http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

I just found a fantastic TED video that is a little bit old (2008) but is incredibly powerful.  For those of you that do not know what TED is, it’s Technology, Entertainment, Design.  Basically, fantastic talks from leaders around the world.

Specifically, from TED2008 conference, I watched a video from Benjamin Zander, who is both a conductor and fantastic motivational speaker.  He uses his love for classical music to move and inspire others to be leaders.

In this video, not only does he attempt to lure you in with his classical music, he promises that you will learn to love and understand classical music by the end of the video.  At the very least, you become enthralled in his passion for motivating others.

I encourage EVERYONE to watch the video.  It’s approx 20 mins.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

We recently had a water leak in our Kitchen. I saw the drain hose of the dishwasher leaking under the kitchen sink. It was only a small one (when I saw it), so I fixed the leak, threw a couple of towels down, and called it a night.

The next day, our kitchen floor starting bowing up. I pulled up the vinyl flooring and found the underlayment completely soaked. I pulled that up, to see our subfloor also wet.

EEEEGADD!!! We called in the specialists to see how bad the damage is. It was about a 10′ X 5′ area (50 square feet!), not including the damage under the cabinets and stove.

So, we called the experts in to dry everything up. Come to find out, they ripped up the entire floor!

This is a test entry from Journler, a Mac-based Journal-Entry system, including audio, video, text, and notebook entries.

Very cool!

–Aaron

Okay, for those who do not know, I got my nipple’s pierced 3 years ago.  I know, I know… but I did.  I actually kinda liked it (no, not in the masochistic kind of way… THAT CRAP HURT!), but like tatoos, it’s neat and addicting.

Anyway, after 3 years, I finally took them out.  Not because I didn’t like them anymore, they just would never heal!  I’m always banging them against things.  If I’m moving furniture, under the car, whatever, they were always in the way.

So there you have it.  For those that didn’t know… I had them… for those that did, … not anymore.

Happy New Year!

Guys, don’t let this happen to you this holiday!!

My family has had it’s difficult times, no doubt.  But, no matter what, I consider us blessed.  It would be terrible of us, to NOT share our blessings with others.

In 2003, an old company of mine moved my family to Cincinnati.  We made the mistake of buying a house, without first learning the area.  Now, it wasn’t a bad area in the least.  We chose locations based on School ratings.  But, nonetheless, we felt there were nicer neighborhoods that we could have chosen from, had we taken the time.

So, when I joined a company who moved me to Nashville, we decided to lease-to-buy for the first 12-18 months.  That way, if we liked it, we can buy it, but if not, we have a way out.

Well, during our tenure (and in the middle of the ARM foreclosure fallout) our landlord defaulted on the property, and we entered a “Cash for Keys” program with the bank.  That means, the bank that took over the property offered us money to get out by a certain time.

So, we loved the neighborhood, the kids were settled, we really wanted to find a house close.  

Okay, that was a HUGE lead up and introduction for what the post is about.  I’ll get to the point.

To make a long story short, we found a perfect house for us, in the same neighborhood (just 1/4 mile down the road).  Our kids keep the same friends, and school.  The house was a little big than we needed, but it did have a spare bedroom and bathroom for guests, plus an extra living room for the guests.  

Just a few weeks ago, Tammy’s grandmother had to make a difficult decision.   She knew she can’t take care of herself anymore, and she also can’t stand nursing homes.  Yep, you guessed it.  She asked to move into our home with us.

It was a difficult decision for us, but we, as a society, has taken family for granted.  In other parts of the world, families seldom live further than an hour away, and some families take care of each other in such proximity, they could be next door, or even upstairs.

It has taken me a long time to realize this.  I was never very close to my Grandparents, and I always lived far from my family.  The only time I saw family was during special occasions or holidays.

Tammy, on the other hand, growing up in Europe, has a different view of family values.  These values, I feel, are for the better, and teach our kids great things.  So, not only is it the right thing to do; Not only is this the right value to teach our kids; Not only is this the Christian thing to do; we should always share our blessings.

I believe we were given this house for exactly this reason… to give helping aid to Tammy’s grandparents.  I believe that’s why I chose to move to the Nashville office, rather than the Cleveland office (Cleveland was downsized by 70% this month).  I believe that’s why I still have a job.  And I believe, that’s why Tammy can’t get a job (she’s never had a problem in the medical industry).

So, everything happens for a reason, and every now and then, you need to keep your ears open, even if it means difficulties.  It’s the difficulties and challenges in life, that make life worth living.  Of course, it never feels that way, during those times.

