Harlem Globetrotters

As a young boy, the original Meadowlark Lemon / Curly O'Neal Harlem Globetrotters came to the Phillips 66 gym in Bartlesville, and entertained me and everyone in the sell-out crowd for what seemed like all night.  (I'd never been so tightly packed into anything like this before). It probably was only a few hours; but I did not want the night to end. The antics, the laughs, the incredible ball handling skills, the trick shots, the more laughs; it was all so much fun. Great family entertainment; so sorely lacking in today's world.

Fast forward 50 years, and I am at the BOK two Friday nights ago with 15 members of our family enjoying the latest rendition of the HG troupe.  The night was just as awesome.  We started the evening with a large family meal at Spaghetti Warehouse (meal was forgettable, but the companionship was superlative), as we also got to celebrate Ava's 10th birthday.

The evening performance by the HG was enjoyable from start to finish, and focused on the kids all night.  Special things were done for the children before, during, and after the game.  They had been in town all week doing civic and charitable work, and had another game scheduled at the BOK on Sunday afternoon.

Half time was a special group of kids doing "Thriller" (yes, that Thriller), and they did great.  Then there was a group of extra special 5-10 year olds (boys and girls) that go to this special basketball school to learn basketball skills, etc.  They too put on an amazing performance.  (They were not special as in mentally or physically retarded, they were special as in talent).

The sad part about the whole evening was the attendance.  There were less than 3,000 people at the event.  I knew going in that it was not going to be a sell out; but I never would have thought it would have been so poorly attended.

My grandkids LOVED the night as much as their Pappy.  I only hope that the next time they come to town that the crowd will be larger.  Children of today need nights of escape like this to make memories.  Memories that will last 50+ years, like they have with me.

Now THIS is what I call fun!

Mom's

My daughters are such good Moms.  The raven haired bombshell beauty with the killer smile on my left is Angela (35), who is Mom to Ava (10), and Emma (7).  The gorgeous blond with the killer smile on my right is Jackie (almost 37), (not to be confused with my wife), who is Mom to Will (9), and Owen (6).

That's me in the middle; shocker that I'm only 40 in this picture.  I am known to my daughters as Dad, Pappy, and "The Man In The Hat".  The last one is a moniker that just keeps popping up everywhere in my circles of influence; so I'll just go with it.

I had to dine alone a few weeks ago for dinner; and Chick-Fil-A was my location of choice (2 original sandwiches sans pickles, and a chocolate shake sans whipped cream) did me just fine for the evening.

I was surrounded by Moms.  And young children.  Seriously everywhere.  I do numbers; you know that.  While enjoying my food, I did analysis of numbers of course.  Pam would be have been figuring out what was going on in their lives; I just wanted to play with numbers...

Mom jeans #1 (30?) to my right had 2 daughters, both incredibly well behaved, like both of my daughters were.

Mom jeans #2 (35?) to my right, immediately in front of Mom jeans #1, had 4 sons (I am one of four sons), and 3 of the 4 were hanging from the ceiling, the window, and the underside of the table.  1 of them was obedient, and he was the darling of his Momma's eye.  He reminded me of Will.  

Mom (professionally dressed) #3 (27?) directly in front of me had 1 son and 1 daughter, neither older than 3, and this young Mom was super stressed.  She must have had a challenging day at work.

Mom (also professionally dressed) #4 (30?) directly behind Mom jeans #2, and 2 sons, and 1 daughter; and they were continually hitting and running from playground to food, food to playground, and playground to food.  The Mom never looked up from her texts the entire time I was there.  The daughter was boss Mom (like Ava), and was doing her best to make sure her siblings ate while playing.

Mom (also professionally dressed) #5 (40?) sitting behind me had 1 teenage son.  This son was quite engaging, and I heard him talking to his Mom during the whole meal.  He reminded me of Owen.

