Day of Birth

Today as I woke up to find myself another year older, things have been put into perspective for me very well. I was talking with a dear friend late last night as I picked him up from the airport and we were talking about birthdays and he was telling me that now that he has his son, he realizes that his own birthday is more about his mom.

I completely understand that having two boys of my own, the day of our birth was, more than likely, filled with much grunting, tears, blood, crazy breathing techniques, maybe some screaming, and certainly some pain undertaken by our moms to allow us to have this special day of celebration that we focus on ourselves.

So on your next birthday, give your mom a call and tell her "Happy Birthday" as well and reflect on what she has one through to bring you into this world.

Taken for Granted...

Last night, as I got home from work, I was joyfully met at the door by my oldest son. As soon as I walked in the door, he began his chorus of "daddy hold me?!". Of course I obliged. After I gave him a huge hug and a ton of kisses, I put him down. At that moment, I felt a tinge in my lower back and I thought "oh no!". For those of you that don't know, I have a very bad lower back that tends to go out more than I do. Over the next several minutes of trying to move my back slightly to decipher whether I simply just had a pain in my back or if it was actua......BAM! I was on the floor and couldn't move and it was obvious at that moment that my back had gone out.

For those of you that have never had the joy of having your back go out, let me describe it to you. It is one of the most debilitating and helpless feelings. The slightest movement in the wrong direction causes you to exhale noises that you've never muttered before as the pain is incredible. There is not a comfortable position to sit or stand in. I ended up hunched over with my knees on the floor and my chest flat on our ottoman for several hours until the initial pain backed off a bit. Once I tried to get up, I literally could not pull my legs out from under me.
We take for granted just how much we use our back muscles when walking or even when we sit. Luckily, I have an amazing wife that was able to try to help up all 6' 3", 205lbs of me, she's 5' 4"...nearly a foot shorter. But having her right by my side really boosted my morale as she laughed uncontrollably at the sight of me trying to walk.

However, laugh all you want, but I found an easier way to walk when your back goes out, walk backwards! When you walk backwards, you're not using your back nearly as much; your glutes and your quads are more responsible for pulling your leg backwards, whereas when you're walking forward, your back stabilizer muscles assist your leg in the forward direction.

Much needed coffee

It occurred to me this morning how important my morning coffee is. As I stood in the Mapco Express on Franklin Road, releasing the delicious 'black gold' into my coffee cup, my eyes were heavy from extreme exhaustion. I proceeded with my cup of coffee to "Creamer Island". Picking up a tasty hazelnut creamer, I opened it up, and poured it straight into the trash can. Wondering why in the world I just did that, I picked up another hazelnut creamer, opened it up, and, you guessed it, poured the second creamer right into the trash. Meanwhile, there are quite a few guys standing around pouring creamers into the appropriate containers, looking at me in confusion. Needless to say, I finally had some creamer reach my coffee, but, boy, did I feel silly!

It's Come to This?

Over the weekend, I had the absolutely joy of sitting in line to buy gasoline for my vehicle. I waited patiently for over an hour. I found it humorous that after someone was finished fueling their car and drove away, a domino effect of cars starting their engines like we were at the Daytona 500 ensued. Once we all proceeded 4 feet ahead, all went quite again as one car after another was turned off. As the lines progressed, fewer and fewer cars began starting their engines and more and more drivers had to get out and push their vehicle forward.



It is a shame that we have become so dependent on oil. I think it would be so amazing if we could all just park our vehicles and started riding bicycles to work. Not only would we not have to worry about harmful carbon emissions, we would all be in some seriously amazing shape!

A Crisp Morn

A fine dew lay on the grass with an overcast sky above. The break of daylight barely glowing through the clouds in the early morning hour. As I breathe deep, then exhale the freshly taken breath, I look down the fairway of the the 1st hole at Forrest Crossing golf course in Franklin, TN. With the sweet song of birds echoing around me, I step up to the first tee, place my ball and address.



After a finely hit first drive of the round, I proceeded down the fairway, welcomed by a light rain that began to fall. Most golfers would frown at the thought of rain, but I, in fact, delight in it. That is of course if the rain remains light as not to ruin my round of golf. It is for some reason that I tend to play golf much better under these conditions. When the sun is blazing, and the air is thick, it gets quite uncomfortable being on the course for hours without shade. However, with the cool air and light rain, there is something very comfortable about playing. It seems as if playing in those conditions would be as if I were playing in Ireland or Scotland, two places I wish to play golf before I perish.



