The Rutledge Farm

Summertime

2010-08-01T20:42:00.007-04:00

Summer scenes for the Rutledge crew.

We kicked it off with a farewell to Peace Montessori on the boys' last day of preschool. The end of an era.

There was a lot of soccer, with Owen "Tiger Claws" as the goalie and Gus ensuring that his #11 could still be seen with his jersey tucked on. John Wall created a monster.

We were treated to a visit from the Crumpton gang as Tess learned that there are children to hang out with other than grubby big brothers.

"Corinne, you just gotta try the cupcake like this. Oh man, that's good. "

It was the first time we had seen Big Sam since he went mobile....and mobile he is. He defines what it is to be a little boy. I wanted to roll around the dirt with him just to relive it.

Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude, Amy & I may run the show for now.....but not for long if these guys have anything to say about it.

Our lone road trip of the summer was up to Philadelphia to spend a weekend with our friends the Learys, where buddy Mike surprised me with Victory Hop Devil on tap in his basement bar and our kids were surprised with quite possibly the coolest kid park ever built. It's fair to say that both Dad and kids had to be picked up off the ground before they could believe either was real.

Young Andrew & Miss Tess did the playground boogie.

After our road trip we have enjoyed the rest of the summer at home, spending time with friends, neighbors, and here with family as GJ & Pappy made their way down for the now annual Fourth of July visit. Nothing beats 100 degrees like driveway popsicles.

Home.....where you can hang out in a bucket of water with your sibling on a hot summer day....

....or set personal records at Mario Kart on the Wii.

By the end of July, it was time to start a new phase. Owen and Gus are separated in kindergarten for really the first time in their lives. Owen was not at all happy with the thought of being away from his brother, protesting on Meet the Teacher day by threatening to rip the "Owen" coconut off the wall...and all the other students with it.

But he rebounded, getting on the bus the first morning with his brother, and responding to two nervous parents' question of "How'd the first day of school go?" question with a "It. Was. Awesome."

Phew. Now if we can just get Tess to walk through that preschool door here in a few weeks....

Cheers!

First Day of School

2010-07-12T08:44:00.004-04:00

The boys made it on the bus. Amy only shed a few tears. Look out kindergarten -- they're coming....

Memorial Day fun

2010-05-31T14:17:00.005-04:00

The Rutledge crew spent Memorial Day weekend at home this year. We rolled out a badminton net, set up a poor man's bocce court, invited some neighbors over to share in the fun and sun, and tried to relax as much as possible.

Saturday night ended up being one of the funnest nights we have had since we moved to Apex 4 years ago. There were 45+ people here with kids of all ages. The rain forecasted all day long held off, and once the sun went down and the lightning bugs came out the kids broke into a game of flashlight tag which took me back to the days on Kelly Drive playing that game with all the neighborhood kids. It was a great night.

Sunday was recuperation and re-hydration day. We tried to take the kids out for pizza last night and were quickly reminded that we have 3 small children. Tess, ever curious to see our destination's bathroom as she is potty training, had Amy up four times because "she had to go." Of course the one time you don't take her is the one time she's not crying wolf, so we take the bait every time. Meanwhile Owen decided he was all of a sudden not a fan of pepperoni pizza, so he moaned and groaned the whole meal. Amy & I were very happy to put kids to bed and call it a night.

Memorial Day was a pool day for our crew. The boys are bound & determined to learn to swim this summer, and it's time. Owen surprisingly has more courage in the water than Gus does. We'll see if we can get the two water bugs to be self-sufficient in the pool by summer's end.

Hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend was a relaxing one. We remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy fun-in-the-sun weekends like this.

Cheers!

Finding a dozen 2x4's in the workshop from the previous owner of our house yielded the perfect poor man's bocce court.

Even the bees enjoyed the neighborhood get together as this poor fella was stuck to a bowl of melted ice cream when we went out to clean up the next morning. Looks like Owen isn't the only one who can't resist chocolate.
Tessa Lou was in prime form at the pool....
...while the boys try to get their sea legs back as quick as possible getting comfortable in the water.

Reunited, and It Feels So Good

2010-05-22T16:14:00.005-04:00

Holy cow. The blog. Where do I begin? It has been such a neglected part of the Rutledge life, frankly for the last six months.

Life got busy. Really busy. And it remains really busy. Kiddos and sports, two working parents, a new demanding job, trying to serve in a leadership role at Covenant, and doing our best to find time for ourselves and each other, it can be pretty difficult to find a few minutes here and there for anything.

Then there was that contrived one-night stand with Facebook. Oh Facebook -- where do I begin with you? In reality Facebook is fun. It's voyeuristic and visceral. But it can also be laboring and pointless. I mean, I do enjoy getting a friend invite from someone that I forgot that I went to middle school with. But frankly I don't care what their high score is on Farmville.

So it's good to be back. For however long this lasts. Maybe just today, but I'll try to throw up some pictures every now and then. I think our readership dwindled down to single digits. We'll build it back up eventually.

Cheers everyone!

This photo was taken to show that I do have a daughter, despite the fact that she wipes off my kisses and cries by the minute for "Mama!" Tessa Lou is a mama's girl for sure. (She'll come around.) ;-)

The boys play soccer now. They are in a 5-6 year-old league where it's very low key with no pressure for winning -- or positions really. The kids all rotate from defense to offense, and in Owen's case "gazelle" as he hops and prances all over the field. When he's the goalie, Owen stands there with his hands up in front of his body ready to pounce as his coach once told him to get his tiger paws up. Obviously that stuck. He even had a game where ran after some poor little girl on the other team growling at her.

Gus is a little more competitive but still is learning the game. Today he was the most aggressive he has been, and we're hoping he gets a goal before the season is up in a couple of weeks. He still doesn't like his picture taken though.

Amy's annual Mother's Day picture where she begs the kids to sit still for 3 milliseconds so I can snap a picture without a finger in the nose or an elbow to a sibling's head. Note the contrast to Tess's happiness from the picture above! (Her dating age just got moved from 23 to 28.)

Paducah Invasion

2010-05-02T22:22:00.006-04:00

Many have asked about Derek. Bless his cotton socks, he has been a busy man. He took a new job several months ago (still with IBM) which has had him working many nights and weekends. The rest of his time has been consumed with three kiddos, shoveling mulch, fixing sinks and training to be on Dancing with the Stars.

I had the pleasure of going to Paducah with the kids a few weeks ago. Thanks to my mom for flying out and driving with me. We had a fun drive and a great visit!

Amy

Fresh milk, fake chimneys and funny songs

2009-12-24T22:58:00.005-05:00

Christmas is here at the Rutl Farm. Gus, Owen and Tess boast an excitement level that is through the roof. Christmas cookies have been baked, iced and left out for Santa Claus. Kiddos are snug in their beds with visions of sugarplums, rockets, Batman and a robot.

Gus & Owen were particularly interested in pondering the specifics of Santa tonight. They wanted to ensure that the milk that Amy & I are supposed to leave out for St. Nick is fresh milk, not spoiled milk. When you're 4 and your list is specific, you have to get the little details right.

Next, they needed some clarification on the whole chimney thing. If a house has kids in it and has a chimney, but it's not a real chimney that Santa could fit down (aka, our house), how does Santa get inside to leave the toys? I explained that Santa "just knows" and perhaps he gets in through a window or a door. When the natural follow-up question emerged asking if I had to leave a door or window unlocked, I just explained that Santa Claus has mojo with a crafty resourcefulness that allows him to do things we can't. That confused them enough to convince them that they needed to get to bed so he truly would show up at our house tonight.

I can totally see the boys reasoning their way to a conclusion that I don't hope they reach for several years. Until then, here's hoping Santa doesn't get stuck in your chimneys tonight.

Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

When Santa got stuck in the chimney
He began to shout
You girls and boys
Won't get any toys
If you don't pull me out

My beard is black
I have soot on my sack
My nose is ticklish too

When Santa got stuck in the chimney
"Achoo, achoo, achoo!!"

Dear Santa

2009-12-18T14:42:00.001-05:00

Our crew is geared up for Christmas. The energy level is high as the countdown to the big day takes place every morning at the Advent calendar.

Owen & Gus are just now starting to grasp the concept that if they're good they can ask Santa Claus for what they want in terms of gifts. To that end, two different approaches were employed this week as four year-old boys composed their Christmas letters.

Owen wrote his himself and emphasized his goodness.

"Owen had a dog. We have been good. I would like a cat please."
--Owen

On the other hand Gus dictated his letter to Santa to Amy as she transcribed. Note the shotgun approach to validating his wholesomeness -- cookies, sympathy, and so wholesome that his goodness rubbed off on his stuffed animal.

Dear Santa,
I am nice. We are going to bake cookies with icing. Icing is my favorite with cookies.

My dad is really crazy and we have played tennis before. I have a stuffed animal dog named Polka Dot. And I have a bear that is 1,000,000,000 years old.

I would like a toy rocket and a robot. My stuffed animal dog, Polka Dot, is very nice.
--Gus

Cheers everyone.

Facebook

2009-12-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

My stubborn refusal to join the social networking world has now run its course. I am on Facebook so I can see what the rest of you young whippersnappers are doing.

I still love my blog though and will continue to post here when I can.

Cheers,
DR

Gobble, Gobble...

2009-12-05T23:34:00.010-05:00

This poor blog. I have meant to get updates out here for weeks, and I'm now averaging one a month. Someday when time isn't consumed by so many other things that keep Amy & I so busy, we'll do a better job at documenting what's going on with us. Plus, so many people are on Facebook now -- including Amy but excluding me -- that longer posts on blogs are going the way of the typewriter.

Personally, I'm happy being a blog dinosaur. I refuse to go on Facebook so I don't have to turn away some friend request from a person I barely knew in high school or so I don't have to know that my neighbor's status is "looking forward to the weekend!!!!!" Of course, I was a cellphone holdout too for a long time, and now I can't live without it. So it's just a matter of time before I'm eating my words.

On to the post.....

Amy & I took the kids back to Kentucky for Thanksgiving as we had not been to Glasgow in almost a year and a half. The ride there -- despite the detour around the rock slide on I-40 -- was a piece of cake. The kids were great travelers, and we made it from North Carolina to Virginia to Tennessee to Kentucky in two stops. The drive back on the Sunday after turkey day was longer, but that's not surprising given that it's the busiest travel day of the year.

We got to spend quality time with GJ and Pappy and spend Thanksgiving day with my 95-year old grandmother, now "GG" (Great-Grandmother) to the kids. Billy & Elaine came over to spend Friday and Saturday with us which was a nice treat. And C.E. and I drove up to Lexington on Saturday to watch Tennessee rip the heart out of Kentucky in football yet again for what is now a 25-year tradition useless futility. But we had fun tailgating in the process!

Tremendous visit. Tremendous turkey. Tremendous company.

Cheers!

This is what passes at a posed picture at our house these days. Tess has quite the role models to look up to.

Owen got his revenge by getting the wishbone after losing out on it when we cooked a chicken the week before.

The boys marveled at the hot tub as they swam around with Pappy in the cold night air.

Some things change, and thankfully some things stay the same.

A trip to Glasgow wouldn't be complete without a trip to see the horses at cousin Spencer's farm. Our attempt to get a quality family photo against the rolling hill backdrop of rural Barren County ended up with more faces like the ones shown above. So our Christmas card picture will likely be Amy & I holding the boys down forcing a smile while Tess looks on in horror.

There's always time for snuggling when grandchildren are around.

"See here Owen, this is the great state of Tennessee. Your dad is going to make that foolish trek to sit in the cold for 3 hours to see if Kentucky can beat them. But it's not going to make a difference. Be smart kid."

Another highlight for Owen, Gus & Tess was the chiminea. (Bonus points for Owen as it involves fire.) Throw in their four grandparents and there are some happy grandchildren.

Finally, Owen is absolutely obsessed with people smoking. When we stop at a gas station he will loudly proclaim, "Look! Dad! Someone's smoking!!" regardless of the proximity of my child to the offender. If there are cigarette butts on the ground, he is the first to call attention to it and to the evils of smoking.

So while in Kentucky I went over to talk to a neighbor that I had known in high school. Travis happened to be smoking a cigarette while we were catching up. When the conversation was over, you would have thought I was talking to an axe murderer according to my son. Owen could not understand how Dad could be talking to anyone that smoked.

So all the adults tried endlessly to explain to Owen that while smoking is a bad habit that the people themselves who smoked were not necessarily bad people. It's an easy distinction for us as adults, but not to a four year-old.

Nevertheless, when the boys helped decorate their grandparents' house for Christmas on Saturday, GJ had some 'splainin' to do. (Note Santa's mouth)

Trick or Treats, Andy Griffith & Goofy Grunts

2009-11-10T13:59:00.005-05:00

Holy cow have I neglected the Rutl Farm. Our beloved blog has taken a back seat for the last couple of weeks to a weeklong celebration of Halloween, a weekend trip to Mt. Airy with our friends, and the parental juggle that is our daily life.

Halloween taught Amy & me first hand that holiday celebrations can drag out for a long time. The holiday isn't just about trick or treating anymore. Not that it ever was I suppose, but this was our first exposure to day after day of Halloween parties, preschool celebrations, neighborhood get-togethers, church events all around All Hallow's Eve. The boys only have 2 teeth left and they just sit around all day on the couch eating their weight in Snickers and Milk Duds. Ok, so it's not quite that bad, but it's safe to say Mars, Inc. stock has gone up lately.

I cannot complain about the celebrations though. The kids' enthusiasm -- although draining -- is so contagious and fun to witness. Gus dressed up as Batman, Owen as Robin, and Tess as a pink kitten. We trick-or-treated with several families in our neighborhood, adults hanging out in the street as kids bounded for each door. It was really a fun time.

Last weekend we trekked up to Mt. Airy, North Carolina which some of you may know as the real-life Mayberry where Andy Griffith based his TV show on. (The Andy Griffith Show still runs in syndication on just about every channel in NC by the way -- we North Carolinians love our Andy, Aunt B and Opie). Our friends the Wises have a place there, and the boys got to fish, camp, run wild with other kids, and roast marshmallows for 48 hours straight. Just when I think we couldn't possibly compress more fun into a short period of time, the kids find a way.

We do have a few pictures to share. But that's mostly because Amy got a Flip video camera for her birthday, and she takes videos instead of still shots. It is a pretty cool little gadget that allows us to capture some cool moments of the kiddos. We will definitely get some of those posted here soon to share.

Tess's vocabulary still continues to grow. Only it is growing in ways that only parents understand. She mumbles things whose meanings Amy & I have deciphered like cryptic code. So either we are making progress understanding our 20-month old or she is having a fun time seeing how many words her parents can assign to her goofy grunts.

For example:

"Oh" = Owen
"Duh" = Gus
"Da" = Tucker (dog)
"Opper" = Harper (cat)
"Dut" = Dutch (cat)
"po-po mm-mm" = purple blanket
"eye-na mm-mm" = the blanket that's not the purple one

It is amusing fun to be able to build communication with a toddler, even if it does seem a little crazy to people witnessing our attempts from the outside.

We will get some videos out here soon. Before Thanksgiving I promise. In the meantime we're gearing up for the start of college basketball season, watching the incredible Flash Forward, and looking to see where the po-po mm-mm happened to end up.

Cheers!

Shreveport

2009-10-21T16:57:00.004-04:00

Amy & I were fortunate enough to trek down to sunny Shreveport, Louisiana last weekend for our wonderful friend Dan's wedding. It was a quick trip, but a much-needed break for the two of us to be able to put the Mom & Dad hats on the hat stand as we walked out the door and really enjoy ourselves.

GJ & Pappy came down to NC to watch the kids. The parents truly missed the kids more than the kids missed the parents. When we called the first night the kids had eaten pizza, taken showers on their own, put on their new Spiderman pajamas, and were eating popcorn while watching a movie. (Note to self: Must try being a grandparent at some point in future -- spoil the snot out of kids and then leave.)

Dan had told us just complete horror stories about his 2 years in Shreveport. He was a recruiter there trying to convince 18 year-old boys that they should sign up with the Army at the same time the US was fighting two wars half a world away. But he got a wife out of the deal, and in reality Shreveport wasn't so bad. There was a boardwalk on the Red River, an El Chico Mexican restaurant, and a Rockin' Rodeo right outside our hotel room. I mean, really, what more could you ask for?

Shreveport is a military town for sure. Barksdale Air Force Base is right up the road, and everyone at the wedding had a connection to the military in some form or fashion. It was a different experience for Amy & me, but we really got a true appreciation for the men & women that serve and the lifestyles they lead. We met a great lady named Evelyn, who is 1 year away from retirement and is about to be deployed to Iraq. Her husband is also in the Air Force and is currently in Guam. And they have five daughters that they juggle when they are here in the States. This was just one family's story out of the many connections we made. Very cool to experience it.

