Mall Rats

On Monday Hannah turned 14. Rachel and I had planned on taking her out on the Saturday prior for a little birthday date. The bad news was Rachel got hit with a stomach bug that is going around. So despite her getting ready and telling herself she was not going to get sick, she got sick anyway. That left just Hannah and I for the date. Hannah was very let down. I am not what one would call a shopping enthusiast. I loath the whole shopping mall concept. However, her look of displeasure didn't get me down. I took that as a challenge to show that little girl the gosh darnedest best time she ever had, by golly!

Instead of going to the usual mall the kids loiter at, I thought I'd step it up and take her to the posh mall up in Scottsdale. What she was not aware of is that her Dad has spent alot of his work days building up that swank part of town and I know my way around. She showed a little grin as I weaved through the side streets of Old Town Scottsdale and with swiftness landed our vessel in the parking garage next to the Nordstorm. "Nordstrom? I like the way this is going." she quipped. I escorted my princess into the store telling her that she could get whatever she wanted. That put a little pep in her step. As she was flipping through dresses I casually and slightly effeminately pulled one out and pretended to look at it. In reality I was trying to get a glimpse of the price range of these dresses. $235 dollars? That must be a misprint. I pulled out another one, same misprint. I gasped so hard I nearly swallowed my tongue! Bless my little girl heart for being finicky. This bought me some time to think of a way out of this. "Okay, if you were not aware, the first rule of mall shopping is never buy on first glance. After you've found a few things from a few stores you can compare and contrast and make a rational decision." She agreed. What a relief. She finished her assessment of their $165 per sq. yard of fabric dress selection and we moved on.

a side note-I have a thing with mall shoppers. I know that I paint with real broad strokes but I think anyone over the age of twenty-three who mall shops must be dealing with some issues from their past. Let me say that going to a store in the mall and purchasing something and leaving is not the same as thirty-something gal walking around a mall in clothes that she thinks makes her look 20 years younger, laden with bags from every store she 'conquers', seems to the casual on-looker like someone has self-esteem issues or something. And from my perspective thirty-something guy doing the same thing probably got beat up alot when he was younger. So for me it's disheartening to see such a sorry bunch of people.

Okay--- we leave Nordstrom and now we are in the throws of this pretentious, superficial wasteland. I let Hannah lead the way. We go store to store..she is navigating this mall much like I navigated the side streets to get us there! Here were some of the stops along the way:

• Juicy Couture- I hesitated because I don't know what that name means. I naturally assume it's some sort of inappropriate innuendo. I sceptically walked through and I could not find anything other than the 'industry standard' immodest clothing that would suggest that this was some kind of kinky store. It seemed like a whimsical Gap store. Nothing of redeeming value.


• Abercrombie and Fitch- We passed. I felt sick just looking at this store. Ironic that a clothing store has mannequins who wear hardly any clothes. "Mr. Fitch, you could buy half as many mannequins if you fully dressed them with pants and shirts" What's worse is I think my kids have shirts from this place! How did they get them? The nearly naked posters in the windows should have deterred them right? Sheesh!


• Louis Vuitton- This was something else. This store sells luggage and sunglasses. Things you might need on a trip, I suppose. But wait, if I buy the bags and shades from Sweet Lou, I won't be able to afford to go anywhere. I won't even be able to pay for gas to get home from the mall. Good grief! The lanky, gaunt, pseudo-euro sales guy was the real highlight of that store. He and I knew without saying one word to each other that there was nothing either one of us had to say to the other. So there was no greeting, just simple glance of "Look pal, I don't want anything from you, and you're not getting anything from me." And that was that.


• Charlotte Rouse- A-HA! This is where the kids go to get their ratty looking clothes. It looked like a store full of Goodwill cast offs! All the teeny boppers in there were slovenly dressed. It felt like a teen homeless convention. Surprisingly, no good dresses in there.


• Rosetta Stone-"Hey Hannah, let's learn Mandarin!" She grinned, but kept on walking.


• Bath and Body Works- Hey, my nose works too. And, drum roll please, Hannah found something she wanted! I was so excited I broke my own first rule of mall shopping and bought it right then and there. A bottle of perfume. Sweet.


• Williams & Sonoma- Hannah indulged me and let me peruse this gem of a store. It ranks up there with Brookstone.


• See's Candies- We both agreed that we could find something we like in there, and we did.

