Longhorn in Paradise

Merry Christmas to everyone! Here is a short 5 minute video of our Christmas morning so those of you who are interested (and who wouldn't be??) can have a virtual Christmas with us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tuWAQqdR3w

This was the first Christmas where Liska really understood what was going on and the whole Santa thing...she got a big Brio Train set and table from Santa and she has been playing with it non-stop! She loved all her gifts as did Kat and I. Thanks so much to everyone who sent packages to help us celebrate!

I hope everyone is enjoying their day.

Much love and holiday cheer to all!

jak

This is truly one of the funniest SNL skits of all time...I watched it on Yahoo Video and it asked if I wanted to post it to my blog so I am testing to see if this works. Take a look and let me know what you think....

As I was driving home last night (LA traffic allows you lots of time to think...if you don't spend too much time cursing and honking) I was considering all the "huge" events that have touched me over the past week. And then I started considering how much time we all spend thinking about what we have to do...how busy we are...what projects need to get done and how this type of thinking takes us away from appreciating all the truly grand things that take place in or around our lives. Let me give you a few examples:

1. At lunch yesterday, Liska asked to use the potty. Sounds pretty minor, but it is actually HUGE. We have been pretty laid back about potty training her and she has been hit and miss about it...going to the potty sometimes and refusing others. Mostly she would go if we asked her to go, but this was the first time she just up and said "I need to go to the potty!". So, Kat grabbed her hand and they ran to the restroom at CPK...a few minutes later, they came back and the smile on Liska's face and the skip in her step told the story...this was not a false alarm. Our little girl had listened to her body and vocalized her need and then was able to deliver. What a great milestone in her young life.

2. Denise got the go-ahead to work from home three days/week. Our good friends the Browns had been stressing over how to have Denise spend more time with Annalee. At one point, she thought she might have to quit...but, one chance discussion led to the wheels being put in motion for her to get this flexible schedule that would allow her to work from home and not give up her salary, benefits, etc. What a great coup! The best of all worlds and, again, this is an event in their lives that will make life more enjoyable and will have a profound effect on their daughter and will give her that much greater opportunity to be President or an astronaut (kids still want to be those things, right?) So, I am certain that my Mom and Sis can give Denise some great advice about working from home, but since I did if for a couple years, let me just say this...get up early, shower right away, put on the same type clothes you would normally wear to work....I always was more productive when I didn't just roll out of bed and work in my pajamas until noon. That's just me though. :-)

3. My good friend at work, Joe, lost his 'son'. Joe Chance is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. A chinese guy, born in Jamaica and currently living in Toronto (beat that!). He and his wife never had the opportunity to have kids, but had two full-grown Rottweilers that they treated like kids. Well, over the weekend, Joe lost one of his kids. Completely unexpected. Right before the holidays. I couldn't help but think back to my first "kid", Kelsey. A beautiful Golden Retriever I adopted in 1990 while a sophomore at UT. Great dog...sweet as can be. She lived with me through college and then in my first place in Houston...all small apts/condos. So, in September 1995, I found a house with a big back yard, made an offer and was going to move in the first week of October. During that time, I took a trip to South Bend with my bro-in-law to see UT play Notre Dame. It was my birthday weekend. Great trip, got home on the 25th (for those of you who don't know, that is my actual birthday) and, as usual, as soon as I opened the door, Kelsey barked once and then started her victory lap around the dining room table...she had done this a million times before...everynight I got home from work she sprinted around the table and then attacked me with kisses...this time, though, she suddenly dropped halfway through her lap and went still. I rushed to her and immediatly knew she was gone, but picked up her lifeless body and ran to the car and sped to the emergency animal center hoping against hope. I got there and the vet pronounced her dead on arrival...it was absolutely crushing. Even now, I think back to how badly I felt. She certainly didn't live a full life...and she never got to run free in her own backyard, though she was only a week away from getting that feeling. Joe has had his dogs twice as long as I did and has certainly shared twice as many memories...his holiday season has been marred and he has a void that will not be easily filled. A tragic life event, but certainly an event worth appreciating.