Mom (shabby dressed) #6 (45?) had a big table pushed end to end, with 6! children (3 boys, and 3 girls) crowded around the table.  I can't imagine trying to corral 6! children (ages 2 to 12) in a place like this.  2 of the 6 were ADD, 2 of the 6 were quiet as church mice, and 2 of the 6 were constantly in a state of fighting with each other.  This Mom looked stressed beyond her years.  Her Emma though is the only child that made her smile, as she whispered things into her Mom's ear a few times that only her Mom could hear.

My analysis determined:

1) Where were the Dad's?  None of these 6 families had a Dad present.  Were they still at work?  It was 6:30.  Or, quite possibly, were these all single Mom's?  Or both?  Since the divorce rate in the USA is now at 70%, that means that 4 of these 6 were probably single Moms; a sad-sad situation.

2) These 6 families had a total of 18 children for an average of 3.  Throw out the high of 6, and the low of 1, remainder of 11 into 4 leaves 2.75 as a mean.  My sample group was not large enough, or we might have had the national average of 2.4, though there were 30 other families (minimum) with children that I did not process by evaluation.

3) That I was (and am) thankful that Pam never worked outside the home while we were raising our daughters.  And, that neither of my daughters have worked outside the home either by raising their sons and daughters. 

I understand that most Moms have to work in today's world, especially the single Mom's.  Which is another thing that I am so thankful for; my daughter's marriages.  Jackie is rocking along at 15 years, and Angela has clocked in at 10 years and counting.

I love you girls.  Thanks for being such great Moms to my grandkids.  I probably don't say it enough like I used to all the time when you were younger.  But, I am so very proud of you. 

I love you each with all my heart.

I am a blessed man.

Barbie's & Johnny Depp

Being a daughter Daddy, I was never ashamed to do girlie things (and still am not as a Pappy), as I was never too macho to not let my daughter's cry in my arms, or see them in their bra, or provide natural intimidation with idiot teenage boys who were hanging around too long.  (I know I will be the same way with these 2 near-perfect granddaughters :-).)

I was definitely always willing to wear pink.  Hot pink is actually one of my favorite colors, and though the shirt is worn out and not yet replaced; I used to wear this incredible hot pink dress shirt, and get compliments (and questions) each time I wore it.

As a daughter Daddy, we watched Troop Beverly Hills so many times that I knew the lines almost as well as Christmas Vacation.  And we never missed an episode of Full House; though it was one of the most poorly acted shows ever produced for TV.  Plus, we never missed an episode of the Cosby Show, which was definitely funnier when the Cosby's kids were young.  The show grew long in the tooth though with the stupid teen stories and the even worse teen actors.  Oh the pain.

I am comfortable in my manhood, and if that means wearing pink, loving little girls, and playing Barbie's with them; then so be it. 

A few weeks ago, Pam was away one evening, and so I invited myself over to dinner at Angela's house, which brought me the added bonus of being able to arrive early and play Barbie with my granddaughters. (I was channeling my inner Johnny Depp, who, before he went all super-duper-stupid and left his wife and daughters for a younger prettier plaything, he used to escape into the land of Barbie with his daughters to handle the stress of his life.)  It really does reduce the stress; so he should have played with them more frequently; because then perhaps he wouldn't have been sidetracked with his little miss flavor of the month.

The top picture are the two Barbies that I dressed over a 40 minute time frame. This was high fashion time, let me tell you. The girls picked the outfits for me, and made sure that the accessories matched. They gave me the shoes, the purses, the jewelry, the hair ties, etc.  They even provided me with a comb so that I could brush the hair to make it look better.  It took quite the effort of outfit selection for each model to be exactly right from head to toe. And, my girls knew it!  They may only be 7 & 10, but they are 100% girlie-girl, and they know fashion!

The playhouse was a Christmas gift, and wow! is it ever a palace.  I loved listening to the girls talk to each other in Barbie language as they moved from room to room.

I love you girls.  Thanks for letting me crash your party.  It was so much fun!

I am a blessed man :-).

