Five Years of Blogging

Believe it or not, I have been at this "blogging" thing for five years now. Today. August 26th, 2003 was my first post, and now almost 1400 posts later, I'm still at it. (Albeit, quite infrequently this past month or two!) I love this avenue to share thoughts, start discussions, share links and information, and even post photos and family news to the world wide web of internets. I imagine I'll be doing this for another 5 years at least... unless of course this is true. :-)

Over five years I have shared the stories of not one, not two, but three additions to our family, I have told a few funny stories from the many children who inhabit our home (like this one, and this one, and this one) and even shared the emotions of times of very difficult loss, and the aftermath of that.

We have an amazing God, and I have loved sharing so many thoughts on life with him, as he leads me along, helping me know him more, so I can trust him more - rather than keep trying to trust in myself more. I even made that one of the main tabs above, Life With God.

Thanks for visiting GregsHead.net over the past five years. Blogging is a conversation. It's a conversation starter, and the beauty of it is that you can actually respond inline to the conversation. Add your comments below anything I publish here. I love that. Life is a journey, that's meant to be shared. (Oh yeah! I also have published three books along the way! A Journey Shared, Life in the Rearview Mirror, and There's The Steeple... Here's The Church.

This post is getting longer than I thought it would, but that's because I am trying to cover five years worth of stuff in a few short paragraphs! If you'd like to read more, you can actually access the archive directory directly right here. Just click on any month from the previous 5 years and you'll see all the posts from that month.

Thanks again for joining me for the past five years (or however long you've been here). Once life settles down for me (and I can figure out where to focus my energies) I should have the time and energy to share my thoughts here again, and continue the conversations.

Looking forward to that.

08.08.08

You probably do not need to be reminded of this, but today is the one fun day every year where the day, the month, and the year all match. This one happens to also be the first day of the summer olympics, happening this time in China. It's also the tenth wedding anniversary of some good friends of ours.

And, it's just a Friday.

The numbers on the calendar don't really matter, but I just thought it was fun, and wanted to post it. :-)

So enjoy your 08.08.08. Maybe a game of Crazy Eights is in order? Maybe play the old Beatles' tune "Eight Days a Week" and catch an episode of Eight is Enough on DVD afterwards? Start it at 08:08:08pm local time! Got any other ideas? Leave 'em below!

Die Hard Fans

Neither snow, nor sickness, nor brand new baby, nor rain and 30 degree temps could keep us from being at our favorite ice cream spot on Wednesday! Chill & Grill opened on March 19th, and though we didn't get to take Emma there (nor did I have my traditional one-pound Monster Burger!) we did manage two visits on opening day. :-)

My favorite part is eating ice cream in the snow. :-)

We'll probably go another time or two this weekend. Today it's 30 degrees... might be up to about 36 by Sunday... we'll see...

Time for some ice cream!!

Julia's Birthday Fun!

Little Julia is TWO today!!! She has gotten card and calls from family far away, and started the day out with a BIG fun BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST! Including our family, we had four two year olds (two of them turning two today!!) and their four moms, as well as a few extra siblings... and me making a big fun breakfast of waffles, French Toast (on fresh baked bread I made this morning!) and Dad's special breakfast potatoes! Fun!

In the afternoon, after the party died down, we made chocolate cupcakes (with yellow buttercream frosting, and some chocolate sprinkles!!) and then ate a few after singing to Julia with the whole birthday candles thing!

This all wore Julia out a lot... so she took a nap. :-)

Now we're getting ready to head out for our more traditional birthday celebration of Red Robin for dinner, and Chuck E. Cheese for games afterwards! Tonight, Grandma & Grandpa Walker will be joining us too! (And perhaps more friends) :-)

The poster above is Julia's birthday poster... I just loved her "pose" in this shot, and used it to remember that she often will say now, "Me? Song?" and then sing us a song which is most often "Hoooooooly night!" (Her own version of Silent Night) :-)

She's beautiful, and awesome, and lots of fun. And we're glad she's two!

Love you, Julia! :-)

Big Fun Food Day

For a little while now our friend Leah and I have been trying to plan a time for she and Scott and Jen & I to have a fun food extravaganza as a sort of "last hurrah" before they move to Maryland. Many obstacles have delayed the outing, and even made it seem impossible. But yesterday... we finally made it happen!! It was tons of fun! And tons of FOOD!

I shall henceforth refer it to as the Big Fun Food Day. :-)

See, it all started with an idea in my head. We thought it would be fun to get babysitters for all our kids and go out on a "double date" with Scott & Leah before they leave, and I was trying to think of a fun place that they like to make it extra special. Well, the first one that came to mind is one that Leah likes, but Scott... hates. :-) (Funnier still, I also am a fan, but Jen is really not.) So, that wouldn't work... unless...

I thought we could try a "progressive dinner" style outing. Leah and I could eat our fill at the Indian buffet, and then we'd go straight to a place that Scott (& Jen) like to eat. I ran the idea by Jen, and she thought it was fun, and then by Leah, and she too thought it a fun plan... She ran it by Scott, who added his consent and then Leah added Coldstone to the mix for dessert! Ha! Three places in one outing! Fun stuff!

After a few failed attempts at finding a day that worked for all (schedule conflicts) and then finding willing babysitters for our four and their three kids, we finally made it work yesterday!

It all started at about 12:45pm or so. We met up at Willowbrook where we dropped our van and carpooled with them in their (very tiny!) car to the India House buffet. (Photo below... Jen took it, so ... she's not in it.) :-)



We had a crazy waiter here named Dave. He hit it off with Scott as they are both UFC (Ultimate Fight Challenge?) fans. He also introduced himself as Ravi and said he hates Indian food, music, and Indian people. That was awesome. :-) (We learned that the first thing he said was always false.) :-)

The food was awesome, and as I didn't plan on eating Indian food again for quite some time... I ate... three plates full. :-)

I was full.