So, just three things that I appreciate being a part of this week. I will strive to spend more time thinking about these things than the 20 things on my to-do list at work or the 20 ways I can think of to stop Hagen from crying when I get home. :-) Let me know about what you are appreciating this week. :-)

I promise to get some pics up this week sometime....hard to do from work and almost impossible to find time at home.

Much love to all!

jak

Have you ever seen/read the plays of Neil Simon? Many of them have a character (oftentimes the MAIN character) who is a young, neurotic Jewish kid coming of age. Remember Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues? Or Jonathan Silverman in Brighton Beach Memoirs...by the way, did you know they were both the same character? Eugene Morris Jerome. Classic line...when Stanley (his older brother) asks him "How horny can you get?" Eugene responds "I don't know, what's the highest score?".

Now, it may come as some surprise to you all that I know so much about Neil Simon plays that became movies. It just so happens that they are the ones that HBO played ad nauseum as I was growing up. So, whether I wanted to or not, I got to watch them numerous times and grew to love them. :-)

Anyway, what was my point with all this? I certainly wasn't just interested in getting feedback about your knowledge of Eugene Morris Jerome...oh yeah. Glad I typed in the title of the blog first as it reminded me of the point at hand...my cab ride last night with my co-worker Brett.

Brett Colbert reminds me a lot of our friend Eugene Jerome. I just told him that and he was offended...of course, when he asked me what I meant I said "you know, stereotypical jewish kid from the 50s." He didn't like that so much...but, he does. And this story will prove me out.

So, first of all, I arrived at Newark Airport at 3:20 local time yesterday...I had planned to wait for Brett until 4pm because he had indicated he already had reserved a car for our ride to Greenwich. Come to find out that when he made the reservation, they took it down for 1/1/07 rather than 12/11/06. Not quite sure how that happened, but 2 hours later, our ride was there. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the hotel and then we got a cab to the Ginger Man in downtown Greenwich. This is where the fun started....

First, Brett asked if the guy took credit cards...he said yes, but it was a $30 minimum. We asked how far the place was and he said about $21 fare, so we agreed as it is easier to use CC when travelling...so, we get about 100 yards out of the hotel parking lot and the cabbie (known to us now as Mohammed) pulls over to the side of the road...Brett immediately says (and fyi, Brett is sitting in the front seat) "what are you doing? are you going to kill us?" Mohammed assures us that he is not going to kill us over Brett continuing to ask him what he is doing. He is simply pulling out the AmEx form so Brett can fill it out on our way. He subtly indicates that there is a place on the form to indicate tip to which Brett replies "I'm not sure about that...I am very hungry and you keep stopping, so we will see". As you can see, Brett is the epitome of how to make friends and influence people.

Next. we get to Greenwich Avenue and it is pretty evident that Mohammed is lost. He asks Brett "where is the place again?", obviously looking for him to repeat the address...rather than give him the address, Brett says "I don't know...you are the one who lives here...i don't live here!". Mohammed tries to explain himself, gives up, and keeps on driving. After a few more turns, we are back on the right street. So, as we pass storefronts, Mohammed says "what are the numbers here?". Of course, Brett says emphatically "I don't know, I don't have my glasses, you have your glasses, you tell me what the numbers are!". Fortunately, we had arrived at the Ginger Man and could escape the situation.

So, had a great meal, got back to the hotel, watched some football and then talked to the hot chick that I call my wife...we actually did a crossword puzzle together over the phone...how romantic! haha

Going out to eat with my buddy Guy tonight, so will report on that tomorrow. I know how interested you all are in my travels. :-)

much love to all!

jak

It is truly amazing what people will start sending you as they find out that you have a loved one that is in Iraq. One of my co-workers saw the pictures of Brian in uniform I have up in my cube and asked about it...turns out her entire family has served at some point in their lives and she soon sent me the poem below. Of course, she sent it to me at work and, because I am soft as church music, I got all verklempt and did not appreciate that at all! :-) So, be warned...if you are at work, make sure it is ok to shed a tear for this is a tear-jerker.


A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right"
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

dangit, I just read it again and getting all teary-eyed. sheesh.

Hope you enjoyed it!

much love to all...jak