The wedding was moved from outdoors to a church due to 10 inches of rain the week prior to the wedding. So plans were in flux and people were shuffling, but it all went off well.

Another great bonus was the fact that we got to take a time machine back to 1967 as shown by this picture of Dan and me. Oh wait, no, this is just the grainy photo from the Kodak disposable that we picked up since we didn't take our digital camera. Man, are we spoiled with technology. How did we take pictures before digital?

Picasa photo editor helps.

Dan met Deborah playing shuffleboard at the VFW where Dan would often go for a beer after recruiting at the end of a 16-hour day. In honor of their first "date" one of the cakes reflected their passion for a game most often played by senior citizens in retirement homes all across South Florida.

Who knew Shreveport was a gambling hotbead? We didn't that's for sure. But there were casinos everywhere -- Diamond Jacks, the Horseshoe, Lucky Jack's -- all built on the Red River that splits the town with neighboring Bossier City.

Outside our hotel was the Rockin' Rodeo, which was rocking well into the wee hours. Amy asked the first day we were there, "Oh, we should so go to the Rockin' Rodeo! C'mon!" After I explained that this was the type of place with more electric bulls than front teeth, she agreed that we'd just hang out at the Hampton Inn.

Finally, we were supposed to be on a 575-passenger Airbus A380 that tops out at 1,200 mph into Alexandria International Airport (a gem of an airport that actually has no international flights). Instead they switched us at the last minute to this little puddle jumper prop plane that left our ears ringing for 3 hours after landing. But we made it there safe & sound so life was good.

All in all it was a relaxing weekend, a great celebration for Dan, and a super getaway for these two weary parents.

The Week That Was

2009-10-11T21:40:00.003-04:00

Every now and then a week creeps up on you that turns a few more hairs gray -- if not making them fall out altogether. The management team at work needs you to redo chart 14 with a different color font and run the numbers one more time.....for the eighth time. Or the battery on the car dies when you need to be somewhere five minutes ago. Or in our case this week, a virus decides to make our 18-month old its host sending life for our family into an unmanageable mess.

Tess's fever spiked on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, approaching 105 both nights and dramatically altering her -- and therefore our -- moods, sleep, and eating habits all week. After two trips to the doctor, several short nights with little sleep, a challenging work schedule, church commitments, and late-night runs to the store for more Motrin, Amy & I were just about ready to throw in the towel. Thankfully on Thursday Tess's fever broke and she slept through the night.

On Friday & Saturday Amy & I tried our darnedest to get Tess rehydrated. And while our little one still isn't back to completely being herself -- she has grown accustomed to being a velcro child attached to a parent (mostly "Mom!!") -- Tess is starting to finally come around. Today she ate & drank like normal which gave her some energy and made her more like herself.

In the meantime, Amy & I did get out with the kids on Saturday. There was a 5K run followed by a family fun day with rides, jump houses, a ferris wheel, face painting, & live music up at IBM. Amy & I ran the adult race, and Owen & Gus followed in the kids' 1/2 mile race.

Gus was practically sprinting the whole way, and he eventually gave out in the last 100 yards. Amy & I coerced him to crossing the finish line with us running along by pointing to Owen (who had passed him) and the medal he was about to receive. Gus quickly turned it around, threw fatigue to the wayside, and wore his medal for the rest of the day, including proudly displaying it when we went out to eat for dinner.

Kids get sick. It's just a fact of life that all parents have had to deal with. It is especially true this time of year when the weather cools off and more time is spent indoors. Children are together in schools passing germs back and forth to each other.

And while our tough week was in no way unique, it is one of those weeks that they don't tell you about before you have kids or else no one would procreate.

On an related note, here is this week's stock tip.

The crew about to board the bus to take us to the races.

Owen gladly sat still for the face painting, surprising us with the dolphin over a snake or a shark. Gus had a ferocious dragon, but couldn't keep his hands off his face. He raced into the house when we got home and washed his off before we could get a picture. We took a mental picture.

Here's to a better week -- cheers!

Big Blue Madness

2009-10-01T15:27:00.002-04:00

Down here on Tobacco Road I catch a lot of grief for being a Kentucky fan, especially now that UK has hired John Calipari, whom most ACC fans place a rung below Beelzebub and regard as a cheating scumbag. (Personally I think a good bit of the animosity has to do with the apprehension of Cal lifting Kentucky back up to the level of a basketball powerhouse once again, but that's a post for another day.)

As this blog's readers know, I still follow Kentucky basketball as regularly as someone with three small children who is immersed in ACC land can. So when I came across this gem today I have to admit I got the fever for Big Blue and had to share.

These fans are camped out in tents for blocks to get tickets to see Big Blue Madness on October 16. Kentucky fans love their basketball.

The Bowling Ball

2009-09-28T12:47:00.004-04:00

As we mentioned last week Owen & Gus would not let Amy and I bypass our birthdays without celebrating it just like the professionals do -- in other words, like a four year-old would celebrate it.

On Thursday night we took the kids out to eat and had the staff come out to serenade Amy with "Happy Birthday." They brought her ice cream, which was quickly devoured by Owen, Gus, and Tess. Then on the way home I stopped to get the birthday cake that I had ordered. So dessert #2 was held in our kitchen after which there were three children with sugar levels rivaling a female East German sprinter's testosterone level.

Rather than try to squelch the kids' energy by telling them that they shouldn't chase each other around the downstairs at full speed, Amy & I encouraged the kids to run faster to get all the energy out before we even contemplated baths & bedtime. All three children happily obliged, and even Tucker got in on the action of chasing each other around and making noise.

Unfortunately for Gus, Tucker moved over in front of him during a chase sequence sending Gus tumbling head first into the hard floor. I had always thought that lumps on the head were things of Popeye and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. But no, they are very real as a lump the size of a buckeye protruded from Gus's forehead for the next several hours. In true hardheaded fashion, Gus took the lump like a champ and considered it his badge of courage.

When we celebrated my birthday on Saturday, Amy took the boys out to the dollar store so they could buy some balloons and the boys could get Dad one present each. When they allowed me back in the house to see the decorations and open the presents, I was treated to a slingshot gun that propelled rubber space shuttles and a plastic toy gun that shot ping-pong balls -- in other words, exactly what a dad needs and purely a 100% coincidence that the boys might also enjoy them.

I didn't even get them out of the packages before the boys snatched them and ran off with their new acquisitions. It reminded me of this episode of The Simpsons from season 1.

Birthdays are great when celebrated with little ones that love to celebrate.

Cheers!

Happy Birthday Derek!!

2009-09-26T22:00:00.006-04:00

D-
While we couldn't help the Cats pull out a win on your big day, we enjoyed celebrating by making your shirt. The one of a kind shirt includes Owen's fish carrying, rock crushing truck and Gus's green rocket truck with a red driver showing the blood flowing through his healthy body.

Happy birthday from the whole gang!

Feliz Cumpleaños a Mama

2009-09-24T09:03:00.003-04:00

A big Happy Birthday to Amy today!

Owen and Gus were so excited for their mom's birthday -- much more excited than we parents get at the thought of notching another year on our belts. Tess was groggily watching her brothers bounce off the walls this morning, but she quickly picked up on the excitement.

The kids had made pictures for Amy -- including an apple tree under a sky of raining hot dogs and hamburgers (Owen & Tess), a sea of fish with a flying airplane truck overhead (Gus & Tess), and a fiery volcano (Owen & Gus) -- and then hid them under the TV table in their playroom.

Then, this morning when Amy got back from her run the boys played "hot" and "cold" to guide her to the hidden birthday treasures. When Amy didn't find it in about 3 seconds, Gus said, "No Mom, upstairs! Upstairs! Under the TV!"

When Amy sat in the floor the boys couldn't pull out their gifts fast enough, including a small package wrapped in birthday paper.

"Here Mom, here are your jelly bellies! Open them! Open them!"

We need to work on playing up the surprise a little bit. But hey, we'll take the botched surprises in exchange for the boundless energy the kids bring to birthdays any day.

Happy Birthday Amy B!

CPOPS

2009-09-16T11:45:00.003-04:00

Apparently Andy Roddick reads the blog. Who knew?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
To: Amy Rutledge, Founder of MMFF (Moms of Multiples For Federer)

Dear Amy,
I am writing to you today as the President and Founder of Concerned Parents Opposed to Poor Sportsmanship, or CPOPS, to issue a plea for you to end your allegiance to Roger Federer. As we are all aware Mr. Federer has represented the sport of tennis very well over the past several years, racking up more Grand Slam championships than anyone in tennis history in the process.

But on Monday night, Federer's loss to Juan Martin del Potro may very well have signaled a changing of the guard in men's tennis. During a court change Federer could be heard voicing his frustration at the chair umpire for allowing a late challenge to a ball that was called out.

While professionals who play at the highest competitive level such as Mr. Federer are certainly known to let their frustrations show from time to time, it's the surprising level of testiness and yes Amy, dare I say vulgarity that emanated from Mr. Federer on Monday that has my organization concerned.

Our children deserve better role models than the likes of a profanity-spewing Serena Williams. Unfortunately now we see that Roger Federer belongs in that category as well.

Join me and my organization in combating this swell of gamesmanship and the lack of sportsmanship that is exhibited by the likes of a so-called champion. End this allegiance to Mr. Federer and join the dozens of tennis fans who think that an American such as myself should be elevated to the top of the men's tennis world.

Sincerely,

Andy Roddick
Concerned Parents Opposed to Poor Sportsmanship

(For our readers fortunate enough not to start their careers working in IBM Accounting, CPOPS were purchase orders for things as trivial as office supplies that we entry-level accountants were required to approve by the dozen. This mindless workload drove many an IBMer slowly insane.)

A Tennis Moral High Horse

2009-09-15T16:07:00.004-04:00

So the US Open concluded last night after a weekend of rainouts. The men's final saw the end of Roger Federer's incredible win streak of 40 matches come to an end to a 20 year-old from Argentina in Juan Martin del Potro. As much as Amy's devotion to R-Fed can rival my allegiance to UK athletics -- in other words, fanatical -- I have to admit he is one gracious guy and a heck of a champion. And this shot in the semis against Novak Djokovic is one of the best tennis shots I have ever seen.

Federer did get uncharacteristically perturbed at one point and actually cursed at the chair umpire over del Potro's late challenges. But given the verbal assault that Serena Williams put on the poor linesperson from her semifinal on Saturday, Federer's outburst was incredibly tame.

Amy & I talked a good deal about the Serena tirade. For both of us it will be hard to pull for her again as a tennis player. Even though she has always been less than gracious to her opponents, Serena seemed to have grown up over the past couple of years. Until Saturday anyway...

The problem I have with the Serena situation is not so much the outburst, but the complete lack of contrition she showed until 2 days after the event -- when it was obvious that the media and fans had begun to backlash against her. Only then did she come out and apologize for her actions.

I don't mean to sound like an old curmudgeon. Nor do I like to give too much credence to the argument that our culture and society are going down the toilet. I think part of it is that times change, attitudes change, and we are slow sometimes to accept change.

But the Serena tirade, the Joe Wilson classless outburst during Obama's speech last week, and the Kanye West incident at the MTV Music Awards this week all have one thing in common -- an attitude that only takes oneself into consideration and not others. So even if we are not going down the toilet, there is certainly a lack of respect that is bothersome.

GJ called the house last night to mention that Charlie Gibson had a piece on ABC News last night about this very issue. Today, David Brooks echoes some of the same points in his column that bemoans the lack of modesty in our culture today, contrasting it with 1945 after Americans remained humble despite being victorious in WWII.

I suppose people have been complaining about the eroding respect for other people for generations. And I imagine everyone has his/her own opinion on what the solution is to turn attitudes around. For me, a starting point is teaching my kids not to tell an official in a sporting event that they'll shove an f'ng ball down the official's f'ng throat when a call doesn't go their way.

(Stepping down from soapbox now.)

Cheers!

Holy Matrimony Bites

2009-09-10T13:04:00.006-04:00

Matrimony
A special congratulations goes out to our wonderful friend Dan Wilkerson (aka Lt. Dan) who is getting married in October. Dan was the best man in our wedding and is now stationed in Fort Bragg, NC, an hour away from us here in the Triangle. Dan comes up to visit us periodically when he's not jumping out of Blackhawk helicopters or going through training exercises deep in the woods of eastern North Carolina. When he came up back in August he gave us the good news, and over the weekend he called to tell us the date is set. Amy & I will be traveling to Shreveport, LA for the ceremony. Congrats to Dan!

Other tidbits from our piece of the planet...

Abuelos
GJ & Pappy spent the long holiday weekend with our crew. I got a night out for my Fantasy Football draft (which featured two Cincinnati Bengal selections as well as a former Kentucky Wildcat in Keenan Burton thank you very much). Amy & I got a date night out as well together as well which was a great time. We appreciate the long drive down to NC to see our crew and spend the time with us. Tess is still walking around shouting, "GJ, are you?"

Soccer
Amy & I are venturing into the world of organized sports for our kids. We signed Owen & Gus up for a 12-week indoor soccer program. This place even has a league for 18-month olds (!) so in theory we could have registered Tess. But when I took her to the place a couple weeks ago while the boys checked it out, Tess was more interested in the whack-a-mole and the flashing lights in the arcade so I think we have a while. As parents Amy & I are making a vow to each other not to be one of those deranged Little League parents that plays the whole "living vicariously" angle through their miserable kids. In other words I promise to give it a couple of weeks before I show up with face paint on at one of their games.

R-Fed
I didn't think it was possible for my wife to like Roger Federer any more than she already did. But since he won his incredible Wimbledon title over Andy Roddick earlier in the summer, Federer went off and became a dad for the first time -- to twins no less! So now Mr. Swiss Cheesehead is now on my TV screen in Gillette commercials and Rolex commercials, he wears tailored white warmup suits before some matches, and he now posts Facebook updates on parenthood. R-Fed is an incredible champion, but I think I could take him in a diaper-changing contest. (Admittedly I am actually coming around a bit on Roger. I enjoy giving Amy grief about him because she's such a rabid fan, but he is definitely one of the classier sports stars out there.)

Are we sure we can?
Trying not to get too bogged down in the politico stuff, but I have to say after watching President Obama deliver his health care address to Congress last night in primetime, I have to say:

"Where in the heck has this guy been for the past 8 months?"

Finally.

Getting people to accept change is a helluva lot easier than getting people to simply vote for it.

Adam Nagourney has the best analysis of the speech that I've read today.

Football
Finally, my Wildcats are 1-0 after a 42-0 drubbing of lowly Miami (OH). I am playing fantasy football for the first time in a few years after taking a hiatus. And the NFL season kicks off tonight. Fall is definitely in the air -- I love it.

Cheers!

Pre-Labor Day

2009-09-02T10:24:00.004-04:00

Fall is in the air in central North Carolina. In September is normally still hot and humid here, but yesterday the humidity dropped and temperatures were in the 70's. If this truly is the end of the 90+ degree days, then this really has been a mild summer compared to other years.

The cool weather definitely has me in the mood for football. Optimism abounds among college fan bases everywhere. Reading the papers here and listening to sports talk radio, you would think both UNC and NC State will be competing for a national championship come January.

It's the same thing reading the blogs for my Kentucky Wildcats. Nevermind the fact that UK lost its best defensive lineman to a (crummy) illegal substance test. Nevermind the fact that it limped to a putrid finish to the season with a loss to Vanderbilt at home and a ho-hum performance to a down Tennessee team. That was so last year. Things are going to be different this year. So sayeth the sages in the blogosphere anyway.

That is part of the fun though. Saturdays in the fall with the windows open, the breeze coming through, and football from noon to night. I am looking forward to the first games tomorrow night.

Speaking of fall, has there been a more notable fall from grace than that of Mr. Billy Gillispie? Two years ago the guy went from good ole boy Texas ball coach to the head job at one of the most storied programs in college basketball. Fast forward to today and he was fired from the UK job, sued the university for $6M, faced the public revelation of abusive treatment toward his players for 2 years, and now gets arrested on a DUI on his return to Kentucky to negotiate a settlement to his lawsuit.

The compassionate response would be, "I hope the guy gets help to turn his life around because he clearly has a drinking problem." But the diehard UK fan in me, who will never forgive him for ruining the college experience for one of my favorite UK players of all time in Jodie Meeks, tends to shrug a "karma has a way of coming back to bite you" response to Gillispie's troubles.

(Gregg Doyel has one of the better summaries of the BCG situation out there.)

This will look good on the cover letter to his resume for his next head coaching application.

Elsewhere on our front, Amy has been going full throttle on getting the Worship & Wonder program going at our church for the kids. We painted the classroom last weekend. We have trays, towels, a Montessori bell, and all the stories ready to go. It all starts this weekend with an orientation followed by the first class on September 13.

