After I took Ella for bloodwork recently, we drove thru the McDonald’s.. I had promised her a Happy Meal for lunch.
Now, I rarely eat at McDonald’s. If I do, I might get a Fish sandwich. I’m just not a big fan. However, I’m a sucker for a Shamrock Shake!
After ordering her lunch, I asked for a Shamrock Shake. It was 11:45am. Lunch time for the most part, right?
The lady on the speaker replies, “I’m sorry, sir, but we are unable to make shakes at this time as we are cleaning the shake machine.”
It’s at this point that all the jokes about the shake machine at McDonald’s come to mind. The Shamrock Shake IS your big promotion right now. All the TV and radio commercials sing the praises of the “minty goodness” that is the Shamrock Shake! Can someone explain why they choose the lunch rush to clean the machine? I mean, the place is open 24 hours. Why isn’t someone cleaning it at 2am?!
Back in September of 2019, just 5 months before Ella was born, I wrote the following:
Over the past 30 years, I have DJ’d thousands of weddings and hundreds of Daddy/Daughter dances! At weddings, I have watched countless times as two special people shared their moment in the spotlight. At Daddy/Daughter dances, I have watched dads wonder just what their little girl is screaming about when Justin Beiber or Taylor Swift start playing. I have then watched as they finally get a slow song to dance with their little girl.
As a father of boys, I never understood the bond or the feelings involved with those dances. I know I have a few years yet, but time will fly and soon enough I will be able to relate to those dads I have watched over the years. To say I am excited as I look forward to that first dance … is quite an understatement.
Now, Ella and I have done silly dances at home many times. However, the first “official” Daddy/Daughter Dance is coming this weekend! We’ll be dressing up and heading out to our special night out together. I know that I am excited about it, but I found out just how excited Ella was when I woke up for work tonight.
Sam took the kids out the store this afternoon. While they were out, Ella found the dress that she wants to wear to the dance. When I woke up, I was barely out of the bedroom and she was running at me! She couldn’t wait for me to see her dress. Sam had found a dress as well, but Ella insisted on the one she brought home.
She is going to look absolutely beautiful! I’m sure that Sam will be doing something really nice with her hair for the evening. I may stop at the store to try to find a tie that matches her dress. I also think I want to buy her a corsage for the dance. Maybe that it taking it too far. She’s three and may not keep it on, but I want her to know how special she is and how happy I am to be going to the dance with her.
I probably won’t remember to take pictures as I imagine getting way too emotional. I prepaid for pictures that will be taken at the dance and am excited to see how they turn out. It will certainly be a night I will never forget!
If you are a parent, you know that your children are always a good source of stories to share. Here are a few of mine from the past few days:
Tea Party Gone Bad
While Andrew took a nap recently, Ella and I were in the living room playing with her Disney Princess Barbie dolls. She brought me the Mulan Barbie and she had her Moana Barbie. She sat them both across from each other and then grabbed a tea pot and tea cups. She set them in front of each doll. She then brought over this mushroom/muffin looking toy (she obviously thought they looked more like muffins). This is when things went awry!
I started to make Mulan (who she had given to me) drink her tea. I made slurping sounds and then did a loud fake burp. This made her laugh. Then I did it again. More laughter. Then I made really loud slurping sounds and the cup ended up on Mulan’s head. She started to do the same thing to her Moana. I was laughing just as hard as she was, especially when she was making her fake burp sounds.
Pausing Pap
Andrew has been using CPAP for over a week. Here’s the thing, it is supposed to help him sleep better. However, because of his age and the limited masks that he can use, the one he has works – when it stays on. Basically, mom and dad are the ones who aren’t sleeping now. Sam and I find ourselves pulling it back on his head or fighting him to get it back on. It is a struggle.
We e-mailed his doctor about it and we’re gonna take a break for a day or two to see if that helps. The good thing is that his apnea is mild, and we were only anticipating him wearing it for less than a year. The doc told us, if he lets us put it on – use it. If not – don’t.
All in all, whether he is rested or not, he is still giving us plenty of smiles!
