What could have been

June 30th. Today would have been my dad's 70th birthday. It's strange to think about that because he died at the young age of 47. In my mind, my dad is not an old man. In my mind he's still in his mid 40's. It seems odd to think of him as a guy in his 70's. I often wonder... What would he be like? How would he look? What would he be doing? Actually I already know the answers to those questions. He'd be short with gray hair and a beer belly. He'd have a gruff exterior and a teddy bear interior. He'd be running a charter boat on Lake Erie while enjoying his retirement. He'd be delighting in his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. These things I know, but sadly they were not in God's plan.

As I contemplate what dad would have been like at 70, I am saddened to think about the things I wish my dad could have seen:

I wish dad could see my successful career as a teacher. When he was dying I was working as a teachers aid (while looking for a job as a full time teacher) after twice turning down a job as a police officer. Dad thought I was foolish to turn down a good job with benefits when a teaching job was uncertain. Two months after his death I got my teaching job and will begin my 24th year in August. I wish he could know I made the the right decision.

I wish he could see me in my great marriage. He got to meet Tami and Jessi before he died and he loved them. However, he died 11 months before our wedding. I wish he could see me as a husband and once again know I made the best decision of my life in marrying Tami.

I wish he could see my kids. He was already nuts about Jessi and I know he would have been crazy in love with Michael and Abby as well. I wish he could see me as a dad. I know I would love to have seen him as a grandpa.

I wish he could see me in my house. It isn't large or fancy, but it's a nice home. I wish he could come over and affirm my choice of residence. I wish we could sit on my deck and drink a beer together. I wish I could talk to him as a man experiencing things he'd already lived through.

I wish dad could see me as a stable, well adjusted, hard working American man. Somebody that will proudly carry on the Meyer family name.

But alas, none of this was meant to be. I don't pretend to know the mind of God or what His will is. I don't know why He took my dad at such an early age. It's not my place to ask why, but only to accept that God has a grand plan and that plan did not include dad living to a ripe old age. In my humanness, I will always wonder why, but deep down will know that whatever the reason, it was for the best.

I miss you, Dad. Today I'm going to drink a beer in memory of you and your 70th birthday. Here's to you!

It's WEIRD!

Baby watch continues.

Last week Sveta and Jessi came down to swim on a hot day. During the visit, the topic of baby names came up. Sveta was asked if she wanted the baby to be a boy or a girl. She answered that she wanted it to be a girl. This was no surprise to me. To real little girls, all other things are girls as well. Their dolls are girls, their stuffed animals are girls, their imaginary friends are girls... everything. So hearing Sveta wanted a girl baby seemed normal. However, it wasn't until asked WHY she wanted a girl that things got funny. It's because she likes the girls name her parents have picked out, but not the boys name. In fact, Sveta emphatically stated about the boys name, "IT'S WEIRD!!!!!!!". So Sveta's preference for the gender of the baby has nothing to do with anything except her parents' choice of names.

I won't share what those choices are because I don't feel it's my place. You'll all know in a very short period of time. Hopefully sooner rather than later :-)

Why didn't...

Why didn't somebody tell me about this?????

I took Abby to the library yesterday and I headed straight for the audio book section. I love listening to books on tape in the car. I found some that really interested me, but in the summer I don't drive much, so I decided to skip the audio books for now as most are 10-14 hours in length. However, as I browsed the library a little more I happened upon a new section. A big sign announced something called "PlayAway Books". My curiosity got the best of me and I just had to see what these were. As it turns out, PlayAway Books are audio books, but they are not on tape or CD. They are small, self-contained audio players (think MP3 player about the size of a large matchbook). The player comes with all the buttons (play, rewind, fast forward etc...), a set of ear buds and a spare AAA battery. All of this stuff comes in a case the size of a VHS tape. It's quite the nifty little set up. Now I can listen to my audio book ANYWHERE, not just in the car. Hence the name, PlayAway Books. I repeat... WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY TELL ME ABOUT THESE THINGS SOONER?????

Many of you may already know about these nice little advances in technology, but they're new to me. Admittedly I haven't been to the library in a long time. I guess that's evident.

My current book is a non-fiction selection called "Scorpion Down", by Ed Offley. It's the true story of the submarine USS Scorpion. The Scorpion was sunk by the Soviet Union in May 1968. The sinking was tragic enough (99 Navy sailors killed), but it became even worse when the Pentagon covered up the whole tragedy by simply claiming the Scorpion was lost at sea. I'm only in the first chapter, but it's already a fascinating "read".

I can't wait to check out more PlayAway books. I'm quite pumped about this new discovery.

Well.......

