My new ride

Well I have finally achieved something that I have wanted for many years. Thanks to my cousin Erin and her husband Todd I am the proud owner of my first Harley Davidson motorcycle. It is a 1200 Custom Sportster. There are many extras on this bike even though the Sportster is sort of the entry level into Harley life, this is a nicer model.
Now I just can't wait to get some nice weather and get out on the road! Of course as Jenn would tell you I need to get my motorcycle operators license as well as license and insure the bike before I'm allowed to go out on my new bike. (Sorry for the rather tiny photos...I used the phone to take these, soon Jenn will get some better ones taken and I share those).
Hope you all have a wonderful spring and summer and get to feel the wind in your hair!
Cheers!!

Daily Devotions

I have felt for the past several years that I have let my daily devotion time go to the wayside. It was in the darkest times that I look back on my favorite poem from high school. You know the one about there only being one set of foot prints... I made it a point after the first of the year to go to the local Christian bookstore and purchase a daily devotional. I was drawn to one that in all actuality is probably in my box of books from the year spent at Bible college.



My Utmost for His Highest was a good fit for me. I have found (on the days that I remember to pick it up) that the daily topics, even though written primarily in the early 1900's hit home. I should make more time, and more importantly regular time, to sit with my daily devotional and actually explore the scripture verses a little more. I guess we can all continue to grow in what ever direction we choose!

Sorry to turn my blog into a religious forum although that was not the intent. I just wanted to share what seemed to help get me through the hard times and hopefully will keep me grounded during the bright times!

May God bless and keep you all!

Cheers!

Meds

Well good news and bad news. I had my lowest BP reading in four days this afternoon. The bad news is it was still high. After some discussion with my Dr which actually started Saturday (should have taken the Tequila treatment plan more seriously), I am now starting on some meds to control this horrible beast.

The worst part about the whole ordeal is that I have no idea how long it has been going on and I have ABSOLUTELY zero symptoms. Every twitch of my body I have been trying to find a way to connect it to my blood pressure even though I know it is not connected at all.

My hope for all of this is to move forward and enter one of the healthiest stages of my life. While 2007 damn near killed me, 2008 is going to be the start of the rest of my life.

I'll try to do my best to document the highlights!

Cheers!

Yikes

There are so many reasons for that title. First of all. There have been so many things take place since my last post the end of August. Namely, I lost my job the end of the first week of September. I hope you will all understand that the last thing I really felt like doing was putting my thoughts on this damn thing. After almost 5 months of searching and absolutely ZERO job offers, I had two offers within about 15 hours of each other.

I am absolutely thrilled that my family and I will be staying put in Grinnell. I accepted a job offer from Family Medicine to be the Office Manager. The current office manager is ready to join her husband (the founder of the clinic) in retirement. The amazing part of this position is that I started working on a part time basis as a typist. I was typing up the office notes that the physicians would dictate. I went in on a Saturday morning and had a great conversation with the office manager. I had lunch with her and the physicians on Wednesday and was offered the position on Thursday. WOW! As I mentioned before I couldn't be happier with the position. The physicians and the other staff in the office are absolutely wonderful and have welcomed me into their family without flinching at all.

My other major YIKES is my blood pressure. Since I am across the street from the hospital everyday I couldn't let the opportunity pass to utilize the wellness center on a regular basis. One of the things that they have every member do is a fitness evaluation. However, I didn't even get that far. One of the first things that Amber, the fitness specialist, did was take my BP. It was amazingly high. After about 10 minutes and several measurement later it had only succeeded in going even higher. I knew one of our physicians was still at the clinic (after an crazy Friday) so I headed back over to talk to him. My BP was now slightly lower, but still REALLY high. He suggested relaxing over the weekend and we would revisit the issue on Monday. Of course if anything presented itself symptom wise over the weekend I should head to the ER. Of course every possible situation runs through my head all weekend long and I don't know how much relaxing I've actually gotten accomplished even without doing a whole heck of a lot (except about 10 loads of laundry).

I just checked my BP again and even after a whole long weekend it is still high. I just want to try and make this all better!

As people have been telling me for the past 5 months, everything happens for a reason. So know not only do I have to figure out what the lesson I was meant to learn from unemployment, I also have to try and figure out what extreme BP is supposed to teach me. Oh yeah and hopefully get it under control SOON!

I'll keep you posted and hopefully this time be better at this blog thing...