P.S. While dressing these Barbie's, it dawned on me that these long slender shapely legs looked like a popular woman's legs seen frequently on Sunday Night Football and from singing in close to a 100 music videos.  Yep, these are Carrie's legs.  The Barbie company must have hired Carrie as their leg model.

School Lunch: Wow!

Yesterday, I had the honor of joining each of my granddaughter's for their school lunch period.  Can't say hour, as it is a fast-paced, well orchestrated 15 minutes of chaos.  Even with very little talking between us, 15 minutes is not very long.

What I was amazed at most was how the nutritional value of school lunches has changed.  Case in point:

The cheeseburger was made with a whole wheat bun, with fresh tomato slices and lettuce.  It was served with a bag of baby carrots and a side salad.  The salad had fresh spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, and all the dressing choices were low-fat.  For the milk, the only option is fat-free; but I chose a bottle of water. 

There was no dessert; instead the choices were whole apples, or whole oranges, or cut strawberries. 

Yes, there were still a few nasty things like horrendous french fries or mac & cheese; both of these choices would leave you gagging.

All in all though; these school lunches were a massive improvement over what I remember them having been in the past.

~

My first lunch was with Emma Jo, and she was walking dutifully down the hall towards the doors when she saw me.  She immediately broke formation and began running from 20 yards away to leap into my arms from 10 yards out and give me an incredible, very long bear hug and some great kisses.  She is my little lover; she gives me such great affection.  Never embarrassed about it, and always so sincere.  It warms/melts my heart, and I would die without it.  Her beaming smile lit up the whole area.

We talked and chatted and I was holding her in the lunch line when I realized that we were being watched . . ., so I put her down and let her walk by me.  Which is when the cascade of comments begin from the other children "Is that your Dad? Are you her Daddy? Why are you so tall? I'm Adrian; what's your name? to which I answered 'Pappy'".  2 teachers said "thanks Dad, it means a lot to these kids when their parents come, and "we're glad you're here today Dad."

But, for those of you that might be wondering.  I am not her Dad.  I am her Pappy.  I look my age, and how horrible I would feel if at my age, I actually had a daughter Emma's age.  Thanks for the thinking I am her Dad, but really?

The fast 15 flew by, and Emma then took me to her room, showed me where she sits in class, and introduced me to a few of her friends.  I was obviously the novelty show of the day, as I've never seen Emma with so many sudden friends that wanted to get a look at this man she was with.  Yes, I do know what it feels like to have 100 little eyes on you all at the same time.  Kind. Of. Creepy.

Next up was Ava Corinne, and her entrance is 180 degrees different that Emma's.  I did not want to embarrass Ava, so I asked her if it was ok for me to hug her, and she said yes, but I did not overdo it (as I am prone to do when around both of them).  I did however steal a few kisses on top of her head.  She smiled and rolled her eyes.  Her smile is infectious!

Our meal was the same; though this time I gave away my carrots to Ava.  The lunch area was more quiet than a whisper.  Ava told me it was because a large food-fight had ensued the previous day.  Playground privileges had been suspended as a means of discipline, and instead, all students had to sit in the hall for 20 minutes of recess, and not utter a peep.  And this was after not being able to speak during the lunch break.

I heard first hand the lunch lady at the microphone explaining the rules, and let me tell you, Marge the Sarge did a good job with her commanding voice of putting the fear of God back into this Godless school and the little minions sitting sheepishly at the table crunching on their carrots.  I can't imagine what the foot fight looked like; but it must have been bad.

Ava told me (without my prompting) that she did NOT participate in the food fight; and that she just sat and continued to eat her lunch.  I knew she would not have participated, as she is one of the most obedient children that I have ever known.

Our fast 15 ended quickly too of course; and Ava requested that I not escort her back to class, so, not wanting to embarrass her, she gave me a good hug and kiss and we said good bye.

I love you girls.  15 minutes or not; I loved every second that I was with you.

I am a blessed man.

Favorite Songs of 2015

 
 
These are my 12 favorite songs discovered in 2015 in my 3 favorite categories.  I say discovered because when I posted a similar blog about new songs in 2014; one of my fellow anal-retentive borderline OCD numerically-inspired friends pointed out to me in a private message that not all of my songs were from 2014.  

