Catch-Up, Cuyahoga & Christmas

It's been interesting being away from blogging for a while. With work, home, church, etc. taking our time, I feel bad that we haven't kept current photos up. That, and trying to recap the past two weeks will be tough. The main thing is that there hasn't been a lot of new stuff lately.

Something that has interested me a great deal is the number of hits I'm getting on the Clinic's photostream. We post photos of cute dogs and cats, as well as intersting surgical and medical cases. It fascinates me that a Joe Blow veterinarian like me can take photos that are useful to people all over the world. I just saw one of my photos on some webpage that was translated into Spanish about demodectic mange. Holy cow!

Ledges Trail Cuyahoga Valley National Park

For historical purposes: Lincoln is now taking about an hour to fall asleep at naptime and bed-time. He's becoming more defiant. He's confusing his, "I don't want..." with his, "I want..." Whenever there is something to do, he says, "I'LL do it!" Potty training has hit a snafoo as Lincoln's interest in independence has led to his not always wanting to ask for help with his pants. We've been able to counteract this a bit with increasing the reward for going without an accident as well as allowing him to stand up on the potty to go pee-pee (thanks for the idea, Kiels!).

Getting back to some fun news, a package arrived from Grandma Laura & Grandpa Dave with gifts from their Alaskan cruise. There were many thoughtful items inside (such as the John Deere knock-off with a moose instead of a deer... Lincoln loves it!) When Jenn told Lincoln who sent the package, he immediately responded, "That was nice of her." Crack. Up.

We've been on a number of hikes lately in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and those are always fun. Gretel's getting much better on her leash on the hikes.
Our schedule is getting pretty busy over the next couple of months. First, our anniversary is coming up in less than two weeks. SEVEN YEARS! Can you believe it? I love Jenn as much as I ever have and it's crazy to think about all that we've experienced together during these years. What a friend and partner!

As September heats up, Community Group and Edge get rolling. I lead a group of now-seventh graders, and Jenn and I lead our adult small group. They're time-consuming, but fun. Especially our adult group, which has really gelled over the past few months.

Buckeye Football is just around the corner and the Browns don't look like they'll completely stink this year, both of which I'm sure will take up some of my time on weekends. Our annual Chili Party that we throw with our friends, the Wingaders, is coming up soon. I'm not sure when Apple Picking will fit in. Jenn and I looked at the calendar recently and she said, "September is full, and that means October will be here before we know it." No kidding. And in the midst of all of the busy-ness, Lydia will arrive! The due date is October 12, but who knows when the day will actuall come. Hopefully Lincoln will not have an advisory role, or else Lydia will attempt for a November birthday!

And speaking of plans for the future, let's talk Christmas plans.

• The Donati Christmas is set for Saturday, December 18.
• Grandma Laura, Grandpa Dave and Auntie Haley are arriving in northeast Ohio from Scottsdale on December 18 and then leaving for Columbus on the 22nd. So we'll be doing Mullen Christmas at our place before Christmas.
• Our goal is then to get down to Columbus just after Christmas to see the Parkinsons.
• Yet to be determined is a date for extended Gates Christmas (hopefully on the 24th or 25th).

All of this planning is with the goal of having Lincoln wake up at our house on Christmas Day. So we'll see how this Christmas season goes as far as the planning and timing is concerned. I'm not sure Lydia will care one way or the other.

Hike @ Ledges

In order to give Lincoln something to do and simultaneously wear Gretel out, the three of us went on a hike on the Ledges Trail at Virginia Kendall Park. Lincoln was awesome, and because we were there so early, Gretel got to spend a good part of the walk off leash. She's getting to be a pretty good dog on walks for me.
I spent yesterday at a TTA course at Ohio State. That was a blast from the past: sitting in a lecture room for 6 hours and then cutting on a dead dog for another 2 hours. What's a TTA, you ask? It stands for Tibial Tuberosity Advancement, and it's a relatively new procedure for the correction of stifle instability due to injury to the cranial cruciate ligament (laymens: ACL rupture). I'd heard of the procedure, but I'd never seen it performed. After observing the lectures, seeing the videos, and peforming the procedure myself, I'm a believer. And the neat thing about TTAs is that dogs walk on their operated legs within days (if not hours). That's a major improvement over previous procedures!

The excitement today is that Chris and Val are coming over for dinner this evening. Dinner with the Mahovlics is always a fun time.

