Happy 79th Birthday, Pop!

If you have read my blogs in the past, you know that it consists of a mixture of pop culture things (like movie, TV and music thoughts) and personal things (radio stories, school memories, and things from my childhood). As I thought about today’s blog topic, I realized that without this man in my life – this blog would probably not exist! I guess I didn’t really realize it until now. As I scrolled back over the blogs of the past, I see just how much influence he has had in almost ALL of them! I am talking, of course, about my dad. Today – is his 79th birthday. So here are some birthday thoughts for dad.

In the past I wrote a blog about his musical influence. My musical taste is very broad, because I was introduced to so many different genres by him. He introduced me to rock and roll with the music of Little Richard, Bobby Darin, Roy Orbison and Elvis. He introduced me to the “Great American Songbook” with music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby. He introduced me to Jazz with Louis Prima, and Ella Fitzgerald. He played me music from Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard to introduce me to country music. The list goes on and on … but what about other influences?

Movies

I could spend an entire week writing about the various movies he introduced to me! As far as the classic films, most of those were introduced to me because he saw that they were playing on the Monday Night Movie on regular TV or something. You have to remember VCR’s and DVD players were not a staple in the home yet. You also have to remember that I grew up at the time where “pay TV” was just being incarnated. One of the first pay services was “ON TV”. It came on channel 20 at like 8 or 9 at night. They put an antenna on your roof and it unscrambled the signal so you could watch movies. I remember one time I wanted to record Smokey & the Bandit – but as I said, VCR’s were not for home use yet. The last showing of it on ON TV was at 1am one Friday night. My dad actually stayed up with a cassette recorder in front of the TV and recorded the audio for me. What makes this even better is there were scenes that were so funny to him, you could hear him laughing in the background as the movie played.

With Cable TV came The Movie Channel and HBO. As more and more channels became available, American Movie Classics, Turner Classic Movies, and others were the way to watch them. So he’d tell me “You gotta watch AMC at 3 today – they’re playing ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’!” Growing up, I remember hearing my dad talking with my grandparents, my Uncle Tom, or his friends about actors and actresses and the movies they were in. “Great Movie!” or “What a great flick!” I’d hear him say. Well, if he thought it was great – I wanted to see it! Movies I remember watching – only because I had heard him talk about them included The Godfather, White Heat, Little Caesar, Key Largo, Patton, Midway, The Maltese Falcon, and Night of the Hunter. Many of these were films that I’d walk in to the living room and dad would be watching and he’d tell me about them and catch me up so I could watch it with him. I was introduced to Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Mitchum, Burt Reynolds, and SO many actors just be casually walking into a room where he was watching TV!

The Godfather Part 1 & 2 and Patton are probably some of my favorite films. I remember watching Godfather the first time trying to keep all the names straight. Don Barzinni, Don Stracci, Luca Brazi, Sonny, Fredo, and Tom Hagen were all characters that I had to remember (amongst many more). Dad was there to explain so many things to me as I watched this film the first few times through. I have found myself doing the same thing when I sit and watch it with someone who has never seen it. (On a side note, for one class I had to read books and write book reports for it. I remember dad wrote a book report for me on The Godfather! He got an A!)

Look through my DVD collection and amongst the movies are entire series of classic TV shows. This, again, is a direct result from my dad’s influence. I remember watching re-runs of The Honeymooners on channel 50. I remember when dad told me that Ralph Kramden and Sheriff Buford T. Justice from Smokey and the Bandit were the same person! I don’t know if I would have known that as a 7 year old! I remember staying home sick and watching re-runs of the Dick Van Dyke Show on channel 9 out of Canada. I knew about Carl Reiner because he was one of many cameos in the movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (which should have been mentioned in the movie section of this blog). The other stars of “Mad World” were also known to me because of my dad: I knew Mickey Rooney from a flick called Quicksand he rented. I knew Milton Berle from The Dean Martin Roasts and other TV appearances. I knew Jonathan Winters from a classic Twilight Zone episode (Loved watching TZ with him). Among the other “classic” TV shows he introduced me to: The Untouchables, F-Troop, The Munsters, Car 54, Where Are You?, McHale’s Navy, Perry Mason, Combat, Star Trek, Hogan’s Heroes, Mission: Impossible, and Get Smart.

With the availability of video rentals, I remember dad bringing home TV shows that were not shown on TV anymore or shown late at night. You couldn’t really watch The Little Rascals, Laurel and Hardy, or The Three Stooges on TV unless you stayed up late for comedy classics – which usually was on at 11pm or midnight. With the VCR, though, we could go to the store and rent them! I had listened to Jack Benny and Amos and Andy on cassette tapes of old radio shows (again, thanks to dad), but now I was able to see these TV shows – and they were amazing! I used to love watching these shows with him. One thing I always love seeing is my dad laughing and these shows (and a couple I will mention in a minute) always made him laugh – I mean big belly laughs!

