Remember when?

I received news last night that a guy I went to school with passed away. He was younger than me (44 years old). I wasn't a friend of his and we weren't even acquaintances. My brother knew him better than me. He had a heart attack and died in the blink of an eye. This death is affecting me today. It's not because I feel like I've lost a close friend (although I do grieve for his family). It's because of the reminder of the brevity of our time on this earth. Hearing of a relatively young person dying is like cold water to the face. I guess you could say news like this causes me to be in a reflective mood. I am remembering things this morning that I thought I had forgotten forever. It's a strange place to be. However, I am also reminded that my treasure is not here on earth. My treasure is in heaven. My earthly home is temporary. A miniscule speck in the grand scheme of things. My time with my Heavenly Father will be forever.

BUT! That's not the reason for this post. I only posted that stuff above to kind of give you an idea of my frame of mind today.

Tami and I are in our late 40's. Not really that old, but old enough to realize that time is a strange thing. We talk all the time about how quickly the kids have grown up. How being married for almost 22 years has just flown by. How being grandparents quickly changed our lives (for the better). And generally how time seems to accelerate as you get older. Obviously time is constant. The only thing that changes is our perception of it. For example... Christmas comes on December 25th every year. When you are a kid it seems the wait for Christmas will never end. When you're an adult you can't believe Christmas is here already. The calendar didn't change... your brain did :-)

All this reflection about time has caused me to think:

Remember when the only time kids watched TV was Saturday morning cartoons and The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evening?

Remember when your mom told you to play outside and if you came inside you better be bleeding or dying?

Remember when you tattled on your younger siblings and you got in just as much trouble as they did?

Remember when summer days and nights used to go on forever? (Did you play Ghost in the Graveyard and Kick the can?)

Remember when you ate what mom cooked for supper or you didn't eat at all?

Remember when the phone was attached to the wall and all your parents ever said was. "GET OFF THE PHONE!"? Believe it or not there was a time when everybody DID NOT have a cell phone!

Remember when drinking pop was a rare treat? Remember when pop came in glass bottles?

Remember when staying home from school because you were sick was a big deal? Mom used to make me hot tea and Cream of Wheat (I felt so special!)

Remember when you had to listen to the radio ALL DAY in hopes of hearing your favorite song? There was a time when iPods did not exist!

Remember when you had a crush on that girl in school? Boy did she ever turn out differently than you expected! (and aren't you glad you didn't marry her?)

Remember when going out to eat was an unusual event? Dad used to take us to White Castle. We'd eat there and they had those cool jukeboxes hanging on the wall. We also had to crawl under the bathroom door because it cost a dime to pee. (Would you ever let your kids crawl on the floor of a public restroom? YUCK!)

Remember when your friend's mom could swat your bottom and your parents would applaud her and then beat your butt again for whatever it was you did?

Remember when your teacher could swat your bottom and your parents would applaud her and then beat your butt again for misbehaving at school?

Remember when getting an ice cream cone made it seem like you had died and gone to heaven?

Remember when going to Kings Island was like a vacation in itself? Season passes? Are you kidding me? We didn't even go every year!

Remember when your dad said he would stop the car and eliminate any problems in the back seat? (AND HE MEANT IT!!!!!)

Remember when your dad would call you from three rooms away and then tell you change the television channel?

Remember when staying up late was fun? Now if I make it past 10:00 I know there will be consequences tomorrow.

Remember when you got out of bed and felt like a million bucks? Now I wake up and wonder why my (fill in body part) hurts. Last night I hurt my shoulder picking up something off the floor.

Remember when you made fun of your grandpa for falling asleep and snoring in his easy chair? It's not so funny anymore. My recliner and I are very close friends now.

Remember when it was funny when your mom wanted to yell at you, but couldn't remember your name? It's not so funny now, is it?

Remember when going to the grocery store with your mom was like a field trip? Now I have to psych myself up to go to the grocery. (and all I do is complain about the prices while I'm there).

Remember when your parents' bedroom was the only air conditioned room in the whole house? And when it was really hot the kids got to sleep on the floor in their room? I'll let you figure out why that must have stunk for moms and dads.

Remember when you'd fight with the kids in the neighborhood and then you'd be best friends an hour later?

Remember when you carried a comb in your back pocket and thought you looked stylish with feathered hair and parachute pants?

Remember when you were mortified to go to school with a giant pimple on your face? Now I go out of the house without shaving, in sweat pants and t-shirt with holes in it. Who do I need to impress?

Remember when playing video games was a treat because you had to go the arcade and put quarters in the slot (and every hand-held device wasn't a portable arcade)? Remember when you always tried to get the high score on Pac-Man?

Remember when there was no smut on TV and everything was left to your teenage imagination?

Remember when networks interrupted regular programming it was for a really important reason? Now all news is "Breaking News!". And by the way... do you remember when there were 3 channels on TV and not 200?

Remember when you were a kid and you were jealous because the adults got to do all the fun stuff and didn't have to follow rules? Then you grew up and realized being an adult wasn't all it was cracked up to be? Kids today grow up too fast!

