Go Dawgs!!!

This fall I have picked up a hobby. It's not really a do-it-yourself in the garage kind of hobby, but it's still a lot of fun and exciting to me. It's SIU football!

You see, SIU has a really good football team this year. Not just really good, but possibly one of the best ever. SIU is ranked 1st in the nation in the NCAA Division I - AA subdivision second tier school blah blah blah. I don't even know anymore what division they are actually in. A couple of years ago it was classified I-AA.

Anyway, Christy and I have made all but a couple of home games this year and I love it. It's fun to be a part of the crowd and to get excited for the home team. (I never root for the home team in anything!) Also, I had no idea that there was such a large party going on prior to every home game! And free food/drinks??? Are you kidding me? Why did I not know about this before this year???

Last week they won their first playoff game and they will play again this Saturday in the quarter finals against William and Mary. It's going to be cold at game time - 37 degrees. I'm going to freeze. It's going to be fun!

I say all this for a reason. First, GO DAWGS! Second, it is refreshing to be having fun. It has truly been a long time since I have had real fun. The funny part of my new-found love of SIU football is that the last time I went to a game was in the '80s. It was so long ago that I don't even remember the exact year except it was the year they won the national championship.

If the Salukis make it to the finals in two weeks, we are tentatively planning on traveling to Chattanooga, TN for the championship game. I hope it's warmer there!

Our Latest

Here's an update on how the Howertons are doing. Amanda's 6th birthday is Saturday, Luke is well into his Terrible Twos and dad is getting grayer by the month.

Despite all of my attempts, Amanda continues to grow up. I thought my cooking would surly stunt her growth, but it's not. Christy's cooking is probably helping with Amanda's growth...and mine too! I think sometimes that Amanda's growth is beyond normal human development. She looks like she is 8... but still occasionally acts like she's her real age. She continues to be well-adjusted to our circumstance. Kids are resilient.

One of the highlights of this week was seeing Amanda on Ch12's "Does It Work Wednesday" segment. They came to her class last week and taped the segment. She was interviewed along with another boy about a toy laptop. She had about 30 seconds of screen time but I firmly believe we have a star in our midst! Check out for yourself: http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=11519918

Luke is still my blond bruiser. He is so physically strong and strong willed. I just can't believe how sweet and funny he can be. And I can't believe that same boy can be the complete opposite of that!

The kids enjoyed Halloween last month. Amanda was a Southern Belle and Luke was a fire fighter. I went as an over-protective parent. I really had to stretch my mind to come up with that one!

That's a quick update... more later...

Circle the Date

I can't help but notice a certain anniversary is coming in a week. That date, while just another number on the calendar is more than a date to me. It signifies the time my life changed forever. Not only that, my family's future was forever altered because of that date.

10/29 will always signify to me the date that the most significant person in my life left me. I know deep down I will see her another day in the (hopefully, far) distant future and that she is far better off now than she ever was when she was here. Her best day here pales in comparison to any day where she is now!

I have never been one to make major issues out of anniversaries - good or bad ones. I actually had forgotten that my kidney transplant anniversary was this week. Sixteen years ago I went through what I thought then was the most life-altering event I would have to encounter for a long time. I think when you forget an anniversary, you can officially say you have "moved on." For some reason, I don't think 10/29 will ever be forgotten. I am thankful for the 9 years of marriage and 7 years prior to that in which I knew Cindy. I thank God every night for the example she set and the kids she gave me.

I don't believe for an instance that I have "moved on". I do believe that I have "dealt with" what was set before me in a manner that God and Cindy would both approve. Looking back, it is hard to believe it has only been a year. Then again, I can look back and say "where did this year go?"

I am so thankful for everyone who has helped us out this past year. I can't list everyone - but you know who you are! Even this week, I have received help from friends who don't mind a couple of hours of their time to look after the kids.

Everything has not been smooth. (No pink socks yet, though!) I have learned a lot about myself and what I can handle or not. Mostly I learned that God is in control and I don't have to have all the answers.... especially when Luke asks, "but why, daddy?"