Next we decided to head to a town about 20 minutes west where Scott's favorite restaurant resides. We had never been, so I made sure to sample some stuff, but MAN there was VERY little room for the samples! Scott & Jen feasted here. Leah did "sample" as well, of course... :-)

Funny story was... we got out there about 2:40 or so... and they didn't open till three!! So we went to Land's End next door for a bathroom for the pregnant lady and some clothes shopping for Leah (and Jen enjoyed looking at the kids stuff as well) :-)

Our waiter at Carrabba's was very good as well. And strangely reminded us of a friend of ours (all of us). They have different names though, so we think they are different people... :-)



It was super late when we left Carrabba's (we were having a great time!) so we didn't get to stay and eat at Coldstone, but we did swing by there on the way home, and three of us got SMALL ice creams. :-) (Actually, Leah got a medium sized one...) :-)

It was fantastic, but at that point, there was very little room for any more food, no matter how good it was! :-)

We finally got back to our kids at 6pm, and once we collected them and all their stuff, we went over to the Vs house for a little extra hang out (and our kids all got to see each other and play then, too). That actually ended with Jen making a quick run to McDonald's to round out the Big Fun Food Day (at least for the kids) with some burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and a snack wrap or two. :-)

It was certainly a memory, and a great, big, fun, day of food! :-)

More photos here.

Kirstie's Day

What a great fourth birthday for our little Kirstie! I figured it would be fun (at least for us!) to write out all the details of the big day, so here we go!

Kirstie was the last of the kids to wake up yesterday, so I gathered the other three and my guitar and we snuck into her room and quietly sang Happy Birthday to wake her up. :-) After a little disorientation... she stumbled out her door to see her new birthday poster (see below) and open a present (a new pink booster seat for a BIG GIRL in the van!) and then went downstairs for breakfast.

Mom did some fun-for-Kirstie things till lunch time, and then at lunch Dad came down from the office and Kirstie went on a birthday present scavenger hunt! Mom gave her an initial clue, and then each present she found had a clue for where to find the next one! Great idea by Jen, lots of fun for Kirsten (and the rest of us, too!) After that I made an awesome pink cake - later to be frosted with pink icing - for my pink-lovin' girl!

I worked a bit more in the office, until the evening fun, which began around 7pm when we headed out for dinner.

First up was a birthday meal at Red Robin. Kirstie got a pink balloon (which ended up in the ceiling rafters...) and ordered a full kids meal - since she was a big girl - and of course had the free sundae which is brought out by singing red robin employees. Ian sang along and said, "I know all the words by heart!" :-) Fun times! We love birthdays at Red Robin!

After that we headed around the corner to Chuck E. Cheese! We love birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese! Thanks to some coupons, we got 120 tokens for $10! That's a great deal, and a LOT of games! We fanned out and had a blast. Kirstie got to play games with all her family members, and just had a great time. One of her favorite things to do!

We stayed until close (they were very gracious) and then headed home, but with a stop at Uncle Scott & Aunt Leah's first to eat her pink cake! It was a bit late for all, but they were great. Leah had the plates and ice cream (and birthday candles!) ready, and we got right to singing happy birthday, blowing out candles and eating cake & ice cream! The whole visit was only 45 minutes but nice that we could share another birthday with them before they move to Washington DC. We'll miss them.

At the end of all that, Kirstie was BEAT! Exhausted. Wasted. But... in still able to bring up a few fun things from the day. When we got home she was crying about something (again, just exhausted) but managed to stop, and give Dad a big smile as I was saying good night. For her fourth birthday she felt like the little princess that she is. :-)

Kirstie is four... next is Julia in just under two weeks... unless....

Baby is due pretty soon, too!

Lots of BIRTHdays! :-)

Happy 4th Birthday, Kirsten!

Today is our little girl's 4th birthday. Kirstie Rae is FOUR today! The other kids and I sang her happy birthday this morning to wake her up, and then she opened a few presents (and got her birthday poster...) before heading down for breakfast. Mom has a fun scavenger hunt planned for her other presents, and then tonight we'll celebrate at Red Robin and Chuck E. Cheese (two of her favorite things!) :-)

So happy birthday little girl! Love you! :-)

Birthday Month

Welcome to February - a very busy birthday month for our family and friends. Our daughter Kirstie will be celebrating her fourth birthday at the end of the month, but before that four of her seven Walker cousins will be celebrating their birthdays also! And Kirstie's youngest cousin on the Campbell side of the family is also a February birthday boy.

And, who knows... with a baby due mid March, she could have a sibling join her in the Birthday Month!

Besides close relatives, many friends also celebrate their birthdays this month with probably the craziest day being our oldest niece's birthday. On February 20th (our niece's birthday) three of our friends will also be celebrating their birthdays! Four on one day! (And two of them were born the same year also!)

So, it may be the shortest month of the year, but in a of way it's one of our busiest! :-)

(And don't forget, this year we get a bonus day!)

Happy February! :-)

Just Lucky, I Guess

Last night we celebrated Ian's birthday. His birthday falls on Christmas day, so it has been our practice to set up a day in January to celebrate Ian, and nothing else. Well, he wanted to invite our friends the Velasquezes to join us for a night at Chuck E Cheese's in a town about 35 min to the west of us. Would work out perfect as that is where Mr. V (we call him Uncle Scott) works. I was to bring a cake that I made, and we would play games, eat cake, and celebrate Ian.

Well, the funny thing is...

As we were on our way there, we went through an intersection where the traffic light was out. "Oh my goodness..." All of a sudden, the days events all came together in my head... We had some serious wind (remember? we might get blown up?) and power was out all over the nearby areas - just not ours. The thought hadn't crossed my mind until just then that...

You guessed it. The only block without power in the entire area we were going to was the block where Chuck E. Cheese's resides. Nice.

Well, we decided to head back to our friends' house and eat cake and play games there. Ended up being a fun night, just a huge waste of gas and time I guess. Again... nice.

