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October 31 Five Years Later Bustin' Still Makes Me Feel Good - October 31, 2007Each year I put the CD into my CD player and the music begins. As the opening bars play I begin to get chills on my neck. It takes me back five years to a time when – for one night – we ruled Halloween.
Every Halloween from now until I die I will remember Halloween 2002. It was one of those nights that you’ll never forget. One of those nights that you can explain to everyone how awesome it really was but nobody will ever fully understand except for the three other people you shared it with.
Yes, every time I hear the song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. I get chills. I look forward to pulling up my Ghostbuster outfit, strapping on my utility belt and putting my cardboard Proton Pack on my back.
I call or email my brothers and Wes and tell them "Happy Halloween" as we can all look back five years ago today and remember the day that we ruled downtown Seattle as the Ghostbusters.
I wrote about this day in one of my earlier blog posts. Here is that link. Instead of retelling the story I’ve decided to post the part about this memorable night here, in its entirety:
TOW Busting Makes Me Feel Good – October 31, 2002 As you get older Halloween usually becomes less of a big deal. You get invited to parties but struggle to find a decent costume and ultimately end up going as a boxer, mime or ghost. In 2002, I thought I’d try to find something for me and my brothers to dress up as.
We had the Three Amigos sombreros so I thought we could go dressed as the Amigos. I searched all over for the costumes, but unfortunately, came up empty. With just a couple of days until Halloween we had nothing. Then an idea popped into my head…Ghostbusters!
I jumped online and did a search for Ghostbuster outfits. It looked easy to make, except for the Proton Packs. I called up my brothers and our friend Wes. They were all in and would pay whatever it took to get the costumes made. I bought the jumpsuits, the patch, the belts and the elbow pads. My Mom sewed the patches on and Erik got to work on the Proton Packs.
On Halloween we strapped on our uniforms and immediately knew we had something special. The suits were great, the Proton Packs - made from cardboard and pipe covering – made the costume spectacular.
We put our packs in Wes’ Expedition and headed to the bar. We had just planned to stay in town but once we walked in the door and everyone started shouting "Who you gonna call?!?" we knew we had something special. We hung out for a few minutes and then headed to Seattle. We were aiming for the big time.
Once we stepped out of the car we again heard "Who you gonna call?!?"
Everywhere we walked people stopped and said "Ghostbusters! Alright!". They took pictures of us, a taxi stopped and shouted "Who you gonna call?!?", and everytime we entered a bar people would stop to pose for a photo with us. Even a band, playing at one of the bars, stopped mid-song to point us out and again shouted "Who you gonna call?!?" We were like celebrities.
We went from bar-to-bar, never really stopping for a drink. We were getting more attention than I ever thought we’d get, any of us thought we’d get. We went to one bar and made it into the costume contest. We easily made it to the finals and then won the prize for Best Costume, winning $200 and a snowboard. We had made our money back from making the costumes, plus some.
Our night didn’t end there. We walked up and down the streets of Seattle, posing for photos, replying to everyone’s question with "Ghostbusters!". We did everything but sign autographs.
Our night ended in the morning. At 4 a.m., after we hit up all the after-parties, the ‘Busters were done bustin’. We just had the night of our lives.
We went out the following year and got the same reception. After that Wes moved away and Erik got invited to his friends pimp-and-ho’s party or white trash party. In 2005, Randy and I zipped up the suit and headed back out to the bar. And in a glimpse of the past we were again treated like celebrities. The DJ played the Ghostbusters theme song and Randy and I did our thing on the dance floor. Yah, bustin’ makes me feel good.October 23 Relating to Desperate Housewives - October 23, 2007So often I drift off of the path of what this blog was originally written for. Does that make sense? What I’m saying is that I don’t spend enough time talking about Lis and cancer. This is probably a good thing as that means that the cancer is not affecting our lives. The bad thing is we forget that Lis is here after living through something that unfortunately many people don’t live through.
This weekend though I was reminded of what Lis went through while watching the show “Desperate Housewives”. Are any of you “Desperate Housewives” fans? Any of you desperate housewives?
There is an interesting plotline that is going on in this the fourth season of Housewives. One of the Housewives, Lynette, was diagnosed with lymphoma in the season finale of Season 3. This year Lynette battles through chemotherapy treatments, something Lis and I can relate to.
There is a scene in this past week’s episode where Tom (Doug Savant) and Lynette (Felicity Huffman) attempt to get intimate. Instead Lynette’s wig rips and falls off and Tom freaks out because Lynette is bald. On the advice of Lynette’s friend Gabi (Eva Longoria), Lynette buys a wig and a couple of nights later shows Tom the dark wig, using the made up name of Brandy. When Lynette’s original wig is repaired she puts Brandy away which frustrates Tom, who has tried to bring back a relative of Brandy.
