been 6 months since I've visited the blah blah blahg world. So shoot me. I guess I just haven't had much to say....again...shoot me...cancel your subscription.

Nothing earth shattering led me back. Just a nice Sarah-Daddy Day.....nice weather,
picnic in the park, ice cream on the way home...all followed by a great nap. (Is this a great country or what?)

We went to Jetton Park on Lake Norman....beautiful day to walk around a nature trail in a great park. We do this a lot on Saturdays but today we brought some french food (OK...fries) from Arbys and sat at a picnic table in the woods. For some reason Sarah loves eating outside. The nature trail conveniently takes you to a playground where Sarah decided it would be OK if her Daddy pushed her on a swing for a while...and then for a while longer..and then for a while longer...and then for a while.....

While pushing Sarah my mind wandered. I couldn't help but think back to 4 years ago today....the day the layoff hit News 14 Carolina. Actually, I've been thinking about it all week but the contrast in days really hit me today.


Four years ago today I watched 69 friends walk out the door. After spending 2 years building what I felt was a wonderful team of professionals to deliver news 24/7 I had the difficult task of picking the 25 people who would charge on to try to make the new world "efficiencies" work. It was, by far, the most painful day of my professional life. I've looked at the list of people I chose to "carry on" this week...some were good...some were bad. It amazed me that some of the people I "saved" from the unemployment line were bitter that they were still there. Some others showed me they were dedicated professionals....dedicated to the product and making it work....dedicated to me....and thankful to be still getting a paycheck. It was a very bleak time...we had no idea if we were gonna be tossed in to that unemployment line any day.

Today the amazing thing is we've grown....the staff is almost 60% larger in Charlotte today than it was on that bleak summer night and we've grown in channels.....from 2, Charlotte and Raleigh, to 4, with the additions of Greensboro and Wilmington.

To me, part of living life is realizing the good times when they happen...since the bad times will one day come again. Today was one of those good times. My little girl was excited about going to first grade on Monday, excited about the Jonas Brothers monument in her room, excited about Dairy Queen. I was excited to spend the time with her. I can never fully explain the joy I get from days she and I spend together. I hope I'm around to see her have days like this with her child....and make sure she pushes for "just a few more minutes" on the swing!

Ode to a great dog...

We lost a friend this week.



Jake, our almost 11 year old Borzoi passed away fairly suddenly. It stings. A lot.



Jake wasn't just the oldest of our 4 dogs...he was their leader. His passing has left an empty spot for our family and for our other dogs. To say that Jake had a lot of heart would be a major understatement. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.



He was "the big boy". His long, thin majestic nose came up to my belly button when we were both standing. His long, silky white and black hair clogged many a vacuum cleaner...and I never cared. He enjoyed taking his owners for a walk but he was so strong it became hard to do. There was nothing quite like watching Jake run in the yard with his sister, Miss M, in the early evening. I've never seen a dog exhibit that kind of grace and beauty at top speed.





As I said earlier....Jake loved his family.I will never forget the day we brought Sarah home from the hospital. Jacob growled at her. He didn't know who or what she was. I remember digging my "new Daddy" heels in and saying that if he growled at her we'd have to get rid of him.....and he never did again. He put up with Sarah as a baby, Sarah as a toddler, and Sarah as a little girl. She pulled his hair, she sat on him, she bugged him....and he was always a gentleman. He loved her and she loved him.

We'll miss Jake. He had a good 7 years with us. We were a good home for him and he was a great dog for us. I've lost pets to divorce. I've lost pets to children's allergies. Nothings stings quite like losing an old friend....an old friend that we weren't ready to say goodbye to yet.

Run on Big Boy, run on!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack....

So....all of my loyal blog readers thought I died from the flu. Nope.

Still here.

Let's see....what have we missed talking about......St. Patrick's Day, the baseball season, Sarah's Birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day. Tracy's Birthday, our trip to NY, my annual battle with my stepmother during my trip to NY, Sarah learning about Central Park and John Lennon (hey, some people take their kids to DC to learn history), our anniversary, the beginning of the football season, the Braves season going in the toilet, my birthday, the Panthers season going in the toilet, Halloween, and now Thanksgiving.




EXCELLENT...we're all caught up, loyal blog readers! Which brings me to the point of today's diatribe.

It's Thanksgiving.....a day where most people get together with their extended family, eat a lot, drink a lot, watch football, and fall asleep on the couch with the top button of their pants undone to allow their girth to have room to breathe.

