I just wanted to take a moment to wish my wife a Happy Mothers Day. She does so much to make sure that the boys are taken care of, feed, organized, etc. The boys and I are very lucky to have such an amazing woman.
Happy Mothers Day
A Night Off
Being a part is really hard, harder than any job that I have ever had in my life. The reality is that parents need a night off every once in awhile, because they need to recharge and regroup. It is not only for the parents to stay connected with each other, but it also makes them better parents.
Since the boys have been born, we’ve been able to get 2 nights away from the boys. Did we miss them, absolutely. But we also needed a night off too. We’ve not left the same town as the boys, as a family member kept our boys, but we went to dinner, saw a movie and also a concert, and stayed a local hotel and just relaxed. We had a full night of rest. We did not have to worry about anything those nights. We just focused on us. Because before the boys were here, it was just us.
So take a night off. And if you aren’t comfortable with with leaving your children with someone else over night, at least do a dinner. But do yourself a favor, take a night off and recharge, so that you can be a better parent to your children. Take a look at some of the local coupons sites, find a quiet place to go and just relax, but also save some money too.
Current Jobless Claims
This morning on the drive in to work I was listening to Sqwak Box, as I do most mornings. At the 8:30am the jobless claims numbers were released for the previous week. But something happened this morning that was not expected, the jobless claims was higher than expected, by several thousand (read the story from Marketwatch). For the record, I am not an economist, I am just an average person that takes interest in what is going on in our economy, because it has a tremendous impact on everything that we do. The jobless claims numbers were released and the pre-market stock numbers dropped. Why, because the stock traders were not expecting the increase in jobless claims and maybe it caused a sense of fear or uncertainty?
The biggest problem with reading these numbers, in my opinion are two things:
1) Two weeks ago the jobless claims were revised from 380,000 to 388,000.
2) The weekly jobless claims that was released today came in at 386,000, up about 7,000 higher than expected, but these numbers factor in seasonal employees.
The problem that I have with the seasonal employees is just that, they are seasonal. It is like factoring into the equation construction employees that file when the weather is bad. The jobless claims is always going to fluctuate, but I think until we change the way that the unemployment numbers are being reported, i.e. only the people that are currently receiving unemployment are factored into the number, not those that have given up on looking for jobs and/or those whose benefits have run out, will we ever have a true gauge on our workforce.
I have seen friends recently that have been included in the jobless claims numbers week after week and it just makes me feel very blessed to be in a situation where I am able to provide for my family. And I can only speak for myself, but those friends of mine that have been out of work, would have given anything for a job, but they just aren’t there. Employers are not hiring right now because of the uncertainty of our economy. Many were told time and time again, wait until after the election and we see what happens. Wait? People can not wait for 7 months without a job. People need to work now. Our country needs to take the necessary steps to get our workforce back employed. The “shovel ready projects” that President Obama promoted and I think that he put it best, were not “shovel ready” after all. The Keystone Pipeline would have employed 20,000 people, but that was shut down. And this isn’t an attack against the President. But our country needs leaders that can help get our workforce employed again. We need to create tax incentives for small businesses to hire more workers. We need to give big companies tax breaks to bring their manufacturing jobs back over to the US and hire Americans that want to work, that need to work. President Obama inherited problems from President Bush, no question about it. And I think that both are equally to blame. I think that it is time to put politics and political gain to the side and let’s do what is right for our country.
Look at it from a real and practical view: the more people that are out of work, means that there is less discretionary income being spent by people. That means that there are less family vacations being taken. There are fewer people going out to eat. Fewer cars being purchased. Fewer homes being purchased. According to an article that I recently read, schools are sending home at record numbers, food for children to eat over the weekend, OVER THE WEEKEND, because their families can not afford for them to eat. It is all tightly woven together. No job = No money!
So tonight, when I go home and hug my kids and I will be grateful that I am not part of the jobless claims numbers this week. And I am sure that at some point in time, we will face a similar economic crisis in this country again and I will have to sit my boys down and explain all of this to them. Explain why their friends families are losing their homes. Explain why we are not going out to eat as much or going on vacation.