True. They were not; but that is either: A) when I first heard them, or B) when I fell in love with them for the first time.  And the same is true for 2015, tho most of them are all completely new music for 2015.  Remember, this is because the test of truly great music is the ability to stand the test of time.  Example, "Burning Love by Elvis Presley" is from 1959, and 56 years later, it Rocks!, so much so that after just one listen, I loved it, and it made #2 on my list of favorites for best Pop of 2015.
 

Favorite Christian

The One I'm Running To: 7th Time Down (My overall favorite song of the year)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2BNVB_0cDI

Mercy Me: Greater
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=mercy+me+greater&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

Mercy Me: Flawless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ZTfL5HVSk

The World That He Sees: TSO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMpa3_tiCA0



Favorite Pop

Maroon 5: Sugar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09R8_2nJtjg&list=RD09R8_2nJtjg#t=13


Elvis Presley: Burning Love
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=elvis+presley+burning+love&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002


Demi Lovato: Confident

https://www.yahoo.com/music/confident-official-video-215345447.html

Walk The Moon: Shut Up & Dance With Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhFvpS-I_6U




Favorite Country

Randy Houser: Goodnight Kiss
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=randy+houser+goodnight+kiss&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

Kid Rock: First Kiss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTCnno-3EGE

Zac Brown Band: Beautiful Drug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgT0wG1ODqA



Jerrod Neiman: Drink To That All Night (My overall favorite video of the year)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1pMmg4_FWU


Happy New Year, as I look forward to the new music headed our way this year!
 

Best Books of 2015

 

My total blog count this year was almost double that of any previous year for the 7 total months of '15 blogging activity; and thus, my total 'read' book count dropped to only a few dozen.

That is compared to the normal 4 to 8 dozen books a year that I usually read.  Since there is only so much sleep that I can give up, it is obvious that I am swapping a lot of time reading for time writing instead.  Oh well, I love doing both.

My top 7 books for '15 are: 

1)  You Can't Make This Up, by Al Michaels.  This is his autobiography, and I LOVED this book.  It is fast, funny, and full of factoids.  He is as great a writer as he is a broadcaster.  

2)  Living Beyond The Limits, by Franklin Graham.  So true, so factual, so good.

3)  Revelation Revealed, by Tim LaHaye.  Scary good, powerful.  A great read.

4)  Heroes Proved, by Oliver North.  I love his books; every one of them.  He is one of my favorite writers.  This is great fiction that immerses you in the story.

5)  Killing Lincoln, by Bill O' Reilly.  Historically, one of the most interesting books that I have ever read.  But, it is depressing.  Extremely well written.

6)  Johnny Carson, by Henry Bushkin.  This is a historically accurate retelling of Johnny's story by his best friend.  Frequently funny, exceptionally well paced; but sad.

7)  Adios, by Ann Coulter.  Having blogged about this book already, I will not repeat my words of caution.

Were any of these your favorites too?

And into '16 we head.  My inventory of books already purchased for '16 totals 20, and with about $100 of B&N gift cards still needing to be redeemed; it looks like '16 will get me back to the normal 50+ books.  At least I hope so.

See you next year :-)

O Holy Night

Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, to be the Savior of the world.  You, and only You, are the meaning of Peace. 

~


O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song, (sung by Martina McBride); and it leaves me with shivers every time I hear the song; no matter who sings it, but Martina is my favorite.

And THE staple is Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" from 1741.  I love it almost as much as O Holy Night.  Unfortunately for today's generation, it is lost in many of today's modern church Christmas programs.  If it is not sung at your Christmas program; what a shame.  It's not been sung at my church for a long time, and what a treasure is being missed each year.

There is nothing more glorious than the Hallelujah Chorus.

This magnificent version is sung by the Royal Choral Society; which has sung it every year since 1878.

Merry Christmas Jesus.

Merry Christmas.