We have no extended family. OK....that's not 100% true. I have 4 living relatives besides my wife and kids. My father, his wife, my sister and brother. Tracy has 3 living relatives. Her mother, and two sisters.

I haven't spoken to my brother or sister in a few years. We annoy the hell out of each other and so a simple email is NOT HAPPENING, let alone extended "family time" on a holiday.

Part of me thinks Sarah is missing something. I have great memories of hanging out in the kitchen watching my Mother cook, all of the relatives coming over, my father carving the turkey like it was some sort of religous ritual.

It wasn't until I was 19 that I realized the drumstick is NOT the best part of the turkey. As a kid, it was the first thing my father cut from the turkey so I wanted it on my plate so I could stare at it for the duration of the ceremony.

In college I cooked my own turkey for a girlfriend in my bachelor pad. I was suave, debonair, and hammered by the time she got there and the turkey was cooked. (Later in life I learned that you can, in fact, baste the turkey without getting a beer.)

Sorry... I digressed. Sarah is missing that "family thing" for better or worse. It seems kind of ironic in this age of ultra communications...telephone, cell phone, instant messaging, and email that the family I grew up with has grown to live as far apart from each other as physically and emotionally possible.

But....we did have a nice meal and a nice day....without discussing politics or religion or battling over how gravy should be made. Instead we ate, went for a walk and are now enjoying an Eric Clapton DVD.

In a way I'm jealous of all of the happy families who look forward to the big Thanksgiving dinner with 17 relatives in the house.

To me, a grouchy old curmudgeon, it seems kind of like a pain in the ass.

In a way, I'm really glad to just have my wife and kids, a nice meal, a few days off from the rat race, and some good music to just sit and enjoy.

When I think about the Thanksgiving that the men and women serving in our military are having, it really seems kind of lame to even be pondering the negative parts of my day. Thanks to them, I can sit here and open a button......it's almost time for another slice of pie.

Hello......Vatican?

OK...today marks day seven of the dreaded flu bug's grip upon our household.

I'm ready to call in an Exorcist. Neither my wife or I are known for having tremendous patience...on a good day. This week T has Type "A" AND Type "B" flu. She feels like crap...understandably. To put it politely....she's a tad crabby. I passed "a tad crabby" three days ago.

Sarah....the heroine of the posts below....did not have the flu according to the poking and prodding she received in two hours at the doctor's office on Wednesday. What she has is a fever that comes and goes. Her head has not made a full 360 degree turn yet...but it could happen. Full blown pea soup projectile vomitting could happen at any moment. She's turning down ice cream..... a certain sign that SATAN has taken over.

The doctor prescribed Tamiflu. I smelled the medicine....not good. Sarah said NO WAY. Daddy, sucker that I am, took the Tamiflu back to the pharmacy to have it converted to bubblegum flavored Tamiflu. Sarah said NO WAY. Daddy said many words that Daddys should not say.

I give it another day or two and I'm getting the Pope on the phone. Surely his waiting room could not be as crowded as the pediatricians.

Saying "NO" to the NY Yankees

This week I turned down the televison industry's equivalent of the starting centerfielder's job with the NY Yankees.

A company I worked for 12 years ago called last week and offered me my dream job. I had applied for and was turned down for this same job 3 seperate times since 1991. This time I was the one who said no.

This company has more money than God. They told me the salary would be a lot more than I am making now. They told me they'd help sell our house. They'd help with relocating. I'd be working with some great people...experienced professionals...some of the best photographers in the business. Then they started playing dirty.

They told me I'd be an intergral part of the management team. They told me about the new state of the art equipment they were getting. They talked about planning capital budgets with real money....not the pennies I work with now. It would be working for one of the best stations in the country...a dominant #1 in a top 10 market. Great station...great toys....great people...great facility.....

WRONG CITY...WRONG TIME.

To take this job it would mean either my wife would be a part time parent to her kids...or I'd be a part time parent to Sarah. I've known friends who did this and their careers flourished. I can't.

I know how miserable I would be seeing Sarah just 2 days a week and I can't ask my wife to do the same thing with her kids.

So I continue as the manager of the Toledo Mud Hens.....dealing with twenty-somethings who don't know what they are doing....a boss who watches pennies like Ebenezer Scrooge...on the last place team in a top 30 market.

C'mon boys and girls....let's tow the live truck to the plane crash and make some news.

At least they aren't dating.....

This week's Sarah-Daddy-Day was warmer.....no frigid tubing this week...just a trip to the "Almost Greatest Show on Earth".