I guess you could say that I grew up at a time where some of the “current” shows are now considered classics. Those shows, my brother and I watched on a weekly basis and watched in re-runs. These shows included The Love Boat, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, Lavern and Shirley, The Dukes of Hazzard, Emergency!, Welcome Back, Kotter, All In the Family, The Jeffersons, The Carol Burnett Show, Barney Miller, Fantasy Island, and Charlie’s Angels. Some of those dad introduced me to, while others he really couldn’t stand.

Sanford and Soupy

The one show that I will forever associate with my dad is Sanford and Son. These shows, no matter how many times we see them remain funny. I can be on the phone with my dad and say, “So last night I watched “the piano movers” and we will both start laughing! Years later, we can quote this show to each other and still crack each other up. Why do we and can we bond over this show? Perhaps it’s the fact that the show is about a father and son and their relationship. I remember how I thought it was odd that Lamont always called Fred, “Pop”. I never used to call my dad that, although somewhere over the years, dad has become “Pop” to me. I call him that all the time now. As a matter of fact, he still often calls me “Lamont”! It is not used flippantly, I use it as a genuine term of endearment! He’s my Pop – and I use it with much love and affection!

Another show that dad introduced me to was The New Soupy Sales Show. He grew up watching Soupy at lunch time. My grandmother often told stories of how Soupy would say “Tomorrow, we’re having bologna sandwiches for lunch” and if dad didn’t have them, he was pissed! Soupy’s new show on channel 20 was pretty much just like the old show. It was full of puns, bad jokes, clips of old movies, funny horoscopes on the radio, the Words of Wisdom, and his friends White Fang, Black Tooth, Pookie and Hippy. It may have been on right after school and before dad came home from work, because I don’t recall him watching it too much with me, however, when it became available on video – we talked about it just like we talk about Sanford and Son.

Traits of a Good Dad

When I became a father, I remember reading something about what makes a good dad. Let me say here that none of us is perfect. My dad was not perfect and neither am I. My point is that when you look at these things, we can assess things we are doing well, things we can improve, and things that we will start doing. As I think back on those things – I can see where I strive to achieve those things and, at the same time, can see a lot of those things in my own father.

For example, a father must be a good disciplinarian. All dad’s love their children, but you know and I know that you can’t let them get away with everything. Dad was this way. The old story about mom saying “Wait till your father get’s home” and the child being scared to death? Yep! That was me! You didn’t want to make dad mad! I would say I made him mad more than a few times.

One time in particular I remember telling him I was spending the night at a friends house. I was out with my girlfriend at the time. We were still in high school, and it was a weekend. We had no money, so we weren’t going to a hotel or anything like that. We just planned on staying out all night. I don’t remember how he found out, but I remember getting a page (remember pagers?!) from the friend who I said I was staying with and he asked why my dad thought I was there! I think my girlfriend’s mom had called my house or something. At any rate – I was in BIG trouble! Dad’s punishment was a fair one (even though I didn’t think so at the time). He proved a point and I NEVER did that again. He let me know that he was in charge. Another time, I got in trouble at school for something. We had a meeting with the teacher and he said what he would go on to tell every teacher afterward in parent teacher conferences, “If he gets out of line again, you have my permission to smack his ass!” (Yes, this was back before a teacher giving the kid a paddle was considered wrong).

A good dad allows his kids to make mistakes. Dad watched me make a TON of them, but he knew that if I was going to learn, I needed to make those mistakes. He’d never let me make a mistake that was life threatening or would put me in danger, but he’d let me make mistakes that he knew, when all was said and done – I’d mature and learn from it. While there were things he questioned, he never really interfered. I learned a lot from that – even though there were times I wish he HAD said something!

A good dad has an open mind. Times change. The way that things were done when he was growing up, well, they may be handled differently now (the paddling in school is a good example). He respected that and embraced it to a degree. As someone who loved all kinds of music, I will never forget the time he called me into the living room to play me this “cool song” he heard and liked. It was “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-lite. The song was not like anything he’s ever played for me, but he liked it and played it at DJ jobs! He embraces change!

A good dad teaches his kids to appreciate things. Those things can be anything. My dad certainly taught me how to appreciate family and friends. He taught me how to appreciate good music, movies and TV. He taught me how to appreciate what you have and the importance of living within your means.

A good dad accepts that his kids aren’t exactly like him. This may or may not have been a lesson he learned from my grandpa. My dad had always been very accepting of my brother and I. While we all have a lot of similarities, we are all SO very different. He respects that our religious and political views may not be the same as his.

A good dad spends quality time with his children. This is one of those things that is difficult to do in today’s society. We spend so much time working and trying to get things done, that we often spend the hours we are not at work doing these things. As a divorced father with limited time with my boys, I really try hard to make the time we spend quality time, even if it is just a car ride. Some of my favorite memories with my dad are just him and I throwing the ball around in the front yard. That meant more to me than he will ever know!

A good dad leads by example. Dad was never really the “Do as I say, not as I do” kind of guy. He was a hard worker and knew the importance of providing for our family. I never once thought of growing up and not having a job. Dad wasn’t always perfect in this area, but because of that, I was also able to take some of the things that I didn’t like him doing (like smoking) and not doing them.

