The irony of 50

Well it was bound to happen and it’s almost here. I sit before you (not literally) tapping away on my keyboard that has far too many cookie crumbs stuck in the little crevices between the keys, hoping to get across the irony of turning 50.

Holiday Greetings 2010

Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without. – Buddha

We’re back after a brief 3-year break from our traditional family Holiday card and letter.  We’ve taken the time to regroup, exhale and grab a nice, long group hug – in no particular order.

Gone are the days of our typical holiday letters of family updates and kid shenanigans with a cleverly woven-in sentimental message.  Yes, those letters were nice and had meaning, but nowadays even “meaning” has taken on much more meaning.

Today our message is straight from the heart.  It’s the simplicity of six family members who this year will spend their 4^th Christmas without the best jolly old elf/Dad/husband/fake Santa who ever walked the face of this round planet in his well-worn size 14 DSW bargain-priced shoes.  It’s been an adjustment, but our love for each other and for “the big guy” has brought us closer and made us stronger.

As we’ve moved forward, we’ve learned there are a lot of ways you can look at death.  More importantly, we’ve learned there are so many more ways to look at life.  One of them is through the eyes of someone you love, and want to be more like. 

On that note, we, the family, all strive to be more like Don who loved searching for and collecting great quotes; they are such a great reflection of where a person has been and what he values at the time a particular quote seems to really hit home – right where the heart is. 

Our gift to you is a little piece of ourselves – the gift of quotes.  They come from the “soul,” – that place inside of us we cannot physically touch or see, but we know when someone is close to it because when they’re gone we are never quite the same again.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”. –Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Kim)

“Don’t fear tomorrow or regret the past, live for what’s now and never look back”. – Author unknown (from Erica)

“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over it became a butterfly”.  Author Unknown (from Angie)

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson. (from Hayley)

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself wherever you choose”. – Dr. Seuss (from Ross)

“No soul that aspires can ever fail to rise; no heart that loves can ever be abandoned. Difficulties exist only that in overcoming them we may grow strong.” – Annie Besant (from Shelli)

“Sieze the Day. (Carpe Diem) Put as little trust as you can in tomorrow.” – Horace (from Don)

This holiday season, whether you choose to carpe cheesecake, carpe cuddle, or carpe diem, it is our wish that you “carpe something.”  You just never know when you’ll get another chance to enjoy what you love again – be it a dessert, a hug from a loved one, or just another day on this beautiful earth.

Peace, love, family and wishes for a truly Blessed New Year. God is good; He has a plan; and He never makes mistakes.   – The Netko Family

Turning older

Today is my birthday. When I Googled “age,” I learned that I am 17,897 days old. I can’t decide if that sounds older than half of a century minus one year, or just plain 49 sounds older. A friend suggested I go with “the 21st anniversary of my 21st birthday” but this would be shy by a few years and bumping it to the 28th anniversary would just sound stupid, so I’ll settle on the truth. Needless to say, by the time I finished thinking about the different options I decided it didn’t really matter how I said it, because I feel 24 in my mind. But either way it’s still cool to know how many days old you are, right?

The funny thing is that this number should really be more significant to my mom than it is to me.

On Father’s Day – The Serious Side

On Father’s Day

I read a fact the other day that surprised me; it stated that Father’s Day wasn’t a holiday until 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed a bill introducing it into our American Hallmark world. June and necktie sales haven’t been quite the same since then.

Mother’s Day, on the other hand has been around since the 1920’s I believe. This isn’t surprising,

Time to take stock of your life

There are a few times of the year that people tend to take stock of their life (or is it stalk?) – There’s New Year’s Day, their birthday, and for many, the all important tax day. I didn’t realize this until this weekend as I sat and poured over 360 day’s worth of receipts and financial records that would have made a trail left by Jason Bourne look understandable and traceable.

Every year I go through the same thing along with millions of other Americans who suck at record keeping and aren’t exactly masters of minutia – I tell myself that “This won’t happen next year” or “I’ll change my ways starting April 16th.”

Sometimes its a dog’s day

 I got to thinking about it the other day and wondered if I have A.D.D.   I was sitting at my desk where there were pieces of paper, random sticky notes, a few bills that need paid and a couple of business cards laying on what I call a work surface.

Staring at me was my less than trusty Dell laptop with an excel document window open, a word document minimized, and windows mail waiting for me to do something with the contents of five email accounts at some point.  It was the visual interpretation of chaos maximus on my physical and computer desktops — not even kidding.

Nothing says “I love you” like a dead pigeon

Yesterday morning I was greeted in the kitchen by my yellow lab (Poombah) with a dead grey pigeon hanging out of her mouth. I was half asleep at the time as I made my way to the coffee pot, so I was taken by surprise when I saw the odd-shaped object sticking out of the side of her face.

“Poombie, what the hell is in your mouth?” I raised my voice. She was as surprised as I was at that point, as if she just realized there was a bird in her mouth, so she spit it out on the floor. “Oh for God’s sake!” I exclaimed as she yakked the carcass out on the floor. 

Inspired by inspiration

This weekend we did one of those movie marathons which we haven’t done in awhile and I have to say, we must do again soon. The secret to a perfect movie marathon is to make sure you’ve got adult beverages on hand, there are no kids around,

New Year, new you?

What does the New Year mean to you? You’ve got to admit you’re asking some variation of this question as New Year’s Eve creeps up on us again. I know I am.

Some of us might be looking back at last year’s New Year’s Eve and reminiscing about some bar-hopping then waking up next to that guy whose name you couldn’t remember,

I’ve lost my mind (again)

Today I took a big step in regaining control of my mind. There was a period in my life when I had full control of it at all times, except that brief period during the ‘70s (when it was self-inflicted) and then the long blur after babies three and four that ended up lasting about five years. But other than that, I’ve always felt that I had pretty good control over my mind – until recently, that is.

Somewhere between 1990 after the birth of my third child and celebrating my 48th birthday this year, I lost the ability to control the “crazy voice in my head.”