With arms wide open...

Well kiddo there you are. I am sorry that I have not been writing a lot the last year. I just got a bit lazy with updating the blog.

Needless to say the last year or so has been a bit crazy. Most of it is just dealing with work and trying to find a way to bring you into our family.

But to be honest today was the greatest day of my life. It was amazing to see you and find out that your heart is healthy and everything is going great. I was so worried about your heart I couldn't even think about it. Me and your mother have been praying every night that you would be ok. Today we found out that our prayers have been answered. So far so good.

It was so cool to see you today. I wish I could describe how I feel right now. I can not wait to meet you and have you meet us. You are just amazing. But I have to be honest. I have no idea how to be a dad. I am more than a little nervous about it. But you and I will figure it out together. I have been doing my homework though you should be excited about that. Your mom will also be around to help. I have learned amazing things about you so that I will be ready to be a dad. This is a list of a few amazing things I have learned since I found out you were coming.

1. For the first few days of you life you will be pooping Marcanioum. This was shocking news to me. I don't know what marcanioum is but I can't wait to gag and throw up in my mouth as I wipe the sticky tar off of you. It's gonna be great. Promise :P

2. A crib costs hundreds of dollars and does not come with a matress. This for me was like finding out I just bought a car wtihout an engine.

3. Two words: Baby Bjorn This is a fantastic invention that will allow me to carry you around on on my stomach. I think it was designed on a concept based on a kangaroo. Like someone was walking around carrying their baby and thought hey.... If I had a pouch I could use hands for other things... like installing apps on my iphone.

4. The birth will involve poo.

Any way I promise I will update the blog more as we move through the pregnancy and get closer to getting you here. The biggest thing I can promise is that You will be loved more than you will ever know. I am so excited about getting you here I could burst. I know your mom is too. Ok you mother is getting a bit annoyed at the time I am taking to do this so I will add more soon.

Dad

Oriole magic

Well I know alot of you are expecting a great comeback to humor filled exciting columns with death defying comedy.  But this is not that.  This is more me putting on paper a feeling I have so that I can look back and say see I told you ... or damn I am the dumbest person alive....  So here goes .. the Baltimore Orioles are going to turn it around this year.  What that means I do not know.  There have been 12 losing seasons here in Bmore with our O's.  But I just have a very strange feeling about this season.  I cannot explain it.  It's actually kinda creeping me out as I have never in my life really cared at all about baseball other than something to do with my dad.  But I just have this feeling... Like I did with my Steelers that there is something going on here this year with this team.. Don't get me wrong I am NOT saying we are going to the World Series or even the postseason.  What I am saying is that 3 years from now when that could happen we are going to look back on 09 as the season it started to turn around.  

It is very strange.  Normally when Football ends it's on to hockey but for some strange reason less than a week after my Steelers won the Superbowl I am walking around in O's gear chomping at the bit for baseball.  I cannot explain it at all.. Normally I would still be basking in the glow of Sixburgh... but for some reason I feel like the O's have a summer of magic in store and I am so excited to be apart of it.  I have already driven my wife and most of my family nuts with this so I am putting this here so that if this truly is the magic season I think it will be I can look back on it and say .. I told you.  

Love you guys

GO O's ... This is Birdland

Doan

Letting everyone know that there are more posts comming.

Hello all.  I just wanted to let all of you know that there will be more updates coming soon the old blogspot.  I have been remiss in updating it due to some new work responsibilities.  But people like Shannon constantly telling me to update it have made me feel that I am neglecting my responsibility to you, the reader.  I am glad everyone enjoys it so much and I hope to begin making regular posts again soon.  How in the world did I let 75% of football season go by without jumping back in ... my bad....  I will have an update this week. 

Promise.

Doan

What a beautiful noise...

Wow it been about two weeks since I posted a blog. Ok shame on me for not moving faster. What is going to basically have to happen here is I will touch on the big things that have happened in the last two weeks in a two part blog. The first thing that I want to talk about it Ocean City.