Toddler Vocabulary Lesson
Ella did the cutest thing the other day. We had misplaced the TV remote and I asked her to help me find it. She reached he hand up to her eyes like she was looking through binoculars and said:
“Daddy, I can’t find the remote. I will have to use my ‘oculars’ and look for it!”
Hardest Part of Parenting
As a father of four children, I have taken each of them in for shots more times than I can count. There is always that look of, “How could you let them hurt me like that, Daddy?” after they get poked. It kills me every time.
Last week, Ella had her three year old well visit. We noticed that she is bruising very easily. She jumps around a lot and (as most toddlers do) bumps into just about everything. The bruising concerns us a bit, so her primary doc wanted to run some bloodwork to make sure she is ok. Sam was with her at that appointment and she was told she could just go next door to the lab to get the blood draw.
Ella was extremely scared and voiced that numerous times. I guess they poked her a couple times and could not get the draw. They were going to try to do the other arm and Sam said, “No, we’ll do it another day.” Ella had been through enough. So, today, it was my turn to take her to get it done.
I had picked out a short sleeve short for her, but she wanted to wear a dress. There were no sleeves on it and so the tourniquet the wrapped on her arm bothered her a lot. She sat in my lap and said she was scared. I did what I could to keep her calm, but after the first poke, she moved and wound up blowing the vein. The tech decided to try the other arm. In my head, I decided I would let them try one time and if they didn’t get it, we’d leave.
They found a good vein, got the poke and Ella and I took deep breaths and counted to 5 (over and over). That helped a lot! Once they were done and pulled the needle out, she was still crying, but she looked at the techs who did the draw and said, “Thank you.” They offered her a pack of graham crackers, and she was all better.
Hopefully, the test results will be normal.
Heavenly Visitor?
I’ve never been one to believe in supernatural stuff, but today something happened that made the hair on my neck stand up. I’m still scratching my head over it.
When I woke up for work today, Sam asked me what my oldest son called my mom (he is the only one of my kids who knew my mom before she passed away). I told her that he always called her “grandma.” She asked further, “Did he ever call her Grammy?” He didn’t. My ex’s mom was “Grammy,” but my mom was always “Grandma.”
I asked her why she wanted to know. She proceeded to tell me that Ella had said something to her today and when Sam asked her where she heard it (or maybe it was who told her that), she replied, “My Grammie in heaven.” So this peaked my curiosity and I asked her what else she had told her. She said something about princesses, but Sam and I think she was just talking about the princesses that we got for that Tonie.
The longer I sat in the living room drinking my first cup of coffee, the more I wondered about what she said. I have no pictures of my mom hanging in the house. I don’t have photo albums that we can look through. All the physical photos I do have are in a box and the rest are digital. For some reason, this really bugged me. So I took it a step farther.
I grabbed my phone and opened up my Facebook page. I went to the photo albums and found one that contains pictures of my mom. I pulled up one from before she got sick and opened it on my phone. I showed Ella this picture:
It had been a few minutes and I was sure she had already forgotten our mention of my mom. I asked her, “Ella, who is this?” Without missing a beat, she said, “My Grammie in heaven.” I was dumbfounded. I truly don’t know that Ella has seen but one or two pictures of my mom, yet she recognized her immediately.
When we found out that we were going to have a baby, my wife bought a special onesie that brought me to tears.
Who am I to question whether or not mom and Ella still talk?
The anecdotes in the blog today are a hodge podge of things that really wouldn’t work as a complete blog, so I thought I would just throw them together here in one. Please forgive the randomness …
Missed Milestone
Somewhere over the last couple weeks, I neglected to mark a milestone. I would have never guessed that I would post over 900 blogs when I started this site, but I have! Many of you have been here from the start and I thank you for reading. Thank you for reading about everything from diaper changes to my favorite movies and music. Thank you for listening to my many rants. Thank you for supporting the many changes my life has gone through and for your wonderful encouragement.
Maybe I have enough written to compile that book I have been meaning to write?