A good dad is supportive and loyal. I am sure that in my 30 year radio career, my dad probably thought “he needs to get out of that business and find something more stable”. If he thought it – he never once told me that! He was nothing but supportive! If I ever came to him with something that he questioned, he might ask a question or two regarding the opposite viewpoint, but that was it. He might ask “are you sure you want to do this” or “have you thought about what might happen if…”, and then he let me decide. Whatever the decision, he supported it. I have a great respect for that.

A good dad is someone who challenges his kids. I’m sure that there were many ways that dad challenged me. I know there were times I wanted to quit something and he gave me the pep talk to keep going. I cannot recall specific incidents, but I know they were there.

A good dad is a teacher. While dad taught me how to throw a “submarine” ball and how to swing a golf club, he also taught me some valuable lessons. One of the things I have hoped to do is to write down some of those lessons and pass them down to my own children. To illustrate my point: there is a cartoon I saw once of two guys standing in front of three piles of stuff in a garage. The one guy asked what they were. The second guy says, “This stuff is the stuff my dad gave me.” He points to the first pile and says “This is the stuff I want to keep.” He points to the second pile and says, “This is the stuff my dad gave me that I want to share with my kids.” He points to the third pile and says, “This is my stuff that I don’t need and will throw away.” That’s the way it is – as a father, you take things that you learned from your dad and keep the stuff you want to share, throw out what you don’t, and then add stuff of your own.

A good dad protects and provides for his family. When times were tough and money was tight, my dad would DJ or play in the wedding band to bring in extra money. I remember as a young boy my dad going back to college to get a degree so he could move up in his place of employment. It took me over 20 years, but I also decided to go back to school to better provide for my family. I know that my dad would do anything for us, and I would do the same for my family.

Finally, a good dad shows unconditional love. I read where this is the greatest quality of a good father. Even though his child may let him down, upset him, make him mad, disrespect him, and disappoint him … the love remains constant. Not to get theological, but it is one of the great principles spoken of about God in the Bible. It says that no matter how much a child of God angers Him, ignores Him, or disappoints Him – His love is never ending and ever present. THAT is the kind of love a father has for his children.

I am lucky that I have never had to question whether or not my dad loves me. He has done so much for me during my lifetime and continues to do so. I can only hope that he knows how much he is appreciated. I can only hope he knows how thankful I am that he was chosen to be my father. I can only hope that he knows of the impact that he has made on me. I hope that he will never have to question how much I love him.

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Thanks, Pop, for being such an amazing man! Thanks for being a wonderful example to me. Thanks for everything you have done to support, encourage, accept, and love my family. Today, I wish you a very happy birthday and wish you many more in the future! I love you, Pop.

“Lamont”

Chilly Bedtime Prayers

Ella Story #1

My wife texted me about this earlier tonight and then posted it on Facebook:

We say prayers every single day before nap time and bedtime. Saying prayers tonight, Ella stopped me mid prayer and told me we needed to pray for Elsa and Anna (the princesses from the movie Frozen)

Me: why do we need to pray for Elsa and Anna?

Ella: Mommy, we always say thank you for the sunshine days, and daddy playing with us. I need to say thank you for Elsa and Anna making me so happy!

So we prayed for the Disney Princesses tonight.

It is always interesting to see who is on her heart when we pray. My co-worker Amy invited Ella to her daughter Maddie’s birthday party earlier this month. So we pray for them a few times a week now. Earlier this week, she prayed for Toodles – Nana and Papa’s dog! She is such a sweet soul.

Ella Story #2

I have no idea how to post video on here that isn’t a YouTube video, but I shared one on Facebook earlier this week. When I woke up, I had read a few chapters of Romans in my Bible before she woke up. I had set the Bible on the back of the couch. When I saw that she was awake in the monitor, I went to go get her.

As usual, she brought out her favorite “Nana blanket” and crawled up next to me on the couch. She saw the Bible and read the cover. She said, “B – I – B- L – E.” Something clicked and she began to sing, “The B I B L E, yes that’s the book for me!” It was the cutest thing. I had to get it on video, so I prompted her again as she was flipping pages. It really made me smile.

What the Dickens?

Last night I finished my yearly reading of A Christmas Carol. I have been reading it every year since junior high school. I blogged about that here:

A holiday tradition since 1982 …..

As many times as I have read it, I sometimes feel like I read things I don’t remember. A few years back I purchased The Annotated Christmas Carol. Throughout the story, there are notes off to the side regarding things that Dickens has written about. Some notes are as simple as a definition of an archaic word, while other notes are more in depth. Some notes are fascinating as they compare things in the story to other stories that Dickens wrote. I highly recommend it!

Now that I have read the book again, I will begin to watch some of the various movies. Before I do that, however, I listen to Patrick Stewart’s one man performance of the story. I originally bought the cassettes of this, but I was able to find it at Barnes and Nobel on CD a few years back so I can still listen to it on my drive to work.