Next time... call ahead. :-)

National Hot Tea Month

I learned from my wife last night that January is national hot tea month. Now, I am known to have a cup or two a day... I am a fan of many kinds. (Big Train Chai is another favorite drink!) But with it being National Tea Month and all... I suppose I shall have to have a bit more. :-)

Care to join me for some tea?

(That's our awesome brown tea kettle in the photo by the way!)

A Wet Christmas?

I thought the song said White Christmas....

We did get a lot of the white stuff for the whole month of December. Probably the first three weeks straight. OVer a foot of the good stuff. I think I heard that we've gotten around 38 inches so far! BUT... for one week before Christmas we had temps in the 40s, and RAIN. Yuck!

But the best part had to be Sunday, December 23rd. That day we not only had more melting of the existing snow, we had torrential downpours!! I didn't think about it while it was happening, but a couple hours of some seriously hard rain on top of all the melting... was too much for our basement. :-(

So, this Christmas, not only did we have rain, but we had a flooded basement. We're still trying to clean up from it, but haven't had any time with all of the Christmas celebrations with family and friends. We came home tonight to a VERY stinky house. (The furnace blows up the nasty smell from the basement to the rest of the house!) :-( I went down and dumped some clorox on the floor and sprayed LOTS of lysol. That helped for now.

Hope your Christmas was dryer. :-)

I'm NOT dreaming of a WET Christmas!

Christmas Report II

When I was trying to think of what I needed to do today, I also remembered the past few days that have been. It seemed like today might be the first kinda normal day in a while. (Which, strangely makes it feel like Monday, maybe Tuesday...)

It's been quite a week! I'm sure it was for you as well. I think maybe we have an extra piece with Ian's birthday being on Christmas day. Because of that there are a few more celebration days for Ian in there. Like, we did our annual Birthday Burger at Red Robin sometime last week for his birthday. Balloons, singing, and all. It was awesome! Then the fun started again this past week... maybe on Saturday.

Saturday was the day we were singing at Wal-Mart. That shouldn't have been as eventful as it was, but after getting there and getting everything set up, I realized I had no guitar picks. And then we found out that Wal-Mart did not either! So, we went on a bit of a scavenger hunt, finally picking some up (pun intended) at a local music store. Then, to top it all off, after about an hour of singing - which was super fun! - I broke a guitar string. While that used to be commonplace, I am pretty sure that's the first time I have done that in most of TWO YEARS! Crazy!

After the string broke, we packed up and did a little last minute Christmas & birthday shopping there at Wal-Mart and a couple other stores. It was nice, just me and Jen. :-)

When we got back home, we did a few more things then packed up the troops for a trip to Victor. We actually went to the mall area on the Saturday before Christmas!! (We really needed an ink cartridge, and that's the closest office store...) After we picked that up, we stopped by our friends' house and hung out for a little while with them. Had some hot cocoa and fresh-baked Christmas cookies! :-)

Sunday morning brought a visit from some other friends. They were dropping their girls off so that they could go to the Bills/Giants game over in Buffalo! (They bought our tickets from us, a nice Christmas present for our friend the Giants fan. Unfortunately, turned out to be a little TOO nice!!) We kept their girls all day, and had a blast! The evening ended with a visit from John Dupra for a recording of the Buffalo Bills Review, and then some good Christmas cookies from our friends. :-)

Christmas Eve started later than I thought it would. We slept in a bit, then tried to decide what to do. We were going to make some Christmas gifts (food) for friends and drop them off, but then after talking with them, decided to wait on that. But then in talking with our football ticket friends, ended up deciding to bring Christmas dinner over to their house to share with them the next day. So, in between making Christmas cookies for Santa, Christmas Eve also involved baking bread and making a lasagna to bake the next day!

That evening we went to Willowbrook to see friends (and family!) we haven't seen for a while - some of them a LONG while! That was nice, and was followed by a stop at another family's house for a late night Christmas Eve party! Was nice to hang out with them for a couple hours. We stayed longer than we wanted to, but that was due to caring for one of our friends' sick kids. Long story. Long night. :-) We didn't get home, and get the kids in bed, until midnight!

We weren't totally done with Christmas and Birthday preparations by Midnight, so... we were both up till 2am. For me, that's fine... for Jen? Not so fine. Christmas morning came a little too soon for her. Even though it wasn't till 9am. :-)

Christmas Day was no less crazy. Once we got up, I took a quick shower, and then we all headed downstairs to find some presents left by Santa (alongside the ones we had already put under the tree) and our stockings full of goodies! The kids were fun to watch. :-) After unwrapping all the fun presents, we headed into the kitchen to make a big French Toast breakfast for Ian's birthday! (His request.)

After breakfast, we headed back to the family room for Ian to open his birthday presents. (Yes, he gets LOTS of presents on Dec 25th, and the week before and after that!) We didn't have a cake, so I stuck a candle in a giant navel orange, and we sang for Ian using that. Fun stuff. :-)

After Ian's birthday celebrating, we packed up pretty quickly, and took our big Christmas lunch over to our friends' house to celebrate and eat with them. Spent about two hours or so there. They may be moving soon, so we're enjoying all the time we can get with them. Will be strange if we are not living in the same town...

We packed up after lunch with our friends and headed out to Buffalo to visit with Jen's family. Got there around 4:30 or so and got right to eating! (Yes, you're right... that IS a lot of eating...) It was a great meal, and a fun time with Jen's family. Her oldest brother and family were not there, but there were plenty of people to go around and we had a great time giving and receiving gifts... and eating taco dip! (One of my favorites...) :-)

We left around 8:30 or so, putting us back home at 10pm. We were BEAT from the past three days. Jen was exhausted for sure. The kids were pooped. Most slept the whole way home. But not Kirsten. She sang Christmas songs with Dad most of the time. :-) SO CUTE!!!

But we weren't done.