Owen & Gus got a "no cavities" report from the dentist this morning. Tess is entering the "I think I'd like to get into everything" stage now as an 18-month old. Things are good with our crew.

Safe holiday weekend to our readers & enjoy yourselves.

Cheers!

Chah-lston

2009-08-25T10:30:00.011-04:00

Last week Amy & I concluded the summer with a vacation down to Charleston. We rented a house on James Island just a hop, skip & a jump across the marsh from Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude, Corinne and Sam and a mile from Folly Beach.

Amy & I crammed as much work as we could get done in the weeks leading up to vacation, led a Worship & Wonder training the morning that we left, and a finished up a multiple's club consignment sale that afternoon. We both slept hard the first two days that we were down in South Carolina.

The vacation was a really good one in that we were so ready to leave town and escape the day-to-day life at home by the time we departed and then we were ready to be back in the comforts of home by the time we returned at the end of the week. That's what a vacation should be, I suppose.

On Tuesday our friends Debbie Barrett and Chad Nance brought their litter up from Bluffton, SC -- Aidan, Abby, and Anmei -- and shared our place for a couple of days. I am not sure if the kids wore us parents out or if all the fun we parents threw at the kids wore them out. But either way, it was a really good time seeing the Nance crew.

Off the boat dock from the back of the rental house, the marsh rose and fell with the tides. It made for some good bird watching and fiddler crab hunting.

The parents loaded up the kids for a trip to the South Carolina Aquarium, which sits on a gorgeous spot in downtown Charleston on the harbor. The kids got to pet an alligator and saw plenty of penguins, sharks, fish and jellies to provide a good thrill.

Gus, Aidan & Anmei posed for their Nemo shark bait moment.

One of the fun parts of trips are the impromptu moments that you can't plan for -- like when six kids are tired and hungry after a morning of sightseeing in the aquarium. So the parents pulled out the beach chairs and fed the kids sandwiches & goldfish right there in the parking garage. All we were missing was a cooler and a football game....

The Rutledge crew got to reunite with the Crumptons and meet cousin Sam for the first time. He is a laid back little fellow who takes in the two year-old tornado that is his big sister Corinne with a big gummy grin on his face.

Corinne experienced the Owen shun first hand as she was enamored with her older cousin, but he did his best "girls are icky" impression all week. (Talk to Tess, little peanut -- the two of you can share stories.)

Corinne and Gus on the other hand are cut from the same cloth -- both rowdy & rambunctious and (too?) lovable with their younger siblings.

What fun we had and will have as this group gets older.

The rest of the week was dedicated to entertaining kids. We beached it several times. At first the boys were very cautious of the water, which is what you want as a parent when it comes to the ocean -- a combined sense of awe and excitement with a healthy respect for the tides when you only weigh 35 lbs.

By the end of the week though, both boys had their badges of courage with the water and were body surfing and sticking their heads underwater. And of course, the receding tides offer wet sand which is just perfect for building sand castles....

and making mud balls to throw at each other.

Little Tess enjoyed herself as well -- chasing sea gulls, playing in the sand, walking Tucker on the beach, and adapting very well to the relaxed beach schedule which sometimes led to lunches at 2:30 in the afternoon.

We did break out of the beach routine a few times. This was our first visit back to Folly in two years since Gus had his fall that put him in the hospital. So we drove by the house where we had stayed to see that the open stairs had been closed off with a deck on the back of the house. Little Owen and his crazy accurate memory remembered a lot of it two years later and was full of questions. It gave a good sense of closure, especially for Amy.

Then we drove over to the park a block away where the kids ran off the rest of their morning energy. Owen does his best eerie devilish impression coming out of the slide.

Finally, we hit Splash Zone -- which has to be one of the coolest water parks there is -- on the morning before we drove back home. The boys were just tall enough to ride down the monster water slides with Dad, Mom & Uncle Dude.

All in all it was a good way to end the summer before preschool started back for the boys this week. We finished the summer with a splash & a bang.

Cheers!

Beer Summit

2009-07-30T15:00:00.004-04:00

At the risk of jumping back into politics for the first time in many months, I have to weigh in with my two cents on the controversy over the arrest of the black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates in his own home by the white policeman, James Crowley, and the unfortunate comments that followed by President Barack Obama about the police department "acting stupidly."

I think all parties involved overreacted, and this incident highlights the open wound that still exists in our society when it comes to black/white relations. But that is not the main thing I want to address.

President Obama proposed a meeting at the White House that is taking place today with Crowley and Gates. He suggested they all get together over a beer to talk about the issue and the greater issue of race relations in America. Great, I'm all for reconciliation and discussion. But there is a bigger issue at stake here.

My issue is over the choice of beers that have been chosen for this Kum Ba Yah moment of national healing.

Crowley, the policeman, has chosen Blue Moon as his beer of choice, which is a wheat beer owned by Coors most often served with an orange. And while I scratch my head that a working-class civil servant hero is drinking a beer garnished with a citrus and admittedly I am not a hefeweizen fan myself, kudos to Crowley for setting the bar with something a little bit out of the box with a Blue Moon.

For Gates he went with the trendy Jamaican beer Red Stripe, which is beer hyped more for its image than it is its flavor. But given that the guy is 5'7", 150 lbs, walks with a cane, and is a public intellectual from Harvard it's clear that the guy is not a beer drinker. To each his own. I'll cut the guy some slack. He was after all arrested for being in his own house.

Now for our President. After sticking his foot in his mouth by uncharacteristically dropping his guard and commenting on a story based on emotion instead of facts, President Obama has some ground to make up. Ok, he spoke without thinking. He's human like the rest of us. So here is his second chance. If he picks the right beer, he gets to have his discussion and then move on to the swamp that is health care reform. As the leader of the free world President Obama can pick any beer he wants to be his companion in this discussion.

There are endless possibilities. Help out the struggling California economy and pick a flowery India Pale Ale with cascade hops, say Green Flash West Coast IPA for example. Or go with a Brooklyn Brewing variety, made in the most multi-cultural place in America in New York City. Or pay tribute to America's colonial roots and to greater Boston where this controversy originated in picking a Harpoon -- heck, even a Sam Adams.

Obama's choice? Bud Light. The king of lawnmower beers. Not even owned by an American company anymore. A beer so lousy the company spends endless amounts on promoting it with goofy commercials, animals, and models to make it the best-selling beer in America.

Where has Hope gone?

Superhero Summer

2009-07-26T08:50:00.005-04:00

Owen & Gus have had quite the summer for four year-old little boys. After having GJ & Pappy visit their house for 10 days, the boys rode back to Kentucky to begin their Bluegrass Adventure without Mom, Dad & little sister. What fun!

After spending a few days in Glasgow with GJ & Pappy the boys journeyed across the state to spend time with Nana, Granddaddy and the Paducah crew. While there, there were reports of a superhero sighting nearby -- more on that in a moment.

When their time in Kentucky came to a close the boys piled into the van with their Aunt Ashley, Uncle Scott, and cousins Mason, Gavin & Brooke for the long return trip back to North Carolina. The kids were all reportedly on their best behavior -- funny how being together can bring the best out of each other.

Amy and I were very happy to see the boys for the first time in 8 days. It was obvious that we missed Owen & Gus more than they missed us. Oh well, that's the sign of a great visit right there.

We were then treated to a few days hanging out with the Posey crew in North Carolina. After an unsuccessful badminton attempt (cheap plastic poles from China!), we rebounded with bocce, a trip to the swimming pool, a campout in the backyard while it thunderstormed, and a great trip to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the North Carolina History Museum.

It was a tremendous time getting to see the Posey crew. It took the boys a couple of days to recoup from their trip and the fun of the visit. Tess had to adjust to not having her cousins around to dote on her as well. We look forward to many return visits!

Cheers!

Recipe:

The first step in a successful museum visit is hydration.

Pack up the van so there are enough seat belts and car seats to go around.

Throw in some sea horses and plenty of fish.....

....and the occasional 50-foot long plant-eating dinosaur.....

.....a stuffed pelican going after its prey.....

......some sea turtles......

....a few minutes to rest & catch our breaths.....

.....some peanut butter & jelly on the concourse.....

......a little fun goof-off time by the pirate ship at the history museum.....

.....and out comes two extremely happy superheroes.
(Nana took this picture across the river in Metropolis, Illinois. An instant classic for us!)

Welcome Stella

2009-07-21T11:22:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Chris & Pam LeDuc on the birth of their daughter, Stella Caelin. This is Chris & Pam's first child so they are about to start the awesome journey of parenthood. This little girl will eventually take Nels Cline's place as guitarist for Wilco, so Jeff Tweedy be warned.

Amy & I are so excited for you all. Cheers to you!

Key Cats

2009-07-16T18:21:00.004-04:00

So the boys are back in Kentucky about to finish up their Bluegrass Adventure in Glasgow and Paducah. Meanwhile, Amy & I have discovered what it was like to have one child -- a different experience than the chaotic house we normally inhabit, but it's still parenting.

In her brothers' absence, Tess has filled up the attention vacuum. Part of it may be Tess relishing her chance to shine and get attention. The other part may just be a (near) eighteen-month-old seeking out her independence.

Either way, Tess will probably be happy when her brothers return to North Carolina. In the meantime, Harper has gotten some more (unwanted?) attention.

Cheers!

Week of Independence

2009-07-10T21:04:00.007-04:00

In what is becoming an Independence Day tradition for our crew, we were joined over the holiday week by grandparents as Pappy & GJ made their way down from Kentucky. As Amy is back to work full time, the July 4 weekend represented a busy quarter close time for her at work. So Pappy & GJ agreed to come down & help out with the kids. We all ended up having a tremendous time.

The hit of the week was the swimming pool. With the weather in the low 90's and moderate humidity -- by far the best July 4th weather we have had in our 12 years in North Carolina -- the pool became a destination on several days.

Owen is definitely a natural water bug. Even the life guards were laughing as they would talk about how excited he got as he winded himself up before jumping off the side into waiting arms.

Gus was slower to get comfortable with the water and getting his face wet. You can see the progression from the first day when his apprehension level was high to the last day when he was putting his whole head under water and holding his breath.

Little Tess was very mellow in the water. Amy, Pappy, GJ & I passed her around and around as we took turns catching the boys as they jumped off the side and she didn't mind a bit. Once I took her out to deeper water where I threw her up and caught her, she found the joy that is the swimming pool. She kept putting her fingers together which is her sign language for "more." Kids, swimming pools, and summer -- quite a combination.

Once Tess finally wore herself out from the sun & water, she found happiness in Mom's arms.

Another fun part of Independence Day week is Wimbledon. This year's tournament was terrific with a Williams sister final on the women's side and an incredible five-set match on the men's side between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.

Amy & I even got out one night and dusted the old tennis racket off up at the neighborhood courts while the grandparents hung out with the kids. As much as I tried to safety pin Roger's talent to me, I just don't measure up.

After camping in Mt. Airy the boys brought back a taste for roasted marshmallows. So one night we gathered around the fire pit and made S'mores. Just when they thought it couldn't get any better than fluffy white sugar on a stick, the boys were thrilled as chocolate bars & graham crackers were added to the mix.

A sporting goods store close to us had a great sale on tents. So I picked up a 6-person tent and put it up in the backyard. Gus & Owen immediately wanted to sleep in the tent so after devouring some marshmallows the boys & I piled in for a good night's rest. Serta mattress not included this time.

Finally our last night together we borrowed a Raclette grill from our friends the Learys and cooked up a great dinner of bread, cheese, apple sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onions & potatoes. The boys -- excuse me, Batman and Robin -- were not impressed as they quickly begged for PB&J. Oh well, the adults and Tess enjoyed the heck out of it.

Cheers!

Mt. Airy

2009-06-27T22:22:00.006-04:00

Last weekend the Rutledge crew packed up on a Friday afternoon and drove out of Dodge. Our friends Brian & Kelly Wise have a house out in the country in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, home of Andy Griffith and the model for Mayberry on the TV show.

Owen & Gus were incredibly excited to be around Gracen & Cate, and Tess seemed very happy being around two girls for a change. She actually got to play with dolls and push a baby stroller instead of playing with trains and Planet Heroes.

For Amy & me, it was a great chance to get out of town without cellphones, email & 98 degree heat to spend quality time with Brian, Kelly and all the kids. The Wises have a great piece of property on top of a hill where the breeze always seems to blowing, which comes in handy on warm summer days.

There was fishing, four-wheeling, camping, marshmallow roasting, slip n' sliding, and plenty of relaxing. It was a tremendous getaway, one we hope to be able to do again.

Cheers!
The boys' unanimous favorite moment of the trip: Roasting marshmallows. Forget catching fish, throwing rocks, staying up late, or sleeping outside. The guys were in hog heaven with those little fluffy white puffs of sugar.
If you have a farm, you just have to have a four-wheeler.

Tess proved that she is indeed Dad's daughter. Corn on the cob is her new favorite food. As if I needed another reason for this little girl to have me wrapped around her finger....

Most men would be ashamed to be seen lugging a Serta mattress into a tent to camp for the night. Not these guys. Hey, the women slept inside in beds with Tess & Cate!

The fishing pond was stocked with bluegill that were pretty easy to catch, which made Owen's first fishing experience very exciting. Owen is definitely showing signs of being an outdoorsman. He was very patient while we fished and was in his element all weekend, content to fish or just throw rocks by himself into the pond. Apart from the marshmallow roasting I think his highlight may have been picking out which lure to use to catch those monstrous bluegill.

Three peas in a pod were Owen, Gracen & Gus.

Tess was so happy to be amongst female companions. Gracen & Cate show Tess that girls can have fun jumping on the bed too.

The slip n' slide was a joy for all the kids, especially Tessa Lou.

Sunday morning saw a great hike down to a creek looking for deer footprints...and deer poop. On the hike back up the mountain, Gus was happy to ride the four-wheeler with Gracen & Brian. Owen was happy strolling back up with his mom.

Being out in the country spoiled us. It was so peaceful. The bullfrogs would come out at night & compete with the crickets for control of the songs for the evening. The sunrises were incredible...

...even if you were snoring away on a Serta mattress in a tent while the sun came up.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:24:00.005-04:00

Derek, you are an incredible dad! Happy Father's Day!

Race for the Cure

2009-06-13T14:58:00.004-04:00

Normally when Gus, Owen or Tess are awake before 6:00am on a Saturday morning, Mom & Dad aren't happy. But Amy & I actually woke the crew up before sunrise this morning. Today was the Komen Race for the Cure over in Raleigh, as 22,000 runners united for the annual race for breast cancer research.

Amy & I had planned on running the first 5K race at 7am and then coming back home in time for breakfast with the kids. But we couldn't in good conscience ask someone to provide childcare beginning that early in the morning. So we signed the boys up for a fun run at the Kids' Zone and took the whole crew.

I ran the 5K at 7:00 while Amy entertained Gus, Owen & Tess. Then I took over with kiddos as Amy ran in a women's-only race at 7:45. The race is such an uplifting event as it winds through older neighborhoods in Raleigh where residents turn out to cheer people on and shower runners with their yard sprinklers. Pink shirts are everywhere as breast cancer survivors and their teams of supporters come out in droves. Bands and church choirs dot the course and perform for hours as runners make their way in three different races.

Meanwhile Amy & I had built up the notion of a kids' race for Owen & Gus -- how else were we going to get 2 four year-olds up at the crack of dawn without a scrum? So after our races we headed over to the kids' section where their "race" was supposed to take place. As it turned out the start to finish was probably 50 ft. which we figured would be a big disappointment.

So Amy & I decided to line the boys up for the 1 mile fun run which was taking place right next to the kids' section. The boys were all about it. Owen & Gus ran their little hearts out the whole way, stopping a couple of times to catch their breath. When they crossed the finish line you would have thought they won the Boston Marathon. Two excited little boys for certain.

So it was a long -- but very enjoyable day for the Rutl crew. Gus & Tess were falling asleep at the dinner table tonight. Thus, it's bedtime. Mom & Dad arent' too far behind.

Cheers!

Mom, the sprinter boys & Tessa Lou

The Rutledge dude runners.
Tess enjoyed the "pink" theme as she found a resting place.

The kid crew in a picture which is essentially a microcosm of their sibling relationship -- Gus gives Tess his Chick-fil-a cow stuffed animal while Owen scrubs Tess's head. Brotherly love comes in different forms.

Little Mobile Mama

2009-06-06T09:04:00.004-04:00

Tess is fully mobile these days. She is enamoured with Owen, shouting "Ohh! Ohh!" whenever she sees him. Of course Owen will still have nothing to do with her. He will come around someday.

