Another Proud Moment

In Goodbye Diet Vacation, I wrote about how my wife was participating in a "Biggest Loser" style competition with Team AMS. Hank Hanasik, Team AMS Coach, weighed and measured various parts of their bodies, inclduing, arms, thighs, chest and waist, on Day 1 and every two weeks after. He awarded one point for each pound the contestants lost and two points for each whole inch the contestants lost. The person with the highest point total at the end of the 8-weeks won.

My wife WON! I have never been prouder of her. She worked so hard and dedicated a lot of time to exercising and eating right. Shannon did not go on a diet. Instead, she went on a life changing journey. She put the proper fuel into her body, and then used that fuel to get slim and trim.

From what I hear from other people that participated in the challenge, my wife was inspiration to them. I am not surprised. Shannon is an inspiration to me and my children. She is living proof of what can happen when you set a goal and work hard towards achieving that goal.

I want to thank Hank Hanasik for training my wife. Most importantly, I have to say to my wife:

I Love You Shannon, and I am proud of you.

Three Things NOT to Say to your Wife

My wife reminded today of three things that you should not say to her. To all the guys out there who read this blog, this is free advice for you.

1. We went to the local mall today. My wife got out the car and put on the Ergobaby (baby carrier) to carry Coilin. She asked for her sweater. It was a warm day and I told her she did not need it. Shannon said, "It (the strap of the Ergobaby) makes me look like Fat, Fat the Water Rat!"
Now, I am by no means a fool; so I answered, "No, you look like Fatty, Fatty, Bumbolatty!" I cannot believe she hit me.
2. We were coming home from my Mother-in-Law's house. I was driving and Shannon was in the passenger seat. Jillian and Coilin were in the second row, and Molly was in the third. Jillian starts saying, "Don't tell me how to drive. Go Daddy! It's gween GO!" 
I turned to my wife and said, "Boy, she imitates you really well." I got hit again.
3. My wife and I were standing in the kitchen tonight. As usual, I said something smart to Shannon. She turned her back to me, and she smacked her behind making the kiss my butt sign. I replied with, "I don't have all night." I did not get hit, but I got the look. I wish she had hit me.

Before you think I am a total jerk, you must know that my wife and I have an awesome relationship. We joke around with each other A LOT. So, she knew that I meant nothing by what I said. We were having some fun. (Yes, I checked to make sure she was having fun too.) I love my wife with all my heart, and she knows I think she is beautiful. Besides, my wife has been working her tail off at the gym. She looks fantastic and has lost a lot of weight and does not need worry about looking fat. She also knows that she is a back seat driver. (So, she could not argue with number 2.)

Gentlemen, I do have to tell you that these were Three Things NOT to Say to your Wife, unless you have a wife like mine.

A Weekend Away

I am back. I apologize for not posting anything new for a while. My wife and I went down the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in Orlando this weekend. I spent most of the evenings the week and a half leading up to our mini-vacation completing a project for work. So, that left no time to work on my beloved blog.

This vacation was our first full weekend alone together since Molly was born in 2004. The Food and Wine Festival was awesome; but, spending some time alone with my wife was even better. We stopped at the “Rose and Crown” for some Fish and Chips, and we just sat there and ate for a bit. No talking. Just us enjoying each other's company. As I have written before, it is really nice to be able sit with someone you love and just enjoy their company. The best part was being able to enjoy a hot meal without having to cut-up anybody's food or running someone to the bathroom. We sat and ate together in peace. It was almost like we were dating again.

The whole weekend was like that. It was mostly just us. Sure, there were thousands of people at Epcot on Saturday. We tried to ignore them and focus on us. Of course we talked about the children a bit. They are our lives; how could we not? Though, we did make a concerted effort not to let them dominate our conversations.

The two and half days we were away from the children was just long enough. Towards the end of the day yesterday we were both ready to see them. We know that the time we have with them is limited, and each day seems to pass more quickly the older we get. That also means that we have a limited time with each other. Shannon and I need to balance that time so that we to spend some time as Husband and Wife, and not spend all of our time as Mommy and Daddy. I think that this is true for anybody with children. You cannot forgot about continuing to build your marriage. A strong marriage will undoubtedly benefit your children. Try to spend at least some time alone with your husband or wife. Whether it is a weekend away or a couple of hours on Tuesday night, it all makes a difference.

