Interesting Article

I really enjoy reading articles online, and when I read online I often come across an article or quote that speaks to me. Anyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely love The West Wing, an old television show about the White House. Martin Sheen plays the character of Josiah Bartlet, who is the President Of The United States on the show. I highlighted in the information that stood out to me.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Martin Sheen became "fanatic" when his son Charlie was using drugs.

Martin Sheen says he was a "fanatic" about going after son Charlie's drug use.

"When a life is at stake and it's your child, you become fearless in a lot of ways. I mean, you just become fanatic," the 67-year-old actor says in the July/August issue of AARP The Magazine. "Nothing ever gets done unless it's done by a fanatic."
Sheen, who portrayed fictional President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing," tells the magazine how he intervened to save his actor-son.
"The only way I got to Charlie, frankly, was because he'd skipped out of the hospital. I had to pay the bill," Sheen says. "In paying the bill, I got to see why he was in there. He'd consumed an illegal substance; he was on probation. ... This was a criminal matter. And so that was the wedge; that was the leverage I had. That is what I took to the court; that's what I took to the sheriff. It was the only way I got him."
The veteran TV and film star, who battled alcoholism himself, also turned to Alcoholics Anonymous to help his son.
"I got sober through Catholicism, through my faith," Sheen tells the magazine. "I only got involved with AA when I was trying desperately to find a way to help Charlie, because I didn't have any skills."
Sheen also talked about his career and politics, saying he doesn't plan to run for public office.
"I'm not qualified," he says. "It's crossed my ego. I feel like a public servant. I feel like a responsible citizen. But I couldn't do it professionally. I don't have the temperament."

One more:

Here's an interesting link off of Randy Pausch's website that discusses both statistics (mean, median, and mode) along with the importance of attitude when fighting adversity:

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/medianNotMessage.html

I like to think of myself as a right-tailed person in most cases. :)

One, Two, Three, Like a Bird I Sing

Mav and I experimented with Mommy's camera to make a quick video.

From the Mouths of Babes

This evening I thought I'd let the kids say whatever they wanted on the computer. Maverik went as far to type his own name after each of his statements. Jaecy didn't type, but she was very sure of the messages that she wanted to give to everyone. After a while they got bored of my little project, but it was fun hearing what they wanted to say!

Grandma I love you! MAVERIK

Grandma loves helping me fix the 64 video games! MAVERIK

Grandma loves helping me make a drink! MAVERIK

Grandma loves helping me play computers! MAVERIK

GRANDMA LOVES HELPING ME MAKE ADVENTURES! MAVERIK (Mav typed this whole thing, I just helped with the spelling)

Grandma loves helping me figure out what to do! MAVERIK


Hannah, I'm on the computer! JAECY

Alyssa, Travis, Maverik, Jayden, Mommy, Daddy, Jaecy, Shooter

Grandpa Merel - Grandpa loves me alot! JAECY

Grandma Kathy - I love her so really much! JAECY

Grandma Debbie - I love her so much in the world! JAECY

Grandpa Terry - I love him so in the world much! JAECY

Grandpa Steve - I really, really love him in the much! JAECY

Grandma Abbey - I really, really love her so much! JAECY

Kale - I really, really love him! JAECY

Daddy, I think that's all! Jaecy

'Nuff said!

Tomorrow I'm running in a 3.1 mile run with Mike Villanueva and Bryon Clouse. We signed up for the race recently, although we've decided on doing a few of them this summer. My goal is simply to run the whole race without stopping, it won't be easy with the chest cold I've been battling for the past week. As Jaecy would say, "I've got the heart of a champion!" (use your imagination to see her singing it!) :0

Lace 'Em Up!

Last night I was officially hired as the next boys basketball coach at Calumet High School. As you all know I was last at Morgan Township during the 2006-07 season, and I spent year as the freshman boys coach here at Calumet. We're working hard to plan the summer schedule, I think things are going to go well. We will have a meeting today after school to get the boys moving in the right direction. Kari and I have planned on this summer and fall as a way to be able to spend more time together as a family, so this is all a part of a larger plan (in more ways than one!)

By the way, as I finish typing this I just received a standing "O" from my Health class for being named the new coach. That felt good. :)

Bon Fire!