Wednesday morning was very busy for me! I did sleep in, but once I got up I was on the phone, IM, and e-mailing. Plenty of Boxing Day business I guess! I was also making bread because some other friends were coming over for a late lunch/early dinner. And the best part? They were bringing lasagna! Funny. I made/brought lasagna for some other friends, and then we had different friends do the same for us! Give and you shall receive. Or something like that. :-)

We had a great time with them, and enjoyed all the good food. The really funny part was they came at around 3:30, and with the short days and all, when our friends left at 6pm, it felt like bedtime. BUT IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT! So, we didn't know what to do with ourselves :-) The kids helped clean up, then watched some movies with Mom while Dad spent about TWO HOURS catching up on our finances! Crazy!

That brings us to today. And actually... it has been a pretty normal day so far. :-)

A great, fun, fabulous Christmas and Ian's birthday in 2007. Hope yours was as well!

Christmas Report

Do you remember Christmas days gone by when, as a youngster, you couldn't wait to see your friends or maybe your cousins - whoever would listen! - so you could tell them what you got for Christmas? Well, I do. But I don't think that I really got to tell anyone that yesterday, so I'm going to write it down here!

I am drinking some tea this morning from a nice new mug I got from Santa. My wife got me a Buffalo Bills book that so far is quite good, and we also have mountains of great Christmas candy! (Mostly chocolate!) I also got some nice winter gloves (mine have holes ... no... they ARE holes!) and a few cans of tomato soup! :-) (Yes... I've been wanting some of that...) :-)

It was a fun day. Lots of smiles, and even a bunch of useful stuff. Fun to give, and to receive. And the best part is that Jen actually bought almost everything using money from sales of other stuff on CraigsList, ebay, and Amazon.com. :-) Nice!

Oh! Maybe the best present of all was one that was hand-crafted by Ian! He worked long and hard to build an iMac for me! it's awesome! I'll have to post a photo :-) Even came with a wireless keyboard AND an iPod! :-) He spent many days building it for me at my workbench in the basement. (I think that Ian has now worked there more than I have....) ;-)

Hope you had a fun day as well. Feel free to share your favorite gifts in the comments below. :-)

Hear The Angels Sing

We have heard a LOT of Christmas music lately. I'm sure you are feeling the same way. I do still love it, but it's definitely getting close to time to shelve it for another eleven months or so.

It's not all bad, though. One song off of Steven Curtis Chapman's second Christmas album, All I Want For Christmas, caught my attention this week.

It wasn't so much a lyric, as the way it was sung.

I believe the song was It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. It was sung with a nice gentle feel to it. And, at one point, Steven sings just lightly, "Hear the angels sing Hallelujah, Christ the Savior is born." Those are words you usually associate with giant booming voices and big, majestic fanfare. But in this song, the words were sung almost at a whisper, almost as a lullaby for the newborn baby.

It got me thinking. Maybe that's how it was? We think it should be fanfare and trumpets and "kingly". But if you'll recall, the King of the universe stepped into our lives as a baby, born to ordinary folk, in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. He was born in a stable. He was... born, period. He didn't have to go through that, either.

But he did.

The simplicity of the first Christmas is a clue that God does not do things the way we think he should. And we're (way) better off for it.

Enjoy your gifts today, giving and receiving. Enjoy time with family and friends. Enjoy the great food. Enjoy the Christmas cookies! But most of all, enjoy knowing that you are so completely loved by the One who has everything. He didn't just become a man so he could die the death of a criminal... he wanted to live like us, so he could know us even better. All the way from birth. As a commoner.

That's what you mean to him. That first Christmas day, and this one.

Merry Christmas. :-)

Fun Christmas Game

Object of the game is to freeze the bad guys till they become a big ice ball, then get up next to 'em and kick em! Then they break the other bad guys and bust into presents for Santa! Fun little Christmas-themed online game! Enjoy!

(want to play it full screen?)

Christmas Bird

My Dad loves to send us funny videos and stuff... well, this one made me laugh. :-) Hopefully it does for you too. :-)

12 Days Of Christmas

Saw this on another blog I read regularly... it is fun, and pretty amazing, I think. Amazing enough to post here again! Enjoy! :-)

Love

The other night we got to spend the evening with our good friends. We don't usually get to hang out with all of them together, so we decided to make a late night of it - and were welcomed to do so - and had a fantastic time. The kids played great together, and that allowed us adults to grab some drinks, and a little dessert and just talk about life together at the dining room table.

Earlier in the night, since my birthday was coming up, there was also a bit of a surprise birthday party! Another family was invited to join us (our friends' neighbor) and then after dinner together, I was told to go in the other room and stay there. I knew something was up... :-) After a few minutes, a plate of chocolate chocolate chip cookies was brought in ... with candles in it! :-) I found out later that was the plan all the time, disguised as a regular evening together as friends. It was fun. Really nice surprise. Even got presents! :-)

Well, as the adults hung out after all of the other festivities, we got to talking about the people that God has put around us. We'd been sharing stories of what was in front of us at the moment, and a couple stories reminded me of something God seems to keep weaving through many different areas of my life.

We all have heard the verse of Scripture, "Now these three remain: Faith, Hope & Love. But the greatest of these is love." It's used many times at weddings, and of course, it's true. But, at least for me, the fullness (and yet, simplicity) of that has escaped me.

Our friend was telling us how one of the people he works with told him that she feels comfortable talking with him. Different than other people. What God has been teaching me lately is just how life-changing love can be, and it sounded like this was an example of it. I don't know for sure in this example, but I am pretty sure that this is the core of the gospel - the "Good News".

"For God so loved the world..." is another famous quote, that just gets glossed over many times. But really, I think it's the core of the gospel. It's not the theological discussions, the Mosaic law, transubstantiation, or propitiation. It's not the way that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice as well as our High Priest. There are certainly things that can be learned from all of these things, but really, life change only happens when we realize we are loved.