In the meantime Tess intently watches everything her big brothers do and tries to emulate it. When they laugh at something on TV, she laughs. When they get the sillies and spin around and around in circles, she does the same. It is quite comical.

Some people that see her think she's a spitting image of Dad and Gus. I see expressions and mannerisms of Owen. In reality she's probably an amalgamation of all of us.

Here she is stumbling around with purse, jewelry, & keys -- shades of Gus Edward here. Note Harper's quick departure when she sees the young one scampering around -- the cats are none too happy to have yet another human walking around to run from.

Cheers!

Dad's Weekend

2009-06-01T10:48:00.003-04:00

So this weekend is going to be Dad's weekend with the kids. Amy is going out of town for a training course with our church so Owen, Gus & Tess will be hanging out with their pop until Sunday night.

I went to the grocery store to load up for the weekend. When I came back, Amy commented on the dietary selection I had chosen -- pizza, chips & salsa, burgers, squeeze yogurts, muffins for breakfast. Hey, if there is an easy button for Dad to push over the next 48 hours you better believe I'm going to be pushing it over & over!

Amy is going to miss her tennis idol potentially winning his first French Open. Now that his main competition in Rafael Nadal was upset earlier this week, Federer has a good shot. Thank goodness for DVR.

This past week has been the first since Amy has resumed "full-time" hours at work. It has been a juggle for sure -- hence the lack of blog posts, my apologies. But we made it through the week with everyone's limbs still attached and minimal emotional scars. Onward soldiers....

I have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon -- to follow Coach Calipari's endless sea of posts more than anything else. I think I have made 2 posts since getting on. Too much technology to keep up with. Amy is on Facebook, but I have refused to jump on that train so far. It's like cellphones. I held out (proudly) for a long, long time before I acquiesced and got on board with mobile communication. Now, I wonder how I functioned without it. I figure it's the same thing with Facebook. I'll hold out until it is mandatory and then wonder what I did for so long without it.

Tweet, tweet everyone. Have a good weekend.

Cheers!

Happy Splashing

2009-05-23T14:50:00.002-04:00

The Rutledge crew is going to be resting & relaxing this weekend. In fact, we have already started.

I think it's safe to say that Tess may be a water bug. Her first experience in the kiddie pool was full of chuckles.

Cheers to everyone for a safe & fun Memorial Day weekend.

Basketball Goals, Strawberries, & a Clay Court Dream

2009-05-19T13:25:00.007-04:00

Amy & I celebrated our 10th anniversary over the weekend. We shipped the boys off to Durham for a sleepover at Ms. Ann and Dr. Ron's house, and Dorothy stayed at our house with Tess. Although we didn't go far or take an elaborate trip, Amy & I did make a night of it in Raleigh, hitting two of our favorite restaurants and staying at a hotel downtown. It was a good break from the role of Mom & Dad that we play every day and to remember that we were husband & wife first before we were parents.

As we talked about things we had done over the past 10 years and things we wanted to do in the future, I was able to coax an agreement out of my wife that a basketball goal in the driveway needed to be in our future plans. Yes it was a random interjection, and yes it may have been influenced by Makers and Coke. But the tape recorder in my pocket doesn't lie.

The weather has reverted back to spring here in central North Carolina. Yesterday the temperature didn't break 70 degrees. For the first time in years, North Carolina is no longer in drought status as spring rains have been plentiful.

Our hummingbirds have finally returned to the house this past week. The boys decided to name the hummingbirds that come to feed outside our kitchen window. Whoever spots the bird at the feeder first gets to stake that claim that the hummingbird is his or hers -- "Flappy" (Gus), "Wings" (Mom), "Scooter" (Dad), or "Batman" (Owen). Tess just thinks we're all nuts.

Yesterday I took off a little early to go with Amy & the kids to the strawberry patch up the road. Owen & Gus did much better on this expedition than they did the last time when Gus ran out on the highway and nearly put Amy into cardiac arrest. The boys understand now that the red berries are the ones to pick as they know now that the green ones don't taste very good when they're made into smoothies.

For her part Tess was happy as a clam. She has finally started walking full-time so she slowly trotted up and down the strawberry row, picking berries to squish between her fingers and eating the goods before they made it into her basket.

Amy is into full-blown tennis mode. She dusted off her racket from storage and has been adamant about getting a game with her friend Julie or with me or with the dog for that matter. This woman is ready to play some tennis! Amy says it's because she loves the game and hasn't played such a long time. And it is true that Amy doesn't get enough time for herself and that she's been somewhat busy.....for the past four years.

But part of me suspects that the recent interest has something to do with the fact that the French Open begins this weekend and a certain Swiss tennis player recently knocked off Rafael Nadal in a clay court tune-up over in Europe.

If Roger Federer announces he's looking for a mixed doubles partner, Gus, Owen, Tess and I may be scratching our heads this weekend to find Amy on the tele from Stad Roland Garros instead of out on the deck for a Memorial Day cookout!

Cheers!

Game 7

2009-05-13T10:25:00.004-04:00

Tonight is Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between Carolina and Boston. To most of the country this game means nothing -- "Wait, Versus is a TV channel?" And even in Boston the Red Sox and Celtics are center stage while the Bruins play second fiddle.

But in the Triangle where we have no other professional sports, NCAA basketball is over, Koach K is out promoting his latest book, and everyone is tired of the never ending John Wall recruiting saga, tonight's Game 7 is huge.

Caniacs love their Hurricanes, and despite the disappointment of blowing a 3-1 series lead fans are hopeful that Carolina can turn things around to advance to the conference finals. This has been an odd series. The three games that Boston has won have all been blowouts -- 4-0, 4-1, and 4-2. Carolina has dominated in two of their wins 3-0 and 4-1.

So the hockey analysts will say that the winner tonight will be determined by which team can force its game on the other team -- Boston with its tough, physical play or Carolina with its speed up front.

And while that may be true, I say the winner will be determined by something more scientific.

Notable people
Boston boasts Paul Revere, Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, John Adams and JFK.
Carolina claims John Edwards, Jesse Helms, Dean Smith and Michael Jordan.
Advantage: Bruins

History
Boston: American Revolution and Boston Tea Party
Carolina: The Lost Colony, segregation
Advantage: Bruins

Beverages
Boston: Harpoon IPA, Sam Adams
Carolina: Pepsi, Carolina Pale Ale, and sweet tea with so much sugar it crunches
Advantage: Canes

Sports
Boston: Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, Bruins, Boston College
Carolina: Hurricanes, UNC/Duke/NC State
Advantage: Push (depends on your flavor)

Arenas
Both are named for banks -- Boston's TD Banknorth Garden (shameful) and Carolina's RBC Center.
Advantage: Push (lame corporate sponsors)

Mascots
Boston: Blade, a bear

Carolina: Stormy -- is he a Pig? A Bear? A Hybrid?

Advantage: Canes (there are no bears in Massachusetts!)

Well that didn't help. So I think it will come down to who scores first, especially if the Bruins are able to draw first blood and take Carolina off their game. If it's close watch out for Jussi Jokinen of the Canes. He has scored two game winners so far in the playoffs. It should be a great game.

Go Canes!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T23:06:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. We wouldn't be anywhere without them.

Our crew celebrated Mother's Day with homemade greeting cards, a jog, a rosebush (that Owen kept as a surprise for all of about 15 minutes), and a cookout. It was a good celebration for the wonderful mom in our family that keeps us ticking. Cheers to you Amy B.

Happy Mother's Day!

Steppin' Up

2009-05-05T10:26:00.003-04:00

Tess has been slow to embrace walking. About a month ago she took her first steps to Amy & me, and we thought she would be off and running. Since then she has little interest in walking and crawls everywhere. Lately she has taken to her sign language, clapping her hands together, looking up at us, and holding her arms out -- her sign for "Hold me, parental unit."

Well last weekend she finally took off in the kitchen with about 20 steps. So while walking is still not her preferred mode of transportation -- why walk when you can be carried or crawl at the speed of sound -- at least we know she can do it.

Amy got a video of Tess walking for Miss Dorothy. We keep trying to entice...

Cheers!

Love Line with Owen

2009-05-04T20:31:00.003-04:00

Walking around in the backyard this weekend spreading some pine straw, Owen noticed all the tulips that have fallen from the tulip poplar trees. Thinking I would help the lad by planting the seed of charm that might come in handy down the road I thought he should practice on the #1 female in his life, Mom.

Owen: Dad, look! Look at all these flowers on the ground.
Dad: Yep, those are tulips from the tulip poplar trees. Look up -- do you see all the flowers on the big tree over your head?
Owen: Yeah.
Dad: Those are pretty flowers, aren't they Owen?
Owen: Yeah, they are beautiful!
Dad: Owen, you should go give that flower to Mom and tell her that as pretty as this flower is it's not as pretty as she is.
Owen: Alright.

(Owen walks up to his mother, also working out in the yard.)

Owen: Mom, this flower is prettier than you are.

Dr. Ruth has nothing on my son.

Homecoming

2009-05-03T14:56:00.002-04:00

Amy & the kiddos returned from their excursion back to Kentucky to spend time with Amy's family. And although Tess picked an unfortunate time to go through a "stick every second to Mom" phase, the boys and Amy had a great time visiting cousins, aunts, uncles & grandparents. Owen & Gus each took pictures of their trip to show-and-tell, and Gus has asked several times if it's time to go back to Nana and Granddaddy's.

Bachelor week was pretty good for Dad I must admit. But by the weekend I was ready to see the wife & kids. I did manage to do many of those little things around the house that you can never seem to do with kids around -- paint that spot on the wall where the boys crashed into it with the push toy, work out in the yard, go to the bathroom without a child accompanying me, etc. So that part was really nice. But I missed the commotion and the chaos for sure.

It took me a couple of days to get "back into shape" so to speak with the kids. For 8 days I had done pretty much what I wanted. So when it came time to give baths, read stories & put kids to bed I had to get back into the groove. After a couple of times it's like riding a comfortable bike.

Thanks to the family in Paducah for taking the crew in and showing them a fun time. Cheers!

The Bachelor Diaries - Vol I

2009-04-22T13:08:00.001-04:00

This week is Bachelor Week at la casa de Rutledge as Amy ventured back to Kentucky -- with three kids in tow -- to spend some time with the Smith, Blackburn and Sturm crews. Yesterday Amy managed 3 children, a stroller, luggage and carry-on's through airports and made it to Paducah just fine. My hat is off to her for braving that trip! All early reports indicate the boys have latched on to their cousins Gavin & Mason and Tess has clung to cousin Brooke -- what a match that crew should be for the week.

Meanwhile here in NC, I am holding down the fort with the dog & cats, deciding if I really do in fact relish the peace and quiet or if the lack of noise from little ones running around is too eerie. I think it's safe to say that the empty nest is refreshing for now but will be lonesome by the time the family returns.

So I'm left to decide what to do with all this time not spent shuttling, bathing, refereeing, reading to, disciplining, cooking for, playing with, and cleaning up after children. My buddy Chris asked for my to-do list so he could give me grief when I didn't do half of it. This is very likely to be the case. Odds of those touch-up paint or deck sealing jobs actually getting done are about 1 in 100. But a guy can dream -- it's only been 24 hours!

For now I have made the most inexpensive grocery run this family has seen in months, slept until the alarm clock went off, and taken the dog on more walks than he normally gets in a week. Tucker may change the locks on the doors so he stays #1 on the totem pole.

Cheers!

Baby Jenneson

2009-04-21T10:18:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to our friends Dave & Allison Jenkins who gave birth to their first child last week with daughter Jenneson arriving at 7 lbs. 12 oz. on Monday, April 13. This is the last of the April births of our friends -- at least the last that we know of anyway! April has turned out to be quite a baby month. New life in spring.

Congrats Dave & Allison -- welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood!

Cheers!

Sliced Bread Video

2009-04-17T15:26:00.005-04:00

Recently I have taken all our photos off a dinosaur PC and backed them up on an external hard drive. I realized I desperately needed to organize them better. Working on the photos for the boys' birthday celebration at school, I stumbled onto Picasa 3, the free product from Google. I feel like I've just discovered that bread comes pre-sliced.

Having not used PhotoShop or much more than the basic editing software in the past, I am all about this application. I'm sure there are even more advanced ones out there. But you have to learn to crawl before learning to walk.

So anyway I was messing around with some clips and a video & put a little something together highlighting the first four years of Owen & Gus.

Enjoy!

Cheers!

Birthday Boys

2009-04-16T15:13:00.008-04:00

Owen & Gus turned 4 yesterday and we celebrated by taking an afternoon off to go over to their first baseball game, or as Owen called it "a really long basketball game."

The day started with a small celebration at the boys' preschool. Amy & I had sorted through 4 years of digital pictures on the computer to find 10 for each of them. I took my laptop to school, and Gus and Owen each presented pictures from their first 4 years -- from photos of them being connected to a dozen wires in an incubator after birth (which fascinated the other kids) to pictures of trips to the zoo, beach & aquarium. The boys took a lap around the sun candle for each of their four years while the students recited their little birthday poem. It was quite a little event that they do for each birthday.

Owen talks about pictures of him with his dog Tucker, brother and sister, and those chomping alligators at the zoo.

Next it was on to the DBAP, home of the Durham Bulls and Bull Durham. ("Anything hit that far should have a stewardess on it....")

The boys were so excited to see Wool E. Bull that they got stagefright the moment they actually got to meet him. Gus managed a high five but then ran for the sanctity of Mom & Dad while Owen would have no part. They both enjoyed Wool E's caper around the ballpark on a go-cart between innings.

The highlight of the day and the ball game by far was the junk food. Cotton candy, Cracker Jack, popcorn, hot dogs, you name it -- the boys ate it.

"I'm eating this stuff like there's no tomorrow. You only turn four once!"

Finally two tired brothers returned home to hang out with Mom, Dad, GJ, and Tess. Happy birthday dudes. Many happy returns.

Cheers!

Easter

2009-04-12T20:33:00.006-04:00

Easter provided our crew a good chance for some rest & relaxation with family & friends. After a rainy Good Friday the weather cleared up for Easter egg hunts, time out in the yard, dinner with friends and feasting on a small mountain of chocolate.

On Saturday Owen found the "golden egg" at the Easter egg hunt at our church, for which he was rewarded with a giant chocolate treat. Then that night our good friends the Learys brought their kids over for some great conversation, food, and play time.

Today our crew ventured to church for the Easter cantata and an uplifting, simple message from our pastor Joanne about the true meaning of Easter. The afternoon featured a long nap from Tess as the couch beckoned me to sink into it and watch the final round of the Masters with the windows open. Unfortunately I couldn't pull Kentuckian Kenny Perry through, but it was a memorable, relaxing day nonetheless.

Happy Easter everyone.

Owen, Rachel and Gus hunt for Easter eggs in the backyard.

Andrew and Tess try to elbow their way in to get some sandbox time in with the older siblings.

Owen & Gus vie for Rachel's laughs as they push her from front and back. Rachel's quote: "I never knew swinging could be so much fun!"

Tess sported her lovely new Easter dress that her Nana made for her. Several folks at our church service doted on her, and Tess ate it up. All the attention must have worn the little girl out because she took a 3-hour nap when we got home -- her longest nap ever.

Finally, I tried to catch this clip of the boys as they created a new game of basketball this afternoon. The audio didn't come through, but you will get the idea. Gus dragged the basketball goal all the way down from the garage to the playset -- refusing anyone's help of course in true Gus fashion. Then he & Owen proceeded to invent their own game of hoops as they dropped the ball from the top of the playset to score. Whoever dropped the ball had to get off the playset and retrieve the ball. These two played this game for a long time. Having a twin brother as a playmate sure comes in handy sometimes.

Baby Katy

2009-04-10T20:12:00.005-04:00

The baby tour continues as our dear friends Chad and Claudia Guthrie celebrate the arrival of Baby Katy tonight. The newest Guthrie weighed in at 7.3 lbs and a head full of hair. Chad was texting me all day with updates so Amy & I felt like we were right there with them at the hospital in Florida. Hopefully Chad's updates weren't keeping him from helping Claudia with her breathing.

We are so very happy for our former next-door neighbors. And we're happy that Chad actually stayed in the delivery room without fainting.

Welcome Katy!

Spring Break

2009-04-10T17:57:00.004-04:00

After helping the Crumpton crew with the arrival of Baby Sam, GJ made the trek back up to NC to hang out with our crew until the boys' birthday. This past week was Spring Break for the boys' preschool so the extra pair of helping hands came in very handy.

Spring is here in central North Carolina as temperatures have climbed up into the 70's. It has been the perfect weather for trips to the park, Easter egg hunts, and firing up the grill. At night the adults are all pretty tired, but we did manage to break out a game of Sequence for old time's sake last night.

