Father I Strive To Be

As a Father, I have often asked myself if I have the strength, courage, love, and stamina to be the Father that I want Gavin and Isabelle to have. I spend each day striving to be the person that I want them to see, rely on, look up to, and emulate. When I need inspiration, or a picture of what I hope to be, I can look to Dick Hoyt. I have yet to see a clearer example of unwavering support, unconditional love, Ironman strength, and depth of spirit in a human being.

Truly an amazing story.

Food Profile

I love Donna. You all know that. And, Donna is an amazing woman, who is good at a lot of things. However, cooking, is not one of her strongest talents. I have, from time to time, given her some grief publicly about her talents at preparing meals with nothing but a microwave. Isabelle was even trained at a young age to run into the kitchen at the sound of the microwave going off to get ready for dinner.

Most people thought I was just teasing Donna to get a laugh. The way most husbands do from time to time in front of their friends. Nope. I was telling a true tale. And now, I have the proof.

We have all heard about Racial Profiling, and Economic Profiling. Well, let me introduce you to Food Profiling, compliments of Wegmans Food Markets, and your trusty little Shoppers Club Card. Donna received the letter below in yesterdays mail. Upon reading it, I have never laughed so hard, or felt so much validation, in all my life. Please pay specific attention to the second sentence.


Yep. Wegmans Food Profile proves it. Not the Produce isle, or the Dairy isle, or the Italian Foods isle. My beautiful, gourmet bride, appreciates the Frozen and Refrigerated food isle. I am a very lucky man indeed!!

Eight Years Ago...

Eight years ago, in front of most of you, I married my best friend. It seems like only yesterday, yet what seems a lifetime of shared joys, triumphs, sorrows, and misses have passed through our lives in that time. Each one made that much more special, important, bearable, and memorable because Donna is in my life. Not a day goes by that I do not take a moment to reflect on what an amazingly lucky man I am. I have many gifts in my life, and Donna, and the family she has given me, are, and will always be, at the top of the list.Happy Anniversary Donna. I Love You. Thank you for being my best friend and for giving me so much excitement to look forward to in our future.

Feels Great

Back in January of this year, I published this post stating the cycling goals I had set for myself. After a disappointing 2008 on the bike, I did not want a repeat in 2009.

Well, the 2009 cycling season has now ended for me, and I am very, very happy to follow up and say that not only did I meet my goals, I believe I exceeded them. In 2008, I was plagued by physical and mental blocks that kept me from entering any cycling events. I began this year with a lofty goal of having the fitness, and mental stubbornness, to complete three 100+ mile events before the end of the season. I planned to enter and complete the Ride for Missing Children, the Tour de Cure, and The LIVESTRONG Challenge Philadelphia.

So, how did my season shape up? This May, I completed the 100-mile Ride for Missing Children. An incredibly rewarding, and emotional chaperoned event that provides safety education to elementary students, and raises funds for The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

This July, we spent ten days camping in Maine, and I naturally brought my bike. The roads, hills, and scenery of coastal Maine are second to none, especially when viewed on two wheels. One of these rides is the climb up to the peak of Cadillac Mountain. This ride has been on my Bucket List for years, but I have never had the opportunity, or fitness, to attempt it. This year I did, and completed the 3-mile, 1,532 ft climb to the waiting cheers of Donna, Gavin, and Isabelle at the summit. One less thing on the Bucket List.

This August, I completed the 100-mile LIVESTRONG Challenge Philadelphia. Once again, with the support of family, friends, and colleagues, we raised over $3000 to support the fight against Cancer, bringing the total we have raised in the last four years to over $14,000. The event was hot and humid, but I crossed the finish line very happy with my efforts to the waiting hugs of Donna, Gavin, Isabelle, and My Mom! Loved having them all there to support me.

To round out this season, I decided to enter the Highlander Cycle Tour. This event is celebrating it's tenth year, and is one that I have often considered, but never attempted in previous years. In the cycling community it is widely talked about as the hardest event in the Region, so it is one that needs to be tried, at least once. Unlike the hot and humid conditions of the Philly ride, the Highlander was ridden with temps in the 50s, and a heavy fog mist falling for the entire day. I was chilled to the bone, and over the course of the 102-miles and 7000' of climbing, I forced myself to dig deeper than I ever have to cross the finish line. The feeling at the finish is one that is hard to describe, but through the chill, pain, and exhaustion I was more proud of myself than I have ever been. I do not know if I will be back to the Highlander. It may be an event that I am just happy to say "yep, I did that once. Back in 2009".