Lynette tells Tom that she’s frustrated with him because he doesn’t seem to want to be with her, his wife, instead choosing a fantasy babe.
The following scene ensues:
Lynette: I can’t help it. I have cancer.
Tom: Yes. I know. I hear about it all the time. Can you blame for wanting to escape every once in awhile?
Lynette: Escape from me you mean?
Tom: Yes! You know why last night was so much fun? Because I got to make love to someone who wasn’t sick. I know, I’m not supposed to say this stuff. I’m supposed to be the heroic husband who listens and holds you when you cry and never cries himself but this affects me too.
Lynette: Well. I know that.
(Bald Lynette lies in bed, turned facing the wall)
Tom: You do? How? Since this whole thing began have you ever once asked me how I’m doing?
(Bald Lynette turns around and faces Tom)
Lynette: Oh my God I haven’t. Have I? I am one of those whiny, self-involved sick people. No I am it’s been months and I’ve barely thought what you’ve been going through. I’m a cancer bitch.
Tom: I’m not going to argue with you.
Lynette and Tom’s situation is a bit different than ours. It’s fictional for one, but Lynette has lymphoma and didn’t have to hang out in the hospital for 30 days receiving treatment.
But the dialog kind of brought a tiny tear into the corner of my eyes. I’ll admit it that I never minded Lis’ bald head. She has a nice round head and it felt cool, especially when it had a little peach fuzz on top of it. The fuzz made it soft. I also never wanted to escape from “Cancer Lis”. I was mighty proud of Cancer Lis and was glad that she didn’t try to hide the fact that she was bald. I thought her wearing the bandana, beanie or hat showed how tough she was.
Also, Lis was never a “Cancer Bitch”. She never complained by stating, “I have cancer!” She was a trooper and I believe that’s one of the huge reasons why she was “cured” after her first treatment. She’s still alive and kicking butt. No bone marrow transplant, no relapse.
The part that made me teary-eyed was when Tom says, “…I’m not supposed to say this stuff. I’m supposed to be the heroic husband who listens and holds you when you cry and never cries himself but this affects me too.”
As a husband of an ex-cancer patient and current survivor, I can relate to Tom’s feelings. So many times the husband or spouse gets forgotten about when their spouse is going through something like this. I know that we’re not actually going through the same things as the cancer patient – I can’t even imagine what she went through – but it does affect us immensely too. It’s not easy watching someone you love so much go through something so tough. It’s not easy seeing someone you care for more than anything lay in a hospital bed fighting fevers of plus-105 and have her insides ripped apart by chemotherapy.
Nobody usually asks how you are doing? How you are holding up? Nobody holds you when you cry, even though you do cry. Not in front of your spouse. You can’t let them see you get emotional because that would only bring them down. So you cry at night when nobody is around. You talk your long slow walk with your 5-month old down the elevator, through the parking garage and to the car, all the while holding back your fears, tears and frustration. And when you bring him home and lay him down in his bed you stare at him and cry, hoping that it won’t be just the two of you forever.
Sorry...left Work No. 2 last night and posted without finishing my blog entry. Now I can't seem to remember what I wanted to write.
Yes, I'm relating our lives to a fictional TV show that has so many immoral story lines that its not even funny (okay, that's why the show is funny) but this fictional story line struck a chord in my heart and brought me back to an important part of my life two years ago.
Real quickly, I don't want to say that I never got support. I did. From friends, family, church and the nurses at the hospital. I also got it from blogging, though I began posting my blog after Lis was out of the hospital. But I just wanted to write and say that sometimes the spouses of the cancer patients get forgotten about and they too are going through a tough time and change in their life. October 17 Lukas: Year Three - October 17, 2007Three years! My how time files.
Seems like just months ago that Lis and I were standing in the maternity wing of the hospital, the nurses telling her that they didn’t think she was pregnant then being totally surprised that she was in intense labor and not showing any signs that she was in pain.
Okay, sorry it doesn’t seem like months ago. More like a year or so ago. And actually I just wanted to share that story and brag on my wife. I know every woman thinks she’s tough but honestly I believe I’m married to one of the toughest and this is just one example of how tough she is.
But yes, it has been three years since Lukas was born. Happy Birthday buddy!
Looking back now, the time has gone by fast. And now that he’s becoming more independent the time seems to be going faster. He talks more, he understands more, he picks up on things faster, he remembers things better, he’s just become a little man.
There’s not a week that passes by that I realize how fast he’s growing and how scary and old that makes me feel.
