6/10/07--Random thoughts---because I really care

Well  let's get to the really important stuff.

Paris Hilton is in jail!!!!!   Isn't it horrible?  Yeesh, have you ever seen so much paper wasted on such a non-story?  I mean, the little trollop gets caught on a V.O.P. and is thrown into the clink for 30 days or so.  Who cares?  Why is this a story?
If her name was LaKeesha from Compton, you can bet your sweet ass that she would be doing the time and no one from Access Hollywood would be there.  So why should Paris be treated any differently?
Answer?
She shouldn't be.  Thank you for asking...now, I'll move on.

Tonight, the family is sitting around watching "Young Frankenstein".  Its always good when you can educate the young people....know what I mean Vern?

Some recent news in the children's department.  Andrew Poe-Bowdren recently got back the results of his ACT testing.  Now, his mother and I both got a 23 when we took the test--a few years back.  The maximum score on the test is a 36, and incoming students at Florida Institute of Technology average between a 24 and a 28.  Andy's score?

31 baby.  Yowsa.  My little boy just got himself a ticket to college.

He scored in the 99th percentile in math.  Dad's little scientist (Mom's also, but who's giving her any credit?)

Andy also aced his final exams, with his lowest grade on an exam being a B+.....the rest of the exams were all A's.  That's the sort of academic progress I like to see.

His sister?  Well........not quite as good.  Oh sure, there was the ususual A in band.
What wasn't so good was the F on her final exam in her pre-law class--which resulted in her finishing with a D for her final semester grade.  Mom & I were not happy with that.
However, I took a different approach this time.  No yelling...no historonics.  I told her that she was lucky that pre-law wasn't offered over the summer, because if it was, she would be in summer school.  So she has to live with the D on her transcript.  Luckily for her, it'll be from her freshman year and hopefully she learns from this and gets her act together by the start of next year.  Oh, and there was the gardening.  Did I mention that she hates to do anything having to do with gardening?  You know, pulling weeds, that sort of thing.  Which is why she was in such a happy moodthis morning as she sat in the dirt and grass and pulled the weeds from around our front door area.  She really, really hates to sweat. 
I think she got the message though.


Hey!  Bigtime congratulations to my co-worker and potential future ex-Mrs. Bowdren, Ceci Barcelo Nunez and her husband Jorge---who became parents for the very first time on Friday morning.  Their son Ryan--all 8lbs 12 ounces of him--joined the family.
The bad news was that I had predicted that he would be born the day BEFORE that, and so I missed winning the office pool by TEN HOURS!!!!  All that money---down the drain!!!  (Cough, cough)  Um, I mean....all that money I had intended for the young mother and her baby....gone!!

Drats....foiled...again.

Later,
Jeff

6/2/07--Sort of a significant event in our family

So my lovely daughter brought over a couple of friends to the house today.  For Kim and I to meet.  Guy friends.  One of which has a (gulp)....driver's license.  Ya know, the sort of thing that could possibly result in my daughter going places....in a car....with another teenager.

Jim Morrison said it best:

"Strange Days"

So the little bastard---whoops---I mean, ahem...the young gentleman comes over and we're introduced.  As ususal, I was the picture of politeness and decorum.

"You the driver?"
"Uh....yes."
"You planning on any crazy teenage stuff while my daughter's in your car?"
"Uh...nope."
"Good...because I'm giving you my daughter in one piece....she better come back the same way."
"Uh...yes sir."

I love those short and sweet conversations.

So she went out in someone else's car....and her mom and I went out to dinner...and she made it home okay.

Didn't think about her once.

More like....202 times.  But that might be a low figure.

Later,
Jeff

5/26/07--A really moving slideshow

My niece Scarlett recently went up to Varnville, S.C. to visit my Aunt Ruby.  My sister was taking the trip almost as a chance to say goodbye to our beloved Aunt, who has been such an important piece of our lives.  My niece took the opportunity to use her skills as a photographer to capture the events of the couple of days that they were there as sort of a timepiece of the last days of the life of Ruby Cook.

I won't lie to you.  This slideshow is hard to watch.  But yet, its so achingly beautiful, and so special....that while you cry, or find your self getting emotional....you'll have to admit that its an amazing tribute.  The song that accompanies the slideshow is called "One Moment More" by a singer named Mindy Smith.  Again....very emotional stuff.
Please watch....not for me, not because I asked...but because Ruby Cook deserves to be remembered.

A Tribute to Ruby Cook


After you watch....read the lyrics to the song....which was written by Smith about the death of her own mother.  Yikes.  Heart wrenching stuff.

"One Moment More"

Hold me
Even though I know you're leaving
And show me
All the reasons you would stay
It's just enough to feel your breath on mine
To warm my soul and ease my mind
You've got to hold me and show me now

Give me
Just one part of you to cling to
And keep me
Everywhere you are
It's just enough to steal my heart and run
And fade out with the falling sun

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more
You've got to hold me and keep me

Tell me that someday you'll be returning
And maybe
Maybe I'll believe
It's just enough to see a shooting star
To know you're never really far
It's just enough to see a shooting star
To know you're never really gone

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more
You've got to hold me and maybe I'll believe

So hold me
Even though I know you're leaving


Later,
Jeff

5/23/07--People that matter

I told you in my last entry the sad news about my Aunt Ruby, who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  My sister wrote me and told me that Aunt Ruby always wanted to know what sort of things people would say at her funeral.

