Welcome Ashlynn Rae!!

Ashlynn
Originally uploaded by Life on Wheels.

I became an uncle again today! Well, not that I became an uncle twice today, but you know what I mean. This is the first time though to be an uncle to a beautiful little girl. My sister had her first baby at 2 a.m. this morning, weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces . . . I proudly present to you my niece, Ashlynn Rae. Way to go J and M!!

She is a beautiful baby . . . very alert and strong, with a full head of hair and long toes. I look forward to seeing this little bundle of joy grow up, and I wish her many, many years of love, health and happiness.

Who are your favorite bands?

Any music lovers out there? I know my dad is, and I consider myself to be a music purveyor. Just this last week I got to see my favorite band Wolfmother at the Fillmore. However, I am definitely a mainstream music person. At least that is what my little musical knowledge is limited to. Both L and I have friends that could rattle off 100 lesser known bands and who they sound like and where they are from, etc.

One of these walking musical encyclopedia friends of mine just turned me on to an incredible website for music lovers. It is a website where you enter in one of your favorite bands, artists or song and it will put together a radio station of other bands that are similar. The cool thing is, many of these bands are ones you have never heard of before, so it really increases your exposure to different bands that are similar to one you already like. I found it quite fascinating. It plays the full song too, not just a snippet.

So, try it out and let me know what you think. The site is www.pandora.com and it came out of the Music Genome Project. Very cool.

Also, please leave a comment as to who your favorite current band is and I will give it a listen.

P.S. - For those of you web-savvy people out there, please notice the very simple yet stylish interface with the integrated full-screen and dynamic advertising.

Colorado Rapids

As you know, we're a soccer family. I think I have mentioned that before. My boys play and my wife plays (on three teams!) Also, we are fans of the Colorado Rapids. In fact, we got 1/2 season tickets this year at the brand new Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a beautiful soccer-specific stadium not too far away. We also subscribed the to the DirectTV sports package just to get two channels (Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV), which let's us watch some MLS action, but also English Premier League and other international soccer leagues.

So, this is part of what has been keeping us busy. We have been to three games at the new stadium . . . the Blue/Burgandy Game, the home opener against DC United (win 2-1), and against the Chicago Fire (tie 1-1). Unfortunately, the Rapids lost in their first road game today to F.C. Dallas (3-1).

Anyway, I really think that soccer is really starting to gain momentum in this country. It is really amazing to watch the English Premier League and see these huge sold-out stadiums of chanting, cheering and excited fans. Also, the skill level of the overseas players is amazing, but the MLS is starting to draw some star international players as well as some home-grown ones.

How 'bout you? Are you a soccer fan?

Remember me?

Hello Friends and Family,

I am so sorry if at anytime you came to this blog hoping to find some funny post or interesting news and found the same old post from last month.

Life has been up to it's usual ways of getting in the way of free time. But, I can't complain too loudly. Sometimes, busy can be the good kind.

So . . . I have about four or five posts to catch you up on all that has been happening lately . . . I'll see how many I can get done tonight.

I hope all of you are well and had a great weekend!

March Madness - Stick a fork in my bracket

I'm done.

Florida vs. Ohio State . . . so boring. #1 vs. #1. Florida's chance to repeat as champions. Deja Vu of the college football championship game. I missed the Cinderella team, the upsets, the double digit seed in the sweet sixteen. Once I am done with a team to root for on my bracket, I lose interest.

Oh well . . . there is always next year.

I'm still alive!

Well, I don't have a great excuse . . . life just got really busy for a while. It still is, but I miss blogging. So, it may not be much, but I am going to try to post a few items tomorrow before heading back to school (Spring Break this week).

This is a lot harder than it looks!

Wheelchair Mileage update . . . 122 miles.

March Madness - "The Picks"

Midwest Region -

Round 1
Florida
Arizona
Butler
Maryland
Winthrop
Oregon
Georgia Tech
Wisconsin

Round 2
Florida
Butler
Winthrop
Wisconsin

Round 3
Florida
Winthrop

Round 4
Florida

West Region -

Round 1
Kansas
Villanova
Illinois
Southern Illinois
VCU
Pittsburgh
Indiana
UCLA

Round 2
Kansas
Southern Illinois
VCU
UCLA

Round 3
Kansas
UCLA

Round 4
UCLA

East Region -

Round 1
North Carolina
Michigan St.
Southern Cal
Texas
Vanderbilt
Washington State
Texas Tech
Georgetown

Round 2
North Carolina
Texas
Vanderbilt
Georgetown

Round 3
Texas
Vanderbilt

Round 4
Texas

South Region -

Round 1
Ohio State
BYU
Tennessee
Virginia
Louisville
Texas A&M
Creighton

Round 2
Ohio State
Virginia
Texas A&M
Creighton

Round 3
Ohio State
Creighton

Round 4
Ohio State

Championship -

UCLA vs. Texas

Champion -

UCLA

Comments

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog and leaving comments. Please know that I do read them.

