Ok, Here’s the Deal..

That is the way I start most of my world changing, problem solving statements.  In the past some of these were influenced slightly by alcohol, that ALWAYS helps, but now it is a trigger I use.  For those of you that can remember the EF Hutton commercials, you can relate.  If you hear the words “Ok; here’s the deal”, you better listen, something very mind blowing is about to come out of my mouth.

I am in my 40’s, this makes me a seasoned expert on just about anything I choose to speak about.  I have come to notice that this is a skill that only I possess, and I take offense to anyone else who tries to duplicate this feat.

But seriously, I spend a lot of time going over things in my mind, and I have learned to cope with things that I feel face many other people.  If you read this, and find something that makes you think about a situation that you are in, and these profound words of wisdom help, I am glad.  If you completely disagree with everything I say, that is cool too, hopefully it will nurture your thoughts and help you find the answers you are looking for.

What makes me qualified to spew advice to the masses?  Do I have a degree in behavior?  Am I a Psychiatrist or Therapist?  No, what makes me qualified is that I have been through events in my life that many other people have experienced as well.  From a common man place in the world I am qualified to express my opinion.  Which brings me to my first bit of advice, get ready, here it comes..

Ok, here’s the deal, something may be happening in your life right now that makes you feel all alone, like this particular event has never happened to another sole anywhere, ever.  Although it may feel like it, it has more than likely happened to someone else and they were able to deal with it.  Does this event make you sad?  Heartache is horrible, but it can be dealt with.  I always try to find positives in my life, and whenever I would get my heart broken, I was pretty good at spinning it into my favor.  I don’t mean in a bad way like, “it’s a good thing she ripped my heart out, stepped on it, then put it back in my chest as she broke up with me, because she had really ugly toes, and I don’t want to pro-create with someone and have my kids look like ducks.”  I mean I would look at this as an opportunity to go on and find someone who truly appreciated me for me, and had normal toes (just kidding).  Although Kim has amazing toes.

I guess my point is, please read my aimless ramblings, take the things you need to make you feel better, or just point and laugh at my life and be glad you didn’t have to walk in my shoes that time.  Laughter is indeed the best medicine, those that don’t agree need more help than you and I.

Peace,

Woody

Good Weekend

Hello Everyone, hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  Hope you were able to gather with family and friends, share time with those here and think about those that have passed on. 

My holiday started Wednesday night.  We went to the New Dawn Memory Care Center in Aurora.  We went to see my Mother-in-law's partner, and share Thanksgiving dinner with him and the other patients.  Let me say a couple things, first, Alzheimer's really stinks.  Plain and simple.  Those sweet patients at the center had a good time, as did we, but watching the affects of a debilitating disease like this is so hard on everyone.  Secondly, I would like to say that the staff at New Dawn do a great job, and really care about their patients.  Thanks to all of you.

On Thursday, we went to eat at a local restaurant, and it went great until Keara found a bug, still alive, swimming and wriggling in the ranch dressing of her salad.  There is no quicker way to stop an entire table of people from eating salad.  Needless to say the appetites of many at the table went away, but we got a cool story out of it.

On Friday, when Corey got off work, we all crammed into the CR-V and headed to Brush to spend the night with the parents.  Had a great time, ate a lot, and lost a few bucks playing cards and dice.  But now to the point of this entry, I will call it our first Christmas miracle of 2010.

My parents had warned me over the last week or so that they were going to pare down the festivities this holiday season, and I was fine with that.  We have spent the last couple years, kind of getting together the weekend after Thanksgiving and Christmas, this makes it possible for my sons and step-daughter to share the holiday "day"  with their Mom and Dad respectively.  And to be honest, it is kind of nice to not have to run around and eat 2 or 3 meals all in one day, and spread it out over a few days.  With the economy clobbering all of us we decided to draw names instead of buying for everyone, I am fine with this too.  Mom and Dad are butting heads about sending out Christmas cards this year, a battle I won't get in the middle of, I will let them argue about it, Mom will fill out the cards and send them, and Dad will just have to go along with it.  But there was something that didn't sit right with My son's Joey and Corey.  Mom and Dad decided they were just going to put up a small tree and not the one they had put up in the past.  Mom said there was no reason to climb up and get all the stuff out, it was just too much of a hassle.
Joey, Corey, and my Dad went out to the garage and got everything down after the boys agreed to set it all up, and be part of the post-holiday tear down crew.  So here is where the cool part comes in, we spent the next hour or two, first watching Joey work very hard putting up the tree, and stringing the lights, then seeing the happiness on Mom and Dad's faces as the ornaments were taken out, unwrapped, and hung on the tree.  There were many special ones, some that had Joey and Corey's pictures on them, there were some that my ex-Mother-in-law had crocheted, and there were even a few that hung on my parent's first tree over 50 years ago.  Watching my Mom's face as these came out was priceless and is a big part of what the holiday's are about.  Corey even hung an ornament on my Mom's wheelchair, and she said she will keep it there for the season.  It is amazing to me how that box of memories that now hangs on the tree helped set the tone for the holiday season, I am so glad the boys pushed the issue, it made it great for all involved.

