Jeff’s blog

First couple are short, the one liner kinda tells it all as it is. The next 1 is a little longer and the last one is the one everyone is asking “why?” So, enjoy

1. once was undercut playing basketball which led to having knee surgery, by my brother. Not funny then, only a little funny now.

Playing basketball at Lifeline (as always) I was driving to the basket and Tony tried to cut in front of me and swipe at the ball but got a little too close. That was the last injury I had before the doctor’s said I needed orthoscopic knee surgery.

2. once wore a dress and lip sanc an Amy Grant song, in front of my church. Was funny then, a little embarrassing now.

My church at the time had a talent contest (I think) for the jr high/high school classes. I lip sanc to an Amy Grant song while wearing a jean looking dress over my shorts and t-shirt. I wore clip on earrings and if I remember right, a little bit of make-up. I hope there are no pictures out there but you never know, I guess I won’t be running for office.

3. once dropped a hymnal on accident from the balcony at church during a service, almost hit a baby. Not funny then, almost wasn’t funny ever.

We were sitting in the front row of the balcony and there was a railling on top of the wall. We started to sing out of the hymnals and I rested my book on the railing. The book ended up slipping towards me and in my efforts to catch it, forced it under the railing and I heard it slam into the pew. I looked over the edge and the hymnal lay on the pew right next to a baby in her car seat. The baby was just looking up at me. The song leader kinda stopped as did the back couple of rows (the whole church didn’t notice). I kinda made that, I don’t know, it was an accident shrug and grabbed another hymnal and started singing.

4. once ran around the bases at a softball game, with a hot dog in my pocket. Was funny then, still is pretty funny.

The last 5 years or so when I played softball I was the lead off hitter. I was having my traditional warm-up hot dog before the game sitting on the bench when I heard the umpire shout, play ball. So I shoved the hot dog (no condiments, thank god) in my pocket and went out to hit. I hit a single and standing on 1st base, I pulled out the hot dog and took a bite or two much to the surprise of the 1st basement and the 1st base coach. The next girl up to bat hits a single, I advance to 3rd where I do the same. Pull out my hot dog, eat a bite, look at Paul (he has this funny grin on his face) and say “hope I don’t have to slide at home” and put the rest back in my pocket. To this day, Paul loves to tell that story.

And no, I didn’t have to slide and made it home safely to finish my hot dog.

As I sit here at my computer on Mothers Day morning, I’m thinking, my mom would whoop my ass if she knew I was up at 3am screwing around on the computer. But I wanted to take a few minutes (or more) to write about my mother.

My mother has always been there for me. I can go all the way back from when I was 8 and my father passed away after battling cancer. My mom raised my brother and I from when we were 8 and 5. I can’t say I remember a whole lot from those first few years without my father but I know it couldn’t have been easy. Now a father of 2 kids (ages 6 and 4) I couldn’t imagine having to do this myself. But she did, she gave me what I needed and raised me to be the man I am today. I may not have become a doctor or lawyer but there is one thing I am because of her, a good parent. And it takes a good parent to raise a good parent and I had the best. She dropped me off and picked me up at all my various events, she went to as many games as she could, which to my knowledge is close to all of them. She taught me the values that I teach my kids now. Family is always first. You stand up for what you believe in. You don’t back down from hard times. You always be there for those that need you. Always help who you can. If you want something, you go after it.

I hear this kid isn’t a good kid but he only had a single mother/father raising him. To me, that’s no excuse. My mother did it, she did the best she could and beat the odds. I may disappoint from time to time but it doesn’t matter, I know she’ll still love me. I may do stupid things at times, but she’ll still love me. Unconditional love, it may be a fairy tale to some, but to me, it’s my mom. She is the strongest female I have ever known. I can’t imagine my life without her. She is my world, my hero, my friend, my counselor and my mom.

So today, on Mothers Day, I salute all the mothers out there. Whether your in you 90s and a great, great grandmother or your a teenage mother. It takes a lot of love and care to do what you have done or will do. So on this Mothers Day, sit back and relax, because even though your work is never done, you can take a rest now and then. And today is the day to do it. Today is the day for the nurterer’s of this world to look back and embelish what you have done for your children. How you made them better people for this world. Happy Mothers Day.