I have a question for you though . . . do you think I am ignoring you if I don't respond? I feel like I am ignoring you and I don't like that. I want it to be interactive.

So, from now on I will respond to the comments by adding another comment on that same post. So, if you leave me a comment, you will have to come back and look at those comments to see my reply. I hope that doesn't seem like some slimy sales tactic to keep you coming back.

(Sign hangin' on my blog-door . . . "Please come again soon!")

You don't see that everyday . . .

On my way home today, I saw a teenaged girl riding a horse on the street while talking on her cell phone . . . that struck me as interesting. As you were . . .

March Madness

It's that time of year again . . . March Madness!!

Stats from the front page of yesterday's Rocky Mountain News . . .

There are 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 total number of ways to fill out a bracket.

Odds of a perfect bracket? 9.2 quintillion-to-1.

30 million Americans will participate in office pools this year.

$1.2 billion - How much U.S. employers will lose in productivity during the tourney.

Words to Live By

I haven't watched too much of this current season of Survivor . . . but I did catch a little of this last week's episode. One of the contestants, Yau-man, said that he lived his life by this mantra, which I really thought was good.

Love Many,
Trust Few,
Do Harm to None

Book Earns Badge

My son's drum teacher, Sam, is a high schooler who lives down the street from us. He is a great kid, talented musician and my son really looks up to him.

Well, Sam is in a band that got some great press recently and I wanted to support them and pass that along. I hope I will be able to catch one of their shows pretty soon.

Here is the story . . .

New Toys

We are not the wealthiest people in the world . . . but we don't want for too much. However, we certainly don't have a lot of extravagance. We live in a modest house, drive safe and decent vehicles, our kids have a couple of things like drums and guitars and get to play soccer.

Although, I don't often wish that I was rich, I have been coveting a few new toys lately.

First of all, my wife is trying to start a photography business. I would love to buy her one of these, these and these. (Ha! Made you click!)

Also, I have a PDA that I use for everything . . . it keeps my life together. It is starting to show it's age a bit, like the battery lasting a day, when it used to last for weeks. Also, the letter writing screen does not read like it used to. I also have a cell phone that is looking like it was used as a doorstop with a psychodelic front screen after it was dropped the last time. I have been thinking lately that I would love to be able to combine them into a new Palm Treo 750 Smartphone.

But, the grand-daddy of all new toys I saw on the road a couple of days ago and it blew me away. Now, I am not a car guy. I don't salivate over cars. I don't dream about them and I certainly don't do what this guy does (WARNING . . . may be very disturbing to some)!

This little beauty did make my car envy spike to new levels. It was so eye-catching and interesting to look at. It looked like speed. I checked the website and they have an orange one that just made it even more appealing to me (I like orange). For a guy who has to drive the same minivan for the last 8 years while his wife gets to drive a sweet 4x4 truck . . . this one made me drool. Mid-life crisis? In car only. I will gladly keep the sexy 32 year old blonde bombshell I call my wife in the passenger seat with me.

So, what is my new favorite car fantasy? The 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Chipotle

I seriously cannot believe that I have not blogged about the most amazing food source on this planet. Chipotle.

Now don't even start comparing Qdonta (no I didn't spell that wrong) to my beloved Chipotle. I admit, I strayed a couple of times because it was the only option and it was sort of in the same genre as Chipotle. But, the taste was not even close. So, I have prayed for forgiveness and have since stayed on the straight and narrow path.

I was going to provide Chipotle burritto counter for 2007 on my site, for every time I had a Chipotle burritto. But, unfortunately, by January 10th, I had already lost count. I have spent literally thousands of dollars over the years at Chipotle (my family loves it too . . . so it isn't just me pigging out!).

