All you had to do this week was turn on the news, check your social media page, or surf the internet to see the chaos going on in the world. As an American, it makes me sad to see the state of the country. The division within the country is just sickening. Abraham Lincoln quoted scripture when he said:
Facebook was full of friends who stated that they were leaving Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms to go to MeWe and Parler (whatever those are!). I utilize the “snooze/mute” and “unfollow” features so I don’t see a lot of the content that aggravates me. However, even taking advantage of those features, I still end up seeing things I don’t want to.
When I am feeling angry or upset at the world, politics, or whatever, I need only turn to the smile of my little girl…..
Ella is oblivious to all the craziness in the world. She loves playing with mommy and daddy. She watches Elmo and reads books. She chases the cat and gets into things she isn’t supposed to. She finds joy in simple things, like me making a stuffed dog “bark” at her.
She got to go outside and sit in the snow for the first time in her life. Even though she wasn’t quite used to the snowsuit and boots – she smiled at the peacefulness of a winter day!
Having her in my life is better than any medication a doctor can prescribe! I love my daily dose of Ella – her smile is contagious!
The saying goes, “Hindsight is 2020,” and many of us are rejoicing that 2020 is really truly behind us! I often wonder if you were to make a list of positives and negatives of the past year, would one outweigh the other? What about 10-15 years ago? Was that just as bad, but we only choose to remember the good things from that year? I don’t know the answers to those questions.
In talking with my youngest son this weekend, he was talking about the last year and listing all of the bad things from it. I told him that is really is easy to see the bad things, the negatives, or the sadness we experienced. I challenged him to try to find some positives among the negatives. As we drove back to my house, we were able to do that. I told him it isn’t always easy to find those positives, and sometimes there may not be any, but to always look for them.
December 31, 2019
As the world awaited 2020’s arrival there was great excitement. Many said, “This is going to be MY YEAR!” Others looked at the new year as a clean slate from 2019 (which they wanted to be over). I recalled the quote from country singer Brad Paisley, who said, “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book, write a good one.” We looked at 2020 as a year of happiness, recovery, new opportunities, new adventures, and so much more! 2020 had other plans.
2020
Looking back at 2020, the absolute high point was the birth of our daughter, Ella. NOTHING tops this moment! The blog announcing her birth was one of the most read of the year.
My first daughter. Daddy’s little girl. My wife, Sam, was just amazing throughout the delivery. It was the first time I had witnessed natural child birth and I was in awe of everything. My heart was overflowing with happiness. What a day!
This month, Sam and I were talking about what to do for her first birthday. With Covid, there is not a whole lot we can do. We are probably not going to throw the big party we wanted to, but we are working out plans for something special to mark the occasion.
Covid-19
I can’t even imagine if Ella had been born a few weeks later. By the time March arrived, the whole world was talking about Corona virus and Covid-19. Everything started to shut down in an attempt to “flatten the curve.” Our sleep labs closed and we were deployed to the hospital Labor Pool. During my time there, I heard stories and witnessed things I will sadly never forget. With a new baby at home, my constant worry was that I would bring it home to her. I eventually snapped. The doctor called it Acute Stress Disorder and she took me off work. I was out on FMLA for 6 weeks.
Finding the positive in a negative – I got to spend 6 weeks with my daughter. There are countries that allow both parents to stay home with their newborn child for a year when they are born. I wish the United Stated allowed that. There are so many wonderful moments that happen in that first year. It is a shame that we have to go back to work while our babies are still so young.
Another positive: As the curve flattened, I officiated my first wedding for my friend, Theresa from high school. To say I was nervous is an understatement, but all went well and I didn’t mess anything up too bad. It was nice to see other friends from high school at the wedding, too. It was a bit weird, as there were many masks in the crowd, but that had kind of become the “norm.”
Division and hate
2020 brought more division and more hate. There has always been division in politics, but it seems that both parties hatred for each other was over the top. I’ve heard a lot of mudslinging in ads, but the stuff being said was brutal. The politicians seem to have forgotten who they are supposed to be representing and working for – the people of the country!
