Face Time

I've gotten to see Sveta twice in the last 4 days. Saturday we had a huge pre-Easter dinner at our house. It was Sveta's first visit to Goppa's and Grandma's house. Then last night we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants with the Mortons. Both times I had the chance to spend quality time with Sveta. She spent time on my lap and time talking to me. There was something special about her gazing into my eyes when she was mere inches from my face. You could just feel the connection happening. There are no words to describe the feeling I get when she and I have "Face Time". There were even times when we were interacting that she suddenly lunged forward, wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. That was the best part of all! Am I smitten? Yes. Does my heart melt? Definitely! Does she have me wrapped around her little finger? There's no denying it. Can she look at me with those dark little eyes and get anything she wants? Within reason... you bet! I am powerless against it. That's okay. I think this is what being a grandparent is supposed to be like.

Before she even got to the United States I knew I loved her. However, I had no idea the depth of that love until the last few days. She is an incredible, sweet, affectionate, amazingly smart little girl. I'm not saying that because she's my granddaughter. I'm saying it because it's true. Her intelligence, even at the age of four astounds me. I was certainly not prepared for that. I am so looking forward to this summer when Sveta can swim in Goppa's and Grandma's pool. I get the sneaking suspicion I'll be spending a lot more time in the water this year :-)

The end of a productive spring break

Spring break for teachers takes many forms. Some travel, some relax and try to rest up for the home stretch of the school year. Some get caught up on lesson planning and grading papers. For me, it was none of the above. Most of my spring break was spent cleaning up the exterior of the house (and yard), trying to reverse the damage Mother Nature inflicted during the winter and early spring. Leaves, sticks and other debris everywhere. Gutters a mess. Downspouts coming loose. The deck and pool really looked neglected. Weeds growing everywhere... including places I didn't know weeds could grow. Mulching flower beds that took a definite beating since last fall. After a week of hard work things outside are looking good. I have a good start on having everything in ship shape. A few things didn't get done, but will be completed as time allows. I need to paint my shed and some other exterior trim on the house. I need to do some digging in the side yard to level it out a bit. There's always something to do, but overall I'm happy with the progress I made.

Today, to finish up my productive week, I fixed Tami's garage door opener. The button was sticking and was giving her fits every time she wanted to open or close the garage door. That will no longer be an annoyance to her.

And speaking of garage door openers... Mine finally bit the dust. When I pushed the button the motor would hum, but nothing else would happen. An inspection revealed a plastic gear inside the housing of the opener that was chewed up beyond belief. I even had my father-in-law, Frank look at it (he's the guy who can fix anything and everything). He said, "You need a new opener". He never says that. He always seems to think something can be fixed. Not this time. When Frank says something is toast, it's toast!

I'm not going to buy a new opener immediately. I rigged my old one so it can be opened and closed manually. It's not the best case scenario, but it does beat parking outside in the driveway. And hey, people did fine back in the day with manual garage doors. I have gotten quite spoiled with my automatic garage door opener.

Resurrection Sunday

Christ the Lord is risen today. Alleluia!

Happy Easter and Resurrection Sunday!

Jesus was a carpenter. Me? Not so much..

One of my spring cleaning projects was to pressure wash the deck. Most of it looked pretty nice, but the railings were clearly beyond cleaning. They were splitting, splintering and obviously in need of replacement. Not a big deal you say? Well, for those who know me, being handy is not my strong suit. However, being up for a challenge, I borrowed a miter saw and headed off to Lowe's to purchase a load of 2x6's. With all materials in place it was time to begin. I measured carefully twice (the old saying goes, "Measure twice, cut once"), but for some reason the mitered joints did not fit together exactly right. They were close, but it was evident the job was done by an amateur and not a true professional carpenter. In the end, the deck rail looks decent enough, but I am no carpenter. I had a good time and feel like I learned a lot. I will not shy away from carpentry projects in the future, but nothing too difficult or complicated.

On a different note, my late father was very handy and a good carpenter. Always the comedian, Dad used to joke about his carpentry skills. He'd complain about his mistakes by saying, "I cut the board again, and it's STILL too short!" I wish Dad had lived longer (47 was just too young!). I'm sure he could have taught me a lot about being handy. Since that's not possible, I'll just have to do the best I can on my own.

And this one belongs to the Reds!

Marty Brennaman has been the Reds radio announcer since 1974. In other words, he's been calling Reds games since I was old enough to listen. His signature line when the Reds win is, "AND THIS ONE BELONGS TO THE REDS!". Today, I got to hear that famous phrase. The Reds won their opener 4-0.