Birds

Two fun things that we've done recently:

First, we hung a bird feeder on our deck. Let's just say, if you hang it, they will come.
Secondly, Lincoln, Gretel and I went for a walk down to the beaver dam. It was a Herculean feat just to get to the boardwalk, but we had a great time and saw some cool things: a blue herron very close to the path, an ant hill, some fish, a lock... there was just so much to distract a two-year-old!

Murder in Margaritaland

Last night was our highly anticipated Murder in Margaritaland! We'd never been part of a murdery mystery party before, but Jenn and Mary chose a theme, made a menu and put together a very fun evening for our Community Group.

Jenn was "Coconut Jane" and I was "Coconut Joe." We owned the resort of Margaritaland. The rest of our friends were various characters visiting the resort from the local tatoo artist to a lottery winner to the casanova bartender to the pool boy to the famous state-side actress looking to get away. It was funny to see how some of the folks were perfect matches for their characters. We had a blast. Neither Jenn nor I even came close to finding the murderer. The food was fantastic! And we were able to polish off the evening with hanging out with friends and talking life and kids.

Our hosts for the evening, Mary & Sgt. Lord.

Jack Daniels & Izzie Islander	Bindy Barkeep & Sandy Beachbum	Lifesavin' Sam & Kylie Cocktail
Thurston Howard III & Candy Cotton	Starr Bright & Lucky Numbers	Tatum Tatt & Cabana Bob

"Lincoln, would you like to lick the spatula?"

You know how much sugar Jenn likes to give to Lincoln? Check these out! Jenn was making some whipped cream to top her cheesecakes for the party tonight and Lincoln got to have a taste!

Truck & Tractor Pull

Jenn, Lincoln and I went to the Summit County Fair on Friday to see the livestock (Lincoln had never been that close to pigs, horses and cows!) and to watch some of the truck and tractor pull. It was an eye-opening experience! Lincoln was a little intimidated at first by the size of the cows and the look of the goats and pigs up close, but he got used to it and really enjoyed himself. We even got to see an ostrich and some emus!
The truck and tractor pull was fun... and LOUD!!!Next year I'll take my firing range ear protection and go an hour later to see fewer trucks and more tractors.

Pirate Ship Sandbox!

We finally got the sand in the sandbox! I cut down a piece of plywood to serve as a platform and put it up on cinder blocks so I could mow and weed-whack around it. Then we filled it up with 200# of sand. While he wasn't sure about how the sand felt on his feet at first, Lincoln now loves it!

Post Men's Retreat

This past weekend was our ABF's Men's Retreat. It. Was. Awesome. There were eight guys and we had a wonderful time getting closer to the LORD and closer with each other. We all showed up ready to dig in and we all left very thankful that we'd made time to attend. It was one of those things where I entered the weekend with high expectations, and the LORD even exceeded those. Mom and Dad's cabin was the perfect location: it was remote, had plenty of beds, and had the space to prepare great food. I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat!(Unfortunately, we took the group photo after two of the guys had left. Bummer.)

On another subject, tonight Lincoln had a chocolate covered pretzel from Malley's for dessert. He held onto the pretzel for a little too long.

Cuyahoga River

We took a late-afternoon stroll down to the Riverfront area in downtown Cuyahoga Falls. Lincoln likes to say "Cuyahoga River" and we gave him a trip to see it. It was a very pleasant evening.

And Jeremy sent me the link for this video. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's by Church on the Move in Tulsa, OK.

Cleveland Sports, an addendum

For some confirmation of my thoughts, and just to see that most of the Sports Viewing Public of America saw it accurately, visit Bill Simmon's Mail Bag.

Cleveland Sports

We all went to the Akron Zoo today. I needed to get some photos to possibly use at our ABF's Men's Retreat this coming weekend. While we were there, I saw this:

Well... the LeBron self-love-fest has passed, at least the latest saga of his self-love-fest. I can't say I'm terribly surprised that he left the Cavaliers, but the way in which he did, with "The Decision" television show and his complete lack of maturity to call the Cavs owner before his national television appearance and inform Mr. Gilbert of his decision to leave, was nothing short of embarrassing. I'm not sure if he consulted a PR firm before doing what he did, but if he did, remind me never to hire the same firm.

After I gave his behavior and actions some more thought, it's not surprising that it went down the way it did. LeBron had no real father figure growing up, and his mom was in and out of his life. The formative years of my life were spent with a close family that shaped me and encouraged me to make wise decisions and behave in a socially acceptable way. LeBron's behavior, his stringing his hometown along for months, his rejection on national television, his decision to team up with recently made friendships when things got tougher than he wanted to deal with in Cleveland, seems not too inconsistent with a guy who never had good parental influences. LeBron isn't a guy who exactly surrounds himself with godly wisdom. (Perhaps one of his inner circle could have informed him that the reason the Cavs were in a salary cap bind is because he was playing for an owner who was actually proactive in attempting to surround him with talent.)