I hadn’t published a blog in a little while and was asked if I had a subject in mind and I didn’t. So she told me to do it on nothing, like Seinfeld. So here goes

cue the crickets chirping

That’s about what I got, nothing. I could tell you about how excited I am to be back on 1st shift but how I regret how it happened. I could tell you I had a nice conversation with my brother last night, first one we’ve had in awhile. I could tell you how I’m screwing with a guy at work to make him think I’m having an affair and how mad he is. But I can’t, this one is about nothing.

So what I am going to talk about is friends. Because sometimes they are the best things around and sometimes they are nothing. You have friends that you think might make that status someday but end up failing you, I’ve had lots of those. My first true “best friend” was Marshall. We basically grew up together from junior high on. Had the same interests, we both could sit and shoot a basketball and talk for hours on end, we were there for each other and for our other friends. But even that eventually faded. He went off to college, got new friends, we both changed quite a bit. We still keep in contact (facebook) a little but it will never be the same.

One of the “thought she might make it to best friends” happened recently. Sherry, a girl at work who I had grown close to, but had to really work at to get her to trust me. She had something in her head about being really good friends with a guy that she couldn’t get over. I always knew it was there but I still tried and tried to be a good friend to her but in the end, I was the only one who wanted her to have the “best friend” status. She just wasn’t willing to put forth any effort.

After that happened, I turned to the internet and connected with a girl I went to junior high and apparently high school with. I remember Cheri from junior high but not high school. To be honest, I didn’t recognize her name when I either approved or asked for her friendship. She was listed as had gone to Penn and with 500+ in your graduating class, you tend to not know everyone. So far it was definately worth the chance. 700 miles seperate us and she still has been elevated to that hopeful “best friend” status in just a matter of weeks. Why you ask? Well it started off because she actually communicated with me. And on the internet at that, I enjoy the internet, have for many years. But most of my friends either don’t have it or don’t want to spend time on it. Me, on the other hand, would rather communicate via text message or e-mail then a phone conversation. To me anymore, a phone call is for when you just need something quick. Hey we’re having a party, hey, if you get a chance, can you do this for me. Those conversations that would take too long to text message. We started off with just a comment here or there on our status updates or other things. I joined twitter and hooked up with her there again and it was gradual. I don’t even know how we ended up where we are today and it’s only been a few weeks. Now we talk virtually all the time, if we are both in front of the computer, we IM. If one of us is away we text message. We just talk about every day stuff for the most part, we talk a little of our past and how we got where we are. Lots of joking around and fun stuff. Most of my friends at work don’t see how I can do it, they ask me what she looks like, I don’t know, I’ve only seen headshots. They ask why she stayed up late when I was on 3rd shift, I don’t know, she’s a night person and stayed up late anyways and we kept each other company. We’ve had uncomfortable conversations where your afraid to say what you want because you don’t know how the other is going to react because you don’t know them that well. We’ve had the awkward, sorry if that was too far. And we’re still going strong, still finding new things to talk about, still getting to know each other. With my situation, I wanted someone to talk to because I get little “adult” conversation at home with my 2 kids during the week and lucky me, found someone willing to talk and take a chance at getting to know me. I like to send tweets and I like knowing someone out there cares what I’m doing right now, even if it is boring and mundane. I have family members on twitter and facebook, and for the most part, they don’t contact me much that way. So here’s to a possible friendship that could make the coveted “best friend” status without even meeting in person. She may not be there yet, but she is certainly the front runner for the position. It’s been many years since I’ve had a true “best friend,” right now, I’m enjoying the anticipation of whether she makes it. Who knows, maybe I’ll even make her list. If I don’t, then I’ll eventually, to her, become the nothing that this all started with. But I’m enjoying the ride, and for those who think the internet is for only stalkers and young kids, let this be a lesson to you. Sometimes, someone who was never really a friend, could be that friend you have been looking for.