A Crane View

Christmas Day Part 2

2010-12-26T16:34:00.006-05:00

So after the morning excitement we began the rest of our day. Colton was running around the house singing "SUPERMAN! SUPERMAN!" Jody and I were tired and Hayden was right out as you can see below.
After a nice nap, he went over to hang out with Uncle Christopher (now known as the baby whisperer). It seemed all night long Uncle Christopher traded between Hayden and his cousin Levi, and every time one of hem landed in his arms, they immediately relaxed and fell asleep. Once they were passed off to somebody, they woke up and were restless.

Later in the evening came a family gift exchange where Colton got even more presents... Like he needed anymore. Below he is ripping into a gift given to him by Uncle Matthew. Notice how Superman is in tow. They were inseparable the whole night, and the following day.

And what was the gift? More Superheros! Exactly what he would want. Uncle Matthew hit the nail on the head.

After the gift exchange came the wonderful Christmas dinner, put on by all of the wonderful women of the Gibson family. This year was a little different because we were having a Turducken, my first time ever. Its a Turkey, duck, and chicken all in one and stuffed. it was quite a different experience, but tasty.

The rest of the night was spent sort of relaxing and watching the children run around after each other. By the end of the night everyone had to drag themselves out to head home. I guess that's how you can gauge the night a big success. This is a big reason why I love Christmas. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday as well. Merry Christmas all!

Christmas Day Part 1

2010-12-25T12:07:00.008-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! Today will be full of blog posts about our Christmas day. It started out with us waking up around 9:00 am, and Cole being very excited.

Colton in his new Christmas PJ's opening his stocking! Excitement abounding!

Hayden in his new Christmas PJs getting in on the Christmas spirit!

One of Colton's gifts, the Buzz Lightyear Movie!

Mommy getting in on her stocking action!

Colton's gift from his cousins.... SUPERMAN! Ultimate excitement.

Until next post.

Merry Christmas Eve All!

2010-12-25T01:01:00.003-05:00

My favorite holiday is almost here! There truly is no greater holiday ever than Christmas. A time to spend with family, friends, and loved ones. A time to focus on the greatest gift given to mankind in our Savior Jesus Christ. A time where we can emulate his life by serving those around us, sharing in a spirit of peace and brotherhood.
I love the everything associated with Christmas. The traditions, the Christmas music, the feasting, the family, the joy of watching children excitedly rip open their gifts to see what is inside. Christmas trees, stockings, snow, World Juniors Hockey (maybe a select crowd on that one).
This year our family is spending Christmas out in Ontario with my wife's family. Colton and Hayden will get to be around their little cousins, and we will be able to experience Turducken for the first time. It promises to be an eventful day. I plan on taking a few highlight pictures and sharing it with you all tomorrow as it happens.
I hope all of you, my friends; are enjoying your Christmas holiday. Please stay safe. Should you feel so inclined, please go a head and list off to me some of your family traditions, or things you love about Christmas. I like hearing how others celebrate the holidays. Merry Christmas!

Ever have one of those songs that won't leave your head?

2010-12-08T17:36:00.004-05:00

Ok, I understand some of you may not understand this. That is ok.Perhaps this was created for my sole enjoyment. I'm a fan of Tracy Morgan. I think he is the true funny guy on 30 Rock, his skits on Saturday Night Live were ridiculous. On Sunday I went over to my parents house, and my brothers wanted to watch the Jimmy Fallon Show that they recorded on Friday, because it had Tracy Morgan as a guest. I'll get back to that story in a moment...
A while ago my buddy Seth wanted to introduce me to a Youtube video that was catching like wildfire, it was called Tro Lo Lo. I watched it and for the next while I was tortured by the constant ringing of the song in my head. It was a horrible video, and the song popped in my head at the worst of times! Now back to the first story...
So my brother's an I were watching Jimmy Fallon, and before he went to interview Tracy Morgan, he was going to perform one of his little gag songs that he does every now and then. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened next. My brother's an I were literally rolling on the ground dying of laughter! There is no real point to the song, or the hilarity that ensues. I can't explain why it gave me the reaction that it did. Maybe it was the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Maybe it was the outfit Tracy Morgan was wearing, the song, the dancing, a combination of all three. Either way it was effective, and its been stuck in my brain ever since. I can't get it out. It pops in at the most awkward of times, and people wonder what I'm giggling about. Its like a funnier Tro Lo Lo effect. Anyhow, I figured I would share it with the world. You can tell me what you think. Click on the word link.

Christmas is in the air!

2010-11-17T23:16:00.002-05:00

It honestly the most Wonderful Time of the Year! I love this time of year. Christmas is my favorite holiday ever, and the best part is, that it lasts so long. People start gearing up November 1st, and you can just feel the spirit in the air. We just finished setting up our Christmas Tree, and I have hung some lights outside our home. Nature has been busy dumping nearly 25 centimeters of snow on our city since Monday night. It really feels like Christmas out there.

What are some of your favorite things about Christmas? Some of my favorite aspects of Christmas are the crisp winter air, beautiful Christmas lights, decorated Christmas Trees, hot chocolate, candy canes, Christmas music (Boney M, Harry Conick Jr., Bing Crosby), National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, meat fondue, stockings, the spirit of Christmas, friends and family. Many of these things I can't go without around Christmas time. Presents are for kids, I like time with others.

This year will be a bit different, as I am not working while I'm waiting for school to start. So I will have a bunch of time on my hands to drive my family crazy with my obsession with the holidays. Some bonuses though, will be taking Colton out to the skating rink tons, tobogganing with him, and doing some real thoughtful Christmas shopping. I can't get enough of this holiday, as it creates so many great memories. I hope that it does the same for all of you this year. If you would like, drop me some of your favorite Christmas memories, or traditions. What do you like about Christmas.

Have a Very Merry Christmas all!

Give Your Heads A Shake

2010-11-14T00:29:00.003-05:00

I gotta say, I am getting really frustrated with the Calgary Flames fan base lately, and a few media persons. The Flames are mired in a big funk right now. We have only won one of our last six games, and our offence has gone absolutely stone cold. A large part of our slump has been a complete lack of any type of presence from our top players. Unfortunately our beloved captain Jarome Iginla is one of the most glaring examples of our big time players that have gone missing. It is unacceptable that our top players have almost been non-existent during this funk, but it's not just them its the whole team that has been inconsistent, timid, lacking any confidence. This is evidenced in the numerous brain lapses they've had, bad line changes, poor positioning, scrambling, deviating from the system.

The unfortunate part, as it has been for numerous years,; is that when the team is doing lousy, the share of the blame falls on Iginla's shoulders for the entire teams short comings. Lately on the after hours call in shows, and on some blogs, I am hearing things like our problem lies in the fact that Iginla isn't scoring, and that it is time to trade Iginla. Trade him now while he has a lot of value. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Here is why I think that this line of thinking is extremely flawed, short sighted, ridiculous (Sutter like, you'll understand as you read on). First off, Iginla is one of the greatest Flames to take Saddledome ice. He has carried our team on his shoulders night in and night out, year after year, often with little to no support. He has proven his mettle game in and game out. He has been the face of the franchise, and along with Kipper; probably the only reason we've enjoyed the fruitful years of success we have. This alone should grant him some respect.

This teams success largely depends on Iginla's play. If he's scoring, odds are Calgary will have a good chance of winning. While he is struggling now, his game is showing improvement. In a year where the Flames are going to largely live on the playoff bubble, trading him mid-season doesn't make sense, unless you want to start playing for the number one overall draft pick next year.
But here is my biggest reason to not trade him now. It seems that if you are going to trade Iginla, that signal's that you are going to initiate an all out re-build of the team. That to me would logically include your other older and valuable assets (Kipper, Regher). While trading these assets for future young talent to take us back to prominence, do you really want to put your trust in Darryl Sutter? Hasn't he proven, time and time again; that he is not very competent at creating a good team for the new NHL? He struck gold with Kipper, but since then it has been a solid string of mediocre at best acquisitions. (Look no further than the Olli Jokinen trade) Even today, he traded away Ian White, who was a large part of that Dion Phaneuf trade. Yet another piece that we acquired that didn't work out. Additionally, he has had a valuable scoring superstar in Jarome Iginla who has been begging for complimentary players to play with. And year after year he has gotten mediocre players to play with him, producing nothing but a frustrated Iginla and fan base. You can't make water into wine.
Essentially I feel Iginla still has a lot to offer any team. I think he has a couple more solid, productive years left in him. His leadership and skill are an asset to anyone. I really hope he stays, but if not, I hope that a) he goes to a contender, for a shot at a cup, b) that someone other than Sutter handles the deal.
But to all of you fans crying for Iggy, to get traded, give your heads a shake! After all that man has done for this team, and the community, don't you think he's earned the benefit of the doubt?

The Newest Crane

2010-10-19T00:09:00.007-04:00

I figured now is as good a time as any to introduce you all to the newest member of our family. It was quite a long journey. Poor Jody thought at one point that he would never come. It didn't help that 2 weeks before her due date the midwives were telling her that the baby was going to come any day.

So needless to say poor Jody was trying every trick in the book to try and speed up labor. We were taking long family walks, she was drinking lots of raspberry tea, taking herbal supplements, hot baths, numerous stretch and sweeps from the midwives. At one point she was even doing jumping jacks in the living room. Nothing seemed to work. Once her due date rolled around, she was resigned to the fact that she was never going to have the baby. On a side note, it worked out perfectly for me as I had a fantasy hockey draft to attend on the due date, so already I can tell my new boy was going to be another hockey fan...

Back to the story though. The next day on the 7th, our midwife came to visit Jody after lunch. She visited with Jody, gave her another stretch and sweep, and then after no signs of labor she left. Jody then decided to go to the grand opening of the new Shoppers Drugmart, while I stayed home with Colton and we napped. Jody came home around 4:00 and told me she was feeling some cramps, which didn't get me excited. She'd been having those for weeks. Later Colton woke up and I grabbed him and we went downstairs to begin watching the opening game of the NHL season. Jody came back around 5:20 and said the cramps were getting stronger, and to start timing them. They were about 5-6 minutes apart and 30 seconds long, but they were somewhat erratic. We called the midwife and she said to time them for another half hour and call her back. We called her back with the contractions staying a bit more constant, and now 4-5 minutes apart. She told us to get ready to go to the hospital, and that she was on her way to check Jody out and confirm labour. After we hung up the phone the contractions went down again to 6-7 minutes, so I thought "false labor again". Our midwife arrived at about 6:15 and took a quick look at Jody and told us that she was in labor and going very fast. She told us in her opinion if we were going to make it to the hospital, we needed to get an ambulance, or do the birth at home. None of us, including the midwife; ideally wanted to do the birth at home, but Jody felt the pain was so bad that she couldn't even move and opted to stay home.

With that choice out of the way the midwife put me to work immediately finding supplies as she ran out to her car to grab her materials. At this point it's 6:45. At about 6:50 Jody's contractions got worse and the midwife put her in a warm bath to try and take off some of the edge. She then asked me to go get a towel to put behind Jody's head. I wasn't even down the hall way when she told me to get back asap. I grabbed the towel and ran back to find the baby's head already out! We had planned to move Jody back to the bed for the delivery, but apparently he had other plans. With no turning back, Jody began to push at 6:58 and by 7:05 Hayden Denver Crane was born.

It was insane how quickly it went, and how healthy both he and mom were after it all. Never in a million years, did I think we'd have a baby at home, or that quickly! On top of it all, he made it just in time for the Calgary Flames home opener!, once all the dust settled and Jody was resting, I took Hayden down to watch the game with me. The midwives were fantastic by the way. I was amazed at their preparedness. I wish I had taken a picture of our bedroom, it literally looked like a hospital room. They were very good with Jody, cleaned up everything for us, and when they left, you wouldn't have known we had just had a baby. By the way, anyone wondering, we had some friends take Colton for the night when we called the midwives, just to be safe. He was not present for the labor.

Anyhow, enough from me, here are some photo's for your viewing pleasure.................................

Hayden Denver Crane born October 7, 2010 @ 7:05 pm. (Minutes after his birth) Notice all the brown straight hair! totally opposite of his big brothers blond curly hair.

Hayden one hour after his birth, Hayden takes 5. He was born at 9 lbs 3 ounces, 21.25" long.

Here is Hayden after his very first bath. He looks a lot like his big brother in this shot. Colton has been very nice to his brother so far. I'll post some video of when he meets him for the first time.

Let the Games Begin

2010-09-10T12:51:00.002-04:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I never post anymore. I'm very sorry people. It wasn't intentional. I don't even know where to start really. This summer was the summer of endless travel. I went to Montreal twice, Chicago twice, Dallas twice, Houston once, L.A. once. All in all including the driving to other towns outside of these major centres, I think I've covered over 10,000 miles this summer in travel. If you are wondering why all the travel, it was for work. I had to go and supervise a bunch of loading, unloading, and demonstrations of my company's equipment. It has been exhaustive, thankless, and stressful, but there were also a lot of good moments too. I got to see some really neat places I may never have seen had I not done this traveling. I also met a lot of really great people, and perhaps made some network contacts for the future. (For anybody wanting to know what I do, go to www.raildecks.com. It's the company my dad and I started a few years back.) All in all, while there were tough parts of it, it was a good summer.
In other news Jody, Colton and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest addition to our little family. We've decided on a name of Hayden Denver Crane. He's due October 5th, although I'm sure mommy won't mind if he comes a little earlier. he's quite an active little guy, as it seems Jody's tummy never stops moving. We've almost got his nursery set up, and Colton is trying to potty-train so that the baby can have the diapers... ha, ha, ha. It should be interesting, although I can't believe I will be a father again! Two boys, does it get any better? Hockey season is going to be so much fun around our house.
Moving on... life has been going steady and fast for our family, with no shortage of surprises. Our next biggest adventure starts this Friday, I will be leaving my job in pursuit of my education. That's right, I'm stepping away from my company to go back to school full time and complete my education. I have decided I would like to attend Mount Royal University here in Calgary in their Communications Program. I'll be pursuing a degree that should land my in the Broadcasting/Journalism field. Watch out people, you're looking at the future face of TSN's SportCenter... hopefully, one day. It's kind of crazy to think about, and I can't believe I'm doing it this late in life. My poor family, they'll be seeing a lot more of daddy around the house from now on. Perhaps, I'm crazy. Maybe I've lost my mind. We shall see. I'll begin in general studies in January, then transfer into the Communications program when it open up again next fall. Wish me luck.
Other than that, the excitement never stops for us. Colton and I are looking forward to the start of another Flames regular season. Hopefully the boys can pull their boots up for a full 82 games this year and actually make some noise in the playoffs. Here's hopin'. Jody continues her wonderful photography business in Calgary. She's had quite a bit of success lately with some great newborn shoots and family portraits. Obviously her availability will drop for the next little bit when the baby comes along, but still, there's no better time to book her for shoots in the new year! Check her out at www.jacphotography.ca to book her, and see some of her latest work on her blog at www.jacphotography.blogspot.com. You can also follow her on Facebook J.A.C. Photography. Ok, I think that covers all the plugs I can do for her.
Alright people, until my next post, you all take care. Wanna know when my next post will be? Well, you'll just have to keep coming back and checking.....

What's the Point?

2010-06-28T13:09:00.002-04:00

As many of you are aware of, unless you've been living under a rock; the G-20 Summit were held in Toronto over the weekend. It was for the most part very successful. Toronto did a fantastic job of keeping the world's government leaders safe, there were no security incidents at all around the summit. However, there were some very real and very abhorrent incidents in downtown Toronto Saturday. Just to give you a very brief overview, a very fast moving and very violent crowd of over 1000 people, led by a main core of black clad "anarchists"; descended on the commercial district of Toronto. They smashed everything they could find, graffitied buildings, cars, booths, windows, etc. Police were forced to drop back temporarily and their cars were set on fire, or badly damaged. They were pelted with rocks, bricks, spat upon, hit with bottles, and bags full of urine, cursed at, assaulted, until they finally came back strong and hard to restore order. By days end there were millions upon millions of dollars of damage to a very popular and beautiful district of Toronto, and nearly 400 arrests, with more to come apparently. With all this it begs me to ask the question Therefore What?
Therefore what, people? What was the point to this, besides a bunch of idiotic misfits getting of on destroying property. What was to be accomplished by this? What was the platform that they were "protesting"? What attention do you think it got their cause? And does anyone care what their cause was? Lastly what do Torontonians think of all this?
The G-summits of world leaders always attracts protesting wherever they go. You get the whole mixed bag from extremely intelligent, passionate protesters, who want to bring attention to their issues, to the down right moronic idiots who are out their to just get their 15 seconds of fame. Some are true believers in their causes, and desperately want their voices heard, some are just paid to be a warm body on the lines, and others are just their to act like a fool.
I believe in free speech. I believe that if you have a cause you are married to, you have a right to speak out. However I also believe that you should be prepared to accept the consequences of your speech. Sorry folks, it's not a free pass. Just like it's your right to free speech, it's others rights to disagree or ignore you if they don't share the same views. It's also the laws right to reprimand where laws are broken. What happened on Saturday is very unfortunate, I think for the most part, there were people who had their protests going, with no intention of violence, they are overshadowed by the smaller minority of idiotic, knuckle draggers who "Just want to break stuff."
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, The Dali Lama, just a few examples of world changers who did not use violence to move their cause forward. It took time, but they are more revered in our day as influential fighters of freedom, than the black clad criminals who took to the streets of Toronto, along with the fools who were influenced to go along. Violence usually sets you back in your fight to be heard. Nobody cares anymore what you were trying to promote, all that is known now is that you were a bunch of organized criminal who set out to cause destruction. "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."- Martin Luther King, Jr.
If I were the other protesters at the G-20, I'd be angry. Your messages have been drowned out now, due to the actions of a few. Now your message as fallen on deaf ears because we're all distracted by the chaos. Maybe next time try and prevent this kind of garbage, or distance yourself from it, rather than follow the mob. More than anything I want to know what is going on in the minds of the people of Toronto. At first when the chaos erupted all your heard was complaints that the police weren't doing enough. Then as the crackdown began, and its aftermath, all you hear is complaints that the police were too heavy handed. Which is it people? Let me try to put this into perspective for you. Who's tax payer money is going to go into the clean up, and repairs? Who is going to have to pay more of their hard earned money to compensate for the lost business store owners will have due to them having to repair their stores, replace looted inventory, etc. It all ends up coming back to the tax payers in the end. Who's money is going to pay for the increased riot force that had to go out to restore order? Whose tax dollars are going to have to be used to prosecute all of these thugs who chose your city to have a good time in? Imagine being the little mom and pops jewelry store that had it's windows smashed and goods looted. That's your lively hood, how easily would you recover? Imagine being a police officer, and walking away with bruises all over, smelling like urine from projectiles tossed at you, and the toll of the physical, emotional, and mental abuse you took not only from the protesters, but stupid citizens whom you were only trying to keep safe. How would you react? When cowardly masked thugs come running at you throwing projectiles and wielding sticks, bats, bricks etc, how would you defend yourself? How does the normal citizen of Toronto feel walking down some of their favorite markets today seeing shops closed, and windows smashed? Does it make you angry? I sure hope so. It makes me angry, and I only lived there for 4 years!
Toronto became a second home to me, and I loved seeing the diversity and culture that existed there. When I see something like that happen to a place I grew fond of, it makes me angry, that someone would care so little about something I care for. I applaud the police who but their personal safety at risk to try and protect the average ungrateful citizen. I hope they gave the knuckleheads a few extra slaps to the back of the head for me.

Time for Dad to Brag

2010-06-02T14:28:00.003-04:00

Well folks,
One of the Joys of being a dad is that you get to brag about your kids. It helps in the bragging process when your kid is one of the greatest all time kids ever! I have to be careful about saying that around him though, because he uses it to his advantage. He's quite the game player with people. He's very smart, and he knows he's cute, and can use that cuteness to his advantage. He also uses his baby face looks to get people to do things for him. For instance, Mommy and Daddy will tell him no, you can't have chocolate milk, you've already had plenty today. He'll then head over to the first person he sees, makes his eyes really big, places his hand gently on theirs and asks for chocolate milk in the most heart wrenching way possible. Then as you are walking to the fridge to get him chocolate milk, he's behind you with a massive smile on his face, but if you turn around, he quickly turns it into a sad face so you don't know you've been suckered. Then when mommy or daddy find out he has chocolate milk, he pretends not to know what's going on, and blames whomever the pawn was that got it for him. I could go on, but needless to say, this kid has the world pretty much figured out already.
So this blog post is to announce his latest photo shoot. He went out with mommy last week to downtown Calgary and took all these shots. He's one photogenic boy, although how could he not be; he's pretty much had mommy snapping daily photo's of him since life began. That's one of the perks/curses of having a mom who is a professional photographer. Anyway, the shoot went great, and there are a bunch of cute shots of the boy. I've attached a teaser at the bottom of this post, you can see the rest at http://jacphotography.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#1553723085268317068

And remember, she loves taking pictures of children if you have any little ones in your life you'd like to have shots of.

Same Blog, New Name, New Face.

2010-06-01T15:08:00.002-04:00

Hello everybody,
Maybe it's the medication getting to me, but I felt my blog needed some sprucing up. For anyone wondering I have been laid up for almost a week now with a wicked cold/flu, and it hasn't been fun. At the same time my little guy Colton, got hit with a really nasty (different) flu bug. He had been throwing up all over our house since last Wednesday. He's better now, and loving life, but dad is still fighting sinus congestion. I've gone off on quite the tangent though.
So I figured I needed to change up my blog. I wasn't too happy with what I had before, and wanted something a little more custom, and a little more me. So I went online and found a sweet looking Superman template, Superman being my favorite superhero of all time; and decided it was the one for me. I also wanted to change the name of the blog as I felt "The Mixing Bowl" was a little too abstract.
I'm looking for feedback folks. Let me know what you think. I love getting feedback so that i can improve this blog and make it the best it can be.