This day, I had an extra good round of golf. There were certainly a few shots that I would have liked to eliminate, but I suppose that is why I do not play as a professional on the PGA tour. During this round at Forrest Crossing, I shot a modest 89. I was rather pleased at one point that I had a streak of 4 holes that I shot par, and I had several birdie putts. It is amazing to me that the stroke of my 300 yard drive, counts as much as the stroke of my 2 inch putt.



When playing golf, if certainly allows you to have utter respect for the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Vijay Singh. Their level of talent is unsurpassed and simply proves just how much practice it takes to make it to their level.

Technology

Technology; it is in every form absolutely amazing to me. A small example you ask? As I lay in bed, the clock striking 1am and I need to wake up at 5:30am to get ready to go play a round of golf, I find myself enamored so thoroughly with technology that I am foregoing sleep to write this simple post from my phone. That is correct, I am posting to my blog via my phone. Simply astonishing. Good night.

Days of Old....

I have recently began reading "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. I absolutely loved the Lord of the Rings movies so I had to read how it all started. Anyway, that isn't the point to which I am getting. Reading about adventures, new lands, old maps on stained parchment paper makes me escape into a world of which I find extremely intriguing. I often think how much fun it would have been to live in times such as those, full of adventure, stories chock full of hyperbole and lore, and rescuing the damsel in distress. Of course, maybe if I was part of that world from long ago, I would daydream about a world full of congested cities, cars that emit enough emissions to create a hole in the ozone the size of Texas and you wonder how they pass the test for their new tags, and corrupt politics. Living in a village such as the one in which Bilbo Baggins lives, in The Hobbit, with a sylvan perimeter, and endless regalement would suit me just fine.

As I drive in to work every morning, I take a back road that has a house nestled up on a hill littered with massive trees. The driveway leading up to the cozy abode gets lost amid the throng of trees halfway up. But it is the bridge that can be seen just before the road vanishes that makes me want to build my own house secluded on a hill with this same structure. It is very reminiscent of that out of the story of The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings. It is a wooden bridge weathered from years of exposure to the elements and there are six posts, each adorned with a lantern with a sole flame in each. I always enjoy when there is traffic on that back road that I take so that I can pass by slowly and gaze at the bridge leading to the house on the hill and get lost in my mind thinking how it would look if elves, or hobbits, or Gandalf was passing over.

80,000 and growing...

The company that I work for, Brainwave Studios, as many of you know is producing a new online virtual kids world based around music and music education called Franktown Rocks. I am so honored to work for Brainwave and on this project of Franktown, where I am the art director. We're only a month or so away from fully launching Franktown Rocks with paid memberships and free memberships. Franktown Rocks is currently in beta testing and an account is free to sign up. But very soon we'll have a subscription based membership available where members can attain more content, video music lessons, music videos, sheet music, tons of games, and so much more.

We're near 82,000 users as of today with nearly 500,000 page views per month; all of this without a penny of marketing money being spent. It has been completely viral to this point. So needless to say, we are all extremely excited to see the success of Franktown once we start marketing.

The Love of a Father

It has recently occurred to me, now having two children of my own, how deeply I love my children. It's love so vast it hurts. It's love that would make you choose to save their life over your own. And now that I have my two beautiful boys, I look at them and realize how much my dad loved me. The example that my dad was for me growing up and becoming the man that I am is absolutely laudable. Through his praise and gentle admonitions, I was molded. With the knowledge I gained through example, it enables me to raise my sons in the same way.

As I sat watching my sons play together tonight, not only was I completely filled with joy to see two little men that I had a part in creating play together, but it made me think of God's love for us, His children. It immediately made me think of the piece of Scripture that states in Matthew 7:11 - "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him." It is almost as if I had a vision from God, seeing us how he sees us. As I looked at my boys as they laugh, it made me laugh. As I watch them cry, it makes me want to help them. As I watch them throw a tantrum over something trivial, it makes me want to explain to them what is really important in life. It is similar to how God sees us when we're happy, sad, or throwing a tantrum. In any of those scenarios, you always love your children and want to help them through their sadness or distress.

