Give me a 10 for Best Photo

Give me a 10 for Best Photo

My Near Death Experience...

Sometimes things happen in our lives that make us stop and realize what's important. My weekend was a good weekend. Pretty much like all the others. Up Saturday morning for a soccer game with the kids. Driving to St. Francisville to got to a friends art show (OK we don't do that all the time I'll give you that) Watching Game 3 of the world series. Go Red Sox... Get up Sunday morning and get the family ready for church... Go early to practice cause I play drums for the worship team... We rock out the service, have a great time... then go to my parents house for lunch. We have to hurry up and eat, at least me and my older daughter, because she has soccer practice at 2PM and I'm coaching the team... gotta be there on time!!!
We were having spaghetti for dinner with garlic bread toasted in the oven... you know the really good kind with lots of butter that is toasted just right so it's crumbly. You know what I mean... anyway, I put some spaghetti sauce on my bread (thats the only way to eat it) and go to take a bite just as someone says something funny where I inhale and have a bunch of the crumbly pieces of bread go down my throat!!! I find myself choking... I spit my food out and stand up... I'm starting to get worried cause I can't breathe. My mom and brother in law start to stand up thinking the Heimlich might be necessary... I am actually coughing a little, which means I'm getting a small bit of air. The coughs are very shallow as are the breaths... I make my way to the sink and turn on the water and find my self wheezing. It seems that my throat must have swollen up or something, as I hear my daughters ages 4 and 8 saying Daddy are you OK? I turn and look at them and see tears in their eyes, "Daddy are you OK?" After what seems like an eternity I'm finally breathing somewhat normally and I return to the table, though I can't talk because it throws me into a coughing fit... I sit down in my seat again with a daughter on each side of me as they lean in and give me a huge hug. "Daddy are you OK?" I squeak out an "I'm OK" followed by a tirade of coughs... Crisis averted.. I finish my spaghetti, but couldn't bring myself to eat anymore bread...
My daughter and I leave for soccer practice... I'm back to normal... She begins to tell me a story told by someone at school about a family member at the hospital that is brought back to life... (CPR) I explain about CPR and she asks does that work when someone is Old... I told her that sometimes it does... Other times the person is just gone... She then asks me how old I will live to be where I tell her as long as I can, as long as the Lord gives me... She tells me she wants to do that (CPR) to me when I get Old so I can live another 50 years...
My heart is breaking at this point... My oldest daughter has had her first real thoughts about a parent dying...

Cherish the time that you have!!! Don't forsake anything. Realize what is important and hug your family one extra time every day when you leave for work...

Patch

WOW has it really been this long...

I can't believe it's been this long since I've been here, but I guess the dates don't lie... Well I've been on "your space" most of this time, but have recently discovered something new... It's just like "your space" except that you get paid for all the stuff you do. Uploading photos, blogging, posting comments, joing groups/clubs.. Its great. I've just joined up and will be posting here on my successes... If you'd like to check it out (and why wouldn't you?) here's a banner link.

Patch

Oh where is my Hairbrush....

If you find your self singing that Wonderful Veggietails song... Then read on... You'll love this one... Dedicated to all those parents "forced" to listen to their kids music.

P.S. Sorry I've been away for so long... A few more comments at the end..



A Thousand Little MelodiesMy unfortunate addiction to children's music.By Sam AndersonPosted Friday, Jan. 27, 2006, at 5:16 PM ET
The English language is not equipped to describe the crippling psychological torture of having a song stuck in your head. "Stuck in your head" sounds like a minor logistical mix-up; the real experience is like temporary schizophrenia. A vacuum cleaner jingle, overheard at a vulnerable moment, can wipe out a week's worth of cognition. As usual, we have to turn to German (Weltschmerz, schadenfreude) to chart the subtleties of our own despair: We need the word Ohrwurm, literally "earworm," which appropriately suggests the violent invasion of a parasite. Earworms have ruined some of the best moments of my life. The first time I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge—one of America's sublime experiences—I was haunted by the Meatloaf power-ballad "I Would Do Anything for Love," which ran in a continuous loop all the way across. The song returns to me now whenever I see a big-city skyline.

