Life’s Little Moments

With 4 days left until Christmas, I thought I would share a little update.

Despite the many Christmas posts, I am not really feeling “Christmassy” this year. It seems like our family is focused on one event and once that is done, we’re on to the next one. Point A to Point B, then on to Point C. We haven’t had two minutes to really appreciate the season, even though we are decked out and have done some holiday activities.

Once Ella’s dance recital was over, the focus shifted to her surgery. She had an ear tube that was stuck. She also was set to have tonsils and adenoids taken out, if they needed to be. The surgery was on Thursday and she did really well! The tonsils got to stay, but the adenoids came out.

If you do “Elf on the Shelf,” you know the kids are not supposed to touch the elf. If they do, it loses its magic and cannot fly back to the North Pole. The morning of her surgery, there was a note from “Santa’ that said that he gave Twinkles (the elf) special powers for that day. She could hold her and take her to the hospital with her. She was thrilled!!

We arrived at 6am and were on our way home by 9:30! It’s crazy how they shove you out of there after surgery! When we got home, we all took a nap, and there was a special surprise that awaited.

You may remember this from last year. One of our neighbors puts out a mailbox for kids in the neighborhood to mail letters to Santa. Each child receives a response. The kids love to go there and drop the letter in the mailbox.

The neighbor messaged me on Facebook and asked if there was a good time to drop off a letter. I told her about the surgery and she said she would drop it off then. After our nap, we woke up and I told the kids, “You will never guess who just texted me!”

They asked who it was and I said “I’m not sure, but it says it is a North Pole number!” I said that there were photos attached. So I opened them in front of them.

Santa himself delivered their letter!!! When they saw the pictures, they both ran to the front door. I opened it and we looked around. He must have got back in the sleigh and went home! They wanted me to look in the mailbox and sure enough, there was his letter. Talk about two giddy kids!!

It looks like they both made the nice list and will be getting what they asked for this year. Thanks, Santa!!

Christmas Rock

This was too cool not to share. In Flint, MI, there is a big square rock. It has been there as long as I have lived in mid-Michigan. I’ve seen a lot of things on it. People have spray painted memorials to loved ones who have passed away. Sometimes it is in honor of the anniversary of their passing. There have been marriage proposals in it. There have been patriotic tributes for events like 9/11. There have been funny paintings and sad paintings.

For Christmas, a local mural artist named Johnny Fletcher did his part to get folks in the Christmas season. The first mural, which was featured on many websites, featured the mean one – the Grinch.

This mural became the talk of the town. A week or so later, he did yet another one. This time it was of a couple of misfits!

The quality of his work is truly amazing. It didn’t take long for folks to ask if they could buy a print of these. I hear he was selling them through his Facebook and personal site. Those would look pretty cool on a wall. However, they look downright amazing on this HUGE rock.

The countdown to Christmas continues … Have a great weekend.

The Cat’s Meow

On the old Soupy Sales show, one of the easiest way to set up a joke was to have someone come banging on his door. One of my favorite lines (that no one else finds funny) goes like this:

(Door Knocking)

(Soupy opens the door) “Yes?”

(Man at door) “Well, I guess you don’t like cats!”

(Soupy) “I don’t like cats? That’d ridiculous! Dizzy Gillespie is a good friend of mine!”

I wasn’t always a cat person. My brother and I always had dogs growing up. When I moved to Ludington in 1991, I was living alone and someone suggested I get a kitten to keep me company. From that moment on, it seems I have always had a cat around the house.

When I was living in Flint, there were stray cats galore in our neighborhood. Each neighbor had a different name for the same cat. Ralphie for us, was Boots for our next door neighbor, or Stanley for our neighbor across the street.

Larry was my cat from Ludington. My dad disliked cats, so when I moved home, he went to stay with my brother. Over the years there was Callie, Frankie, Tigger, Moe, and Lorenzo (who still lives with my older sons.)

