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As we all begin to take part in the festivities of the day, let us not forget what today is really about. Stores are now opening on Thursday to promote the commercialization of Christian mythology taking away from the spirit and meaning of what today is really about. I had originally thought about a diatribe against the machine for bastardizing the little time we get to spend away from work, but alas I am relenting and simply going to sum up today with one statement. Happy gluttony and football day to you and yours. May your day be spent getting seconds (or thirds, or fourths) between quarters, and naps between games. May your pants get unbuttoned whether your team wins or loses. And to those of you like me that have to work tomorrow, may inspiration hit you on things to do to your coworkers' desks while they are among the hordes of sheeple pissing away money on Friday deals that really aren't deals. Happy Thanksgiving

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Again I have to apologize for not blogging as much as I have intended.  Life has again brought upon me an obstacle that has prevented me from focusing on writing.  My wife’s beloved grandmother passed away this week. It had been expected for some time but still has put a crimp in the normal routine of daily life.  This isn’t the first loss of life for my wife’s family, but it still boggles my mind how their family copes with death.  I understand everyone grieves in their own way, but their family does so in such a compartmentalized way. My wife is suffering from the loss of her grandmother.  My mother-in-law is suffering from the loss of her mother.  When my grandmother passed, we didn’t individually mourn the loss of our own relationships with her, we, as a group, mourned the loss of Nannie Elizabeth Elvove.  I’m not saying either way is better, I’m just noting there is a huge difference in the process between the two.  Another huge difference between our families is the religious aspect of death.  The Catholic traditions my wife’s family upholds, are very somber, almost depressing.  There is finalization that is being expressed that is unfamiliar to me.  I remember when my grandmother passed, we all took our time to be sad, but it was brief and personal. After the initial emotional release, we celebrated the life that was, we didn’t grieve for what wasn’t there anymore.  While the physical presence of my grandmother passed, we (my family) never (at least from what I could tell) felt there was a void.  My grandmother has always been with us, and is still with us.  It is who we are, it is what she taught us, it is in the knick-knacks and trinkets we have collected over the years through, by, and for her.  She is still in my mom’s living room in the chairs that came out of her house.  She is still next to me.  I think the only way we every truly lose someone is if we forget them.  We have the power to make others eternal.
A second thing that came to me over the weekend appeared out of nowhere.  We were sitting around and my mother in law made a statement in regards to how men tend to be better with history and statistics than women.  When posed the question why, I simply stated sports.  Sports are ingrained in boys (or at least used to be) and sports are intrinsically history and statistics.  When you get involved in sports (not even playing, but from a fan standpoint) you compare the past to the present (history) and you use the players statistics to do so.  It doesn’t matter which sport you are involved in, all are basically a history and statistic lesson, which is why I agree than generally, men are better at history and math than women are.
Enough drivel for one day, back to the grind, back to reality. Enjoy.

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The past few days have been so busy I haven't had the time to write. Friday, my youngest reached a milestone, she turned 5. I've been caught up in all the wonderment that comes with celebrating a child's birthday. We had a party, we've had dinners, we spoiled the child. I'm ok admitting that. As a parent I want to give my child everything. We didn't so much cater to her material wants so much as made sure we spent time doing things with and for her and reminding her how special she is. I remember my mom doing the same for me, and it's a tradition I try to carry out with my kids. As an adult, I hate anything relating to my birthday, but for a child it's a nice reminder of how special and unique they are. I only have so many birthdays with my kids and I want to let them know how special they are to me each time.

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Today I’m a little sad as it would have been Pat Tillman’s 37th birthday.  Pretty much everyone knows who Pat Tillman is by now.  If not, he was a professional football player who gave up a promising NFL career to join his brother in the Army Rangers after the September 11th terrorist attacks. After several tours in Afghanistan, Pat was killed by friendly fire.  I remember sitting in a bar in Lexington, KY drunk off my ass when I heard of his passing.  Needless to say, it was a sobering moment.  Unfortunately the circumstances of his death were distorted by the US government.  It’s a shame that somebody that gave all was so disrespected by his own country.  While I didn’t personally know Pat, I knew of him long before he became a national hero.  Anybody that paid attention to ASU football in the mid 90’s knew from the first time they saw Pat how special he was.  He received the last scholarship ASU offered in 1994 and turned that into a stellar college career. His persona was polarizing and he was somebody that succeeded beyond everyone else’s expectations of him.  He was an undersized college linebacker and managed to become an overachieving NFL safety. The remarkable thing about Pat is if you ever hear anybody that ever knew him or met him talk about him, Pat the person is always mention before Pat the football player or Pat the soldier.  He was just a good guy. It’s sad to think that somebody like that was taken because I have no doubt that Pat would have gone on to do remarkable things regardless of whether he played football or not.  So happy birthday Pat, the world is a better place for having known you.

