Kicking the Cup

June 23rd, 2009 1 Comment

About one week ago, my brother-in-law Mark and I entered into a bet:  he would quit Diet Coke (and other soda containing caffeine) and I would quit drinking coffee.  Let’s back up a bit…

I have been a self-avowed coffee lover for many, many, years… going all the way back to when I started in the IT industry (circa 1994).  It’s not just something I drank – it was something I savored and immensely enjoyed.  So just saying “I quit coffee” wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

But I decided to do it.  We packed up my coffee makers (2 drip Mr. Coffee’s and a cappucinno maker), my carafe and dumped what Folgers I had left into the trash can.  With all my paraphenalia splayed out on the counter there, I started to feel like a junkie after an intervention.  What was I doing?

My new friends became Advil, water, and Mark’s old buddy Diet Coke.  I had headaches for the first three days, my appetite increased remarkably (the first two days I devoured my lunch before 11 a.m.), and I found myself driving from work down to the local gas station for a 44 oz. infusion of carbonated sugar-free cold caffeine.

Mark, on the other hand, was lowered to the much-maligned caffeine-free Diet Coke, and the occasional Fresca.  While I was still allowed to sip on the “cold” stuff, poor Mark had to go cold turkey.

But a week later, and I’m happy to say that I, while not being completely free of caffeine, have not had a single sip of coffee or tea, and I’m weaning myself off the Diet Coke (slowly).  Mark is now my new hero, and I’m hoping within a couple of weeks to be completely free of the stuff.

People at work have noticed, and have commented that I look “healthier”.  Instead of the Starbuck’s mug, the first thing I reach for every morning is a big glass of water.  And that jolt of energy my body has been looking for during the past week has been replaced with a natural surge.  And I find myself more calm and easy-going in the afternoon and evenings.

In the last few years, I have given up a lot of things, and removed many sources of addiction out of my life.  Coffee was the last thing I had, and I held onto it with all my strength.  But, now that it’s not around anymore, I find that I don’t miss it that much.

It has been replaced with something much more fulfilling.

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The Hub

June 15th, 2009 3 Comments

Our house is the new place for family gatherings… and I love it.

When my wife and I were looking for houses, one of our pre-requisites was: “Can we have Thanksgiving here?”.  My family is large, even by Utah Mormon standards, and so it was important to us that we could have enough room for everyone to enjoy an afternoon comfortably, without feeling squished.

We looked at a lot of houses, and many of them met some of our needs.  But most of them couldn’t meet that one requirement.  So, when we finally found the house we have now purchased, it immediately felt like we could fit the extended family here.  There are plenty of places for people to sit, relax, and talk.  The kitchen is large enough to accomodate a gathering, and plenty of counter space for food.

We’ve already put this to the test, especially with my family’s love of volleyball (or just the competition such a past-time provides).  The big back yard has enough room for babies to run around in, and eventually, the kids will be old enough to seek solace in the treehouse. It also gives the grown-ups just enough space to make fools of themselves on the grass.

Inside, there is just enough room to have an impromptu game of Pictionary when the weather does not cooperate for outside activities. The split-levels give opportunities for people to find their own niche to hang out, either downstairs in the theatre room (with the Xbox and the potential of some Rock Band good-ness), or up in the office to play on the Mac and update your Facebook status.

My mom is a self-confessed hater of large gatherings, although I believe she secretly enjoys them.  But, with the new place acting as the family hub, there is also enough for people to spread out.  So, when Thanksgiving comes, I don’t think she will have much objection to getting the whole clan in one place… even just for an afternoon.

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The Twisty Turny Road of Life

June 10th, 2009 1 Comment

Three years ago, if you had told me I would be living in Utah, married (again) with two kids, I probably would have sprayed beer in your face laughing.

If you had then told me, after that, that I would also be regularly attending church, you would have made me drop my joint.

If, after you had wiped Blue Moon off your chops and picked up the roach (good weed, after all, is expensive), you continued by telling me that I would have all but stopped doing stand-up, and bought a riding lawn-mower, I’m pretty sure I would have deleted you from my smart phone.

Oh how times have changed.

I’m not sure where life is going to take me from here, but all things considered, I’m pretty happy with the way things have gone.  Sure, I miss having that outlet of stand-up comedy, but after doing it pretty hard core for five years, I don’t mind staying at home most evenings.  And I’m not sure what could be more promising than the investment a parent makes into the lives of their children.  The problem with stand-up, to be any degree of successful beyond locally, involves travel and time away from family.  And that, right now is not an option for me.