Everyone was offended by everything in 2020. Social media was full of arguments, name calling, and much more. Really, the media just continued to “feed” the public and make everyone more angry than they were to begin with. Jim Morrison of the Doors once said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” Noam Chomsky takes it a little further:
I had to finally stop watching the news, and scroll past so many posts from friends. I couldn’t take it. It is totally ok for you to be passionate about your beliefs and your political stance. If it is different than my stance or beliefs, that’s ok, too. You and I can agree to disagree. I was saddened that so many friendships were broken because of the difference of opinion. Friendships that have lasted 30+ years ended because of this, and that breaks my heart. If only more people thought like Thomas Jefferson:
Blog Milestones and Hits and Misses
In 2020, I celebrated two years of blogging. I wrote my 300th blog. I still wrote many movie blogs and music blogs. The music blogs slowed as I started to neglect Tune Tuesday. I tried something new with Friday Movie Quotes, but that didn’t seem to go over too well, so I stopped. Most of my blogs were ramblings about my life and of course, my daughter.
The other blog that got a lot of views was my recent blog about the loss of my friend, and high school band director, Tom Shaner. I posted a link to this on my Facebook, and his daughter also shared it, so many people I didn’t even know read it. I received a private message from his brother who told me that he really appreciated my blog and how it enlightened him on the impact he had on his students. When I finished writing that blog, I didn’t think it did him any justice, but that private message proved otherwise.
Conclusion
As I look back on 2020, I see life’s “circle.” The high point of the year was the birth of my daughter, while the low point of the year was the passing of my friend, Tom. Life and death. A new life enters the world, while an old one leaves the world. Happiness and sadness. As life moves on, the circle continues. We see new births and new deaths.
A pastor once told me that birth is the beginning of death. You begin to die the moment you are born. There is truth to that. So as we look on the new “book” that is 2021, and we begin to write on the blank pages, let’s try to remember the words of actor Michael Landon:
I think you would agree that Christmas was a lot different this year! In a way, it was sad because it was Ella’s first Christmas and it should have been spent visiting grandparents and family. Thank goodness for video chats!
My dad met me at my work the Monday before Christmas and brought all the gifts for the kids. I loaded them up in the car and brought them home after work and placed them under the tree.
I was lucky to have both my sons over for Christmas Eve. I picked up Dimitri on the 23rd and brought him to my house. Dante’ had to work, so he drove up after work. They spent the night, so Christmas Eve morning was our Christmas.
My brothers are still sleeping, so I’m here to inspect all the presents!
Naturally, Ella was up before anyone else. Dante’ and Dimitri were up late. Dimitri was up about 9, and he woke Dante’ up for presents. Lol – he was exhausted. At home, normally he isn’t up until after noon! He literally opened presents and went back to sleep!
Dimitri nabbed a cool gaming chair and new bed, while Dante’ was loaded up with gift cards. We video chatted with my dad as they opened their gifts from him, so we didn’t get any pictures of them opening his stuff.
The aftermath!
Ella made out pretty good! My dad bought her this cute little princess tent!
She absolutely loves playing in it!
It’s like her own club house!
She got to open one of our presents to her that day…it’s the cutest puppy that she can bounce and spin on.
Later that day, Sam’s mom dropped off the gifts for Ella and the boys. The boys got some amazing Nike hoodie sweatshirts and Ella got a Minnie Mouse car that she can ride on or walk with.
It makes all kinds of noise! Each button makes a different sound and the horn has like 4 or 5 different horns. I’m sure in a month or two I will pull the batteries out!
The greatest thing about Christmas Eve was spending it with some of the greatest gifts God ever gave me: Sam and my kids!
The boys went home Christmas Eve evening so they could be with their mom Christmas morning. After Ella went to bed, I got to work putting Dimitri’s bed together and building Ella’s big gift from us.
With all the time we are spending indoors, we wanted to get her something we could play with inside and eventually outside. We bought her this really cool swing and slide.
She loves to swing! She loves to go down the slide, too! It’s funny that she’s already doing things her way! She wants to climb up the wrong way!
One of my closest friends, Margaret, had asked if Ella had a toy box. She ordered the perfect one and hand delivered it last weekend. It’s also a fainting couch! Lol.
Our little princess was right at home with it….
As different as the holiday was, it was still full of good memories! I hope you and your family had a blessed holiday season. Happy New Year!
Here we are less than 2 weeks away from Christmas. No doubt things have gotta be pretty hectic up at the North Pole as they prepare for their long night of massive deliveries! That, however, didn’t stop a jolly old elf from making his way to our house this weekend!
Recently I mentioned in a blog how sad it was that Santa is being placed behind glass or in snow globes due to the pandemic. Many Santa visits are being done virtually on the computer. Sam and I were a bit disappointed that because of the pandemic, we may not be able to even get Ella’s picture with Santa. Someone must have sent word to the North Pole, because we had a special visitor drop by the house Saturday afternoon.