My next book is one that I had in my library many years ago, but lost it in a move. It took me a bit to find again, and I am glad to have it again. It’s been on my shelf for a few months, and now that we’re in the Christmas season, I will read it again.

I think we can all agree that Jesus Christ was not actually born on December 25th. As a matter of fact, a study of the Bible actually proves that He wasn’t. (He was probably born around October.) This book was one I stumbled on many years ago and I am excited to reread it.

Ok, Ok, I’ll Write ….

I’m writing under protest.

I still don’t feel up to writing today. My last post was three days ago, and I wish I could say that I am past it. I’m not. I have nothing planned out, which is kind of a “no-no” when you are writing. I am only writing because I am forcing myself to sit here and write.

Ideas?

Do I have things I can write about? Sure. I have a few ideas I just jotted down in my blog notebook. A blogger I follow has been going through the Alphabet and featuring his favorite TV shows. I liked the idea and feel like I might be able to do something with that. Another blogger is featuring an episode by episode review of one show in particular. I might think about doing something like this, too.

A music blogger I like has a weekly post that features their five favorite albums from a certain year, while another features the Top 10 songs from that week in a specific year. Those are easy to do and can be fun at the same time.

I also have some personal things I can blog about. I was recently going back through some of the ideas I have for the project my brother and I are working on about my mom. I’m LONG overdue to work on those.

My Favorite Game Shows? What exactly makes a YouTube “star” a Star? Yeah, I have ideas….. I just don’t feel like writing about them.

I’m Hurting

With all the things going on in my life right now, I should be smiling more! I’ll be the first to admit that. Don’t get my wrong, I am happy. It’s just that right now, there are things I am trying to process.

In the past month, I’ve seen my sons only one day – for breakfast. It seems that he “doesn’t want to come over” anymore. I have given him absolutely no reason whatsoever to not want to come. This is something that I have been fighting for some time. I’m not going into detail about it, especially since I know that my ex has trolls who share things from my blog, my Facebook, and my Instagram with her.

I’ve never understood why some people get so much pleasure in making others miserable. These people spread lies, rumors, and gossip because it brings them joy! Shame on you. You profess to be loving Christians and you get your joy from those things. Hypocrites! The Bible has over 100 verses about gossiping alone! Maybe you should read them!

Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Easier Said Than Done …

Despite the issues above and all that goes with it, I do have a lot to be happy about:

My beautiful wife and I are having another baby. Another miracle! Just the thought makes me happy!

I believe, after much discussion, that we may have decided on a name for our baby boy. It was a lot harder than we thought. Of course, he is not due until October, so there is still the possibility that it can change! LOL

Lesson Learned

I wonder if my daughter has any idea that she teaches me a lesson every day. What lesson? “Find happiness in the little things.”

I need to look amongst the chaos of every day life and find “it.” I need to find that one thing that makes me wonder. What is that one thing that makes me smile? I experience these things daily, but so often over look them.

Watching Sam read a book to Ella. Watching how excited Ella gets when she goes outside.

Little things – Big Happiness.

She see’s beauty in what we see as a weed –

She gets excited to watch and try to catch bubbles –

She is thrilled to pet the new puppy that our neighbor’s brought home –

It truly is the little things …. I guess I just need to focus on them.

Never Miss A Chance … To Keep Your Mouth Shut!

I have never read The First Law series, which is a series of graphic novels by Joe Ambercrombie. However, I came across a quote from Jezal dan Luthar (a character from that trilogy) that sets the stage for this blog:

“Just keep your mouth shut and smile. That’s always good advice”

A book that I have read also has lots to say about when to be quiet – the Bible.

Proverbs 21:23 says: Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

It’s not always easy to “hold your tongue,” especially when others are not. You sometimes feel that when they are ranting or complaining, it is an open door for you to do the same. I know, it happens often to me – probably too often.

The Bible actually has many verses about ‘keeping quiet” in certain situations. I found this hit home and thought I’d share.

Believe me, there are plenty of times where I just need to keep things to myself. We all need to vent, though. Sometimes when you vent, you don’t need advice or someone’s opinion. You just want to tell somebody, and you just want someone to listen. And when you listen, don’t go sharing with everyone and everyone. I learned this lesson from Goodfellas!

“Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” -Jimmy Conway, Good Fellas.

This really is fantastic advice. If you don’t agree with your friend, take it up with them, but your job as a friend is to keep your mouth shut and be there for them. You don’t backstab them by running your mouth to others about their business. If I have learned anything about what a friend’s role is, it is to be supportive and to provide a safe haven. There are other plenty of other people to fill the judgmental roles…..

I guess what it all boils down to is what Mark Twain said ….

Just call me a fool …. from now on anyway …..

“Just Write”

I have been at a loss for what to write the past few weeks. I’m not sure if that is because I am busy with other things or if I’ve run out of things to talk about. Everything I read about blogging always says “Just write!” So here I am – writing.