Owen and Gus have spent their week playing hard and watching some movies. Wall-E is the current movie de jour, with Jungle Book, Lady & the Tramp, and 101 Dalmatians following those. (Television will never raise my childr.....nevermind.)

Tessa Lou is still not walking. It's funny because she took about 4 steps a few weeks back for Amy & me. She repeated the steps several times that day, and Amy & I were certain she was about to be walking all over the place. But since then she hasn't taken a step. Why walk when you can crawl at the speed of sound or be carried by Mom, Dad, GJ, or Miss Dorothy?

So we wait patiently for her to begin her upward mobility. If it were the boys who waited this long to walk we probably would have been worried. In fact I know we would have. But given that we have been through this with the boys, Amy & I just figure Tess will walk when she's good & ready. I think she will be like Owen was when he started walking and take 20-30 steps at a time as soon as she puts her mind to it.

What Tess lacks in upright movement she makes up for in being a ham and chatting. She has really picked up sign language (all done, more, milk, "I've been in this high chair for an hour and you better get me out in the next 5 seconds or this plate's flying"). She takes after Gus in the ham department as she loves to show off by putting something on her head or around her neck and then waiting for your reaction.

So while life for us can be tiring trying to keep up with it all, it is very, very rewarding.

Have a great Easter everyone.

Cheers.

Nothing like a spring picnic in the.....garage? Whatever works.

Little Easy Rider herself decides to bypass walking for the fun stuff.

Baby Charlotte

2009-04-08T17:17:00.004-04:00

Continuing with the April baby theme, my cousin Brooke and her husband Geoff welcomed their second today with the arrival of Charlotte Elizabeth this morning. Charlotte joins sister Gabi, who word has it was displeased with her new sister's name because "Charlotte is a spider's name."

And so it begins....

Congratulations to the Barrett crew!

(Charlotte will forever share a birthday with my mom -- Happy birthday GJ!)

Baby Rachel

2009-04-08T08:58:00.005-04:00

Something was in the water last July as Amy & I know many people who are expecting little ones in April. The second arrival we celebrate this month is Rachel Mills, who arrived yesterday at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and is the first child for Jeff & Janet, our good friends back in Louisville. I'm sure it won't be long until Jeff has her decked out in Big Blue.

Congratulations to the Mills crew! Cheers!

Jeff & baby Rachel.

Baby Sam

2009-04-06T11:32:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Aunt Mel and Uncle Dude! A new baby boy, Samuel Carver arrived late last week to join the Crumpton crew. GJ was in Charleston when Sam arrived and Pappy hightailed it down to SC when he heard the news. According to Mel, Corinne likes to slop wet kisses on her new baby brother! Classic!

Welcome young Sam and congratulations Crumptons!

The Era of the Squid Begins

2009-04-01T12:06:00.005-04:00

Fortunately for my company -- and any workplace in the country where there is a UK fan working -- Kentucky hired a head men's basketball coach today in John Calipari. Productivity can resume.

Calipari will bring instant credibility on the elite national level as far as recruiting and coaching are concerned. He consistently recruited the top high school talent to play for him at Memphis. So as far as competing with the UNC, Duke, UConn, and Kansas programs of the college basketball world is concerned, there probably was not a better person to do that than Calipari.

The new coach will bring a self-confidence and media saavy ambassador presence to the role that was certainly not Billy Gillispie's sweet spot. So for those fans that were concerned about getting a coach that would embrace the public aspect of the job, that concern should be put to rest.

Calipari is not without his critics. One man's self-confidence is another man's arrogance. Rival coaches do not like him, including Bruce Pearl and Rick Pitino. Rival fans are quick to bring up his associations with power brokers in the amateur basketball world. Many writers have already noted that his 1996 Final Four team was stripped of its wins because its star player, Marcus Camby, received cash from an agent under Calipari's watch (even though Calipari denied knowledge).

So like everything in life, there is good and bad with the hire. For me, an avid Kentucky fan living in the hotbed of ACC basketball, I just look forward to the Cats being back at that elite national level. And I can just ignore those UNC message board posts referencing Emery freight boxes stuffed with cash, death penalty probation, and shady recruiting connections.

Go Big Blue!

Open letter from my bosses

2009-03-30T21:46:00.006-04:00

Date: Monday, March 30, 2009
To: Lee Todd, President, University of Kentucky
From: IBM management, Software Middleware division

Dear Dr. Todd,

We are writing you to ask you and your Athletics Director, Mitch Barnhart, to please move quickly in naming a head coach for the UK basketball team. Normally we do not mettle in affairs of athletics or higher education. As an IT company our business is technology, not basketball.

However, we have noticed a dramatic drop in productivity in one of our employees in sector 7G, cube H164 over the past few days, and we believe that drop corresponds directly with your vacant head coaching position.

After more detailed investigation it appears this employee -- a tall, lanky fellow with bags under his eyes the size of teabags and who shall remain nameless -- has been foregoing his professional responsibilities and instead sits at his laptop hitting the F5 refresh key on message boards, espn.com, and kentucky.com until his fingertips are thick with heavy callouses. As a result, no one else in our software lab in North Carolina has any internet bandwidth because this employee is using it all to see if you have named a coaching replacement.

So please understand our predicament and take our request under advisement. The employee's wife has also contacted us, asking that we send security in to pry him away from computer. And to remind him to pick up some diapers on the way home.

Thank you for your time and best of luck in your search.

Sincerely,
IBM software management team

AIG

2009-03-25T12:32:00.003-04:00

Interesting editorial today in the NYT from an exec at AIG who announces his resignation and gives his side of the story to the people that were promised the bonuses which are triggering outrage across the country.

He actually raises some fair points in his defense -- not everyone at AIG is to blame for the mistakes of the few, politicians grandstand and scapegoat people without understanding all the facts, and this guy is actually donating his bonus to charity (assuming Congress doesn't tax it at 90% like the Dems have proposed).

It goes to show that there are two sides to every story. That said, he lost me once I read down at the end of the article about how much the guy made in that bonus. Unbelievable.

"Dear AIG, I Quit!"

On March 16 I received a payment from A.I.G. amounting to $742,006.40, after taxes. In light of the uncertainty over the ultimate taxation and legal status of this payment, the actual amount I donate may be less — in fact, it may end up being far less if the recent House bill raising the tax on the retention payments to 90 percent stands. Once all the money is donated, you will immediately receive a list of all recipients.

The comments online in response have been brutal. My personal favorite:

In what other universe does a company that loses $60B in one quarter pay huge bonuses negotiated when it was clear the company was going down. Thanks to the U.S. taxpayers, which will be paying for this debacle for many years, AIG is still a company instead of a bankrupt shell and you still have your stocks and they may someday be worth something

Cutting Losses

2009-03-16T15:38:00.003-04:00

Selection Sunday was yesterday, and for the first time in 18 years Kentucky was left out of the brackets. There has been a lot written, blogged, and "talk radioed" about the state of the Kentucky basketball program with Billy Gillispie at the helm. Much of the ranting and raving comes from the same people that expect Kentucky to win every game and make the Final Four every year. I do not count myself in that company of Kentucky basketball fanatic. But I do count myself -- reluctantly -- in the company of those that believe Dr. Lee Todd and Mitch Barnhart should cut the cord with Gillispie after a short two-year stint as basketball coach.

Let me start by saying that I was a fan of the Gillispie hire. Although I was a Tubby Smith supporter to his last day on the job, I thought if anyone fit the mold of what it takes to succeed in the fishbowl that is the University of Kentucky basketball program, it was Billy Gillispie. Here was a guy that admittedly put basketball first and foremost in his life so much so that it cost him his marriage. What better person was there to eat, sleep, and breathe basketball at one of the most storied schools in the country to appease a never-satisfied fan base.

Through his first season and a half, I still thought he was the best coach for the job despite some embarrassing losses -- Gardener-Webb, a 40-pt drubbing at Vanderbilt, VMI. But my mind began to change in January as Kentucky went on a 3-game losing streak. It was not the losses that bothered me so much -- after all, Kentucky never did develop a solid scoring option outside of Jodie Meeks or Patrick Patterson. Rather, it was the way the coach handled himself in representing the university that bothered me.

At Ole Miss, Gillispie was interviewed by an ESPN sideline reporter where he gave a condescending answer to a straightforward question. The next game, a home loss to loss to South Carolina in January where UK blew a 10-point second half lead, Gillispie chased the officials off the court at the end of the game rather than shaking South Carolina coach (and Lexington native) Darrin Horn's hand. Finally, the following week on another ESPN-televised game against Florida, Gillispie once again gave a belittling, snippy answer to a seemilngly harmless question from Jeannine Edwards, ESPN's sideline reporter.

As the losses began piling up and Kentucky's chances became slimmer and slimmer of making the tournament, articles were written that were more and more critical of Kentucky's coach. Some of those articles come with the territory when a team is losing. But when a coach's team is not winning the quirks and behaviors are less likely to be brushed aside or glossed over.

One article in particular on espn.com stuck with me as I came to grips with the fact that I may join some of the fanatics that were calling for Gillispie's head. The piece was "An inside look at a blue blood on the bubble" by Dana O'Neil where she was given "all access" to follow the team and coach through practices and games the last week of the season. The article touched on Gillispie's sarastic leadership & motivational style:

Gillispie hasn't revealed himself to be a yeller. He is more a sniper, a guy with a biting tongue who can make his point without ever inserting a curse word.
Far edgier in this practice, he reacts to a lazy lob pass with a "That's the difference between being 11-4 and 8-7 right now,'' and sarcastically asks a player if he's ready to hustle now.

If you have ever worked for a manager or played for a coach that used this type of leadership with people, you know how limited this approach is. I am a believer that you don't bring the best out in people over the long term by consistently belittling them or using negative motivational tactics. Granted, this is basketball and you don't hand out Disney stickers when a player does something good to motivate him. There is yelling and hard-nosed tactics involved with motivating 18 year-olds. But sarcasm and negativity as the cornerstone of your approach burns people out over the long haul.

Case in point, a team that features two of the best players in the country in Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson (and two incredibly quality individuals at that) loses nine of its last thirteen games down the stretch and misses the NCAA.

So I am joining the fanatics in calling for a coaching change after two seasons. After two seasons of a childish, arrogant, and ultimately non-producing coach, Billy Gillispie is not the right guy to lead the University of Kentucky basketball team.

The only caveat I will put on this is if Gillispie atones for his mistakes and changes his ways, especially with how he represents the university. But there is something about that stubborn, arrogant Texas swagger that leads me to believe Kentucky fans have to take him or leave him as he is.

If that's the case I say cut your losses right now and make a change before the situation gets even worse.

Random Kid Conversation #384

2009-03-05T13:25:00.006-05:00

There is something amusing about having a conversation with a three year-old. Just the reckless abandon with which they blurt out whatever comes to their mind, regardless of company or context.

My most recent favorite from last night after Owen cleaned his plate.

Dad: Owen, you did a really good job with dinner. You ate all your soup. That makes Mom very happy when you eat something that she worked hard to make.

Mom: Yes, Owen, very good job.

Dad: What was your favorite part of the soup, the potatoes or the meat?

Owen: Mmmmm, all of it.

Mom: That makes me very happy, Owen. Thank you.

Owen: When my penis burns, I come and tell you.

Mom (bewildered): Uh.....Owen, is your penis burning now?

Owen: No, but when I go to the bathroom and my penis does burn I come tell you or Dad.

Lions, Lambs, Hooks and Reality TV

2009-03-01T17:07:00.005-05:00

"In like a lion, out like a lamb" goes the saying about March. We are living proof of that here, even just this week. It has rained nonstop for 2 days -- of course this happens on the weekend so we parents are forced to entertain kids indoors. Tonight it is supposed to turn over to snow, with 2" to 4" of accumulation predicted. The low Tuesday morning is 14 degrees.

But wait, whatever snow we get will be out of here in a hurry. By Saturday the temperature is predicted to warm up to a balmy 74 degrees. So we have a 60 degree swing in 4 days. Craziness.

This weekend I made my first trip to Blockbuster in over 5 years. Amy & I just never rent movies anymore. If we do make the time for a silver screen special, we normally just dial one up on pay-per-view. But even that is a rarity. So given the prospect of having two energetic 3 year-olds in the house for two days in the rain (and potential snow), I decided to get the boys some movies and get us adults some movies to guarantee ourselves a couple of date nights.

I had to call my pal Chris from the video store to tell me what movies had been released since Casablanca, which was out about the last one Amy & I rented a flick. We settled on "W" -- which is supposed to be a humorous and even sympathetic portrayal of our favorite Presidential punching bag -- "The Prestige," and "Changling." No clue if these will be any good, but it's worth a couple of bowls of popcorn to find out.

The boys have worn out "101 Dalmatians" and "Peter Pan" the past two days. Owen was a little unnerved by Cruella deVille and Captain Hook. You forget as an adult that these villains in some of these old Disney classics were drawn & animated pretty scarily for a kid. But both boys were very happy when the dogs triumphed over Horace and Jasper the dognappers and when Pan & kids fed Hook to the crocodile. The Disney classics will always have a place in my heart.

Other than the movie binge, Amy and I are presently stuck on "Millionaire Matchmaker," which comes on Bravo on Thursday nights. It's about a woman in Hollywood who fixes millionaires up with their true loves. The show is somewhat mindless like a good reality show should be. But it's 60 minutes of escape and actually does provide a cool glimpse into human nature, regardless of income. And the best part is Matchmaker doesn't make you feel like you need to take a shower afterward like "Rock of Love," which admittedly we still keep up with.

So it's been an ode to TV weekend here as we await the sleet and ice. Stay warm wherever you are.

Cheers!

Tess Phone Home

2009-02-27T12:39:00.003-05:00

Someone please call this little girl. ;-)

Meet Jack

2009-02-17T06:30:00.004-05:00

With apologies for the poor video quality (I grabbed the camera as soon as Gus started talking, paying no attention to light), here is Gus telling everyone all about his imaginary friend/cousin/brother Jack.

Jack is nine (today at least), built his own brick house in the spooky woods, likes broccoli (go figure), has a house full of cats and dogs, and is his cousin but not Owen's cousin.

I can't wait to meet this kid.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T09:12:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day from our crew to yours. Here's hoping that you like your kisses better than Tess liked hers.

Daddy's Little Girl

2009-02-13T13:12:00.002-05:00

Everything around our house is "Hi Da-da." It took a little enticing for the camera, but Tess shows the easiest way to wrap a smitten father around every one of her fingers. (Forgive the snot rockets btw.)

Little Ladybug Turns One

2009-02-12T10:50:00.005-05:00

So last weekend our little Tess celebrated her first birthday. One year old. I can't believe it. A year ago I rushed Amy to the hospital at 5:00 in the morning, and Tess decided she wasn't waiting any longer. She was hanging out with us by 8:00.

Tess's first year was hopefully a harbinger of what her personality will be. She is one mellow, happy little girl. She can be quite the charmer as what she lacks in willingness to walk around, she makes up for in being a ham.

Amy & I look forward to the days when she can join the mix with her two older brothers, but for now we are just happy that for the most part she doesn't venture too far off.

For the birthday celebration we were joined by Nana and Aunt Kay who flew to Raleigh to spend the week with us. What a good time we had. Although we didn't get to get out and show off the area too much, we made up for it by spending quality time together and decorating the house for the birthday party.

Nana and Kay were tremendous help to Amy & me with the kids, giving us a much-appreciated break from the grind. Amy & I even got out of the house for dinner together after all the partying was over on Saturday. The boys really responded well to their grandmother and great aunt, raring to wake them up every morning and winding down at night as they read bedtime stories together. A great time!

Happy Birthday little ladybug!

Aunt Kay and Nana have a feel for decorating.
Owen has a feel for chips before the eastern North Carolina barbecue feast.
Amy spent 3 days on a ladybug cake. I have to admit -- even after all the grief I gave her for not buying a cake at the store, this one turned out incredibly cute. A job well done!

When it was time to party, we had a little girl who delayed things as she crashed for a siesta before the fiesta.

Our other incredible helpers Ms. Ann and Ms. Jeanne from Covenant came by to help us celebrate the big day.

After all the cake decorating, mantle decorating, balloons, morning nap, and build-up, Tess wouldn't eat her cupcake. She didn't like the sticky icing on her fingers and eventually cried until we took it away. Amy was a bit deflated, but the next day Tess properly dove in to the make-up cupcake head first.

"All this for me? Ok."

Cheers!

Gimme the Gas

2009-02-05T20:31:00.001-05:00

Hat tip to Chris LeDuc for this gem. I always loved getting the gas at the dentist's office.

"Is this real life?" Too funny.

Excuses

2009-02-04T14:15:00.005-05:00

First and foremost, I have been a major slacker in terms of posting recently. My sincere apologies.