Earworms breed in all kinds of musical environments—the gangrenous wound of a Coldplay chorus, the festering pit of a cellphone ring-tone—but the most fertile breeding ground, by far, is children's music. The genre is an earworm hatchery, the aural equivalent of an overstuffed Dumpster baking in the August sun. Its grubs are uniquely robust and brain-thirsty: Kids' music is all hook, cutesy melodies pared to the most efficient possible sequence of notes and repeated until the recording studio runs out of tape. It's like a reverse parody of atonal jazz: Instead of denying us the pleasure of melody, kids' music heaps it on so heavily that our desire for it disappears, and melody disintegrates into pure pleasureless noise.

I know this because my daughter requires a constant stream of children's music to fuel her epic, mesmerizing dance-marathons. I've been listening to her music intensively now for almost two years—which makes it, sadly and easily, my most intense engagement with any music since high school. Though our library of kids' albums is small—a handful of discs inflicted on us at baby showers—I have involuntarily memorized every note. I've listened to these albums so many times they've lost their status as music and become a kind of continuous and ecstatic holy mantra. Instead of criticizing, I just bask irrationally in the soul-cleansing repetition. My musical standards have eroded completely. I know it's just some kind of sensory trick, like submerging your hands in freezing water until it feels like they're burning, but I have started to love it. Even with adult friends around, I sing passionate a-cappella soul renditions of songs I once reviled.

Two albums in particular have colonized my mental soundtrack. The first is Victor Vito, by a woman named Laurie Berkner. Berkner has risen over the last few years from grass-roots play-group fame to national prominence; now she dominates the music scene on Noggin, Nickelodeon's popular and commercial-free younger sibling. She is sometimes referred to as the Ani DiFranco of children's music: nosering, perky hair, low-fi acoustic songs that hop unpredictably between tempos and moods. She plays concerts with a stuffed pig on her head.
The first time my wife and I listened to Berkner's album, we had to call and enthusiastically unthank the person who gave it to us: We could feel the songs fish-hooking themselves into our frontal lobes, displacing important phone numbers and relatives' birthdays. The opening track, "Victor Vito"—which tells a story, set to syncopated hand-claps, of two nomadic children with a passion for diverse ethnic food—is hands down the earwormiest thing I've ever heard. It has become the unofficial theme song of my life; I've probably listened to it more times over the past year than I've brushed my teeth. The rest of Berkner's album is similarly, maddeningly, catchy.

One song's chorus repeats the word "bottlecaps" eight times:

CollectingBottlecaps bottlecaps bottlecaps bottlecaps
Every one I see
Collecting Bottlecaps bottlecaps bottlecaps bottlecaps
Every one I see

It's impossible to resist onslaughts like this. I have become an unrepentant Berkner fan. I stomp to her stomping and emote to her emoting. The other day, her version of "Oh Susannah" came up on my iPod, tucked somewhere into what used to be a respectably cool shuffle, and, without a kid in sight, I listened to the whole thing.


The second album that has staked out permanent real estate in my consciousness is Here Come the ABCs, by the venerable alternative duo They Might Be Giants. The Giants' crossover to children's music wasn't a radical step: Even during its college-radio heyday in the early '90s, the band wielded its tight polka-funk in the service of educating the masses. They wrote songs (or remade songs) with lyrics that sounded like cleverly compressed middle-school lesson plans—

So take me back to Constantinople
No you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks.
Istanbul! Istanbul!

so the transition to kids' music was just a question of stepping the curriculum down a few grades, as in the song "C is for Conifers":

If you see a Christmas tree
Or a stack of newspapers
Or the 2x4 frame of a house,
They're probably made from pine trees
And pine trees are conifers
That's what this song is about.
Or if you see a plant in the shape of an elephant
Or in the shape of a dog
It's probably a shrub, a conifer shrub
Pruned into that shape by someone.

The song ends with a list of tree species ("fir … Douglas fir … cedar … yew") spoken with such slow solemnity over an accordion-banjo dirge that it has made me laugh out loud in public. Part of the fun of Here Come the ABCs is seeing the Giants' wry, melancholy alterna-rock sensibility grafted onto the agenda of spelling class: perky intellectual exercises, oddly poignant stories of humanized or missing letters. The Giants' album is the best argument that modern children's music has, like modern children's movies, become slick and sophisticated enough to span generations.

