Saturday, February 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Demi

Happy Birthday, Honey! You look better than Demi. I hope my Leap Year lassie, has a great day.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Happy Birthday Coco

Happy 8th Birthday, Coco! My youngest is really growing up. You are such a little man. I hope you have a good day.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Facing Your Demons

The last football season has been well documents. So has my stint on the board. This week we had my third Board meeting. To say it was a doozy is a vast understatement. There were fireworks like the Fourth of July. I knew that the meeting had potential to be interesting, as the Board would be voting in coaches. But little did I know the extent of how interesting it was going to get. I was probably more concerned about having to make my own presentation for coaching, that I really didn't appreciate the possible contentions with other coaching positions. I think I figured that it was a forgone conclusion that last years head coach would run unopposed with little discussion.
But to the credit of our new Board President, he wanted to get everything out on the table. And that full disclaimer started with the Mites Super Bowl. You know. The one hat most of the kids did not play. It got termed a black eye for the program and last years head coach was asked to speak to the lack of playing, and running up the score. The curve ball this year was that the guy who actually ran the team, was running as Head Coach, but he was not able to attend the meeting. Last year's HC, actually admitted that he ran up the score, to settle a grudge against the opposing coach. I was a bit stunned by not only the confession but that I didn't really think the score had but run up. But I couldn't believe that he didn't know how many kids were left out of the game. I think he may actually think it was only a few kids, but as HC, you are responsible to know the whole facts. And then he tried to blame the substitutions on an assistant coach. The previous season's HC, that he took the team from. And the guy he knew was leaving DYF to go to Pop Warner next year.
The whole while that this was going on, my friend, Smalls was taking last year's HC to task. It was getting heated. I did try to interject twice, but others were trying at the same time. Trying and doing are different things though. I did feel bad about not speaking out after, when all was said and done. Immediately after, I felt like I had let Smalls down by not coming to his aid. Actually, I agonized over it the rest of the night. I questioned myself. Did I back down? Did I not shout out because I was concerned about offending the high school coach? And that he might take it out on my kids? Just like, in my mind, I had accused other Board members of ? Or did I make my attempts? Did I not want to escalate a bad situation and have it get out of hand?
What I decided was that my silence was not something born out of fear. The President was moderating, and both times I went to speak, was bring the meeting back to order. Also, there was no good in piling on an argument, as the guy actually running for HC was not there. And the President had already made it clear that next year's D5 Pee Wee HC had to come before the Board to answer for the Super Bowl as well. I also got to counter while making my own pitch for HC of next years D5 Mites. I improvised my presentation to subtly (and not so subtly) include some rebuttal or more truthful view. I also let it be known that I had some question for next years 5 Pee Wee HC. He was running unopposed, which was unfortunate. And his minion on the board did his lawyer thing and made a motion to vote the entire slate of coaches in at once, rather than one by one, because he knew there would be debate on his buddy. I was shocked the President seconded the motion. But it was getting late and we were about to get kicked out of the building. I think he just wanted the meeting over.
In the end, I don't think I let myself, the boys or the program down. I think Smalls may still be disappointed in me. I did call him after the meeting to discuss it, and fill him in on what he missed at the conclusion of the meeting. I do tend to take a more measure and planned approach to things, which not everyone may like. They may not expect it of me either, as I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. But it is what works for me. And believe, I planning on speaking at the next meeting.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Spring Training

The boys are very fired up about the start of spring training. Talks around the table are starting to included signing Varitek, who are starting pitching rotation will be, and will Lowell and Papi be back to their old selves. I do love the change this year that boys want to talk about the Celtics and Bruins too. It's nice to have a little variety. But I also like the boys being excited by all four of the Boston sports franchises. Even if the Grinch does still own the Bruins. There are the Krafts, John Henry, Wyc, and then.........the Grinch. One of these kids is not like the others.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Weekend of Chinny

Think Summer of George.

Demi is taking the boys to the Island this weekend. It is the tail end of school vacation week. However, work is just so hectic, that I cannot get Friday off. So I will be staying behind. I have already gotten the razzing about "Bachelor Weekend", "tearing it up", and "oh, you are so lucky". But weekends are my time with the kids. With my new commute, even though the boys are staying up later each night during the school week, I don't feel that I am getting enough quality time with them. Don't get me wrong. It is nice for everyone to have a break now and then. But three days is going to be a long time. I already know that I will be birthday shopping for Demi and Coco. So in a way, my weekend will be partly spent on family. And of course, I am going to start a fire. Outside. I promised Coco that I wouldn't burn the house down while he was away. But I do have the burning permit. So I might as well use it.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Playing With Fire

"Let me stand next to your fire"

What is it about males and fire? We are just attracted to it. It must be encoded into our DNA. Men always congregate about the grill at a BBQ. The man with the spatula is the alpha male. Men stare with gaping mouths at fireworks. Men love bonfires and campfires. Any opportunity to light on or place something in a fire, is taken. Really. How else do you explain roasting marshmallows?