As the youngest of three brothers I have long given up on the idea of having candles on my birthday cake. With that and the sanity of the South Haven Fired Department in mind the Nelson family celebrated Doug's 34th birthday this afternoon. It was neat to walk down the hallway of his house and see pictures of him back in high school, especially the ones of him on the mound for the Portage Indians baseball team. Now Nathan wears that uniform, the kids are getting bigger everyday, and we're celebrating Doug's 34th. It's weird getting older. In my mind I'm smarter than I was then, but there's a very large part of me that still feels like I'm 20 years old. When I see a picture of myself or catch a glimpse in the mirror I'm reminded otherwise, but I'm happy with what I've done with my time and most of the decisions that I've made. I look at my family, my wife Kari, and my children...I wouldn't change a thing. Happy birthday Dougie, we love you!

Updates:

• Kari has started her part time job at the YMCA!


• 7 days of school left until summer time!


• Jayden is starting to get used to being outside with the wind on his wiskers.


• The Porter County Fair is getting closer everyday!

Yo Momma!

A while back I cut out a newspaper article for Health class that discussed how strong marriages benefit society. Within the article I found an interesting section that I thought I'd share today with the mothers in my life.

A few years ago the National Geographic provided an example of sacrificial love. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers assessed the damage.
One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes at the base of a tree. He knocked over the bird with a stick and three tiny chicks scurried away from under the dead mother’s wings.
Instinctively the mother had gathered her chicks under her wings knowing the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.
The blaze had scorched her fragile body but she remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those covered by her wings would live.


HE SHALL COVER YOU WITH HIS FEATHERS,
AND UNDER HIS WINGS YOU SHALL TAKE REFUGE;
HIS TRUTH SHALL BE YOUR SHIELD AND BUCKLER.
~ PSALM 91:04 ~

Jaecy and I took a trip to Wal-Mart the other day to pick up some stuff. In the parking lot Jaecy noticed some birds, and she pointed them out to me. As she and I walked towards the store I told her to hurry up or the birds would poop on her head! Her response was, "Daddy, birds don't poop!" She said it in a tone that made me feel like I'd missed out on a well known fact of life! She'll believe me once she turns 16 and washes her car. ;) (Scary thought!)

It's A Wrap!

As of today I'm looking at 10 days until the school year is completed! I'm a bit envious, Maverik has Friday off from school and I don't! I really can't complain though, because I have Monday off to enjoy!

We have a lot of stuff going on as we head into the summer! I am already beginning to plan for this years edition of the Porter County Fair. Last year went so smooth I can't help but be a little nervous about this year, but the key to that job is solving little problems as they come along. Next week I should find out if I'm "officially" the varsity basketball coach at Calumet.

Updates:

• Maverik lost another tooth since our last tooth posting!
• Tuesday night 7pm is the school board meeting for my new coaching job.
• Jayden bit Mommy on the head too, so now we have a little club going.
• Maverik and Jaecy have an off week for soccer, no games this weekend.
• Kari and I are trying to plan ahead so the upcoming basketball season will be a family friendly one!
• Jaecy still wants pink walls and purple carpeting. :)
• We are one step closer to taking the Nelson show on the road! (A new home in our future? Maybe!!!)

Readin', Writin', and 'Rithmatic

In a recent phone call to my wonderful wife I realized that next year the vast majority of the Nelson clan will be enrolled in some form of education! I will tentatively be finishing up with my Master's Degree in January of 2009 through Indiana Wesleyan, Kari will be continuing her education towards her R.N. license, Maverik will officially be a kindergarten, and Jayden will be receiving therapy somewhere! We are are still figuring out the details with Jayden, but we're being very aggressive with his therapy as usual. Mav will be in a mainstreamed kindergarten, that's a HUGE "W" for the Nelson clan! Now we just need to find some trouble for Jaecy to get into and we'll be all ready to go!

Today's picture is of Jayden and I hanging together at Mav and Jaecy's soccer game. I can't figure out if the picture is before or after Jayden decided to bite Daddy on the top of his melon. :)

Dandelion Kickers

Well, Pele' rests tonight knowing that no one in the Nelson clan is a major threat of knocking him off of his throne as the best soccer player ever. If Maverik and Jaecy attacked the ball with the same ferocity that they go after their post-game snacks we might be onto something, but that day seems to be a while off for now. For now we'll settle for fancy firefighter hats and smiles.

Stink Bombs, Basketball Shoes, and Wrestlers, Oh My!

I thought I'd write a quick entry about the last few days of school here at Calumet. Early this week we had a Health Fair here at school. The Health Fair was held in the gym and included many local colleges and other programs specifically designed to promote healthy life time decisions.