There’s also not a week or even a day that I don’t look at him and crack a smile or laugh. Sometimes it comes at inappropriate times, such as the dinner table when he shoots me a fake-mean look because I snagged a noodle from his plate, or it can come when he rambles off the names of the Star Wars characters in the video game I’m playing.
I’ve just been so happy with the boy he’s become and I have no one but Lis to thank for that. She’s done a great job with raising him and teaching him things. I guess I’ve done alright also, as he does seem to like me and look up to me. He’ll sometimes pretend to play on his computer telling Lis that he’s checking on his football players like I do with my fantasy football team. I think it’s so funny, yet so cool! I’m hoping that he keeps those interests so that we can share many of Sundays watching football together and competing in fantasy sports together.
Tonight we’ll celebrate his birthday with a small family get together. We had his party on Saturday and thankfully the weather was nice. Our friends and family came out to our house. We had some snacks, played in the backyard, ate cake and watched Lukas open his gifts.
The boys – Graham, Mike, Chris, Erik and I – played games as did the boys of the boys – Hudson, Zach and Lukas.
Once again Lis made her own cake and I think this one was her best so far. Best in the taste and best in the way it looked.
Saturday morning I was in the doghouse because I went and played basketball with the guys from work. Lis was upset because I was bailing on the preparation time for Lukas’ party. I had planned this three weeks in advance and at that time she wasn’t that ticked with me. Saturday morning was different though. Despite having my wife dislike me for a few hours I went and played ball. Don’t tell her but I’m glad I did! Note: I did try to make up with her by buying the groceries we needed before the party and adding some carnations to go with them.
The team I was on won all four games and three of those four times I hit the game-winning 3-pointer. My shot was falling Saturday and I hadn’t played in three or four months. I was incredibly sore but the feeling of every shot going through the net made the pain easier to handle. I was so excited at myself that I pumped my fist after every game-winner. I’m ready to get on the court again with the Goonies. I’ve decided to change my game up more becoming more of an outside threat and using screens and cuts through the lane to get open. I hope it works!
As mentioned, tonight we’re going to get together with the family and celebrate Lukas’ real birthday. The last couple of days we’ve been explaining to him that his party is over but his birthday is not. Today he’s all jazzed because it’s his birthday! It’s been a lot of fun this year because he knows what his birthday is and that it’s coming up and he’s super excited for it. We’ll give him our gifts tonight as we held off on Saturday because he got other gifts.
I hate writing a few paragraphs throughout the day. This blog entry has taken me about six hours to finish. A few paragraphs in the morning, some in the afternoon and some in the evening. Wish I could allot a time during the week I could sit down with my laptop and write. Maybe I should do that on my lunch break. Go to the library and type. That’s cool. October 09 Things that are irking me - October 9, 2007As you can see I'm bored at work and wanting to get things off my mind.
Lately I’ve been feeling a little on the depressed side. No, it’s not because I just turned 30. I just feel like I’m not being the best person I can be. Here are some of the things that are getting on my nerves of late.
v Working Two Jobs – We’re a month and a half into the high school sports season and I’m already feeling burnt out. I dislike going from one job to the next, having to find a place to eat dinner and change clothes. At first I would head straight into work but when I got there they expected me to work, so I was constantly interrupted when trying to eat and never got a chance to eat a warm meal. I also was changing my clothes at Work No. 1. This just causes more problems because then I’m plastic-bagging everything. I’m stuffing my shoes, socks, pants, sweatshirt and t-shirt all into a Wal-Mart bag. Then I have to remember to walk out to my car before I’m off of Work No. 1, get my bag of clothes, then change. Then at night I have to grab my change of clothes, my wrinkly work shirt and pants, and take them into the house. Now I think I’m just going to wear my Work No. 1 clothes to Work No. 2.
v Not Giving My All at Work No. 1 – Maybe I’m just putting too much on my shoulders but things are tough at work and I’m blaming myself. I should be out selling more, passing out my cards to dealerships and mortgage companies. I’ve done it once and it’s not enough. Now a change needs to be made in the agency. We’re not selling enough and the new owner is losing more money than he expected. I take that as my fault. I’m not doing my part. Part of me feels like I can’t completely concentrate on my “career” with two jobs. Part of me is that I’m stuck in a routine. The routine being that for four years I’ve sat at my desk, waited for the phone to ring and serviced our existing clients. Also, the first couple of times I’ve gone out the other gals in the office have responded oddly to it. It’s different, something they are not used to. They aren’t used to me leaving the office for an hour, or going to Chamber meetings. They seem to be doing alright with it now, but I’ve let it affect what I am supposed to be doing. Anyone from Washington State need insurance? Another thing about not being able to get into a sales frame of mind is that I do all the little work around the office. I open the mail, I do the banking, I do the maintenance on our printers, copy machines and fax machine. I have to show people how to do things on the Internet. I’m the one the marketing reps talk to when they come into the office. It’s just too many little things that interrupt my chain of thought.