No More High Chair
Andrew has officially outgrown the high chair. I admit, it was nice to be able to put him in there and know that he would stay in one spot while he ate, however, it was time. So Sam and I brought out Ella’s table and now they can eat together. The above picture is in the middle of the living room temporarily while we rearranged the room.
We Got a Tonie
A funny thing happened this week. My wife was telling me, “I think I wanna get one of those Tonie Boxes.” I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me that it was like an Alexa for kids. You place this “Tonie” on the top and it reads books or plays stories. I had no idea what it looked like, but I pictured a small speaker with like a flash drive on it or something.
That same day – not 2 hours later – a box was out on the porch. My friend Margaret had sent the kids a birthday/Christmas present. I opened the box and I saw what looked like a package you might find a set of books in. Nope, it was a Tonie! My wife and I looked at each other in disbelief.
When I called Margaret so the kids could say thank you, I told her the story of our conversation and the arrival of her box. She couldn’t believe it. She told me that she saw it while walking through Meijer. She had no idea if the kids would even like it, and made sure to include the gift receipt in case we wanted to take it back. She included a few extra Tonie characters in the box and they kids love it!!
There are many Tonie characters you can get that tell stories and play music. You can even create your own content. If you have a little one, it is worth it!
Family Comedian
My daughter, Ella, is a constant source of laughter. Many times that comes at my expense. The following conversation took place this week:
Ella (with a hairbrush): Daddy, can I brush your hair?
Me: Baby, I don’t have any hair to brush
Ella: Yes you do!
I posted this picture on my Facebook and a friend commented, “Throw that brush away! She doesn’t want to catch the BALD!”
Parental Funny
I saw this posted on one of the Instagram pages I follow and got a good chuckle. ALL parents can relate to this!
“My daughter listens to Snoop Dogg and I’m ok with it – But only if it’s the song with Doggyland!”
Yeah, I’m sure I don’t want my three year old daughter listening to some of Snoop’s rap stuff, however, there is one song that she listens to that we’re totally ok with. Have you heard of Doggyland? No? Don’t worry, I hadn’t either. So I looked them up.
Doggyland is a 3D animated series co-created by Snoop Dogg that features a colorful cast of dogs in a vibrant world where they sing, rap and dance to fun and educational songs. Basically, it is hip hop inspired takes on kids songs and nursery rhymes presented by Snoop Dogg.
Every night since she was a baby, Sam and I put Ella to bed with some affirmations. “Ella is brave. Ella is Beautiful. Ella is Strong. Ella is Smart. Ella is loved!” We change them up a bit for Andrew and he gets affirmations, too.
I have no idea where Sam found this song, but one of the Doggyland songs is called the Affirmation Song and Snoop is featured on it (of course). Ella loves it. Here are the lyrics (it’s kind of a call and answer with repetitive lines):
The Affirmation Song
⦑ Intro: Snoop Dogg ⦒ Affirmations are a positive statements that help bust a challenge and overcome When you not feeling good and have negative thoughts, so repeat after me, come on everyone
⦑ Verse 1: Snoop Dogg & Doggyland ⦒ There is no one better to beat than myself There is no one better to beat than myself Today is going to be an amazing day Today is going to be an amazing day My feelings matter My feelings matter I get better every single day I get better every single day I choose to feel happy I choose to feel happy My family loves me so much! My family loves me so much! I care about others I care about others I learn from my mistakes I learn from my mistakes
⦑ Hook ⦒ Affirmations are fun and cool They help us heal and they help us grow If you love to learn and wanna keep feeling good, let’s say some more Follow me, let’s go!
⦑ Verse 2: October London & Doggyland ⦒ I am responsible I am responsible I get better every single day I get better every single day I’m surrounded by love I’m surrounded by love Every problem has an answer Every problem has an answer I deserve to feel good I deserve to feel good Anything is possible Anything is possible I believe in myself I believe in myself I can control my own happiness I can control my own happiness
⦑ Outro: Snoop Dogg ⦒ Now we know some new affirmations that we can choose, and learn to say So next time you need a little inspiration to help you more have a positive day (positive day)
Remember Stuart Smalley from SNL? He’d look in the mirror and say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”
As silly as this comedy sketch was on SNL, there is something to be said about offering up daily affirmations. What’s so wrong with reminding yourself that you are special or that you choose to be happy? It can’t hurt to remind yourself that you have control of your feelings and how to react to them. It will only make you feel better to remind yourself of how blessed you are and how much you are loved. So, go ahead, look in the mirror, crank up Snoop Dogg, and recite those daily affirmations!!