After all, God is love. It's the core of who he is. And when we really get who we are to him, how he feels about us... we begin to be able to love as we have been loved. There is freedom that comes from knowing how much we are loved by our Father, and in that freedom - as opposed to obligation - we can truly love other people (out of the overflow of how we are loved by God) without agenda or any other "strings attached".

We try so hard as Christians to plan and create opportunities to share the "good news" with people, but really, the intellectual arguments while they may be true, will not change lives. At least, not as much as real love will. It's so simple, but so infrequently employed - mostly because most of us have still not really experienced the reality of God's love. We may know it intellectually... academically. But until we really know it, the best we can do is to share our academic understanding of God and his love with people. Which usually just doesn't cut it.

My point? I don't really have one. Just sharing what God has been showing me. It's not something you can just "fix" or "put into action". You can't just "feel more loved". But when we do, freedom abounds. And in that freedom, we can love other people - which can begin to produce a changed life in them.

Pretty cool stuff.

It really is all about love.

(Just a fun link to a great album.) :-)

33

Well, yes, today is my birthday, but it has already begun to be celebrated. My sister made me a cake while we were down there with them at my Mom & Dad's... they sang and everything. I got presents from the extended family. Many have been wishing me a happy birthday, including calls/IMs from Dad & Sister who have started this interesting tradition of wishing me a happy birthday on November 29th, so they can be the first one or something... :-)

Last night we all went out as a family to celebrate. Red Robin gives you a free burger on your birthday, so we like to take advantage of that! We went there for dinner, they sang me a song. It was tons of fun!

During dinner, Kirstie (our awesome 3-year-old) says something about how we need to go to Chuck-E-Cheese for my birthday! I just smiled (as I am now!) and realized that to her, THAT is a birthday! We have done the Red-Robin-Chuck-E-Cheese birthday circuit for several birthdays running now! :-)

So after dinner, we piled in the van and headed over to Chuck-E-Cheese!!

We got inside and the guy at the entrance said, "Is there a special occasion today?" I answered, "Yes......" He probed further, "Is it a birthday?" We all said, "Yes......." He said, "Whose birthday is it???"

Everyone pointed to me and said, "Dad's birthday!" He looked a little surprised, but handed me the birthday balloon!

We got a few dollars worth of tokens and headed out to have some fun. Strangely, most of the stuff we tried to do was broken, but the one thing I wanted to do - that cool little sketch/photo machine - did work and we got a funny photo memory from the night. I did get to play one game of skee ball with the boys, too. :-)

So, for my 33rd birthday, I went to Red Robin & Chuck E Cheese! :-)

But, there's more. So far today I have received some awesome steak "plates" (they are boards!) hand-crafted by my almost-9 year old son and his crafty Grandpa Tom, and a BUNCH of e-mails, IMs, and other electronic birthday greetings. Jen has some plans for tonight too, but won't divulge them just yet. :-)

More later... unfortunately today is still a busy work day! Just wanted to tell the stories of how everyone has been celebrating my birthday. It's been really fun so far, and much appreciated.

Thanks! :-)

10.18.97

I don't have time today to write what I wish I could write about this day. Maybe I will have more time when we are on vacation at the end of the month? Regardless, I did not want to let the day pass without mentioning it here at GregsHead.net.

I am a lot of things... writer, musician, web designer, tech support, computer sales, sports writer/podcaster, and a few more. But there is nothing that means more to me than being Jen's husband. (OK, you can throw in being my kids' dad... and some other close relationships...)

POINT IS... :-)

I only have one wife, and my one and only choice was and is Jen. I have a lot of stuff, do a lot of things, and even have lots of great relationships... but there is only one Jen. And I love her more than I can ever say. I am so, SO thankful that God has given me 10 years so far as her husband, and I'm looking forward to the next 10 even more. :-)

I love you, Jen! Happy anniversary.

[PS... posted some old photos from 1997 on Facebook. Thought I'd share here, too.] (You don't need an account to see the photos.)

Under Two Weeks!

I can't believe it's really here, but we are under two weeks from leaving for eight days—without our children!!! Seriously. It's true! We leave a week from Friday, and will return the following Saturday night. Jen's folks are keeping our kiddos for the week, and my folks gave us a week of their time share... all for our 10th anniversary celebration! What a celebration!

We're so looking forward to it. The problem is the major cramming I am doing now to complete several projects before we leave! Still going nuts!

Besides relaxing for a week with no children, just enjoying each other's company (celebrating TEN YEARS of marriage!) we'll get to see some friends from college who live out "near" there. (At least closer there than they are to our home here in New York...) :-)

So, fun all around! We're 11 days away!! Holy cow!! :-)

So Far

I forget if I have posted the plans for this extended holiday weekend here or not (yes, it's Columbus Day on Monday... technically a holiday weekend...) so in case I haven't I will post retroactively:

• Thursday:
  • My sister and family come to town late at night, we hung out in the kitchen enjoying some homemade skyline chili and various other treats.
  
  
• Friday (ALEX'S BIRTHDAY!):
  • A special "Buffalo Bills pancakes" breakfast with the cousins
    
  • A trip to the community center to play in the gym (which was ruined first by an aerobics class taking up the whole gym, to which we adjusted by playing foosball and other things, until we could no longer take the way the staffer on duty kept making us feel thoroughly unwelcome in our own COMMUNITY center!!)
    
  • A nice walk through our town, tossing footballs to each other, followed by playing in our yard with all the kids (since we couldn't use the community center!)
    
  • Homemade Skyline for lunch (and some other stuff), and making Alex's birthday cake
    
  • Various games while the youngest ones slept
    
  • Grammy & Grandpa arrived for cake, ice cream, and opening presents!
    
  • Head out for dinner at Red Robin, only to find the wait at least one hour... so we went to Wendy's instead!
    