v Feeling Not-So Good About Myself – This weekend I helped my parents move. It is then that I realized I’m pretty much useless when it comes to moving heavy or big items. My left arm is weak, there’s no point in using it. If it weighs over 50-pounds I’m done. My body is tired and sore after one trip to the trailer. I got ticked at my Dad and brothers on Sunday night after trying to lift carry (with Erik) one of the slates from the pool table. I’m guessing the suckers weighed no less than 250 pounds each and probably closer to 300. I couldn’t make it up the stairs and needed relief. The relief came in the form of my 150-pound Dad. How do you think that makes me and my 225-pound frame feel? Not so good. They teased me a bit and I ended up getting pissed. Granted this came a night after I got little sleep because we went out partying, and after we spent hours moving stuff in the pouring down rain. We were all soaked, tired, and sweaty and exhausted from a week of moving junk. So I got mad and after helping move the pool table frame I stormed out of the house and left. I was upset and frustrated at myself because I’m so weak. I know, they all exercise and the heaviest thing I lift is a file, but still it doesn’t make me feel good. I need to do exercise. I need to lose weight. I need to gain some muscle. I need to stop saying “I need…I need” and just do it. I won’t. I work 15 straight hours and all sitting on my butt! On the nights I’m off, I get home at 6:15pm, we eat dinner and then it’s dark. Got to love the fall/winter time here in Washington.
Other than those three things there really isn’t anything that is bothering me. I’m just feeling sorry for myself by thinking that I can’t do anything right or anything at all. I’m sure it will all pass in the next couple of days but for now that’s my mood.
I am doing well in my fantasy football leagues. I’ve won three straight in my Herald pay-league. I’m ranked No. 2 and am second in scoring. My team is looking good and my pal Dennis says that he thinks my team is the one to beat.
In my keeper pay-league I’ve won two straight and after a slow start I’ve moved into fourth place. Brett Favre is paying off and my dynamic duo of LaDanian Tomlinson and Frank Gore is starting to come together. In my seventh season as a fantasy footballer I’m still learning tricks of the trade - like when to draft quarterbacks. I picked Favre in the 11th round and Marc Bulger in the third. Now Bulger is out and Favre is my starter and a stud. Party - October 9, 2007I had one of those once a year type of nights on Saturday. Well, at least for a married dude. Yes, we went and danced Saturday. Yes, I drank entirely too much. Yes, I was feeling a little sore and tired on Sunday morning. Yes, it was a total blast.
We didn’t have the turnout that I knew I shouldn’t expect. Nope, the only people to turn out were my Mom, two brothers, my brother from another (Josh), and me! Lis bailed out on us an hour before we left. Lisy’s absence was justified, thanks in part to my Dad. Dad bailed out when he fell asleep on the comfy chair in front of the television, thus not being a viable option to babysit Lukas.
We started our festive night by helping my parents move more of their junk to and from their new house.
Around 10-ish, Mom played designated driver and drove us to our party spot in Monroe. I mistakenly left my wallet in my car, the same car Lis drove home with Lukas in.
So Randy had to sweet talk the bouncer then the owner of the bar into letting me in. It worked. I always thought that if the acting/entertaining thing doesn’t work out he’s got a job in sales.
We walked into the bar, cased the scene then headed up for a drink. There we ran into one of our fellow Sunrise softball all-star, Lans. After a quick chat with Lans we grabbed our drinks and found a place to sit and hang.
The rest of the night we spent drinking, talking, dancing, and well, all three of those things for the next few hours. At the end of the night some dude walked in and tried to pick a fight with Lans. The little dude called him the N-word that is usually used as a fill-in word in rap music. Lans is not the color of the skin that the word is usually thrown at. He’s more of an off-white color, though it looks like he tans easily.
Anyway, we stuck up for our fellow teammate and after he had his shirt ripped off I offered mine, hoping I’d get it back by basketball season.
After dancing the night away Mom dropped us off at Denny’s where the four boys and a girl that resembles the girl Gremlin had late dinner/early breakfast and entertained the audience at Denny’s. My Dad ended up picking us up and taking me home later that evening.