No one really wants to be home sick. However, one of the bonuses of it is having some time to read. This book was something that was popping up often in my “Good Reads” app. After reading the brief synopsis of it, I decided it was one that I had to get. I had my library save me a copy and after finishing the book I had been reading, I dove right into this one.
The title grabbed me immediately. As an Italian, I immediately thought this might be some sort of mobster story. It wasn’t, but it certainly did not disappoint! If you love a good mystery, you will like this one a lot.
Benjamin Stevenson is an author who was unknown to me before picking this up. I have since learned that he is actually a very popular (and award winning) stand up comedian from Australia. This isn’t his first book either, so I have a feeling I will be checking his previous works out in the near future.
The Harper Collins website describes the book this way: “Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever blend of classic and modern murder mystery.” It is funny that it is described in that way, because I compared it to the movies Clue and the classic And Then There Were None.
Before I go on, let me say that I loved this book! It really has the feel of a classic murder mystery, yet set in present day. What makes this story different is that the author actually speaks to the reader throughout the story.
The narrator is Ernest Cunningham. He is a self-published author of a book on how to write a crime novel/murder mystery. As the narrator, he tells the reader that he is not a fan of various literary tricks used in novels today (like and unreliable narrator) and promises to be as reliable and truthful as possible as he relates the story. He constantly breaks “the fourth wall” as he tells the story.
Synopsis from Google:
Ernie Cunningham, a teacher and crime fiction aficionado, is a reluctant guest at a family reunion held in a snowbound mountain retreat. Three years ago, Ern witnessed his brother, Michael, kill a man and immediately shopped him to the police. This was a betrayal no one in his well-known crime family could forgive and for the last few years Ernie has been shunned by his relatives. But now they are all gathered at the Sky Lodge Mountain Retreat to welcome Michael back into the fold after his release from prison. However, on the eve of Michael’s release, the body of a man is found frozen on the slopes. While most assume the man simply collapsed and died of hypothermia during the night, Ern and his step-sister Sofia spot a strange detail – the man’s airways are clogged with ash. He appears to have died by fire . . . in a pristine snowfield . . . without a single burn mark on him. With the local police officer, PC Darius Crawford, soon overwhelmed by the death of the man no one can identify, Ernie begins his own investigation. Particularly when Sofia points out that the death has the same MO as The Black Tongue serial killer recently in the papers… It’s up to Ern to discover whether one of his family is a serial killer, before his whole family end up dead…
Ernie is good about making sure you are “keeping up” and at times will “recap” things for you, which I found helpful. I am guessing that if you read the book in one sitting, the recap might be annoying, but I read it over a couple days and found it a good thing. I admit I had pegged two or three people as the murderer only to find out I was wrong. I was totally caught off guard when they were revealed.
It is witty, has suspenseful moments, great characters, and fun. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend reading if you love a good mystery. 5/5 Stars!
Sorry to be absent, the flu hit our house and it’s been a slow recovery. Here’s something I saved from a week or so ago I think you will enjoy:
I believe Maggie over at From Cave Walls posted this last week. I saved the questions in a draft and am finally getting around to answering them. I’d love for my musical friends to answer them as well.
Do you choose to play music that matches your mood?
When I have absolute control over it, I think I tend to. I used to have a collection of cassettes in my car that were all “themed.”. I had one with fast music for cruising, one with sad songs on it for “those” days, a tape of love songs, etc…
When the radio is on, I punch around looking for something that connects with me. Maybe it fits the mood, but sometimes, I’m just looking for a favorite to sing along with.
Do you ever use music to change your mood?
Absolutely! I would say music is my “go to” when I need to change my mood. Music is really good for that.
