Dancing Machine

I came to dance, dance, dance, dance.................

Dynamite.  Caz finally attended a school dance.  We've asked him each year since he entered DMS, if he had any interest.  Even when his buddies were going, he avoided them like the plague.
     This year, I had a feeling that this might be the one.  Of course this year he has a girlfriend too.  Yep, another first.  He asked her to the dance.  He bought her ticket.  He arranged for his ride and to meet her there.  Afterwards he told us that he asked her to dance.  A few times actually.  Worked in a couple of slow dances.  Our little boy is growing up.  He's a young man.  Another milestone reached.

Thursday, Bloody Thursday

I went to the annual Bloody Mary bash this holiday morning.  7 AM to be precise. I was the 6th attendee to sign in.
[Funny Aside:  Coach X thought he would be clever and sign in first.  He had to work at 5 AM, so would miss all the festivities.  He drove by at 4 AM, before work, just to sign in.  On his way out, his tire blew out. He had to call his wife to come get him, so he could get into work.  Well done, x!]
This party has been going on for over 30 years.  My friend (also my classmate and teammate) took the party over from his dad.  This party started before we were playing for Duxbury.  Last year, I saw a friend and teammate that I had not seen in many years.  A fixture of my childhood growing up, we had lost contact after college.  We saw each other here and there.  Last year we spent at least an hour catching up.  Little did I know, it would be the last time I ever saw him.  He died 4 months later.  This year, attending meant that much more to me.  Two of my friends lost their fathers a month ago.  Fathers that were part of the core Dad's the attended all our games growing up.  They followed the play of the game like bloodhounds.  One even coached us as youth players.  It was important for me to see these guys.  Last year proved, you just never know.  I explained this to my boys.  I hope they make connections like this.  I hope they are part of a team, like I was.  These gatherings prove that it was more than football.

Pre-game

Coco's team got invited to the big Thanksgiving Day game, Duxbury vs. Marsh Vegas, and to the locker room for the pre-game speech to the players.  It was a great turn out by his team.  You would think that most of them would be traveling or have family obligations.  But what an opportunity!  The boys all had their game shirts on.  They were eager with anticipation.  I was told that coach kept it clean for their benefit.  Later on, Coco would recount that a senior player stood up and told the team what this game meant to him.  Their last game on their home field.  Ever.  That resonates, even with 6th graders.  Coco's team also got to watch the game from the sidelines.  They got to be there for the team introductions.  Again, they were well behaved on the sidelines.

Keep On Keeping On

The help for Massapequa will continue past this weekend.  Demi plans to get more help to her hometown.  She actually got in contact with a guy who is driving down to Long Island each weekend and helping distribute clothes and supplies.  She got her gym and fellow gym-mates to donate clothes, which she got loaded to this guy's pickup truck for a run down to the island.  Clothes are still showing up at the house.
     It is important for the boys to see that help continues.  It's not just a short term effort.  Giving back is an ongoing activity.  Demi is a good example for them.  Her drive and determination amaze me.

After Sandy

I took today off to help Demi with her new project.  We were lucky.  Hurricane Sandy was Much Ado About Nothing for us.  For other parts of the country, it was an unmitigated disaster.  Including Demi's home town of Massapequa. Her family and friends were OK.  Some lost power.  Her nephew had a close call but luck was on his side.  But some of her old childhood friends, or their families, were not so fortunate.
     Demi felt like she should be doing something to help.  She struggled with what kind of help.  Sure we could donate to Red Cross.  And we did.  But it didn't seem like enough.  It didn't seem like FEMA and the Red Cross were able to help.  Then the idea struck.  It was sort of by accident.  She struck up an innocent conversation with a woman working at a consignment shop.  Demi walked out with 20 bags of clothes.  A few phone calls later and she had a couple of leads on getting the clothes to Massapequa.  Today our basement was covered with piles of clothes.  Jackets, pants, dresses, shirts, you name it.  The boys and I help sort and bag them.  Our neighbors and friends helped out too.  Coco's football team came and helped load the clothes into pickup and SUV's.   Demi partnered with a larger effort in town.  She got her clothes and supplies on a private plane from Barnstable to Islip NY.  Moms of Massapequa was there in Islip to take possession of the donations and distribute.  The larger effort in Duxbury got 5 huge box trucks packed and transported to New York and New Jersey.  It was really a great thing.  I am so proud of Demi and the boys.  Especially Demi.  She set a great example for the boys about what you can do when you put your mind to something.

The Mark of Athena

So apparently we are taking to naming winter snow storms now.  Sure this is the first Nor'easter of the season.  And yes, it dropped some unexpected accumulation.  But since when do we name these?  Talk about your marketing ploys.  This has Weather Channel written all over it.  Now we can over hype each snow storm personally.  The only thing notable about this one (the naming aspect) was that it coincides with the theme for the Lost Heroes books that the boys are reading.

Election Day 2012

Well, it all comes down to today.  No more phone calls.  No more adds.  That was pretty much what I was really waiting for.  I got more than I hope for.
     The boys had not really said much about the election.  But when I went to check their homework agendas, Coco had a homework assignment to watch the election.  So the boys asked to eat their dinner in front of the election coverage.  Fine by me.  They asked me which channel to watch.  I told them to pick one.  The boys sort of looked at me funny.  Until they flipped through the channels and say coverage on most.  I asked them to stay on ABC because I had a friend in college that works as Washington correspondent for ABC.  The boys watch for a long time.  They asked some pretty good question.  We had quite a debate about the electoral college.  It was really a nice evening.  And an educational one.

Ruckus Time

The original plan was for Caz to run in the Ruckus with his old man.  A 5K obstacle course that finishes with a slide down the face of Mt. Ruckmore.  Unfortunately, football intruded on our plans.  His broken arm was scheduled to be healed in time for this event, but I still wasn't convinced that he would be up for it.  I figured the bone would still be too tender to support his body weight, light though it may be.  Of course he was healthy enough to play football.  Barely.  He got swimmers ear this morning and had a prescription of ear drops put in his ear on the way to the field.  He bolted out of the car, got waved onto the field by his coach, and proceeded to make the next tackle.
     But just before the game, the boys got to see their Dad muck his way through the last half of the Fearless Fall 5K Ruckus.  I actually think it was a good perspective for the boys.  It's something they haven't seen their Dad do before.  They have seen me run.  But with the ropes, tires, mud pits, Ranger bars, and other obstacles, it was sort of a chance to see me play.  I hope it serves as an example that doing something different is OK.  An example to try new things.  An example to keep challenging yourself, no matter how old you are.