What I Learned from Air Hockey

I witnessed an amazing comeback in an Air Hockey game. A friend of my was down 5 to 0, and she came back and won 9 to 8. It was a colossal collapse by her opponent. I think he scored at least 4 or 5 goals on himself, and I know exactly how. He over extended himself. When Ms. Victorious would take a shot, Mr. Collapse would try to meet the puck head-on to create a ricochet shot that would be hard to stop. Well, Mr. Collapse would just miss the puck, and he would be stretched out across the table – totally out of position to protect his goal. In his haste to get back to stop the puck from scoring, he would knock it in. He was infuriated. It was ugly to watch.

Mr. Collapse illustrated an excellent point though. In today's society we are all so rush, rush trying to get everything done at once because we have so much on our calendars. We try to stop the puck and redirect it before we should. We over extend ourselves, and if we are not careful, we may suffer a catastrophic failure too.

My wife and I have had something do just about every night since Labor Day. We have been running around like lunatics. Now, we are very organized people, and we have a family calendar on which everything is written. We know who is coming and who is going and when. Everything has run smoothly so far. But, I am worn down and, I know my wife has to be getting worn down too. She is on the PTA, she goes to the gym three nights a week, she is on the Board at my daughter's preschool, she writes a very good blog (Molly's Lunchbox) for which she has to do prep-work, she is my proof-reader, and she does all of this is on top of being a full-time Mom.

We both know that we need to be careful how far we stretch ourselves. If we do not take a break, even for one evening, other parts of our lives are going to be affected. In my case, my work could suffer. I have too much to do in the next 6 weeks and not a whole of time in which to do it. I will prevail though. I know my limits, and I know my priorities. As soon as I am doing writing this post, I will make lunch for tomorrow, and then hit the sack. Tonight is going to be an early night this tired little guy. I need to hit the ground running tomorrow.

I realize, with the help of my wife, when I am about to over extend myself in my personal life. This helps me to stop and evaluate my professional life too. I am fortunate to have such a wonderful support system. I just wish I could apply this methodology when I am playing air hockey. Yes, it is true, that I am the Mr. Collapse I spoke about above. It was I who was up 5 to 0 only to squander away my lead and finally lose 9 to 8. I can guarantee you that my wife will NOT tell me when I am over extending myself the next time we play Air Hockey – She enjoys whooping on me too much.

(In case you were wondering, it was not my wife who beat me in this particular game. She is far too good at Air Hockey to fall behind 5 to 0.)

Losing My Identity

I never thought that this day would come. My name has changed. Outside of work, I am no longer known by my first name. You, like so many people I now come in contact with, can call me – Molly's Dad, Shannon's Husband, and, the latest addition, Jillian's Dad.

This has been going on for at least three years – ever since my oldest started Preschool – so it should come as no surprise. It was within the last week, though, that really it hit me as to what was happening. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had attended a CPR class that was offered at my daughter's Preschool. This is the same Preschool that my oldest attended when she was four. So I know the two teachers who teach the four year olds. The one teacher and I share a mutual friend so she knows my real name and gets it right. The other teacher only knows me as Molly's Dad. Did I mention that my three year old is now attending this Preschool? I met the her two teachers. Yeah, well, now I am known as Jillian's Dad too.

It only gets better from there. I was at meeting for my church on Monday night and this woman walks up to me and says: “You're Shannon's Husband aren't you?” I was taken aback. I confirmed her suspicion; but I wasn't sure if I should also admit that my name was Molly's Dad and Jillian's Dad. I did not want to mislead her in any way. I am not sure what I will do when I become Coilin's Dad.

I may have to have all of these names tattooed on my hand so that I can remember them. But, then I start to think about it, and as the sweat begins to form on my brow, I realize that I am somebody's brother, somebody's son, somebody's son-in-law, and somebody's something. I am going to have to move the list from my hand to my forearm.

Maybe I will just wear a “Hello My Name is” tag around. Perhaps that will help reintroduce to the world the name that my mother gave to me. It is a nice name after all, and I know the she and my father worked very hard to come up with it. Alas, it is a name with two spellings, and many, many people (even some members of my own family) misspell it. I guess I am destined to be called whatever the people of the world want to call me. Of course, I am very careful not to ask certain people what they would like to call me...