After See's we were both done with the mall. Even though I have a sour outlook on the whole mall scene. I sure was glad that I was with my girl, talking, getting her to laugh, and realizing that my days of her being just mine are going to be up sooner than I want. I was so grateful for her goodness and her sweetness. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Things Change

Over the years I have not had much success finding good help with want ads. I have become so jaded by it that I just have to accept that people don't want to labor for a living, and the men that I have are all I am going to get. I needed to just accept it. It was pretty ridiculous; I would run an ad that looked a little like this, (tiny bit of exaggeration was added for effect), "Dirt Contractor seeks someone with a pulse that can hold up a hard hat and shovel, who can work but will not be forced to do so. Name your price, will provide transportation, bonuses, a free house, flexible hours. Please, we beg you" The response was very underwhelming...maybe a dozen replies. Of the two or three I'd hire one might last longer than a week.

I know that alot has changed over the past year, but I still have needs to fill. I wanted to run an ad, but didn't want to attract all the derelicts and rifraff so the ad simply read, "HARD MANUAL LABOR". Monday morning there was a crowd of people waiting for the office to open. By Wednesday I received over 400 applications. All of the derelicts still showed up, but there seems to be a higher quality of bub to choose from now. This is a new experience for me.

This is the guy I want to hire----me 10 years ago. I was the man.

Turning Over a New Leaf

(pun in title intended) Now that Spring is in the air, we are trying to spiffy up our yards and enjoy them a little more. While walking through Costco the other night they were selling tomato plants. I picked one up and thought I try to make it not die. I am not a horticulturist by any means. I have never grown anything of value. I cannot even figure out how to program my sprinklers, but I am going to try to give this a go. Show me some sweet Heartland Tomatoes!

this is what I've got.....

...and this is what I want to get.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I have lived in Phoenix for almost nine years. Over the years I have learned alot about this place. Some of my perceptions have been affirmed; it is blasted HOT from June through September, (October and May are not always lovely either). I don't care what anyone says, I have not 'got used to it' and I don't think I ever will. I don't see the beauty of the desert, or desert landscape. And a day at the lake does not compare to a day at the beach. There are other things that I have found that are wonderful; there is alot of good camping when you climb out of the desert. People are generally easy going. And the real diamond in the rough is what is happening right now.

March is an annual rejuvenation for me. I get a few weeks where I am taken back to some fond childhood feelings and also taken forward to the afterlife. It's a little wild I know, but it's is absolute bliss you see because March is when the orange trees blossom. In the evening and early mornings the air is so aromatic that I will get light-headed by inhaling so much! I don't have a specific moment in my childhood but I know the town I grew up in had its share of citrus and just a whiff brings me back those carefree days. I also believe heaven is scented with orange blossoms. How could it not be? It is the most heavenly scent created. I don't usually wear flowers, but this time of year I will pick a blossom or two and pin it, or paper clip it, to my collar. Its euphoric, it's my own paradise, and it's Nirvana all in one little white blossom . I love it.

Reflection time

This week the normal day to day routine has been turned on its ear. Rachel has been out of commission recovering from surgery on Tuesday and that left a huge void in our family. Before the week started I had it all figured out, I knew that I could handle all the household tasks. I had a semi-specialized job that was starting on Tuesday night that would require me to be out with the crew for a few hours at night, but that's okay, that helps me justify taking some personal time during the day to get the kids off to school and look after Cal. Things seemed like they were going to be simple.

Things I have learned from my simple plan:

1. Things are not so simple.


2. My kids love their mom. Leading up to this event a few of the kids have expressed their concern what was going to happen to their mom. I thought that we could take time at family night to explain a little bit what was going to happen. They were all very attentive, rare. Tuesday night I took the kids to the hospital to see mom, we were all so excited to see her and it was nice, but inevitably we had to go back home and that brought alot of tears, and swollen hearts. As the kids and I were driving home, three of them crying for mom, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for such a good mom for my kids to love.


3. Three hours of sleep is not alot. I'm a wreck. I thought that my night job was going to make my days easy. How could I be so stupid? How could I have existed on earth for my whole life and have such an illogical thought? I still have jobs going on during the day, AND I have kids, a house, and a wife that needs special care. It's like four full time jobs. No time for sleep.


4. I have good kids. So with the whole 'full plate' thing I've got going on, and the no sleep thingy, the kids are getting the shaft. One night, I cannot remember which one, I freaked out at the older kids about milk rings that I scrubbed off the table from breakfast. I was way out of line and I did apologize later. The following day I was picking up Hannah from school. I pulled up and as she was walking to the car I looked at all the other school kids and in comparison, she glowed. She is such a good girl, I felt bad again about getting after them, and if my only complaint I have about my kids is they don't wipe up residual milk after every meal, or leave their backpacks on the floor I should be thankful. I am thankful.


5. After one day without a shower one of two things happens; either my nose adapts to the smell or the smell just goes away. It makes me wonder if body odor is our own smell mixed with the cleaning agents and toiletries we use.


6. If I leave a little clutter and go to bed or to work, it is there when I return to it. What happened to the clutter fairy? Oh right she's in bed recovering. Where is the dish fairy? Healing. I could not look away any longer, I had to do some cleaning.