I’m not sure where he parked his reindeer, because I didn’t see them. I heard sleigh bells on the porch and when I opened the door, there in the flesh was Santa Claus! We let him in immediately, and apologized for not having milk and cookies because we hadn’t done our grocery shopping yet. Believe it or not, this didn’t phase him at all!
He made himself at home, sat down in a comfy chair and began his visit with Ella. At first, she wasn’t sure what to make of him. She sat on the floor next to him, looking up and giving him the once over…
It didn’t take but a minute or two for her to figure out he was the real deal! She proceeded to crawl up on Santa’s lap and tell him everything on her Christmas list! She may have added a few things to her list at the spur of the moment, I mean, she had his undivided attention, so you may as well shoot for the moon!
After some time, and very good conversation, Santa got a call from Mrs. Claus and he had to be on his way back to the North Pole. He mentioned he had to stop on his way back for egg nog and reindeer treats. Before he left, he passed out candy canes, and thanked Ella for being such a good girl all year. He reminded her to be in bed nice and early Christmas Eve. With that, he wished us Merry Christmas and was on his way.
He was gracious enough to let us snap some pictures of his visit! I mean, it’s not every day Santa makes home visits!
I have to be honest … I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship…
I have always enjoyed looking back at things from the past. When I worked at Honey Radio, I produced the Top 12 and 12 every weekday. We’d always have plenty of information about dates in history. No matter what year we were focusing on, we’d talk about how much a new vehicle cost or the price of milk or bread, the price of gasoline, or the cost of a new home. These pieces of information added extra nostalgia as we counted our way up to the #1 song in the City of Detroit on whatever day (and whatever year) we happened to be focusing on.
I mention that because our daughter Ella turned 10 months old this week.
It’s truly amazing how fast this time has flown by.
American Woman by the Guess Who was #1 on the pop charts when I was born. I guess I have known that for as long as I can remember. I decided to look and see what the #1 song was when Ella was born. Let’s just say that I hope she never really wants to know.
The song that was at #1 is called The Box by someone named Roddy Ricch. I’ve never heard of him and I’ve never hear the song. I looked it up. I read the lyrics. Sigh. Good Lord…
At any rate, if you don’t know what song was number on when you were born … you can find out here:
When you become a mother, you become more than a mother. You take on a variety of roles. In the 9 months that Ella has been with us, I have seen my wife, Sam, take on many of these roles. Before we ever got married, I was amazed at all the things she did. She was a master multitasker. Now, as a mother, she has gone above and beyond what she did before.
Think about the various roles a mother takes on:
Master Chef
A Teacher
A Nanny
A Nurse
A Taxi Driver
A Counselor
A Comforter
An Alarm Clock
A Photographer
A Cheerleader
A Hero
A Party Planner
A Personal Shopper
A Hair Stylist
A Secretary
And, of course, a housekeeper. In preparation for putting up the Christmas tree, we were cleaning the house. Sam said she needed to vacuum. I walked out of the room to put something in the kitchen, and I walked back into the room and caught this:
Sam was vacuuming with Ella in her arms! When I asked what she was doing, she said, “I always hold her while vacuuming … unless she is napping.” I find it hard to make a bottle while holding Ella, yet my wife multitasks and does all kinds of things with Ella in tow. She never ceases to amaze me.
I just wanted to make sure that she got some kudos for all that she does for Ella and me. Thank you, baby! We love you and we agree….
Am I the only one that starts to freak out if I get one of the symptoms related to Covid-19?!! Monday, I got one of the symptoms (I will refrain from saying which one, but I visited the bathroom often), and my first thought was “Please don’t let this be Covid!” I called in to work on Tuesday, and around the time we normally punch in, a co-worker texted me with one word: “Covid??” I told her I was freaking out about it, and she told me when she had a cough recently, she was doing the same thing! Needless to say, I didn’t have a fever, I was able to taste and smell coffee, and have recovered.
Recently, a co-worker from another lab, a former co-worker, and a co-worker from one of the radio stations I work at were all diagnosed with Covid. One of them works from home, so how she got it is anybody’s guess. My neighbor (who had asked earlier in the week if he could borrow my lawnmower – but never did) texted this morning to say he just got a positive Covid test. I hope he keeps it down at his house!
Looks like this is gonna be around for a while longer ….
Classes
Over the past few months, I have been reviewing an entire year of Bible classes that I took years ago. I am finally in the finally weeks of the last semester of that year. Once I finish reviewing those, I will enter the first semester of the second year, which is where I left off. I am beyond excited to continue these classes. I have found the time in God’s Word to be exactly what I needed. Reviewing the classes is taking time, and I am glad that I chose to review instead of jumping right back into the classes where I left off. There was so much information that I had forgotten, yet so much information that I remembered.