It is my prayer that I am able to raise my children as wonderfully as my parents raised me and my siblings.

The Brisk Air

September 16, 2008 - Franklin, TN, 8:39am Current Temperature: 61 degrees. It's mornings like this that remind me to draw a deep breath of air into my lungs, look up and say "thanks" to God for such a beautiful day. It's mornings like this that force me to remember the simple things in life. It's mornings like this that help my thoughts to be much more lucid. It's mornings like this that revitalize my senses. It's mornings like this that energize my creativity. It's mornings like this that make me excited that winter is just around the corner. It's mornings like this that remind me of my childhood; opening my parents garage door, strapping on my old school roller skates that fit right over my shoes that did not roll very well unless I was on a moderate descent. It's mornings like this that make me want to stay home from work and take my family to the park for a picnic. It's mornings like this that make me reminisce all the good times that I have had in my life and think of all of the wonderful times still ahead of me.

Sometimes overlooked...

You know, it occurred to me over the weekend how vital mothers are to the development and growth of their children. As I was sitting with my youngest playing with him, my wife asked "you wanna try giving him his 'sippy cup' for the first time"? I gladly said "yes!". As I watched my little boy grab both handles of the cup and draw it to his mouth like he's done it a thousand times before, I realized how much my wife, and many good mothers like her, are truly the foundation to healthy development for their children. I can admit that I would have not thought to start giving him his sippy cup since he's 7 months old, I figured that he's still too young. But mothers somehow have this innate sense to know what is absolutely best for their babies.

Another example is that our oldest, who is now 2 and a half years old, was still using a binky (or pacifier) to go to sleep, again, about a week ago, my wife said, "we need to stop giving him binkies to go to bed because he's a big boy and he doesn't need those any longer". And with potty training, she is simply amazing and patient, working on potty training our oldest as well. She knew right when to start potty training and she always takes the time to check to see if he has to go when he mentions the word "pah-pee" (that's how he phonetically says the word 'potty').

There are many more examples of my wife's technical baby know-how, too many to list here. But in my opinion, mothers should get an annual salary for all of the hard work they do. I will admit that their duties are much more difficult than the ones I encounter in the office daily. I don't ever want my wife to think that I, even for one second, overlook all of the amazing things that she does for our children to give them the absolutely best childhood and to help them grow into amazing little men.

Thank you honey, I love you.

(*NOTE: By the way, I do help out when I get home from work and on the weekends with those topics listed above. I love being a very involved dad in the development of my boys as well. I just wanted to spotlight my wife and give her some major credit because she deserves it!)

Another late night...

Sitting here in the glow of my laptop and television, the sounds of baby monitors in the background, I am again working late. I am what you would call a "night owl", mornings are my enemy. Of course I would assume that is the case seeing as how my average time of sleep commencement is between 1am and 2am.

By writing this blog, you may think, "if you wouldn't write this particular post at this late hour, you could snuggle into the cold, cozy covers yearning to warm someone." By all means would I love to crawl into bed at this moment, but it's just that I have freelance illustration and web design work to wrap up. It gives me great joy to have the opportunity to sit on my comfy couch in this glow of my laptop and the television with the "hum" of baby monitors in the background because it is who is on the other end of those baby monitors that I am sacrificing my sleep for to do work. Wanting to provide my family with food on our table, a roof to shelter us, clothes to dress us, and transportation to get us from here to there.

So if you are reading this and it is way past your bed time and you're not nestled soundly in your bed, more than likely, I too am sitting at my keyboard working away.

Eilas Photography...simply put. The Best!

Stephanie and I had our family pictures taken by Laurel this past Saturday. Every single picture that she took turned out wonderfully! Check her website out at http://www.eilas.com

Here are just a few of the pictures from the photo shoot:

I'm bad at this....

You know, over a year ago now, I started this blog with the intention of posting new articles everyday. And since that year, or so, ago, I have barely posted anything. Not that I don't have anything to say, I think it's more that I don't think anyone cares what I have to say. I don't think everyone is rushing to their computer to look at what I've written today, hailing me as a lexical genius. I'm far from it. I'm just a simple man who loves his family, and occasionally has something to say.

So feel free to check in from time to time, should you care to. I can't promise that there will be something new to ready on a daily basis, but when I do have something to write, you can be assured that it will be written with passion and from the heart.