This weekend we're celebrating a major milestone – my wife's 40th birthday. We'll be blowing out candles and eating cake, presenting Mommy with cards and flowers, and letting her know how much she is appreciated. We'll also hand over a special gift, something she would never purchase herself but agreed would be nice to have – a hot pink iPod Nano.
In recent days we've worked together to build her iTunes library with all her favorite songs, including 80s dance hits, Broadway numbers and a vast array of rock and pop tunes, including several one-hit wonders she hasn't dusted off in years. She's excited to revisit all this great music, and I'm excited to help make it happen.
But her coolest gift of all is her upcoming trip to Arizona, where she'll spend four nights with her brother and sister-in-law, unencumbered by the kids, Guitar Dad and her task-heavy routine. I'm thinking that iPod will come in handy on her flights and in her down time. Happy Birthday, Honey. We love you.
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The quarterly Guilford College alumni magazine just arrived in the mail. It's always fun to flip through its pages looking for familiar faces, names or just photos of campus that bring back pleasant memories. My son and I spent a few hours at Fun Spot the other day. It’s an Orlando amusement park with go-karts, bumper cars, a Ferris wheel, carousel and tons of indoor games, most notably air hockey, my son’s new favorite. Tropical Storm Fay is blowing across Central Florida this evening, its dark and eerie clouds zipping overhead. Rain is coming down hard and the winds are alternately calm and howling. As you might imagine, we're all very pleased this hasn't strengthened into a hurricane, although the latest forecast indicates it just might (after heading into the Atlantic and before boomeranging back into land). Fay is here to remind us that nature's totally in control and, when you live in Florida, you must learn to embrace hurricane season. The late Grant Green never hit it big like fellow jazz guitarists George Benson and Wes Montgomery. His career was brief and bumpy, marred by a three-year absence from performing in the late 1960s because of heroin addiction and its attendant evils. We're running around getting everything lined up for our son's first day in kindergarten. Backpack, crayons, glue sticks, blunt-tip scissors, Purell. Of course we're sending positive vibes his way. The statements "Aren't you excited?" and "You're going to have a great time!" come out of our mouths a lot. The good news is, he's pumped. He's an affable little guy who'll make new friends fast. Guitar Dad has learned a few things in his day. Most notably, that you never stop learning things. Most parents will agree: You've got to get away from the kids occasionally. That's why my wife and I indulge in "date night" once a week. We have a wonderfully reliable, and just plain wonderful, babysitter who spends a couple hours with the little ones while we're away having dinner and just catching our breath together. It's a highlight of the week for Guitar Dad. Seems like I'm always itching to hit the road. Whether it's a day trip to the beach or a long-haul flight to another continent, immersing one's self in unfamiliar territory is exhilarating for the mind and body – and just plain fun. There's the anticipation that builds before the trip, the trip itself, and the mental reverberations of the experience long afterward. I complain a lot about all the time and money it takes to keep our backyard pool clean and swimmable. Let me tell you, though: The return on investment is huge during our stifling summers. Our family can't get enough of the splishing and splashing these days. It's great fun for everybody and really gives the kids a workout. When we're indoors, my offspring are usually bouncing off the walls with excess excitement, so anything we can do to burn their fuel is a good thing indeed. Usually my daughter demands that Mommy tuck her in and read books to her in the evening. Thankfully, my son usually wants me to join him for a few stories before turning out the lights. But I do retain one special power that inspires my little girl to bond with me and share those all-too-precious bedtime moments. I announce the reading of The Cat in the Hat. She likes the way I voice the phrases and rhymes, and she usually chimes in with key words on every page. |
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