I’ve also found myself watching live streams of church services on Sundays when the baby naps. I am lucky to have met many pastors through Bible conferences, and other believers through mutual friends on Facebook. Many of their messages have been applicable to my daily life and have been helpful to me. It’s been a while, but I am glad to see some growth in my spiritual life.
9 Months!
Ella turned 9 months old on Tuesday. It’s hard to put into words just how much we adore her. With each new day, it seems she’s doing something new! She’s got 6 teeth, crawling, standing, and will be walking in no time. It’s already a challenge keeping up with her! LOL. If you look at her and pucker up like you are going to kiss her, she will lean in and give you a kiss. It’s my new favorite thing that she does!!
Every year, we head to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth and get a new ornament for the Christmas tree. We got one when we got engaged, we got one when we got married, we got one last year when we were expecting, and this year it was “Baby’s First Christmas.” I think that we’ll be putting up the tree this weekend. I can’t wait to tell her the story of her first visit to the store.
Incidentally, for those of you who don’t live in Michigan, this week was a great example of how we experience more than one season in a short time. We had great weather last week and right up to Tuesday (it was almost 80!). This morning, it was about 45 degrees and windy (which made it feel a whole lot colder). You’ll notice Ella wearing her warm sweats this morning in the picture below!
She was a bit tired as we walked through the store. We knew exactly what we needed, so we were in and out. The place was a zoo! We were thinking, “Who goes to Frankenmuth at 10am on a Wednesday?!” Obviously, a lot of people! Anyway, we had to document her first visit there…
Veteran’s Day
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to all of my readers who have served in the armed forces! Whenever I am out anywhere and see someone wearing a hat that says “Veteran” or a branch of the military, I always say “Thank you.” I know that the freedoms we love in this country came at a cost. I thank every man and woman who have proudly wore the uniform and served out country. I am especially grateful to my dad (on the left) who served in the army , and my Uncle Tom (on the right) who served in the navy. They both served during the Vietnam War.
This weekend marked the 14th anniversary of my mother’s passing. It was very much on my mind through the entire weekend. However, there were so many other things going on that there was more happiness than sadness.
My brother came into town from Ohio and got to meet his niece for the first time. We have done many video chats prior to this, so when he came in, she recognized him and the hit it off immediately. It was such a wonderful moment. I’m sure we took a gazillion pictures, but my favorite one, he actually made his Facebook Profile Picture:
Uncle Chris and Ella
My brother and I drove down and picked up Dimitri and we all piled into the van and went to Crossroads Village. They usually do a Haunted Train Ride for Halloween, but because of Covid-19 they are not running the train. Instead, they are doing a nightly drive through of the village. It is all decked out for Halloween. My brother caught some pictures. It was a very nice time.
At the end of the drive, every passenger in the car got a goodie bag. I had to laugh because Dimitri opened a candy necklace, took a bite and said it was gross. I remember loving them growing up. I tried it and it was a bit … chalky!
We then came home and it was pumpkin carving time! We went to the orchard last weekend. We picked pumpkins and didn’t get the chance to carve them, so we did it this weekend.
Dimitri carved a skeleton playing a trumpet. For Ella’s, we took a drill and drilled holes in it. It looks like polka dots when the candle is in it. She loved touching the pumpkin guts, which surprised all of us.
Ready to carveDeterminedYay! Polka Dot Pumpkin!The finished product
On Sunday, we met my friend Jennifer at the park to take some family photos. Everything fell into place for the session – Dante was not working, Dimitri was here, Sam was off work that night, and Jennifer was available. We were worried that Ella wasn’t going to last long, as she was a bit tired. She loves being outside and we ended up getting some really amazing pictures!
The plan is to get one of the family pictures made into a canvas to go with the canvas we have of us with the baby. I also plan on printing some to frame and hang in the hallway. There are plenty to chose from. I wish I had a cubicle or an office at work so I could frame some of them to look at while I work. Here are two of my absolute favorites:
My Beautiful Girls – my wife, Sam, and my daughter EllaMy Three Wonderful Children – Dimitri, Ella, and Dante’
Both of these will be framed!! Perfect photos!!
After the photo shoot, the boys and my brother and I went to the cemetery to visit my mom’s grave. Dante’ has such fond memories of her. Dimitri never got to meet her and it bothers him a lot. They both got very emotional. It was nice to have some time there with them.