It's That Time Again

2010-05-27T13:21:00.006-04:00

Howdy people,
It's that time again for me. It's time to Decide, Commit, Succeed! It's time to get back to P90X. Last year my lovely wife Jody and I went on the extreme home fitness program, and actually completed the thing. It was really hard, and definitely intense, but it was so satisfying at the end to have completed it. I didn't bulk up as much as I had wanted to, but I got very lean, and in crazy shape. Alas, that was right before Christmas, and things haven't been the same since. I've been very busy at work, and family life has gotten exciting with a new baby on the way. Naturally exercise went on the wayside for me. I've really begun to notice the changes in my body since I started, and I don't like it. So, it's back to workouts for me! I'm going to try to eat a little more strictly to what the diet guide suggested this time, and coca-cola... my kryptonite, I'm afraid you and I are done. Last time we did P90X I actually was able to go without it for the entire 90 days plus. However shortly after, I got back into it and it's been down hill from there. Anyone who says soft drinks aren't addicting is in denial.
So I will be starting my program on June 7th. I have bought the supplies, and I'm raring to go! Next week will be my fitness test, and pre P90X pictures. I can't say yet weather I'll want to share those with you yet, but I'll definitely give you the results of my fitness test, matched up with my end results from the last round of P90X. I am interested to see how far back my fitness has really gone. Mostly, my driving factor in all of this is my desire to be a better example of health for my kids. Right now daddy is a junk food abuser, and it's not a good example. I don't want my life to be shortened anymore by bad health, and I don't want the lives of my kids to be affected by poor habits in eating and exercise. So, here is to success at the end of this program in August! See you all at the finish line!

It's a Boy!!!

2010-05-13T12:25:00.003-04:00

Hello everybody, I want to introduce you to the newest member of the Crane Clan! On Monday the tenth we had our big ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby. The boy was a lot like his older brother and left absolutely no doubt as to his parts. I worry that my kids have a bit of an exhibitionist streak in them.
So this is our new little boy, he is doing well, and developing right on schedule. Both Mom and baby are healthy for that matter. We got a full list of photo's from the Ultrasound which were amazing. I'm blown away with what you could see in the pictures. We got to see his little face, and hands, fingers, toes, and legs. Because his skin is still transparent, you could see his little bones too. Simply amazing.
With the arrival of this new little guy, I now have a good defensive pairing for the NHL. Just kidding. But believe me, life is going to be lots of fun with all the sports going on in the house. I'm looking forward to watching plenty of hockey with my boys, and playing tons of sports with them. Colton is already well on his way, and this little guy will not be too much farther behind.
Now the task upon us is deciding a name for him. last time it was fairly simple. This time not so much. Probably because we were preparing a bit more for it to be a girl. I will appeal to the general public for feedback on this, and feel free to offer suggestions, just don't be offended if we don't take them. Thus far the top names in the running are as follows in order of our preference:
Hayden
Brody
Preston
Kelyn (Kel-in)
Owen
To give you a heads up, we don't want a name that will be too common, such as John, Robert, Andrew, etc. So try to avoid those if you want to submit a suggestion. If you want to venture guesses as to his birthday and weight, we are taking those as well and adding them to his baby book. According to the ultrasounds, Jody is due October 5th. Can't wait to hear the responses! By the way, if you want to see some more ultrasound photo's, Jody has them posted on her Facebook.

Colton's Contest Update

2010-04-23T13:02:00.003-04:00

Well people, the first leg of the contest is over and unfortunately our little man did not make the finalist cut. Looking at the list, I wonder if the odds were stacked against him. I would be shocked if any of the finalists are a year old, at the most. It's too bad, because the prize of going to Disneyland would have been fun. Oh well, life goes on.

I want to thank everyone who went and rated Colton a 10, we appreciate the thoughts. He may not be be the contest winner of Calgary's cutest kid, but he's number one to Mommy and Daddy. In the end what else matters.

Congrats to my Talented Photographer Wife

2010-04-22T12:17:00.003-04:00

Howdy folks! Well, I sure hope you all have been voting for Colton in "Calgary's Cutest Kid" contest. For anyone still not sure how to do it, you go to the link I've posted in the previous posting, and click on the number 10 in the rating bar.

So today's post is a major announcement. My wife as many off you know is a photographer by profession. Coming over here, she was excited at the prospect of shooting some very cool landscapes. About a month ago we took a trip north east to a ghost town near Drumheller, where she took some neat shots of Alberta's forgotten past. She then entered them into the Stampede for consideration in the big art exhibit they do every year. Well, last night she received word that 2 of her photo's have been selected for display in the show! The theme is The Western Showcase. She is very excited as you can imagine, as are Colton and I. We knew she was always very talented with her photography, and this will be an awesome opportunity to get her some additional exposure in a major showcase! Way to go Jody.

Now some of you may be asking what shots were the selected shot's, well, I'd show you, but then you wouldn't make the trip down to the stampede grounds to see them. So come on down, and take a look. If you are interested and really like the photo's they'll be for sale at the gallery too. So from here she is selecting additional photo's to enter into the competition for best in show, hopefully she does well. We're pretty stoked about the exhibit though.

Colton's Needs Your Votes!

2010-04-15T17:45:00.003-04:00

Howdy Everyone,

Well, it has been a little while since my last post. We had a busy couple of weeks full of traveling. We went down to Utah to see the extended family, and Colton had a blast. The 14 hour drive wasn't much fun, there are only so many movies a boy can watch. But there are a bunch of young cousins down there, and he thought it was the coolest thing to hang with them. We had a really good time seeing family that Jody and I haven't seen in almost four years.

After Utah I was home for a couple of days before I had to make a run to Montreal for work. That was my first time ever traveling to the French province. It was very odd, feeling like a foreigner in your own country. I heard more french in those two days than I have in my entire life! Many of the people over there speak great english as well as French though, and they were extremely friendly, at least the ones I met.

The traveling is done for a bit now however, and I'm looking forward to settling in at home with my family for a bit. We are however trying for another trip though, and that bring me to the purpose of this blog post.

Colton has been entered by his mommy into "Calgary's Cutest kid" contest! There is some seriously stiff competition however as there are nearly 4000 entries. He needs all the votes you can muster. I believe you can vote as many times as possible, so please don't hesitate to throw a few his way every day. The first leg of the contest goes to April 22nd. After that the top twenty will be selected, and if Colton makes it; voting for the top twenty will go until May 2nd. The winner will be announced May 3rd. The grand prize is a trip to Disneyland! So get those mouse clicking fingers limbered up and vote as much as you can for our boy! Thank you all very much. The link to his picture is

http://cutestkid.vibemorningshow.com/showcase/view.aspx?ID=146585&R=10

Thank you all who vote. You can feel good in the fact that you helped make a little boys day by sending him to Disneyland!

Happy Birthday Colton!

2010-03-30T00:35:00.014-04:00

This past Saturday was our little man's 2nd birthday. He had a blast, and mommy and daddy still are recovering. Because there are so many pictures, I won't write a ton. I'll just give captions.

He began with opening his presents from mommy and daddy. He got a ton of clothes (which he could care less for) and a bunch of cars from the Cars movie.

Next we took him to the annual Family-A-Fair. There he got to see Barney the purple dinosaur, and get a balloon. After he went to the petting zoo they had there. The goat ended up being his favorite.

Before we left the fair Uncle Al took him to the kids hair cut booth for a little surprise...

Surprise! I think it matches the Cars tattoo on his hand. He thought he was pretty cool after this.

After a long nap. he woke up to find that Great Grandma Carlson, Papa (Grandpa Crane), Gram (Grandma Crane), Uncle Steve, Al, and Auntie Ti-Ti (Christina) were at his house. He had fun entertaining everyone, eating spaghetti dinner, and then opening more presents!

After playing with presents, and harassing the cat with his new dinosaur puppet; it was time for Cake! Mommy made him a really good, custom Dinosaur cake that he went crazy over. He enjoyed blowing out the candles. (We had to light it over about 8 times)

Although his piece of cake was good, Grandma's piece of cake tasted better....

All in all it was a pretty good day. It finished off with Auntie Ti-Ti giving him a bath, and putting him to bed while mommy and daddy had to run off to an open house. He's officially two years old, although it feels like he's been there for a few months now. Happy birthday my boy!

The Auto Adventure

2010-03-24T22:39:00.007-04:00

These next few posts are a catch up on the last little while. To start with, we had the annual Calgary International Auto Show come to town. This was the first year in a long time that I was able to attend, due to living out in Toronto. It was also Colton's first opportunity to go. He is car obsessed, which brings a tear to daddy's eyes (that's my boy!).

We went everywhere! He sat in almost every car there. I think his favorite though was the "Sally" cars. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about go watch Disney's "Cars") Daddy's favorite this year was the Audi R8, it gives me goosebumps.

It was funny walking around with my boy, he wanted to sit in every car possible. At times he would be patient and wait for people to get out of the cars before he would get in, but other times he was too impatient. He would walk up to the people, gently put his hand on their leg, and then begin to push, saying "Out, Out". He then would climb in and look at the nearest person and point to the passenger seat and say "Down", meaning sit down. He would proceed to work every dial, flick every switch, check every mirror, and pretend to drive. It was too funny.

The little guy tried to give daddy a heart attack too. Earlier in the night we went over to look at the Ferrari display. They had the area roped off to keep the public away. However this one couple let their kid go into the area, and he was sitting on the front of a 458 Italia. With Mom and dad just sitting there watching him, he began to rub his rear back and forth on the front! The sales guy came running over begging the parents to get their kid. He got pretty heated about it with the parents. Needless to say, it was a major incident. So the point of my story, we went over to the Lamborghini section where it was roped off as well. My brother Allan, Colton, and I sat there drooling. I looked down at Colton, and could see what he was thinking. I told him, don't even think about it. He began to inch bit by bit towards the rope, then he tried to make a break for it. Luckily Al has a good reach and was able to snag him at the last moment, pulling him back. The whole time he was being pulled back he was laughing.

Needless to say it was a good time, and I think, it'll be a tradition for sure.

Flames Are Clawing Back

2010-03-10T13:20:00.004-05:00

If fear was a person, it would be Jerome Iginla. I once heard that Jerome Iginla laughed in the face of defeat, right before giving it a fatal slap shot to the head!

If you are wondering the reason for the Iggy love fest, it's because thanks in large part to our fearless captain, my beloved Calgary Flames have been playing some of there best hockey right at crunch time. There are exactly 17 games remaining on our season and the playoff race is tight with Calgary clinging to the last spot in the Western Conference. There are 5 teams below Calgary within 7 points or less, and 5 teams above us with 9 points or less. So it really could go either way. This is the home stretch, where teams find out what they are made of. Don't count Calgary out yet. In 2004 they snuck into the playoffs in the final playoff spot, and ended up 1 goal away from winning the Stanley Cup. That is what makes this part of the season so exciting.

Last night Calgary got their 3rd win in a row against the Detroit Redwings, who are typically known as a Juggernaut, and perennial playoff contenders. By the third period Calgary was down 2-1, when Captain Jerome took over. He ended up scoring they tying goal, and assisting on the game winner (He banked it off his own player). His leadership and drive on the ice was unmistakable, and he literally willed the Flames back into the game and on to Victory. This goes along with the hat trick he scored two nights previous. Since his incredible set up of the Gold Medal clinching goal to Sidney Crosby, Iginla seems to be playing with a ton of fire. Amazing how winning does that to an athlete, right?

Well it's too early to break out the championship hats and parade route still, but if the Flames keep playing like this, it's going to make for an exciting playoff run in my opinion. Let's hope they keep up their winning ways. Go Flames Go!

Meet the Newest Little Crane

2010-03-03T12:17:00.009-05:00

Hello to all my readers. Today is a special day for you all as you get to meet the newest addition to our family for the first time. Yesterday we had our first ultrasound (dating), where we got to see our baby for the first time. The heartbeat was excellent at a healthy 168 bpm. The little legs and arms are forming, and you can't see it in this picture, but the little heart was pounding away. Both mom and baby are good and healthy!

It was also Colton's first experience in the ultrasound room since we took his picture before he was born. He thought it was pretty neat, although he was a little concerned at first when they made mommy lie down on the bed, and put gel on her tummy. After that though he watched intently as the tech did her work, and occasionally thought it was funny to poke mommy's belly button. he's going to be a really good big brother I think.

The excitement continues to build as wee await the arrival of our new bundle of joy. We also can't wait to find out if we will be having a boy or girl. That ultrasound is still a couple months away. Rest assured I'll be posting those as well.

As a side note folks, as many of you know Jody is a photographer. She has created a separate blog showcasing her products and design skills. I encourage all of you to go and check it out over the next while. She not only can take fantastic pictures, but she can create albums, cards, invitations, to highlight any occasion. If any of you saw our Christmas card this year, that is a sample of the work she can do. So Go Check It Out!

3/4/2010 @ 10:15 am- Sorry folks, I made a huge mistake and neglected to include the link to Jody's new blog http://www.faerielovelydesigns.blogspot.com/

Go Check It Out!

Reminder to the World: It's OUR Game!

2010-03-01T13:14:00.006-05:00

That's right folks. Once again Canada asserts its absolute dominance over a sport that is truly our national treasure. Unless you lived under a rock, you have to have heard by now about Canada's incredible Gold Medal win in men's hockey to close out the 2010 Winter Olympics. Hollywood could not have written a better script for the way this played out. This game will be joining the 1972 Summit Series as a moment that defined a nation. Canada, had all the pressure in the world on their shoulders. They had assembled one of the greatest hockey teams of all-time, at least on paper. They were competing on home soil in a game that we call our own. They were fighting for pride, trying to avenge their embarrassing exit in the 2006 games in Turin in the quarter finals. And they were playing a fast American team that had yet to trail in any of their games, let alone lose.
The eyes of an entire nation watched, locked in as our team came out on to the ice. An entire nation went into hysterics as Johnathan Toews, and Cory Perry scored the first two goals. An entire nation also held it's collective breath as the Americans rallied to tie up the game with 24 seconds left in the 3rd period to force overtime. But like I said, this is OUR game, and our boys, made sure it stayed that way. 7:40 into over time Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby took a brilliant pass from Jerome "Captain Canada" Iginla, and made no mistake putting it through the legs of US goalie Ryan Miller. The arena, and literally the entire nation erupted into pure euphoria! Any major street in any major city was closed down, full of revellers, dressed head to toe in Canadian colours, waving Canadian flags. Calgary's Red Mile, Yonge Street in Toronto, Robson Street in Vancouver, St. Cathrine's in Montreal, all of them jammed shoulder to shoulder with partiers. You couldn't find a single Canadian bar, pub, or restaurant that wasn't full of wild, elated fans. There were people crying, cheering, hugging, chanting, coming together in the strongest showing of patriotism this country has ever had. It has been labeled a day where you'll remember where you were, and what you were doing when Sidney Crosby scored his golden goal.
I have a few things I want to mention. First off, the men's hockey gold broke the record for the most gold medals won by a single nation in any winter Olympics; 14. In 6 months Sidney Crosby has one the Stanley Cup, and the Olympic Gold. This is the second time in three Olympic games that the Canadian men's and women's hockey teams have both one gold in the same tournament. Canada now is tied with Russia for the most men's hockey gold medals with 8. The US has a way to go, with 2. Is there anyone who doubts the ability of Sidney Crosby as the greatest active NHL player? He's won the world junior championship, the Art Ross Trophy (NHL Leading Scorer), the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP), Lester B. Pearson Trophy (MVP Selected by NHLPA), he's been selected to every All Star game since his rookie year, has been made captain of his team, won a Stanley Cup, and now Olympic gold. Is there anything this kid can't do? He scored the shootout clincher against the Swiss, and the Golden goal. He's accomplished more in 4 short years than most other players do in an entire career!
I have to say folks, today I've never been more proud to be a Canadian. That was a story that I'll be able to tell my children and Grandchildren "I saw Sidney Crosby's golden goal in 2010". And to top it all off, my favorite player Jerome Iginla had a great tournament, he led the team in goals, and assisted on the biggest goal of them all. I'm still a buzz over the victory, and today you can feel the electricity in the air over the greatest victory in Canadian history!
So tell me, where were you when Sidney Crosby scored the "Golden Goal"? What were you doing? Did you celebrate?

My Family Finally comes HOME!

2010-03-01T12:19:00.005-05:00

For those of you who may not know, two weekends ago our family took a trip out east to Ontario to visit friends and family. Unfortunately I was only able to stay for the weekend due to work constraints, however Jody and Colton stayed. I'll admit, when I first got home from the trip, I thought "Wohoo, place all to myself! Time to live it up. However, that was not the case. Having a family changes you I found out. I was bored out of my mind, with only the cat to keep me company. The house was eerily quiet without the sounds of a little toddler running around. Going to bed at night was pretty lonely too. I did have two school exams to study for and take, so that kept me a little busy, but once those were complete, life was fairly uneventful. I actually ended up staying late at work quite a few nights, just to occupy myself. Yes, yes, it's a sad state of affairs for sure.
However, the boredom is over! Tonight my family finally returns home, and life can get back to normal. I'm one excited man, as I've missed my family deeply.
So with that out of the way, I can give you some of the highlights from our trip out there. First off, we got to see Jody's brother Stephen, who has recently returned home from successful missionary service in California. That was pretty exciting, especially for Colton, who has never met his uncle. Stephen is still Stephen, but a much more mature and refined man, which happens to most guys who serve missions. It's definitely changed him for the better (not that he was bad before), and it was a real joy to be around him again.
We also got to see her sister Bekky who recently returned from an extensive youth exchange program called Katimavik. It took her through 3 different provinces in the east, where she worked in different programs. It sounded like quite a fun experience, and she had lots of great pictures.
Other highlights included the traditional dim-sum meal with her brother Matthew in Toronto's Chinatown (mmmmm bbq pork sticky buns), a family picture (which I'll post when Jody gets home), and Man-Night with all the in law men. It was great to see her family and spend some quality time with everyone. Big thanks to Graeme and Jenny for coming down all the way from Barrie, to hang with us.
We also got to see some of our friends from our time out in Guelph. Our neighbors, nick and Janet, Tom and Andrea Palmer, Amber and Gracie (Colton's little girlfriend), and many more. It was great to catch up and see how everyone is doing. We do miss them all.
Lastly, I'll leave off with one of Colton's big events. Because we won't be out there for his birthday in 26 days, his Aunt Jenn organized a small celebration for he and his Uncle Matthew, whose birthday had just passed. The apex of the celebration came when it was time to sing happy birthday. Aunt Jenn and Aunt Jenny, created these very cool Cookie Monster Cupcakes! Could there be anything better for a little boy? At first, he wasn't sure what to do with it. He poked it, and observed it, and spun it around...........

Then daddy came over with a cupcake and showed Colton what to do with it. Once he saw me tear in to mine, he didn't waste any time. First to go was the chocolate chip cookie, then the white chocolate/chocolate chip eyeballs. Once those were out of the way, he methodically devoured the rest.......

I'd say that was a good trip, wouldn't you?

Some Random Notes Before Our Trip

2010-02-18T11:59:00.006-05:00

So has anyone been watching the Winter Olympics? I've caught bits and pieces of it here and there. Shaun White was ridiculous last night in the Men's Snowboard Half Pipe. I do not see how anyone can top his dominance. I also caught a bit of the men's speed skating, but in reality, here in Canada, is there any other sport that matters more than the Men's Hockey? No, not even close. That is the one sport I will not be missing! This year Team Canada has the looks of the most complete hockey team ever assembled. Our selections this year were so deep, that you could make an equally strong second team. So now our nation waits, with it's collective breath held as we hope our boys can bring back the Gold to Canada on home soil. Our first test cam up against Norway, and it was an absolute walk. My man Jerome Iginla Lit things up with a hat trick (3 goals in one game, for those not familiar with the sport), and was absolutely dominant. He was teamed up with Rick "Nasty" Nash, and Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby. This formed an absolutely lethal first line for the Canadians that i think we'll see a lot more of as the tournament wears on. I love it! I can't wait to see how this tournament wears on, it's going to be the most exciting hockey since the '72 Summit Series. And I have a feeling Jerome is going to be the major force behind Canada's road to victory.

Ok, enough hockey for now. On to other things, a little later today me and the fam are hopping a plane to go visit Jody's family out east. I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to the plane ride. Over the last few years I've been flying a ton, and at first it was all neat and exciting, but now, I just dread it. The cramped seating, the boring entertainment, people climbing over one another, turbulence. I really don't enjoy flying anymore. But it will be good to get back to see friends and family in Ontario. I'm dying to visit Guelph again (where we lived before moving to Calgary). I miss that little town, and the people there. If we end up back in Ontario again, that's the only place I think I'm willing to go. Out of all the towns we lived in when we were out there, Guelph was the one place I actually felt "at home" in. It was a wonderful little place that holds a special spot in my heart. Another cool thing though was that you were never too far away from anyone or anything in Ontario, because of the highway system there. While we lived in Guelph, we were never more than 45 minutes away from family and friends. So needless to say, it will be nice to visit the old stomping grounds again.

Well, I will be offline until I get back home on Monday, so have a good weekend everyone. Keep your sticks on the ice, and GO Canada GO!

Colton's Rough Family Day

2010-02-18T00:12:00.004-05:00

We family day has come and gone. Did anyone else out there have fun? For us we got together with my family to go to Fort Calgary. It's a historical site, the starting point of Calgary. It was a bit of a disappointment I'd have to say. There used to be a large military fort there, now there are only a couple log sheds remaining. I'm not sure what happened to the fort. We went into the visitors center and looked at the few exhibits they had set up, kind of a let down.
So after that the girls went into the souvenir shop to get some candy, and we boys took off outside to go check out where we thought the fort was going to be. After we were disappointed to find the fort gone, my brother Stephen picked up Colton to go for a walk. Allan and I got into making snowballs and throwing them at each other. We then decided to head back to see everyone else, but before that I had a snowball still to throw at Allan. instead of taking the snowball like a man, he decided to run behind Stephen and Coton to use them as a shield. Before I even threw the snowball, Stephen picked up Colton, and tried to run away. After only taking a couple strides, he slipped in the snow and he and Colton came crashing down. The unfortunate part was Colton made a face plant onto the ground. He lifted his head up and then the pain set in. I rushed over, and Uncle Steve picked him up right away. As soon as I came over to the poor crying boy, I could see the damage. Almost immediately a large goose egg formed, and his poor little face was scratched up from the ice. The worst part for him was all the slushy ice up his nose. Mommy showed up shortly after, and we took him to the car to get cleaned up. The rest of the day he would see himself in the mirror and would say "Ow, broke." I think he's feeling better now, as he hasn't missed a step. For the record, this was not Uncle Stephen's fault, it was daddy and Uncle Al being stupid. He forgave us pretty quick though. So I felt I'd share the picture with you, it looks a ton better after he got all cleaned up.