7. My wife is a remarkable person. I have always known this. I'm not one of those jerks who lives a centristic ungrateful life, I try to see and count my blessings everyday. I guess what I have learned to be the most grateful for is the special relationship Rachel has with each on of our children. I believe she works at those relationships just like ours. I can make to do lists of chores and errands, and I will go down the list just fine. I am a provider, I'll get the job done. The un-fillable void is the nurturing. I cannot cross that chasm to the kids, I don't know how. She fills that emotional need for them...for all of us. What a gift. What a special woman.

I hate these things.

Six names I go by:
Stephen
Steve
Daddy
Brother Hixon
Beaver
Steve-o. I get a kick out of this one, but if I pay attention, I get called this more than anything else.

Three Things I am wearing right now:
(I wear the same thing everyday, this is so lame)
Shirt
Jeans
Boots

Two things I want very badly:
I want my guys to get their work done without any more grief.
Cannot think of anything more right now


Three favorite things I did last night:
(These questions feel very teeney bopperish)
1. Dinner with the family
2. Scouts
3. Played ball

Four things you ate today:
1. toast
2. glass of cranberry cocktail
3. ham sandwich
4. clif bar.

Two people I last talked to on the phone:
1. Eric
2. Daniel

Six things I will do tomorrow:
(this is lame)
1. Wake up
2. eat breakfast
3. get dressed
4. go to work
5. blow off a 10:00 meeting because I know I will be too busy.
6. after work go to round table

Three Favorite Beverages:
1. water
2. lemonade
3. cranberry cocktail

Five things I am grateful for:
1. life
2. my wife
3. all the things I believe in and stand for. (I'm not in a sappy enough mood to elaborate)
4. my family
5. my job

I tag Tom and Verle.

Sports are a funny thing.

I have been a sports fan my whole life. When I was younger, I'll guess about 8-16 years old I was a die hard Sportsmachine(pre-cable TV) and Sportscenter(post cable TV) follower, checking scores in church, box score reading, jersey wearing fanatic. I guess over the years I have been more of a casual fan, I still take in my share of games and I can still hold my own if I fall into a conversation with the fantasy geeks, but last night I realized what was missing.

I guess it's been building up for about six months, about when Simon started playing football. Slow and steadily he became a football fan. He cannot get enough of it. I love throwing the ball around with him after work, I absolutely loved him coming in and sitting with me to watch the Saturday afternoon College game, (Rachel is fine with me watching sports with my boys, but me by myself, not so much). Naturally he started liking the pro game. NFL games are harder to catch, so his involvement was vicarious through his best buddy Parker. As fate would have it the Cardinals had their historically successful season this year, and Simon was on board. He and Parker would play outside for hours, Parker was Kurt Warner and Simon was Larry Fitzgerald.

A deadly tandem to be sure.

I would watch these two boys play and I'd slip away to the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood California receiving a no look pass from Magic Johnson, (a ricochet off the garage door), catching and shooting at the buzzer to win game seven of the NBA finals. Or to the summer when the Angels needed me to play shortstop, only because I wouldn't dream of taking Rod Carew, Bobby Grich or Doug DeCinces position in the infield, I played center field for the Dodgers after Kenny Landreaux left, I had some monster homers OVER the pavilions! ...It's just a blissful, wonderful time to dream, and dream big.

However all of this came to an apex last night. We had just finished with family prayer and the boys wanted to 'check on the game', so I told Simon he could turn it on and watch whatever was left of it. We were all shocked to see the Cardinals had a lead LATE in the fourth quarter. There was a lot of giddiness on the part of the kids, and disbelief for us parents. Well, it ended rather abruptly for all of us when the Steelers took the lead, except Simon. He knew that the Cards could win, they won that game about a thousand times out in our front yard. He kept repeating "Throw it to Fitzgerald, he'll catch it!" Time ran out. It didn't happen.

As the insensitive dumkof that I am, I gave the,"Well that's the breaks! Exciting anyway. Now go to bed kids". This was the only consoling thing my callous heart could come up with. A little while later Rachel was checking on the kids. She came back she told me that Simon was balling his eyes out. He couldn't believe that they didn't win. He innocently said, "John Madden doesn't know what he's talking about! Kurt Warner didn't fumble that ball! He just needed one more chance!"

My heart sank for a second, and then my eyes welled up. Not because I was sad, I was happy that my boy has that much heart and I had this weird culmination of feelings that I had forgotten existed about how your heart can be connected with a sport, and a team, and a player. Amazing! Sports, in this case, football found my heart again, it took my nine year old son to do it, but none the less, it got to my heart.

.

My Little Larry Fitzgerald.