happy new birthday year!!

so today is new year’s day... the start of a new year and a sort of rebirth for many. incidentally, it is also my dear and beautiful daughter’s 6th birthday. so i guess that “rebirth” idea will always have a literal and symbolic meaning for her throughout her life. all i know, is that we got here faster than i could have ever imagined.

you always hear the same thing from parents of older children: “...yeah, they grow up so fast...”. i never fathomed how fast “fast” was. it seems like it was maybe just a couple of years ago that i came home from work to a house of bedlam only to find out that it was “time”. the next thing i knew was that my prospective second “boy”... was actually a gorgeous little girl.

now... i really hate to admit this... but there was a split second... half of a split second!!... of some emotion that wasn’t really... disappointment (aaghh!! shame on me!!), but more like surprise that it was not a boy. the ultrasounds, family predictions and wive’s tale science all pointed to the coming of another dude to join the daddy / Jacob fraternity! very quickly, though – like a half of a split second later – i was overcome by the happiness of having a girl. a daddy’s girl...

i remember being on a bus a few years before there was a Jake and Rachel, seeing a dad sitting with his exhausted 4, 5, 6-ish year old daughter all curled up on his lap. she had this look on her face like there was nobody around but daddy, and that she was inside an impenetrable force field that separated her from all that was bad and uncomfortable. he was her kingdom and she, a princess. i thought, “lucky dude... some day..”

now, it’s not like i don’t love it when my son sits on my lap or curls up next to me. but i have to say... it is different. please understand that my Jake owns a part of my soul. i love him like i can’t even begin to describe. but Rachel has this hold on me that only a daughter can have with her dad. that’s the best i can do to explain it, and maybe some of you out there with daddy’s girls know what i’m talking about..

anyway, today was her day – and i wasn’t able to be home with her. i’m out of town, at work, and the best i can do is celebrate “the day after your birthday, day” (we recognize “birthday eve”, birthday, and “day after” day – c’mon every birthday should be a three day event, right?). she’s a trooper, though, and the early morning call to sing “happy birthday” to her (done in a vegas lounge singer voice), the afternoon call to check what was in the big box from Papa and Lola, and the sleepy night time call to see what it felt like to be a six year old will have to do. tomorrow, though, is a different story – we will party at the castle, and as the Steven Curtis Chapman song says, “... i will dance with Cinderella...” i will soak it all in – the smiles, the giggles, the looks of amazement and love, “... because all too soon, the clock will strike midnight... and she’ll be gone...” wow... she’s already six.

so happy new year everyone!! happy birthday Rachel!! today begins the celebration of the next 365 days. let’s make each one of them count because we all know they will pass... in half of a split second..

snow day!!

how about a break from the warm and sunny Peru for a quick trip to the cold and snowy northwest? we are experiencing an arctic blast of epic proportions!! at least that’s what the news sensationalists are reporting. what it boils down to in my world is a blast… from the past.

here i am, decades beyond my elementary school days, and i still get excited watching for the news about winter storm school closures. for the past two days my little ones have been playing authorized hooky in the neighborhood snow. it was really fun, not to mention funny, to see the looks on their faces the moment they ran out into the season’s first snowfall. the sheer excitement and joy is so cool to relive through their eyes. they scurried out of the house, all clumsy and bundled up, racing to see who could be the first to eat a handful of the icy white stuff. then they realized, “wow! it’s really cold out here!”. like it was for me, back in the day, they quickly forgot about the frigid temperature and kicked it into high-speed play mode. first on the agenda: ATTACK DAD!! don’t they know?! don’t they know that good ol’ dad is an invincible snowball making and throwing machine!?! they found out, alright… they also found out that the sneak attack and teamwork could get the better of their old man – yeah… i got my fair share of snow in the face! good times.

while they may have missed a couple of days of school, i don’t believe there was any shortage of education. instead of having the post snow-play hot chocolate like we had yesterday, we decided to have lunch at every kid’s favorite eatery – Mc Donald’s. on the way out of the McPlayground, we were ”greeted” by someone asking for a couple of dollars for a bite to eat. i didn’t have any spare change, and don’t normally give “handouts”. but as i passed the homeless couple with my kids in hand, i felt the urge to do something that would make a difference – for everybody there. we turned around and offered to take the couple into the restaurant and buy them anything they would like to eat. they asked for and ordered very little. i only regret not offering to buy them a warm drink with their meal to help fight off the 28 degree day a little. they thanked us graciously and my kids wished them a merry Christmas. there were a lot of questions on the car ride home about “why?” and “how come?” and “what happened?”. i answered the best i could, wishing there actually was a Dad Handbook for meaningful answers. what i do know, is that we helped to comfort a couple of people in a moment of need, and my kids felt a little like angels because of it. i felt pretty good too. thank God for snow days…

wrote a blog about it…. wanna hear it? here it goes!

so… here it is! my blog. i guess everybody blogs now, right? like the ipod, texting, cool “tech-ey” pda-type cellphones and Facebook, i am just now jumping on the band wagon as most are getting ready to jump off. the thing is, i never really thought i was cool or interesting enough to actually put one out there - but, ya’ know? the great thing is… you don’t have to be! i read a few while signing up for this chunk of cyberspace to put my ramblings on and i decided that i am every bit as cool and interesting as the guy who comments on what he thinks Michelle Obama should wear for the inauguration, or the storm chaser dude, or even the artsy photography or epicurean foody people!! okay… maybe not. but still, i think MY story, the quintessential “to-be-continued” epic, is a good one for those who might have even the slightest bit of interest as to what good ol’ russ is up to. not to mention it might be a fun little memoir for my kids to read someday and see what a kook their old man was..

okay… so, my story. hmm.. i guess i ought to introduce you to some of the characters. first… there’s me. a 43 year-old (44 in a couple of weeks) divorced father of two beautiful and unbelievable kids. i work for an airline and really enjoy my job. i exercise a bunch in an effort to stay “ahead of the curve” so that i can show my kids that i am still king of the hill - when i am over the hill. eccckkk… i hate the thought.. my 8 year-old son’s name is Jake, and my 5 year-old daughter is Rachel. their mom (my ex-wife) and i have agreed to ensure that these wunderkinds grow up well-adjusted, secure and have tanks that are chock full of self esteem. so far, i think we’ve done a pretty good job of hiding the resentment and contention that brews beneath from the little ones… more on that later. anyway, her name is Jeanne. my parents are Rustie and Ellie - the combination of their names make up mine: Russell. they are the absolute most wonderful, thoughtful, caring and generous parents any only-child kid could’ve asked for. if you look up "great humans" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of my folks... really. let’s see, there’s Pete, my buddy from san diego, Larry who just got out of the navy, Medy and Mel who are my “big-sister” aunts, Elmer and Phil who are my “big-brother” uncles and role models, and a bunch of others you’ll meet along the way. still with me? good. i hope i’ve at least captured your interest for a split second and have you wanting to come back for more. why? because the next stop on this journey: crazy, unpredictable life.