One Last Time

As a way to send the Eagles out for the 2007 season, I give you one fan's (ok, I guess really two fans) tribute to their favorite team......

Silent Night

I have to hand it to Riley - he was a trooper. His schedule around Christmas would have given Barack Obama a run. Going on only one nap, he made the 30 minute trip to and from our church for Christmas eve service (being sure to entertain and amuse the nursery workers in his "Lamb's" class in the meantime). He then worked a MARATHON (for him) Christmas eve party at our friend's parents house until after 9:30. His normal bedtime is 8:00. He then spent the night at my parents house, Christmas morning with my family and the afternoon and evening with my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins - stopping only to nap in the bathroom. All the while smiling, laughing, crawling and smacking TV screens. He was amazing.

With this crazy 36 hours, his sleep schedule was thrown WAY off. He went to bed Christmas eve around 10:00. He woke up at 3:00 and didn't fall back asleep until an hour of Missy rocking him had gone by.

He then woke up at 6:00. And it was my turn. I quietly sat with him in the dark (except for the radiant blue light from the Vick's medicine vaporizer/nightlight thing) and rocked him. I usually sing "Jesus Loves Me" 100 times in a row but this being Christmas morning, I thought it appropriate to sing Christmas songs. Every once in a while, he would look up at me. Not to smile. Not to play. But, I think, to just look at his dad and know that everything was ok.

It was at this moment that I realized that life had come full circle. I was sitting in my old room - the place I slept for nearly 20 years of my life - rocking my son to sleep. Though, this being his first Christmas morning, he somehow knew to wake up early and not go back to sleep. He must have picked that up from his friends. It was a very surreal moment for me to once again realize that I am a father. It has been 9 months and still it strikes me with amazement and awe that I'm a dad.

And I couldn't ask for a better son. Or a better mom for my son.

Thanks for being the best Christmas gift I could ever ask for.

The Best and Worst Of.....

OK, so it is the end of the year and this is the time when people roll out their lists of the best of 2007 and the worst of 2007. This isn't one of those lists. This is basically a list of stuff that I have seen in the media over the past year that I either like or don't like. If you have any things you would like to add, please feel free to do so. I think my natural tendency would be to just run down a list of things that annoy me. However, Missy has been a good influence and helped me to look at the positives in life as well.

So on to the annoying things:

-Anything Britney Spears. I used to really not like her. Now I just feel bad for her. The poor thing. She can't brush her teeth without making it an international event. The tabloids go after her so hard, she should have her own reality show......oh wait, she did.

-Reality shows - Other than the Amazing Race (which has won best reality show every year this decade), these things are out of control. I honestly feel myself getting dumber when I watch them. And with the writer's strike, there are only going to be more of them because it takes no talent to make one (Right, Paris Hilton?). You know it is out of control when one reality show (The Surreal Life) brings back from the dead Flava Flav - a guy I haven't even thought about since Reagan was President - where he starts a relationship with Brigette Nielsen (another 80's resurrection) which spun off into a reality show (Strange Love) but they didn't stay together so Flav had to find a new girlfriend which spun off into another show (Flavor of Love) and one of the cast offs from that show needed an extra 15 minutes of fame so THAT spun off into TWO seasons of a show (I Love New York and I Love New York2). The saddest part is that I have a college degree and I know this stuff.

-Baseball fans that wave to the camera while on their cell phones telling their buddy that they are on TV just over Derek Jeter's right shoulder - I watched a lot of baseball games this year and this drove me CRAZY. It happened in EVERY game. It is why I would be in favor of snipers at sporting events.

-NBA players congratulating/consoling each other when a teammate makes/misses a free throw. You make more than the Gross National Product of any country south of Texas and you need to be congratulated when you make a free throw?????? If they make free throw no one should say anything, it is expected that they make it. If they miss, they should take away one of their Escalades.

-Any celebrity news show - Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Extra - I lose brain cells just watching the commercials for these shows

-Negative Political Ads - we are in a great location in this country because when an election comes up (which I thought was every four years but apparently they happen twice every year), we don't just get negative ads from one state. We get them from THREE. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. These ads are ridiculous. I am waiting for the one that says, "Joe Nelson. He Hates Puppies!" or "This November, say NO to Michelle Johnson, because she burns down schools." I am at the point where if someone says ANYTHING positive, I will vote for them. I don't care if they are running under the Fraternity Party, if their ad shows them smiling and walking in slow motion with some kids, I'll vote for them.