  • Chuck E. Cheese, where the Velasquezes joined us! Tons of games, and lots of tickets won! Alex got a little tiny football for his efforts. :-)
    
  • Kids in bed, adults play Apples to Apples and enjoy some nice adult conversation, as well as a few caramel pecans from Esther Price!!! (Thanks, Mom!) :-)
  
  
• Saturday:
  • Grammy & Grandpa are still in town, so we'll be spending the day with them at their camp site. Swimming, mini golf, and other fun stuff!
  
  
• Sunday:
  • Breakfast with Grammy & Grandpa before they leave
    
  • Apple picking with friends, an annual tradition!
    
  • FOOTBALL!! (But not the Bills...)
  
  
• Monday:
  • Free lunch in the late morning from the new Lowes (grand opening special invite to local businesses)
    
  • Drive to Clarence for a fun Columbus Day Kids Festival event at Grandma & Grandpa's church
    
  • Naps, and/or hanging out with family/friends in the afternoon
    
  • MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: COWBOYS @ BILLS ... watching with friends in HD, eating CHICKEN WINGS! Then, driving home after the game.

Yeah, that about does it. :-)

Happy Birthday, Alex!

It's going to be a big day, for a big guy. Our little Alex is turning six today! He is a super fun guy who lives life with passion. (Of course, that means he can get pretty fiery mad, too, but mostly it's super happy, bring-everyone-along-with-him passion!)

My sister and family are in town, and later today my parents will visit ... should be a nice day of celebrating Alex!

Love you, Alex! Happy Birthday! :-)

Changing Seasons

Fall has begun, and that means that we're coming to the very end of the ice cream season. It's been a good one. Many visits from the Chis. My Dad has been up several times for ice cream. Friends from all over the region have met us there - including a surprise visit from our friends the Towners one night! - and we of course did our annual concert there with our friends in the band Sound Mind.

It's been a good year.

But now, this Sunday (Sep 30)... Chill & Grill will be closing for the season. :-( :-(

We'll be heading up there for sure on Sunday, and maybe tomorrow night as well. Been fitting in a few more ice cream trips this week, knowing it will be closing again for 5 months or so. Too bad. I would still get ice cream in the winter...

:-)

If you're a fan, come out today or tomorrow and grab the last remnants of the ice cream! (Flavor selection is rather slim these days!) We'll be there Sunday for sure!

Also, be sure to check out the Chill & Grill Fan Page I created on Facebook!

Looking forward to Sunday, and already looking forward to next season!

I do love me some ice cream... :-)

Happy Birthday, CAYA!

Today is the 5th anniversary of one of our albums, Come As You Are. CAYA, as it is known around here, is CD that I recommend to people who don't have any of our CDs. I think the Christmas album is my favorite overall, but this one is the best collection of songs that captures most of our sound. From one instrument and two vocals, to nice acoustic rhythm stuff, to a full-on electrified rock out song (or two). It's definitely a favorite.

We had a big CD release party on August 29th, 2002, and I think around 200 people came to celebrate with us. If you were there, thanks for coming! If you didn't yet get your copy of CAYA, you still can!! :-) We have some, and you can just order through our site. Or, you can always pick it up at iTunes. Or just a track or two, if you want.

(By the way, I just noticed when getting the iTunes link... there are no reviews there on that page. Anyone who knows the album care to leave one? That'd be swell!) :-)

So, it's a fun day in the basic world, and just thought I'd share. Five years is a long time. But actually, the songs on the album are as old as 14 years old now! That's awesome! :-)

Happy Birthday, CAYA. :-)

Evidence

Here's a little bit of evidence that I have been unable to get to my blog very much this past week or so...

Yesterday, August 26th, went by without me noticing even once that it was the fourth anniversary of my blog's existence! :-) I had been looking ahead to that date all month, planning to say something about it... but... welll....

I didn't remember.

Sorry, blog! (Can you say sorry to a blog?) :-)

More to come soon... I'm working on the Buffalo Bills Review right now. Fun show this week! Maybe the most fun ever! :-) Even added some "out takes" to the end of this show. :-)

Fun stuff.

So, happy bloggiversary to GregsHead.net. Four years in the books. Or, on the web. Or something. :-)

Hiroshima: Part 2

On the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima - Aug 6th - I mentioned that I picked up a book by the name of the city from our local library. It was a fairly short book, detailing the events of the lives of several survivors of the horrible day. It was fairly objective (quite unlike what a similar literary work would be today, I'm sure!) and just told the story plainly, as experienced by those witnesses, and tragically coerced participants.

The most interesting part was that the author visited one year after the bombing to get the stories, and even then, no one (according to the author) was really debating the morality of the atomic bomb. Whether out of a fear of all that had transpired, or truly just not questioning the ethics of such a weapon, there apparently was not much discourse regarding whether or not it "should" have been used.

Funny, cause that's all I can think about.

I mentioned in my previous post that it had been a long war. War is ugly, and I'm sure it numbs you to the reality of what you are doing. But still, I can not fathom making the decision to obliterate a city and 100,000 of its inhabitants with one swift, instantaneous motion.

I can understand the people who made the weapon. There had been credible rumors that the Germans were working on such technology, and if they had gotten it first - the "Master Race" - it could have been beyond disastrous. So, it made sense for us to race to complete it first. And, we did. (I think it was later discovered that the Germans were not near as close as we had feared.) So, perhaps once the scientists had completed their work - in the form of a functioning "atomic" bomb - they had time to debate the moral implications of their achievements. But I can also see there how not attempting to "discover" the weapon first would have been equally (or perhaps even more) morally questionable.

But once the bomb was ready, and able... that's where I am glad I did not have to be the decision maker.

