Ryan and my trip to Ottawa

 

I left Monday April 9 for business in Ottawa planned for the 10th.  It was a short trip, and I drove to Ottawa Monday afternoon, and back to Toronto Tuesday afternoon.

On my way home I called and Ryan said, "Daddy, I have something for you."  When I arrived home he lead me by the hand upstairs into our bedroom.  He had made a gift basket with a number of "love notes" for me...it was his way of expressing how he felt.  What a job, and how great it made me feel.

Here is a picture....

Ryan, the giftgiver

Yesterday (February 22, 2007) Ryan starting wrapping up some of his toys and decorations in any paper he could find and giving them as gifts to Sandra and I. He gave Sandra 6 of these self-wrapped gift items, and then 2 for me. Sometime today he also wrapped two more gifts for me and left them and a love note by my bed under the sidelight. It was touching to Sandra and I, and showed what a generous heart little Ryan has.

We appreciated this act of love so much.

Hockey Night in Brampton, in our basement

Tonight was the night. Ryan was fueled with juice(Sunny D) and Spencer was low in energy, after a game at school that sapped 2 goals from his "energy supply". We have been playing this tournament since just before Christmas - and it was a best of 5. Until tonight Ryan/Daddy's team had won 2, and Spencer had won 2. Tonight, the RD team won 20-19 - wow - so close !

Soon we will start another season - and another best of 5 ! What great fun!

Cold in Toronto

Well, until about a week or so ago, it seemed like Winter has passed us by. When we came back from Florida in early January, there was no snow, and it was 11 degree Celsius.

Today, with a wind chill around -30, I think winter is here.

On Sunday morning I am off to Orlando for a Motorola Enterprise Mobility sales conference...perhaps I can thaw out while there.

Ryan - moving back after 2 years.

 

As of Saturday night, January 13th, 2006 Ryan officially moved back into his own room.  From what Sandra and I recall, he has been in Spencer's room for about 2 years, and finally decide it was time to get back to his own room.  I seem to recall that he moved his bed out of his room since he was scared of the dark, and having his bed in Spencer's room gave him some comfort that he was not alone. 

 

Many great memories were made by the two boys sharing this same physical space for so long.  I am sure it helped them bond even closer as brothers.  But as Ryan approaches six, he is truly growing up in so many ways...and  feels a confidence and need to move out.

 

The end of an era?  But the beginning of a new one.

Florida 2006/2007

 

This year Sandra and I were glad to be able to finally take Mom, and and Lynn to Florida.. We left Brampton on Wednesday, December 27 and stayed in Beckley, WV the evening of the 27th. We arrived in Hilton Head the afternoon of the 28th, after some considerable delays coming along the 26 onto the I95.

We spent two nights at the Hilton Hilton Head resort..and enjoyed it. The weather was a bit cool the first full day we were there (about 18 C), but still nice. We played ping pong the first morning at the resort, the headed out to explore Hilton Head. We ended up playing mini-golf at a "Pirate Theme" mini-golf park - and Ryan and Spencer played with Lynn. The boys did fabulously.

After Hilton Head, we left to head south to St . Augustine to show Mom and Dad this charming little town, with an abundance of history going back to the 16th century. We arrived there on Saturday, December 30 by the early afternoon. We spent the afternoon exploring the downtown, then headed to the beach at St Augustine to enjoy the fabulous weather. I took lots of pictures.

On Sunday morning, December 31 I was fortunate to go for a nice run along the beach. I ran about 3k each way and it was a beatuiful morning - with sun and perfect weather. After the run I joined Sandra, The Boys, Lynn and my parents who were playing and hanging out on the beach. One of my best memories from this trip was how Ryan and I spend about 1/2 hour building a "lake" and "rivers" on the beach, where the tide would wash up and water would flow into our 2/3 lakes. I had a great time with Ryan, and he seemed to really enjoy it.

We left St. Augustine around 11am on the 31st and drove down to Daytona Beach where we drove out onto the beach for a bit....it was pretty busy. We left there and headed to Orlando where we checked into the Floriday Resort to a 3 bedroom luxury unit where we spent New Years Eve. The Boys and Lynn spend ages in the pool that afternoon, then we went back to the room where Mom cooked up some great spaghetti. We put the boys to bed around 9 and stayed up until 10.30 or so watching the "Dick Clarks" New Year's Eve event.

On January 1 we checked out of the Floriday and headed to the Florida Mall. This day was the first cloudy day, and it threatened rain and stayed cloudy all day. By about noon we drove back to Daytona Beach and then watched the greyhound races for an hour or so. We then headed back to St Augustine for 2 more nights - January 1 and January 2. When we arrived in St. Augustine that night it rained. I went out to McDonald's to get supper and we enjoyed it in our rooms. I then headed out again to the pharmacy to grab some cough medicine since I had develped a dry cough about the same day we left for Florida.