Cheers

The 1st Day

Wednesday 8/22/07! The was the day that will forever go down in history as the day that my little baby went to her first day of Kindergarten. It was so fun to watch her walk down the sidewalk so full of excitement and anticipation. We then got to the front door of the school and Mommy asked if she would like us to walk her to her classroom. It about broke my heart to have her say "nope." I couldn't just let her go on that first day so I said we would walk her down the hall. When we got to her classroom she gave her Mom, sister and I hugs and said good-bye. She then confidently opened the door and embarked on her life journey!


I'm not ready to let this one go yet! However, i don't know if I have much of a choice!!!

Peace

It's that time...

I can't believe that it is that time already (and wow that is an old photo!!!!). My little baby starts her first day of Kindergarten tomorrow. She will be 6 years old in a month. It just seems like the other day that she was new to our lives. We got to go over to the school early this afternoon and see the classroom, meet the teacher and drop off her school supplies. She was so excited to talk to her teacher. She walked around the room and found her name in many places. She found her coat hanger, her mail box, her table, her spot on the floor for story time, and her spot on the floor for rest time. Amazingly her name was about a half dozen other places in the room. Kindergarten teachers are amazing people!!
I'll try to post more about day #1 with some photos of the big girl in action!!
Peace

I could be on Law and Order

I was looking at the blog of my little "sister" today and wondered who I looked like too. I logged on to www.myheritage.com and got started. I was severely limited in the choices of photos to use since I was on my laptop computer and heaven forbid I would just get up and walk to the office to use the computer with all of the family pictures in it. Anyway here are the people that the program most closely matched me with. I'm rather excited to think that my closest match is from a TV show that is actually current and one that I watch. Other matches are pretty exciting as well...I mean come on I look like Laurence Fishburne!!!




I then decided to see what other photos I had and came across Lexi's preschool photo from the fall of 2005. She looks so much different than this now, but you use what you can. I really wanted to put a morph feature that they have in here, but I couldn't get it to show me the html so I could transfer it over. I guess that is something for me to work on:) Anyway, I was shocked by how closely she resembles Dakota Fanning's photo in the collage below. When doing the morph feature with Lexi and Dakota's photos the eyes and checks never really move. Just to remind you, Dakota Fanning played Sally in the recent movie version of the The Cat in the Hat (I had to look that up).



We were also playing with this a little later and on the other computer. Jenn looks like Kirsten Dunst and one of Brea's looks likes is Pierce Brosnan. Remember she is just 1 year old!

Anyways it was fun to play with and I'm sure it will bring us many more moments of laughter. I'll have to put my Mom's picture in and see what I come up with!!! HA!
Thank you Marisa for a night of fun and enjoyment.

Cheers!

Tennis

Tennis is a sport that I enjoy playing. I wish I were better at it, but I feel that way about most of the sports that I try to play. I would like to play more and again I feel that way about most of the sports that I try to play. But what goes along with being a sports junkie is watching just about any sport that is on TV. This brings me back to tennis. This past weekend was the Wimbledon Men's final. After the match was complete and Roger Federer won for the 5th time in a row a commercial aired from Nike. You can watch that commercial here.
My 5 year old daughter Lexi picked up on one line in the commercial. Tiger Woods is narrating and he states that Federer started playing tennis when he was six years old. She looked at me and said, "I'm going to learn to play tennis when I turn six." So of course now we know what Daddy is getting his daughter for her birthday this fall...
But what was even funnier was that after the trophy presentation they show Federer kissing the trophy which is basically a large cup as you can see below. Lexi turns to me and states that since she will start playing tennis when she is six. This means she will win a cup too. After she kisses the cup and brings it home. She will set it on the counter and use it for silverware. Are kids not wonderful!
Cheers!

The Scoop on Poop

I know isn't that just funny to say!! I was reminded of this reading one of my favorite blogs (The Ward-O-Matic). It's not that I know Ward from Adam, but he is just very creative, has children approximately the same age as mine and it is very interesting to see what his family is drawing (they are amazing artists)! Anyway...Ward was mentioning in a post a few days ago that his daughter is very into the word poop and all of its derivatives.
This reminded me that we recently went on a trip to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. They currently have an exhibit entitled "The Scoop on Poop." It was actually rather interesting. They had displays on how animals use their poo for a variety of different purposes depending on where they live and who they are. Here are some photos from The Scoop!