I have a 2/3 of grass that needs to get cut on a weekly basis (or a little longer if the rain holds out).  I’ve got walls that need painting, pictures that need hanging, and trees that require trimming.  Hey, it may not be the glorious lifestyle that I had grown accustomed to in downtown Denver, but I’m not sure a life like this can be beat.

You grow, you change, you evolve.  My priorities are vastly different now than they were then.  My perspective on life, the universe, and the nature of things are different now.  And that’s a good thing (I think).  Although I may look the same (hopefully 10-20 pounds lighter: thank you Gold’s Gym), I feel like a different person.  Am I older?  Yup.  But I feel wiser, and happier.

So although I may always miss who I was back then, I think I like who I am now much better.  And in the long run, that’s really what matters.

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A Long Journey

April 8th, 2009 No Comments

First off, yes I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written a post.  Somewhere between shopping for a new house (might have one), growing two children (while keeping them healthy, safe, and mostly sane), and working… my blog tends to get sidelined.  But I’m here now, so just be quiet. :)

I have to say that it’s been a bumpy 18 months since my wife and I decided to move to Utah, and in that time we have gone through many, many challenges.  We have moved once since then, and are planning to move again soon (knock on wood).  I have changed jobs three times, and we have added to our little family with another adorable son.

Sometimes I really miss Denver.  We had a large network of friends there, and I had a pretty active role in the stand-up comedy community there.  It has definitely been an adjustment, especially for my wife who left her family, her friends, and the place she had lived pretty much her whole life.  We have had challenges going through the transition to living in “Zion”, and she has been a Super Soldier through them all.

My family has been very, very helpful to us throughout the transition, and I’m so happy to once again be close to them all.  I couldn’t have asked for a better support network, and it seems like there is always someone there, whether it’s with the kids, a family function, or just to come and hang out.  They are all the lifeline we’ll ever need.

Now, my family has replaced friends, and Father has replaced Comedian in my life.  I don’t have the opportunity to get out and do stand-up here, and the comedy community and sense of camaraderie that I knew in Colorado doesn’t exist here.  But that’s OK.  There are other things in life that are more fulfilling than telling jokes.

I’m now very blessed to have found a great company where my skills and experience are of value, and the people I work with are pretty cool.  After having worked for a couple of companies led by self-proclaimed “visionaries” who seemed very proficient at preventing their own success, it is refreshing to be with a company that works.

What does the future hold?  I’m not sure… all I know is that whatever life throws at us, we’re going to be ready… or as ready as we possibly can.

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House Shopping

February 19th, 2009 No Comments

We’re looking for a new place.

When we moved to Utah from Colorado 18 months ago, we had to sell out house.  Because of the economy and the slump, we were able to find someone to buy the house while we financed it, so while we technically still have a house… we really don’t.  So, we have been renting for the last year-and-a-half.

My brother was kind enough to let us rent from him for the first 6 months we lived here, but his house was too far South in the county for our liking.  So in the summer of last year, we moved up to a house closer to Salt Lake, and up on the Eastern hills, by Timpanogos.  We like it up here for the most part, but we are homeowners at heart.

When we moved into the house, the previous tenants had a dog that peed all over the carpets.  Dealing with a landlord has never been my favorite past-time, and trying to get anything done in the house has been a challenge, even when that something involves either the heat in the winter, or the air conditioning in the summer.

I was in the Army Reserve way back in the day (when I was more impressionable and MUCH skinnier), and therefore I qualify for a VA loan.  This is something I had never used, because the house my first wife and I bought was a partial gift from her parents.  And then when my wife and I were dating, she already owned the house we sold in Colorado.

So, now we are starting the process of looking for houses.  In this unfortunate economy situation, right now is just about the perfect time to buy a house.  I feel kind of bad for all those people who have lost homes, but I look at it as I am helping some unfortunate family get out of a debt they can no longer afford.  Heavily discounted, of course, but nonetheless… hey, I have to sleep at night!

So, while this means that we have to, yet again, pack up our shtuff and move it (third time inside of two years), this will hopefully be the last move we make for a very, very long time.

Let’s just hope I don’t take a face to the couch that requires nine stitches on the tip of my nose this time.

OK… it was more like five stitches.  But it hurt like hell!

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