Maizey has lived with us for about 3 or 4 years. Originally, she was supposed to be my wife’s cat, but I think she stays by me more. When I go to bed, she jumps up and wants me to pet her. She will often jump up on my lap on mornings I get up before the kids. I will have a cup of coffee next to me, a book or my phone, and Maizey purring away.

So why all this talk about felines? Recently, Sam said she felt like Maizey needed a friend. She felt like she was lonely. She said that she doesn’t really come out as much as she used to. I reminded her that it was probably because Ella and Andrew tend to chase her around or try to grab her tail!

So for a little over a month now, Sam will occasionally show me pictures of kittens that Facebook friends are selling or giving away. I did not think that she was serious about getting Maizey a friend, but I was obviously wrong. Today, we welcomed a new kitty to the house.

Say hello to Mowgli! Sam wanted to name him Bear, because she says he reminded her of a bear. When Sam asked Ella what we should name him – Mowgli came out of nowhere. I can’t tell you the last time she watched Jungle Book, listened to the story or read the book, so I don’t know what made her think of it. She seems pretty sure that Mowgli was the name – so it is. I suggested to Sam that maybe Bear could be his middle name!

Friday Photo Flashback

I’m just under the wire for another Friday Photo Flashback. For this edition, we go back to Y2K!

The above photo was taken outside the Country Music Hall of Fame on either December 31, 1999 OR January 1, 2000. I was working at B95 in Flint, MI at the time. We had a huge promotion where we took a couple buses of listeners to Nashville to ring in the year 2000 with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I believe Kenny Chesney and some other singer all were with them that night.

Kristine Turner, our morning show co-host, and I were the station chaperones. I don’t recall if the listeners bought tickets to go or if they won them, but the trip was quite a whirlwind and awesome time. I remember we left Flint at the crack of dawn and drove all the way to Nashville nonstop. I believe when we arrived at the hotel, we had time to check in, change and we left for the show.

The atmosphere in the arena was electric! For weeks, all the news could talk about was Y2K and all the potential issues and uncertainty that may or may not happen at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Y2K was the furthest thing from everyone’s mind at the show! It was a big party.

The year 2000 rang in to loud cheers, Auld Lang Syne, and couples kissing. Afterwards, the concert continued. We knew the buses were heading back to the hotel until much later, so we ventured out into downtown Nashville. All along Broadway, EVERY bar was hopping with activity. We stopped at almost all of them. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, where singers like Terri Clark were discovered, was packed and we enjoyed some great music.

As we walked the streets of Nashville, people were coming up to us. I had worn my Detroit Tigers jersey to the show and people from Michigan kept stopping us asking us where we were from and then telling us what Michigan town they were from. There were many hugs and handshakes throughout that walk. I don’t think things closed down until like 4am that night. It was unreal how busy the town was that night.

The following morning, New Year’s Day, we had a few hours to walk around and take in some sights before the buses left to go home. We opted to go to the Opryland Hotel and walk through there. I won’t lie, I had no idea how big it was and just how much was in there. I remember thinking, “Wait. You are leaving our hotel … to go see another one?”

I was floored when I walked in. I remember seeing the boat that floated through the hotel. I couldn’t believe it. The hotel was obviously more than a hotel. I enjoyed walking through it and checking out the attractions. I may have gotten a caricature done while I was there. Years later, after we were married, Sam and I took a trip down to see her aunt in Kentucky. On the way home, we made a stop in Nashville and took that boat ride together.

On that trip, time was very limited, but it still was a lot of fun. We did have one “incident” on that trip. We stopped at one point, I can’t remember if it was to eat or maybe at a rest stop to just get out and walk for five minutes. One of the bus drivers actually locked the keys in the bus! This is the same bus driver who had taken us on a “tour” of Nashville at some point during the trip and got lost! I had to laugh, because I could see us stuck there for a while. Luckily, someone was able to reach in and get ahold of the arm that opened the door. It was no easy task, but we finally were able to get back on the bus and head home. That was a story I enjoyed telling on the air!!!

I have yet to actually walk through the Country Music Hall of Fame, so I think another trip to Nashville is in order.