They have the best managers and staff in the world. Saul Munez (I think I spelled that right) is the Chipotle Manager Master. He and other wonderful staff have supplied my family and I with a plethora of free burrittos for our faithful patronage.

Here is my favorite order:

Chicken Burritto w/ no beans, rice, hot salsa, sour cream and cheese. MIXED (this is important and they will do it for you if asked . . . politely).

I have also enjoyed their steak salad, green salsa, sour cream and chees w/ their salad dressing. Yummy!

Those are my normal orders . . . I will stray every so often (last night I had the chicken burritto with green instead of red (hot) salsa.) What are your Chipotle favorites? Please leave your order in the comments!

Shout out to my other long lost homies . . .

K and L,

K, thanks for the comment yesterday. I just wanted you to know that I have been thinking about you and L alot lately and wondering how you all are doing and what's going on. I didn't want to impose, but we love you guys, and hope for all the best.

More Memories . . .

One of my old (he's not old . . . because that would mean I am old!) high school buddies has recently reconnected with me and has left some comments here on my blog (Dave C.).

I just want you all to know that I thought the world of Dave C. He was the nicest guy, the most dedicated athlete, an incredibly intelligent kid, who never had anything but a nice word for anyone. He was a great friend, and I was always sorry I lost touch with Dave after H.S. I was so excited when I received an email from him that he had "tracked me down".

Dave, I look forward to getting to know you again . . . and maybe your family too. We all need good friends in this world.

So, Dave, here is a memory I want to add. I know this is weird, but it made an impact on me. One night, we were talking on the phone. I don't remember the topic(s) of conversation (sorry). However, you mentioned that you were kicking around your hackey-sack (remember those???) and you lost it somehow. You said you were in your room and you were just kicking it and then somehow lost it. Well, I said, "Did you check in your trashcan?". Now, it is important to note here that I had not ever been in Dave's room. I didn't even know if he had a trashcan (although it is a relatively safe assumption I admit). I don't even know why I said that . . . maybe I was looking at my trashcan or something. Anyway, as you can probably guess, it was in the trashcan. Now, Dave, I remember you being pretty impressed that I had guessed/said that. I remember feeling very proud that I knew where your hackey-sack was.

How'd I do? Do you even remember that at all? (It's ok if you don't!).

Anyway, that's my friend Dave, that I have not seen in so many years . . . yet here we connect again. Technology is fun.

1000 Reasons to get rid of your T.V.

When my boys get home from school, what is the first thing they usually do? Watch T.V. or play video games.

When I get home from work, the first thing I do is usually turn on the computer, and then watch some T.V.

My kids mostly watch the kids' channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and others. Mostly Ned's Declassified, Spongebob, Jimmy Neutron . . . stuff like that. It's not terrible stuff.

But, then you add in the video games . . . more hours staring at a box. I think we do a pretty good job of limiting it, but still it can add up.

My wife and I will usually watch Heroes on Monday nights (the boys too), and then we love our Thursday night shows of Scrubs (which is my favorite show ever!), The Office and 30 Rock. Tina Fey is a comedic genius by the way.

Of course, then you have DirectTV, Netflix, etc. that keep you coming back to that glorious glowing box. Not to mention football season (like to watch those Bronco games) and other various sporting events (March Madness).

We have two T.V.'s . . . one in the living room and one in our bedroom.

My question is this . . . are there enough reasons to get rid of your television sets? How do you limit the amount of screen-time for your eyes. I see so many more useful things to with our time, but we seem to often take the lazy way out and sit down in front of that glowing square.

What to do? I am going to start a list on this post. If it reaches 1,000 reasons why we should get rid of our television, then I will sell them and put that time, money and energy into these better uses. You can help me out by adding some to the comments section and then I will add them to this post.

If I don't reach 1,000 . . . then at least I have some good options to keep me from staring at the T.V.

1,000 Better Things To Do Than Watch T.V./Video Games

1. Take your dog for a walk.
2. Spend some time playing a family game together.
3. Homework!!!!
4. Practicing musical instruments (or learn one!).
5. Write your own stories.
6. Update your blog (duh!)
7. Help your wife start a photography business.
8. Catch up with an old friend (or keep up with your current ones!)
9. Listen to Wolfmother . . . what a great band.
10. Add another good thing to this list!

Slacker Blogger

Well my friends and family . . . all 4 of you . . . you may be wondering why I use these three dots so often . . . but you might also be thinking . . . "Why the heck hasn't this guy posted on his blog lately?"