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I’m really not one to shove my philanthropic ideals down another person’s gullet, but I do want to mention what a great place Phoenix Children’s Hospital is and how appreciative I was seeing so many people out at the Swim & Gym festival this weekend.  The proceeds from the event all went to PCH.  PCH is near and dear to me as my daughter spent 11 days in there from October 31st to November 10th, 2010.  She had actually been in there a few days prior at the beginning of October for what was initially diagnosed as pneumonia.  Exhibiting the same symptoms Halloween morning, we returned but the diagnosis was much different.  Long story short she has gastrointestinal issues which are more than likely a lifelong issue for her.  The point here is not my daughter’s health, as she is doing just fine and is stronger than ever. What I would really like to convey is what a wonderful place Phoenix Children’s Hospital was in some of the darkest times I’ve had to experience.  The staff there was so accommodating, and made every effort to make the children feel like children.  Granted, while there you never forget you are in a hospital, they do their best to normalize the situation.  From bright colors, to a constant stream of children’s movies, to video games for the older kids, they go above and beyond to make life as comfortable as possible for the kids.  The big thing for us was they had wagons for the kids.  Those wagons were life savers for my wife and I.  Our daughter is not one to remain static, even while attached to myriad tubes, so she constantly wanted to be on the go.  Well the tethering to machines made moving a chore, but PCH had wagons she could be pulled around in.  We must have put 100 miles on the wagons pulling our daughter around every night to get her to fall asleep.  The nurses even joked about how she would be on her nightly rounds.  Well, when my daughter’s birthday arrived (she spent her 2nd birthday in the hospital), I went and bought her a wagon of her own so that there would be at least one more free wagon for another child.  We still have it, although it doesn’t get the use it once did.  Having to spend a birthday in the hospital was devastating to us, as you never want to see your child suffering, especially on a day where you are celebrating them.  The nurses threw her a party, and decorated her wall, brought her a cake.  It was so touching to have them trying to help make our little girl’s day better.  So, while I understand we all have causes that are near to us for various reasons, if you ever get the chance to do anything that supports PCH, I know it would mean so much to those kids.  Some of them may never leave, while other will suffer unimaginable pain while there, but the staff does it’s best to make each child feel as special, and normal, as possible and anything to help kids like that is great in my eyes, as I’m sure it is in the eyes of every other parent that has had to spend a night there.

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November has arrived signaling two months left in the year.  There is just something about November that makes me more appreciative of life.  While my industry sees a flurry of activity, for the most part the entire population seems to slow down.  Family gatherings are more frequent as we encroach upon the holidays.  Family to me though isn’t defined by relatives.  Family is those you keep around you.  I heard a quote once that “relatives you are stuck with, but you choose your family” and I couldn’t agree more.  So while I know that I won’t have the financial freedoms of years past, I am going to be more appreciative of the intangible things like time spent with my kids and friends.  I’m going to cherish the sounds of music (not Christmas music, I can’t stand that stuff), bask in the warmth of the Arizona winter, strengthen my connections with the outside world.  As we approach winter, which is usually associated with dormancy, I plan on being more active, if not physically, emotionally and spiritually, socially even.  I want to sow the seeds so that I have more in the spring to watch blossom, to carry me through the coming year until I can do it all again.  I plan on actively shedding the old so that I can grasp the new with vigor in the new year.  All that being said I would like to thank everyone for the feedback so far and look forward to growing and learning more from you as I continue my year journey of self-exporation.  While I haven’t been as consistent as I had hoped to be, I have come to learn life is inconsistent, but not in a bad way and for that I’m thankful.