On another note, I just want to give a shout out to my wonderful wife. This last weekend, Jody got the opportunity to sing at the halftime of the Calgary Roughnecks game (Professional Lacrosse team). The theme of the game was Love Spurned, and Jody chose to sing Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". She did a wonderful job, and it was a great experience. Although she didn't win, I was so greatly impressed by her courage. She sang in front of 10, 800 people, and did a great job of it too. I'm very glad to have a wife with a wonderful talent of signing. It's a very nice blessing to our home. Way to go honey!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

2010-02-01T00:36:00.005-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very big announcement! I'm not going to draw it out any. Without further delay, Colton would like to tell you all something.....

Well, hopefully you got the message. Yes, it's true, we are expecting a new little addition to our family. We only found out this week, so it's still very early. We are estimating our due date to be October 5 or 6. We are very excited, but nervous as well. I think I may be more excited to see Cole in action as a big brother.
So there you have it. We are excited to share this news with all of you. Have a great night!

A Sad Day in Flames Town

2010-02-01T00:13:00.002-05:00

Folks, it's days like this that I hate about being a die hard fan. I am a massive Dion Phaneuf fan. Aside from Jarome Iginla, he was the other favorite player I had on the team. With the Flames mired in a slump that ended last night, our G.M. Darryl Sutter decided to shake things up and he traded away Dion Phaneuf! I'm not angry about the trade, but I am not happy about it in the least. I understand that changes need to happen, but I don't feel we made a good trade here. Not only did we trade Dion to the Maple Leafs (one of my most hated teams), but they only got a bunch of middle of the road players. I don't feel that this trade really addressed our need for more improved offence! Secondly, I can't help but feel that this could be a repeat of the worst trade in in Flames history, Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman. That ended up being disastrous for the Flames, and wonderful for the leafs. We just traded away the most feared, and statistically, the #1 defenseman since the lockout, for very little in return. I know, I know, it free's up salary in the salary cap era, but there were other options, and much better options in my opinion.

Now I just saw on the sports ticker, that the Flames are expected to announce the trade of Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers, for Chris Higgens and Ales Kotalik! I wanted Jokinen gone for sure, because he has been a bust for $5 million, but again, we're getting back mediochre players. What the heck? I thought that Darryl wanted to compete for the cup this year! Now at a very critical time in the season, he is purging the team. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You are revamping half the team in the middle of a very tight playoff race. One or two players is understandable, but 6 in one day? These are players coming from different systems, that now have to learn a new system (style of play), and establish chemistry with the remaining team members. It doesn't seem like a very smart move to me. If by some miracle, this bold move works out, Sutter will look like a genius. But if it blows up in his face, and believe me, in the sporting world it is very likely; the fans will be calling for his head.

This kind of anxiety makes it hard to be a fan some days. However, regardless; I will always support my team. But I am going to really, really miss my boy Dion Phaneuf. I hope he does well, in Toronto, and makes Sutter sorry for trading such a dominant talent away.

Happy Hockey Day in Canada

2010-01-30T22:40:00.003-05:00

Happy hockey Day in Canada eh? Yes folks, today is a big day here in Canada. This is the day where we celebrate our national game. The entire day The Hockey Night in Canada show broadcasts all day long in cities all across Canada. On top of that All 6 Canadian teams play each other in games throughout the day. Tonight we in Alberta get the treat of watching one of Hockey's greatest and fiercest rivalries, Calgary vs. Edmonton. The Battle of Alberta! Both teams have been mired in ugly slumps. So tonight, someone gets to climb out of the muck of a losing streak and get back on track. Well actually, Edmonton has been there all year, but they always show up to play against Calgary. So happy Hockey Day folks!

By the way, keep an eye out for a big announcement coming to my blog tomorrow!

Flames Commentary and Other Notes

2010-01-28T11:56:00.003-05:00

Well people, it's not getting any prettier. For those who may not follow along in the hockey world, my beloved Flames are mired in the worst losing streak in 8 years! We have now gone winless in 8 straight games and lost 9 of our last 10. Our offence has gone completely anemic and our players look like they have no confidence in themselves at all. So I know what some of you are thinking (at least the hockey fans). How could this happen? How is a team that should be among the leagues elite, on paper anyway; struggling so much. With our level of talent, how have things gone so bad?

Well let me give you my two cents on the subject. First off, this is not a problem with the coach, or the general manager. This is solely owned by the players folks. Brent Sutter is a good coach, and his system of play works, and produces winners. New Jersey was able to do it two years in a row. That team had players who had career years under Brent's tutelage. The fact of the matter is, there is a problem in that locker room and it rests in the minds of those players. It's unfortunate, because this year Mikka Kipprusoff is having a career year. His goal tending is the best it's been in years, and his teammates aren't taking advantage of it. They are hanging him out to dry night in and night out. Our defensive play at best has been inconsistent, and our offence, as I said before has gone stone cold. Now, I've heard grumblings that the problem is Iginla, he is our top scorer, and he's not scoring, and when he doesn't score, the team doesn't win. I have a problem with that train of thought. Iginla is a proven sniper, and still in my mind; the best power forward in the league. However, for the last couple of years he hasn't been given much help. This year, he is the only legitimate offensive threat the Calgary Flames have. He doesn't have any teammates who can step up and provide a real threat of secondary scoring. The other teams know this. They know that all they have to do is shut Iginla down, and they have the best chance at winning the game. That is why he was in an 11 game scoring drought (it ended last night with a goal in Dallas). He needs a top flight centerman to team up with, who can feed him the puck. A guy who can offer a bonified secondary scoring threat, to take pressure off Iginla. Langkow isn't it. He's a third line center, second line at best. Conroy is nearing the end of his career, and isn't effective anymore, and Jokinen? More like JOKE-inen. He's been a total bust for a $5 million price tag. He's a second line center as well. I've been hearing fans screaming for a trade, well if there was ever a need for the Flames, a legitimate first line center is really the only move I think needs to be made. That would however come at a price. You'll have to look at giving up one of your top defencemen to acquire someone like that. I'm talking a Phaneuf or a Regher. Neither of which I would want to give up. So it goes back to what I was saying before. This problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the players. They have to break themselves out of this. They need to get back to playing smart, effective, physical hockey. I know they are capable of it, I've seen it. Mentally though, I think they've lost their confidence, and I believe it's up to the leaders on that team to snap them out of it.

Now the hockey stats nerds, are forecasting that in the Western Conference, it'll take 93-96 points to make the 8th and final playoff spot. If Calgary were to achieve that in the 29 remaining games, it means we have to win 22, and at most lose 7. Can Calgary do it? Hey, it's been done before by other, less talented, teams. Here's hoping...

My Fatherly Indulgence

2010-01-20T00:16:00.003-05:00

I've warned you all numerous times that I am prone to the occasional indulgence regarding my son. I just can't help myself sometimes. He's my little buddy, and his daddy is his biggest fan. So this fan is more for the benefit of my family, but I hope those of you who are our friends might enjoy this too.
Jody has decided to enter the boy in a contest for Regis and Kelly. It's called Live's Beautiful Baby Contest. People hand in pictures of their kids, and to the baby chosen goes the prize of a cover shot on Parenting Early Years magazine, $125,000 to a school education fund, and a trip to the show. Anyhow, what you have to do is hand in a picture of your kid, they go over it, and then they chose the winner. So Jody sent me the picture we took this week, that she wanted to hand in. I was looking at it and couldn't believe that was my little boy! So I did some researching and found a picture of him from only this past May. Take a look!

Really cute boy, bald as ever. Now look at his picture from this week. I can not believe that my little guy has grown into a little man! in just a few months, he looks like this...

I was blown away by the difference between the two pictures, and all this in such a short period of time. It truly brings meaning to the saying, Time Flies. Just as a side note, is there any question as to who his Daddy is? That's my little boy!

Olympic Fever Hits the West

2010-01-19T12:27:00.004-05:00

Well folks it is January 19th today and we are now 24 days removed from the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC. I love the winter Olympics. The competition of sport is an incredible thing, and it always has the power to unite a nation. Who in Canada can forget 2002 in Salt Lake City, UT when the Canadian Men's Hockey Team won our first gold medal in the competition in 51 years! Since then the pressure has really been on Hockey Canada to assert our dominance of the sport we love so much as a nation. 2006 in Torino was an absolute disappointment, and this year the pressure is on even more so to avenge that debacle. We have, what I see as the most complete hockey team assembled yet, and I'm expecting big things on our road to owning the hockey podium.
Anyhow, enough of men's hockey. There are other sports that will be played at the Olympics, and I look forward to all the excitement that will come.
So yesterday I left my office to come home. I got on my usual route and decided to quickly stop off at the car wash to clean off my car, before I finished my journey. I was only in there for 5 minutes, and when I came out and back on to the main road, I was a little perplexed. All of a sudden there were crowds of people lining the road. My southbound lane was all of a sudden a parking lot. The northbound lane was completely empty. I wondered what was going on. All of a sudden a couple of police cars came flying down the northbound road. At first I thought "Hmm, was there a huge accident?", but I quickly rejected that idea, it didn't account for all the people. Then I saw more flashing lights, and 2 huge red vans down the road, slowly coming towards me. In front of them was a little shuttle bus that was stopping every 200 feet or sow, and letting people off dressed in white. I finally got it. It was the Olympic Torch Relay! I thought it was supposed to come through town the day before. So traffic was at a standstill as the relay went by, so I figured I'd just enjoy it and take a snap shot. This is what I got...
It was neat to see that. It definitely made me realize how close the Olympic games are. It's even more special to us Canadians this year as it is on our home turf. It puts extra pressure on us to perform, and succeed in "Owning the Podium" as the slogan goes. So to all of our Canadian athletes, GO Canada Go! Good luck, and bring home some gold!

Extend a Helping Hand

2010-01-13T16:38:00.005-05:00

Howdy Folks,

It's days like today that make you grateful for what you have. Though you think you may be having a tough day at work, it's definitely worse in other parts of the world today. As many of you know already, a massive earthquake struck Haiti last night around 5:00 pm. The earthquake measured 7.0 and has thoroughly devastated the Western Hemisphere's most impoverished nation. Thousands have already lost their lives, and they are predicting that there could possibly be a total into the hundreds of thousands. This country hasn't even recovered from the massive floods that took 800 lives this summer, and now this. The capital city of Port-au-Prince is 3/4 destroyed and the people literally have nothing to go to. The hospitals are inoperable, the main penitentiary was leveled and all the inmates have escaped, even their Presidential Palace has caved in. This truly is a disaster to rival all disasters. Because of the deplorable economic conditions, the only chance this entire nation has of surviving is receiving aid from other nations. Many charities have geared up already, and have mobilized their relief teams. We need to look at ourselves and see if there is anything we can do. Even if we don't have the financial means to donate, we can at least lend our prayers over to these people. For those of you however, who do want to contribute something, be sure to use only trusted and credible charities. During times like this, enterprising criminals will try to set up fraudulent accounts to collect money. Some of the organizations I would recommend are:

http://www.savethechildren.org/

http://www.worldvision.ca/

http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse

www.redcross.ca/helpnow

http://www.humanitariancoalition.ca/

http://www.msf.ca/

http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/

These are all reputable charities that will get the aid to where it is needed most. It's times like these, where those of us who have been given a lot, need to help those not as fortunate. Remember, every little bit counts. No donation at this point is insignificant. Right now the releif organizations are aasking for monetary donations only. I'm sure in the coming weeks, there will be other opportunities to help in other ways. It's times like these where we as a global community can pull together, let's make it happen.

Christmas Overview

2010-01-11T23:47:00.007-05:00

Howdy everyone,
This is a bit late, but it's the first opportunity I have had to report on our Christmas. As I said before, Christmas is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love everything about it. The feeling in the air. The food, the family, the love, and how everyone seems to treat each other a bit nicer. People get a bit kinder, and we tend to think more of others during the holiday season. This year was Christmas in Calgary. This is one of the drawbacks with having two families in different provinces. We definitely missed our Ontario half. Next year it will be Christmas in Ontario, which means we'll miss our Calgary family. Anyhow, back to my overview. It was a great year this year. It started off with my family coming over to our for Christmas Eve dinner. Jody and my Mom did a great job at putting together a nice spread. We got to open our traditional pajama gift, and then Colton went to bed. Allan and I spent the next hour putting together the Imaginarium Train Set Colton got from all his Grandparents. The next morning was Christmas Day. After breakfast, Jody, Colton, and I headed to the tree. We opened our stockings, Then moved on to the gifts under the tree. Poor little Colton, Mommy went a little overboard with his gifts. He started off well, but after about the 4th or 5th gift, he was on overload. He didn't even open his last couple of gifts. Although, that train table of his was the creme de la creme. Loves that table. He also got Shrek 2, and I'm thinking he's probably watched it 15 times. After that we went to Grandma and Grandpa's place for family gift exchange, then on to Great Grandma's for dinner. On Boxing day we had a party with extended family, and after that we pretty much crashed, it was a whirlwind adventure. It was quite the fun time, and mostly for Colton. He had such a blast, and got so many gifts (easy when you're the first Grandchild). Christmas is always for the kids anyway.
I'm sad to see it go though. I wish it was Christmas all year long. That to me would be perfection. Anyhow, Merry Christmas to everyone, and I wish you all the best for 2010, on behalf of my family. Enjoy some pictures below.
This was one of Daddy's great gifts. A 30th Anniversary vintage Flames Jersey. It's currently off getting named and numbered with Mike Vernon's ID's (my boyhood hero).

This is Colton in the back end of his new School Bus tent. (Best value for $20 bucks), this was a favorite of his, along with the train table, basketball hoop, flames PJ's, Flames Jersey, mini hockey sticks, snowman on motorcycle, etc... Are you starting to see how he was overloaded?

Here is a wonderful picture of my lovely Jody opening her stocking. She made out pretty well for Christmas, including her next book in The Vampire Diaries.

And again, here we have Colton playing with his "Beep Beep". He loves tractors, and the beeping noise they make when they back up. Mommy found this one, it makes all the noises.

Super Saturday for the Coley Boy

2010-01-11T23:04:00.003-05:00

Just this past Saturday we went out to the Calgary Bike show for 2010. I'd never been before, so I didn't know what to expect. It was a ton of fun, and there were a ton of really cool bikes. It almost made me want to get a bike of my own, almost. I actually can't do bikes. I can never feel comfortable on them. Not having anything between me and the pavement, at 100 kmh; freaks me out. Along with this being mine and Jody's first time at the show, we brought along our little boy, Colton. Little Coley is a total motorcycle fanatic. Thanks to "Papa" and Auntie Manda with their bikes, Colton goes nuts over bikes.

So at the show was a freestyle demonstration. It featured the 4 top Canadian Motocross Freestyle champions, and the host of Speed television's SuperBikes show. He was a crotch rocket freestyler, and his stunts were really cool. Anyhow, it was a show we figured Colton would enjoy, and as you can see from the video, he was more than impressed. He actually sat for the whole 90 minute show without getting antsy at all. He sat with Grandpa in absolute amazement as these guys did their jumps with pyrotechnics and everything. By the end he was clapping and cheering along with the crowd. The show was really good. One of the guys did 5 straight back flips with different variations. Some of the guys jumped so high, I honestly thought they might hit the roof at one point. Needless to say it was definitely worth it.

A great Source of Entertainment

2010-01-08T16:35:00.002-05:00

Are you Bored today? Is work not that exciting? Maybe the kids are driving you nuts , and you're about 5 seconds away from a nervous breakdown? Well cheer up stress cadet! Comic relief is just a click away. Thanks to the wonderful corporation of Wal*Mart, there is a way to pick yourself up off the ground, and find joy in life.

Ever wonder what happened to the kid in class who used to eat glue? What about the neighbour girl who had to wear a helmet everywhere she went? Well, wonder no more, simply type in www.peopleofwalmart.com, and prepare to be amazed. If you've ever felt like you have nothing to wear that will look good, or perhaps you don't like your hair cut. Maybe you think you're not cool enough compared to others. Well give yourself a nice shot of confidence to the arm, and see the creatures trolling the isles of your local Wal*Mart. This material is so great, it'll make you feel good about your own self.

If you need that quick pick me up, don't delay. Get to a computer and log on for some free fun entertainment. Wow yourself with the Rainbow Brite wanna-be. Or stare in amazement at the 4 ft mullet hair style. You'd swear this was joke, but you'd be wrong my friends. This is simply the colorful characters , whose purpose in life is to make others feel better about themselves. I'll tell you one thing, I'll pay much better attention next time I go to Wal*Mart. Perhaps one day I'll even have my own entry to post. Please folks, if you have enough nerve to check this site out, post in my comments what your favorite is. Thanks.

Jody's Results

2010-01-02T20:10:00.008-05:00

Well, Jody isn't quite as shy as me and she promised a bunch of friends and family they could see the results so we are posting them here! She wasn't aiming to lose weight, just tone up but ended up going from 123 to 119 and losing an inch on her hips, an inch and a half on her waist....A couple things that she is especially proud of are the differences in the fit test. Here are some of the results:

Day 1 Day 90

Ab in & outs: 56 104

Pull ups: 1 1/2 2 1/14

Push ups: 10 21

Wall squats: 3:09 4:43

Vertical jump: 14" 16"

So here they are, not sure if they will stay up long as Jody might lose her nerve but she looks great and we are both looking forward to round 2!!! Oh....and she just HAD to mention to please ignore her awful haircut on day 1, thats a whole other story.

P90X, We Brought it, and Finished!

2009-12-22T00:33:00.003-05:00

Howdy Folks! Well the Christmas season is upon us. I love this time of year. I actually adore this time of year. It is the absolute best time of the whole year. Many of my favorite memories come from this time of year. Those memories are filled with family and friends, traditions, and the spirit of Christmas. I hope you all have a great holiday season. I'll give you all an update on how things go for us come Christmas.
As for this post, it is to report on a major accomplishment for Jody and I. Some of you know that we've been doing the work out program P90X. We really wanted to get into shape, and thought this might be a good way, and a lot of fun. Well, when they say it's extreme, they mean it. It was one of the hardest programs I've done. By sticking to this program, you are supposed to transform your body into a well oiled machine in 90 days. The program was great and did hold up its end of the bargain. I've never been in this kind of shape in my life. My vertical jump increased by 21 inches. I went from being able to do 3 wide grip pull ups to doing 6-7. My cardio has improved greatly, I can do 2 times the push ups (35), and curls (45). Now, you're supposed to take day 1 and day 90 pictures to show your progress. We did do this, but I am a little shy about showing them, so sorry. you'll have to do with this picture of the Mexican Luchador, it's a close representation. just kidding.
I actually gained a lot of knowledge doing this program. I didn't achieve all of my goals with it. I was hoping to really put on some mass and size, however I just ended up getting very lean and toned. This was because of my diet habits. I learned that your diet is the most important part of the whole project. I wasn't taking in enough calories. According to the estimations in the booklet, i was taking in enough, but those are estimations that are supposed to be changed for people when you understand your own circumstances. I happen to have an overactive metabolism, so I should have been taking in close to 3000 calories, but was only doing 2100-2400 every day.I did love the healthy eating though. I can definitely notice the difference, that the healthy intake has caused. I have more energy, I have yet to get sick, when everyone else around me has been sick, and I feel more alert. One of my biggest vices before this program was pop. I used to drink a Dr. Pepper at least once a day. I haven't touched a drop of pop in 90 days, and I don't feel like I'm missing out. I thought I would struggle with the temptation a lot more. Anyhow, I would recommend this program to anyone looking to get in shape. It is a very hard program, so make sure you research it and make sure you can make the minimum requirements before committing to it. It requires a lot of will power and determination, and believe me, Jody and I were tested some days. All in all though, it's worth it. I'm amazed, as I now have muscles, I never had before, and I feel great. I'm going to take the required couple of weeks off to recover, but then I think I'm going to tackle it again, but increase my diet. I want to thank my wonderful wife for doing this crazy project with me though, it was hard, but a ton of fun. Jody, you look great! Keep posted and maybe one day I'll get brave enough to show you our results pictures.

Could this be the Year?

2009-12-02T12:31:00.003-05:00

I don't want to jump to conclusions folks, because there is a big risk of jinxing your team, But could this be the year my beloved Flames make a run at the cup?

This last week was one of the best weeks I can remember in recent history for Flames hockey. It all began with a hard fought home victory against a troublesome Phoenix team. The Flames were able to stick to their game plan, and grind out a 2-1 win over the Coyotes at home. That was a huge monkey off their backs, as they have uncharacteristically struggled at the Saddledome this year.

Next it was off to embark on the longest road trip of this season. First stop, Detroit, and the always dangerous Red Wings. This was set to be a battle of epic proportions. The banged up Red Wings pestered Kipper all night long, but he stood on his head earning a 3-0 shutout, his 32 of his career.

The following night we ended up in Columbus to play the Blue Jackets, with Curtis McElhinney (the back up) in net. It started out really shaky with the Blue Jackets taking a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period. However with 8:29 left in the game the Flames found their stride and scored 2 goals in a 1:28 to tie the game! Then, with overtime solving nothing, we went to the always exciting shootout. After 4 rounds Jamie Lundmark skated in hot and sure, and scored for the winner! Jody and I could barely contain ourselves. It was one of the most exciting games I've seen in a while.

Finally on Monday we were down in Nashville to face the Predators. This game wasn't even close. Calgary played a tight, smash mouth defensive game and walked away with yet another shutout in a 5-0 victory. It was Kippers 33rd for his career.