So, after not completing any events in 2008, I bounced back both physically and mentally to complete three 100+ mile events and one epic Bucket List ride. In addition to the miles ridden, I was proud to support some amazing organizations that do much needed work for very valuable causes.

Now, I bring my season to a close. The bike is cleaned, and hanging in the rack. I will still ride, but not with the drive that allowed me to accomplish so much this summer. Now, I will pedal and listen to the breeze. Take in the fall colors, and enjoy the smells. I won't worry about my pace, speed, or time for a few weeks. I earned some enjoyment. I know, soon enough, I will be back at it, and the 2010 season will be here.

Toof-wess

Gavin has had quite an eventful two weeks. First grade has started, and he is back in the full swing of his yearly schedule and loving every minute of it. To add to his first weeks of school, he lost a tooth. Then another tooth. Then another. Yep, two weeks into school, and Gavin has lost three teeth. He looks, and sounds, adorable. Of course, just having them fall out would be too easy. Each one needs to have it's own special story.

Tooth #1. We had been wiggling this one for weeks, hoping each day that it would fall out before school started. Gavin was excited, but didn't like me wiggling it cause it would hurt. We tried and tried, until it was half way out of his mouth, and he finally let me get a finger on it. One flick, and it was out. But then the blood started. Gavin looked like a prize fighter, standing in the bathroom, spitting blood all over the counter and mirror as it rolled out of his chin. I laughed. Gavin, not so much. Within a few minutes, he was cleaned up, and the excitement and anticipation of the tooth fairy took over and all was good.

Tooth #2. Gavin and Isabelle have really enjoyed the change over to Fall weather, and in true Fall fashion, have been playing a lot of football in the yard. Gavin had another dangling tooth, but after the trauma of the first removal, he was not having anything to do with my fingers in his mouth. Well, enter Isabelle aka LT. During a friendly game of football in the front yard, Gavin went down, with his sister coming in to offer the final hit, and make sure he stayed down. In the process, she facemasked him, and sure enough, up comes the spitting prize fighter. Tooth sitting in the grass. Thank you Isabelle.

Tooth #3. This one was an issue. It was the first to wiggle, but the last to leave. His adult tooth had already come in behind it, making him look like a shark with two rows of teeth showing. He was adamant about this tooth falling out on it's own, and would not even open his mouth for us to look as he knew we would be doing our best to pop it out. Well, the other morning, Gavin woke up complaining that his tooth hurt and that he couldn't eat. We took a look, and the gums we looking red, white, and swollen. We did our best to explain to him that taking the tooth out was the only way to stop the pain. No joy. We tried bribing him with a trip to the toy store. Nothing doing. So, we went for the forceful approach. Oops. Gavin lost it. Freaked out. Scared to death, and screaming. Couldn't calm him down for an hour. After our efforts failed, we called the dentist. Appointment at Noon. We missed the school bus, so I had to drive him to school. Then it was back to the school at 11:30 to pick him up for the dentist. He was scared, but he went along with it. The dentist was great with Gavin, and after only 10 minutes, he was holding his third tooth in two weeks.

So. After all this, what does Gavin look like? Absolutely adorable!!

Chills

I love music. All types, all forms. I always have. Because if this, I get really excited when I find an example of music that moves me. It may make me dance, sing, stand perfectly still, or in this instance, simply shiver.

I have heard Amazing Grace sung, played, and performed countless times in my life by all sorts of artists. There is no doubt it is a beautiful song. However, when I saw the clip below, the shivers just simply ran up and down my spine as I sat motionless taking it all in. The voices of Il Divo are masterful. Placing them in the Coliseum for this performance. Perfect. The fog rolling off the bagpiper at the key moment, well...see for yourself. This to me, is just one of those musical moments where the sight, sound, and musical story all collide to create something much larger than the song itself. So click on the link below, sit back, turn up those speakers, and let it wash over you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVxzEueJ6A

The Power of The Tweet

Lance Armstrong uses Twitter. In fact, he is very active at not only posting, but also responding to his followers. I follow him. So do hundreds of thousands of other cyclists, fans, media, and curious folks around the globe. Lance has been in Europe the last few days for the International Cancer Summit. While there, he sent the following, seemingly simple, tweet...

@lancearmstrong: Good morning Dublin. Who wants to ride this afternoon? I do. 5:30pm at the roundabout of Fountain Road and Chesterfield Avenue. See you there.

Click here to read the story, and see what an amazing event transpired.