If you are out of work this week, I hope that you are able to find work soon. And if you are like me, who has a good job, feel blessed and don’t take it for granted, because it could be you tomorrow explaining to your children about the economy and why you can not go out to eat tonight, because you recently lost your job.
Happy Birthday
Today, you turn 1, Happy Birthday! It seems like just yesterday I was in the waiting room and the nurse came in to get me to take me back to the OR. And within minutes, you were here. I remember your mom looking at me and saying how much she loved you and all I could think of was how wrinkly you were. But as I sit here today, I can not imagine my life without you.
There were a lot of challenges to get you here, but those are things that I’ll share with you when you get much older. I am just glad that you are here. You have brought a lot of joy to not only myself and your mom, but so many others as well. And I am sure that as you grow older, you will continue to do this as well.
Always remember be true to yourself, family comes first first and that no matter what, you are loved more than you will ever know.
We love you,
Mom & Dad
My Bucket List
I’ve been asked by both my wife and several close friends if I had a bucket list. Well, I don’t know if I would necessarily call it my bucket list, but here were things that I wanted to do before I turned 30:
1) Meet an Ewok
2) Drive across the country
3) Go to the Playboy Mansion
4) Meet Cal Ripken Jr & Don Mattingly
5) Meet Jimmy Buffett
6) Get married and start a family
7) Take a major chance in life
8) Go to Key West, Fl
So, from that list, here is what I was able to accomplish:
1) I did in fact meet an Ewok. I don’t remember which one it was, but he taught a CPR class. I kept asking Star Wars questions, which I think bothered him.
2) I drove from Wilmington, NC all the way to Barstow, CA and it was the time of my life.
3) While I was out in LA for a long weekend, a friend of mine took me to the front gates of the Playboy Mansion. And then we drove around the back and got to see the limos, which was pretty sweet.
4) I was able to meet both Cal and Donnie Baseball for work when I was 31, so I missed it by a year. But both men upheld my faith in baseball and what I had envisioned that they would be like.
5) Though I have not met Jimmy Buffett, I have seen him over 35 times and I was able to get an autograph photo from him. One was personalized to me and one was personalized to my sons.
6) I did something that most have done, I put my career in front of my personal life. So, this one took a little longer than I was expecting, but I did get married at the age of 33 and had my sons when I turned 35. Very glad that I waited until I did.
7) I shocked a lot of people when I announced that I quit my job and was moving to Houston, Tx. This was without a doubt, one of the best moves that I ever made and was 6 of the best years of my life. God Bless the Great State of Texas.
8) I mentioned in #6 about getting married. Well for our honeymoon, we went to Key West, Fl as it was a destination that we had both wanted to visit. And yes, we did take the Jimmy Buffett tour while we were there, visiting the Chart Room, Captain Tony’s Saloon, Jimmy’s first house in Key West, the house on Caroline Street to name a few.
So, all in all, I was able to take care of the majority of my bucket list, but now, I’m working on a new list, so this will be an an on going list:
1) Reading the Bible
2) Developing my first iphone app
3) Volunteer more
4) Be a better father and husband
What is on your bucket list?
PJ Day
Last night, I was playing with the boys and even though they are only 11 months old, we took a vote and it was unanimous, tomorrow is PJ Day! That’s right, another Saturday in our PJs.
Saturdays have started becoming a fun day, watching sports and wearing our PJs. I know that these days will end in a few years as the boys grow older, but for now, I will treasure out PJ Day and enjoy playing with the boys.
Enjoy your PJ Day!
Guys Night Out
As important as it is to be home and spend time with my family, I find it equally important to occasional meet up friends for a guys night out. If nothing else, it is a break and a chance to hang out with the guys, have a beverage, some wings and just laugh, talk about sports, life, politics, etc. Being a dad is hard work, but also a lot of fun. But, you also need a little down time too.
So find a good group of guys, hit up your favorite eatery, my buddies and I are fans of Buffalo Wild Wings. Great food, great atmosphere and a great place to just hang out.