From President Truman deciding to drop the bomb on a real city, with hundreds of thousands of people. (And then three days later to drop another one, even after seeing the total devastation!) To the pilots who left the ground, with the knowledge that their mission was to wipe out a city with one bomb. To the technician who had to activate the weapon once they left the ground. (They had not activated it for fear of any sort of accident at take off... would have been messy.) Once he activated it - or even while he was in process - how must that have felt? Knowing he was, by his weapon activation, condemning up to 100,000 people and their city, even their history, to death? What of the pilot(s?) who actually "flipped the switch" (or whatever they did) to drop the bomb?

I'm just glad it wasn't me.

In retrospect, you can say, "Look, within days the war was over. So, the end justifies the means." Well, yes. You can say that. But it's just so hard to swallow when you think that the bomb was used on real people. Not a target. They were not "casualties". They were moms and dads, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters... just people. The book was very interesting. Reading how people reacted to such sudden catastrophe, helping each other out as much as they could... too fractured and instantly plunged into chaos to even question really what happened, or why it happened... they just kicked into survival mode. Which included helping the nearest stranger to survive.

One interesting thing after the Japanese surrendered, was the assistance of the Allied forces (likely led by America) in rebuilding Hiroshima, as well as attempting to understand - and find a cure for - the mysterious radiation sickness that had afflicted so many survivors. It seemed so ironic that we who had invented - and implemented - such a device, were right there in the aftermath trying to help "clean up". I think that is the "American Spirit", but I'm not sure what the big bomb part was.

I just wonder why we couldn't have bombed some more remote part of their mainland... wiping out some trees or something? I'm sure many have considered and debated all the possibilities for decades now. But, wouldn't that have demostrated the same power as actually blowing up cities? Maybe not.

So, anyway, I think I'll read a few more stories from that time. It's fascinating to me how we can do that to each other. We continue to do so, just not on that grand scale. Yet.

I may see something even worse in my lifetime. Who knows, it may be here in our own country. That doesn't seem possible right now, but you never know.

Some day war will end. For now, perhaps we can remember the atrocity of it, and avoid similar atrocities in the future?

Probably not.

Hiroshima: August 6th, 1945

After recently watching those two movies about the battle for Iwo Jima, I found it intriguing when I discovered that today is the anniversary of the day the US dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. I clicked on the link in my "This Day In History" widget, and read about this day 62 years ago. I listened to President Truman's speech following the decision to drop the bomb. I watched some videos from the history channel online. Again, I was fascinated.

What most blew my mind was the position of Harry Truman. How do you actually ever feel you have the authority to make such a decision? How did he actually pull the trigger? I read one article that reminded me that the America of the 1940s was not the same one as today. In many ways that's really sad. But perhaps in the way of viewing people of various ethnic backgrounds as equals... we are certainly better off today than we were then. So some have suggested it was easier because they were just "Japs".

I should hope not, but certainly a possible explanation.

Because really, how do you decide to do that? The logic given in his post-dropping speech was that the Japanese would fight to the death. Killing up to "half a million" US soldiers. Dropping the bomb saved lives. While I agree that this is true, I do side with critics who believe that estimate is ridiculously high.

When he gave the order to drop the bomb, I'm sure it was not taken lightly. I'm sure agonizing thought went into it. And, it had been a long war. It was time for it to be over, and this weapon could pretty hastily ensure that it would be.

But at what cost?

I am not sure I could ever make such a decision. In retrospect, you're glad it ended the war, but as is everything surround a war, it's just so sad and ugly.

I borrowed a couple books from the library tonight on Hiroshima. One is just named Hiroshima by John Hershey. Supposed to have some eye witness accounts. Was written as the rubble was still smoldering. The second is a series of two books, The Memoirs of Harry Truman. That, too should prove interesting, as the hardest thing about Aug 6th 1945 for me to grasp is what actually was going on in Truman's mind? How do you make that call??

I'll likely share some thoughts from the books soon... just thought I'd post this on the day we dropped the bomb.

Happy 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bomb! (Now there's something to celebrate!) ;-)

Ring Day

Today was Ring Day. My mom calls it our Engagement anniversary. But we never really said anything like that... "We're engaged!" We just sorta decided to get married. In 1997. Around July 16/17. Then we went to pick out some rings. And they had to do something to get them ready... so... we waited.

Until July 26th.

When I got the rings, I went down to camp where Jen was working with a bunch of tiny, crazy kids for the weekend. I pulled her aside after the activity of the hour and said, "I got our rings. Here's yours." :-)

Romantic, eh? :-)

So, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Ring Day today by getting a babysitter for a couple hours after dinner, and going out for some rings. No, not more jewelry. We went to Applebee's and got their onion rings, and even got a dessert which was a cake in the shape of a ring (filled with fudge in the middle!). Both desserts totaled $10 - which was cool for the 10th year of our life together as one. :-)

So... one more big day to come... and we're celebrating that one for a week! California here we come!!!

Ice Cream Celebrations...

It's probably starting to feel like all I do around here is talk about ICE CREAM! Well, for this month, I guess that's true :-) It is National Ice Cream Month, and I have had ice cream EVERY DAY this month. 19 days in a row, and counting!

For tonight, we made a gallon of vanilla ice cream, and about half a gallon of strawberry last night. We'll be bringing the finished product over to our friends' house and enjoying that with them (and some other friends) and using the rest of the strawberry "base"? in a little kids hand-crank ice cream maker to make the rest! Should be fun. :-)

Speaking of fun, I meant to give a little update on how our 10th anniversary of our decision to wed went. It was a nice two day, for the most part. On the 16th, I arranged to take Jen out for a nice lunch, and got her 10 roses in a nice vase for our 10 years. She loves flowers, and we are hardly ever able to get them, so I think that was really special. Cool part was, the flowers arrived at almost the same time as the babysitter! Couldn't have timed it any better!

Previously I had arranged with some other friends to get a little extended time out for the night of the 17th. We got to spend about four hours eating at Olive Garden, doing a little grocery shopping (WITH NO KIDS), and even stopped by a favorite coffee house on the way back to get our kids. It was a nice end to the two-day celebration.