On top of all this the Flames have had outstanding coaching by Brent Sutter, a wall of a goalie in Mikka Kipprusoff, contributions from all 4 lines, and the consummate leadership of our heart and soul captain Jarome Iginla. As a side note, Jarome was just awarded the player of the month honours by the league for an outstanding November, where he collected 20 points in 14 games (13 goals, 7 assists).

Why am I so excited about this year? Because we appear to have so much depth in the team. On a night where Jarome isn't scoring we have others who step up and do. We are beginning to tighten up more defensively and are playing smarter in our zones. The biggest reason however, is our goaltender. The Kipper is playing Vezina Trophy hockey right now, and is capable of stealing games for us when offensively, we may not be sharp. (The Vezina trophy is awarded to the leagues top goaltender every year)

This team I believe is earning it's stripes. They're learning to play consistent hockey, something that has been missing the last few years. Another shocking stat is our road record. We are the best team on the road right now in the league with a 9-1-2 record. For those of you who may be wondering why that is impressive, it's because those road games are the toughest points to earn, when you are playing in a hostile environment, after being on a plane the night before. This team is looking tough, and mean, and that gives me confidence.

I know it's early, but I'm really wondering. Could this be the year we go for the Cup?

Tiger Update..

2009-12-02T12:25:00.003-05:00

And just when I've gone off defending Tiger and the amount of scrutiny he's come under, I end up with a little bit of egg on my face. Tiger today, posted on his website that he is sorry to his family and friends for some infidelity issues. Yesterday a woman, no the one first accused; came forward claiming to have had a relationship with Tiger. apparently, this one has some merit to it.
I don't want to get into gossip, and tabloid issues. I'll simply just say that it's very sad and disappointing. I looked at Tiger as one of the rare athletes that didn't bow under the pressures of being a public figure. Like he said, nobody is perfect, but is it so wrong to be a little faithful now a days?

My Mother Always Taught Me to Mind My Own Business

2009-12-01T12:04:00.004-05:00

Ladies and Gents, I have a real problem. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a major fan of Tiger Woods. not just because of what he does on the golf course, but because of who he is, and what he does off the course. I am fascinated by the attributes that comprise, what I feel; is the greatest competitor in sports. I also respect how he has been able to keep himself out of the eye of public scrutiny his whole life. unfortunately that seems to have changed this week.

As many of you know, Tiger was involved in a MINOR traffic accident last Thursday at 2:25 a.m. , in front of his Florida estate. The report from the police stated that in the act of backing out of his driveway, Mr. Woods hit a fire hydrant, and then a tree. The force of the impact was minor enough that airbags didn't deploy, but forceful enough to give him some cuts and bruises. Police arrived on the scene, found Mr. Woods lying on the grass being attended to by his wife. He was treated at the scene and taken to hospital. There he was admitted treated, and released in good condition. Alcohol was not a factor. Charges are pending upon completion of the investigation. These folks, are the facts up to this point. Again, I emphasize the word FACTS.

Now for the rest of the story. When media reports (term used loosely) first broke, they said Tiger had been involved in a major accident near his home, and was taken to hospital in serious condition. There were reports that he wasn't conscious, that he was seen bleeding profusely from the neck. Later, once the hospital released their statement of his good condition; the media began to speculate what had happened. This is where my big problem starts. If any of you don't want to hear my rant and rave about the media, you should log off now. You've been warned.

I can't stand how the media has become more and more tabloid driven, than fact driven. Now a days we are bombarded by the latest scandal, rumor, and speculation. The media no longer reports on news, they search out and dig up trash, looking for drama, disfunctionality, and scandal. There are morons out there chasing celebrities, and public figures with a little hand held video cameras, asking them about the latest scandal and calling it news! As I've mentioned before, Journalism, is a dying, if not already dead; art. I don't think there is a single true Journalist left out there. They are all glorified tabloid jockey's. And now they've turned their eyes on Tiger.

Rumors and speculation have run rampant since this incident was first reported. It has gone from mild, to malicious, to outright vindictive. I believe the media has a grudge against Tiger, because he has managed to stay so private. Every time they try to delve in to his personal life he shuts the door, so now they are out for blood, and this is a possible way to get it. The rumors have been that Tiger was having an affair, that his wife, was angry and chased him out of the house with a golf club, smashing the windows of his SUV. They say he is refusing to speak to State Troopers because he's trying to hide the fact that he was drunk. They're also reporting that perhaps he was sneaking off in the middle of the night to meet up with his mistress. This morning I read on the front page of the Post "Has Tiger's image become tainted? Will this deter current and future sponsors from allowing him to represent their brands?" I've also heard from some "reporters" in the sports media, that his silence is only creating more controversy, and doing him more damage. Folks, This is all a ploy to try and get the Tiger out of it's cave so to speak. This is an example of the type of sensationalism, that honestly, is destructive and evil to society.

Here are the facts I've learned through research. I'll post the links as well, so you can see them for yourself if you'd like. 1. Alcohol was NOT a factor. 2. He is not having an affair, as stated by the supposed mistress. (see http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2009/12/rachel-uchitel-denies-affair-with-tiger-woods.html) 3.He is not required to speak to the state troopers, for a minor accident like this. All that is required is a driver's licence and his registration. ( see http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2009/11/police-deny-media-reports-of-woods-investigation.html) 4. Tiger Woods owes us nothing more than the statement he posted on his website. Which I think is a fair explanation. (http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/200911297726222/news/)

This has been fairly embarrassing for the worlds top ranked golfer. It was a mistake made by a human being. I think he is handling it the right way by keeping it all in house. If there was nothing criminal happening, than what business of it is ours. He doesn't have to explain himself to anyone, as to why he was pulling out of his driveway in the early morning. He doesn't need to defend himself to anyone. It really bothers me how nowadays everybody thinks they are entitled to know everything about everyone. I don't owe it to anyone to reveal what goes on in my private life. That's my business, and nobody else's. Some of you may say "Well that's the price of being in the public eye." I hate that statement. Yes, being in the public eye opens you up to more scrutiny, but it doesn't mean you are required to air the family laundry.

I for one hope, and know that if Tiger stays quiet long enough, this will all go away. Right now the media is trying to dig really hard for a story, and I think its a testament to the pathetic lives they lead as well as all of us who drink up the dribble they put out there. We all have issues in our lives we have to deal with, so let's focus on that, rather than trying to distract ourselves with someone else's. If your interested in a good article about this, go to http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=4700875&sportCat=golf

Let's All Take a Collective Breath... Calm Yourselves.

2009-11-10T14:22:00.003-05:00

Well folks. I think the picture says it all. Actually, I'm going to write a little more to make my point crystal clear on this subject.
The wonderful swine flu! The big bad deadly pandemic that is going to rival the black plague, or in other words, a load of crap from our wonderful media. I am so sick and tired of all the fear mongering and paranoia going around regarding this H1N1 Flu. Everyday I turn on the TV or open up the paper, or talk to people on the street, it's H1N1 this, swine flu that, are you getting your shot? Can you believe there is a shortage of vaccine?
So for all of you who are either a part of the fearing crowd, or those who are confused about this flu strain; let me try to help you out. First off, I think many of you are relying on the news or what you've heard from others as your source of information regarding the flu. The major problem with this is that the media is all about sensationalism, and most other people are doing the same as you. Its like one big telephone game. The truth gets more and more distorted every time. So what are you to do? Well, my suggestion is research it. Go talk to your doctor and get some info. Although that may be difficult as their offices are crammed with every nut job that has a sniffle and is sure they're H1N1 positive. So what's your next option? Try the Internet. In 45 minutes I found over 10 credible government, and health sites that separated fact from fiction regarding the swine flu. They also tell you what to look for, who's at risk for complications, and prevention tips. Honestly, there is information out there to be read.
Here is what I learned from these websites. 1) The H1N1 Flu is deadly only to those who have chronic health conditions (Heart or respiratory), or compromised immune systems (HIV, Cancer). The N1H1 flu MAY cause complications for Pregnant women, the elderly, and children 5 years and under. That is why they are in the high risk category. Does this mean they'll die if they get it? No, it only means they are more susceptible to developing complications than the average normal healthy person, and in some cases these complications can develop into something like numonia, which can be life threatening.
2) The symptoms of the H1N1 flu are the same as the regular mild flu, additionally some MAY experience vomiting or diarrhea. In fact the majority of H1N1 cases will be just like the mild flu.
3) And this is the most important. Since the discovery of the H1N1 virus, there have been 400 related deaths in the USA, compared to 36,000 attributed to the common flu. Yes people, MORE PEOPLE DIE FROM THE REGULAR FLU THAN THE H1N1 VIRUS. In fact every single death attributed to the H1N1 virus, was someone in the high risk group, or people with pre-existing health complications. The normal, healthy, human being will not die from the H1N1 virus. My father went in to his doctor last week thinking he had the H1N1 virus. The doctor's office was completely over run with people. His doctor was tired and frustrated. He told my dad, that since this whole panic, everyone thinks they have the virus. And he said the majority of them don't have it, and if they did, unless they have health conditions, there is nothing he can do for them. All you can do is THE SAME TREATMENT FOR THE REGULAR FLU!
So here are my suggestions for all this mess. 1) Do your research. Visit the government health site and see how ridiculous this panic has become. 2) Prevent contraction and spread of the disease, by washing your hands, not touching your face, and covering your mouth when you cough. 3) Don't freak out if you get sick. Unless your a high risk person, don't clog up the doctor's office and make it harder for others who legitimately need to be there.
Folks I apologize if I have come across a little abrasive over this. I can't help it though. I have really grown tired of the fear mongering and the stupidity of people, and the paranoia. Does this mean I'm anti immunization? No, I'm not. I think its a good thing. I think if you don't want to go through a nasty thing like the flu, why not? And I do believe its a good thing for those in the high risk category. Will I get the shot? No, for two reasons. First, if it's only a mild flu, I'm ok with that. I can handle it, and get through it, then life goes on. 2) There are numerous high risk people out there who need this vaccination to boost their protection. A perfectly healthy person like me, doesn't need to be holding them up in line. Will I immunize my son? Probably not, but if the flu spreads some more, I may take him in, just because he's in the high risk category. You never like to see a little guy like that suffer through any kind of sickness. My whole intention in this post is to just try and get those I know and care about to get informed. Quit feeding into the media fueled panic, and don't be afraid your going to die if you get sick. If your not in the high risk category, you'll be ok. Even if you do have H1N1, there is nothing that can be done other than the classic rest, fluids, and more rest cure.
To all of you, have a great, safe, and paranoid free flu season.

That weekend felt like forever!

2009-11-02T13:45:00.002-05:00

Well that was a bunch of fun... NOT! But we finally got it taken care of. For those of you not aware, we've been waiting for our house in Calgary to finish, and it finally did last week. So we did our walk through Friday afternoon and Saturday morning we got to work. I don't remember ever having so much stuff, but we do apparently. It was nice though, because everything was boxed up from the movers, so it wasn't a huge chore with all these odds and ends hanging out.

I wish I could post pictures right now, but we have to take them off the camera still, and there is no Internet at home until tomorrow, so I will be posting them later this week.

Anyhow, it's finally done, and we are in our own home. Now comes the challenge of unpacking and getting the place organized. It's a relief to have your own place to come home to, even if there are boxes everywhere. We're excited for this new adventure. However we are very grateful to my family for putting us up at their place the last few months. I know it's never easy, but we do appreciate all they did. We wouldn't have gotten through all this without them. Colton sure had a great time too, being around his grandparents, and aunts and uncles 24/7.

Again, like I said, I'll post pictures later this week, once we get them off the camera, and our Internet is up and running. Until then you'll have to just imagine for yourselves what it looks like. And I want to give an open invitation to anyone who wants to come by and visit, you're all welcome anytime. We'll plan a house warming party at some point in the near future.

P.S. This was my 5th move in 3 years. I should be a professional mover. But in all honesty, I hate moving now. I don't want to move for a while, but if any of you are in need of moving help, don't hesitate to give me a call.

What is the Deal?

2009-10-29T12:05:00.005-04:00

Ok, Ok, OK! I know, I've been slacking on my blogging. I am so grateful to those of you that faithfully read my blog and have asked me what's going on. I keep promising to do better, and then I don't. So I won't make any promises, but hopefully this is my road back to redemption.
Life has been insane as of late. We had a great family trip back to Ontario, where my wife is from. We got to see our family and friends there, whom we really miss. Colton was able to see his cousins and extended family for Thanksgiving. It was quite the spectacle. He was overjoyed to have a whole new audience to perform for, and he made the most of it. We really enjoyed our time there, but by the end of that week, we were exhausted!
The fun doesn't stop there though, we got home and have had to jump right into getting ready for moving into our new house. There have been millions of calls to make, and accounts to set up. We did the walk through and it's looking great. As we walked through each room, the superintendent would stick a piece of painters tape on spots that needed touch up or attention. When he started doing this, none of us were paying close attention to Colton, as we were inspecting everything. After a couple seconds I looked down at Colton, and he was walking behind the superintendent and ripping off the tape he had just put up. He thought he was being helpful. Other than that he made sure he tested out everything in the house. He ran on every inch of floor, flushed every toilet, clicked every switch, climbed in every bathtub. I think he'll be happy to be the man of his own house again. Our possession date is tomorrow, the 30th.
Along with that, I've had my final exams for my first 2 classes of school since returning. It was stressful to be in that situation again, after not having to write an exam for so long. I did alright though, and was able to squeak out a couple of A's. My next two classes have started now, so I'm going to see if I can try to keep up the momentum.
There is obviously plenty more I could write about, as it's been a month since I last wrote. I don't want to talk about it all here, as I need things to write about in the coming days. Do not fear though, I have written them all down on a list, so I won't forget. Be sure to look out for a post on Sunday after we've done our move into our new house. I'll make sure to get some pictures up.

Geoff's Tip of the Day: People, please try to make a conscious effort to wash your hands regularly. It's flu season, and it's not only the best thing we can do for ourselves, but it's helpful to others too. Nobody likes being sick.

Catching up a little

2009-09-30T00:09:00.003-04:00

Howdy Everyone! Yes, yes, it's been ages since I posted anything on my blog. My biggest apologies to all of my faithful readers. I owe you big time. So What was the deal? Well, things have been crazy for me. I started school almost 5 weeks ago, and then on top of that Jody and I have started this intense work out program. Add that in with my commitments at work (a whole other long complicated story), and my commitments to my little boy and wife; my schedule is pretty crammed.

So let me catch you up on things. Yes I have begun school again, this time to finish. I am enrolled in DeVry, and though it's tough, its quite enjoyable.

Work has been pretty crazy. Our company has done a lot of restructuring as we prepare for the future. Its all pretty long and complicated to explain, but needless to say, things are exciting, and we are moving in a great direction that is really going to take us to new heights. However, with something this good, it takes a lot of work, so I've been running myself ragged trying to get things done. I'll keep you all posted.

other than all of that, let's get to some great sports stuff. As you all know, I am a MASSIVE Calgary Flames fan. One of the greatest Flames of all time was Theo Fleury, known as the fly. his story is truly amazing. At 5'6 he's been told his whole life that he's too small to compete in the NHL. Well, he proved the critics wrong, won a Stanley Cup in his rookie year, and went on to have a stellar career (mostly with the flames), worthy of consideration for a spot in the Hall of Fame. However it wasn't all roses. Becoming a huge star in the NHL had its problems. The Fly had a serious alcohol addiction. After he was traded from the Flames, he began a downward spiral of self destruction that ended up in his dismissal from the NHL and suspended indefinitely for violating the league's substance abuse program. Fleury then disappeared off the radar for 6 years. Every now and then you would hear of him popping up at some low level minor league, but nothing major. He had a small concrete business in Calgary, until February this year. During the last 4 years he's been sober, and rehabbed. In February he contacted some trainers and charged them with the task of getting him ready to return to the NHL. This year he announced his intention to try and make a comeback. To shorten the story, he was reinstated by the league, and in a classy move, the Flames signed him to try out for the team. Fleury played in 4 preseason games, scoring a game winner, another goal, and having 3 assists. The crowds were electric, and you could tell Fleury was in heaven. This was what he spent so much time working towards. So this weekend Fleury was cut from the roster. Yesterday he announced his retirement from the sport, as a Calgary Flame. He said he had accomplished everything he set out to, and that he left it all out on the ice. I believe that all he wanted to do was prove he could still play, and retire the right way, as a winner, not an alcoholic disgrace. I think from here, the Flames will retire his number, and I feel he should be considered for the Hall of Fame. It really is an amazing story folks. its inspiring for sure. Way to go Fleury!

Ok, I need to get going, but before I do, let me ask a favor of you all. My wonderfully talented wife is in CMT's Karaoke Star again this year. She listed as a cyber star, and if she gets enough votes, she'll get into the final again. So we need all the support we can get. I believe there are only a couple weeks of voting left. You can vote as many times as you want. Simply click on the link at the end of this post, go the the last page of entries, and she'll be the last video there. Click on the vote icon for her video. If you want to hear her sing, click on her picture. Please vote as many times as possible, there is no limit on how many times you can vote. Thanks everyone, I know she'll appreciate the support. Here's the Link http://www.cmt.ca/kstar/CyberStarVote.aspx

What's on my ipod this week.....

2009-09-15T00:52:00.004-04:00

Well for anyone who knows me, you knew this was coming. Yes folks, it's time to give credit where credit is due. On my iPod this week is my all time favorite band... COLDPLAY.

One of the largest thrills of my life was last year when i got to go and see them live in Toronto. It was right after the release of Viva La Vida, their 4th full studio album. It was by far the best concert experience I've had yet. The only thing, the ONLY thing, that could have been better was if they played my favorite song of theirs, Amsterdam.

Coldplay has had my attention since their first album Parachutes. Every single song on that album is great. That's rare, to find an album where you don't skip through a single song. After that came Rush of Blood to the Head (album art displayed), which in my opinion is their greatest album yet. This is where Amsterdam can be found, its the last track, and if you listen to the whole album, its very fitting. Next came X&Y, which was commercially a bit of a step back for them. While it had some very good songs on it, i believe they've done better. Finally, their most recent album, Viva LaVida, along with B sides on Prospekt's March, was released. It is a very solid album, and i enjoy it quite a bit, however, I'm waiting for that magic from the first two to reappear. If any of you want some other good songs of theirs, not found on their studio albums, look up, Bigger Stronger, See You Soon, and Easy to Please. These are from the Blue Room EP which is very rare. They also had another EP called Brothers and Sisters.

Why do I love Coldplay? They are an incredibly talented band that can appeal to anyone. Their music is unique and has a way of calming and relaxing you. It can be a little melancholy, but not depressing at the same time. In fact, it actually makes great lullaby. Colton has a Coldplay album put into lullabies, from Rock-a-bye baby. He loves it, and listens to it at night when he goes to sleep. Anyhow, they have very powerful lyrics, and in a song like Amsterdam; you'll see how much those lyrics impact the song. I also like how they are a legitimate good guys type band. You don't hear about them going into rehab (they actually have made a pact with each other to abstain from drugs and heavy drinking), they do a good job of staying away from the tabloids, they have a social conscience without being obnoxious (Bono, are you listening!), and they seem to be genuine. On top of it all, they are great performers, who know how to put on a show! So go out folks, and crank up the Coldplay, I promise, you'll find their songs getting stuck in your head. Cheers.

What's on my ipod this week.....

2009-09-04T16:58:00.003-04:00

Alrighty folks, it's the moment I know you've waited all week for. What's on my iPod this week features a band whose greatness was cut all to short by their lead singers desire to go solo. I'm talking about I Mother Earth! Yes I Mother earth was one of my favorite bands growing up in the 90's. They had a great energetic sound, with a lot of warm thick tones throughout the music, coupled with hard hitting drum beats. Their Lead singer, Edwin; was very talented, as is evidenced by his first solo record that reached into the top 10 when released. I think my favorite part of I.M.E. though, was their guitar. Their guitarist, Jagori Tanna (stage name); was brilliant, with the way he could play. In my wildest dreams I don't think I could play that smooth. I.M.E. went on to have wild success in in the early and Mid 90's, but that's when tensions rose and Edwin departed the band, after that they were never really the same, and I quit listening, as apparently did the rest of Canada.

Anyhow, for any of you interested, go listen to I Mother Earth today, and enjoy some sweet rock. I highly recommend, the songs Raspberry (all time favorite), One more Astronaut, Another Sunday, Used to be All Right. Enjoy.

New Adventures

2009-08-31T16:52:00.004-04:00

Well folks, the summer is beginning to fade off into the distance, and the cold is approaching. This last week has been an incredibly intense, scary week. To add on to all of it, my wife and son went to Ontario to visit our family out there. Seeing as how they are the ones that help me calm down, I've been losing my mind. I am glad however that they are able to go see our family there, I only wish I was able to join them.

So What has me so stressed? Well work for one, but what else is new. On top of that I am starting school again for the final time hopefully. Yes that's right. I am heading back to finish off my degree. I was on track a while back, but I took a break when we began to want a baby, and then life provided me tons of excuses to procrastinate. But recently, with the economic turmoil that has taken place, it really made me realize what a chance I've been taking, not finishing. What if I lost my job tomorrow, how would I effectively provide for my family. I'm not suggesting that getting a degree secures you a great job, but in a competitive market, it gives you a leg up on your competition. So I decided to get serious and get back into school to finish my degree. I am attending Devry in the Business Operations program. So far it's a little nuts trying to get back in the habit of studying and all. It'll be interesting too once Jody and Colton get back from their trip, to see how I juggle the schedule. I'm determined though to finish this thing off once and for all.

I also want to take this moment to recognize an adventure one of my best friends is about to take. My friend Paul, and his lovely wife Vanuza are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first baby. It's going to be a blast to see them go through all the rights of passage of parenthood. Congrats guys, let me know when she arrives!