I was burning some kindling (sticks and branches that had fallen over the lawn during this past winter) in the chiminea, when after 5 mins the boys had bundled themselves up and come out of the house to join in. They had just pooh poohed my suggest that they get outside and get some fresh air. They had stated that they were happy playing a board game in the den. But light a fire, and they will come. This usually attracts some of the other neighborhood lads, but not on this particular occasion. The boys volunteered to gather more sticks and logs from the lawn (bonus for me, I put them to work). Inevitably, they asked to roast marshmallows. Sure. Why not?

If you light it. They will come.

Friday, February 13, 2009

School Vacation - Feb 2009

Let the games begin. The boys are on break. Long weekend for me with Presidents day. That means I can help Demi run the boys ragged for three days to try and tire them out for when we both go back to work on Tuesday. We even got some help from our friends, with a extended birthday party, followed by a sleep over at their house for both the boys. That means a free Valentines evening for the two of us. How novel. Valentines is a whole separate post.
We are trekking up to Nashoba Valley with other friends from the Peterson Farms neighborhood here in Deluxebury, to go tubing. That should tire out the boys more. You know they are going to stay up late and likely be up early during sleep over night. Monday will get played by ear, to see if we can keep the activity level up. The more active they are over vacation, the happier we will all be. I hope we don't get any snow. I probably just jinxed it, but really, haven't we had enough now?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Return of Jumbo Joe

Jumbo Joe Thorton returned to Boston tonight. For the B's, this is "The Trade". Probably not up there with shipping Bobby Orr out of town, but close in B's history. The boys were not really into the B's until last year, so this was not Nomar 2.0 for them. I had to explain the history to them. So there were no tears when this happened years ago. But they got the point. It was a big deal. So Caz was waiting for me to come home tonight, to get the game on TV. He was primed. Fortunately, he saw the best part of the game for a B's fan. The first period. They were up 2-1 when he went to bed. It was hard breaking it to the boys in the morning that the B's went on to get shellacked.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Rough Weekend

If you are one that thinks that your kids rebellion starts with the teenage years, you are sorely mistaken. "Terrible twos" is a misleading term. It may actually start with age two. Sure, there may be some quiet years in between, but kids test you and your limits daily. Don't ever forget that. This is probably why we have a generation of Monte Hall's and hostage negotiators. I could go on a tangent but there are whole classes on the "Let's Make a Deal" method of parenting, and the negative consequences that go with it.
So this weekend was one long test. Caz was really pushing it. Not a stellar weekend in the Chin household. I know my patience was maxed out and I am sure I would be considered a loser in the battle of maintaining my patience. I don't think Caz harbors any lingering ills. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger right? We gained strength this weekend.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Stats

Coco has been peppering me for statistics all week. "How many assists does Rondo have?", "Who has the most steals on the Celtics?", "Who has the most steals in the NBA?", "Who has the most steals all time?" Non stop with those question. We spent a lot of time on Boston.com, NBA.com, and finally basketball-reference.com. Some of the stats were hard to find until I stumbled upon that last website. Fortunately, Nick at work came through for me. Caz started to get into it too. I really love when the boys get so animated about stats like that. The enthusiasm is contagious. And oh, poor me....having to spend time with sports statistics.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

24 - Season 7 - Check In 1

It's been a phenomenal season so far. Jack is back with a vengeance. He still is the best shot of any secret agent. He still has ice water in his veins. Surprisingly, he hasn't had to torture anyone yet. But his new disciple, Agent Walker has. She definitely has some Jack in her. Tony is back from the dead. Bill is running the show. Chloe is a pain in the ass. All is right in the world.
I think the change of scenery to DC has served the show well. The demise of CTU works. It has been action packed from the get go. It is so good to have 24 back.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Groundhog Day

Friggin' Puxatawny Phil! Is it me or does that rodent see his shadow every year? Just once can he come of his hole and give us good news? In the immortal words of Carl the Groundskeeper, "the only good varmint, is dead varmint." At the very least, shouldn't TNT or TBS (whichever station it is) run a 24 hour marathon of Bill Murray's Groundhog Day, a la Christmas Story? It is also the Day the Music Died. That alone should be karma for some good rodent news.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Movie Review - Paul Blart - Mall Cop

Family movie to see the Kevin James, #1 Movie in America. While the movie certainly had a few laughs and a few of those moments that just make you cringe, I would not call it resounding success. The kids enjoyed which is always an important thing. But from an adult standpoint it was not family entertainment for all ages. Not that this had an intricate plot but the editing was poor. You seemed to lose parts of the movie in between scenes. There were some long stretches that were just not interesting or funny (for the grown ups). The movie was interesting in that it was filmed at the Burlington Mall. Catching familiar sights in the background helped pass the time. Overall, I give this only 2 Chinnies.