We left Florida on Wednesday, January 3 and started the 2,000km trek back to Toronto. We stayed the first night in Charlotte, and the made it to Erie the second night. We arrived home Friday around 12.30pm.

Another year down, and another great set of memories made.

The boys - observed

Ever since he was very young, Ryan has always had an openly generous heart. He will often do things like put one of his little toys in my lunch bag, or give me a heart from his cereal to eat. He has picked flowers for Sandra and given them to her, and then says things like, "I am giving you this beautiful flower, because you are beautiful."

Today I introduced Spencer to the concept of binary numbers, and had been asking me questions about binary and hexadecimal numbers all day long. I love the way he grabs onto a concept or idea and tries to figure it all out - his curiousity has always been so strong on such a wide range of topics.

On a lighter topic, the Leafs play Detroit tonight - in fact it will be the only time they play Detroit during the regular season. They have been on a losing streak for the last 5 games, and in fact I was at the last game they won against the Islanders. Go leafs go.

Spencer and the web

 

Yesterday Spencer was home from school.  He updated his own website with a posting on the meaning of Christmas.  Here is a copy of the text:

 

 

      I really like Christmas.  It is one of my favourite celebrations because it celebrates Jesus' birthday.  I like giving and receiving and giving gifts, but in my perspective, Christmas is about Jesus.  Not all people agree with me so this could possiblt start minor conflicts.

      This, of course, explains why store's signs sometimes use X-mas instead of Christmas because this could be insulting to other people if they don't have the same beliefs as christians do.  So now you and I, I hope, now know that Christmas is not all about gifts, but about Jesus' birth.

      It is greatly unfortunate that not all people know the true meaning of Christmas and that it is in fact not all about gifts.  If you do not agree with me on this topic, I do not mind as you are the one to deccide weather Christmas is about Jesus' birth or merely about gifts alone.

      Gifts are fine to be giving and getting as long as you keep in mind that the celebration is not all about gifts.

A summer walk in Newport with my son: August 2006

Again, this summer we ventured to wonderful Newport for our vacation.

This picture brings the trip it all back to me. Spencer and I went for a walk in the evening (August 15th) in Newport. Sandra and Ryan stayed back at the room. Spencer and I talked about lots of things, but for some reason his topic of the evening was whether there were sharks and whales in the bay, since we were going boating the next day on the Newport Ferry. The night was comfortably warm. This picture captures the greater inner warmth that I felt as I spent this special hour with My Son. 

The Rebel Jesus

I heard a fabulous song today for the first time, thanks to my XM satellite Radio and an interview with Jackson Browne playing on The Loft (channel 50) this afternoon. It is a song he wrote since he was asked to contribute to a Christmas album. Rather than deconstruct the song, I only wanted to note that I found it moving and powerful. We too soon forget that Jesus came in many ways as a "rebel". I use the term with a small "r" since Jesus did not come to be the "Rebel", as if that defined His essence. But, the ideals of the kingdom when justaposed against the measuring stick of our world, clearly makes Jesus appear to us as a "rebel".

To Jesus, all of our weak and frail human efforts, though understandable within the content we live, must be submerged below the true meaning of life in order to live well. Jesus came and told us that those that seek power, will not find it. Those that seek peace, will not find it. Those that seek to be respected and treated as important, will not find it. It is in entirely seeking something else, that these things are awarded...but they cannot be sought, succesfully, on their own.

That makes Jesus, among many other more important things, a "rebel". We have to ask in what sense we believe today's visible chruch body carries on that tradition...and to what extent we have traded our world-changing "rebelious" worldview for some sort of compromised faith.

Something Big in the land of Little

We live our little lives each day, going to our little jobs in our little town.  We live in our little house and we think little thoughts.  What car shall we buy, where should we go for vacation, etc.  The littleness can seem so Big.

But there is Something Big in the land of little.  An idea that tells us that although we are Little People who think about Little Things and live our little lives, there is something more.

Something tells us that when our little lives end, and we are buried in our little graves....then Something Big begins.....

The Land of Little is not unimportant.  It is in living in this little land that we learn about and prepare for the Big...and learn that the little is not all there is.

The End (from a limousine at 10.30pm EST after a business trip to Las Vegas)

Canada - Election 2006

Well - we are down to less than 10 days now before we all vote. During the last two weeks polls have been released showing that the Conservatives seem to have a solid lead...and perhaps might even form a majority.

Prim Minister Martin looked desperate the other evening on the debates. He is increasingly looking like a man drowning in his own confusion. He seems to change his spots every month or so. From Child Care Paul to Health Care Paul to Gun Control Paul to Constitution Paul - and there seems to be no unifying thread and core to what he sees as a vision for Canada.

On that topic, I also decry the poor job the Conservatives are doing in painting a vision for the strategy for our country. The only focus is on tactics and whose are best. I tend to like a few more of the Conservative tactics and believe we need to "flush" the system and have some new people have a chance to lead.