Colton Update

2009-08-29T01:22:00.004-04:00

My little man has reached yet another milestone in his life. Yesterday was his 17 month mark. I can't believe it. 17 months have just flown by. He amazes Jody and I every day with the new little tricks he learns, and the words he comes up with. So lately he has been enthralled with his Uncle Stephen and his video games. He'll sit there forever watching what his uncle does. One day we were sitting downstairs, when Colton walked over to the gamer chair. He sat in it just like his uncle, grabbed a controller, and turned the T.V. on. So we turned on the console and he just began playing it, just like he'd seen his uncle do. It blew me away, and it was hilarious to watch. So we grabbed the camera and shot this video. Enjoy!

Currently Colton and Mommy are in Toronto visiting mommy's family. I am missing them like crazy, which is a reason why I'm posting this. I feel how our family in Toronto feels, being far away from them. So I'll try to post more video's of the boy, for their benefit as well.

What's on my ipod this week.....

2009-08-29T00:48:00.003-04:00

Today's entry won't be a long one, as there is not much more I can say about this band. All in all I have to say that The White Stripes have got to honestly be in my top 3 favorite bands of all time. The White Stripes are composed of only two people, Jack and Meg. now there has been some discrepancy as to the relationship of the two. Some say they are brother and sister, other reports have come out stating that they were formerly married, divorced, and still friends. The band members are each married now, but have never really come out publicly to clarify the speculation. However I'm digressing.

I love the White Stripes music like crazy. It has a lot of deep roots in the pure old school blues. I'm talking about the real dirty Mississippi type blues from the early part of the 20th century. It's almost hard to imagine that just a drummer and guitarist can effectively make albums, but it works. When you listen to the music you would almost think there was a full band. Jack White is known as one of the busiest people in music, he produces and plays in numerous other side projects along with other ventures. His creativity and skill with many instruments is what makes the White Stripes so great to listen to. If you really research them, you'll find that their music is very simple and organic. His guitar, equipment etc, are very inexpensive and basic, yet it's all about getting the maximum out of an instrument. A friend of mine alerted me to a documentary that is coming out featuring Jack White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge. It's called "It Might Get Loud". In it Jack White describes a lot of his sound. He's a bit eccentric, so I'm looking forward to it. Anyhow, check out The White Stripes, you can't go wrong.

What's on my ipod this week

2009-08-21T13:16:00.002-04:00

On my ipod this week, well, I don't actually have Neil Diamond on my ipod at this moment, but I will after work. The reason why I'm featuring the "Jewish Elvis" is because of an incident that I had last weekend. My wife and I were heading out to the movies. We had just finished getting Colton ready for bed, and brought him downstairs to hand over to Grandma and Grandpa. As we walked into the living room everyone was hanging out watching Neil Diamond in concert, and of course it was just as he was beginning to sing "Sweet Caroline". At that moment almost everyone began to burst into chorus singing it. After that Jody and I left, but I began to think, Neil Diamond is the man, really. Want proof? That song "Sweet Caroline" alone is a classic at many, many sporting events. For instance, every eighth inning at NY Mets, Boston RedSox, and Washington Nationals games, they play this song. Its something to see, they put the words up on the big screen, and the whole crowd gets up out of their seats and starts singing. Much like we were at the house last weekend. Even Colton loved it. He apparently clapped and cheered along with the crowd on the T.V. after every song. So go out and download some Neil Diamond songs folks. Don't pretend like you're too cool for Neil, because really, you're not cool unless you listen to Neil.

* Feel free, all you Neil Diamond fans, to comment on your favorite song of his, or a memory you have attached to one of his songs.

That just... doesn't make sense.

2009-08-21T11:05:00.002-04:00

We've all hear the statement that justice is blind, well is it? Really?

Do I have any NFL fans that read my blog? Then you may have an opinion on this.

For those of you who may not be familiar, I'll give you the stories. First off we have Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants Super bowl hero wide receiver. While at a night club last year, a gun he had stashed in the waistband of his sweatpants falls and as he tries to catch it, in his pants; goes off and hits him in the thigh. Fast forward a bit, the New York D.A. charges him with a serious possession crime, his lawyers and the D.A. go back and forth bargaining and finally out of fear that he would get locked up for longer, he pleads guilty to a lesser charge and is sentenced to 2 years in prison and 2 years probation.

Story number two involves all star receiver Donte Stallworth of the Cleavland Browns. A few months back Stallworth struck and killed a man who was crossing the street in the wee hours of the morning in Florida. The man was a 52 year old crane operator who was going to catch the bus to go home to his family after working the night shift. Stallworth was found to be operating his car under the influence, and was subsequently charged. After a few months of negotiating, Stallworh pleads out to a lesser charge, and is sentenced to 24 days in jail and 4000 hours of community service.

Did anybody catch that? Does it make sense to anyone? One man hurts himself by being stupid, and gets hit with 2 years in prison. The other takes the life of an innocent man, changes that mans family forever, all because he chose to drive drunk, and he get 3 weeks in a county lock up with 4000 community hours. Something just doesn't add up there. This is an example of how skewed the American justice system has become. Mind you Canada isn't much better with our hug-a-thug approach.

Now this article is not to say that I think Burress should have gotten off with nothing, although I think 2 years mandatory jail term is slightly harsh for stupidity. What he did was dangerous and he could have hurt someone, so yes I think a stint in the bunkhouse is warranted. My beef with all this is how Stallworth can carelessly take the life of an innocent hard working man, and get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. What kind of a message is being sent to the public? What about the young kids coming up who look up to these guys?

Just before I end, lets take it a step further. Because of this incident, Burress lost his big contract with the Giants. He'll be 34 when he's released, and it'll be tough for him to get another spot with an NFL team. Who wants a 34 year old wide receiver who's been out of the game for 2 years? An then there is his family who will be without their daddy and husband for 2 years. (He said that was his biggest motivation in taking the plea, he didn't want to face an even longer sentence away from his family)

In terms of Stallworth, he's 29 and just hitting his prime. He's only been suspended from the NFL for one year without pay, and his team is looking forward to getting him back next season. Where is his hard punishment?

So what do we get from all this? Justice really is blind, and a little stupid. And also, the NFL stands for National Felon League.

What's on my ipod this week.....

2009-08-13T12:54:00.004-04:00

So this week I have decided to post what's on my ipod on Thursday. Why not Friday as I originally outlined? Because I feel like it. So without further delay here is my new recommendation.

White Rabbits are a little known Indy band based in New York, but originally from Columbia, Missouri. I doubt they'll stay little known for long, judging from the songs I've heard already. I haven't listened to the entire album yet, but so far I recommend a song called "Percussion Gun" to start you off. I really like the mix of instruments they have going on, and the vocals are interesting, though don't expect it to be perfect. I've listened to 4 songs off the album so far, and it convinced me I need to buy it, so I'll be shopping itunes later I'm sure, or hitting up HMV.

For any of you wondering what you can expect , I'll say, if you like Spoon, you'll enjoy White Rabbits. (Considering they had this album produced by the guitarist and lead singer from Spoon, Daniel Britt) A lot of their music is based around their percussion section which is composed of 2 members. It's really a unique and fresh sound in my opinion. So, go out and take a listen if you want to get pumped up for a jog, or just want a good energetic sound to pick you up. For any who might want a preview, go to this link
http://whiterabbitsmusic.com/videos/ and check out the video.

Our Mini Vacation

2009-08-11T23:20:00.004-04:00

Last weekend I took A long weekend to be with my Family. My work has been really hectic lately, and I haven't had much time with Jody and Colton. So we broke it up a bit. All Friday was dedicated to Colton. We went out to the zoo for a family outing. We began by filling ourselves up at the cafe, where little Coley downed a massive hot dog and some fries. After finishing his juice box we headed out. We saw tons of really cool animals. Colton was especially impressed by the giraffe that was scratching his neck up side a tree.

We also saw a huge tiger pacing in its pen. Cole thought it was impressive.He really seemed to enjoy his time with mommy and daddy. Here is a shot of him with mommy at the Elephant pen...

And then one of the coolest moments was when the bull Elephant came walking right over to Colton and Jody, and began drinking from the water barrel, and blowing it out. Colton loved this. His little mouth dropped open and his eyes grew huge. When the elephant began to walk away, he went "whoooaa." All in all it was a pretty impressive day for the boy.

We took him home after and after a long nap, we had a good dinner and then relaxed and played before we had to take him to bed.

the next day was a day dedicated to Jody and myself. We gave Colton to Grandma and Grandpa for the day and headed out to Banff. the mountains were beautiful and the weather was awesome. When we arrived, we went to lunch. After lunch we walked up and down the boulevard going into all the little shops around. We ended up buying a little onesie for Colton that says "Bear Naked" with the picture of a bear on it. After that we got some gourmet fudge and then went to the natural hot springs for some relaxation. Finally as we were driving back to Calgary we took a detour to go to Elbow Falls. Its a cool little rec area, out in the foothills. Jody took a few hours there to take some photo's of the falls, and I sat back and enjoyed the scenery. If you'd like to see the photo's she took, you can check out her website www.jacphotography.ca, however I'm not sure if she's posted any yet. She's editing them a bit, but trust me; they look great.

So that was my little mini vacation. It was a good time, and too short as most vacations are.

What's on my ipod this week

2009-07-31T15:29:00.002-04:00

I've decided I'm going to do a weekly posting every Friday about what music I'm listening to. I welcome my readers to share with me who they are listening to. I like to expand my horizons.

So this week I am featuring Vampire Weekend. Don't let the name fool you, its not what you think. They actually chose that name for their band after watching some old cheesy film titled that. They actually are extremely good. They list their biggest musical influences as classical, and you can tell. They have a more independent sound, and eclectic mix of organ, strings, guitar, drums, etc. Its really quite clever music. If I had to try and compare it to someone else, I'd have to say a loose mix between Paul Simon, the beetles, and well, never mind, I can't really compare it and do it justice. Their debut album is a current favorite of mine, and I would suggest you especially listen to the songs A-Punk, Campus, Cape Cod, Mansard Roof, and The Kids Don't Stand a Chance. In fact pretty much the whole album is great, and those are rare. So that's what's in my ipod this week. It comes with high recommendation if your looking for intelligent, fun music to listen to while you work around the house, go for a run, or are having a get together with friends. Stay tuned (play on words, eh?) for next week.

Feel Good Story # 2

2009-07-31T14:35:00.003-04:00

Well I'm still waiting for other people to tell me about good acts of service or charity. In the meantime, here is yet another good story for you all.

In Calgary we have a local radio station that does something called "Gerry Forbes Secret Wish". Now, I'm not a big fan of Forbes. I find him to be pretty gross most of the time, but I do listen every Friday at about 7:30 am (little plug for anyone wanting a pick me up) to hear him make someones day. As annoying and over the top as he can be, he does have a big heart, and this charity of his needs to be recognized. He generally takes in donations from friends, local businesses, and the general public. A friend or acquaintance of someone in need will submit a letter into the station as to why their friend is a candidate for the secret wish. The station will then find out what needs that family has, and then every Friday morning, Gerry will call them up at around 7:30 and present them with their gifts over the air. It really is heart warming to hear, and I find myself now wanting to contribute to help his cause.

For your benefit, here is what happened today. He received a letter regarding a family where both parents have struggled with their health the last 4 years. The parents would work on and off between health problems, in entry level fast food positions, as it was the only work they were able to secure. The mother became ill and diagnosed with cancer, and recently passed away, leaving the father to care for his twin 11 year old son and daughter, all on the budget of an entry level fast food worker. So at 7:30 this morning Gerry sent out his girl to this man's house with their donations. He called and the father answered. Gerry introduced himself, gave his condolences, and offered words of encouragement. At this point the father was speechless, but said thank you. Gerry instructed him to go to the door and let his helper in, which the man did. Gerry then began to tell the man what they were receiving. He gave the family a laptop donated by future shop, so the kids could do their homework, gift certificates to get the kids new clothes for school, $250 worth of groceries for this long weekend from Safeway, and $1000.00 to help with bills. By the time he was done, all you heard on the other end was sobbing from this man, who could barely choke out a thank you. The DJ was getting choked up as well, as he wished the man a good long weekend and said he was always welcome to call the station. I'll admit, it had me feeling a tug on my heart strings, and ask most people who know me, I'm not the most emotional person. I thought it was an amazing gesture, and something that I think we can all learn from. Look around your own communities, see what charities are there and see how you can help someone in need. Like a wise man once told me, there's usually someone having a worse day than you, so let's see what we can do to help one another. Have a great long weekend!

1st Good News Story! Hurray for Football Players

2009-07-22T16:52:00.005-04:00

To Start my quest in bringing good news to you my readers, here is my first story. Kitwana Jones is a Linebacker for the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos. Yesterday Kitwana was downtown coming back from a public appearance, when he witnessed an elderly woman being mugged for her purse. What did this football star do? Well he didn't get out a camera and start filming (see previous posting). And he didn't keep driving, minding his own business. He got out and chased the thief on foot, tackling him to the ground and "detaining" him until police showed up. The purse was returned and Kitwana Jones labeled a hero.

I love this story for a few reasons, Kitwana is a professional athlete, and his lively hood depends on his ability to play football. Many athletes will refrain from any activities outside of games where there is a real risk of injury, as it could jeopardize their jobs. Mr. Jones however didn't think twice to risk himself to help out someone who couldn't defend herself. He says in his interview posted on TSN, that God placed him there to help that woman out, so he did what he had to do. He has every reason to pull celebrity status and use it as an excuse as to why he would have done nothing, but as his teammates attest to, that's not Kitwana. He is always one to help and defend others. Anyhow, he is a pretty entertaining guy in his interview. If you can click on this link and view the video, you won't be disappointed. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=285288 Kudos to you Kitwana, for doing what so many others in this world would be afraid to do.

In all, I think we should take something from Kitwana's example. Always help out your fellow man. I'm not suggesting we all chase down criminals on foot. I'm merely suggesting we begin actively serving those around us in any way we can. Lets start sticking up for one another, especially those who can't defend themselves.

Gimme some good news

2009-07-22T16:07:00.004-04:00

The picture has no real tie in to the topic of this post, but I thought it was a funny one, and I wanted a laugh today.
Folks, I have a problem I need to vent about, please humor me and share with me if you can.
I am a huge current events junkie, and I'm always checking out numerous news sites throughout the day looking for the latest news in the world. (No, not the tabloid trash, real news) There is an inherent danger with this though, rarely is it good news. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me the media is always getting worse and worse in their reporting. I honestly think that true journalism is a dying art, if its not dead already. Now a days the media is focused primarily on sensationalism. Its all about who can make the bigger deal out of a story. And they don't really focus on the good, they focus on the bad, tragedy, embarrassment. I get so depressed sometimes when I read or watch the news. It's always, bombing this, overdose that, scandal here, murder there. It's a wonder we're not all on Prozac.
So what has inspired my rant? Well yesterday I came upon a video on CNN.com (notorious sensationalists) titled "strangers rescue children from burning SUV". Like a sap I clicked on the video, thinking it would be one of the usual watered down reports where they show the remains of a burnt car, interview one of the hero's, and show the token shot of the saved kids playing in a park. This time I was shocked at what I saw. It was a complete video shot by an on looker, of an SUV that had crashed in a residential neighbourhood, overturned on it's side and had burst into flames with a mother, her 2 year old daughter, and 4 year old son all trapped inside. I don't want to go into too many details as it's hard for me. The video was very graphic and disturbing to me. Essentially, in the crowd of frantic people were 2 brothers who happened to be off duty fire fighters. They got everyone out of the vehicle, most importantly the 4 year old little boy who was trapped in his booster in the back where the fire was. The boy had received burns to 30% of his body, but is expected to make a full recovery. The good news is that everyone survived, and if it weren't for these men, it would have been a disaster. However my problem comes from two things. First, what possesses an on looker to grab his camera and run down the street to film 3 people nearly burn to death? Why wouldn't you try and help those who were trying to help. Second of all, what kind of people are we where we show a graphic video of a man pulling a small boy out of a burning vehicle as he's on fire. I will not be able to get that image out of my head now, more so because I share the fire fighter's perspective as he was in that burning car trying desperately to free the boy, I saw that it could be my own son. So while this eventually ended well, I still didn't feel good by the end.
So here is what I want. I want a little less focus on the bad, and more or less to accentuate the positive. I want feel good news stories. I want stories of human charity and service. I want to hear about people helping one another, and other positive things. To those who actually spend their time reading my blog (and I can't believe you do, there must be something better to do. But thank you all the same), send me links, first hand accounts, etc of good news in our world. I'm going to research them out, and try and post a few on my blog to hopefully uplift everyone. Let's see if we can find the good in the world, amongst the garbage we get fed. Thanks all.

A Great Weekend

2009-07-21T22:12:00.015-04:00

Hey everyone. I am finally able to give an update on the family again. Sorry for all the delay, but it's been kinda busy for me lately. This last week, work has been full and I've been having to commute to our office on the other side of the city. I was spending over 2 hours in traffic every day. So I was looking forward to a great weekend to unwind. And I got my wish. My Uncle Steve has season tickets to the two greatest sports teams in Calgary, the NHL's Flames, and the CFL's Stampeders. Last weekend he called me up, and asked if I would like to have a couple of tickets to the retro game between Calgary and Toronto. The seats were incredible, 50 yard line 18 rows up, so you had the view of the whole field, and were close enough to hear the players talking on the bench. Jody and I had a great time at the game.

Calgary ended up Shellacking poor Toronto 44-9, but it was a very exciting game despite what the score indicates. By the end of the night I had almost no voice left. Here is a shot of the view we had.

Next up is an update on our house. Coming back out to Calgary meant we had to sell our first home out in Guelph. Once we arrived here, we quickly found out that getting a house was going to be a bit tougher than we thought. Anyhow, long story short; the most affordable house we could get in this crazy recession market was a new home. A draw back of this is that we have to wait for it to be built. Currently it is in this state:

However, here is the preview of what it will look like when it is done. These were pictures we took as we toured the newly finished show home. First off, as you walk in this will be what the main floor will be like, well essentially. We will have carpet up to the kitchen, then we'll have hardwood in the kitchen.

This now, is the basement. In our house, the first half will be finished, and all that light comes from the huge bay window that continues in from the main floor to the basement.

Here is a picture of Colton going into what I guess he has claimed as his room. He loved it because they had it all decorated with cars. He was angry when we made him leave. The other bedroom is similar size.
Finally we have the master bedroom, behind the picture there is a walk in closet, and an en suite.
And as a bonus, this is similar to what the outside will look like.
We are planning on having some fun BBQ's once it's finished, so keep your schedules open for the end of September. Well that is if it finishes on time.... which they generally don't, but we can hope right?

Wrap up of Stampede week

2009-07-13T17:43:00.004-04:00

Well Folks, you can close yet another chapter in the Calgary Stampede. It was actually my first Stamped in a little over 3 years, and I have to say, it hasn't changed much. except I think I have changed. I remember dying to go to the Stampede and ride the rides until I could ride no more. I would go online and make a list of all the bands I wanted to see on the Coca Cola Stage, and I would eat deep fried food to my hearts content. However, as I've gotten older, I've started to lose my desire to go and try and fight through massive crowds, rowdy drunks, and punk kids trying to act like their the coolest thing. However this year was a bit different, as it was my son's first time to the Stampede. Having a kid to take to the Stampede renews your spirit in the fun of the Stampede. We have to go earlier in the day, so as to make it home for bed time etc. So the crowds aren't that big, and there is a lot of kiddie stuff to do there, that as an adult; hasn't appealed to you since you graduated elementary school. It was a blast to watch my son discover so many new things. He was thrilled to get up close to animals he's never seen in real life before. It was fun to eat new foods, and play in new play places with lots of other kids. And of course, who can pass up the opportunity to meet one of his all time favorite TV characters, Cookie Monster. It truly does bring in a whole new perspective, and it makes the Stampede fun again for a guy who doesn't drink, gamble etc. All the things that the Stampede is known for, for the adult crowd. Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good things for adults to do at the Stampede as well. Jody and I went down for a night for a date. We went to the exhibition center and checked out all the latest products people are hocking. We also went to the round up center to see the art exhibits. With Jody being a photographer, that was special for her. We had the opportunity to meet one of the photographers who had their work displayed. He told us about his work, and the lengths he goes to to get his pictures. While not exactly the same niche Jody is interested in, it was very cool to hear. She is hoping to get her work entered in next years exhibition, for anyone who may be interested. We also took in some of the food, and took a Farris wheel ride to cap off the evening before we headed home. But the biggest highlight for us was a singing competition she entered in for one of the local radio stations. She was chosen to be in a group of ten finalists to compete for the grand prize. She got the opportunity to belt out a favorite tune of hers in front of a crowd of a few thousand stampeder's and had a great time. If anyone wants to check it out click on the following youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_YJhdPkZA&feature=channel and enjoy. The song is Anyway by Martina McBride(hope I spelled that right), and I think she did fantastic.
All in all it was a pretty good time. Now comes the fun of enjoying whats left of summer, as we prepare to move into our new home once it is finished. After that comes settling into our new life here in Calgary and meeting new friends while we enjoy some of those that we already have.

Stampede

2009-07-11T12:55:00.009-04:00

This week was the week of the stampede. For any of you who aren't aware, it a large fair that Calgary has every year for 10 days. It's a celebration of Calgary's western heritage, and it can be a ton of fun. We were especially excited to take Colton this year. It all started out with mommy getting him dressed up in his little western attire. We then took the train down to the grounds where we started out by getting a hot dog lunch. After Coley finished stuffing his face, we got to work. We saw everything from horsies (one blew his nose all over the boy), to cows, a bison, a duck herding dog, goats, and..........

The coup de gras, COOKIE MONSTER!

That was actually the whole reason we went on Friday was to see the greatest cookie eating Muppet ever. It was hilarious, once he saw Cookie monster, he paused and stared for about 2 minutes with his mouth open. Then he snapped out of his trance and began to point and get excited. He then tried pushing out of my arms to get over to him. So Mommy got in line while I tried to distract him. As we got up to the front of the line, Cole started getting really excited and trying to squirm away so that he could rush Cookie. Then it was our turn to get up there. As we got up there he just got excited and reached out and grabbed Cookie's fur. He briefly touched Abbey's face, before turning back all his attention to Cookie. He sat there playing with Cookie Monster until the split second that the guy called his name and caught this photo. It was like meeting a rock star. Definitely the highlight of the day.