I'm thankful that Lincoln is not of an age where I'd have to explain to him why the Cavs best player isn't playing for them anymore. (Well, Lincoln, LeBron is a...) Yes, professional athletes come and go these days, but the local kid should never treat his hometown the way LeBron did. And that's where the national media just doesn't get it. You can to to ESPN.com and find all sorts of columns that are simply clueless when it comes to the sentiments of a sports-fan from northeast Ohio.

As an aside, I haven't heard anyone mention this, and that could be because I haven't been paying too much attention to the media lately, but I have a sneaking suspicion that LeBron knew he was bolting Cleveland at least a year ago, if not longer than that. I can't recall LeBron ever courting other players to come play with him in Cleveland. He seemed to leave all that up to the front office. But not even 48 hours after he takes off for Miami, he goes out of his way to recruit Derrick Fischer. Makes me wonder how bad LeBron really wanted to win here... especially after he quit in the Boston series. (Don't believe me? Go back and watch tape of him torching the Pistons a few years ago. That was intensity, and he didn't have any of that against the Celtics.) And this hypothesis of mine that LeBron knew for a long time that he'd be leaving Cleveland makes me wonder this: What did Danny Ferry know and when did he know it? The timing of his resignation is curious to me. But I digress.

The recent events prompted me to recall my past with regard to attending and rooting for Cleveland sports teams. I look back and have great memories of going to Indians games in the late '80's and early '90's. The Indians stunk then, but they had players that were worth looking up to: Andre Thorton, Joe Carter, Cory Snyder, Doug Jones. These guys weren't jerks, they didn't get into trouble, and they hustled all of the time.

I have similar good memories of driving a short distance to the Richfield Coliseum to watch Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Chaig Ehlo, Mike Sanders, Larry Nance, Hot Rod Williams and Lenny Wilkins. They were good guys, a great team, and while I was sad when they lost big games in the playoffs, I enjoyed rooting for them season in and season out.

And though I never attended a game live, I enjoyed the Browns on television, and I cried after The Fumble and The Drive. I'm a Cleveland sports fan all the way.

But what is there to root for today? The Indians are lousy and they have a terrible owner who's attitude is: "I'll spend money on the team when you buy a ticket." Sorry pal, it doesn't work that way.

The Cavs are back to square one. While I think they'll be decent this season, the fact is that not a single good free agent has wanted to come to Cleveland, and I don't see that trend stopping any time soon, Dan Gilbert's money notwithstanding.

And the Browns? They're now the best game in town. Whooda thought? It remains to be seen if Holmgren and Mangini can produce a winner. Honestly, I'll be a skeptic until I see for myself that the Browns' ownership and front office stop listening to the fans and go out and run their football team like big boys.

I went through this history and searching because Lincoln is approaching the age where we'll want to go to games and spend an evening together. And as I consider all of my options, it looks as though we'll be spending our money and time with the Akron Aeros. I'd love for him to embrace the Indians as I did (they're about as good now as they were when I started following them), but I have a real problem buying a ticket and supporting the current Indians' ownership. Perhaps I should bite my tongue and do it for the kids. What do you think?

As soon as I ask you what you think (and do please feel free to leave a comment with what you think), I'll tell you what I'm thinking right now:Thank God for Ohio State!Despite the eggs laid recently in some of the big games, I have a feeling that the last Rose Bowl was the turning of a corner. Further, I have no objections to getting behind a Jim Tressel team year after year. And why limit it to football? I'll be happy to root for a Thad Matta team season in and season out.

The best thing about Ohio State sports is that they're not run by a stingy owner and they aren't susceptible to one of their players pulling a LeBron-style PR blunder on national television.

Go Buckeyes!!!!

Fishing!

We spent the Independence Day weekend at the cabin at Leesville Lake. It was a warm weekend, but very relaxing. Lincoln rode in the boat for the first time, and went fishing for the first time!Today we went down to visit the Craft family. It's been a while since we've seen Elise (we used to catch up with her on our trips to Arizona, but she's now in Minnesota), and it's been even longer since we've seen her brother, Eric. He's been serving in Afghanistanand Okinawa, and he's about to head over to Kuwait. So it was very nice to catch up and to see Baby Ryann, who's 8 months old and not a bit short on personality!