That said, however, the genre is still dominated by cutesy voices, preschool subjects, and one-dimensional sincerity—it is, in other words, still children's music. I find myself crossing new thresholds of aesthetic debasement almost daily. Someone recently gave us a CD by the incredibly popular Australian band the Wiggles. I listened to it once and knew, for a fact, in the same way I know that I have hands, that it was one of the worst travesties in the history of recorded music. The band members seemed to have infantilized themselves to the point of catatonia. Then, somewhere around listen 50, I saw the light—I finally got it—and I sang the opening track over and over until my wife threatened to slap me.


Audio excerpts from Here Come the ABCs © 2005 Walt Disney Records, Victor Vito © 2004 Two Tomatoes, and Top of the Tots © 2004 Koch Records. All rights reserved.





So how many of you are still singing about your hairbrush...

BUSTED!!!!

An Amazing Day!!!

Well, I gues you can see by the pics that my wife and I had or baby yesterday... She woke up yesterday morning at about 5AM with a contraction that was different than the ones she had been having... She woke me up about 5:20AM and we started timing them. They were on average about 6 minutes apart but not too consistant. We decided to go ahead and make the call over to Granddad to come and stay at our house for when our girls got up and we drove to the hospital. They wheeled us into the room at about 7AM and when they checked my wife she was at 4cm. Her doctor came in and ended up breaking her water for her. (Jess' nurse was pissed cause he did that before the Anesthesia guy came around.) She had a few really strong contractions that brought her to tears. Then Dr. Steel arrived or should I say SUPER STEEL!!! He fixed her up with an epidural. Smooth sailing from then on. We started pushing at about 9AM , and I do mean we... if you've ever been in this before you understand that you find yourself pushing with the mommie every time, the joke is that everybody ends up leaving the delivery with hemerroids... Anyway, pushing... yes pushing... The baby was turned face up which makes for a more difficult delivery. Our doctor tried to turn him but couldn't. He seemed to get stuck on the pubic bone... We kept pushing with the nurse who was awesome by the way... and she was actually able to turn him face down... PHEW!!! If he stayed stuck in there we'd have had to go for a C-Section. Once he turned over he didn't waste any time coming out. He was 5 lbs. 9.2 ozs. 17 inches long and was born at 10:24 AM October 20th, 2005

Things were a bit different with this one... I didn't find myself bawling as I did with my two daughters. I was just so very proud to have had a son. We named him Jesse James Mehaffey. Now let me explain that... My wife is Jessica, named after her Grandfather Jesse. I am Patrick James... and my father, grandfather, and great grandfather are all James something... So it is the perfect family name combonation.

Thinking about yesterday and all that happened there is one thing that sticks out in my mind... I don't think I will ever be more proud than when I presented MY SON to his GRANDFATHER!!! Thanks to all those that called and came by to see us. We may actually be going home today. My wife's doctor has cleared her, but we need the baby to be cleared to leave... If that happens then I'll be at home tonight on the couch with my son watching the KC/Dolphins game!!!

I saw this on Silla's site and couldn't resist... I am what I am... Take the quiz. The questions are pretty funny.



You are Napoleon Dyanamite and a buttload of gangs
are trying to recruit you.


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

It's my Turn..

Well, It's my turn now for an annoying questionaire thingy... Since I haven'treally thought of anything else to blog about... So here goes and I hope it doesn'tget too boring...


Piercings: 2 (left ear)
tattoos: no, not yet???
height: 5'9"
shoe size:10
hair color: brown
length: shaved
siblings:Kathy - 35

LAST....
movie you rented: Kung Pow - freakin' hilarious!!!
movie you bought: Constantine (returned it when I noticed wasn't wide screen)
song you listened to: What about Now (Country Song)
song that was stuck in your head: I'm not as good as I once was -Toby Keith
CD you listened to: Declaration - Steven Curtis Chapman
Person you've called: a customer
Person that's called you: same customer
TV show you've watched: Overhaulin
person you were thinking of: Wifey