As much as I love baseball, I rarely watch or listen to an entire game. I may tune in for a few innings, but after that, life beckons and I am off doing other things. Today was different. I sat and watched the entire game. I muted the TV and tuned into the Reds Radio Network (700 WLW) to hear Marty call the game. Lots of folks do this. Nothing personal against the Reds TV announcers, but there's something special about listening to Marty. Hearing his voice on a warm summer night has a very soothing affect on me. There are few things I love more than sitting on my deck at dusk, watching the sunset, listening to Marty call the Reds game as I sip iced tea mixed with lemonade. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best. I don't need an iPhone or video games. Just the Reds on radio.

OK... Now it's official

The photo above shows the cloud covered sunrise at Great American Ballpark this morning. There must be some symbolism here somewhere, but I'm not deep enough to put it into words. Maybe--- "Hope springs eternal as the the sun rises on a new Reds season". It's cheesy and cliche', but it's the best I've got.

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Yesterday I posted that Opening Day in Cincinnati is like an unofficial holiday. Today I stand corrected. Cincinnati City Council has made it official. Here's a snippet from today's Enquirer:

Now, it’s official.

Opening Day in Cincinnati is a holiday like no other. City Council says so. Nice of the city’s leaders to recognize what the rest of the world has known for a century.

Today’s Opening Day 2012 – signaling the start of another Cincinnati Reds season of eternal optimism – marks the first time the Queen City’s most sacred secular event takes place under its new status as an official ceremonial city holiday. (Whatever that is.)

So there. It really is a holiday.

On a different note, my brother Kerry is friends with one of the owners of the Reds. As a result he scored Diamond Seats for Opening Day. For those who don't know, Diamond Seats are the ones directly behind home plate. To begin with, the seats come with their own private parking area outside the Diamond Club. Once in the club, there is a pre-game dinner buffet. We're not talking hotdogs and nachos here. We're talking prime rib and lots of other fancy stuff. Then once you're in your seat, a waitress comes to your seat every inning and takes your order for any food or drink you want. It's really something else. How do I know this? Glad you asked. I got to sit in the Diamond Seats a few years ago. Compliments of Mr. Carl Lindner himself. If you're from Cincinnati, you know who that is.

Anyway, it's going to be quite a day. Go Reds!

Tomorrow is a HOLIDAY!

If you know me very well, you know I really love baseball. I especially love the Cincinnati Reds. I have followed them since I was a very small boy. I grew up watching Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and the rest of The Big Red Machine.

After a long, cold, dreary winter, baseball returns tomorrow. Opening Day in Cincinnati is like an unofficial holiday. There's a parade downtown. People sneak away from work early or take the day off completely. The atmosphere around the ball park is like a party and is downright electric. Everybody wears red and for a single day everybody in town is a Reds fan. Oh yeah, and there's a baseball game too.

The boys are back in town. Play ball! Go Reds!

More work outside...

The weather forecasters were wrong. Not a single drop of rain today. It was another gorgeous day for working outside. I finished the weeding (huge job on our lot). I was also able to get the tire on my lawn tractor repaired. It's been flat since last fall. It wasn't difficult, only time consuming. It was yet another productive day. Tomorrow is mulching and some carpentry work (board replacements) on the deck. There is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow, but I am really hoping the showers miss us completely.

The yard is really starting to shape up!

Spring Cleaning in Hyper Drive!

It was a beautiful day on my first day of Spring Break. Tami and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and worked outside ALL DAY! We cleaned the carpet on the pool deck, cleaned under all the tiles on the pool deck, pressure washed the wood on the upper deck. Tami scrubbed the patio furniture and I pressure washed the dock boxes and lounge chairs. I did some more weeding and made repairs to the gate on the deck and the fence around the pool. I also cleaned debris out of the flower beds. Needless to say we are tired, but it's a good tired.

Tomorrow I will have to dodge some raindrops, but I will do some more projects as weather allows.

Wednesday is mulch day. I will get a pickup truck full of mulch and mulch everything in sight!

I sure do love working in my yard :-)

Got the first one under my belt

I taught my first Sunday School lesson today. I had the PLEASURE of teaching Exodus 15-17 to six attentive and interested (I think) 5th and 6th graders. It was a strange feeling to speak and to actually have children listening and actively engaging in the material I was presenting. It was also a strange sensation to feel respected. Now I know what teachers in affluent schools must feel like. When teaching today, I didn't feel like I was swimming against the current and literally fighting to be heard. I felt like the lesson flowed and had a good rhythm to it. I am relatively certain it's because I wasn't interrupted every 10 seconds. I got a taste today of what real teaching is all about. I am truly not exaggerating when I describe my public school students.

Just in case you're wondering, Exodus 15-17 is when Moses and the Israelites left the bondage of Egypt and had just passed through the Red Sea... then wandered in the desert for 40 years. God tested the Israelites and each time they failed miserably. When hungry or thirsty, they would grumble to Moses and in turn God would perform miracles to provide for their needs. But the Israelites would quickly forget what God did and did not trust God even though he showed them His power over and over. This is not at all unlike most of us today.

I was encouraged today and I'm eager for my next lesson. I hope the kids are too.