Just so you know my time on the blog has been limited lately as I have been in preliminary discussions with joining the Barack Obama administration as Health and Human Services Secretary. Unfortunately, like Tom Daschle, who withdrew his nomination for failing to pay taxes for having a limousine driver, I had to back out of negotiations as tax attorneys were questioning my monthly expenditures on Green Flash IPA and Enfamil baby formula. Apparently this was raising red flags.

Ok, ok, so maybe I only wish I was under consideration for a Cabinet appointment. But I have been in discussions with UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart about replacing coach Billy Gillispie mid-season. The second-year coach has clearly lost control over this UK team which has now lost a dreadful three games in a row to subpar SEC teams. Once again, my dirty laundry appears to have come back to haunt me as a picture in a London tabloid with my friend Michael Phelps is making Barnhart gun shy about making a historic coaching hire.

Not buying it? Well, after making it through the phantom hernia (as my pal Chris called it), I have had to ease back into running so I have been taking up walking more. While on a walk through the neighborhood the other day I was approached by a Tyrannasaurus Rex and a Triceratops who wanted to know which house was Owen's and Gus's. When I refused to tell the hungry meat eaters, they tossed me about with their friend the Brachiosaurus and wouldn't let me return home. Hence, no posts.

(For the record, Owen & Gus loved the version of that last story I told them at the dinner table. They now insist on trying to outdo me with tall tales of dinosaurs scratching at their windows & dinosaurs approaching the car at stoplights while I'm driving.)

The truth is life has been rather hectic the first month of the year, especially on the work front. IBM -- as countless other companies dealing with the economic recession -- has laid off thousands of people over the past couple of weeks. Fortunately for Amy and me, we both still have jobs at Big Blue. But many people we know and work with were impacted. So I think there has been a renewed vigor with which we approach our jobs -- both a desire to make sense of all the changes and a determination to show that we have our place in the new environment, whatever it may look like.

We do have some fun things to report.

"Jack" is now 4 years old, but he knows how to drive. Mom and Dad can't see Jack, and Owen is allowed to see him.....sometimes.

Everything out of Tess's mouth is "Da-da." When I come into the room, it's "Hi, Da-da!" When Amy picks Tess up off the floor, it's "Hi, Da-da!" As Amy says, Tess is going to need more fingers since she has me wrapped around each of hers. Indeed.

Our little girl is turning 1 this weekend. Nana and Aunt Kay flew in last night to help us celebrate which we are very excited about. Amy has a ladybug cake on the docket which the boys are excited about. And we are planning a small get together with some of Tess's many caretakers which should be a lot of fun.

So there is some goodness going on with us outside the stresses. I will do a better job of updating.

If I can just steer clear of those dinosaurs....

Cheers!

Jack, Wall-E & the Back

2009-01-26T10:22:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Amy acquired another child to care for. Sensing that she was not content with chasing three kids around I pulled a muscle in my abdomen on Friday which made me virtually useless all weekend. At one the lowest point of my self-pity party I waddled off the bed onto to the floor where it took me a good 7 minutes to put my socks on.

"This shows you how much pain I'm in. Look, I can't even put my #$%@ socks on, honey."
"Um, try nine months of feeling like that."

Touche.

So despite the grumpiness and high maintenance that comes with having a husband who is confined to the couch, our crew managed to have a decent weekend. The boys and I got in two end-to-end viewings of Wall-E, which has quickly become the movie of the moment in our quarters. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. As Cars was brilliant on multiple levels for parents and kids alike, Wall-E has a wonderful message of taking care of the planet for adults and a sweet, lovable little robot for kids. Not to mention the robot Eve who "shoots hot fire out of her fingers, Dad!" which thrills Owen.

Owen has really taken an interest in learning the sounds of his letters. He told me that he wanted to learn to read like a friend of his at school. Once I told him that the best way to learn to read was know all his sounds, he immersed himself in "what word starts with..." and "what sound does this letter make" games. He took the occasional break from the learning games as he did when I flipped to a volcano show on Discovery Channel -- "Dad, look hot lava and fire shooting all over that truck!" But for the most part a light has gone off with that kid.

Gus has taken an interest into the imaginary world as he now routinely informs Amy and me that he in fact has another brother besides Owen. This brother is named Jack, and apparently Jack is about 10 years old -- or a baby depending on the situation. Yesterday Jack told Gus that Gus didn't need to eat his breakfast or get dressed. Well no wonder my back hurts -- we've got more kids running around here than even Amy & I know about.

Cheers!

Here's the culprit btw. I think I twisted a muscle when I was holding this little one in the driveway. I would be frustrated, but it's kind of hard to get frustrated at a child with a duck hanging out of her mouth.

Snow Day

2009-01-20T22:10:00.004-05:00

In the 11 years we have lived in Raleigh we can almost count on one hand the number of times we have had a measurable snowfall. So last night when the weather forecasters called for 1" to 3" of the white stuff, Amy & I didn't fully believe that the snow gods would truly deliver.

But deliver they did as 5 to 6 inches of snow fell overnight and this morning, making for the kids' first snow day experience. You would have thought it was Christmas morning with the shouts of excitement as the boys looked out the window after they woke up. It reminded us of how excited we used to get at the prospect of being out of school all day and playing outside in the snow with friends.

So Amy & I dressed and undressed and dressed and undressed the boys for several trips outside to make snow angels, chase the dog, and sled down the hill. Our neighbors next door came over and the girls shared their sleds with the boys as they all took turns sliding down the hill over and over in the backyard.

School is canceled tomorrow as well as a hard freeze will make roads treacherous tomorrow. So we'll likely wake up and do it all over again.

Ah, to be a kid again.

Cheers!
The dryer worked overtime to keep the clothes dry in between trips out in the white stuff.
Gus and his neighbor next door Sarah shared a sled ride to much laughter and shouting.

Unsure of the slippery footing of the snow at first, Owen quickly adapted and enjoyed eating flakes.
Alas, the sun goes down on snow days too. Buck up little fella, it will be around tomorrow too.

Jodie Meeks

2009-01-14T21:22:00.005-05:00

With all due respect to the UT fans among our readers, this was taken off the Kentucky message boards today:

“Rocky Top, you’ll always be
Known for Jodie Meeks
Good ole Rocky Top
54 for 23″

Jodie Meeks unloaded 54 points on Tennessee in Knoxville last night. The game was quickly classified with "Save until I manually delete" status on the DVR.

What a night -- Go Big Blue!

Nose beads, channel locks, and sitting down to pee

2009-01-13T13:18:00.005-05:00

So the New Year is off to a busy start for our crew after a great holiday break. The boys are back in school and come home every day with stories of their learning adventures. Yesterday one of their friends in class stuck a bead up his nose. The teachers called his mother who took him with her infant son in tow to the emergency room for 5 hours (!!!) before the boy revealed to his mom that the bead had in fact fallen out of his nose while he was still at school.

I am ever so thankful that this "teaching moment" for our kids was one that we learned through someone else's trials and tribulations rather than our own. Amy & I spent much of the dinner conversation last night pounding it into the boys' heads that only Kleenex go into our noses, not fingers and certainly not beads.

Dorothy is back taking care of Tess in the mornings so our little girl is back in her routine as well. Still not a napper, Tess is fully mobile now which led us to dig out the baby gate for the top of the stairs.

(Interesting baby gate side story -- when I was securing the gate to the posts with cable ties, the channel lock pliers slipped and I hit myself right square in the eyeball. I wallowed on the ground screaming for a few minutes until the pain finally subsided. Meanwhile Owen -- who again is going through his ups and downs adjusting to life with a baby sister -- immediately took off for Tess's room to tend to her. Amy had quickly set Tess in the floor to check on me which upset Tess. Owen continues to surprise us. One day he is checking to see if we are looking so he can box Tess's ears; the next he is tending to his sister's cries. We will see how his adjustment continues to play out.)

Tess has started mimicking her brothers grunts and screams as she absorbs everything the boys do while eating or playing. She has four teeth coming in at once so there have been several nights lately where she wakes up crying. This makes for some long days for mom and dad as our bodies have become accustomed to sleeping through the night again. But for the most part, we continue to thank our lucky stars on how easy of a child Tess is.

I took the boys to get haircuts over the weekend. They are truly well behaved when they are in the haircutting chair. Owen takes his curls very seriously, and Gus enjoys looking at himself and making faces in the mirror. The lobby was full of customers when Owen was finished and came over to sit by me. He inquired why there were so many girls there. I explained to him that sometimes boys cut hair but that today only girls were cutting people's hair.

Seeking his continued reaffirmation of gender differences Owen then blurted out, "And these girls pee sitting on their bums too, right Dad?"

I shrugged and couldn't help a smile as some amused people chuckled beneath their breath.

Ah, children and their inquisitiveness.

Have a great week -- cheers!

Holidays

2009-01-04T21:51:00.013-05:00

Well here we are in 2009. The Rutledges had a great two-week break from school and work (paid work at least) and are now getting back into the routine. Gone are the days where the family sleeps in past 7:00 in the morning and where movies play throughout the day. The pile of sugary holiday sweets on the counter has been replaced by fruits and veggies. The Christmas tree, ornaments and lights are stowed away until next December. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

The holidays were a time of celebrating with family -- both immediate and extended. On Christmas day there were 12 people and 4 dogs in la casa de Rutledge. And although we were all a little cramped, we are fortunate to have family that made their separate treks via car and air to come share in the celebration with us.

This Christmas was the first in which the boys really started to comprehend it. They were bouncing off the wall with excitement, but we got them to sit still for just a moment to snap a photo with Mom.

The prospect of Santa's arrival generated a ton of excitement around our house -- so much so that Gus & Owen even sat on Santa's lap this year without screaming in terror.

Luckily the nice outweighed the naughty as Santa visited our house on Christmas morning. He even ate the cookies and left a note for the kiddos, leaving a plate full of crumbs as evidence of his visit.

GJ, Pappy, Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude and cousin Corinne spent the beginning part of Christmas week with us. Two 3 year-old boys and a (soon to be) 2 year-old girl can certainly generate a lot of energy. But that's what it is all about, and the energy reminded us that Christmas is best when seen through the eyes of little ones.

There was plenty of down time as well with Frosty, the Grinch, and Rudolph providing the entertainment during the breaks.

Young Corinne was so worn out most days by noon that she struggled to make it through lunch.

Aunt Mel got to prep for the coming baby Crumpton by hanging out with Tess.

Gus enjoyed a moment of relaxation with a movie and his GJ.

On Christmas day Granddaddy and Nana arrived to share in the fun and excitement. Tess showed Granddaddy that she prefers the shovel method of eating to a more civilized spoon.

The boys received a whole host of gifts from Santa and family. When you ask them what their favorite present was, the answer will depend on the day. A highlight for Gus was a pair of boots that Santa brought which Gus promptly showed off with his Batman costume and Superman belt. Owen thoroughly enjoys his Computer Cool School, as Nana helped him navigate through painting, counting and a safari hunt.

As for Tessa Lane, she preferred the simple joys of ribbons, boxes, wrapping paper, and her Santa Claus hat.

After our families left Amy & I spent a few days together just the five of us. The boys got to experience their first sleepover at Ms. Ann's house while Mom, Dad & Tess partied down on New Year's Eve -- as much as parents of an infant really party down of course.

Amy & I took Tess to our friends the Learys' house to experience a multi-course fondue dinner with good cheer and company. There were four couples in the dining room surrounded by six baby monitors as we toasted in the New Year. It was comical to see the parents jump as a monitor lit up -- Is it mine? Is it yours? But it was truly an enjoyable time.

By the time the holidays were over some of us were zapped -- as evidenced by Tess catching a snooze on Pappy's shoulder.

But by today when preschool opened its doors back up, Owen and Gus sprinted from my car to the door, stripped off their coats and didn't even give Dad the goodbye high five. Even kids can have enough of home days to want to get back into the routine.

Here we go!

Happy New Year everyone -- cheers!

Rudolph & Stagefright

2008-12-22T18:04:00.003-05:00

Owen & Gus had their Christmas/Holiday singalong at their preschool on Wednesday. It did not turn out how Amy and I would have anticipated.

Gus, normally the ham of all hams who never met an audience he didn't love, was struck with stagefright as the cameras from a couple dozen parents flashed. He proceeded to try to disrupt the song by pestering his brother which promptly warranted a removal by his teacher. Gus was so distraught that he began to break down and the teacher quickly moved him back into place. Owen then comforted his partner in crime.

The funny thing was, if you would have asked Amy or me a hundred times which one of the two boys would have broken down at the sight of all the cameras, we would have said Owen (because of his more reserved personality) 99 of those 100 times.

Kids surprise us.

It's a pretty cute little scene to mark for them regardless. Cheers!

Tis the Season

2008-12-15T15:00:00.006-05:00

The Christmas spirit is alive and well with our crew these days. Much like our birthdays and Halloween, the anticipation and excitement from the boys is contagious and takes Christmas to a whole new level for Amy & me.

Last week we started by going to the Apex Christmas parade. We enticed the boys there with the possibility of seeing Santa. When we got there the MC announced that there were a record 108 floats in the parade this year, meaning we had a long time to wait for St. Nick. After an hour & a half of the cold, Amy & I persuaded the boys to table Santa with the promise of a milkshake. But the parade was fun nonetheless.

This past weekend we made up for missing Santa with a Saturday for the ages. We started off with a birthday party for one of the boys' buddies from the neighborhood. Then we drove down to New Hill, NC for the New Hope Valley Railway train ride. Complete with a real live train ride and a decked-out Santa Claus, we had two excited little boys. Owen gave it the Roger Ebert special.

One morning last week the boys were dreadful trying to get ready to go to school. I think I ended up carrying one under each arm out of the house to the car. On the drive to school I pulled out my phone and "called" Santa's office to ask what the guidelines were for him to stop at our house on Christmas. It was dead silence in the car and both boys conceded that they had to be good.

So on Saturday after Santa had his picture taken with our crew and had moved on to the next family Owen had to make sure that Santa knew the episode earlier in the week was a behavioral aberration. He tugged at Santa's waist and after getting his attention said, "Santa, I've been good."

Tess was a trooper. Our train was open air and it was 42 degrees outside. No matter for Baby T. She was up next to Mom and happy as a clam....er, a pink piglet.

Two thumbs up from the Owenator.

Caption

2008-12-13T22:27:00.004-05:00

Gus: "You know, I think you'd make a pretty good Robin, kiddo."

Tess: "You do know that mask is supposed to be over your face there, don't you chief?"

Doghouse

2008-12-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

To all the guys out there preparing to shop for the wife, mom, or girlfriend, stay out of the doghouse this holiday season.

Enjoy!

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-01T16:29:00.006-05:00

The Rutledge crew concluded Thanksgiving week by conquering a cold, gray, dreary Sunday with some Christmas cheer. We hoisted a Fraser fir up on top of the van in the misty rain, came home, cranked up the Vince Guiraldi, and unpacked Christmas gear to get into the spirit.

The boys are tremendously more excited about Christmas this year. Owen insisted that "we keep the Christmas tree for a very, very, very long time and not let the vacuum truck take it away." (Last year, Amy & I took the tree to the curb the day after Christmas while the boys were napping, and apparently Owen's elephant-like memory still bares the scar.)

After assuring Owen that the tree would be up for several weeks, we proceeded to decorate the tree with lights and ornaments. We put out the Advent calendar, and the first thing out of the boys' mouths this morning was the question on who got to put up the first ornament for December 1.

Meanwhile, Tess enjoyed the lights, the hustle and bustle from her brothers, and any spare paper that she could get in her mouth before one of us grabbed it away. Amy & I chuckled at the kids' enthusiasm -- and we haven't even really brought up Santa Claus yet.

Cheers!

"I know I've seen those boys take this horse and make it fly some way or another."

At last count the bottom branches of the tree had 26 ornaments courtesy of Owen & Gus while the top branches had 3.

Rutledge boys show off their decorating prowess.

Apologies for the darkness, but you get an idea of the energy and the skill de decor of 2 three year-olds.

Wrapped Around the Finger

2008-12-01T16:22:00.003-05:00

Tess is methodically gaining control of the men of the Rutledge house. Over the past couple of weeks she has made inroads with Owen, who now takes very seriously the responsibility of keeping small objects away from her vicinity. Obviously Dad has been smitten with his baby girl since minute one.

Now she is solidifying her place in the pecking order with brother Gus.

"Worship me, big brother!"

Gobble Gobble

2008-11-26T21:45:00.004-05:00

Amy borrowed an idea from our friend and fellow blogger Amanda Moore, co-author with husband Jason of the wonderfully witty Vance/Moore family blog, for a turkey made out of cantaloupe, pear, cheese & grapes for a Thanksgiving treat. We crafted this with the boys so they could take it to their preschool class on Monday, where it was a tremendous hit with the kids, teachers and parents.