A bridge now crossed
The bottom line for many Canadians, I suspect, is that they have crossed a bridge mentally recently in increasing numbers. During the 2004 election, Harper was an unknown quantity who was easily to paint as a "scary and unknown" leader. Given this feeling, not enough Canadians could get comfortable with him and his party to take advantage of the desire for change in Ottawa. This time is very different. Harper has not been stellar in his performance, but he has been "good enough" and it has been harder for the Liberals to pain him as not ready to lead.

Good enough is often enough. But I am saddened we cannot find greatness in a Canadian leader.

Memories of Florida 2005/6

Once again we spend time in Florida after Christmas. We left Dec 29 and came back to Brampton on January 6. Our itinerary was that we spend 2-3 days driving down (one night in Pittsburg, one night in Charlotte and then Hilton Head, SC from Dec 30). We then moved to Gainesville Florida for New Years Eve (after a great dinner at the Sunset Grille in St. Augustine) and spend Jan 1/2 evenings in the Sirata Beach Resort in St Pete’s Beach. We headed east to spend a night in St Augustine on Jan 3 and then to Charlotte for Jan 4 and Pittsburg for Jan 5.

Key memories

I think the best moments for me (many during this great trip) were: a) Beach soccer with Spencer on Jan 1. We arrived at the Sirata about 1pm and headed right to the beach. It was a cloudy, but nice afternoon and Spencer and I setup goal posts and played soccer in the sand for almost an hour. What a blast we had. I remember after this thinking that the entire drive was worth it just for that once, special hour together. Sandra and Ryan hung out by the ocean. b) Bike riding in Hilton Head,SC. We rented some bikes on Dec 31 just after lunch and spend a wonderful hour driving on the beach, around the local neighbourhoods, etc. The weather was perfect (72F or so with some sun) and we had a blast. c) On the afternoon at around 4pm on Jan 3 we arrived at the Hampton in at St Augustine Beach and the sun was starting to go down. The skies were a clear blue. The temperature was about 70F and we explored the beach for an hour. It was beautiful. d) The next morning we got up and headed right to the beach at around 8.30am. It was a clear and sunny day and expected to reach 74F or so. We walked for about a mile up and down the beach with the boys collecting seashells. It was fabulous - what a greta memory. Sandra even found a live purple and orange starfish that had been washed ashore. We debated keeping it or throwing it back - and did the latter.

It was a fabulous trip - and one I would be happy to do again !

Off to Florida Again

Another year is drawing to a close. Last year Sandra and I started a "tradition" of heading South just before New Years and spending the first few days of the year in Florida. Well, we are planning to head off again on Thursday, Dec 29 and plan to be back January 6. The itinerary is a bit flexible but includes 2 plus days down and staying in St Augustine for New Year's eve and then 3-4 days in Florida before heading North.

We do hope to get to Cape Canaveral and perhaps even Dinosaur World in Tampa. However, we are not stuck on a particular itinerary as much as a general and flexible one....with the main goal being to enjoy some family time in the nice weather.

Back to wiring my new XM Satellite radio into my Saab 9000....

Apple Computer's brilliance

I have to say I am watching Apple Computer execute and am impressed. What they are doing with their product design and creating new markets and new business models is simply brilliant. I have conclude that what Apple is good at doing is finding something at the tipping point and pushing it over the edge into mass acceptance. This involves them having to anticipate technology impacts, as well as sometimes simply repackaging something that already exists in another form and then monetizing it.

Take podcasting as an example. Podcasting could have been done practically for a number of years using the internet as a delivery backbone. Quite simply, it is audio recordings distributed over the internet. Can you imagine someone 2 years ago seeing a Silicon Valley VC and saying that he has this fantastic new business idea - allow people to distribute their own recordings on the internet! I can only imagine the reaction. Now, along comes Apple and creates an ecosystem that does the very same thing - take a a solid hardware device ( the ipod - the new "Walkman" ), add some software (iTunes) to distribute the files and a very simple idea leads to a new information distribution platform that could threaten some traditional media outlets over time. But at its core, this is not different from a technology perspective than what audible.com or Napster could have done years back. Distributing audio files is basic stuff indeed. Aha - but Apple saw that this "almost there" solution needed a push and a user-friendly platform. Name it "podcasting" and away you go with a new phenomenon. Apple literally surfed the wave that was already building off the technology shoreline.

Am I criticising Apple for repackaging old concepts or for not being original ? Quite the contrary. Apple and its team seem to have an uncanny sense of when something is ready for prime time and they know how to evole it, and then execute it to be warmly recieved by the end-users.

That, my friends, is one heck of talent. And I would bet it has far less to do with focus groups and market studies, and far more to do with wisdom and good instincts at the top. A "job" well done indeed.