Annual Physical
Guys, it is time to accept certain facts, we are getting older. We usually do not go to the Dr unless we are on our death bed or our wives nag us enough. But look at it from a different point of view: your child’s. What would their life be like if you aren’t here? And I don’t want to scare anyone that they will get bad news from going to the Doctor for their annual physical, but what if there is something wrong that they are able to diagnose and treat and ultimately save your life. And let’s be honest, your annual physical takes about an hour, then there is blood work, but that short amount of time is well worth it for the long term benefits.
I for one, hate going to the Doctor. My blood pressure shoots up every time that I even make an appointment, but last week I went for my annual physical. Overall, the visit went well. I was told that I needed to lose weight, which I knew, but when I heard the dangers of not making a change in my life, I realized for the first time, that my kids could grow up without me if I don’t make some changes. Here were some of the dangers that the Doctor explained that could happen if I didn’t get my weight down and kept it down:
Now, in saying that, I’m about 20 pounds over weight. But, it is enough that if I don’t make some serious changes to my life, that I could really be in trouble. So, what am I doing? I am looking at this at a 2 phased approach:
Phase I – Make the initial changes
This will probably take me a few weeks & this should get me down 5 – 10 pounds.
- Cut down on eating carbs and starches
- Breakfast now consists of 1/2 cup of egg beaters, 100 calorie bread, 1 container of greek yogurt
- Snacks now consists of almonds and sometimes adding dried cranberries
- Limit alcohol intake – and for the next few weeks, I am basically cutting out alcohol altogether
- Eat more chicken and meats that are higher protein
- Eat more salads
- Exercise more
Phase II – Maintain
This will be the for the rest of my life.
- Limit Carbs and starches
- Maintain the same breakfast combination
- Maintain snacks & introduce fruits into the mix
- Continue to limit my alcohol intake, but occasionally have a glass of wine or a beer.
- Continue to eat chicken and meats
- Continue to eat salads at least 2 -3 times a week
- Step up my exercise routine by adding in a daily walk of at least 1 mile, if not more, focusing on at least 30 minutes of cardio a day.
These are just a few of the things that I am doing, as I want to make sure that my boys grow up with me being around and more importantly, I want to be able to set a good example for them by showing them the importance of getting their annual physical and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
So guys, do the responsible thing, get your annual physical and more importantly, set a good example for your children.
Current Unemployment Numbers
According to the current CBO (Congressional Budget Office), as of January the current unemployment numbers are still in the 8.5% range and will more than likely remain in the 8% range for the remainder of this year and next. The problem with this, as I see it, is that current number of people that are continuing on unemployment is about the same, if not more month over month. I will be curious to see what the revised numbers look like for January’s current unemployment numbers look like in the coming weeks. I still think that at the end of the day:
- The numbers are wrong, as they only factor in those that are still looking for jobs that are eligible for unemployment.
- That the election is largely going to be decided by those that feel that the current Administration has done a good enough job and those that believe that another candidate could do a better job.
Every day that I drive to work, I think about several friends that aren’t as fortunate. They struggle to make it week to week. They are part of that number and they hate it, often times admitting how embarrassed that they are that they are out of work. I am truly blessed.
It Is Just A Game
That is what I kept telling myself last night after the UNC vs Dook game where Dook hit a 3 pointer with 1 second to go to win the game. It is just a game.
I was trying to think of ways to justify the loss this morning, not defending the 3, poor fouls, fatigue, etc, but it is just a game. And then I got thinking, how can I
use this for when the boys are older and UNC loses a game? I’m still working on that one, but it really is just a game. Today, the adults are sitting around their offices,
sending text messages, emailing, making calls etc talking about the game, what they would have done differently and what should have happened.
But at the end of the day, it is just a game. The players were probably in class today. Study hall later. Practice, film review, hitting the weight room and trying to prepare
for the game this weekend. And though, like the rest of the fans, I’ve been texting my brother and Godfather about the game, how we feel, what we would have done
differently if we were coaching and it comes back to one ringing fact, it is just a game. I just hope that when my boys are older and we watch UNC Basketball games,
that I can remember that it is just a game and not get too caught up in it.