Ranting is Cheaper Than Therapy!

I am finally sensing that I am part of a growing and increasingly more disgruntled contingency of Americans. I have never been to a tea party, however, I do drink a lot of Tetley sweet tea. I think those who went to town hall meetings were more like me than not and in many cases were not "organized" beyond being told where the town halls were and what time they started. I also think those who showed up with guns are bigger idiots than the congressmen whose meetings there were protesting.

I know the Democrats have been bussing in "protesters" for many years and received a free pass from the media in every one of those situations.

I am not a 9/11 conspiracy wacko or a member of the fringe "religious right". I do, however, attend church every Sunday, pray, believe abortion is wrong and school prayer is right, personal responsibility should guide, the Golden Rule solves a lot, and there is way too much federal government involvement in way to much of our lives and we are losing ground every day.

I think ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, etc. don't understand what real life is like for 75% of Americans and what we value as truly important. They also don't understand why we are mad. They also think everyone is Catholic...or a snake handler.

I fear the Dollar will be completely worthless within the next 10 years, if not sooner. How many Euros will it take for a Value Meal from McDonalds?

I also don't believe that a few degrees of "recent"climate change should cause alarm or trigger changes in the lives of hundreds of millions of people when there are billions of others who pollute more in total and whose government is not reducing any of the so-called "causes". Exactly how much "green house gasses" do volcanos spew, or are humans responsible for them too? (I guess the original "Cap and Trade" didn't work!)

I think reality TV glamorizes immoral and/or moronic behavior. What other explanation is there for Flavor of Love or Rock of Love. (American Idol probably doesn't after week 2 - but is there really a redeeming quality for it the other weeks either?)

I can't think of another industry where Barney Frank would be considered successful. Or even a respected employee.

I think Barak was not listening during his Inauguration when they said "of the United States of America".

Football is my new favorite sport. (This will come as a HUGE shock for those of you who really know me or have known me since I was younger. Thanks Bud Selig!)

What happened to the initiative to have Hydo-cars on the road by 2015?

My job would be more fun if we had a self-serve, ice-cream machine!

I wish Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would stop calling themselves Reverends.

And finally, I think punishment by the courts (in nearly all cases) should be much more swiftly carried out than how the current system is set up.

If you don't agree with me, that's fine. We can all have our opinions. It's still America....for now at least.

Counting Pins

Things are going well for the Howertons. Michigan has won 3 straight. The Salukis are playing well. None of the kids are currently sick. I am doing well at work (thanks to an intern doing my job!)

Recently my computer experienced what I would call "playing dead". That is the geeky term I am going to use. It was as dead as dead gets. After consulting my on-call computer dude, we determined it was a power supply issue. I bought the necessary $50 part at Best Buy and installed it myself. And it didn't work. It was still "dead". I contacted another computer geek and he asked if I had changed the 24-pin to a 20-pin. Of course I did... ok, no I didn't. I didn't count the pins. I only count pins in bowling but apparently my "old" computer needed the 20-pin connection. I happened to remember there was a 24-pin to 20-pin adapter-thingy in the package. And so I changed the pins and placed the 20 pin adapter-thingy back into the bowels of the computer. And to my amazement - it was still dead.

I scratched my head. I recounted pins. I re-plugged the power cord into the outlet. I pressed "on" and.... dead. Oh great! Two weeks without a computer and now something is really wrong and it's going to get expensive to fix and I am going to have to get a new computer and I will have to transfer all these programs and pictures over and it won't work with these older programs and my email is all set up the way I like it with the addresses and everything and I really don't like to change things....

Oh, wait! There's a little switch on the back of the box I just installed. It says, "ON". Maybe that's the problem?

IT's ALIVE!!!!

Maybe my computer heard I was looking at buying a laptop and got its feelings hurt. Maybe my computer is jealous from all the attention I am giving those shiny new laptops at the store. Either way, she should be ok.... I will always love her. She was my first lovel!!