DO....
you have a bf or gf: yes, my wife
you have a crush on someone: huh???
you wish you could live somewhere else: Sometimes here... ====>
you think about suicide: Nope
you believe in on-line dating: I guess if it works for you.
others find you attractive: Hmmm... don't really notice.
you want more piercings: I promised my oldest daughter I'd get my ear pierced when she decides to pierce hers...
you drink:Occasionally
you do drugs:Nope
you smoke: Only when I'm on fire
you like cleaning: No way!!!
you like roller coasters: LOVE them
you write in cursive or print: Mostly Print
you carry a donor card: Nope, Will let my wife decide that If I pass

FOR OR AGAINST....
using someone: against
suicide: Against
killing people: There are times when it may be necessary, but for the most part Against
teenage smoking: Against
driving drunk: Absolutely Against

FAVORITE....
food: Sushi
song: too many to list
thing to do:Watch Football
thing to talk about: My family
sport: I thought I already covered this one... Football College and Pro
drinks: Sam Adams Summer Ale, Sam Adams Light, Coke, Chocolate Milk
clothes: Jeans, T-Shirt, Boots
movies: Man with no name trilogy (Clint Eastwood)
holiday: Christmas
new nerdy saying: What's up,Yo? (not that new... guess I don't change that often)

HAVE YOU...
ever cried over a guy/girl: Yep.
ever lied to someone: Sadly, yes.
ever been in a fist fight: yes, a few... and avoided a few more
ever been arrested: no, unless tickets count

NUMBER...
of times I have had my heart broken? Once
of hearts I have broken? Hopefully none, but maybe a couple.
of people I would classify as true, could trust with my life type friends? I'd say 4 (Family not included)
of people I consider my enemies? None
of times my name has appeared in the newspaper? Don't know a numberbut a few times for things with school, or wedding announcements etc.
of scars on my body? Impossible to answer... I was an active kid.
of things in my past that I regret: A few...

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE...
funny: yes
friendly: I'd like to think so
amusing: From time to time
loveable: Yeah, once you get into the inner circle
pessimistic: Rarely
optimistic: Generally
caring: yes
sweet: on occasion
dorky: More and more every day!!!
Spell your first name backwards: kcirtaP
The story behind your user name: Child hood nickname, sung like the old Bat Man TV show theme...
Where do you live? Baton Rouge, LA
4 words that sum you up: deep, loving, complicated, devoted

DESCRIBE YOUR -
Wallet: single fold, black leather and rather empty...
Hairbrush: HA!!! Hairbrush... me???
Toothbrush: Electric vibrate type
Jewelry worn daily:right now none... at times 2 earings and a wedding ring
Pillow cover: What ever color sheets my wife picked... I'm sure the color name ismore like rose or muave instead of a regular color name
Blanket: White Down filled Comforter
Sunglasses: Black with Black lenses
Shoes: Black Wing Tips
Handbag:Uh... not applicable
Favorite shirt: Button down, white with blue criss cross pattern... my wife picked it out
Hair: Shaved, except for my chin
Make up: uh... no!!!

WHO or WHAT -
In my mouth: my tongue
In my head: "This is taking too long."
Wishing: Classic Triumph Chopper/Bobber Motorcycle 1960-1975
Talking to: Myself, wondering why I decided to do this
Eating: nothing
Person you wish you could see right now: Baby#3 - Due in November
Is next to you: Laptop, Files, 2 empty tupperware dishes (don't tell my wife)
Something you're looking forward to in this up coming month: A good Paycheck
Something that you are deathly afraid of? A roach crawling on me in my sleep
Do you like candles: Vanilla!!!
Do you like hot wax: Nope
Do you like incense: Nah.
Do you believe in love: You bet!!
Do you believe in soul mates: Absolutely
Do you believe in love at first sight: Love is more than surface... so no
Do you believe in forgiveness: Absolutely
What do you want done with your body when you die: Doesn't really matter to me, so whatever brings comfort to those still here
Who is your worst enemy? Gotta be ME
If you could have any animal for a pet: Tiger (provided he'd be super sweet and wouldn't eat me or my family =) )
What is the latest you've ever stayed up: Approximately 56 hours
Ever been to England? nope
Can you eat with chopsticks: yep, sushi remember...
What are some of your favorite pig out foods? Chips and Salsa, Popcorn, Ice Cream


So there you have it... my first posted questionaire... please don't be bored and expect greatness in the future...