I think it's really cool that Jen and I get to be married. I think it's also cool that we decided to do that in the month of July... NATIONAL ICE CREAM MONTH! Now every year, we can celebrate that anniversary with one of the best foods ever invented! :-)

Time to head over to the party. More ice cream!!! :-)

Ten Years and Counting

Today I got to tell the story of how God arranged for me to marry Jen. Our friends Ryan & Charmagne (he's not Ryan... he's Chi.) were over for the day and somehow I mentioned that Jen & I never dated, and that piqued Charmagne's interest, enough that she asked me to share our story. How did we come to the decision to just get married, without dating?

It's a long story, that I will save for our book, but basically, the re-telling of that story helped remind me of a lot of great things God taught me during the time he prepared me for, and "brought" Jen to me. (Genesis 2 says that God "brought [Eve] to the man" and Jen and I believe He still does that today, if we let Him.)

Ten years ago today, July 16th, was an amazing day that I had many times thought might happen - and many times thought would never happen. When I met Jen in 10th grade - at age 16 - I was told she was "the kind of girl you could marry". Our introducing friend did not specifically mean me - it was the generic "you" - but, it was prophetic.

Ten years ago today we were hanging out together as friends, rehearsing a song we would sing together for the wedding of some friends, and as we talked - like we had done so many times before - we opened our hearts to each other and were able to share the love we had then, and have deepened since.

Jen said to me, "I can trust you with my heart." I said, "As my love for God grows more than I could have imagined, I am amazed how my love for you grows too." And later in the conversation, "This [what we were then saying] sounds like marriage, to me... can that be??"

It can.

Within 24 hours, we had thought through not only the shared thoughts and feelings of the past night, but the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the past seven years. Spending life together, as husband and wife - best friends, confidants, partners, mates... was perfect. Who better to go through life with than your best friend? The person you most enjoy being with, and sharing your life with?

That person for me is Jen. I am a people person, and love to be with people and have a chat over a bowl of ice cream, or a cup of tea or something. But there is no one I can confide in more. There is no one I want to be with more. Sometimes we don't get to enjoy that as much these days (10 years and 4 children later...) but it is more true than ever.

I love you, Jen. Every part of you. I am blessed beyond words that you decided to marry me 10 years ago. We have both grown in our understanding of and ability to love each other over that time, and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings us. You are constantly in my thoughts, and I am not me without you. You might not feel like that's true, but it is probably a deeper truth than I can even know.

Thank you for loving me for ten years. I hope we get ten more. And then another ten more. And then another. I could not possibly have been given a better person to spend my life with. God is amazingly good - and we know his timing is perfect.

I love you today, ten years ago, and from here forward as long as I am able.

07.07.07

It's just fun to put that in print! 07.07.07. We are planning to meet with some friends at Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, OH today - an awesome ice cream (but so much more!) place in the land of my birth - and originally, thought it would be fun to meet at 7:07pm on 07.07.07. BUT, alas... they are not able to. We'll be getting together earlier.

Will have to figure out something else to do on that fun date. We'll have to wait a year and a month till the next such date. :-) What will you be doing on this "special occasion"?

Perhaps something involving sevens?

Let me know in the comments if you have any good ideas. :-)

Food Fest I

Yes, I know yesterday was Canada Day (I believe it is "observed" today), but I believe that July 1st may now become the official day of FOOD FEST.

Some have called it Eat Fest, and yesterday I first thought it could be called GlutFest (as in "gluttonous") but I think I have settled on FOOD FEST.

And, just like the Superbowl, I think we'll keep track of this (hopefully) annual event with a roman numeral. Thus, yesterday's soirée was FOOD FEST I.

I can't believe I am actually eating anything today... :-)

Our first guests arrived around 11:30 or so, and we planned to eat lunch at 1ish (once the other guests arrived). So... as my mom was always good at doing, I had some goodies ready to snack on sitting on the table when they got there - and snack we did. There was fresh watermelon, cantaloupe and strawberries. We had sweet tea, unsweetened tea. We had celery and blue cheese, and added some baby carrots. And all this was just to munch on before lunch!

I fired up the grill at about five till one, and cooked up about 20 hamburgers for 6 adults and 9 children. (Two of those being one-year-olds). Add to that the potato salad, some fantastic apple salad with a hint of lime, a variety of chips, and of course the selection of about a dozen things you could put on your burger... including bacon! Whoohoo!

But... as if that were not enough...

We moved the propane tank from the grill to the fryer once the burgers were done, and I started heating up the oil for CHICKEN WINGS. Now, I don't like to toot my own horn, but I used to think that I made the best wing sauce in Buffalo... and I'm still pretty good at cookin' up a batch of wings. In fact, our friend Scott said they were the best I've ever made and I think he's eaten at least 500 of my wings. (Plus, he makes some great wings himself!) :-)

So, we cooked up about 6 pounds of those (leaving 2 more pounds for fresh wings later) and had those after a couple hamburgers each (and all the other goodies!) ... it was a food fest alright!

BUT WE WEREN'T DONE.

Chicken wings were the "specialty" of the day... until we found out it was National ICe Cream Month! So, we decided to make some home made ice cream! Having recently attended a class on making ice cream... I put my newly acquired skills to good use and made the most AMAZING homemade ice cream I have ever made! Maybe the best I've ever tasted! It turned out perfect! So we sampled a bit, then threw it in the freezer to "ripen". (That's the step where the ice cream hardens.)

We did go for a swim with the kids (at least, me and Dave did...) so we stopped eating for just about an hour, but then it was back to the house for the ice cream, more wings, and general nibbling of all the food that was STILL left.

We ate from around noon till 7:30 or so... with almost no break. Non stop FOOD FEST. Awesome. :-)

There was quite a bit of food left over. We had some for lunch today. And will for dinner. And might tomorrow. :-) But we certainly had our share of food at the innaugural FOOD FEST I.

Check back in a year for the report from FOOD FEST II! :-)