The good people at Ringling Brothers have 3 levels of circus....Red, Blue, and Gold. We went to what was supposed to be "Gold". When you think GOLD you think "their best". They advertise it as closer to the people. Well....OK...but not quite their best.

They had 4-5 horses....one elephant....and 2 clowns. Yikes....my office has more entertainers than that. For most of the adults in the audience it was lacking a little bit. For the kids it was fine...there was the assortment of over priced souvineers...over priced popcorn...over priced parking...you get the idea.

Highlight for me was giving 2 of my 4 free ticket coupons to a little Asian woman with 3 kids in tow...she looked like she could use them and she was shocked to see someone hand her the equivalent of $40.

And it was warmer than last week's adventure.

Sarah-cicle

OK.....So Dad gets the bright idea to try tubing again. This time Sarah, her stepbrother Sam, "friend of Sam" (not to be confused with Son Of Sam) John and I head up to Hawksnest.

It was the opposite of the first trip.

All was well on the trip up. John quizzed me on my musical tastes as I tortured him with my satellite radio choices. Sarah only said "How much further" about 10 times (a drastic improvement from the first trip "up the hill"). We arrived about noon.

It was downhill from here...(PLEASE...Pun Police forgive that one.) The place was goofy packed. We opened the car doors to 30 mph winds and a wind chill of around....5.....FREAKIN' FIVE!!! What the hell was I thinking? We bundled up for the walk along the icy road to the ticket booth. I carried Sarah for fear she was going to fall in the path of one of the on coming SUVs. (Do they let you come there without an SUV?)

Got to the ticket booth without busting my ass. (Did I mention the ridiculous ass numbing cold wind?? Did I ask what the hell was I thinking??....oh yeah...I did.) Long line of other frozen ass-cicles to buy tickets but.....the 1PM AND THE 3PM WERE SOLD OUT!!!!

So now what the hell do I do?....I have 3 kids....all ready for a winter wonderland of fun and the next available time where fun was going to be permitted was a mere 4 1/2 hours away.

OK....I'm somewhat of a stubborn person. The mere 5 degree windchill and the "No Fun Allowed Until 5PM" sign was not going to make me look like an idiot in front of these three kids. I was starting to have visions of Clark Grizwold in National Lampoon's Vacation. I was ready to punch the moose!

On to Sugar Mountain...they have tubing....and it's probably warm and they probably have no lines....and they probably give the Dad's cold beers while waiting......

YEAH....right! We spent the next hour driving around just looking for a place to park at Sugar. We stopped and got GAS STATION PIZZA...and Sarah used the bathroom at a place that made me cringe. (OK...the options were limited....Sarah's Mom please forgive me.)

We did widdle our wait time down to a mere 3 hours by driving around aimlessly. I decided (in true Clark Grizwold fashion) that BY GOD WE WERE GOING TUBING AND WE WERE GONNA HAVE FUN!!!!! The 5PM session would be great!!

So...back up to Hawksnest we went to kill 3 hours with a 4 year old by my side. We went in the lodge....we went in the ski shop (that's probably supposed to be spelled "shoppe" since their stuff was so ridiculously overpriced) we went outside....we went upstairs....etc.

We repeated this process 172 times until it was finally close to 5PM. In the meantime, Sam and John were happily throwing chunks of ice at each other, outside, oblivious to the temperature (did I mention the wind chill?).

We went out, got our tube and stood in line for a few minutes. The fun was about to commence to happen here!! We were looking at 2 hours of "Daddy-Daughter-Ear-to-Ear-Grin-Fun"!

Except....for some reason as the sun went DOWN the temperature didn't GO UP. In fact...it got really cold. Silly cold. "Ass- numbing-sell-your-right-arm-for-a-little-warmth type cold".

And so...we went down the tube run once. And on the way back up on the moving sidewalk it became obvious that my sweet little girl was not experiencing the fun I had envisioned. In fact...she was in pain.

By the time I got her in front of the fireplace she was crying uncontrollably. The good people of the NC Ski Patrol (all volunteers and all genuinely nice people) brought her in and put hot water bottles on her hands and feet. After a half hour or so she was back to normal temperature.

We spent the rest of the session sitting in front of the fireplace. Sarah wanted no part of being frozen any more.

Her brother and his buddy tubed the full 2 hours...and then continued on a side hill...apparently oblivious to the fact that it was brass monkey cold and time to go.

Once I got them in the car we made a run for the border. Taco Bell never tasted so good. A short time later my troop of "fun seekers" was southbound and sound asleep. Dad was just glad to no longer be freezing his ass off.....and glad to know a beer was a mere two hours away,