We checked out some other things until he wore right out. Finally to cap everything off, we bought him his first cowboy hat and took him home. It was a great day. Yee Haw!

Update on my boy!

2009-06-26T14:11:00.014-04:00

There is a little tradition we have in our family. Well, it didn't start out as a tradition, it just sort of became a tradition. Because I could never get to Colton's check ups, Jody would always send me a picture of him at his appoint ment accompanied by his stats. However, while I was out there packing them all up, I was able to go to my first scheduled check up with him. I also got to take the check up picture on my phone. I know, it may seem lame that I get so excited about that sort of thing, but if your kid were as awesome as Colton is, you'd feel the same I'm sure. Anyhow, without further adiu, here is his picture from his last appointment:

He weighed in at 20.6 lbs, and measured 82". He's tall and skinny, just like his dad, according to the doctor. He also got his shots that day, and boy was that an experience. He had to sit on daddy's lap while I held his arms so that he couldn't grab the needle. He sat and watched as the nurse came with the needle and he had that look on his face like "Hey, what is that? You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do, are you?" Then she stuck him and he let out a whimper, not happy. I thought that was it so I picked him up so he could hug me, but the nurse said there was a 2nd shot to go. So we did the same thing again, this time he was not happy. After the nurse was done, he shot her a look that could have killed. I had to laugh, it was such a dirty look. He then hugged daddy, as I told him he did a good job being such a tough boy.

Also, I have to mention this. Mommy had taken off to begin shooting her cousins wedding, so Colton and I were waiting for Grandma to come pick us up to take us to the wedding. We were hanging out in front of the house, when Colton made a break for the neighbours driveway. He just about made it when he stepped in a sunken area and fell forward. He fell partially on their driveway and scraped his little elbow. Funny thing was, he didn't even notice. He just got right back up and ran over to the tree we had on our front lawn; he loves to play with the dirt clods around it. It wasn't until daddy saw blood running down that I noticed the scrape. The next day at church, everyone was asking what happened to him. He had all the ladies giving him attention over it, and we all know how much he loves that. That's my boy!

This was after I cleaned it up. Doesn't look bad at all, but you wouldn't have known that when he had blood running down his elbow. I think my boy may be a bleeder.

A word or two about the King of Pop

2009-06-26T12:19:00.004-04:00

Unless you just returned from a trip to Pluto, and even then I don't think it would have been impossible to hear; Michael Jackson passed away yesterday in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest. It capped off a very strange day in entertainment, and a strange week at that.

An event like this is unique unlike any other, as you see someone who truly defines the word iconic in every sense, pass on. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in modern civilization that has not heard the name Michael Jackson. This man has a legacy that will stand the test of time I'm sure. Yet some may ask why is that?

Michael Jackson was a musical phenom. Right from his first appearance as a six year old with his 4 brothers in the Jackson 5, people were drawn to him. His voice, dance moves, and stage presence were golden. How many of you reading this right now, have a Michael Jackson song going through your mind? That is evidence right there of his talent in music. I would go as far to say, he was as revolutionary and instrumental in modern music, and performing as Mozart has been. No other artist in modern history has sold more records. I doubt anyone will even get close.

Alas, with all that, comes also the scandals. The tabloids were relentless, and the many, many people who chased his money, were equally as vicious. There were allegations of child molestation, bad business deals, equally bad business relations, eccentric behavior, and reclusiveness. Add to that his unimaginable altering of his physical appearance, and you can see a man in turmoil. Perhaps that is what makes his death even more sad. We may never really know why he was the way he was, if he really did interfere with children. Want to know my opinion? I think he's the classic victim of child stardom. I think his lack of a real childhood, and being forced to grow up well before he was ready, caused him to revert to childlike tendencies in adulthood. I think maturity wise he was a child mixed up with an adult, struggling to make sense of it all, and hence you have the mess he turned into. It's really sad to see someone who created so much happiness, love, and joy through his music, stuck forever in a constant inner conflict.

However despite all those problems He was able to truly touch the world, and leave a lasting impression. I was a big fan of Michael's in my young years, and even now, I'm still a fan of his music. My first memory of music and entertainment comes from standing by my dad in front of the TV as the Thriller video debuted, I was mesmerized. From then on I've owned every album of his from Off the Wall (my personal favorite) to Dangerous, and the History 2 disc set. Even now I can still sing many of his songs word for word, and that's not because I was some super fan or anything, but I think it's a testament to how good his songs and music were, that it stuck with you. Beyond his song writing, he was also a performer. Probably one of the greatest performers ever! He did everything big, big and grand. Apparently he was an absolute perfectionist, and it showed in his dancing stage show, and singing. He also was notorious for revolutionizing the music video, people would wait for premiers of his video's as if they were the next big blockbuster movie. And rarely did he disappoint, sparing no expense.

All in all, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this event. It truly is one of those times where the old cliche rings true, "you'll remember where you were the day Michael Jackson died." He was revolutionary, he was iconic, he was influential, he was an amazing talent, a gift to the world, he was Michael Jackson. My hope is that although he was very contraversial in his private life; that we all remember him for his gift of music to the world, and how that gift touched each and every one of us in some way. may he now rest, moon walking his way to the pearly gates.

The NHL's worst kept secret

2009-06-24T15:31:00.003-04:00

Well, if there are any sports fans out there who were suprised to hear the news yesterday that my beloved Flames announced Brent Sutter as their head coach; I have one question for you. Have you been in a coma for the last 4 months? This was officially the worst kept secret in hockey. This was believed to be the scenario by many sports analysts and yours truly since March, yet the brothers Sutter tried to play coy with the notion. It was inevitable though as the Sutters are the royal family of hockey in Alberta. For those of you who aren't aware of how obvious this was, let me point out a few facts. First off, four of the seven Sutter brothers who played professional hockey already work for the Flames in different capacities (GM, scouts, player development, etc.). Brent has a farm near Red Deer, AB where his family is situated. He also is the owner and GM of the minor league Red Deer Rebels. To top this all off, you are being given an opportunity to coach one of the most stacked teams in the NHL. So Brent's choice was stay in New Jersey with a team just starting to bring itself back into relevance, with a long way to go yet, or coach a contender on the verge of going all the way, in a family business atmosphere. Can you really blame him for ditching out on the Devils for the Flames?

Anyhow, I'm very excited for this move to begin paying off. I think there is no doubt that the Flames are going to be a top tier team this year. I would be shocked if we don't celebrate a cup or two before his time with us is up. GO FLAMES GO!

Happy B-Day to me

2009-06-23T17:31:00.002-04:00

How's that for a shameless plug for myself. Yes today I celebrate my 28th Birthday. Its crazy to think I've turned 28. However, its only a number, and I'm going to enjoy it.

For those of you who read my blog, I am very sorry that you've not seen anything new added for the last 2 weeks or so. Life has been a whirlwind for my family and I, so my posting suffered. However, life is starting to come back into focus, so my posting should begin to pick up again.

To update you all, my family and I are now official residents of Alberta. Jody, Colton, and our cat (whom I refer to as Satan) came over by plane Saturday morning. I arrived with the assistance of my co-driver (Amanda) by car Monday evening. It was a long and grinding drive, it hadn't improved much since the last time, however, North Dakota wasn't as flooded this time. It was really sad having to leave Ontario. It hit me once I locked the door on our first home for the last time, and took the key to the Lawyer for transfer to the new owner. It was especially hard to say goodbye to friends and family. Over the past year we made some awesome friends out in Guelph and of course Jody's family is all from the Greater Toronto Area, so saying goodbye to these wonderful people was very sad. However, do not get too depressed, we will be visiting often. We are already coming out in October for Thanksgiving, and then we have another trip planned for January when Jody's brother returns home from missionary service.

Now we find ourselves in a new place ready for new adventures to come our way. When one chapter in life closes, another begins. There will be plenty of new opportunity for Jody to expand her photography business, and of course my opportunity for expansion in business is the whole reason why I am out here. We are excited to meet new friends, and to reconnect with some of my old friends out here that I haven't seen much of since I left for Ontario. All in all, we are looking at this opportunity with eyes wide open, and anticipation of what the future will bring.

By the way, I'd love to plug my wife's blog here. As many of you know, she is a professional photographer. She just finished off a family photo shoot for some friends back in Ontario and the pictures are awesome, go check them out at http://jacphotography.blogspot.com
She does everything from weddings, to portraits, to events, even corporate and business events. She also specializes in new born photography, so if you are looking for any pictures, and want nothing but the best, you know where to look.
Anyhow, I've drawn this post out long enough. There will be a whole lot more posts and pictures etc, as I try to catch up on the last few weeks. So be prepared people.

Half way through the year already?

2009-06-01T12:04:00.003-04:00

Can any of you believe its June already? What happened to the time? This year has been flying by me like you wouldn't believe. June is a great month though. I'm very excited as it's known in my family as the kick off to birthday season. My lovely wife Jody has hers on the 9th, my sister Christina is on the 12th, I myself am on the 23rd, my sister Amanda is the 29th. The next month finishes everyone else off with my dad on the 1st of July, my brother Allan on the 4th, and my mom rounding off the order on the 6th. When you think about it, its a nightmare for your wallet. I think summer birthdays are the best. You can get together with bunch of your friends, BBQ, and go out to a park to play Frisbee, and let the kids run around. I'd rather be lounging out in the heat than shoveling snow for my birthday, that's for sure. So does anyone have any favorite birthday gifts? I have had some great birthday gifts. For instance, last year my wife got me tickets to see my favorite band of all time. (10 points for anyone who can guess who that is, shouldn't be too hard)

To finish off this post, I'll give you all a little update on life. This week I'm thinking is going to be the longest week ever! I finally get to go home and get my family! On Friday I'll be flying out to be with Jody and Colton once again. We are going to spend the next 2 weeks packing up the house, and getting it all organized. We also have a wedding for her cousin, and her birthday to celebrate. After all of that she, Colton, and the cat, will board a plane headed for our new home. I then will be packing up her vehicle and preparing for yet another long, and arduous journey across the states and Canada to Calgary. That's not even the best part, once our house sells, I get to go back again, load up the remainder of our stuff that we left there for staging, and do one more final trip across. Lucky me. (For any of you wondering, we are leaving our furniture and non-essential things at the house, because a staged house sells better and faster than one that isn't) All in all though, I don't care much about the drive as long as I know my family will be on the other end waiting for me. Being away from my wife and son, has been the most difficult thing I've done. It is absolutely killer to be so lonely. It breaks my heart every night to have to say goodnight to my son over the phone. That used to be a big thing for me, putting him to bed. I have missed them so much, I could never do this again, that's for sure. Way to hard. I will be a lot happier to have them around me again. That's for sure.

Some Post scripts and notices

2009-05-22T13:35:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! After a week of crazy posting, I wanted to address a couple things. First off, I had a post on here regarding families and my views on those who choose not to have children. I want to make sure I clarify something. I do not make apologies for my views, that is the way I feel. However I want to make sure my remarks aren't misconstrued to include anyone without children. There are those cases out there where for one reason or another, where people can't have children, ranging from medical reasons to others. People who are prevented from having children are completely different from those I was speaking about, who make a conscious choice out of selfishness to not have kids.
Anyhow, enough of that, on to my next point of business. Over the next little while you'll be seeing changes to my blog, hopefully you'll enjoy them, let me know if you don't. I am welcome to all suggestions of how I can make the reading experience more enjoyable.

TGIF

2009-05-22T12:31:00.006-04:00

Well it's Friday, and I don't know about all of you, but I seem to always have the worst time recovering from long weekends. This long weekend was especially a bummer. Here in Calgary we had lousy, lousy weather. Anyhow, the week is done now, and I am glad to be able to try and relax this weekend.
So some of you might be wondering why I have a picture of No Ma'am President Al Bundy at the start of this post. Well, its a dedication to a special group of guys back home in Ontario. There was a select group of men, including yours truly who made it a point to get together every so often for a remarkable event known as "MAN-lunch". We would all go to the Mandarin Chinese Buffet and debauchery would ensue. Basically we had 3 main rules we lived by. First, no women allowed, testosterone only. Second, no sissy food, you ate garbage and plenty of it. Going easy was not an option, at least one button had to come undone on your pants by the end, or a belt notch loosened. And the last rule was, What is discussed at Man-lunch, stayed at Man-lunch. It was absolutely awesome, and boy do I miss those times. There was a lot of bathroom jokes, a lot of discussion around cool movies, and funny videos on Youtube. And much, much, more. I cannot go into too much detail without breaking rule number 3. Besides, we still want our wives to think we are somewhat civilized and intelligent. (Don't fear, there was nothing of questionably immoral nature, just a lot of men being men) The biggest joke of it all was that we entered Man-lunch and went from upright walking, intelligent speaking human beings, to knuckle dragging, hunched over cavemen, grunting and snorting by the end. Thank goodness for our wonderful wives who are able to refine us and clean us up to become fully functioning members of society. Anyhow, that group has since been dispersed by life, but I do miss those days. I was even able to get my son started with his first Man-lunch last year. Hopefully one day we can have a Man-lunch reunion, or I may even have to start a new Man lunch group here in Calgary. So today I finish off with a moment of silence for my Man-lunch brothers, Paul, John, Kyle, and Junior member Colton. Long live the discount Chinese buffet!

Milestone!

2009-05-20T11:18:00.004-04:00

The Mixing Bowl hit a milestone. I officially have 10 followers on my blog! (I know that there are many more who follow my blog, but haven't registered as an official follower for one reason or another) As of this morning our dear family friend Andrea joined up as a follower. For being my tenth follower she gets the grand prize..... A shout out on my blog. And the rights to being my sons favorite babysitter!

Thank you to everyone who reads my ramblings! You're the greatest.

Family, it's not for the weak...

2009-05-19T12:59:00.004-04:00

I'll bet some of you are reading the title and thinking "What's that all about?" Well, let me tell you. I miss my family so very much right now, (anyone still wondering what I'm talking about, needs to go back to my posting at the end of April to catch up)and I think about them every day. Married life has been the greatest experience of my life so far. And my little family has truly come to mean everything to me. I was listening to a popular talk radio host last week. He brought up a segment where he had referred to a study done recently in Britain, where they claim to show statistically, that people with children are more unhappy than those without. He discussed the different sides and views on this topic, and then he took a call from a man who only referred to himself as "Rolex Boy". This caller then went on to express how he is very self centered and selfish. How he likes his life now where he can just pick up at a whim and fly around the world and party. He went on to say how he is too immature to have kids and how he'll never want that life style because it's too depressing. He doesn't want all the baggage that comes along with it. He further went on to say how most people if they were honest like him, would say the same thing, that kids will make you unhappy. I was floored as the radio host continued to feed this fire, and even agree with him on a few points. By the end of the segment the basic result was this, Children are stressful, and needy, and will make you unhappy, and ruin your marriage. If you want to be happy don't have children.

People, this was grossly offensive to me. I see this as yet another attack by conspiring groups, on the family. The family truly is the central, stable force behind a civilization. A family is the source of some of life's greatest joys! Think back to some happy moments in your life, how many of them involved your whole, or a member of your family? I am only a father of one right now, so perhaps my opinion doesn't carry as much weight as some of you that have more children. However, I can tell you, and this is the absolute pure truth; there has been no greater joy in our family than our little boy, Colton. I feel sorry for some of you who perhaps are deciding that children just aren't for you. That would be too tough of a job. I think that western civilization is getting too soft. I think we are getting too weak. We don't want to have children, because that would be hard, and infringe on our lives. That would involve responsibility. That would involve accountability. That would involve being considerate of others.

I remember when Jody first came to me and said she wanted to start having children. I was still a bit immature. I panicked because I liked it being just her and I. We could stay out all night and sleep in the next day with no worries. We could pick up and take off for a vacation at any time without it being a big production. But she persisted, and I relented, and I panicked. But I remember the day I first saw my boy on the Ultra sound machine. That day, a switch was turned on in my head. I went into that office a boy, and I came out of there a man. I was never more excited to be a father, and to take on that responsibility. I can't adequately describe the feelings you feel as you stare at that little person you helped create. Children force you to grow up, and force you to become an adult, and my life has never been better since. I love my wife for having that foresight, to start a family. I'm sure she'd echo a lot of my thoughts. She is a fantastic mother, and Colton loves her to death. Together we've embarked on this journey and though it has it's trying times, Colton has been the best thing to happen to us besides finding each other.

So I encourage any of you considering not having children, think very, very, hard about that choice. Think hard about the things you'll miss out on and weigh them against the things you'd "be giving up". I think you'll find that the pros far out weigh the cons, if you can really call them that. On a more global scale, consider this fact. The birthrate, and therefore population growth in western civilizations is actually in a decline. The countries we look at as radical, fanatic, hostile etc, they continue to have children at a steady rate. If this trend continues, their populations will soon out number us greatly. It's true what they say, there is strength in numbers. So who do you think will take the balance of global power in the future... Something to think about.

Please readers, let me know what you think. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Happy May long weekend

2009-05-15T16:52:00.002-04:00

To all you Canadian readers I say Happy Victoria Day weekend eh? Being the leftovers of British loyalists has it's benefits I guess. Actually the May long weekend in Canada is considered the kick off for the summer season. Just a little history for any of you American/Mexican/other readers. A lot of people use this weekend to do some camping, fishing, off-roading etc. As for me, I'll be trying to use it to relax a bit. I have a buddy of mine coming over on Saturday, where I'll crack open the old guitar case and do a little jamming. Other than that I will be resting and missing my little family. To update any of you following our journey to Calgary, Jody and Colton are still in Guelph as we await our house to sell, and she has some photography jobs she has to complete. We have had a few showings, an offer (we rejected), and we have a couple more this weekend along with an open house Saturday. So everyone, send a prayer our way that we'll get a buyer this weekend so that our little family can be reunited. I sure am getting sick of being here in Calgary without them.

I got an email from an old friend today. He's applying to be a police officer and just needed contact info from me to submit for his background checks. It got me thinking, today I should dedicate my post to old friends. I've had many friends over the years. Some I've managed to keep in contact with, others... not so much. This happens for one reason or another. Some of the relationships ended poorly, others just grew apart, and others have simply gotten lost over the years. I'm a type of person that doesn't like to live in the past. This is one major reason why you'll never find me on facebook. Some people from the past, I simply don't care to get in touch with, and some, I don't want getting in touch with me. However there are the few, those really good friends who impacted you in a major way, and you know, when you see them again, it'll be a happy reunion. I have a very few, select group that fall in this category. My friend Brent, who was the one that emailed me today; is one of those. I was really happy to hear from him today, and I hope to hear from him again soon. It may be one of those situations where we may not talk everyday, week, or even month, but I do appreciate those times that we do talk. So today I encourage my readers, to think of those special people in their lives who affected them in a very positive way, but that you may have lost contact with. If you have a way, contact these people again and renew old acquaintances. You'll be glad you did, but again, I remind you, positive influences is the key. I think we've all had people in the past that weren't good for us, yet we were close friends. Try to avoid those types please. And also, make sure to keep a hold of those good friends you have now. Those life long friends that you've had and will have for life. I've got a few of those too, and they mean an awful lot to me.

Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!

Big update to catch up

2009-05-11T15:23:00.004-04:00

Alright people! I have been away from blogging for a bit, due to a lot of craziness. I am back now, and promise to get back to posting regularly for any of you who are still my faithful readers. This post is going to be a whirlwind, its basically just going to be a snapshot overview of the last 3 weeks of my life, I hope you all enjoy Just as background, the reason life got so hectic and crazy for me was because I drove out to Calgary to kick off my family's move out west, leaving my wife and son back in Guelph to sell our house. That's where it all gets interesting...

Yes my beloved Flames lost out in their series to the Chicago Blackhawks, culminating in yet another frustrating first round exit for the fourth straight year. I'm expecting big things this year in terms of coach firing's, and key tweaking in players to finally get that culture in the locker room that will push us over the edge.

During the first week of May, my wife and son came out to visit me for a week. It was the best week ever, as I miss them soo much. Jody ran around shopping for houses and got a drastically different haircut (it looks good). Then that weekend I had my annual golf weekend out in BC, where I surprisingly improved in my game, but it still needs a lot of work. While I was golfing Jody and the boy came out and went sight seeing with Grandma and Auntie Manda. After the golfing was over we took a trip up to Kimberly, BC to visit my Aunt Karen, Uncle Steve, and cousin James. Colton became absolutely infatuated with their big lab Echo. She was really good with him, licking and chasing him around the house. He was in heaven. Whenever he was eating he would look for her to come over so that he could share his food. I got to take a ride in my uncles sweet Corvette at 180 km/h, talk about adrenaline rush. The following morning Uncle Steve took us around to the many scenic views in Kimberly, and Jody was able to take some great pictures. The picture for this post is one she took of me and my boy at St. Mary's lake I believe. It was an awesome trip and Steve, Karen, and James were excellent hosts. (By the way James, you and I will have to have a Lacrosse rematch)

On May 5th Jody and Colton returned back to Guelph, much to my heartache; and I came down with a nasty cold that put me out of commission until pretty much now. Upon returning to Guelph, Jody and I decided to list our home with a real estate agent to try and speed up our sale. We got on with a really motivated, go getter of an agent, and 12 hours into our listing we already had 3 showings and one offer compared to 1 showing and 0 offers in four weeks listing with Property Guys (sale by owner company). So we are really hopeful that our house will be sold before the month is out. My fingers are crossed, as I'm dying to have my family back.

I hope everyone did something for Mothers day. For Jody, we had a nice lunch together and she got tickets to go see Keith Urban. For my mom all her kids cooked dinner for her and showered her with love (she's been sick all week with the cold). I want to say thank you to all the mothers in my life. You all know who you are. You are all so special, and I owe you so much. Were it not for each and every one of you, I would not be who I am today. I love you all so very much!

Till next time, take care everyone.