Last Wednesday my wife and I decided that we were going to go to Ocean City as opposed to Latrobe for Steelers Training camp. This was a good decision in many ways. First off I Love going to the beach. I usually only go one day a year but every time I am there I want to stay longer and am reminded how much I love going to the beach. So Wednesday we hopped in the car and away we went. The drive was a tad longer than I remember it but it was an awesome experience. We met up with Mike and Nicole and Edawg and Jax and Levi and Mikes mom. It was quite fun. I spent a lot of time in the water and sun. ( I got really sunburned even though I used SPF 30 sunblock) Also it was this weird haze hanging over everything. It was like really foggy as we were walking up the dune to the beach it was like a Stephen King novel. We either were going to see the beach on the other side of the Dune or the end of the world, who knows, the fog made it look really surreal.

My wife looked amazing in her new bikini. It was a good time that was shared by all. We dug Edawg a trench and just enjoyed the beach time. There was a pesky crab that I kept stepping on in the afternoon and one time that little bugger got the heck out of my foot. But other than the less than excited crab it was a good time. After the beach but before we went home we went to Hooters for wings. It was there talking to the wife that we decided that a week in Myrtle Beach next year was a vacation that we needed to take. Currently it is set up to be just us and we are going to stay a week in her more or less Uncle Bills condo. It is supposed to be our last big vacation before you come along. But since you will be "in the oven" if you will, we need to do something that is the exact opposite of our normal Vegas style trips. I think a trip to the beach for a week fits the bill. I am worried I will get a bit bored but I think I can handle it. I will bring a laptop and an xbox or something. I also think that as we get closer to the trip becoming a reality that an invite or two MAY go out to some more people. I really think that is a bridge we will cross then. In all honesty I think I am looking forward too it because I have not in my recent memory had a relaxing vacation. I am always on the go when I take time off either traveling to Steelers games or going to Vegas and not sleeping for days. The Idea of actually relaxing for a week is Very appealing.

Ok so Then last Friday I get the call that my Dad is in the hospital. This is quite the surprise in that I had no idea he was that sick. Turns out he got some bacteria in his blood and it was doing all kinds of nasty things to him. So we head into the hospital and I got to see how lucky we all are to have each other first hand. There was a a guy in the bed next to him having all kindza pooping on himself issues. But the point is he had no on there with him while my dad had people squeezed into his half of the room and his phone was ringing off the hook. In essence it was a testament to the family that my parents have put together, its getting to be a very close knit group. In the end they had him on some antibiotics and sent him home the next day. Now he has to do all kinds of stuff to figure out what caused this but at least he is out of imminent danger and he is out of the Rosy smell of his roommate pooping on himself all the time.

Ok so Now we are gonna basically skip a week and say that nothing important happened. We did dinner with Shannon at Outback (the best place to eat Ever). We saw Step brothers and went to Dave and Busters with "The group". That was alot of fun and the movie was funny as hell. Other than that we just kinda worked and went through the motions until Saturday. Then I went to see Neil Diamond with my wife, mother, and Sister. It was one heck of a night. It was a great show he played all the classics and I got to spend some time with my mom which rarely happens. It was nice to share that with her as growing up hearing her listening to him all the time has me doing the same. It was funny as I felt like the youngest person besides my wife and sister in the whole arena. It was alot of fun and a night I spent with my mom that I won't soon forget. It was cool to see her so happy and excited. Again it was fun.....