I went through countless “writing prompts” and the ones for this month are all pretty lame: “Five things you like about yourself,” “Describe the view from your window,” and “What do you want more of.” I really don’t think that these are the kinds of things my readers what to read about. Do you really want to know what’s out my window? I mean, I’ll write about it if you really want to know…..but our house has a lot of windows!

Random thoughts

Recently, this blog hit 200 followers! The fact that I have even 50 followers amazes me! Thank you for deciding that my thoughts are worth reading. Please feel free to drop a note in the comments and let me know what you’d like to see more of. I am grateful for my old and new followers!

Coming up soon, I am happy to announce that one of my blogger friends has decided (after much begging by me) to write a guest blog (or two) on a subject that I have wanted to write about for some time. He is currently working on it and I will let you know when to expect it (and give more details) as we approach publishing it.

We recently celebrated President’s Day. Maybe I’m just old, but I actually remember when we celebrated both George Washington and Abe Lincoln’s birthdays separately. I may be remembering it wrong, but I could swear we had both days off school. Do you remember that? I guess I could Google it, but was it really necessary to combine the two days?

A month and a half into 2021 and I have been following a plan to read the entire Bible in a year. I have missed a day or two along the way, but I always make it up the following day. I am right on track. It has been a nice way to either start or end the day (depending on the day of the week). It is a mixture of Old and New Testament right now, which I like. I am noticing just how everything fits together. I also have a plan to read through all of the Apostle Paul’s epistles in a month, but have yet to start that. I hope to do that in March.

I think I read somewhere that half of the population of the United States was affected by the winter storms that came through this week! I know many folks in Nashville and in Texas who were without power and struggling. We got hit with something like 8 or 9 inches the other night and more accumulation tonight. Tuesday morning, my wife called me from the street and said that the snow was up to the windows on the van and could not get in the driveway. The snowplow had blocked the end of the driveway, so I ran out and shoveled so she could get into the driveway.

The night before I had gone out and shoveled the driveway and my neighbor brought his snowblower down for me to use. One of the sheer pins was broke, but he had bought new ones and he gave them to me. He had surgery recently so he couldn’t use the snow blower. So I went in my garage and tried to put the sheer pin in, but it was too big. I had no idea if the thing could run with out the pin in one side, so I just went back out and shoveled the rest.

I texted him that night and said the pin was too big and told him I would go to the hardware store to get a smaller one the next day, not knowing that we were going to be slammed overnight with a ton of snow. After I got my wife’s van into the driveway, I went out and shoveled the whole thing. After I came back inside, I got a text from the neighbor saying, “You know, you can still use the snowblower. Only one side will work, though.” 800 mg of ibuprofen later – I sent him a text that read “thanks.”

I think if that stimulus ever gets here, I’m going to go buy me a new snow blower!!

Resolutions or Goals?

I subscribe to some daily writing prompts that will occasionally wind up as a good blog idea. I’d say I use about less than 5% of them, as most of them don’t really strike a chord with me. Every single one of these prompts said to write about my New Year’s Resolutions or Goals for the New Year. My buddy believes that resolutions and goals are the same, but they really are not.

A “resolution” is a firm decision by a person to do or not do something. A “goal” is the object of a person’s ambitions or effort; an aim or desired result. See, a goal is the final product, if you will. With a goal, you prepare, you plan, you set forth your intentions to achieve this final result (the goal) by taking specific actions. A resolution is a “promise” to yourself to do something, while a goal has a specific target.

Do I have resolutions? I guess so. They are probably the same resolutions that many people have: eat more veggies, drink more water, lose weight, be more active, etc. I just need to not do what I do every year and fall of the wagon on these.

I want to make some specific resolutions regarding my role as a husband:

I will say “I love you” every day.
I will spend more time together – monthly date night.
I will pray together.
Show more appreciation for all she does.
Listen more.

I also have some specific resolutions regarding my role as a father:

More one on one time with each of my children.
More play time
Be more mindful of the words I speak.
Read more books and the Bible together.
More outside time – walks, catch, etc.
Be an example!

There is one thing that I would like to accomplish that I am ashamed to admit I have never done. I have never actually read the bible in it’s entirety in a year’s time. In one of my classes, the teacher actually said that as students, we should strive to read it through at least once or twice a year. It always seemed like a very big task.

Recently, a Facebook friend posted a plan with specific passages to read every day, and by doing it, you’d read through the entire Bible in one year. I printed out the “plan” and I intend to do just that. I know with the classes, I’m going to have to make some extra time, but it needs to be done! My goal is to have each week’s worth of passages with me and to read whenever I get the chance.

Do you set goals for yourself in the new year? Do you make resolutions? What things help you to keep on track?

Weekend Wrap Up

I am not working my normal schedule at work, so my days are a bit messed up. The weekend for me, basically consisted of half a Saturday and today. I work Friday overnight and get home Saturday morning about 8am. I slept till about 2pm and Sam woke me up so we could enjoy some family time together.

We’re not to keen on actually going out to dinner, but we ordered out and got food from one of our favorite restaurants. I’m not going to lie – it was nice to sit back and enjoy a great steak at home and be with Sam and the baby for the day (even if it was short).