Almost here, Almost here

2009-04-26T23:01:00.002-04:00

The time is almost here. My family is coming out to see me, and I can't wait. For those of you not up to speed, I am currently living in Calgary, for work, while I wait for our house to sell in Guelph. At that point Jody and Colton will join me, but until then they will be staying out in Ontario. I left them back on Monday and drove across the country to Calgary, and already it seems like it's been an eternity. I can't imagine what its going to be like if this process takes a month or two. Jody will probably kill me for using this picture, but I love it. She sent it to me last Tuesday, and it made me want to turn around instantly and go home. This week will probably zoom by, but I'll make sure I do all I can to make the most of it. In case my family reads this, I love you guys, and can't wait to see you.
Also, has everyone gone to my wife's photography blog yet? Any of you Calgary folks who might be interested in some nice photography, get ready she'll be out here soon. To get an idea of what she has to offer, go to http://www.jacphotography.blogspot.com/ She does all kinds of photography, portraits, scenery, fine art, weddings, etc. So go check it out. I do believe she has a link to her website too. http://www.jacphotography.ca/
I also want to give her a shout out, she sold a wonderful piece at one of her photography competitions. It was really exciting for her, and I'm so proud of her. Jody, you need to put that picture up on your blog, by the way.

One game away from disaster

2009-04-26T20:51:00.005-04:00

Well everyone, my Flames are going to take years off my life, I swear. Last night everyone in the city was charged and excited for game 5. The best of seven series was tied, and the Flames had all the momentum in the world, heading into a tough Chicago arena. I had my jersey on and was expecting another exciting, nail biting, physical war like the previous four games. I was expecting my Flames to make a big push to take control of the series, instead what happened was unexpected and disappointing to say the least. The game puck dropped and a debacle ensued, the Flames stumbled right out of the gate and by the game's end were flat on their backs. The final result was a 5-1 loss, our best goalie was pulled, our teams confidence shaken, and a must win situation for the rest of the series.
Here is what kills me though. I read the paper today to see the post game reviews and reactions from the coach and players. I wanted to see what excuses they had as to why they got dominated from the puck drop. Why was it that they didn't even seem like they were in the game? The results in the article were this "We just weren't prepared for the push they were going to come with, we'll be ready next time." and "As the coach, I'm supposed to have our players prepared for games, and I didn't have them prepared." This was infuriating to me! How do you not come into a playoff game not prepared! You are supposed to be a team of elite professionals. You get payed millions of dollars to play your game at a very high level. The entire culmination of your season is supposed to be geared towards winning the Stanley Cup, HOW CAN YOU NOT BE PREPARED FOR A PLAYOFF GAME! for the last 3 years my beloved Flames have exited the playoffs in the first round, you'd think that after three years of early exits, they'd be more than prepared to make sure they had success this year.
What scares me about their attitude is this, they are a veteran team, getting beat by a young team where 14 of 23 players are entering the playoffs for the first time, and they don't seem to care. This is supposed to be a Men vs. Boys series, and yet our Flames looked like the boys last night. Now if they are having this much trouble against a young, green, Blackhawks team, what hope do they have to advance past a hardened veteran team next round in Vancouver? I just don't understand the "We weren't prepared" excuse. How can you not be prepared for a playoff game? When you know what its going to take to win, and when you know that your opponent is equally as desperate to win, how can you not be prepared. I just don't understand how professional athletes, guys who are payed millions for their craft, can got into a major game and not be prepared.
So the situation is dire at this point. The Flames must win the next 2 games in order to live another day. I know they can do it, I have faith that they have the talent to pull it off..... as long as they're prepared of course. If they don't there are going to have to be some major changes around here, starting with the coach, then moving on to some of our players. So here's hoping guys, GO FLAMES GO. Let's get on our horse and play top hockey!
P.S. Some of you may say injuries have played a part in this, and to an small extent, you're right, but it's not as large a factor. Everyone at this time of year plays hurt.

Hello From Out West

2009-04-24T14:03:00.003-04:00

Howdy folks,

Yes I have finally made it out here after a very grueling 34 hour drive. I drove down through the States this time as opposed to taking the Trans Canada, like I did when I moved out to Ontario. I have to say the drive for the most part was OK. The scenery in Illinois and Wisconsin was nice. Minnesota was ok, but nothing special. North Dakota was absolutely depressing. It almost seemed for the most part like a ghost state. I was driving through towns that looked like they've been abandoned for decades minus the few dilapidated houses or trailers where you could still see some signs of life. The whole state seems to be flooded too. On more than one occasion I litter ally drove through a river that had crested over the road. That was scary, because you honestly couldn't see if the was still road in front of you. As I was driving the highway close to the Saskatchewan border I would look on either sides of the road and see dirt roads leading up to farm houses and they were either still under a river, or washed out. I couldn't help but wonder what the people were doing with themselves, as they all of a sudden find themselves captive in their own homes with no real way to get out. Boy, I could not get out of that state fast enough. So I finally entered Canada again at around 11:00 pm on Tuesday night, so I decided to stay over in Weyburn. After that I finished my travel into Calgary. That actually was the craziest part of the whole trip. I encountered a bunch of wind the whole way, but for the most part it was a nice day. When I got to Swift Current, the temperature was 24 degrees, and everyone was in shorts and t shirts. When I got to Medicine Hat, AB it was 18 degrees. After that I got to Brooks where the temperature was 12 degrees, but only an hour down the road in Strathmore, the temperature dropped to 2 degrees. 20 Minutes later I ran into a full out snowstorm on Calgary's edge, and it was -2 degrees. Talk about crazy weather.

Well, while I am glad to finally be in Calgary, I really miss my family. I knew it would be hard to be away from Jody and Colton, but I wasn't prepared for it, and really; how could you be. Luckily I have them coming out to visit next week. What a fun time we are going to have. I took two days off for vacation to spend with them. This also reminds me, Colton experienced his first kiss already. He's a little player when it comes to the ladies. Apparently his charm was a little too much for Gracie (his friend Mommy babysits on Wednesday's) to resist. He didn't seem like he was really up for it though, I mean after all; he's got a reputation as a flirt, and doesn't want people thinking he's tied down. I laughed out loud when I saw this picture.

I apologize to all my readers for the long break between my posts while I moved. Now that I'm stable again, I'll get right back into it. Be prepared for tonight's post as I set the stage for game 5 of the Flames/Blackhawks game. For any of you who may not be up on things, this has quickly become a brutal ware between 2 teams, and has captured the attention of the hockey world. It's going to be exciting!

Something's gotta give

2009-04-17T14:40:00.003-04:00

Some times I wonder how long it'll be before I see a sight like this again. The last time my beloved Flames won Lord Stanley's mug was exactly 20 years ago 1989. Since then we have gone through a lot of highs and lows, but the last 5 years we've consistently been in the playoffs. So why am I so worried? Well, since our last cup finals appearance in 2004, (and I still maintain we were robbed by conspiring refs) we haven't been able to get beyond the first round of the playoffs. We have a great nucleus of players, and this year we had more depth than ever! however the team seems to have a big problem with fizzling out at the last moment, in games and seasons. I would tend to blames this on the coaching staff, for not getting the players mentally prepared to play a full 60 minute game, or full 82 game season + playoffs, however i think this may not be the case. Since our playoff run in '04, Calgary has had 3 different coaches, with the same result. Is there a culture among our core players? Could it maybe be a collective attitude of management that trickles down to the rest of the organization? I'm not sure. All I know is that I feel the window for this generation of Flames to win the Stanley cup is closing fast. I think that in a couple years when contracts come up again for our big players, we'll be in rebuilding mode, meaning another possible 5-10 years of mediocre play until wee get a system built up again. At least that is what history has shown us thus far.

So the Flames now find themselves in the first round match up with the Young gunning Chicago Blackhawks. A team we struggled against all year. Their advantage is youth and energy, their draw back is little playoff experience. Calgary's advantages are strength, size, and experience. Our drawback is finishing. Last night in game 1 of the best of 7, Calgary played a near flawless 30 minutes of hockey. They bullied the young 'Hawks, shut down their scorers, and then it happened. The 'Hawks began to play with some urgency and began to push back a bit and tied the game up in the 2nd period. Calgary responded by playing a great 8 minutes of the 3rd period where we capitalized on a turnover to take back the lead. At this point the Flames must have figured the game was over. They immediately began to try and play slow down hockey, to try and just preserve their lead rather than continue to press for more goals. They began to slow their skating against a fast young team, and they paid. With 5 minutes left the 'Hawks tied the game. the Flames at this point looked shocked and flustered. The game went into overtime where things didn't get any better. Our captain did a great job of winning the face off and dishing the puck back to the defence. Dion Phaneuf made a crisp pass to his line mate Jordan Leopold. At this point the logical thing to do would be to pass the puck up along the boards to the winger in front of you, but no; he decided to try and direct a lazy pass, cross ice to an opposite winger. The 'Hawks forward effortlessly picked off the pass causing a turn over. As our defence scrambled to try and get back the 'hawk forwards were already crashing the net resulting in the overtime winner. The whole sequence only took about 12 seconds. Yes there is a case for goalie interference on the goal, but the big picture is that the Flames fell into their bad habit of only playing half the game. that ultimately is what cost them game one. I sure hope Coach Keenan is driving the point home today and tomorrow before game 2 tomorrow night. if the Flames end up in a 2 game hole, I'm not going to hold up much hope for a comeback. So let's go boys! Shake off the cobwebs! We can do this, let's show the doubters, what we are capable of. The following you tube link is dedicated to our Captain, Jerome Iginla, who was strangely quiet last night. If we have any chance of winning we need him to step up. everyone knows that the Flames live or die by Jerome's performance, so will the real Jerome Iginla please stand up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yS09w6lVHI

Yet another Colton Moment

2009-04-14T10:06:00.004-04:00

G'Day everyone. I hope we all had an enjoyable Easter Weekend. Things are still crazy in our home as we continue to prepare for our move out west. The time has come for me to get out there, I will be anxiously awaiting my family to join me. I'll be in Calgary on the 22nd of April for good, minus the time I'll have to fly back to pack up our home once we sell it. Any prayers anyone can send our way that we can sell our home quickly, would be appreciated.

So seeing as how I'll be away from my family for a bit, I may be missing monumental occasions in Colton's development. So this may be the last update I can give on him for a while, after this I'll have to rely on my amazing wife to give me and my readers the updates. So last month I posted Colton's first steps. It was quite the event. Since then, walking hasn't been something he's tried doing much. he fet it much easier and faster to crawl around. Well over the weekend that changed. All of a sudden he's decided that being in the world of the upright and mobile is much cooler. He has been a walking machine. He still stumbles every now and then, and sometimes, if he wants to get somewhere in a hurry, he'll drop down and crawl, but for the most part now, all we see is his little Frankenstien walk. Enjoy this little clip. (sorry for the incredibly bad commentary)

That's the cash you could have been saving if....

2009-04-08T19:56:00.011-04:00

So you're probably looking at this post and wondering "what is that?". Well that's the money stack from those infectious little Geico commercials accompanied by a remix of Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlwjIhHMWLQ I love those little clips, and a current event in my birth province (and soon to be home, again), brought it to mind.

I recently returned from a business trip out in Alberta, and as I was waiting in the airport; I decided to grab a complimentary news paper. Front page was the headline "Alberta budget forecasts deficit". This was shocking to me, and for those of you not understanding, I'll explain. Alberta has long been one of and now is the richest province in Canada. This wealth is due mainly to our biggest resource, the oil sands. The province has enjoyed a lot of economic growth and major budget surpluses due to the oil patch projects. We also were led until a few years ago by a great Premier "King" Ralph Klein, who got the province financially responsible. Under his leadership, the province flourished like never before, and we saw some of our best years under "King" Ralph. Sadly enough, those years seem to be behind us. There is new leadership in the province in the form of (termed loosely) "Honest" Ed Stelmach and his cronies. These bunglers have been a joke since they got into power. First they angered the Oil Barrons by raising province royalties on their projects. (I guess $9 billion provincial budget surpluses weren't good enough) This angered many of the oil companies who cut their projects down and moved a chunk of their business out to Saskatchewan. Now with an economic recession well in play, they announce a projected provincial deficit of $4.5 billion dollars for the next 2 years! with many new cuts and tax hikes to come. Why is this so infuriating to me? Well to start off with, once "King" Ralph got the provinces finances under control, he put in a law that the Government was no longer allowed to have deficits. This would keep the politicians responsible to make sure the incredible wealth the province had would be used wisely and appropriately. Well "Special" Ed (as I like to call him), and his merry band of loonies, put forth a bill to change the law so that they could put forth their deficit budget. This means that over the last few years of bloated surpluses in our budget, our provincial bean counters squandered the funds on who knows what, instead of putting some away for a rainy day. I mean, do they think we the people are not going to wonder how we went from untold wealth last year to being in the proverbial crapper? Do they suppose us to be that daft? Or is it that they simply don't care, they screwed up and want to just move on? I'm flabbergasted, that a province with no real economic issues over spent itself to the point where we now, when it's too late; have to sharpen the pencils. What do the great powers that be have to say to all the people that will lose jobs this year? What are they going to tell all the people in health care, education, and subsidized income, who are going to feel major cuts? Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like the lousy opposition parties! But it's the truth! What are they going to say? " We never thought a day like this would come, so we decided to take a page out of Michael Jackson's financial book; and see how fast we could spend it!" Unbelievable to me folks. Really, really, sad. So what are they going to do now to try and right the ship before the crew runs them off faster than Elton John at a Republican convention. Are they going to go back to the Oil giants, with their tails between their legs, and offer to do away with the royalty increase, in the hopes they bring more projects back into Alberta? That wouldn't work for 2 reasons. First off, the biggest hurt in our budget is the drop in oil prices, so their not producing a lot right now anyways, until things pick back up. So it's not going to make a huge difference right now. Secondly, they'll probably tell Ed to stuff it and want a bigger reduction out of spite! So what are the other options? Anyone? I'm like you, I'm drawing a blank at the moment. looks like we have to try and make hard cuts, tighten the belt, and try to get back into financial stability again. Hopefully by then we learn our lesson, and when the recession passes, and we start making money again, we put some away each year. But it still makes me angrier than a starving Ethiopian with no legs trying to chase a doughnut down a hill. That's just my opinion.

Special Ed: Hey Geoff, what's that?

Geoff: Well Ed, he's been following you for a while now.

Special Ed: He's creeping me out.

Geoff: That's the money you could have saved had you had a brain. Poor little guy looks tired.

*Cue song*

Colton Update

2009-04-06T13:06:00.002-04:00

Today was Colton's 1 year check up at the doctor's office. All is well with the little man. He's tall and slender like his old man, but he's a lot tougher. Whenever I went to the doctor, the needles were always a huge production. This happened right up until I was 14, I would have to have people hold me down in order to get my shots. (I'm a lot better now, in case you're wondering) But not Colton, no he's brave like his mom. Getting his shots doesn't even phase him. Apparently from his mothers account, the doctor poked him, he gave a slight whine and then went right back to trying to get into things he's not supposed to get into. Shot's don't even phase him, they are more of an annoyance only. Just makes me laugh. Going to another point, I do love how he is such a curious little guy. He's always exploring things. he has no fear about going after anything he sees and playing with it until he figures it out completely. Jody is always telling me stories about his doctor visits, and how he loves to play with the blood pressure pump, cotton balls, computer mouse, table paper. As you can see in the picture posted, he's become interested in the blinds.

Kids are truly something remarkable. I have learned so much since having Colton in our little family. I've learned that I can change a poopy diaper under normal circumstances in a matter of 45 seconds. I've learned that something as simple as your nose can be the source of endless curiosity. I've learned that a belly button is the most fascinating body part we've discovered thus far. I've learned that I can be as angry as ever at him, and all it takes is his little smile at me and I'm putty in his hands. Of course there is no better feeling in the world than picking him up when he's upset, and having him cling to you until he calms down. Having the kind of power to make a person feel better like that makes a parent feel like Superman (or woman in Jody's case). Anyhow, that's my Colton indulgence for the day.

The Power known as China

2009-04-02T21:24:00.002-04:00

Howdy everyone! I had one of my great readers ask me to comment on the topic of China. Here are my 2 cents... Is China the most powerful country in the world? No. A superpower? Yes. The Chinese are very hard working. My dad recently went on a trip there to visit a manufacturing plant that wanted to produce these trailers we wanted to build. He observed how these thousands of workers came in, worked 10 to 12 hour days. They all came into the cafeterias right at the whistle blow, where the factory fed them all efficiently, and then right on the dot of an hour they were back out on the lines. They do this 6 days a week, but only for about 10-15 years. At that point they "burn out" and will take all the money they've saved and move out to the mountains to live out the rest of their lives. Now this isn't common all over China, so don't let that story paint the whole story for you. Chins seems to excel in everything they do, as they seem to be extremely hard working and disciplined people. I'm amazed when I watch shows on the Olympics, and you see these athlete "Factories". They have kids coming in, some as young as 2. They do nothing but train and master their sports in the hopes to be selected to represent the entire country on the global stage. They are so competitive, that they went as far last summer to forge documents on 2 of their gymnasts, to make them appear older than they really were.
Anyway, my opinion on China as a whole is this. They are a global superpower for sure, due to their industry and pure numbers in population. But are they the most powerful country in the world no. The communism thing sets them back a bit.We all know communism in theory works, but in real practice it doesn't because of mans inability to govern themselves appropriately. Clearly as we've seen, there is always corruption in that type of system. Also, I think that though they are industrialized, the standards they hold up to are still decades behind the rest of the modern world. However, I gotta tell you, I love Chinese food!

Please feel free to leave me comments on my posts people, I learn the most when I hear from you!

The Big Announcement and other stuff

2009-04-01T10:08:00.003-04:00

Well folks, if the picture is of any indication to you, the big announcement I have involves my family and a plane. Here it is, we are being re-located to Calgary. Yes you all read that right, we are moving back to Calgary effective immediately. I'll probably be there for a while before my wife and son join me, as we still have to sell our house here in Guelph. This decision was made last weekend, as my company wants me to be more directly involved in the day to day operations at the home base. It's been crazy, and Jody and I have been riding an emotional roller coaster ever since the decision was made. While we are very excited for the new opportunities this is bringing our way, we are sad to leave Guelph. We have both found ourselves really loving Guelph since we moved here. It is also where our very first home is, and we only got to spend a little over a year in it. Jody also is from Ontario as many of you know, so we will be leaving her family behind, don't worry though, we will be visiting often. On the other hand we are moving to where great opportunities await and it is where I am from, so its not like we are charting into the unknown. It's really a bitter sweet time for us, either way we go you're giving up one thing and gaining another. It's funny where life takes you. Although there is some sadness, there is also some excitement and hope. When looking at it as a whole, this is a good opportunity for us to grow as a family.

Well now that that is out of the way, my next piece is an update on my beloved Flames. They lost a real tough game on Monday to San Jose 2-1. It was costly because Vancouver won their game last night which leap frogged them into first place in the division and the 3rd seed in the playoffs. They hold that by one point with both teams having 6 games left to play. So we're still in contention for that placing, but we now have a tough schedule ahead of us, all the games are back to back games. So fingers crossed that the Flames wake up and get their game together before the playoffs start. It would be nice to have some momentum going in to the post season for a change.

Other than that folks, the rest of my thoughts will wait for other postings. By the way, anyone interested in seeing our house needs to go to http://www.propertyguys.com/properties/29837-guelph-ontario-townhouse. As an added incentive, if you know anyone looking in the market for a home, we are offering a finders bonus to the person that finds the lucky people that buy our home. Please get the word out!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

2009-03-30T20:05:00.002-04:00

Good Evening Mixing Bowl Readers! Yes as you can tell from the title, there is a big announcement approaching. You'll all find out what it is tomorrow, but in the meantime I want you all to try and guess what it is. If some of you already know what it is, and some of you do; then don't spoil it. So look tomorrow night for the update.

Big Game Tonight!!!

2009-03-30T19:24:00.003-04:00

We folks, tonight is a big night for my Calgary Flames. Tonight we host the NHL's top team, the San Jose Sharks. It's going to be an absolute battle to the finish. The Flames need this win to stay ahead of the surging Vancouver Canucks (Ca-nukcleheads). My team 2 weeks ago had an 11 point lead in their division, until a disastrous road trip. Since then they've had their struggles trying to stay consistent. Last game they won 3-2 against a division rival, the Wild. It was a sickening game, as the guys in Zebra stripes, supposedly officiating the game; must have had Wild jersey's on underneath. Despite the setbacks they had due to bad officiating, they rallied and pulled off a tough win. So fingers crossed, they do it again tonight. So far this year they have had the Sharks number, we'll be looking for that trend to continue tonight.

Speaking of bad officiating, I also want to talk about another aspect of that game, and sports in general, that bugs me. The game on Saturday was televised by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). They have this one former NHL coach on who's job is to color commentate, or add his professional observations. CBC is a nationwide network, and as such they should remain neutral in their reporting of the games unless it's a Canadian Team playing an international team, then you can be allowed to show bias. Anyhow, this coach; Marc Crawford was doing a lousy job of hiding his opinion. The Flames had 2 clearly questionable calls by the ref's go against them, resulting in disallowed goals. The whole time this was going on, Marc Crawford was praising the officials for their calls and adding his praise to their efforts. Even, the play by play guy was telling him "well I don't know Marc, it looks pretty close on the replay..."; translation shut up, we're not paying you to be a cheerleader! Marc Crawford used to be a coach for the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, both division rivals and in Vancouver's case; mortal enemies of the Flames. So his support of anyone playing against the Flames is not surprising. My whole point is that I really get bugged when I'm trying to watch a sports game on a neutral channel, and have to listen to some hack sports caster try and use it as a platform to express his fanhood. If I wanted biased opinion I'd watch a local broadcast or listen to the local radio play by play. Sometimes I want to watch a good game and listen to commentary that helps you learn finer aspects of the game. Perhaps I'm losing my audience here, but let me know what you think. Do you ever have that problem where you are trying to watch a program and it's ruined by some chuckle head using it as a platform to push their opinion? Give me some stories people. Let me know.