I apologize for the quick ending and no descriptions but it’s hard to explain the fun we had. It was just a good time spent with my brothers and Josh. We made jokes, made others laugh, annoyed more people, danced, drank way too much and hung out with each other the entire night. That doesn’t happen much when Erik is going through girlfriend issues and Randy is looking for a gal to hang out with. I was glad that we went out and spent time together. Looking forward to next year’s party! October 04 Proud of My Baby Bro - October 4, 2007As I mentioned in my prior entry, my baby brother Randy surprised me by coming up for my 30th birthday. Ain’t that sweet? He’s staying for the weekend, which means he gets to go partying with us on Saturday. Won’t that be fun?
But the reason I’m writing is because I see a maturity in my brother that I haven’t seen before. Sure he’s still a total goofball and will say things that remind of me how annoying he was at age 12, but the way he carries himself and talks to people has changed in a way only age and being on your own can.
It makes me feel good to see the change. It also makes me feel good that he’s working. Not just by making money and supporting himself but towards his dream.
He works full-time as a delivery boy/waiter at a deli in Beverly Hills. He gets to drive to movie stars homes, he sees the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson every day, he even walked in on a porn movie. And though this is all very cool, and the stuff that most people want to hear about, he’s also going to school, learning improvisation at The Second City.
He no longer does the extra work, another thing most people like to talk about. Opting to go to school and do something he’s always wanted to do – make people laugh.
We were talking about this today after he talked awhile with my co-worker Mike (Insurance Mike). Mike was asking him different questions about what he learns at school and how he does things. You could tell Randy really enjoyed telling him about it. Then I told Randy about how I’m glad he’s doing something like this and not doing the extra thing, despite the fact that extra work will give him back-of-the-head time on TV. He agreed that when he visits up here that most people want to ask the questions, “Have you been in anything?” or “Why haven’t I seen you in any movies yet?” Most people want to know why he’s no longer doing the extra work and don’t care that he’s going to school. I got to believe that the people that focus on that don’t usually make it in Hollywood.
Randy had his year of “networking”. He had his year of extra work for minimum wage. It was cool to see him in the background of shows like “Jericho” and “Crossing Jordan” but if he wants to succeed he’s got to do what he went down there for – to make people laugh.
And he’s doing just that. Second City is an improvisational school that started in Chicago. Some of the alumni are Steve Carrell (The Office), Harold Ramis (Egon from Ghostbusters and director of Groundhog Day), and Saturday Night Live stars: Dan Akroyd, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Bill Murray and more. Maybe later I’ll be naming my brother on that list.
He’s already gone through the first of five training classes. After the first class his trainer told that he thought he was trained enough to skip class two and head to the third class. That works out well for Randy because not only does it mean he’s doing a good job, but he also saves some money!
No matter what he does I’ll be happy with him. He’s doing something he’s dreamed of doing and he’s working hard at it. He studies the show “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” and when he comes up with character or scene ideas he writes them down. I’m proud of him and hope that no matter where he ends up he is doing something that he loves.
One last note, it’s nice that he gives props to me and the family for some of his “training”. We were talking about how Randy feeds off people. I’ll always tell a joke or say something funny, but before anyone can laugh he’ll take what I said and turn it into something funnier and then he gets all the credit. I was telling Mike that I’ve gotten all assists in my life, but no points. My 30th Birthday – October 3, 2007Here is a time-by-time rundown of how my 30th birthday went:
12:05am – Mike, Jesse and I show up at Turner’s Bar & Grill in Everett after a night of taking high school sports results. Aaron would join us shortly thereafter. The bar is completely empty except for the two bartenders and us. We hang out for a half-hour having a drink each before the gal boots us out. It was mildly enjoyable, though I felt like we were being rushed to finish our drinks and get out the door. Maybe another night. Mike did buy me a birthday drink (vodka and cranberry) and the three of them wished me a happy birthday as we parted ways at 12:35am.
1:00am – I get home from work and Lis wishes me a happy birthday. She and Lukas got home at 11:30pm after a long, long day of helping my parent’s move. There will be no birthday donuts for the Kevster and I’m okay with that.
7:30am – I’m awakened by the alarm on my cell phone going off. It’s the sweet audio of my son saying, "Wake up Dad! Wake up Dad!" I pick it up, hit snooze and fall back asleep.
7:35am – Once I again I awake to Lukas’ voice on my cell phone. This time I listen to him and get up knowing I need to get to work.
7:50am – I chomp down on my routine breakfast…peanut butter and jelly toast and a glass of milk. I also read through the baseball page of the Everett Herald.