Sunny Sunday Morning

Sam works tonight, so it was Ella and me today. She was up at 7:30, and after she ate, we went out for a walk in the neighborhood. There were a surprising amount of people up that early. We saw people walking their dogs, people taking out the trash, people riding their bikes, and people just enjoying the sunshine out on their porch reading the paper.

It got pretty hot today, but it was cool when we walked. I figured we should probably get the walk in before it got too hot. Ella just loves to be outside, so when we got home, we sat out on the front porch step and watched cars go by. She gets so excited when that happens. There is a church at the end of our street, so there were plenty of cars for her to watch this morning.

When we came inside to eat, we must have woke Sam up. Sam fed her (and let her play in the apple/strawberry/banana baby food that she didn’t eat). Naturally, she needed a bath afterward! She was obviously tired, and Sam was going back to bed to try to sleep, so she took Ella in the bedroom to nap with her.

I watched a pastor friend of mine from Grand Rapids on Facebook Live teaching on a passage in the book of Colossians until Ella woke up. I usually work Sunday night, too, and sleep most of the day in preparation for being up all night. Thank God for the Internet, as I can tune into pastor friends in my hometown, across the state, out of state, and even out of the country if I want.

“I know what we’re gonna do today…”

In all the time we have had cable TV, I guess I didn’t know we had Disney Channel. That was the channel that was on when I turned the TV on today. Usually, I turn on the TV for background noise, and it is usually on PBS. Sometimes, it is on Nick Jr. because Ella loves Bubble Guppies. Anyway, it was on Disney Channel and I was happy to see that there was a marathon of Phineas and Ferb on this weekend.

I used to watch this with the boys all the time. It was so much fun. If you are not familiar with the show, the entire show happens during the 104 days of Summer Vacation. Each day brings the boys on a new adventure. They are always building something out of this world, their sister tries to get them in trouble with their mom, and their pet platypus is a secret agent who stops an evil scientist from destroying the “tri-state area.” There’s always a musical number in each episode, too. It is a blast to watch.

I’m not sure if they were running them in order, but I know the last episode they showed was the actual series finale. Ella was sleeping in my arms while the last episode (which I had never seen before) played. Call me what you will, but I was totally wrapped up in it. Kudos to Dan Provenmire and Jeff Marsh for creating such an amazing show. Sadly, the entire series is not available on DVD. If it was, I would surely buy it … for Ella to watch …. with daddy….

I never had the chance to when I was doing radio full time, but I had always hoped to get to interview Dan Provenmire (who does the voice of Dr. Doofenshmirtz). I thought it would be cool if he could do my voice mail message – hell, I still wish I could have him do it! I’d love to sit and talk with him about the show. I messaged him on Facebook once and complimented him on the music numbers and he gave me a little insight into what went into that for every episode. Those are thing things I miss about not being in radio anymore – interviewing neat people.

Almost Monday

Ella is sleeping now and the sounds of her sound machine are coming out of the baby monitor next to me. I watched a message from a pastor in Warren about the importance of the Bible and how it will be used in the last days, which was very interesting. One thing the pastor mentioned was how he tries to read through the entire Bible once a year. I really need to find a way to do that.

As I ate my dinner, I watched our cat run back and forth chasing a fly that got in the house. She finally caught it … and ate it. I’m glad I was already done eating. I’m going to take a little trip down to see my dad tomorrow. He’s recovering from knee surgery and I want to make sure he doesn’t need anything done.

One request before I close – I have something brewing that I am hoping might pan out for me. I will be looking into it further this week. If you would be so kind as to pray for me, or send positive vibes, I’d appreciate it very much.

Thanks for reading!

Expanding on an earlier Facebook post.

I am on vacation. I have the next week off and will have my sons all week. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to have them over. I am hoping that the weather will cooperate and we’ll get to do some fun things this week. This vacation could not have come at a better time. I’m not sure why, but I just need the break. I have so much that has been on my mind.

For example, Thursday was typical for me. I slept for about 3-4 hours. It is my day to switch from “midnight” mode to “days.” Normally on Thursday, my head hits the pillow and I am asleep quickly. That was not the case. I actually broke my own rule (and what I tell all my patients about electronics before bed) and was surfing the web and reading stuff hoping to make myself tired – it didn’t work.

I read once that if you can’t shut your mind off, just jot all the thoughts down. The thought process is that it can help free your mind of them. I hoped that this would work and posted the following on Facebook. In posting it here and re-reading it, I may or may not comment on these thoughts. Some of them are repeat thoughts, some are not. Here goes:

“Been here in bed since 10:30. Sam is already sleeping. The cats are both on the bed, too. Mind won’t shut off. Trying not to think about something that happened earlier that really just made me angry. Random thoughts/wishes:

* As much as I love to sit and write, I wish I could find a gig that paid me to do it.

