Now THAT was nice!

Have you been putting off that "dream" family trip?

While we had our "moments" on vacation, we are in agreement.... IT WAS A BLAST!

For about four or five months now we planned a trip to Florida's "Space Coast"...Cape Canaveral and the area all around the Kennedy Space center.

Our original plan was to take advantage of the natural beauty of the area, the beaches, the wildlife preserves and possibly a trip to the Space center... but that plan began to undergo a metamorphosis about three months ago when my brother found out our plans.

At his suggestion he, his wife and their almost two year old daughter (whom we had not had a chance to meet yet since they live on the east coast and we live here in the Midwest) would meet us in Florida, and spend a few days with us. That sounded like a good plan but he then suggested the possibility of of spending those few days together at Disneyworld!

Now don't get me wrong, we have always dreamed of doing something like that as a family but for a family of six that could get pricey... unless you have a brilliant younger brother who is a lawyer for "The Mouse"! Actually, he's legal counsel for one of their smaller divisions, which has its' headquarters in Bristol, CT... a little known outfit called ESPN. His suggestion was to take care of getting us in the park for as many days as we wanted and how could we turn down an offer like that! So we diligently made the plan come together.

One thing i didn't mention... we never told our kids ONE SINGLE THING about the Disneyland deal OR about meeting up with their Uncle, Aunt and little cousin! The first clue that our kids had that something was up was when we were getting in and around the Orlando area (about an hour from where we were staying) and all the directional signs for Disneyland were everywhere!

We finally told them that a family had graciously made it possible for ALL of us to spend the day at Disneyland's Magic Kingdom. We explained that the "G" family (my brother's last name begins with the letter G, which, is another story for another day) would meet us at the park and get us in for the day. Imagine their shock when we walked up to the entrance gate for the Magic Kingdom and my brother and his family yelled"Hi!". It was priceless! They then got the great news that not only were we going to be spending the day at the Magic Kingdom but the NEXT day we would all return to spend a day at Disney's Animal Kingdom!

We had an absolute blast and I am including a link on my blog page for you to take a look at our time at Disneyworld!

There are so many more stories to tell about this trip but our hope is that one of the things we were able to do was create memories that none of us will ever forget... we think we may have accomplished that for certain after all!

The Truth!

Here is the deal....

i have made a commitment to write at least once a week and just try to stir up conversation about the stuff of life! And with a fair amount of consistency i have remained faithful to that commitment.

But this week i am getting ready to head out of town... and quite frankly the day that i usually write my blog will come and go while i am on vacation... twice! (Nice huh?!?)

So guess what?

This week and next week, feel free to take a look at my previous blogs and whatever else might be of interest to you on my blog... because i'm on vacation!

i'll fill you in when i return..... until then have a great week!

Life is short... get a WHAT?!?

Can you make out the Chicago billboard to the left?

Yeah, i've edited it because it needed to be edited!

Both shots are midrift pictures, the one to the far left was a picture of a scantily clad woman from her neck down. The picture to the far right was a guy whose pectoral area was in top form.

If you can't make out the words on the ad, you just need to know it was placed by by a legal firm and encourages people to remember... "Life is short. Get a divorce."

i guess what i don't get is how in the world, in good conscience, anyone could put a billboard up like that anywhere in the world!?!

One of the people responsible for placing the billboard commented by stating that the billboard promotes "happiness and personal integrity". Well, it promotes something alright but i'm not convinced it is either one of those two things!

Is the answer to a short life, divorce? Some might say "Oh Rob, you're just over-reacting... the thing was put up all in fun...." Yeah maybe but as far as i know, almost everyone that has experienced divorce from the husband or wife, to the children, to the in-laws, to other friends and relatives would overwhelmingly agree that "happiness" was not necessarily what they got out of that ordeal.

So somebody tell me, is this normal? Do most married people walk around thinking that their personal integrity will be kicked up a notch when they get that divorce?

If so, we (as a nation) are even more screwy than i thought....

PS. i should add one note.... the parking garage owners on whose building this was placed ended up taking the billboard down once the word got out about how insane this advertisement seemed to be.

High School Days... best days of Your Life?

Question: did you enjoy your high school experience?

i did.

That said, i don't think i would do again... it was sort of a once in a lifetime experience.

This week, my wife through casual conversation with someone she works with realized that this same person had attended the same High school she did and graduated one year after her. This caused my wife to begin looking through her old yearbooks and reflecting back on what for many of us is a critical time in our lives. She remembers High school being "okay" for the most part. She also recognizes that had she remained in the town that she went to high school in her life would have more than likely have been very different and probably not for the better.

i think for me as i think back, i made the most of the experience. NO, i was not one of those guys who partied and/or behaved poorly but if there were activities to be part of, athletics to excel in, i would do it! There were the typically type of things that most guys in high school worry about, girls, looks, popularity... did i mention girls? However, in the midst of my high school experience the thing that made a real difference for me, something that helped me keep it all in perspective was my involvement with my church youth group.

It's really weird and sort of hard to explain but being part of a youth group and knowing that kids from my youth group were around me at school during the day was a significant deal. i knew people were watching out for me and they were also keeping me accountable. If i acted like a jerk on the football team or on the track team or in the high school choir, they wouldn't let me get away with it. That was in many ways what kept me in line. It is also what helped me enjoy the experience of High school but also keep it all in proper perspective.

Don't misunderstand as i look back there more than few times when others properly identified me as smart mouthed jerk, in spite of my youth group connections. But all in all, my high school days were truly enjoyable. There was also a part of me that realized that it was a special time and i needed to enjoy it but there would be many more very special days to come... even when my days in high school came to an end.

What about you.......