8:15am – As I finish shaving the Star Wars theme plays over my cell phone. It’s my good friend Ian Barnes. Ian’s always been good at trying to be the first one to wish me a happy birthday. The first year Lis and I were married he called at 12:30am hoping he had woke me up and was the first one to say, "Happy Birthday!" Lis had beaten him to the punch and he was disappointed. Still it’s nice that he tries to be first and we set up a day that the two of us can have some QT (quality time).
8:50am – I’m running extremely late. I sneak into Lukas’ room (he slept in!) and give him a kiss and a hug and head off to work.
9:05am – I’m late and walking fast towards the door to work when my Mom calls. She wishes me a happy birthday and tells me that 30-years ago this minute, she was in pain. I was to be born 3½ hours later.
9:07am – I’m seven minutes late. Uh oh! I get off the phone with my Mom and Mariana, Sue and Mike wish me a happy birthday.
9:20am – I check my email and see that I’ve received emails from my cunhadas (sister-in-laws), Elen and Eliana, along with Elen’s boyfriend Alan all wishing me a happy birthday. They are mostly in Portuguese so it takes me sometime to decipher the code.
10:45am – Earlier I mentioned to my co-workers about requesting a song on the local country station for my birthday. Mariana said I should do it. I said they should do it because it’d be weird if I requested it for myself. Nobody did so I did it for myself. How low have I stooped? I wrote the email as if my co-workers wrote it. Here is that pathetic email:
We'd like to request a song for our co-worker, Kevin, who turns the big three-oh (30) today. We'd like to request Tim McGraw's "My Next Thirty Years". 10:59am – Dad called and wished me a quick happy birthday before asking me something non-birthday related. Gives me an weird feeling inside of me, one of disappointment and frustration.
11:30am – Stubbs from the local country radio station called saying that someone from the office sent an email about my birthday. I played dumb and told her why I liked my co-workers then told her about what I thought about being 30-years-old. How lame am I?!? Oh yah, she wished me a happy birthday! A minute later Mike came back with cookies for all of us.
11:40am – The radio station, KMPS, plays my sound biteShe mentioned that 30 is the new 15 and I said that I’m happy with where I’m at at age 30. A minute later my friend, Amber, calls. She heard "Kevin at Monroe Insurance Associates" on the radio and wondered if that was me. I invite Amber to go dancing with us this Saturday and she wishes me a happy birthday saying that I’m now old like her.
11:52am – I called Lis to ask if she heard me on the radio. She said she did then she gave Lukas the phone. He said, "Happy Birthday Dad! I hear you on the TV." 12:05pm – I head to lunch with my grandparents. We go to Jeno’s, the restaurant a few doors down from my office. The three of us all order a slice of pizza – the usual – which is actually a four-sliced personal pan. While at lunch Erik calls back and tells me happy birthday. He apologized for forgetting to tell me when we had spoken about 10 minutes ago. Things between he and his ex-fiancée are not going as well. Thus the ex-fiancée part. They are now just boyfriend and girlfriend with no wedding plans in sight. Doesn’t look good. We’ll get the bigger scoop tonight at dinner.
While Erik apologizes for not telling me happy birthday, I tell him, while looking at my grandparents, that they have yet to wish me a happy birthday. When I get off the phone they both wish me a happy birthday.
Later in the lunch Rose, the waitress and a client here, brings me an apple pie with a candle in it. She serenades "Happy Birthday" to me and I thank her and enjoy my pie.
1:25pm – I talk to my old friend Ian Dowrey. We’ve fallen apart from each other the last few years. He has insurance here, actually it was transferred to a new agency when all this ownership rearranging was done. I invite him to come out on Saturday with Josh, Mom, Lis and I. He’s not sure and ask what the occasion is. He doesn’t remember it’s my birthday and then tries five or six guesses before figuring out today is my birthday. He then wishes me a happy birthday. 1:35pm – It’s official. I’m 30 now. I was born October 3, 1977 at Palomar Hospital in Escondido, California at 1:35pm. Congrats to my parents to on the birth of their first child – me!
Quick birthday trivia for you : My Grandma’s son, grandson and great-grandson are all born on this day, exactly 19 years apart. That’s right. Her son – Uncle Steve – was born in 1958. Her grandson – ME! – was born in 1977. And her great-grandson – Kody, my Cousin Stephanie’s son – was born in 1996. How’s that for a rarity eh? Not just the same day but 19 years apart. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
1:40pm – Another birthday email greeting from one of my blogger friends, Susan.
2:05pm – We receive an email from KMPS with the audio clip of me on the radio. I’ll save it to my computer tonight and try to put it on here.
2:52pm – I’m feeling good today. I think its because its my birthday. I like birthdays, I like my birthday, I like celebrating others birthdays, I like to make a day out of it. It’s fun! I’m excited for Lukas’ birthday coming up!