So, we have been working hard the last week getting their bedroom ready, building shelves in closets, cleaning the garage, etc.  Generally, getting ready to introduce Tammy’s grandparents, their final home.

It will be difficult, and the closest family we have is my sister in Illinois (7 hour drive), so we are pretty much on our own.

May God Bless everyone, and give us strength and wisdom through these difficult times.

Cheers!  I need a beer.  :)

For the last couple of months, I keep hearing that we are in a recession (or going in one). However, I must say that I’ve been very encouraged with the fact that I’m still seeing people spend money.

When I went to the mall for some christmas shopping, the food court was packed with customers, and toy stores were full. Now, I know retailer’s are expecting less profits than last year, but AT LEAST WE ARE STILL SPENDING.

I think, we as a country are just more wise at what we spend.

On the other hand, I was surprised to read in Sunday’s paper, that the same issues that affected residential housing foreclosures, are now affecting commercial properties, such as malls and retail outlets.

Malls are going into foreclosure because commerical properties are not done on the normal 30-year term that us residents are used to. Instead, they have a 10-year commitment, with the largest payments at the end.

There is an estimated $20 Billion (with a ‘B’) due next year in commercial property payouts.

I am so ticked off at our current Secretary of Treasurey, who should have seen this coming, and done something about it, before it got this bad. Way to go Paulson.

The Obama team might be able to pull us out of it, but we shouldn’t have gotten here in the first place.

Today is a good day. Kids got up this morning, without problems or fighting. They got ready for school without me reminding them. We had a good conversation while we ate breakfast (prepared by my beautiful wife, every morning) of eggs, toast, and milk/coffee.

The kids then had their bags prepared ready for the bus, and walked to the bus stop without problems.

Oh, did I mention the bus gets here at 6:30am? So, all of this happens at 5:30am. You can imagine that I count my blessings when things go well at 5:30am!

Cheers!

The family went camping last weekend to Fall Creek Falls TN State Park, which is really only 2 hours away.  We chose last weekend for a few different reasons.  1).  Because it gets cool enough to warrant a fire in morning/night, but still warm enough in the day to allow short-sleave shirts.  2).  The Fall colors and foilage was absolutly beautiful.  Finally, 3).  Because it’s just about off-season, and there weren’t alot of people there.

Now, it wasn’t always fun and games.  The first night got down to 35 degrees F!  We were freezing in our tent!  The rest of the nights got cold, but it wasn’t that bad.

To start off, here are some pics of the campsite.  We chose a decent sized campsite, though the ground was about 5 degrees off level.  What does that mean?  It means, you woke up on the other side of the tent in the morning, because you are sloooowly moving down.    Our tent was a little too big, because the backside of the tent dropped from a graceful 5 degree downgrade, to a steep 25 degree downgrade. 

 

The first night, we lost about $20 in food.  While I secured our dry goods and supplies, I thought the internal cooler latch would be secured enough to not do anything with it.  Well, our little campsite bandit, given the name of “foody”, (see below), decided to open up our cooler and take 3 packages of hotdogs, a large pack of cheese, 15 sausages, and 9 eggs!  Can you believe that?  We were so put-out.

The campsite Bandit strikes again!  We were NOT fooled a second night!  The 2nd night, Foody didn’t get any of our food!  Mua ha ha ha!  Of course, the dogs were a little put out, since we WAS able to get a hold of our dog food canister.  (SIGH)

 

Here is Tammy making a beautiful meal!  That night, we had Cooked Ham and Mashed Potatoes.  Yum!!

Now THIS is some REAL coffee, people! 

Here is Amanda, starting to build a fire for the next dinner.  I’m helping her move the logs around to get better air between the logs.  What’s the three ingredients to a fire, honey?  That’s right!  Oxygen (Air), Fuel (Wood), and Heat (flame).  My kids are such good students when it comes to Pyro damaging flames.  I’m so proud!

And finally, the real reason why people go to Fall Creek Falls, is the sheer beauty of the park.  I’m not going to post any of the waterfalls, as the low water tables will disappoint all of you.  It was really just a trickle.

 

Yes, it is Tammy’s and I 7th Anniversary!

We met almost 10 years ago, and have been married for 7 of them. And going strong!

Tammy, I love you more now, than 7 years ago, and I can’t wait to see how much MORE I love you in the years to come!

Frankly, I didn’t realize I COULD love you more yesterday, until I woke up this morning.