OK, I apologize as I thought we had more photos from that exhibit. But in retrospect it was more just the giggles that came from Lexi when we were talking about animals using their poo for some very odd reasons. But there were many other things to see at the zoo. Personally this was one of the first times that I've been to the zoo since Brea has gotten a little older. She was very observant and even pointed out a few animals that I hadn't noticed or hadn't started to look for. As you can see below when she wanted to look at an animal she made her point. Some of her favorites were the large cats. She liked to watch them walk around. The tiger even came up to the viewing window and appeared to look at us. She was in heaven! Thank goodness for the thick glass or the tiger would have been in heaven too!



I recommend getting out and supporting your local zoo. These are wonderful places that our children (or the children inside of us) can experience amazing things like 90 year old tortoises trying to mate! That is another story for another day. Or if you need to hear it now, you can read about it on Jenn's blog.

CHEERS!

Yikes

Wow! It has been since September 2006 that I last put a post out here. I just figured it was a good time to try and get started again. I will eventually try to get updated on my family and my life. In November 2006 I switched jobs. I am now a project manager at a company called ASI-Modulex. We do architectural signage. We have a network of affiliates all over the US and we are also affiliated with a company in Denmark that is part of the same family of companies as Lego.
I also have two "sisters" that are now doing Blogs. Megan and Marisa are my sisters from my adopted family from college. While at Wayne State College I had the absolute joy of being adopted by the Rose family. Jenn and I spent many a Friday night eating supper and hanging out with them. I eventually worked for Papa Rose (Dan). I have added links along the edge to Megan and Marissa's blogs. Good luck to both of you in your upcoming endeavors.
Well, don't want to over do it on my first time back:)
CHEERS!

Oh how long ago???

I cannot believe that it has been almost a whole year! Just thought I'd make sure this whole thing still worked and I really will try to actually put some stuff out here. For example...On March 27, 2006 we had our 2nd wonderful little girl. On baby A's 4 1/2 birthday...Baby B arrived. Here is an early photo of me holding Brea. Granted in 1 week she will turn 6 months old and looks nothing like this. For more current pictures be sure to check out my wife's postings at Jenn's Spot.
Also...one day I'll figure out how to make pictures bigger:) Talk to you again soon!
Cheers!!!

Laugh

Every day needs to have a laugh. To help me with this I tune into The Bob and Tom Show every morning! I just thought I'd share this with you all!
Not only do I get anywhere from 20 minutes to about an hour to laugh out loud in my car each morning thanks to Bob, Tom, Chick and Kristi Lee, I also have one of the most amazing little kids in the world. I know every parent says that. Some even prove it like at a once a week post called Ava Thursday on a fun blog called The Ward-O-Matic. Which by the way never ceases to amaze me. But if nothing else, I think my Lexi is wonderful and she tends to provide so much comic relief! There are times that Jenn and I can't even contain ourselves.

click image to enlarge

Remember to laugh and love!
Cheers!

My young lady

I'm only about a week late, but my daughter recently turned 4!! She had a variety of small parties. A little luau at home, a fun time at both preschool and daycare and then a small family party at my parents house. Way too many parties for a 4 year old!?!?!
I just couldn't keep this photo to myself. She just looks like she is in such deep thought! Jenn and I both just took short internet based IQ tests today and we both somehow scored the same. 133...woo hoo! We be gud at thinkin'. So, she comes by her thoughtful and attitude naturally.
I have also started a new thought provoking daily task with Lexi. I have become frustrated by her telling me "I don't remember" when asked about what she did today. We made a deal last night before bed that each night she will tell me the most fun and memorable thing that she did during the day. I'm hoping that this will foster actively thinking about her daily actions and also provide another creative outlet in putting thoughts into words and stories.
Remember to focus on your family and foster deep thoughts by those around you!
Cheers!

Like passing notes in class

Well...currently I sit in Marketing Management class. Granted we just had a concept check and are waiting for everyone else to finish up and get through a 10 minute break before we really get started but...Oh and you heard me right. We had a concept check. NOT a test. Remember I said it was marketing! One phrase that I've taken from this class is "Perception is Reality". I guess if you don't think you're taking a test, then you're not. Yeah right! But at least it was open book-open notes. Although, I'm not sure if this makes it easier or harder. Sometimes you spend more time actually looking for the exact wording of something than actually just pulling the general concept from the vast regions of your brain.
My wife scanned a picture and emailed it to me today. It was my little Lexi's very first school photo. She turns 4 in about 1 week and just started preschool in late August. They took pictures on Tuesday 9/20. My wife was able to pick them up today!!! Wow! I remember when I was in school and you pretty much forgot you had taken pictures and what you had worn in them.
I really am going to try and be a little more frequent with this thing. I apologize for the lack of postings.
Everyone love your families and CHEERS!