3:00pm – Lis called to let me know that she doesn’t think the R2-D2 cake she was trying to make me turned out okay. Knowing that both my Dad and Grandpa are a bit picky when it comes to the cake they eat, she’s thinking she may have to buy something as a backup. Either way I’ll be happy that she attempted to make me a Star Wars cake on my birthday.
3:55pm – This day is flying! I’ve got just over two hours remaining until I get to go home. What am I going to do when I get home? Nothing. That’s the sad part I really don’t have plans for the evening I’m just happy it’s my birthday. How lame do I feel now? I’m looking forward to doing nothing. I actually am looking forward to showing off my slideshow I made for my birthday. Hope everyone wants to watch it. At least its just six minutes long, that’s enough to catch the short attention span of my family. As I mentioned Saturday night I planned to go out dancing with my friends. Sadly, just one person replied back to me with a "Yes!" reply – my Mom. Lis said she’s going, Josh said that he’s in and Erik is leaning towards going, but that could change if his "friend" wants to do something else.
4:33pm – I open a card from my Grandpa’s sister Aunt Jo and husband Uncle Frank. It’s a birthday card! Neat card with a game and dog that looks like Micky. Speaking of Micky, he has a tumor on his spleen that bleeds out and then stops. When it bleeds out he’s in horrible shape. When it stops he does all right. Unfortunately it sounds like he’s not going to make it much longer. Micky’s been my pal for years now so the news came as a shock.
4:43pm – My good friend Dennis calls me from California to wish me a happy birthday. He just finished his fifth round of chemo. There’s one more left before he’s done with chemo. He hasn’t felt that awful, just a few bouts of nausea and that’s about it. Sounds like he’s doing well. He’s hoping to come up here in December, I’m hoping so too!
5:01pm – Monica leaves the office, wishing me a birthday. Sue also tells me to have a nice birthday.
5:21pm – I’m alone in the office. This has been fun blogging about my day. Mariana said she and her husband Juan may come tonight. I was also thinking about whom I’ve heard from and how I haven’t heard from my baby bro, Randy. I was thinking that maybe he’s going to surprise me by showing up today. That’d be cool. But what would be the point? Hang out for a day and that’s it? He’d probably have to leave by this weekend.
What’s weighing heavy on my mind these days? Not much, just mostly work. Business has not been good at the agency since the new owner bought it. He bought it knowing he was going to lose money, he didn’t think he was going to be losing this much money. Now he might have to let someone go. Though he and others have said that I’ve done a good job making sure we still are getting business, I haven’t been totally satisfied with my work. I never am. I don’t think I’m a hard worker (look at me, I’m blogging right now) and I don’t think I’m doing the things that I should be doing to improve the business. I feel bad that someone might lose their job because I can’t produce or can’t be a salesman when I need to be. Just something that’s bothered me the last couple of days. What type of font should I use?
5:36pm – It’s so handy that the time is at the bottom of the computer. Each time I pull up this MS Word document I can glance down to the clock and type it in. Anyway, I had two people that said they were going to come in today. With 24 minutes remaining in my work night, will they actually come by? I’m now hoping they won’t, though one client I can write in 10 minutes easy. The second is going to ask too many questions and get in the way of me enjoying my evening at home. Why must people say they are going to come in and then don’t show up?
5:57pm – My customer, the client that I said I could write in 10 minutes (wrote her in seven) has just left and now its time for me to go home. I’m looking forward to seeing Lukas. I haven’t "seen" him in a couple of days. Last night I went straight to work after work and Monday we spent the day helping my folks move. He’ll be excited to see me – I hope.
6:15pm – I get home and Lukas greets me at the door with "Happy Birthday Dad!" There are balloons taped around the house. Lukas is all excited to show me the R2-D2 cake Mom made. It looks good.
6:25pm – Josh arrives, he’s followed by my grandparents, Erik and my parents. I wait patiently for my Mom to bring in the chicken enchiladas she was going to make me.
6:40pm – Dad is acting funny, not letting me go outside to my car. A few minutes later Mom asks me to come outside that there is a cop that wants to talk to the owner of the house. I thought that was strange, and thought that maybe it’s because of the cars parked on the side of the road. I walk outside and see the cop. I notice the back of the cop’s head and realize that it’s Randy. He’s pretending to quiz Mike (the other Mike that I work with) about some damage to his car. I’m laughing as I walk up to Randy and he turns around and gives me a hug. Then Gepner and Erik appear and my Mom grabs about 10 pizzas from the car.