Colton's B-Day, The aftermath

2009-03-27T22:40:00.003-04:00

The poor cupcake didn't stand a chance! He was so excited the moment he started eating it. It was really funny, because right from the first taste of frosting, he was giggling. It was like he was doing something really naughty, and loving every moment. Boy what a day for our little man. He was so wiped by the end of it all, but he loved every moment. The day started off with a trip to the Early Years Center for a Birthday book party. All the kids in the community who have March birthdays got together, played with toys, had a guest reader come in to read to them, cake, and then they each get a story book as they leave. After that we went to the Fun Works. It a massive kids arcade with a huge padded jungle gym, 2 ball pits, 4 different slides, obstacle course. He crawled and played and slid to his hearts content. As we got into the car to head home he passed right out of exhaustion. Once we got home we fed him dinner and he got to open his presents. As is usual with kids his age, he was more interested in the paper than the gifts. Finally it was time for his first cake. We lit the candle, sang happy birthday, and then the chaos ensued. All in all, it was a pretty good day, and he really enjoyed himself. Whether or not he remembers it, it sure gave mommy and daddy some great memories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTON MY BOY!

My boy is 1 YEAR OLD

2009-03-27T12:07:00.002-04:00

Holy Cow! This is unbelievable. Today is my son Colton's first birthday!I can't believe that exactly 1 year ago I was sitting in a delivery room with my wife, waiting for her induction medication to kick in. For any of you who remembers, the delivery was not so smooth, and at one point it even got scary when Colton's heart rate began to vanish. (The cord was around his neck) As a sign of things to come, he was just making sure he made an entrance. Above is one of the first pictures we took of the boy. He was only a few days old, and this was the first bath at home.
Colton has been the joy of his mom and dad's life. He has such a happy go lucky personality and loves to smile. Ask anybody that has been around him, you can't help but smile. He loves to play with the kitty, his toys, and mommy and daddy. Its been incredible to watch him grow over the last year and see him mature into the intelligent, bright boy he is today. He loves to explore and he gets into everything. You can see the gears in his head turning a mile a minute as he tries to figure out how everything works.
So today is his first birthday, happy birthday my boy! We have a massive day ahead of us. Complete with a trip to a kids play place, a birthday book party at the E.Y.C. and then tonight a birthday dinner with a cake to destroy! Tonight I'll post pictures of the aftermath. It's going to be fantastic.

Tsk, tsk FOX. Tsk, Tsk...

2009-03-25T11:34:00.006-04:00

I'm sorry to even have to blog about this everyone. It's a shame on the American media, and FOX news and it's viewers who may have found this acceptable, appropriate, or funny. Before I get going, anyone wanting to know exactly what I'm talking about needs to click on this link and watch the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAeIpLeTUfE

Ok, so what is it that has me so mad. Well a show on FOX News entitled "Red Eye" crossed a major line in its attempt to be sarcastic and satirical in their views and made repeated, distasteful jokes regarding Canada's military, their efforts in Afghanistan, and their dead soldiers. Not to mention the thousands of lame, ignorant jokes about Canadians period. Now, don't get me wrong, I like a quick Canadian joke as much as the next guy, when it's all in good fun. This display was classless and distasteful. I'm very protective of our armed forces. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who give their lives in protection of our rights. No we don't have the massive army that the Americans do, but we are giving what we can, we are putting in our dues to preserve freedom. Apparently to these chuckleheads, Canadian Soldier lives aren't worth as much as an American life. The pure ego and absolute superiority complex of these media morons is insulting to the utmost.

The real shame here is the smear this gives all those brave men and women who have died as hero's in our country. Unfortunately there are going to be viewers of FOX News out there who will find this dribble funny, and accept it as persuasive journalism. It's actually quite the opposite, its trash and literally a smear campaign to a strong ally to the North. The truth of the matter is that these guys are really displaying a fear of losing the Canadian Forces for a time, because they know of the value of having us there is significant. It's that typical response by an insecure group, insult someone until they feel bad about themselves, and stay to avoid further abuse. Pitiful.

I would ask any of you who check out my blog to view the link, and please comment on what you think. Be honest, I really want to know your thoughts.

A shout out to all my Calgary people

2009-03-23T22:05:00.003-04:00

This post is dedicated to all my family and friends who are suffering a prolonged winter today. This morning I called my dad at 6:00 am MT. I was surprised he was up already, but he explained to me that he was up with a bunch of his neighbours trying to dig out of a freak 2' snow storm. Just the thought of it made me shiver. I don't know about the rest of you readers who live in the lower 48, but up here in Canada we've had a brutal and crazy winter. At one point here in Ontario, we were hit with 3 major snow storms in a matter of 8 days. I think at it's peak the snow drifts on either side of my drive way were 5.5'.

So in honor of this winter I thought that I would post a picture from our family trip to Nuevo Vallarta, MX.

It was and incredible and memorable trip. Mexico, and this was my first time down there; was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed at an all inclusive resort called the Grand Marival. By the way, anyone wanting to go to a place like that for a vacation, all inclusive is the only way to go. The ocean was amazing! We went snorkeling, body boarded almost every day, saw sting rays riding the waves, and even witnessed a sea turtle come on to the beach and lay her eggs! The Mexican people were amazing and all the resort staff fell in love with our boy! They always wanted to hold him and make him smile, which anyone who knows my boy; it doesn't take much. The town of Puerto Vallarta, was extremely cool, so much history. We lucked out in finding a guy there who drove us around the whole town and even up into the mountains in his air conditioned suburban. He knew tons about the history, and all the cool spots to go. Anyhow, it was probably the greatest vacation I've ever had, I turned my cell phone off the moment I arrived, and didn't turn it back on until I returned home. It was full of firsts for all of us. The picture you see is us standing in the ocean on the beach of the resort. Every now and then, especially during cold snaps here, my mind goes back to my week long paradise trip in Mexico. VIVA LA MEXICO! As a side note, I'd like to give a shout out to my Mexican brother Jaime. You were right my friend, Mexico is amazing. Next time, I'm coming to Durango!

Question for all my readers, what was your favorite vacation? Give me some stories, tell me some cool tales.

A shout out to my little Bro

2009-03-22T21:32:00.003-04:00

So I was talking to my little brother the other day, and I warned him that I would be mentioning him in my blog. he didn't believe me, but promised he'd check out my blog all the time. He said if i mentioned him, and possibly embarrassed him; he'd get back at me. So in a way, we'll know if he actually does check out my blog, because I should get a response...

The reason why I am mentioning him is because he recently told me that he made the Junior Rugby team at his high school! I was really excited for him, but at the same time shocked. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not exactly a big guy, I'm just tall and thin. My brother Stephen is the same way, tall and thin. Not exactly the first image that pops into your head when you mention rugby. But, he's excited, so Stephen; if you're reading don't get killed. Congrats!

With that, it made me think of one of Stephen's favorite movies, Napoleon Dynamite. He and I could honestly quote this movie for hours. He's so good at "Kip" it's scary. N.D. is one of the greatest movies of all time. The script is fantastic. I'll admit, when I first saw it, I thought it was pretty dumb, but as the days went by I found myself quoting a couple one liners from the film. So the second time I watched it, I was in stitches, and wondering how I could not have enjoyed it the first time. It was pure wholesome comedy, and really; I think all of us have a bit of Napoleon in us.

With that being said, readers, tell me about some of your favorite movies, and why they are your favorite. I look forward to hearing from you!

Random updates from a crazy week

2009-03-22T21:06:00.002-04:00

Howdy Everyone, It's been about a week and a half since I started this blog, and so far it's gone really well. I am really flattered by all the people that have come by and checked out my site, read my posts, and especially those who have commented on the posts. I learn the most from you the readers, and you guys also give me ideas for new topics to write about, so keep it up, and spread the word to anyone you think might enjoy this site.

Speaking of spreading the word, let me give an officail "The Mixing Bowl" endorsement to a wonderful blog. My wife Jody Ann is a professional photographer. She specializes in baby/child portraits, maternity & adult portraits, model portfolio shots (no nude, or semi nude photography), and fine art. She does also do corporate functions, and weddings. Anyone interested can check out her website at www.jacphotography.ca, she also has a blog you can check out at http://jacphotography.blogspot.com/. Please go check it out, the blog is especially fun to visit.

Anyone wondering what this cartoon character is about, that apparently is what I would look like if I were a Simpson's character. Not extremely accurate, but hey. Wanna try? Go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html, let me know how it turns out!

The Curious Case of George Dub-ya

2009-03-19T09:41:00.003-04:00

One of my awesome readers (my sister), had brought up an event that took place in my home town the other day. George W. Bush, the most recent former President of the United States; visited Calgary. So she asked for my opinion on the whole thing. Well, I'm not about to turn down a chance to do that. So in the words of Heath Ledger's "Joker"... Here.. we.. go..!

Now I know we all have our opinions of the man, and he is someone that inspires very polarizing opinions. This is evident by the 200+ protesters that showed up outside the convention center where he was giving his speech. To give you some background, this was his first official speech since leaving the White House. It was a private, invitation only event that included many business people, Media celebs, and former and current political officers. It was an hour long speech where he spoke of his 8 years in office. Anyone wanting to read in depth about the visit can check out http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/03/17/cgy-bush-speech-calgary.html As a side note, please don't comment here about conspiracy theories of the US government blowing up the WTC, pentagon etc. I've been through them all, and find it all to be unfounded and untrue. Thanks.

Anyhow, back to my opinion. Yes, Bush was not the greatest President to come out of the lower 48. He's not a hero. I personally was not a big fan of his 2nd term in particular. But is he a war criminal like some are labeling him? NO. Is he an evil tyrant? No. Is he single handidly responsible for the economic down turn of the U.S.A. because of his policies? Not completely. I fell that George W. Bush has become that outlet for a frustrated people. And I think a portion of the criticism he faces is not entirely warranted. The fact of the matter is, he was unfortunately the President during one of the most difficult times in our generation. America found itself under attack by foreign terrorists, and the people demanded immediate action. He had to make tough decisions. Could they have been done another way? Absolutely, but folks, hindsight is 20/20. The only way people learn is by trial and error. And we've learned through Bush's mistakes for sure. But let's cut the guy some slack in the fact that he had to make a decision, and he did the best he could at the time. Also take into account the fact that in reality, there are a whole team of people running the country. Bush does not make every decision for the country, it's more like he is a manager in a corporation. He monitors things, makes executive decisions etc, but the majority of the work is done by his staff. Now here again, bush fell down by having a few characters in his staff who were less than glowing. All in all people, I guess what I'm trying to say is, that although i don't agree with everything he did, or how his term ended, I certainly don't think he was the anti-Christ. I don't think he's an evil, tyrant, torturer. I think he did the best he could with what he had, and it is what it is. I certainly don't think he was the worst president of the U.S.A. i think in our day and age of technology and over zealous media, he was over characterized. I wouldn't want him running my country, but you won't see me tossing foot wear at him anytime soon. I'd rather like to just see him ride off into the big Texas sunset and slip into mediocrity like a majority of the other 43 presidents. Just my thoughts.

Miley Cyrus vs. Radiohead

2009-03-17T21:04:00.003-04:00

Now I'm not one to really get into celebrity gossip, but this is a subject I had to address. It was just too good to pass up.

Teen queen Miley Cyrus exposes her incredibly inflated ego and feeds enough fodder to the gossip columns to last a year. The really sad part about it all is that really, she's just a very immature girl who's been thrust into the public spotlight without any real protection or guidance. I have a real problem with the way Hollywood is taking younger and younger kids and trying to make them grow up really fast in front of the public eye, and stay normal functioning members of society. But now I'm digressing, let's get back to the real story.

Miley Cyrus apparently got her feelings hurt at the Grammy's, when her "like, rock god" Radiohead refused to do a quick meet and greet back stage before their performance. (Honestly though, could you blame them) Well, you just don't do that to princess Miley. How does she respond to this supposed "slight", well she goes into a valley girl induced tantrum on a small time radio show. I won't rehash the whole thing, but if you are interested, go to http://blog.inmusic.ca/inmusic/2009/03/thom-yorke-miley-cyrus-feud.html#more

Needless to say, the real bomb came when Miley uttered the threat, that she was, and I quote; "gonna ruin them". Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Miley Cyrus, current edition of the Disney brats gone solo, is going to destroy Radiohead. This girl, who is only a star because of her father's one hit wonder star power, whose fan base is the fickle 5-15 year old girl crowd, is going to destroy RADIOHEAD. The same Radiohead who have been rock staples since 1993. The same band credited with recording OK Computer, voted into the top 16 greatest albums of all time. The same band who is openly credited to paving the way for many of the big bands of now, such as Coldplay, Bloc Party, Keane, Muse... just to name a few. The same band that has been credited by many music artists, along with some of the previous bands; as one of the most influential bands in rock history. They are going to be single handedly brought down by the millions upon millions of little girls who probably have never even heard rock music yet. Well clearly the best way to get someone to agree to meet you is to insult them and threaten them with certain ruin. I'm sure Radiohead is so scared of this spoiled brat that they are calling their P.R. people right now to beg her forgiveness. Ever see that poster where a house cat is approaching an eagle 3 times it's size on a fence post? It's titled "Overconfidence" and I think it's a perfect description for miss Hanna Montana. Go get em' girl, and make sure you let us all know how that turns out...

Colton in the ball pit

2009-03-17T11:51:00.002-04:00

Colton update....

Today Colton has taken off with his beautiful mommy to have a play day with one of his friends from church. Jody recently sent me this picture of the boy playing in the ball pit. By all accounts he's having a blast! Looking at this picture, began giving me flashbacks. How many of you, when you were kids; loved going into the ball pit? I could have spent all day in that pit. I think they need to have adult ball pits, can you imagine the chaos that would bring?

On another Colton note, he went to the park for the first time yesterday. I was not around as I was working, so I don't have pictures or even first hand accounts, but I do have Jody's account. He had a blast, and especially loved the slide. He went on the swing, and even met a friend who really liked showing off the different tricks he could do on the playground equipment. This apparently, was really cool for Colton. He enjoyed it so much he didn't want to stop playing even though his little teeth were chattering. (It was a little breezy yesterday)

He's had his Grandpa Crane here the last 2 1/2 days, and he's loved all the playtime. He sure does love Grandpa, and Grandpa seems to always know how to get a big belly laugh out of him. after today Grandpa leaves for Montreal and then back home to Calgary, so it's back to boring old Dad and Mom. He'll be looking forward to his trip out to Calgary in April/May, I'm sure.

An important news release

2009-03-16T19:39:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone,
Most of you that know me know that I am a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (Mormon). For the last 2.5 Weeks I've received emails from Friends and families regarding a mildly popular show that tries too loosely tie in our religion to its plot line. Many of my L.D.S. Friends and Family have expressed their disgust and anger over a recently aired episode that made light of some rites our church holds sacred. Some have been very passionate and bold in expressing their feeling and ideas of how they plan to handle the situation. This is a sensitive subject with many differing opinions on all sides of the spectrum. I myself have been questioned as to where I stand on the issue. Let me first express my sadness and dismay over this. My religion is extremely sacred to me. I always try to be respectful to the beliefs of others and maintain the hope that others will do that for me. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and sometimes there are those who feel it appropriate to mock others beliefs. My initial reaction to seeing this was, anger and hurt. I'll admit, immediately my mind started racing through how I could begin a crusade to defend the honor of my church. However after a few moments of letting off some steam. I began to think of what I could really do to take a bad situation and make it better. To make a long story short, a few days after I initially heard of this, the Church gave a press release regarding this exact situation. I think it is a perfect answer as for how the members of the church should handle themselves in all situations like this. I've attached the link and encourage any interested to please read it. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma Please leave any comments you may have. Simply click on the "comments" at the bottom of any post you want to comment on. Thanks all.

What a kick in the head

2009-03-14T22:59:00.003-04:00

Well folks, fate is having a good laugh with me tonight. My team absolutely let me down, on a night when I needed them to come through. Right from the get go we got caught with flat feet, undisciplined penalties, and bad bounces/suspect defense. Of course this would happen when I had run my mouth about the greatness of my Flames, and the sad state of the leafs. On a night where my neighbor, an avid leafs fan; was over. This game marked the end of a 7 game road trip where we escape with a 3 win 4 loss record. In my opinion the Flames need to get home asap and give their heads a shake. If they are going to make a deep run into the playoffs, they need to tighten up their defense, and find out how to maintain a consistant energy throughout. Their big guns are firing on all cylinders, but the penalties and poor defence/penalty kill, really takes a toll on their momentum.
Well despite the loss, which is still stinging; I did get this great gem of a picture of my boy and wife giving the #1 sign. He's going to make a great Flames fan for years to come!

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y.... NIGHT!

2009-03-14T11:07:00.003-04:00

Well, here we go. It's Saturday and that can only mean one thing.... Hockey Night in Canada! This particular night is going to be big for me. As many of you know, I'm a pure bread Alberta boy, and I hail from the glorious city of Calgary. That's the home of the N.H.L.'s Calgary Flames. A few years ago, I moved out to Toronto to marry my wife and expand my company. Toronto is home to the self proclaimed "Team of Canada" the Toronto Maple Leafs. The leafs have been a pitiful team for 40 years now since they won their last cup, and things aren't getting any better. Yet you wouldn't know it by speaking to the fans out here. They are all still living back in the 60's when the leafs were in their glory days. Why this little history lesson? Because tonight on HNIC the Calgary Flames take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two teams on opposite sides of the spectrum, the Flames are pegged, by pundits; as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. The leafs are struggling through a "rebuilding year". As I've been living out here, I'm given nothing but grief for my fan-hood in the Flames. Tonight when the Flames come into the Leafs home and destroy them, I may be able to silence the leaf fans for a while. I can't wait! In fact my neighbor has been invited to come over and watch the game with me. We have a friendly rivalry going on. We've even brought our kids into it. Tonight I'm going to have my son Colton decked out in solid flames gear to welcome in Nick and his daughter, whom he'll have decked out in Leafs gear. I'll post pictures tomorrow.... if I'm cognisent enough, I may be wiped out from celebrating our victory. GOOD TIMES. GO FLAMES GO!

It's Friday!!!!

2009-03-13T16:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm glad it's Friday for sure. this week has been loaded and stressful, but there's nothing more satisfying then finishing a week like this and being able to sit back and say "I made it."

Tonight I'm going to unwind by meeting some of the guys down at the church gym to play some floor hockey. Speaking of unwinding, golf season seems to be fast approaching. I have been itching to get back out on the course, which is strange considering I'm a terrible golfer. Strange thing is though, I could have the worst day of golf (and it happens more often than not) and still enjoy it more than a good day of work. I got a great set of Ping Raptures for Christmas a year ago. I only got to use them 5 times last year on a course, so this year I'm hoping to break that number. Look out Tiger....

Question, What are some other ways you readers like to unwind? Give me ideas to try and reduce my stress level this year.

My Boy is Walking!

2009-03-12T21:39:00.001-04:00

Tuesday was a monumental day in our household. My son is just over 2 weeks away from his first birthday, and up until now, he's been strictly a crawling machine. That all changed as you'll see in the video. It's amazing to see your child take those first steps. I can't believe how much he has changed in just a year. He's developed so quickly and has such a personality, as you'll be able to see in this video I have no doubt. He's his daddy's boy for sure!

You don't like it? I'll punch you in the face.....

2009-03-12T20:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday concluded the annual G.M.'s meeting with N.H.L. Commissioner Gary (The Count) Bettman. Among the issues tabled, none was drawing more media and public opinion than that of fighting in the game. What was the outcome? Well the powers that be decided they would become more strict with the Instigator Rule and start handing out 10 minute misconducts to players who drop the gloves right after face offs. So What's my problem with this? It solves nothing and serves as no more than an annoyance to the fans who truly love the game! Despite the wishes of all you "Fancified" casual watchers who think "it's too violent", fighting is too much a part of the game that it can't be eliminated without destroying hockey that we love and know. (So please try and resist responding to this blog with rants about eliminating fighting)
Fighting is important to keep players honest. It is there to serve as justice for goons who are out to cheap-shot star players, and take liberties with prone goaltenders. Since the introduction of the Instigator rule in the NHL fighting hasn't really slowed, so trying to enforce it more stringently, probably won't do anything more than annoy teams who have they're body guards taken off the ice for just trying to protect a star player from injury. And in the likely event that it does curb the amount of fights in the NHL, mark my words it'll have a ripple effect in star players getting injured more, fans getting bored more, and rants from Don Cherry on how the game is being destroyed.
So what would I have like to have seen? I'd have like to have seen "The Big Boys" grow a pair and tackle the issue from the perspective of protecting the players who choose to fight. Remember, this issue gained steam after an unfortunate (and extremely rare) death of a player in the minor OHL league. That players helmet came off his head, and as he fell; his head struck the ice. Back to my point, the league should have done more to protect the players from fatal injuries when they fight, by instituting rules regarding helmets staying on. If a players helmet comes off during a fight, the refs stop the fight immediately. Should a player remove his helmet before a fight, or fail to secure his helmet properly causing it to come off, shoul face dicipline. Finally, try getting rid of this garbage of players running in to protect their pal who got laid out with a clean hit. Thiat last rule would be iffy as it's kind of gray. (It would be up to the refs discretion if they felt it was justified.)
I feel the league side stepped the issue by trying to please the no-fighting fans more, but not trying to upset things too much by eliminating it completely. To me this follows along in typical Bettman style. This man truly doesn't understand the game. If he did, he'd not only quit trying to shove hockey down the southern states throats; he'd expand in the stronger more passionate market of Canada! Also, he'd quit trying to pander to the minority crowd that think hockey should be more of a theatrical play than an atheletic challenge of strength, stamina, and strategy etc.
These are just my thoughts people. I'd like to hear your opinions if you'd like. Let me know.....

G'Day

2009-03-09T19:02:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone that is viewing my Blog,
This is my first attempt at this technolgy thing. I'm not a pro and a little behind my time. I'll improve as things continue, but for now, this is my starting point. This blog is going to have a bit of everything, hence the Title "The mixing bowl". I'll have a bunch of postings to update on my family life. i'll have a bunch of postings regarding current events, political issues, and so on. It'll be all over the place, but I hope you enjoy it.