After all, we will always have Madden 2007 and Zoo Tycoon!

Would You Kindly Open The Doors, Please?

DISCLAIMER: If you are a teacher or administrator at a school please don't take offense to this blog - unless you are at my daughter's school.

Well, it's official. I now have a kindergartner in the house. Some days I think I have a teenager, but really it's just a 5 year old.

Her first day was emotional but not for the reasons I had expected. You see, her school's administration is apparently void of either planning or intelligence. It was as if they had never had planned on kids arriving for school. Let me explain.

I have about a five minute window to drop Amanda off at school and get back on the road in order to arrive at my job on time. The school supposedly has early drop off at 7:45am. (Or so the sign says.) I have to be at work at 8am. I work 10 minutes away. (Word problem: If Joe is delayed 20 minutes then how late will he be to work, and how much time does he have to request off from work for being late? Show your work. Answer at the bottom of the blog.)

When I arrived at the school at 7:45 there was a horde of parents and antsy K-2nd graders standing outside of every door to the school. Being the first day of school, every kid had over-stuffed knapsacks and looks of anxiety and/or dread. Amanda and I walked up and I asked the person in front of the locked doors what was going on. She responded they were not opening the doors until 7:45. My cell phone said 7:46 and the school clock said 7:43. I told one parent waiting the school really should get a clock that is set to the right time. I was quite ticked off. So, I headed to the main front doors with Amanda in tow to see if there was another way in or at least a clock set to the right time. As we walked down the sidewalk Amanda said, "At least I am getting my exercise in this morning with this running." I forgot her legs are a forth as long as mine. When we got there another horde of parents/kids were standing around looking like sheep headed to slaughter. I saw a former client with his family standing outside the main doors and I asked him what was going on. He told me that they were not opening the doors until 8am. I told him, "that's a problem and I am a problem solver!" I was even more ticked off.

I marched straight over to the front doors, looked for a sign that said "Opening at 8am" - I didn't find one. I looked around and nearly every parent was on their cell phones saying the same thing - "I'm still at the school and they are not opening the doors until 8am. I'm going to be late at work." With no notice on the door and the feeling that I had about 20 parents cheering me on, I went over to the glassed-in office window, waited until someone walked through the office and banged on the window and motioned with my pointer finger to come outside. The woman who reluctantly looked up was one of the secretaries and, reading her lips, shook her head and told me "8am". I was mad. At that I shook my head and banged again on the window and motioned with my pointer finger again (yes, that finger again!) for her to come outside so we could "talk". As soon as I did that she picked up the phone. My first thought was "Oh, no! She's calling the cops and I am getting arrested! Where's my badge?" (For the record, I would never use my badge in any way to get out of a situation involving law enforcement personnel...at least not blatantly.)

The secretary hung up the phone and reaches for what looked like keys and headed for the doors. At this same time, a woman (administrator/principal?) walked up from the parking lot and said, "Oh, the doors are not opened? Let me go in and get a key." She walked through the main doors and was greeted by the secretary and together they headed back into the office. The two talked for about 30 seconds and then the secretary came and unlocked the main doors without explanation. It's now 7:55am. I was steamed and felt my face turning red. Amanda and I, fresh off our conquest of charging the school building, were the first through the doors. We got to the 2nd set of doors and boom - they were locked. I looked over to the secretary with disgust and she yelled out, "everyone has to come through the office." I yell back, "Yeah, that makes sense!" So we retreated into the office and the secretary asked me, "Are you parent drop-off?" Now remember, she had seen that I was a demonstrably annoyed, red-faced parent carrying a clear, purple-strapped, Wizards of Waverly Place backpack overflowing with school supplies of all sizes with a wide-eyed, nicely dressed 5 year old frantically being drug in my wake. I held my tongue and said "yeah". (My mind said other things.) This secretary then said, "For future reference... parent drop off is at the other door." I said back with gritted teeth, "It...was... not....open."