Comment: The more I think on this, the more I wish I could do this! I believe that you are always your own worst critic. I have often wondered why anyone would even want to read what I write, yet, here you are. I’m sure many authors have wondered if people would want to read their stuff too. Writing is therapeutic for me. Much like radio, I can take my observations and share them. You won’t always agree with my thoughts or opinions, and that is OK with me.

* In talking to an old radio buddy, it makes me miss doing it full time (even though it has changed dramatically)

Comment: While I am not doing this full time, I need to acknowledge that I am very lucky to still be doing it part time. Even if it is once a week, whether it is live or recorded, I still have my foot in the door and I get to “create” and “perform.” I still love it and radio will probably always be in my blood.

* I wish I could review music, bands, or movies and get paid for it. Neat to see some friends of mine doing it and having success with that!

Comment: I follow some blogs that write movie reviews. I know they don’t get paid for that. However, I have a friend who writes a lot of political stuff for websites and gets paid for that. I also have a buddy who always seems to be out and about interviewing celebrities about their films for various news stations, TV and radio. What a cool gig that has to be. When I interviewed people on the radio I was always told I was a “good interviewer.” Maybe I am. Pardon me while I digress and share two instances come to mind:

When I was at B95, Craig Morgan was scheduled to come by the studio. At the time he had a minor hit, and some tunes that weren’t being played on the radio. I was told by my boss to put him on the air for a few minutes, ask him about his new song, play it and move on. I did my research, and there were a lot of things about Craig that I found interesting. Yes, I was going to ask about his song, but there were other things I wanted to as about. I asked about his military career, his family, and such. Craig is a very funny guy. He and I hit it off instantly. We laughed a lot and had a bunch of fun. About 5 or 8 minutes into the interview, my boss went into the studio in the next room and stood in front of the window. I thought he was gonna give me the “Wrap it up” signal because we were going longer than anticipated. Instead, he gave me the “keep going – stretch it out” signal.

I don’t recall how long the interview went, but it was FUN. My boss said, “You just took a guy who no one was really familiar with, and made the listeners love him, because you related to him. You asked questions that made him so real. It was entertaining, and enjoyable. That’s the best damn interview I have heard in a long time!” The kudos I received were unexpected.

Also at B-95, Jewel came by the studio and I interviewed her on the air. She had recorded a country album and was promoting it. I did my research and prepped for her interview. I found a lot of stuff that I could ask about. Jewel was homeless for a time. She lived in a van. I wasn’t sure if that was a topic she would want to talk about. When she arrived I asked her off air if there was anything that she didn’t want to talk about, she said to ask whatever I wanted to. Naturally, I asked about her album. I also asked about her family life and pop hits. I also asked about her being homeless, in which she shared some great stories about writing songs.

One of the things I asked about was some Wizard of Oz TV special she did in the mid ’90’s. She started chuckling and joked about it. She asked “How did you find out about that?!” This led her to talk about some plays she was in in school and some other childhood memories. She was so moved and excited to be talking about those things. It was so cool for me to see how moved she was to remember those stories and it was great radio!

After Jewel left the station, about a half hour later, I got a call on my cell phone from the record rep who brought her to the station. He said, “I wanted you to know that Jewel just told me that you were by far the best interview she has done on this radio tour! She was blown away that you asked her about that Wizard of Oz thing! She said she felt so comfortable talking to you and she really enjoyed herself. She said you made her remember some great stories that she has never shared with anyone before. Nice work, cowboy!”

Again, a high point in my radio career!

back to my original thought – I think it would be very cool to get the chance to hear an album before it hit stores, see a movie before it hits theaters, or read a book before it hits the shelves and then offer a review.

* It’s a shame when an entire team has to be punished because of a few others.

On my hour drive to work each night, it is often the time I catch up with friends on the phone. We talk about family, friends, and work. In discussing work, there was this common theme. Rather than dealing with employees individually and holding them accountable for whatever the issue was, bosses made a knee-jerk reaction and punished the entire staff for the issues of a few people.

I am not in a position of authority at my job. I was a boss on more than one occasion. Observations that I made as an employee, helped me to manage. Managers motivate! When employees are motivated, they will go above and beyond for you. Many managers tend to demotivate. Jay Trachman, one of my radio mentors, wrote an article geared toward radio managers, and it holds true for any manager, really. It included things that managers do to demotivate, with or without knowledge of doing it. They included:

Ignoring employee ideas
Setting unattainable goals and holding employees responsible for them
Treating employees like children
Ignoring that employees have lives outside of work
Making rules for the entire staff because of the behavior of a few members
Focusing on errors or mistakes, no matter how trivial (Incidentally, the facts show that when you dwell only on problem areas destroys the employee’s confidence and self-esteem makes the employee more error-prone!)

* I hate when an opportunity seems right, but no matter how many ways you try to make it work, you can’t.

Comment: Without going into detail, an opportunity presented itself. It was one of those opportunities that doesn’t come around too often. I took it all in. Asked questions. Weighed options. Re-weighed options with different scenarios. Crunched numbers. Re-visited scenarios. Made a pros and cons list (my wife swears by these!). It was an opportunity that just was not something I could jump at. I am ok with that, though, because, it doesn’t change anything I am already doing. No big deal.