Remember when...........?????????

Looking Forward

Now that football season is over, there is not much to brighten up this dreary, dismal void in the calendar known as winter (Best granddaughter in the world excluded of course).

As I now look forward to spring and warmer temperatures, my attention is drawn to my real love in sports... baseball. More specifically my beloved Cincinnati Reds.

The masters of MEDIOCRITY

As expected... The Bengals LOST! This comes as absolutely no surprise. It's just more of the same. I'm not angry. I'm not upset. As a Bengals fan I have come to expect disappointment. It comes with the territory.

In my opinion there is a solution to the woes of this sad-sack team. Get rid of the head coach. Marvin Lewis has never won a playoff game. This is not a coincidence. The coach must go! As long as he's here, the Bengals will languish in mediocrity.

Stale?

Just like day old bread, a cheesy nightclub act or a bag of chips left open on the counter, I think the blog has gotten a little stale. I received some well intentioned, constructive criticism saying as much. I had to agree. There's only so much you can say about the best granddaughter in the whole world. Talking about holiday crafts and Christmas traditions will only carry me so far. Cincinnati sports teams are too depressing to make a steady diet of blog posts about them. My whining about the difficulties of working in public education are not entertaining to read. So I'd like to ask you folks, what would you like to see on the blog? I'm open to fresh and new ideas. I don't want anybody to get tired of reading this mush. Any thoughts?

Keep in mind I post something almost every day. I sometimes find myself with "Blogger's Block" (the online version of writer's block). Occasionally I struggle with a topic for the day. Let's face it... my life is NOT that exciting. I don't have something interesting to report every day, but I do my best.

So here's my attempt to try something different for today: You all are well aware of my newfound interest in some crafty projects. I have often posted photos of my successes. What you don't get to see is when a project or idea flops. Trust me, it happens. Last night I happened upon a humorous website called "Pinstrosity". It's a site dedicated to all the failed projects people have tried from Pinterest. I guess it's a cross between Pinterest and monstrosity. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Here's what the cake is supposed to look like:

Here's the fail:

Pretty Candles, huh?

These? Not so much...

We're waiting!

The last time a Cincinnati team won a championship was 1990. That's when the Reds last won the World Series. I had just finished college and had just begun my first year of teaching.

I often wonder what it must be like to live in a city where teams win titles with regularity. How easy it must be to be a fan of teams where winning is the rule and not the exception.

Here's some perspective. This data was taken from one of my favorite Cincinnati sports guys.

It has been 8,034 days since the last playoff win for the Bengals.
That's 21 years, 11 months and 30 days.
It has been 6,301 days since the last playoff series win for the Reds.
That's 17 years, 2 months, and 30 days.

Suckered in.... Again!

The Bengals have done it again. They've drawn me into being interested in their season. I have tried to distance myself from them, but they keep pulling me back. Darn you, Bengals! After winning 7 of their last 8 games, they've played their way into the playoffs. Saturday afternoon the Bengals will attempt to win their first playoff game since 1990. That's before Tami and I were married. Michael and Abby weren't even thought of and Jessi was in Kindergarten. That's a long time since their last playoff victory. Oh sure, they've been to the playoffs several times since 1990, but lost in the first round every time. Will this year be different? I seriously doubt it. However, by late Saturday night I will either be really happy the Bengals finally won a playoff game or I will be kicking myself for being sucked into a false sense of hope by the Bungles... AGAIN!

Can I get a "Who Dey"?

I won't complain

I had a nearly 2 week Christmas vacation. Most people don't get that kind of time off during the holidays. I am truly thankful for it.

I'm not going to complain, but coming back to school after being off was difficult. How many people do you know who are happy to go back to work after vacation? I don't care who you are... it's never easy to get back to the grind.

Welcome back to the pressure cooker- Version 2013.

I can't do it... yet.

I know it's time. I know I should do it. I just can't bring myself to do it.... yet.

I'm talking about my Christmas decorations. I don't want to take them down. It has been such a wonderful Christmas season, I just don't want it to end. I know as soon as I take everything down, the house will be kind of plain and there will be nothing but a long, dreary winter staring me in the face. As long as my decorations are up, it feels like I'm still on vacation. But tomorrow I go back to work and I must concede the holidays are over. The decorations will come down within the week and I will start dealing with my PCTSD (Post Christmas Traumatic Stress Disorder), more commonly known as the winter blahs.

The outside lights may stay up for a while. They will not come down until the weather warms up a little bit. The inside decorations? I am only delaying the inevitable :-(

Cliche', Cliche', Cliche'

I'm not much for New Years resolutions, but I did make one this year. It's the same cliche' resolution millions of people make every year. Weight Loss. I don't want to be a fat Goppa any more. Therefore the diet starts this week and when Baby Morton gets here I will be much skinnier. I will not be posting weekly weight loss updates on this blog. How boring would it be to hear me say, "Hey everybody! I lost 2 pounds this week. Woohoo!" Nah... that's not how I operate.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2013 is going to be a great year.