Anyway, because Amanda had this large backpack that was full of back-to-school items, I thought it best to take this mountain of supplies straight to her cubbie in her classroom and place it there rather than having them strewn from one end of the school to the other. We headed down the darkened hallway to the far end where her classroom is located. Amanda's pig tails were flopping in the air as she said to me, "Dad, why are we running?" I said, "we are NOT running, there's no running in school. We are walking very fast!" She placed her pack in her assigned spot and we quickly retraced our steps down the hallway. No one had told us where the kids were gathering and no official-type person could be found. Another dad and child were talking with someone I assumed was a male teacher and I heard the teacher say, "I don't know what's going on this morning." As I passed by, I piped up and said, "Do you know where we're supposed to drop off the kids?" The teacher said, "I don't know." To that I responded, "Then it's unanimous!" and headed towards the office. As we neared the main entrance again, I saw another parent and asked them if they knew where we were supposed to be. She said that she supposed the gym. Amanda and I turned around again and began searching for the gym. We came upon a woman who seemed teacher-like and I ask where the gym was located. She pointed down the hallway to a sign that I didn't see. She pointed again and then I realized from our distance, you had to be under 5'5" to see the sign. I am 6'2". It was hanging from the ceiling and if I bent down I could see it.

As we entered the gym, there was mass confusion. Luckily, Amanda's former Pre-K teacher was headed our way and told us, "Apparently, the kids are supposed to find their class mascot and gather there for now. We will then take each group to their respective classrooms." Finally, some instructions!!!! It was 8:04.

I put Amanda under her mascot with about 5 other kids - one of which was a girl named Allison who looked like she was scared. I introduced Amanda to her new best friend and left her with a hug, a kiss and our secret "daughter-power" hand shake. It was 8:05.

Every thought in my head said to march back to the office and have an "airing of grievances" with the friendly principal. I was already late to work - and getting later by the minute. I remembered I had specifically left the morning void of scheduled clients so if I were to get too distraught over Amanda's first day of Kindergarten I could take an hour off to compose myself before I had to see clients. Despite what my brain was saying, I left school grounds without "discussing" the situation with the school staff. I wanted to... I really did. Instead I thought it best to get some breakfast and cool off and then return if I still felt the need or head onto work. A McDonald's breakfast and a call into work seemed to do the trick. I decided that I would not start off Amanda's school reputation as having the "Insane Dad". I bet Luke will thank me, too, since that kind of reputation can last a few years!

All in all, Amanda had a great day, and now a week later, she really loves school (her 3 recesses!) and her teachers. The ironic aspect of this entire fiasco is that after Amanda's second full day of school her backpack had a hand out on "HOW TO DROP OFF YOUR CHILDREN". I think every kid received one - not just the insane, window-pounding, finger-pointing, sarcastic dads!

WORD PROBLEM ANSWER: If I had gone straight to work after dropping Amanda off I would have arrived 15 minutes late. We must take full hours off and can not flex. (Thanks union rules!) Since I took off two weeks of work in July while I was sick/hospitalized, that leaves precious few hours of vacation/sick time that I can take. Every hour I take off I try and make count!

Things with the drop off schedule seems to be improving. The doors are opening nearly on time and people seem to know what they are to do. If they get worse again, you can rest assured there is a window that I will be pounding on!

Every Once in a While

Ok, I am sorry.

I said I would do better and I have failed again. Here's the straight dope. Amanda started Kindergarten. My health is all better. Luke is into the Terrible Two's in full force. And I am busy. Also Amanda, Luke, my girlfriend and I spent a long weekend with some of our friends in Cincinnati. It was my first quasi-vacation in over 2 years.

I am working on a blog entry regarding Amanda's first day (2 hours!) at Kindergarten and the fiaco of trying to drop her off at school.

I should have that entry for you tomorrow... stay tuned...there's even a word problem in the blog. It's worth reading if you have kids, and a good lesson about Government-ineptness in action!

(If congress won't come to you - i.e. town halls - go to them! Call and schedule 15 minutes to tell your congressman, in person, your feelings regarding Health Care "reform".)