Well, okay. So it didn't rain ALL day today. However, by the time it cleared up and the sun came out, I had to teach the weekly Bible study in our home. I'm not complaining, just sayin'...

Finally!

I finally got a few days off work. A few days without many commitments taking me away from the house. YES! Now I can catch up on some yard work and other things that have been piling up and neglected because I haven't been around much. Wait.... what? It's going to rain for two days straight? You must be kidding!

It never fails.

While I'm at work the weather is beautiful. I get home early enough, but I'm too tired to do much else for the day.

Get some time off, the weather is cruddy and I'm stuck indoors for two days.

UGH!

Baby Watch!

The baby watch continues. The official due date is one week from tomorrow. There have been no more preliminary contractions or twinges of pain. It looks more and more like baby Morton will arrive very near or even after the due date. For now we wait... and wait... and wait some more. As difficult as it is for us, I can only imagine what's it's like for Jess. I know she is terribly uncomfortable and more than ready for the baby to arrive. Until then, the excitement builds.

I have to face it

I am off work tomorrow. Normally that would be a good thing. That's not the case this time. Tomorrow I will be meeting some of my teacher friends at school. Our task will be to clean out Nancy Long's classroom. It's going to be a tough day. We will be boxing up her personal possessions for her family and preparing the educational materials for the new, incoming teacher that will take her place.

Keep in mind the room we are cleaning out is the classroom in which I spent the last 15 years. Nancy moved into the room on June 7th and died less than 48 hours later. This will be my first trip back to school since her death and it will also be the first time I have seen any of my colleagues since then. It is going to be a very difficult day. As we are cleaning I'm sure there will be lots of tears. I'm sure we'll be telling stories and reminiscing as well. There will be a lot of laughter mixed with all the tears. It's going to be an emotionally draining day. I don't HAVE to go. Nobody is forcing me. However, I feel like it's something I need to do. I have to face this. Tomorrow is that day.

Can't beat it!

Anyone who owns a pool knows they are a tremendous amount of work and require almost constant maintenance. Today all the hard work paid off in a big way.

After coming home from my summer job at the bottling plant, I went out on the deck to finish the job I started yesterday. I was roasting and pouring sweat within minutes. When the job was done, I jumped into the pool. OH MY GOODNESS! The relief and refreshment was instantaneous. The water was absolutely perfect. It was at that moment I was reminded why I own a pool. Yeah, it was THAT good!

Lazy Hazy Crazy

You know what summer days are like around here. Hot, humid, dense, thick and hazy air. The atmosphere has that look of thunderstorms ready to pop up at any moment. Clouds building in the distance and there's always a chance of storms. That's the kind of day it is today.

I was working outside on the deck today and sweat was just pouring off me. It didn't take long before I heard rumbling off to the west. I knew what was coming. Soon the wind picked up a little bit and a storm rolled through. It was brief and there really wasn't much to it. You may think I was disappointed at being chased indoors. On the contrary. These hazy days when storms could form at any second are one of the things I love about summer. I also noticed a song rattling around in my head and I found myself humming as I worked. It was just kind of background noise for me, but when I stopped for a water break I identified the song. It was Nat King Cole's, "Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer". I love summer... storms, heat, humidity and all. Here's a small snippet of that song that was buzzing around in my head this afternoon.

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies
Then lock the house up, now you're set...

You probably know the rest.

Morton Miscellany

I've got the Morton family on the brain today...

First, Happy Birthday to my favorite son-in-law, Barry Morton. Okay, he's my ONLY son-in-law, but happy birthday anyway. Barry is a great guy. I couldn't ask for a better husband for my daughter or a better father for my grandchildren. He is a blessing to our family and I'm grateful for him.

Next, we're on BABY WATCH! Our daughter Jessi Morton is very pregnant and about to pop. She's due July 4th, but we're guessing baby Morton could decide to show up any time. Jessi has been experiencing sporadic contractions and even took a trip to the hospital last week which turned out to be a false alarm. There are only 12 days until the due date... I'm predicting an early arrival, but I've been wrong before.

Finally, Sveta. As if she hasn't had enough change in her short little life, the arrival of the baby will once again bring about more change. She'll do great though. She's going to make a wonderful big sister and will be a big help to her momma when the baby comes. I'm also thinking of Sveta today because of my tomato plants. Why? Well, last year I learned she loves tomatoes. At her other grandparents' house she would pick grape tomatoes and eat them right off the vine. That's all I needed to hear. I planted some grape tomatoes in my EarthBox this year. They are coming along nicely and I can't wait until she picks one of my tomatoes and pops it in her mouth. It sure makes me glad I don't use pesticides :-)