But not nearly as fun as the ride there. See I have been hearing for the last two days as I ask about various plans and upcoming events that these were all discussed in the car on the way to the Neil Diamond show and how can I not know. See the truth is when I heard the Term "Latches on" I had a mini black out which is scarier than it sounds as I was driving at the time. My sister was talking about breast feeding Jax and well I am just not comfortable talking about my sisters bewbage. So I completely tuned out of the conversation. I heard bits and pieces against my will involving all the places she has nursed and all. But fortunately then my brain kicked in with LA LA LA LA LA and I was safe again. While I was trying to block them out and focus 0n the radio that was volume 1 so that they could talk about milking apparently many important conversations also took place. I however, was not able to risk being exposed to talks of pumps and Latching so I just blocked it all out. I don't want anyone to think I am squeamish about boobs and breast feeding. That is not the case at all. In fact I love Bewbs they are two of my three favorite things. I am also all for breast feeding. Just not my sisters. Sorry I just don't have that West Virgina gene. In my mind my sister looks like C-3PO. There is no milking there is no giving birth or any of that stuff. Yucky...

Well this brings us up to yesterday the 6th of Aug. which gets its own blog tomorrow. I don't' wanna hit anyone with too much too soon. :)

Orioles Rain...

Last night my dad and I hit up Camden yards again. It was Oriole magic night and they had the entire 83 team there to celebrate the last world series win. What a great night me my dad and the O's. I think when I look back on the summer that is gonna be what I remember most all of the time we got to spend at the ballpark. It's actually really cool in that I think somewhere over one of these games me and my dad have gone from close father/ son to really really good friends. What can I say I enjoy hanging out with the dude.





So anyway half way through the game it started raining. OK not normal raining but literally buckets and buckets of rain and lightning and thunder. Like rain for 40 days and 40 nights kinda rain. So into the tunnel we go. Well eventually we end up down under the upperdeck just sitting there drinking beers and BSing while watching the storm envelop The ballpark. It was a great night. I found out alot about my dad that I never knew. I also found out that my Grandpa worked 6 days a week and my dad really didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with his dad. I am very thankful for the time I get to spend with my family anymore. I guess I don't always realize how lucky I am for that opportunity. I miss Pittsburgh with every ounce of my being... but I have gotten alot closer with all of the members of my family this year and I am very thankful for that. I wonder if I can get all of them to move. :)



Time for the Drama.

Ok so we have recently gotten pretty close with a few of the people in our neighborhood. Well this dude Mark who is from Pittsburgh and an all around good guy is a teacher. With his summer off he has decided that he needs to get into great shape then spend as much time be it at the pool or running with his shirt off that he can. Needless to say he currently gets every chick in our communities juices flowin (if ya know what I mean) Well my wife has become friends with this one girl Shannon. Turns out Mark asked Shannon out. But they can't go out for like 3 weeks. Due to people being out of town and whatnot. In the meantime Mark has apparently spent the last two days spending time with Shannon's best friend who does have a name but for the life of me I cannot remember it. We shall henceforth call her girl B. Now this morning Shannon starts texting and calling my wife to vent about this development. Two things you need to know here. Shannon is pretty hot. Girl B is not so much. The other is that they both have kids and were supposed to get a house in Arnold together. Ohh and keep in mind Shannon has a great personality Girl B does not talk to me or the wife really so I am not confident assessing her personality. Ok well anyway The point of all this is that I keep getting asked for a guy's point of view. It has made me realize that it is a VERY good thing that I am happily married. In my eyes Mark had a situation in the future set up and girl B wanted to chill. So he was like yeah whatever I have the summer off and am not doing anything yeah lets have so lets have some beers or whatever. It turns out that I don't think the Girls see it that way. The thing kinda is is that there is NO way Mark could possibly be jeopardizing the thing with Shannon. She is a really good package. I have to believe that this was innocent just "hanging out with girl B"