Owen & Gus beamed as they showed off their creation to their cohorts. Later that night at home, the boys talked about how they were thankful for Mom, Dad, their friends and teachers at school, and their pajamas.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving -- from our turkey range to yours.

Cheers!

Baby Bjorn Tess

2008-11-24T21:37:00.002-05:00

Baby T is a huge fan of the Baby Bjorn. Being in the carrier is still #2 to being right next to Mom -- hey, Tess knows where her bread is buttered. But being hauled around with Dad and peering down at those two brothers instead of up at them gives Tess the giggles. So I pretty much eat it up with a spoon that Tess gets excited to be with Dad, even if my back pays the price after a while and I have to use a gimmick like the Bjorn carrier to get my child to want to come to Dad. So be it.

The other thing that Tess has embraced is waving "bye-bye." At everything. Dorothy, who takes care of Tess in the mornings while Amy works, has even taught Tess the "princess wave." So now our child waves non-stop -- to the high chair when she's done eating, to Mom when she's done nursing, and to the plumber as he left the house today.

My hat is off to the Swedes for this brilliant invention. Cheers!

Friday Chuckle

2008-11-21T10:46:00.002-05:00

Battle of the Network Stars, 1976. Gabe Kaplan, Robert Kaplan, Telly Savalas, a track & field relay controversy, Howard Cosell narrating, cigarette smoking on camera, and a run-off.

They don't make television like this anymore.

Happy Friday. Cheers!

Carolina Blues

2008-11-20T23:13:00.002-05:00

I had the good fortune of getting a phone call from my buddy Mike Mankowski this past weekend with a ticket offer for last night's Kentucky/North Carolina basketball game at the Dean Dome. The reasons against attending were numerous.

The Tar Heels are the preseason consensus #1 team in the country. Kentucky is still in rebuilding mode and was an overwhelming underdog. The Cats had just suffered a humiliating season-opening home loss at the hands of Virginia Military Institute (!!). I would be sitting amongst 23,000 Tar Heel fans. The game was a Tuesday night game that would force Amy into childcare duty for all three kids at bedtime and put me at home well past midnight.

The reasons for it? Ashley Judd was going to be there -- in the Carolina student section wearing her UK gear no less. And I would get to see my beloved Cats live and in person -- no matter how down they are.

Naturally I threw reason out the window and trekked over to Chapel Hill, sat amongst the powder blue contingent, got some razzing from my friend, and watched the Cats fall behind early and never dig themselves out of the hole thanks to 28 turnovers.

Despite Kentucky's lackluster performance, the game was a fun experience. Hanging out on Franklin Street and catching up with Mike over pizza and Bells beer at Pepper's before the game is an all-too-rare occurrence for both of us dads these days.

And getting to see Carolina at its peak is a guilty pleasure for a basketball junkie. Tar Heel fans are riding the wave of success right now and it is fun to watch. Carolina's success is reminiscent of my time in school when Kentucky was at its peak in the mid nineties. UK fans were on top of the world, and Rupp was a raucous place to see a game.

There are some differences between the two most storied programs in college basketball. North Carolina's atmosphere is more "refined" than Kentucky's. The fans sport more sweater vests than flashy logo sweatsuits. And the Dean Dome has a banner for everything, including a national championship from a year (1924) when national championships weren't even awarded.

But despite the differences the passion is the same. It is what makes a fan like Ashley Judd sit in the middle of the opposition's student section with UK gear and makes a dad raised on Big Blue drop everything for the chance to see his team when they are in town.

College basketball -- gotta love it.

Cheers!

Grinner

2008-11-18T10:22:00.003-05:00

On those stressful days when things get hectic and chaotic, there is a certain little girl that has a way of bringing a smile to our faces. Tess is quite a happy little baby, and her little personality is slowly starting to creep through.

Tess is a giggler, with her "huh huh huh" laugh that (as bad as this may seem) is reminiscent of Butthead's laugh on the old MTV show Beavis and Butthead. She is very alert and goes from gazing at brother to brother, especially at the dinner table. Amy & I talk about how she looks like she just wants to jump in there with them and mix it up.

Our little one is a good little eater. For the most part she eats fruits and veggies out of the jar unless her "do-it-myself" streak causes her to push the spoon away and clamor for finger foods that she can feed herself. Cheerios and fruit puffs are easily at the top of her favorite foods list.

Tess still isn't crawling at 9+ months, but we have been saying any day now for a few weeks. She will rock back and forth on all fours, and she has perfected the roll & scoot method. In reality she doesn't have to move too much when she has two brothers to watch and laugh at.

Owen has started to slowly but surely warm up to her. He will bring her a toy, and I even left him "in charge" of her for a minute yesterday while I ran downstairs to get something. The boys proudly boast that Tess has not put anything small in her mouth when we relieve them of their supervisory duties. Given where Owen was the past few months on the jealous scale, we will chalk that up to definite progress.

Finally, Tess got a great checkup at the doctor last week. She is where she should be on the growth curve and with all the gross & fine motor metrics the doctors measure. She is a little light for her age but nothing to be concerned about. The doctor just told us to enjoy her, which we certainly do.

Cheers!

Tess with a slight mischievous little grin....

....showing off how she sits up.....

....and is sporting some choppers.

Why Did I Have the Bowl?

2008-11-13T16:27:00.005-05:00

So a few weeks ago, Gus was really a handful for about a week when GJ was visiting. Amy & I think it was because he was used to the grandparents giving him his share of attention without having to share it with his sister. One day at a pumpkin patch he ran away from Amy and nearly ran out on the highway into oncoming traffic. Needless to say there was a heart-to-heart that night with two parents and a certain three year-old.

Owen, on the other hand, had been very good during that period so we decided to reward him with a fish (and by not getting Gus one we hoped that denying him a reward would teach him a lesson about listening).

Owen was all about his fish. For about a day. After a couple of days it came time to change the water in the little bowl. So I had set some water out to get to room temperature. I placed the bowl cleaning solution by the pitcher of water and Amy was going to change the water later that day.

The problem was that Amy thought I had already put the drops in the water. So she changed out the water, and you know where this is going....

Owen's little betta fish lived 3 days before going belly-up and getting flushed down the toilet. Amy & I were then faced with a dilemma: Do we try to replace the fish with another one that looks just like it before Owen notices? Do we use this opportunity to teach a 3 year-old about dying? Or do we just put the bowl up on top of the refrigerator and hope he doesn't mention the fish again?

Of course we picked the easy route. So far Owen has only mentioned feeding the fish one time and changing the water maybe once. But other than that, the kid is focused on the bag of Halloween candy that is still sitting on top of the fridge.

Color of Fall

2008-11-07T10:29:00.001-05:00

Fall has arrived in central North Carolina. The trees are changing colors, and leaves are beginning to fall. You wouldn't know it by the temperature -- today is supposed to be a record high 80 degrees. But you can definitely see the changing season.

The boys are all about the yellows, reds, oranges, and browns. Owen remarked on the way to school, "Look dad, a bright yellow one -- that tree is beautiful." Then he went on to tell me how the little girl, Hannah, in his preschool class is beautiful as well. It's already started.

Gus took several leaves to his school today for show-and-tell -- or as he calls them, "leave-es." It is pretty fun watching the boys become aware & experience these things. The changing season is pretty interesting from a three year-old's perspective.

Now if I could just get them to pick up a rake when all these leave-es start to fall....

Cheers!

A New Day

2008-11-05T12:01:00.002-05:00

The moment Barack Obama walked out on stage last night in front of 70,000 people at Grant Park in Chicago, my daughter Tess woke up crying. Amy & I looked at each other with the same dejected look on our faces:

"Which one of us was going to miss the victory speech?!?"

Amy hit the record button on the DVR, and I grabbed my headphones on the way upstairs. As I sat in the dark rocking my nine month-old back to sleep I listened to Obama's speech on the radio. I could not help thinking about my little girl and my boys and the challenges that their generation will face as they grow up. And I was truly grateful that our country had just elected a unifying, inspiring President in Barack Obama to lead us through the challenges ahead.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those - to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

Pick the Electoral College

2008-11-04T17:21:00.007-05:00

Predict the Electoral College here.

Amy's pick -- Obama 320, McCain 218

Obama wins the Kerry states plus Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, & Florida

Derek's pick -- Obama 318, McCain 220

Obama wins Kerry states plus Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia
I think North Carolina is an election cycle away from turning blue. The state has the same influx of transplants from other parts of the country like Virginia. But the Tar Heel state has a million more people so I think VA will go blue this cycle and NC potentially the next.

Yes We Can

2008-11-04T09:47:00.006-05:00

So we are finally here. Election Day 2008. It has been such an incredibly long campaign, stretching nearly two years. The Republicans started out with so many candidates -- Guiliani, Romney, Thompson, Huckabee, Paul, McCain -- before John McCain emerged as the nominee. The Democrats saw a long battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton before Obama finally clinched the nomination in June.

The interest level of the American people this election cycle has just been enormous. Much of the interest has to do with the unpopularity of George W. Bush and the desire among an overwhelming majority of Americans to move in a new direction. And regardless of which candidate the electorate decides is the best agent to bring forth that change, getting the American people engaged, motivated and participating in the process to select its leaders is a huge positive step forward.

Obviously on a personal level I am moved by the potential of a Barack Obama presidency. He appeals to me on an intellectual level as a man who thoughtfully takes in multiple points of view before making a decision. Although he lacks experience on an executive level, I admire the way he has managed a $700M campaign and stuck to a consistent message of how he will lead. On the issues I share his view for helping out the middle class with tax relief, ending the war in Iraq responsibly, and investing in our children's future with infrastructure, renewable energy and education. I do not believe that we can continue to saddle our kids and grandkids with debt and have nothing to show for it besides a corrupt winner-take-all economic system, a tax system skewed to the wealthiest 2% of Americans, and a tattered image across the world.

Barack Obama is not without his flaws, and his task would be enormous. His record is not dotted with examples of reaching across the aisle to form bipartisan legislative solutions. He will not be able to deliver on all the promises he has made in the campaign -- most notably universal health care. As a liberal, Obama cannot succumb to the temptation of the familiar -- to dust off decades old liberal policies in order to dig us out of the ditch we are in. And the path ahead is going to be extraordinarily difficult given that we face a mountain of debt with the $700B bailout plan and rising costs of entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.

That said, what will it take to lead us through the tough challenges in the future? The answer is the one thing that we have been so starkly missing the past eight years -- leadership. Leadership is not surrounding yourself with ideologues who share your view of the world, sticking with decisions when they have been proven to be the wrong ones, working to undermine the Constitution so you can get your way, or using fear as a powerful political weapon to secure power.

Leadership is having the temperament, judgment, intellectual curiosity, and skill to carry out difficult decisions that face us. It involves talking with people that do not agree with us, trying to bring people into the fold instead of building walls around us to keep people out. And that is not an easy thing to do. Naturally we are more comfortable with people who think like us, look like us, and share most if not all of our values. But in this flattening world that we live in, opening ourselves up to the diversity of thought and ideas is something to embrace, not reject. Barack Obama has shown throughout the campaign that he possesses these qualities.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Obama's rally in Raleigh where people waited outside in the freezing cold for hours to get a chance to see him. The cross-section of people who have felt inspired by Obama's promise was unbelievable. At least half of the crowd was African-American, and I was blown away at the enthusiasm that the black community feels for Obama.

But beyond race, it was inspiring to see people of all walks of life unite around Obama's message. Young and old, complete strangers were talking, engaging, dancing, laughing -- all of them united not by fear of what they perceive the other side would bring but by the hope that their candidate could bring.

I for one hope that America chooses hope over fear.

Yes We Can.

Obama in Raleigh:

Roadrunner

2008-11-04T09:07:00.004-05:00

Before I immerse myself in the election today I have to give a huge congratulations out to my wonderful Amy, who last week overcame the work week from hell, scarce (if any) personal time to exercise & train, the responsibilities of three small kids, and an annoying head cold and still managed to run the IBM 5K on Saturday.

Amy ran start to finish without walking and to this day amazes me with the load she manages to shoulder. Way to go Amy B!

A special note of gratitude as well to Ms. Ann who entertained Owen, Gus & Tess on slides, swings, and jump houses so Mom and Dad could run the race. Amy & I are certainly grateful for all the help and friendship that she shows to our family.

Cheers to the strong women that keep us all going!

Super Dragon Turtles

2008-11-03T12:36:00.003-05:00

Halloween is just an enormous event in the life of a three year-old. That's probably stating the obvious. But the enthusiasm of little ones leading up to the day where they get an endless supply of chocolate and sugar is just contagious. Owen & Gus woke up ready to seize the candy. Luckily we held them off until dark.

Amy got twin red dragon costumes for the boys. The costumes fell slightly in the "cutesie" column with the ears, wings and big tail. But as this is probably the last Halloween that cutesie could be pulled off, even I have to admit they were pretty doggone cute.

Gus switched gears though at a Halloween party earlier in the week, choosing Woody (from Toy Story) over the dragon. With his brother altering the costume plan, Owen then took a detour as well by declaring he was going to be Spiderman for that same party. Mom was somewhat crushed that her boys had thwarted her plan. But whatever made them happy. (Luckily for us, the boys have a closet full of hand-me-down costumes thanks to our next door neighbor with three older boys who has already been through this stage.)

So when Halloween came Gus settled on Superman, and Owen wouldn't reveal his choice until right before Trick or Treating. Luckily for Mom, she got her dragon as Owen decided he would "breathe hot fire" on people for candy.

I took the boys trick-or-treating and walked them all over the neighborhood. By the end of the night the little guys were absolutely worn out. Gus even said to me, "Dad, I want to go home and take a bath and go to bed" when we finished our last house. I think that's the first time those words have ever escaped those lips.

Tess was dressed up as a turtle -- the same turtle that the boys spent their first Halloween in. She stayed home with Amy and gave away candy to the neighborhood kids. We probably had 150 kids come by -- not as many as last year but still a good turnout.

I have spent an insane amount of time the past few weeks on ripping up bermuda grass in my front yard & re-seeding it. With the constant care required to get the good grass to come up I roped off my yard with flags and stakes to prevent the kids from walking through it that night. Amy gave me a hard time that I was being the grumpy old man (insert Presidential candidate here) -- "Stay off my grass!!" But I didn't care -- I'm not about to have all those hours of watering, tilling, & seeding go for naught. At least I used orange rope between the stakes & orange flags for Halloween. I'm festive, right?

Now we just have to unload all of this candy before too long. Owen & Gus have zeroed in on Kit Kats and Snickers; Amy on the Snickers; on all the above. We will hit our limit pretty soon, and I'll take the rest into work to donate to sugar fixes among software developers.

(Note: I have a feeling the next dozen posts are going to be political. Election Fever is in the air at la casa de Rutl.)

Cheers!

Super Dragon Turtles.

Amy got her wish as her "Mini-me," Owen, decided to go with the dragon costume at the last minute on Halloween night.

Tess just chilled out as a turtle. She is simply a happy, mellow little reptile.

GJ & Pappy East Coast Tour - Leg 1

2008-11-03T07:07:00.002-05:00

Taking a few minutes to catch up on some posts as last week was a nonstop zoo and the next few days are likely to be dominated by the election....

We had a great time with GJ and Pappy on their east coast tour before they headed down to Charleston to see Corinne and crew. Gus had a surprisingly tough adjustment period the first week GJ was here. He resorted back to Terrible Two Gus and threw several tantrums. The fits culminated with Gus running away from Amy at a pumpkin patch nearly running out onto the highway. There was a long heart-to-heart with a certain 3 year-old that night. I think he was acting up because he was having trouble with the fact that GJ was spreading her attention across three kids instead of the two he was accustomed to. By the second week Gus (finally) snapped out of it.

Pappy joined GJ toward the end of the visit. Luckily for him (and his back) there was no earth moving involved this trip. Pappy did give my lawn mower a makeover which should get me another year out of the old clunker -- much obliged there!

The two "Edwards" -- Charles and Gus -- pause at the park where grandson shows grandfather how to captain a ship.

Chow time...

GJ captains the U.S.S. Tess.

Boo!

2008-10-31T18:13:00.003-04:00

The day started early at our house today. Two boys were ready to go Trick or Treating at 6:00 in the morning. Amy & I finally herded them into the van to go to school in time to make their little Halloween parade. The camera flashes were in full effect from all the parents. Fun times.

Amy got the boys red dragon costumes for Halloween. But Gus has discovered the superhero costumes in his closet that our neighbor (who has 3 boys of her own) passed on to us. So Gus decided he was going to be Superman this morning, all day, and tonight to Trick or Treat. Owen stuck with the red dragon this morning. But when I asked him at dinner who he was going to be he had still not decided.