7:00 – 11:00pm – I feel loved! All the lonely feelings I felt earlier in the day were all for naught. Lis organized a surprise party with my friends and family. My co-workers from the insurance office, Mike and Mariana came, our good friends Graham, Sarah and Hudson showed up, our longtime friends of the family the Fitzgerald’s were there. And Mike (Goonie Mike) showed up with his fiancée Krissy. It wasn’t until I saw Goonie Mike that I figured out that Lis had planned this surprise party. Every one else I thought had some sort of reason for coming. I had asked Mariana earlier in the day to come. I thought Insurance Mike would come just because he wanted to stop by and say "Hi". Josh said he was going to come over. Gepner would’ve come because of Randy (he was actually invited by Lis). But Lis doesn’t have a way to invite Goonie Mike. Make sense? Forget about it then.
I had a great time hanging out with everybody. Insurance Mike sang a blue’s version of "Happy Birthday" to me. I had some drinks, we ate pizza, had the R2-D2 cake - which was yummy and looked great - I showed off my birthday slideshow. I also got to show off more of my home videos because Mike and Krissy had never experienced a Captain Slideshow production, I opened some gifts and had a wonderful time. Lis did a great job planning everything and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I was surprised at how well everything went. Oh and it was nice to see my baby bro too!
Kudos to Lis for organizing everything and making a cool looking cake and being a good wife that never seems to surprise me.
Kudos to my Mom for keeping a straight face despite the fact that she can’t tell a lie. I thought I was on to Randy’s arrival last week when he was talking about getting his teeth done and said, "I get a root canal done on Monday then I’ll have to wait until I come back." I asked him where he was going and he told me he was going to San Diego with his roommate. That same evening I thought I would just throw the "I heard Randy’s coming for my birthday" out at my Mom and Lis. Lis said that he wasn’t and I looked at Mom hoping I’d get a clue. She said, "No he’s not. I’m sorry, I tried to get him to come up but there’s no way I can afford to fly him up here for your birthday and Christmas. I’m sorry, I really wanted him to come up." She played it off perfectly and I was convinced. Then I didn’t hear from him on my birthday and I thought maybe, just maybe he was flying up here and that’s why Mom couldn’t come to lunch because she was "busy running errands for Dad". Still I didn’t think he was coming. I just had high hopes and told myself not to get disappointed if he wasn’t there. And he was! Congrats on my Mom for pulling it off.
Thursday, Oct 4, 10:35am - Thanks to everyone that participated in my birthday. It was fun writing about my day and seeing how I was throughout the day. It was the best birthday I can remember. Thank you very much for making me feel loved! October 02 My First 30 Years - October 2, 2007I’m not afraid. I’m not nervous. It’s not weighing on my mind. It’s just a number really. Three-oh. Thirty. Does it sound old to you? If it does – too bad! I don’t feel old and won’t feel older, so there’s nothing you can do about it.
Okay, so I turn 30 tomorrow – Wednesday, October 3. I don’t have big plans, unless Lis has planned some huge surprise party, but I’m guessing she didn’t and I didn’t expect her to. My birthday, like my Mom’s and like Lukas’, falls on a Wednesday – the middle of the week – the worst day to have a milestone birthday.
Nope, tomorrow I’ll go to work, have lunch with my Grandparents, go home and have my Mom’s chicken enchiladas and that’s it. Maybe I’ll get a present or two, though Lis already gave me my gift a few months back – a nice laptop that I can carry to the prep sport events I cover, or more importantly can sit in front of on Sunday’s while watching my fantasy football scores go up.
Either way I'm looking forward to my birthday, always have, always will. I just like having my birthday, eating cake, having friends and family over and celebrating me! Hehe!
I think there used to be a time when people fretted the age 30. Back then it was near the middle of your life. For me I’m hoping it’s at least a third of the way there. Right now 30 just feels like a number, another chapter in my life.
I tried to think of some fancy or neat way of writing a blog entry about my 30th birthday. I’ve already listed the 99 things I want to do before I die. I talked about some of my more memorable days. I’ve even listed some of my top 10 favorite things (movies, songs, characters). And I don’t want to thank everyone that’s played an integral part in my life. The list would be too long. Then I started doing an interview with myself but got bored (is that a bad sign?) and ran out of questions. If you have anything you want to know let me know and I'll tell you.
Maybe the creative juices aren't flowing because I'm pushing the big "three-oh". Maybe because I'm not 30 yet so I don't know how I'll feel once I'm 30. Or maybe its because its late and I'm at work and can't fully concentrate on what I want to write.
Either way I'll leave you all with my slideshow I made for myself and I'll rejoin you on October 4 with a recap on how I feel to be a new decade older.
Thanks, you’re all great!
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