I hope you all can share moments like this over this holiday season, or can find some memories of holidays past that make you feel warm inside.  I will close for now, because I know it is dragging on, take care till next time.

Peace,
Woody

Thanksgiving

Well, it's that time of year again, you know, Halloween is over, Christmas decorations in all the stores and on some of the neighborhood houses (ALREADY??), and Thanksgiving, as usual is lost in the shuffle.  It has always been an interesting holiday for me, I always felt bad that it seemed to be an afterthought to some.  Wedged in between arguably the funnest, and most favorite holidays, it never got it's own just dues.  It is the time to give thanks for the things we have, the kiddos will make construction paper hand-print turkey's, there will be discussion of pilgrims, the fact that the turkey was almost our national bird, you know all that stuff to help make Thanksgiving feel like we think about it, but all the while, we are starting to think about Christmas.

Well not this year!  This is a different year for me.  I have a lot of thinks to be thankful for, and a lot of things to reflect upon.

First and foremost, I got remarried this year.  I had someone find me, that thinks almost as much about me as I do her.  She shows me every day what I have to be thankful for, and gives me a reason to live, and that I am truly blessed.  I love you Kim, so much more than ever!!!

More recent events have me reflecting on other more somber things.  My ex-father-in-law died unexpectedly just a short time ago.  This was a man that I loved, and he loved me.  We both had a funny way of showing it, he would always greet me with some comment about how fat I was, and I would give him a hard time about being old.  But he was a great man, and an awesome Grandfather to my 2 sons, and all his Grandchildren for that matter.  I am thankful that we were a part of each others lives, and that he always treated me the way he did.  It seems when 2 people get divorced, everyone feels they need to take a side, and he never did that.  He always treated me the same way, and I have found out how rare that is.  I miss you every day Bob, I love you.

I am also thankful for my kids.  Not just my 2 sons, but my step-daughter too.  They are all three as different from one another as they are the same.  None of them probably come close to grasping how I feel about them.  They have no idea how many lives they have touched, and I just wish they would open up enough that the feelings between everyone in their lives could be shared.  I love you Joey, Corey and Keara, please take it easy on all your parents, and those they chose to be with..  Your biggest hope should be that your birth parents are happy, so let it be, embrace those around you, and feel free to reevaluate next year.  We all want to be a part of your lives, try to feel the same way back.

I am thankful for my parents, they are great, and they help me in more ways than they can imagine.  I hope that I have had the influence on my kids that my parents inflicted on me.  They are always there, good and bad, when I am trying to make a decision, or to steer me away from doing the wrong thing.  Not that I haven't made bad choices before, we all have, but they are there, and always will be.  Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you.

So here's hoping you all take a little time to reflect on a few things you are thankful for, and don't just eat yourself into oblivion searching for the best Black Friday deals to go to.

Peace,

Woody

First Entry

Hello to anyone that happens to stumble across this page,  I am not completely sure how this is going to go, just want a spot I can vent.  It seems that telling, and then re-telling all of the issues, problems, concerns, etc. in my head to the people around me is going somewhat unappriciated.

How am I supposed to get through all the difficulties I have in a constructive manner?  Start a blog of course....

So here I am, starting what may be an outlet to me, but also a space that readers can go to to escape their own realities for a while.  I promise I will try to post often, but not too often.

A little bit about me; I am a 42 year old male, I have 2 sons, age 21 and 19, both in college, both amazing human beings, and both loved by me more than they will ever know.  I am recently re-married, to the most amazing woman that I ever could find, and I am sure you will get to know her on these pages.  I now have a 12 year old step-daughter, and this is where I am truly out of my element.  My ex-wife and I had 2 boys, I helped raise and shape them, and got to know the male side of all kinds of activities.  Little did I know there was a whole other universe called a girl.  She is awesome, and I love her to pieces, but have found myself ill prepared for all things female.  Many times she starts sentences with "You may not want to listen to this", like I can close my ears as simply as looking away.  Sheesh, what's a guy supposed to do.

But seriously, I plan on using this space to share thoughts and ideas, and look for input from readers in the form of their own stories, advice or points of view.

So let's get started.  Ask me questions that deal with anything pertaining to being a parent, step-parent, spouse, ex-spouse, child, sports fan, etc. and we will see where we can go.

Peace,

Woody