Knock Knock

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Orange
Orange who
Orange you glad I didn't say Banana!

Isn't the first joke a 3 year old learns great?!?!? Of course don't forget to knock in the air each time you say "Knock Knock"!!!
Of course after several days of hearing this joke multiple times...well you get the idea. I tried to teach her a new joke (Knock Knock of course) and now I have a two joke pony!

Knock Knock
Who's there
Boo
Boo who?
You don't have to cry about it! (Endless 3 year old chuckles)

Cheers!

My Little Trooper

This is a picture of Lexi from a month or so ago. I feel absolutely horrible today as she had a check-up to get ready for Pre-School and it was realized that she was missing some of her immunizations. She unded up with a finger prick which determined that she is anemic and 5 (yes I said 5) shots. Two in one leg and three in the other. The part that I feel the worst about is that I didn't attend the appointment with Jenn and Lexi. Since this was supposed to be a routine trip to get paperwork filled out I didn't re-arrange my work schedule. Instead I rushed out of the house, after watching the shuttle land (Congrats NASA, nice to have you back) and drove off to work. Granted I did have a semi-important meeting with my manager and was introducing a speaker at a corporate event over the lunch hour, but those things were easy to either reschedule or find someone to do for me. I kind of feel like I let my daughter down. Of course, like any good over compensating father I snuggled her on the couch while eating Cheese Pizza and watched Pooh's Heffalump Movie. The moral to this is and forever will be to me that FAMILY COMES FIRST!!!
Now on to the new vehicle that my daughter has named "Velma the VUE". Click on the link and it will take to to Saturn's website for the VUE. The Mavin family vehicle looks very similar to the one on the main page. I highly recommend doing this type of shopping before going to the dealership. It makes the process some much simpler in my opinion.
Anyway, I wish you all the happest of times and remember to love your family!
Cheers!

Summer???

Well, I now have about 3 weeks of summer left. Last Thursday, 7/28, was the last night for my summer class. I am now a master at the Dynamics of Negotiations. Of course, maybe not a complete master as I got a B+ in the class. Just shy of "master" status!
I then celebrated completing my 5th of 15 MBA classes by purchasing a Saturn VUE. Other than a slight electrical issue with the sunroof, we absolutely love our VUE! It is not quite a Lexus RX 400 hybrid, but...that will come with the post MBA promotion that I'm bound to get. Right???
Now, comes my 3 weeks of freedom. We have many happy family memories to create the next few weeks. We are traveling to Chicago in two weeks to see my brother-in-law's girlfriend off for the school year to pursue her Masters' degree in dance in New York state. Jenny we wish you well! We are then going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with Uncle Jason. I'm sure Lexi will have a blast as she just adores her Uncle Jason.
The next weekend we are celebrating our 10th anniversary, only about 2 months late. We are going to a very nice looking B&B in Mineral Point, WI. It should be a very wonderful and much needed 3-day weekend with my lovely wife!
Then my summer effectively comes to an abrupt end when classes start again in late August!
I'll try to get pictures of the new VUE out for all to enjoy.
Cheers!

MBA and movies

OK so watching movies and trying to apply concepts used in my Dynamics of Negotiation course is not a good idea. Except when about 1/3 of the grade depends on it! We were to do a group project on a negotiation sequence. While it would have been a much better experience to look at a real life negotiation, like Maytag v UAW or on a smaller scale the local college vs the facilities management union, the time frame of our course made that impossible. We only had 5 weeks from beginning of course until final exam, that left a very limited time frame to form into a team and get any "research" done. Therefore, my team decided to write our 10-15 page paper on the movie "The Firm". Now I'm never going to be able to watch that movie again! Or really any Tom Cruise movie. That may be because of over evaluating "The Firm" or because he is really annoying!!
Anyway, my five weeks of Negotiation immersion is almost complete, the group paper is due on 7/26 and the final exam is on 7/28. Then my life will return to "normal" for about 4 weeks and then right back into classes two nights per week. The life of a student:)
Cheers!

I'm on board

Well after some prompting by my wife and reading of some other blogs I have decided it is time to become an active member of this wonderfully unique community. I hope that I am able to provide some interesting insight into the playground of the mind.
Plan to share more later, but I just wanted to get this all up and running.
Cheers!