* I am hoping the scale shows a loss tomorrow at weigh in.

Comment: It did. My total weight loss now is at 24 pounds!! I couldn’t be happier! I was a bit worried because last Saturday I DJ’d a wedding and the dinner didn’t necessarily have the most healthy choices. Oh, and they had a doughnut bar! LOL. I am determined to get back down to 199 (where I was about 20 years ago, and the last time I was on Weight Watchers). The journey continues!

* I am not looking forward to a visit to the dentist tomorrow.

Comment: Uneventful cleaning. No cavities, so I was happy with that!

* I wish I could do more voice over work.

Comment: I looked into a few voice over services, but most cost money to be a part of. They also require you to do many auditions daily. I could probably do this on my days off, but it is hard to do working midnights, and without a home studio (or the money to build a home studio)!

I am lucky to have the relationships I have with The American Way, Whitetail Journey, Modern Craft Wines, Fox 66, and RPM Auto Sales. I would love to add a few more clients to that list. If you know anyone looking, I can certainly send a voice sample to them.

* I probably could have wrote a blog instead of this. Maybe I will just copy and paste it….lol.

Comment: That’s what I am doing!

* There is so much sadness in the Facebook feed this week. My heart goes out to my friends who have lost loved ones or have loved ones in the hospital.

Comment: Scrolling the Facebook news feed this week, I was saddened to read of some friends coping with the loss of someone special to them. I also read of a dear friend who is now home with hospice care. Some friends have been Facebook silent, but I am aware of some health struggles that are dealing with.

Many people state that they hate Facebook. They say there are too many political arguments, opinions, etc. I would agree, but I also utilize the “mute” button. There are ways that you can unfollow those who post stuff you don’t want to see. You remain friends, but you don’t see their stuff. You can also post things while making sure that certain people can’t see it.

I happen to like Facebook. It is a great way to keep up with friends. I almost never forget a friend’s birthday! I always love the pictures of weddings, first and last days of school, band concerts, dance recitals, and the addition of new babies or grandbabies. There are sad things, too. The passing away of parents, prayer chains for those who are sick or suffering, or the loss of a pet. Without Facebook, I’d never know these things. It can be a place to offer words of support, encouragement, or better yet, prompt you to reach out to your friend on the phone.

While I love social media, I also feel that it is important to reach out and actually talk to friends. I have decided that I am going to try to do that more. Yes, texting and messaging is easy, but you know what? I want to hear your voice!

* I hate change. I am a man of routine. Sometimes, change is inevitable. Sometimes change is exciting.

Comment: I take the same way to work every day. I am a creature of habit. One of the things that helps me stay focused on Weight Watchers is that I know the point values of meals. I tend to find something I like, and will stick with that meal. I have been eating a lot of veggies and fruits. I am also eating a lot of salads. However, to change things up we had turkey tacos last night. Not going to lie, changing it up was exciting! That’s right – I was excited for Tacos!!

* Guy on TV said to his gal, “I couldn’t be happier.” I think you can always be happier. Happiness can grow, much like love can grow. Each day I think I can’t love Sam any more than I do, but that love grows deeper. Happiness can grow too – that’s cool to me.

Comment: Just re-reading that made me smile. Think about this – “Happiness is a habit – cultivate it” (Quite attributed to Elbert Hubbard)

* The wrong motivation can kill morale and desire to give their all for you.

Comment: See above comments about punishing the entire team because of a few others.

* I wish I was an expert on something. With the recent talks I have done for conferences and small groups, I would totally love to do that for a living.

Someone commented on the original Facebook post and said I should be a motivational speaker. I don’t know that I’d go that far. I have many obstacles of my own that I have yet to conquer. I am not sure how motivating I can be.

I have always enjoyed doing career days at schools. I think it would be cool to host classic movies at a theater. I have no problem public speaking. I thought about teaching a public speaking class at one of those community education night class type programs. I don’t know, it’s a pipe dream perhaps. I just think it could be a very fun thing to do and would be great to get out and meet people.

* Was hoping that by jotting this stuff here, I’d get sleepy … Maybe I should at least try to go to sleep.

Comment: I didn’t.

* Even with all of these random thoughts, one still remains true. I am one lucky man! I am blessed beyond measure.

Comment: The Bible says in I Thessalonians 5:18, “In EVERYTHING give thanks.” What powerful instruction, and a very difficult thing to do! I have always tried to make this one of my “life mantras,” but some days are harder than others. At one point in my life, nothing could make me feel better. I was deep in that depression and suffering with so many feelings. I was struggling bad.

Today, however, I am a new man. Those quotes that I always had in my mind are back and help keep me focused. This one still remains difficult, because “everything” means “everything!” In good times and bad times – give thanks! What a challenge! Despite the fact that I had a variety of things (both good and bad) running through my head Thursday night, I remind myself of just how thankful I am to be alive! I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for YOU. Thanks for reading!

Now, I am off to enjoy my time off!