This week we've had a few pranksters that were letting off stink bombs here at school. The stink bombs give off a rotten egg smell (not unlike my buddy Shooter), and this morning they finally caught and suspended a few of the culprits. They don't mess around here, we have a camera system that is used on a regular basis. The three boys that were caught were given 5 day suspensions. Ouch! There are some days when I wish I could get a 5 day suspension.

I've been brow beating the basketball players this week to pay up for this past seasons basketball shoes. I wish I could pull a "Rocky" and break a few thumbs, that would make the process much easier. Our last coach basically handed the boys $75 shoes and said "pay when you can!" Well, several months later that strategy hasn't worked, he resigned, so I'm left to collect the money so we can use it to pay for summer camps. My freshman boys have all paid up months ago, but the jayvee and varsity are a different story. Great way to start off my varsity stay here, playing the heavy and leaning on kids for shoe money. :(

I just got done reading a book about Dan Gable, the legendary wrestler and wrestling coach from Iowa. The book was sitting on my co-workers desk (Andy Trevino, former Indiana State High School Championship wrestler 44-0 his senior year!) when I asked if I could borrow it. Guess what! His success came from his focus, intensity, and passionate hard work! No secret there! In honor of the great Dan Gable I decided to include a "Welcome to the Gun Show" picture for the day. This immense show of power is common in the Nelson household, it's how we get what we want in life. :)

Missing in Action!

I must start this post with a mention that I've received some grief on the home front concerning nicknames. I have to admit that I forgot some of them while writing my initial post, so I'm taking the time today to add to the previous list.

• Big Momma (Kari's nickname during her three pregnancies)


• Hooter (Shooter's nickname)


• Hooter-Shooter-Tooter-MaGudder (it rhymes when you say it right...the dog has some serious gas at times, so the Tooter is pretty darn appropriate.)
  

Okay, let's move forward!

A while back we noticed that we had a quitter in our midst. While brushing Mackie's teeth before bedtime I saw that one of his top front teeth had a little wiggle in it's jiggle (not unlike myself while out on the dance floor). Since that night we knew our little white friend would soon meet its demise. After a prolonged struggle, the fight came to and end last night at Grandma Debbie's house. The story gets a little fuzzy here...either Grandma made Maverik go out and cut the backyard grass with a severely sprained ankle (wait a minute, that was me! Sorry, just a flashback!) or the tooth fell out while Mav was playing downstairs. Either way you choose to remember it, Mav is now one tooth short of a full deck.

General updates:

• We're getting wonderfully close to the end of the school year!


• Jaecy and Mom cleaned Jaecy's room.


• Kari's slow pitch softball season is in full swing.


• Dustin's slow pitch softball umpiring season is in full swing.

We have to cut this one short today. I have to leave for work early to go buy gasoline, but first I have to stop by the bank and talk to my loan officer. $4.00 a gallon??? I'm thinking about picking up some roller skates this weekend so I can save some $$$ and still get to work! :)

My Little Tour Guide

A few times a week I'll strap on the old Ipod and head out for a run. Jaecy often asks to tag along, and my exercise time changes dramatically when she does. When I go by myself I usually sweat out a few miles, listening to music along the way and thinking about my current to-do list. When Jaecy goes with me we'll walk a while, run a while, the whole time talking about things that I would never even notice otherwise. Jaecy is an expert at pointing out bunny-rabbits that might be moving about, or she'll point out some pretty flowers that some one has planted. She loves it when Daddy runs backwards in front of her, I'm not sure if she's looking forward to the imminent trip and fall that will surely follow or not. :) The point is, it's amazing what I see when I change the lens through which I look. I try to stay quiet so she can point out the next conversation piece, and she never disappoints.

What's in a name?

In this family you don't have to be around long before you get nailed with at least one nickname. The reason that I mention this is lately they've been coming fast and furious for the Nelson family.

Maverik, being the oldest youngin', has the most. He's been tattooed (not literally!) with: Super Goo, Mackie, Mav, Mackie-docious, Mackie-licious, and the ever mysterious Lucario! :)

Jaecy is catching up fast: Jae, Baby Girl, Princess Peach, Big Diddle.

Jayden has some work to do: Jay Jay, Wheezy Man, Little Diddle.

As the kids get older they've started in on nicknaming Mom and Dad. I know I've been called Daddy-docious and have somehow been labeled Daddy-Jigglypuff (I think Mav has noticed the everlasting battle with my mid-section). Mommy has been nicknamed Mommy-docious and Grumpy Butt. :)

Not to be left out, Jaecy has nicknamed Shooter "Stinky Dog." I think he and Kari have gotten the short end of the nickname stick. :)