Anyway that is the current Wysteria(Smithy Square) Drama. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. If Mark blows the Shannon thing he is an idiot. But what I am getting at is that being single would suck. I would hate it. I think that there is a romantic/sexy idea of hooking up with different people and dating and all ... I think that would suck. All the awkward moments and drama that come along with it, No thank you. I also would not want to come home to an empty house. I don't think being alone would suit me. I think it is like when My wife leaves town. I absolutely love it for like 2 days. Then I am done, I want my wife to get home. I hate being in my house alone. My friend Justin has a saying that he says all the time to justify his activities. Women are like dog poop the older they are the easier they are to pick up. His other one is "I do real good for a fat bald guy." Gotta give it up to the kid he does do good for bald fat kid. But even in our last conversation he was like ... The bar scene is getting old and people are annoying him in record time anymore. I Don't see how he has done it this long and now I kinda feel a bit bad for him. Having meaningless relationship after meaningless relationship has him at 30 and coming home to an empty house. He is a better person than me as I could have never done that. I love my wife and just having her around seems to make everything better. I don't know if anything would be any fun if I didn't have her to share it with. I guess people are moving away from the marriage thing and especially people my age. When I really sit down and think about it it seems like alot of people are skipping out on the marriage thing. Ohhh well different strokes for different folks I guess...
Dad

Why so Serious?......

Wow.. I don't think I have ever seen a movie like the one that we saw last night. Batman was amazing. Simply jaw dropping. It was the best performance I have ever seen on film. I mean literally there were like 5 points in the movie where I was just like OMG. The best though was Heath Ledgers the Joker. He just redefined one of the oldest and most iconic characters in comic book and movie history. He took the character to a place that will never be reached again (as he is no longer with us). But it will also influence a character that has been a part of Batman lore in comics, movies, and television and completely taken it to a dark side that it can never be taken back from.. Again Wow. I have never been in a movie before and was so excited to just see a character on the screen again just to see what he would do next. He was so menacing and unpredictable. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job with a role ever. If you have seen the movie you know I am not exaggerating if you haven't you are missing out on a truly iconic movie. This is a movie that will be with us for a long long time. It's actually pretty weird I have to admit when I heard how the role completely messed up Ledger I didn't get it. I thought what the heck you go to work put on makeup have fun act crazy then at 5:00 or whatever wash off the makeup and go party with Hollywood chicks. Yeah...after seeing how dark (and awesome) the character is and how much he put into it I can totally see how it could mess you up being in whatever place he had to reach inside to get that performance out... Again if you have seen this movie you are nodding in agreement if you have not you are missing out on a film that will be looked back on as a classic forever. I know it's A) a batman film and B) pretty high praise for a movie... trust me if you see it you will know I am speaking Gospel. I am actually considering going again next Tuesday when I am off it was that good. Ok I am making myself stop here because I could literally babble on about how much I enjoyed this movie for like 10 pages. Since I don't want to actually give the plot away it will just sound like I have a man crush on an insane psychopath killer so I am gonna stop now after saying this. GO SEE THE MOVIE yes you .. slowly put down the screen on your laptop get up grab a buddy, or go alone,or take the dog but get your ass to theater and see it.









Now It's time for a new feature I am gonna try to introduce to give my self material so that my blog is not the housing market sucks, go see this movie, I went to game, and I suck at NCAA 09 (but my wife is very busy this week and gone all weekend so I expect to make some progress).




I call it. what else I totally am stealing it from Sportscenter ..the Sunday Six Pack. 6 Things I think I think. It could be stuff that annoys me(which will probably be most of it)or just thoughts I have for the week but any way it will come in groups of 6 so without further ado.....



The six pack..... "Pish" (that is the sound of a cap coming of a bottle)