OK, onto the positives:

-Lost - oh man, this show is the best. Two summers ago, Missy and I made a decision to allow ourselves to get hooked on this show (we started watching the DVD's for Season 1 and 2 before Season 3 started) and it took about 4 minutes to get us. If you have never watched the show, don't start now. Unless you take about 3 straight weekends and watch the first three seasons until your eyes start to bleed. Which I recommend.

-24 - another one that is great to marathon watch - not as good as Lost but it has enough twists and turns to keep you interested.

-The Office - this show kills me. I have watched every episode about 10 times and they still crack me up.

-Sportscenter - Missy makes fun of me because Sportscenter repeats every hour but I still watch it 3 times in a row. Just like in college.

-Any commercial that has slapstick humor - if someone gets hit in the face or the groin or runs into a wall, I love it because Missy has a special slapstick humor laugh that gets me every time.

-That new "Dude" commercial for Miller Lite. That's a guy's commercial

-The Discovery Channel - smart enough TV that I can convince myself I am not lowering my IQ by watching it - favorite shows: Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch and Man vs. Wild.

GUILTY PLEASURES THAT I BLAME ON MY WIFE:

-Project Runway - yes, I know it is a reality show but the fact that Heidi Klum is on it negates everything I said earlier.

-Makeover/Renovation shows - I have seen more bathrooms and kitchens unveiled in the last 5 months than I can even begin to count. And still I find myself saying things like, "Wow, I really like the color of that trim." Welcome to married life.


There are a few other guilty pleasures that I think I will take with me to my grave but if you have anything you would like to share, please don't hesitate to do so. I would be curious to hear what things you like and don't like in the media.

One thing that I already knew but this post has certainly reminded me of is that I watch A LOT of TV. Since Riley was born, we wanted to make a concerted effort to watch less TV. Sometimes I think we do a good job of that, other times we don't.

The last thing I would want for him is to grow up to be able to list what reality shows spun off of other reality shows. Anyone who can do that, well, they need to read a book.

Another Christmas First

Speaking of firsts, I discovered that our town's annual Christmas parade goes right past our house. So we bundled up, put some hot chocolate in our travel mugs and headed out for the parade. Riley seemed to like the trucks and people as they walked by. By the end, he was exhausted. Even the sirens from the fire trucks weren't enough to keep him awake. Here are a few pictures from Riley's first Christmas parade.

My First Christmas Ornament

I will be the first to admit that I am a nostalgic sap when it comes to Christmas. I watch that cheesy animatronic Rudolph special every year (I actually own a copy of it). I play the same Christmas CD as the FIRST Christmas music of the season (Tony Bennett Christmas) AND I always always ALWAYS put the first ornament I ever got up on the tree first.

This ornament is a ten inch fabric doll with brown hair, red cheeks and suspenders. Across the front of the little boy's outfit are the letters "R Y A N". I love this ornament. Even in the box of ornaments that I have accumulated over the years, this one lies on top (because it is usually the last one taken off the tree). It reminds me of my childhood even though I don't remember getting this ornament because I was only about 9 months old when I had my first Christmas.

Missy has allowed me to continue this tradition even since we got married. The first few years in our little apartment, we had a tiny little fake tree and this ornament took up half the front of the tree because it HAD to be front and center.

This year, because we are in a house, we were able to get a real tree that is about 6 feet high. Of course, the first ornament I put up was my Ryan doll. Missy and I continued to put up ornaments (while listening to Tony Bennett) as Riley slept. Then later after he woke up I held him and showed him our Christmas tree with the pretty lights. The first thing he leaned in to touch? My first Christmas ornament. That was when it hit me. I have come full circle. Here I was, a father holding his son who was about to have his first Christmas, holding an ornament I got before my first Christmas ornament 30 years before. On Christmas, Riley will be 9 months old-just like his dad was on his first Christmas.

I don't know what my first Christmas was like. I know that Riley's first will be FULL of gifts (thanks Mom). I also hope that he too will get a first Christmas ornament and that he will cherish it the way I have cherished mine for the past 30 years. And one day, he can hold his son and show him the first ormanent he ever got for the Christmas of 2007.

Merry Christmas, bud.