Do you use music to relax or to fall asleep?
Yes. When I need to relax I often find a play list on YouTube or play a Pandora or Sirius XM channel.
I used to be able to play music in headphones and fall asleep, but I don’t anymore. Now, it is the music from my kid’s sound machine that plays. Sometimes it bothers me, but most of the time, it helps.
When do you like music with lyrics versus instrumental music?
I think both are good anytime, really. When I’m reading or studying, I tend to like light instrumental music.
Does music distract you if you are trying to concentrate?
Sometimes it does, and if that is the case, I will turn it off or lower the volume. However, as I just said, when I am reading or studying I find it doesn’t distract me at all (when it is the right type of music)
Do you like percussion arrangements with no other instrumentation?
Percussion is important – it keeps the whole song on time. Back in the 50’s there were plenty of “drum” features (Bongo Rock, Topsy Part 2, Teen Beat, Wipe Out, etc…) But they all had other instruments playing. If it’s just drums, it had better be good. Not saying I don’t like a good drum solo, but I can’t really pull a “just drum” song out of my head that stands out.
Do you listen to classical music?
Absolutely! I love it. There are so many fantastic pieces by Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, Chopin, and others that are worth listening to! I listen to it a lot, especially when I am working.
I also love listening to it in the car. It’s always cool when they play something we played in band class.
Do upbeat rhythms make you want to get up and dance?
There are very few songs that I will “fast dance” to. I dance worse than Elaine on Seinfeld! Jump Around by House of Pain is one I will get out for because all you have to do is jump up and down and it doesn’t matter!!
What music grates on your nerves?
I have some formats that I dislike, but there are the occasional songs from those formats that I do like. That said, Rap is probably my least favorite. At the same time, there are very few songs out today that I like.
My son, Andrew, has had a hard time sleeping since he was born. We took him to an ENT and they found that he had laryngomalacia. A sleep study was ordered and it showed that the laryngomalacia was leading to sleep apnea (That’s what the photo above is). This led to a minor surgery to try to correct it. I blogged about that here:
A few months after the surgery, Andrew was back in my sleep lab to see if the surgery had indeed corrected the sleep apnea. This time around, our pediatric neurologist wanted to check for seizure activity and muscle movements as well. The study results showed that the apnea got better, but hadn’t gone away completely.
My wife and I knew exactly what that meant – CPAP. We both have run many sleep studies on children and many CPAP titrations as well. They are not always an easy thing. I will be honest, I was not looking forward to running his CPAP study, anticipating that he was going to fight us all night long. However, to our surprise, he actually did quite well and slept most of the night.
Sam went and picked up his CPAP machine today. Before going on, I will tell you that the past week has been very difficult for us (more for her). They terrible twos are kicking in BIG time with Ella. Both kids have been a handful and hard to deal with. That being said, knowing that Sam was going to be the one to be with him for his first night at home with CPAP had me praying that all went well.
Sam said he cried for a little bit, so she put on Elmo. He calmed down and when she told him it was bed time, he laid down and went to sleep! She sent me this picture:
I couldn’t be more proud of my little C-Papper! What a champ! I know that this is going to really help him in the future. Hopefully, he will only need to wear it a few months.
In 1980, singer Eddie Rabbitt had quite a few country cross-over hits. One of them was Drivin’ My Life Away. One of my favorite lines in that song is:
“Those windshield wipers slappin’ out a tempo, Keepin’ perfect rhythm with the song on the radio, But I got to keep rollin’“
In all the years I have been driving, I’ve never really experienced such a phenomena. I spend a lot of time on the road. Weather conditions often require the windshield wipers to be on during my drive. Sure, every now and then the tempo of a song and the wipers have been close – but never in synch with each other. If it had, I never really noticed. Finally, tonight it happened!
The drive in was absolutely awful. Temperatures were in the upper 20’s. North of us, they were getting hit with snow. Near me, it was freezing rain and drizzle. The roads were icy and I knew I’d have to leave earlier than normal. As I headed out, those icy conditions were very apparent.