1. People who go to sporting events with clothing for both teams. Like the retard that had on the Detroit hat and Baltimore shirt at the O's/Tigers game I went to this week. Ok so anyone who knows me knows that I have one and really only one Pet peeve. People who do this. I don't know where this comes from but it drives me nuts. Pick a damn team and go with it. I even get for fashion sake or gang colors or whatever you may be wearing a team that you don't root for. Hey what can I say Pirate hats are awesome. But please don't wear one with a Braves jersey. It is the most annoying thing on the planet. Could you not decide could you not commit... as a general public service I will tell you what anyone who actually follows and cares about sports is thinking as we walk past.. "what a tool" But if you are a scary gangsta looking dude we will probably not say anything as we are kinda partial to not having holes in our chests. It gets magnified when you do it at an actual game. You may think well I am gonna support both teams no... No no no.. You are not you can't if you are looking for universal love go to church. This is a game pick one team and root for it. At the stadium do you not notice the people recoiling in horror and babies crying as you walk past. God forbid my child's first word is "Douche" as someone dressed like this walks by us at Camden yards. Although I would totally buy my son ice cream if that happened.. and probably not tell the wife. The baby book would look kinda silly and that would give me more reason to be upset about this trend. I had this come up recently with the Bucs and O's. I went O's even though I do care about the Pirates in a totally Masochistic way. I cheered the O's went with the O's jersey and hat and for that series pushed my love of the Bucs away. You can do this too.... Although it is only acceptable to have 2 favorite teams in the sport of baseball... and one has to be AL and one has to be NL and NO you cannot pick the SOX and the CUBS.

2.) Pish... While we are on the subject of Games I will throw this in ( this is a twofer)... People with their names on jerseys and well that other girl who is at the Steelers/ Gayvens game in her Patriots Jersey. First what is the point of your name on the Jersey.. were you the starting catcher in years past... Because now you look like a backstop. You are not hitting a fastball and you are not running the 90 feet to first without having a heart attack... So please visit the team store and pick a player you like and get that one. The person on the other hand who wears something to a game that is totally out of place is even worse. If you are going to say a Twins/Red Sox game.. Why on earth would you wear say a Pittsburgh Penguins Jersey. IT MAKES NO SENSE STOP DOING IT.. If you don't have appropriate paraphernalia just wear street clothes. Everyone around you is thinking the same thing when you walk past. What the hell is he or she thinking... are they lost do they not realize that they are not in (whatever city you chose to wear that has nothing to do with the game you are at). You look like a moron. Stop it.



For the Record I love Jerseys I have like 5 and I want more.. but there are rules man, rules.. If you are still not clear on any Sports related clothing rules leave a comment and I will get back to you. I am here to help.



3).(Pish) How is it when ever I get in a food line either drive through lane or sit down line inside I am behind the person who has never been there before. This happens to me constantly I am pretty sure it is Gods way of telling me to slow down and enjoy life but it grates on my nerves like all get out. Like Last night at the Movie the guy in front of me actually asked the girl.. is the popcorn good? The look on her face said it all uhhh yes. What the hell did he think she was gonna say. "No it's horrible in fact we spit in it every time we walk by" Like really you have never had movie popcorn before. Or the lady at McDonald's. So we are standing in line for like 20 freaking minutes because there are 3 people in front of me. She gets to the girl looks at the menu like it is written in Russian and says Ummmmmmmmmmmm. Like Really? You have been standing here for 20 minutes you haven't' figured out what you wanted. Have you never been here before? Do you not have anywhere you need to be? Hey it's the same menu they have had for 20 years. Get your quarter pounder meal and move along. Or even better when they get there and ask the girl "Do I want nuggets or a Big mac?" The Girl doesn't know. She actually does not want to be here she has other stuff to do. She is just working to make some weekend spending cash she is not your health guru if she was you would not be here in McDonald's. She is just trying to save some cash to buy a pink Mariners jersey to wear to the O's/Tigers game when she gets off work tonight.



4.(Pish) People who are not shopping for homes yet come to my model to waste time. I know everyone has something they hate about their jobs. I also get that I am not a Zoo Vet catching elephant poop in a bag or something. But my favorite is when I say" Hey guys welcome to the model, Let me guess you are thinking of maybe buying a new home" and they are like "No" then stare at me. What I want to say is "Ok so what the hell did you spend your 4 dollar a gallon gas to come here for" What I have to say is ok so what can I do for you. Now I have actually had people tell me "Nothing" This is the part that I hate Like uhhh ok so what are you doing here again. I really still haven't found out what to say from here. I have no problem with people just checking out the finishes Models are pretty I get that. They are fun to walk through. People sometimes just want to see what they could have if they sold their house. These are all great things I have no problem with. But It really throws me when you say "Nope I am not hear for a new home or to look at finishes or anything else" If you are hear to kill time before a doctors appt. Sure come on in could you just not be rude to me about it. Let me know up front. Sometimes I never do get whey they come to see me.