And I remembered a television show from years ago where a character was wondering what sort of impact he had made, in the long run, during his life.  And then he remembered his children and the legacy he would one day leave.  And it struck me that so many people can go through their lives wondering what sort of legacy they leave behind, not realizing the impact they have and leave behind.

How do you let someone know?  How do you let someone know the importance and impact they've left on your life?

I decided the easiest way is to say.....with all the love that a nephew can send to his aunt:

You mattered.  You mattered to your children.  You mattered to your mother & father.
You mattered to your brothers.  You mattered....to your only sister.  You mattered to one of your nephews--the one who bragged to his wife that in the kitchen, there was a standard that had been set....an invisible bar established when it came to the quality of food that was prepared....and that it was mighty high.  That whenever macaroni & cheese are prepared, for whatever reason, I'm invariably asked:

"Is it as good as your Aunt Ruby's?"

And I tell her...that it was good--really good---but it wasn't quite there yet.

And I didn't have to worry that I wasn't telling the truth.

I used to say that I always thought the life of my Aunt Ruby would make an incredible story...and it would.  She's lead a quietly amazing life.  When she is greeted and welcomed at the pearly gates....the good Lord will think to himself that she got her money's worth out of life.  There was no wasted time...no wasted effort.

A life that mattered....to so many people....and a nephew who wanted her to know.

All my love,
Jeff

5/16/07--An update on the family

So I haven't really updated the blog with much news lately...and there's been some.

Andy was accepted for a summer internship up at Stevens Institute in New Jersey.
He's very excited and we're very proud of him.  He's really worked much harder this year at school and its nice to see him get rewarded.  Kellie, on the other hand, did not get accepted for her summer music internship in Ohio.  She was a little disappointed, but is moving on and hopes to audition for another program being offered this summer in the Tampa area.

This past Sunday was Mother's Day, of course, and we tried our best to make sure that Kim had a nice day (which doesn't mean that I cooked or anything silly like that though).
We took her out for dinner a couple of days before the holiday smart aleck!
Anyway, I would certainly be remiss in not mentioning MY MOM, who of course is absolutely terrific and one of my favorite people in the whole world.
But she knows that....because I tell her that all the time....and I'm not afraid to let her know how much I love her and how much she means to me.

We visited the cemetary to leave some flowers on the gravesite of Kim's Mom, who I never had the opportunity to meet, much to my disappointment.  Kim says she was really a wonderful person...and its my loss.  Kellie went with us and it got us discussing our future and our own mortality and such...which can be a little depressing, but is also important to talk about with your kids I think.

I also received some sad news regarding the health of my Aunt Ruby, who is my mother's older (and only) sister.  She is just an amazing woman...and I'm thinking lots of good thoughts for her in the upcoming weeks and months as she fights a tough fight.
Aunt Ruby.....you can only guess at the impact you have made on my life and on the lives of so many other people.  We love you very much.

Later,
Jeff

5/11/07--Its about damn time

Here's an honor that is very deserved...although the fact that he got in and Tim Brown (helloooo....the guy won the Heisman!) is sort of bizarre.

Zorich to Hall of FameMay 10th, 2007

Zorich becomes the 42nd Notre Dame player to join the Hall but the first who suited up in the 1980s or ’90s.

“I did some research that blows me away,” Zorich said. “There are only three defensive linemen who have been inducted from Notre Dame—Ross Browner, Alan Page and me. Are you kidding me?”

Perhaps Zorich never developed the entitlement bug because it took so long for him to feel as if he belonged.

“Even in college I was considered small,” Zorich said. He measured shorter than 6 feet and didn’t play a down as a freshman.

But Zorich was a beast on the scout team, making life hell for Notre Dame’s offensive linemen. When they protested by reminding him it was a Tuesday practice, he would yell back that this was his game.

“I got into so many fights and got kicked out of practice so many times, it was borderline hilarious,” he recalled.

“If I’m not remembered for Notre Dame or the Hall of Fame thing or playing for the Bears, it would be more than enough to be remembered as someone who cared about others,” he said.

5/11/07--Its about damn time

Here's an honor that is very deserved...although the fact that he got in and Tim Brown (helloooo....the guy won the Heisman!) is sort of bizarre.

Zorich to Hall of FameMay 10th, 2007

Zorich becomes the 42nd Notre Dame player to join the Hall but the first who suited up in the 1980s or ’90s.

“I did some research that blows me away,” Zorich said. “There are only three defensive linemen who have been inducted from Notre Dame—Ross Browner, Alan Page and me. Are you kidding me?”

Perhaps Zorich never developed the entitlement bug because it took so long for him to feel as if he belonged.

“Even in college I was considered small,” Zorich said. He measured shorter than 6 feet and didn’t play a down as a freshman.

But Zorich was a beast on the scout team, making life hell for Notre Dame’s offensive linemen. When they protested by reminding him it was a Tuesday practice, he would yell back that this was his game.

“I got into so many fights and got kicked out of practice so many times, it was borderline hilarious,” he recalled.

“If I’m not remembered for Notre Dame or the Hall of Fame thing or playing for the Bears, it would be more than enough to be remembered as someone who cared about others,” he said.