The freezing rain, drizzle, and rain continued all the way to work. I had to have the heat blowing on the windshield the entire way in because if I didn’t it was freezing to it. I also had to bump the wiper speed from “intermittent” to “low” to keep a clear view. Because of this, everything fell “in synch.”
I had finished listening to a book on tape, and switched over to Sirius XM Symphony Hall in hopes that some classical music would keep me calm and focused on the drive in. They were playing a symphony or a sonata from Joseph Haydn. I don’t know that I ever heard it before. I can’t recall the name of it. It was either in 6/8 or 3/4 time. It was almost “waltz” sounding.
As I listened to the wipers slapping back and forth against the ice and rain, I noticed it had a “1-2-3, 1-2-3” feel to it. The first beat as the wiper raised, the second as it reached the top, and the third as it rested back at the bottom. It then became very clear as I listened to the wipers that the Haydn piece was totally in synch with them. It is the silliest thing, but I actually got excited and even more into the piece! Immediately, the words of Eddie Rabbitt came to mind.
I drove and listened to the remainder of this song in perfect time with my windshield wipers and the whole time I was giddy as a kid in a candy store. Ridiculous, right? Maybe, but sometimes you need something so silly and so simple to put you in a good mood.
Today’s blog stems from a Daily Writing Prompt and something my oldest son told me over the weekend. My sons and my ex are moving into a new place. It has a basement and my son was excited because he and his brother were told that they could make it into their very own man cave. The prompt that was in my email today reads, “If money were not an object, and you could build your own man cave, what would it contain?”
Oh, The Possibilities!
As I contemplated this, my first thought was, “I’m gonna need a big space!” I’ve read articles on the internet about “Great Man Caves” and also seen some of those home improvement shows where the builders give the guy a man cave. I admit some of my ideas are stolen from those, but many are just things that I would love to have.
A Good Sound System
This is a MUST! It would be something that I where could incorporate audio and video. I’d want to be able to play vinyl records, CD’s, cassettes, reel to real and digital audio through it. With the video aspect, I’d want to be able to watch stuff on live TV, streaming, and of course DVD/Blue Ray.
I love the idea of a home theater with comfy chairs, maybe recliners, and stadium-type seating.
While I don’t do a whole lot of drinking anymore, the above photo suggests that a bar with bar stools would certainly look cool.
I’ve always loved playing pool, even though I was never very good at it. I think a nice pool table would have to be a part of the design. One photo I stumbled on also had a golf simulator in it! This would be excellent! I don’t get out on the course enough, and during the Michigan winters, I could just tee off in the man cave!
Speaking of golf, the only golfing I am doing lately is on the Xbox. I usually shoot a round before I turn in for the night. That being said, having a gaming area would be neat to have. If money was not an object, I could buy every system and people could play whatever system they wanted to.
I’d also like a way to be able to switch whatever system I am playing onto the main TV and sound through the sound system!
If I had my own man cave, I’d have to invite the gang over to play pinochle or poker. I’d want to have a good card table to do that.
I’d have to have something on the walls – maybe some framed Detroit sports jerseys?
Or some movie posters?
Or maybe a display of various action figures?
Pinball games or arcade games are also a possibility
Now that I think about it, if I have the space, having a bowling alley in my man cave would be pretty cool too!
Speaking of bowling, there was something else we used to do at the bowling alley. After we were done for the day, we would all head into the bar area and play shuffle board. I was never any good at it, but it was certainly a lot of fun to play. A shuffle board game would also be great to add.
The above picture has another cool idea – a train that runs above the space! That Railroad Crossing sign is pretty sweet, too!
Somewhere in the man cave, I would like to have three private areas – first a restroom. It’s important to have one of those readily available. I’m sure it would have a theme – classic movies, classic comedy, or just something “manly”
Second, I would like an office area. It could be somewhere I could work, read or just relax.
Finally, I would love to have a private recording studio. With it I could do voice over work. I’d still love to do commercials, or maybe narrate an audio book, do a podcast, and it has always been a dream to have a home studio.
A personal space – a man cave – is nice to think about. Perhaps one day ….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 