Monday, Sam worked days, so she was home by afternoon. We took a drive and grabbed pumpkin spice latte’s from Starbucks. When we got home, we raked up a big pile of leaves. We put the baby in her winter coat and let her sit outside and play in the pile. Look at this cutie:
The temps are cooling down. There is already snow up north. I’m glad to have been able to enjoy such a wonderful fall weekend with family.
I’m sure there are more, but when I think of female drummers, there are a few that immediately pop into my head:
Karen Carpenter – The Carpenters
Meg White – The White Stripes
Sandy West – The Runaways
Debbi Peterson – The Bangles
Gina Schock – The Go Go’s
Sheila E
In the future, there just might be another female drummer on that list – my daughter, Ella!
Future Drummer??!!
Sam was loading the dishwasher this week and she brought Ella into the kitchen. She put some pots on the floor and gave her a wooden spoon and the “music” began! I can’t even begin to tell you how cute this was! She’d rather hit the pots with her hands and chew on the spoon, but when she’s done teething I have a feeling there will be lots of noise!
The whole scene reminded me of a time when I was around 7 years old. I may have been younger, I may have been older. Any time we had a day off at school, if my mom and dad were working, we’d go to one of my grandparents for the day.
If we went to my mom’s mom, she would usually have something planned for us. We’d go to Greenfield Village, Belle Isle Aquarium, or the Henry Ford Museum. If we went to my dad’s mom’s, we would bring bags and bags of toys to play with. The funny thing about that, is that we rarely played with the toys.
My grandma had just about every possible cooking utensil imaginable. She had pie tins, rolling pins, spaghetti pots, metal strainers, whisks, wooden and metal spoons, cheese graters, cup cake pans, cookie sheets, and so much more. I swear, my brother and I would drag out every last pot and pan and play with them. We played with everything except sharp things like knives and forks. I am sure that we drove my grandmother crazy! I can only imagine the noise that we had to be making!
When we were older, my grandmother mentioned to me how much she hated us playing with that stuff. When I asked why, she simply said that she hated having to rewash all of those things! You see, the dishwasher in her house – was her! I can only imagine how exhausted she had to be when we finally went back home. I can also imagine how much she must have hated having to rewash each and every thing we pulled out of her cupboards and cabinets!!
Kids grow up too fast! I already have a hard time believing that Ella is 8 months old! In my opinion, let the noise ring out! Bang on those pots and pans, baby girl!! It is music to mommy and daddy’s ears! We will enjoy every concert you perform.
The weather has been nice enough over the past two weeks for us to get out and really enjoy the fall weather! It’s been pleasantly warm with temps in the high 60’s and low 70’s. I’m glad, because this has allowed me to take Ella out for walks in the stroller through the neighborhood. At one house, the red leaves on the ground were so bright, I took her out of the stroller and let her play in the leaves.
After we got home, we both sat on the front lawn and watched the cars go by. She just loves to be outside! She loves to watch the squirrels, listen to the birds and wind chimes, and play in the grass.
This week Ella turned 8 months old! She has 4 teeth and two more popping through. She’s pretty much crawling like a champ and will no doubt be walking before we know it! To celebrate, we took her and her brother to the orchards to go pumpkin picking. I hope that this will remain an autumn tradition.
At the orchards, you can purchase pumpkins that are already picked, or you can take the hayride and pick your own from the pumpkin patch. Naturally, Ella needed to go on her first hayride, so we did that! She was SO tired when we went, but I was still able to get some amazing pictures. This one is my favorite from the hayride:
I love how she is cuddling with mom! She was loving the ride and the colors were just awesome. She wasn’t really sure what we were doing when we got out to the pumpkin patch. At one point, Sam made her sit on a pumpkin … she was unimpressed!
I love the way Ella looks at her brother. She lights up when she sees him. I have no doubt that she and him will have a strong relationship. After we got our pumpkins, there were quite a few pumpkins out in front of the orchard. I had Dimitri sit down among the pumpkins and then sat Ella next to him. While there are some really great pictures of them looking right at the camera, my favorite is probably the one below. She reached over and put her hand on him and they both are kind of looking at each other. A priceless moment!
I’m hoping that the weather cooperates in the next week or two, as I’m hoping to get both boys over and take some family pictures outside. Sam bought a cute outfit for Ella and shirts for everyone that match the polka dots on Ella’s outfit. I can’t wait to go out and get these pictures done!
Fall is my favorite season and I just love looking at the beauty of God’s creation! Happy Fall!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 