I bring you the answer with promises of many posts to come. You see . . . (there they are again!) . . . I was scheduled for some minor surgery because my bladder hates me . . . thanks to that whole broken back thing. So, I opted for the suprapubic catheter. Anyway, simple outpatient surgery with a couple days rest . . . good to go!

Not so fast there wheels. I guess I overdid it, because another "benefit" of my spinaly-chord-parts-not-communicatin-so well is autonomic dysreflexia. Except, I had very severe episodes of these reactions . . . so bad in fact, that I am convinced I had a few very minor strokes. I would feel my abdomen/bladder spasm and then the pain would come shooting up my neck and into my brain. I could feel the blood pounding so hard that I could not see, hear or speak hardly at all. These would last anywhere from 2 minutes to 20 minutes at it's worst.

So, this earned me a trip to the E.R. which was useless. They just want to kill the pain and send you home. So, they said follow up with your primary care doc, which I did. Unfortunately, he could not see me until later that day, so I suffered through quite a few episodes. But, he did know what I was going through and was familiar with sci's and the dysreflexia. He got me admitted to the hospital where I had my surgery (which went fine by the way . . . they didn't do anything wrong). I had to wait a couple of hours to get in my room, which seemed like forever when you are wondering if you can make it through the next episode, which could be any minute. It took a couple days of the good stuff . . . muscle relaxants, narcotics, opiates, etc. and some serious rest. I was finally released from the hospital, and only had two episodes after I got home. Then, I pretty much slept for three days.

My two days off from teaching turned in to two weeks. I went back to work yesterday, which was tiring but it was good to be back. My school loved on me with cards, cash, gift certificates, a plant . . . but the best gift of all was hearing from junior high kids that said that they really missed their teacher (even if part of it was they just don't like substitute teachers!).

Childhood Memories

I saw a blog posting this morning that was talking about favorite childhood memories and many people had responded with what they missed about being a kid. So, today I thought back to my childhood and smiled as I remembered some fond memories that I rarely think of.

I thought to my self that this would make another good blog posting/category. As I think of childhood memories, I will try to add them to this blog. These will be fun for my kids to read about and have "on record".

Time flies so darn fast. I can't believe I am almost 33 years old. I can't believe that my kids are almost in junior high. We are coming up on 13 years of marriage this August. Amazing.

Some of my favorite childhood memories:

• Playing "ghost in the graveyard" with friends on a warm summer evening after dark
• Going fishing at the pond
• Playing baseball and being half-way decent at it
• Riding my bike to get my own haircut
• Laughing so hard at the Guiness Book of Records with my aunt Betty
• Going on fishing trips with my dad (especially the night with the racoon)
• Summer vacations to San Diego with my grandparents
• Getting my "golf swing" picture on the front of the local newspaper
• Winning a free "oil change" for answering a question on a fishing radio talk show . . . I was 12.
• Going camping at Pueblo Res. or Grandby with Rich and Shane
• Listening to my walkman/radio as I fell asleep at night

That's all I can think of right now, but I know I thought of many more throughout today. I will add posts as I think of others.

What are some of your favorite childhood memories? What do you miss about being a kid? Please leave a comment with some of your thoughts!

An open letter to the love of my life . . .

"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes"

~ Lord Byron

To my Valentine,

L, you are an amazing woman and I fall deeper in love with you everyday that I have the privilege of being called your husband. You have given me the best years of my life. You never cease to impress me with your selfless love of our boys, or your willingness to put up with all that goes with being married to me. I could not imagine life without you. You have made me a better man, husband and father. I feel sorry for any man who does not know the height of joy, the depth of love, the flowing passion or the confident peace that I know and have with you. You are my soul-mate and my true companion. We were meant to travel this road of life together, and I know that I would not be where I am on this journey without your encouragement, your love and your strength.

So, on this Valentine's Day of 2007 . . . I do not bring you chocolates that will be eaten, roses that will wilt away, or gold and diamonds that will weigh us down. But, I offer you something more. Today, and everyday of the year, I want to honor you. I want you to know exactly what you mean to me. I offer you my undying love and devotion. I want to continue to be an encouragement and source of support to you on your journey. I want you to know how incredibly beautiful you are. Your creative talent and new skills never cease to amaze me. You are deeply and passionately loved. This is my gift and it is a joy to give everything I have and am to you. Happy Valentines Day!

Love,

J