Again I feel Like I should clarify.. I love my job. I love my company. I love the people I work for and with. I love 99% of the people who walk through my door. I love selling homes and working with people not to sell them houses but homes. It is a job that has some great rewards even in years when economically its not the best like this year. But every once in a while I just get some people and am like WoW what exactly is it that I can do for you. Not a big deal just funny and awkward for both parties.



5. (pish) hmm this is harder than I thought but lets go with the Biggest story out there... Brett Favre... Annoying... just plain annoying. He totally screwed up his retirement now that is all I am hearing about on Sportscenter. See Brett totally messed this up. What he should have done if he felt pressure was say Yeah I am coming back. He has a roster spot he is a Starter Blah Blah Blah. If it gets to July and you don't want to come back you can say "My body is just not up to it". They can't make him play but they can keep him from doing so as we have seen. So yes he messed up but come on how could Green Bay not let him back? I can sum this whole argument up in one question. If I told you if the Packers win the Superbowl this year all of your Kids college will be paid for. If they don't you have to pay double. Who do you want as your Starting QB Favre or Rodgers. The Debate is now over. Unless you are a complete idiot you are saying the living legend. This is a situation where pride from the Pack is keeping them from going to the Superbowl and in the end will cost them their jobs. Remember they were one overtime away from the Superbowl. They are close in wide open NFC. It's a crazy conference with no favorite you could probably take 10 teams from it put them in a hat pull one out and no one would be stunned if that team made it to the Superbowl.



6(pish..) hmmm my last thing I am thinking about today... A week from today the Pittsburgh Steelers Report to Training camp.. Really what in the world is more important than that...I am starting to smell fall in the air and although Baseball has been a blast the summer is about to be washed away like footprints in the sand... HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!

The Dawg Days of summer. (boring but informative)

Wow it's been another full week since I updated this. I keep waiting for something good to happen so that I can have something interesting and funny to write about. Unfortunately this does not seem to be a good time for interesting things. Since last week I have pretty much played NCAA 09 on Xbox 360 and worked. The thing about NCAA is that for the first time ever it is not fun at all as apparently I suck. I don't know if now that I am over 30 there is an issue or what but I can't seem to do anything right in that game and it is not going well. I will Improve it is like an obsession for me but as it currently stands after week one I have no Offense.

On Thursday I did go and O's game with Mike. It was a good time and I had alot of fun. Anytime I can get to Camden it's a good time. The O's lost the game by a run but it was fun to hang out with Mike have some beers and watch the game. Then we went home I pulled up NCAA 09 football and guess what Mike crushed me.. So you see now that while it is not fun I am very competitive and just have to get better. This is currently not working I have to win. So like I said I am on a mission.

On Sunday night we had a party with some of our neighbors at this girl Shannon's house. It was a blast. We had some beverages and played trivial pursuit and some game that was kinda like pictionary we had to pass the little electronic game thing around and try to get our teammates to guess the word it gave us. All in all I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Our minions got a little drunk (on 4 beers) and provided entertainment for the evening. Rob answer to everything after a while was Toshiba or TRUMP!!!!!! even though they had nothing at all to do with the question. I also found out my wife pays more attention to things I am doing than she lets on. She's busting out answers in Trivial Pursuit like Bob Costas. I was just floored.

Finally last night we just hung out and watched Hopkins .. a reality show about the Hospital here in Baltimore. The next big thing is trying to secure our new place next week. Hopefully it's there through the weekend. If it is it's ours on Monday.

So like I said there is not a whole lot that happened and this post is boring but really it was just a boring dog days of summer week. Hopefully something good will happen this week that will provide me with some material.

Dad