"Is it going to be a gametime decision Owen?"
"Yep, gametime decision."

Tess is intently watching her brothers as they dress up and shriek about candy. She is biding her time for when she can go out begging for sugar.

Cheers!

Chuckle

2008-10-24T22:10:00.000-04:00

Colin Powell

2008-10-20T10:20:00.002-04:00

On the heels of Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama for President comes the onslaught of backlash from critics -- notably blowhard Rush Limbaugh who claims the endorsement is simply because both Powell and Obama are black. I suppose this is to be expected.

But the most interesting thing in my mind in Powell's endorsement was his criticism of how the GOP has run the Presidential campaign and its tactics for painting Obama as a Muslim and unpatriotic.

In the interview with Brokaw on Meet the Press, I found myself giving Powell an "Amen!" to his answer criticizing the Republicans for their response to those on the fringe that (falsely) claim Barack Obama is really a Muslim:

"But the really right answer," he continued, "is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

In the end I don't think the Powell endorsement (or endorsements in general) will sway voters one way or another. For Obama supporters the endorsement reaffirms their belief that despite Obama's relative inexperience on the national level that he possesses the judgment to be Commander in Chief. For McCain supporters the endorsement is just the opinion of one man (albeit a great man) and will not suddenly pull them over to the Obama column.

As for those that will now demonize Powell or insinuate that his endorsement was simply based on race, so be it -- let them retreat further into their own narrow little world and isolate themselves from the mainstream.

Straight Shooter

2008-10-16T12:53:00.003-04:00

Our little guy Owen had a minor surgical procedure yesterday. Without giving our readers more information than they want or need, we'll say that the procedure was done to help "straighten the stream" and you can take it from there. The lead-up to the surgery was fine. At the surgery center Owen waited patiently with Amy, me and our minister Joanne in a 5x5 pre-op cube for over an hour despite growing anticipation for parent and child as the morning dragged on. Amy & I gave Owen several pep talks about being a big boy and not being afraid when the nurse came to take him in to see the doctor. Finally Owen's number was up and the nurse took him back to the room for the procedure. The little guy didn't even look back at Mom & Dad. He handled it as well if not better than his folks!

Owen selected bubble gum flavored gas, which was the anesthetic used instead of an IV. Before we knew it a half hour had passed and we met him in the recovery room where he got his popsicle, apple juice and a release to go home. Easy as cake.

Or so we thought. Later in the day Owen struggled to go to the bathroom yesterday afternoon as his pain medication had worn off. This set in motion a series of screaming resistances on his part over the remainder of the day to go to the bathroom. It got so bad that one parent dropped everything to leave to fill a Tylenol/Codeine prescription (which we were led to believe would not be necessary) while the other parent juggled bribing a shrieking Owen with candy to pee and repeated paging of the doctor to call us back. It is a tough thing to watch your child in pain.

We finally made some headway this morning as Owen again had a fit against going to the bathroom. Amy finally pushed on his stomach to force the kid to go to the bathroom. Once he saw that it didn't hurt anymore, the first thing out of his mouth: "Dad, I want my candy." He is like an elephant -- never forgets a deal when sugar is involved.

Today has been better. We are weening him off the prescription -- contrary to our thoughts, codeine makes a three year-old wired, not tired. Hopefully he will be able to go back to school tomorrow.

If we would have known what was involved Amy & I would have handled the situation differently -- at least starting him on the medication on the way home instead of waiting for the pain to set in. But we live and learn.

Buy stock in candy corn and M&M's.

Cheers!

owen
office

Live Blog: Debate #3

2008-10-15T14:18:00.023-04:00

See you tonight...

7:33
An hour & a half away. This has been quite the day. Amy, GJ and I are certainly ready for a diversion.

A brief plug for the Obama muppet that I snagged from the web. This guy Dan Lacey has all sorts of interesting portraits on his blog. As for Grandpa Simpson, Matt Groening doesn't need any more money. I can snag that with a good conscience.

8:50
What a day. Minor surgery for our son this morning in a "sensitive area" that was supposed to have a recovery so quick that he would be rough & tumble playing by the afternoon. After 2 hours of him screaming in pain because he doesn't want to go to the bathroom, two parents and a grandmother have some shot nerves. We are hoping that some Tylenol kicks in to help the little guy out tonight.

On a related note, tonight's live blog is sponsored by....

9:02
Here's Schieffer....here we go. Roundtable format tonight...

In a flip on the red state/blue state dynamic, Obama shows up with a red tie; McCain in blue.

9:05
How to save the economy?
McCain: Stop home foreclosures. Obama: Middle class tax cuts.

"The Battle for Joe the Plumber"
McCain: Ohio plumbers support me. Obama's tax rates would be higher than McCain's.

Obama: Tax cut for 95% of working Americans making less than $250,000/year. 3x tax relief for middle class families.

Will be interesting to see the fact checkers on this one.

9:15
McCain & Obama are battling for the votes from this treasured demographic.

9:18
Who is it again that has been in power for the past eight years that racked up these huge budget deficits that McCain wants to take a "hatchet" to?

9:25
Schieffer with a pointed question to both: Are you willing to say to each other's face what you say in your ads?

Mr. Erratic: Obama wouldn't agree to my format so I got nasty. Hits Obama on the John Lewis statement.

Mr. Pals Around With Terrorists: Americans aren't concerned with our hurt feelings.

McCain looks like his head is about to blow off.

9:32
Obama trying to take the high road with this negative ad question. McCain absolutely looks like he wants to rip Obama's limbs off.

9:36
McCain brings up ACORN and "that washed-up old terrorist" Bill Ayers in 10 seconds....

Obama diffuses it well (yes, this is from an Obama supporter): Ayers is not involved with my campaign and will not have a role in my administration. ACORN had people paid to register voters fill out bogus forms -- they are not associated with my campaign.

9:40
Running mate question...oh joy.

Somehow painting a person with a 32% favorability rating and the worst interview in modern history with a major media figure in a non-threatening environment is a stretch, to put it lightly.

Schieffer: Is she qualified to be President?
Obama: Let the American people decide.
McCain: Biden is qualified but he has been wrong on major issues.

9:57
I am a diehard Obama supporter. I have thoroughly enjoyed his books. I am drinking the Kool-Aid. Yes, I am biased.

Ok, now that that's out of the way. John McCain is done. Stick a fork in him. He is coming across in this debate and in this campaign as a cranky, out-of-touch, frustrated old man who has sold his patriotic soul to the hitmen of the Republican machine all for a chance at the White House. He is striking out. The polls show it. This debate shows it.

10:07
GJ & Amy just brought up the great point that Schieffer has asked the best, most direct & pointed questions of any moderator in the 4 debates (including veep).

Abortion: Would you support a Supreme Court justice that opposes your view of Roe v. Wade?

Great question.

McCain: No litmus test. Tries to beat up Obama for not joining the Gang of 14.
Obama: Roe v. Wade was rightly decided.

Summary:
There was no knockout punch on either side tonight. McCain was certainly more aggressive than in the past. Personally I don't think McCain's challenges affected those in the middle/undecided (who in the world are these people anyway?). McCain's body language was very agitated. Like him or not Obama still comes off as cool, calm, & collected.

MSNBC watchers: Obama won 3 to 1.
Fox fans: McCain won 4 to 1....and Obama pals around with terrorists.

Probably just depends on which one of these guys you relate to in the first place.

Fix It!

2008-10-10T10:14:00.007-04:00

What a depressing week this has been.

Markets are tanking across the world. The stock market in the U.S. is down 40% over the past year. Governments around the globe are trying to step in to solve the credit crisis by lowering interest rates, infusing the capital markets with hundreds of billions of dollars, and taking over interest in banks to help free up money for lending. The cost to us Joe Sixpackers down the road in taxes is going to be enormous.

Meanwhile we are in the final month of a contentious Presidential election, and the campaigns have turned ugly. On one side the candidate that is behind is increasingly turning to character assualts, claiming that the opposition "pals around with terrorists." On the other side, the candidate in the lead released a 13-minute video digging up dirt on the opposition from a scandal that happened 20 years ago. Politics can be an ugly, ugly business, and these last days are certainly going down that path.

So as we watch our retirement accounts, college savings accounts, and savings accounts go in a southward direction and as we listen to our Presidential candidates attack each other relentlessly, laughter becomes imperative.

The "Oscar Rogers" character from last night's Saturday Night Live special sums up what I think all of us want to happen right now. Go the the 4:20 mark. Just "Fix it!!"

Cheers everyone!

Town Hall: Live Blog

2008-10-07T21:00:00.024-04:00

Here we go...

9:02
Got in late from a meeting. But I made it. We have Amy on the couch, GJ next to her with her knitting, pets glued to the tube, and yours truly.

Brokaw moderating. And the hands have been shaken.

9:04
Economics kicking off the night. How does the little guy get bailed out?

9:06
McCain: "Senator Obama, it's good to see you at a town hall." Good line.

9:08
McCain: Eight "My friends..." so far. Drink.

9:09
Warren Buffet for Treasury Secretary. Here we go with a difference -- does economic growth trickle down from the top or do you grow it from the bottom/middle up? I hope we keep talking about this and not about Ayers, Keating, etc.

9:11
Tonight's debate is sponsored by Avery India Pale Ale. 69 IBU's of tasty refreshment. Cheers!
(Shameless plug again. Brewers email me at my link on this page for my shipping address.)

9:17
McCain trying to come across as this great economic visionary -- it's not selling very well.

9:20
Both candidates are practicing empathy here -- trying to relate to the voter's cynicism about either party being able to fix the economic mess. And then they both attack...

McCain: Obama approved $1M for a planetarium projector. (No mention about a certain bridge to a certain island.)

9:27
Brokaw trying to keep these two candidates to 1-minute answers is like herding cats.

9:28
Great email question -- what should Americans sacrifice besides brave American soldiers lives?

Sigh, McCain missing the mark -- earmarks.

Need a bigger more transcendent answer here.

9:35
Obama: Good line about using a scalpel instead of a hatchet to cut the federal budget.

9:38
McCain just said he wasn't going to give tax breaks to the rich -- that he was leaving their tax rates unchanged and giving middle class tax cuts.

Not true.

He does support tax cuts for middle income brackets -- as Obama does -- but he gives a higher percentage tax break to the highest income brackets.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html

9:45
Environment...
Obama trying to tie this to an economic breakthrough like the computer.

Tom Brokaw fussing at them for not sticking to time limits. Enough already. 1 minute isn't enough for these two ramblers.

9:51
Health care...Obama with a very wonk-y answer here.

McCain: Obama will fine you if you don't get your kids insurance under his plan. Huh?

9:55
Brokaw with a good question:

Is health care in America a right, a privilege, or a responsibility?

McCain: Responsibility
Obama: Right

10:05
Obama doctrine & McCain doctrine -- should U.S. Military be used when national security interests are not at stake? Good question from Brokaw.

Obama: may not have national security interests but we have moral obligations to intervene in some but not all situations.
McCain: Obama was wrong on Iraq. (Reagan "my hero" -- drink.)

10:09
Should US invade Pakistan to pursue Al Queda?

Obama: Blames decision to go into Iraq for the reason AQ is building up again in Pakistan in the first place.

McCain is going to try to beat Obama up on stating that we could invade them. He did this in the first debate.

10:16
McCain: "I'll get Bin Laden. I know how to get him. I'll get him."

Oh really?

10:18
12 minutes to go....

10:20
I don't know why they are even talking about Russia. Palin has that one covered.

10:26
Would you wait for U.N. Security Council approval before sending troops to support Isreal if Iran attacked them?

McCain: No way.
Obama: Don't let Iran get the nuke. Won't take military option off the table. Have to work with other countries to prevent that from happening.

10:30
Last question...

What don't you know and how will you learn it?

Great question.

There is too much I don't know to list here. Things I do know: Avery IPA is a very tasty India Pale and Obama won this debate.

(Yes, I'm a shameless Obama supporter. At the very least, McCain didn't do what he had to do to erase Obama's lead in this campaign, and this debate was a draw.)

Cheers!

Homer Votes

2008-10-07T14:37:00.004-04:00

Pre-debate humor for Simpsons fans among us.

Cheers!

La Cucaracha del Infierno

2008-10-06T10:49:00.004-04:00

I do not like bugs.

When I was a kid I used to be terrified of just about anything that crawled on six or eight legs. If there was a crawling creature in my room, I simply could not go to sleep as I would imagine its little legs crawling on me as I slumbered. My parents were often called in to kill the vicious creature as I could not bring myself to face the fear of being devoured by something 1,000 times smaller than me.

Over the years I have -- for the most part -- overcome this fear. My first challenge of overcoming this fear was living in a fraternity house in college for two years where let's just say cleanliness was in short supply. You got used to creepy crawlies living amongst 30 housekeeping-challenged guys under one roof.

Then when I moved to North Carolina where I lived in an apartment by myself. One night as I was about to walk out the door to meet Amy (we had just started dating), there was a decent-sized spider crawling under the door into my apartment. I seized this moment to overcome my arachnophobia. I actually tried to scoot the spider with a broom back out the door instead of killing it. But my noble effort was soon thwarted as out poured dozens of baby spiders onto my floor. I was being invaded by a pregnant mother spider looking for a dark, dry place to have her offspring. A bottle of Windex and a size 11 foot prevented me from being on P.E.T.A's mailing list. But hey, at least I was not running scared from bugs like I did when I was a young lad.

As I have gotten older, gotten married, and had 3 kids my fear for the most part has subsided. When you are the man of the house you just take these bug invasion challenges as part of your role. And for the most part I don't even mind bugs anymore.

Except for the dreaded #$%@ cockroach. There is no more despicable creature on earth to me than la cucaracha.

These little hairy-legged boogers have roamed the earth for 320 million years. They were here before us, and they'll be here after we're long gone. They eat anything. They are quick as hell. And they are hard to kill.

I cannot stand cockroaches.

So last night I was awakened at about 12:30 when I felt something crawling in my hair. In my half-asleep stupor I swatted at it only to feel little legs crawling on my neck. As I felt this sensation begin to crawl down my shirt to my back I immediately sprung up out of bed shouting and fumbling for the light, scaring Amy half to death.

As the light filled the room the rotten little vermin scampered under the sheets. Amy shrieked and immediately began demanding that the man of the house take care of this nuisance of a visitor. That's when seven year-old Derek reared his head again.

I was not having any part of that cockroach. I have dealt with snakes, spiders big and small, ants, termites, ticks, fleas, wasps, birds, bees, you name it since my days of being terrified as a kid of bugs. But awakening in the middle of the night to the feeling of a cockroach on the back of my neck catapulted me not into a position where I would seek revenge on the creature for invading my bedroom, but into a stunned fog where I could not bring myself to do anything about it.

Throughout this ordeal my loving wife was shouting at me for my cowardice and berating me to emerge from my haze. There was nothing I could do. She chased that little insect from the pillows to the floor as it dodged shoes and books before seeking shelter in the air conditioning vent in the floor.

I summoned up the gumption to pull the hand vac out of the closet to give to Amy who at this point was completely disgusted and dismayed with my inaction. She removed the floor vent and tried to vacuum up the monster so she could go back to sleep. But la cucaracha proved to nimble and quick. She ended up taping Saran Wrap over the vent and covering it with large, heavy books to secure the room from another invasion. It was a humorous reaction to the situation, but it was much more than I was able to conjure up at 1:00 in the morning.

Amy made fun of me some more, but I didn't care. She even pulled the red cape off the boys' Superman costume in the closet and wore it back to bed. There was no question who had saved the day, and it wasn't me.

Somewhere in the A/C ducts in my house, a conniving little six-legged mutant is plotting his next attack.

I hope for the sake of my manliness that I will be up for the challenge.

Veep Show: Live Blog

2008-10-02T20:17:00.025-04:00

8:20
40 minutes to showtime. I'm deliberately not watching too much pre-debate spin. I don't want to hear one side's opinion about Gwen Ifill being biased or the other side talking expectations up or down, depending on the moment. Just give me the show.

8:35
Speaking of expectations personally I don't think Palin is going to have as much trouble tonight as she had in the sit down interviews the past couple of weeks. Debates are a different animal than 1-on-1's. There are fewer opportunities to dig deeper on issues so she'll be able to play an attack dog role on Obama (as Biden will on McCain). Palin is an experienced debater from her time running for governor.

In other words I don't think there will be a repeat of Sarah's Greatest Hits collection.

8:40
Some Veep debate drinking games.

Palin:

When she leaves the g off progressive verbs or gerunds, e.g., "takin’," "leavin’," "changin’"

Every time she says "mustn’t," "maverick," "hockey mom," "Putin’s head," "pitbull," "lipstick," "thanks but no thanks" or "I’ll have to get back to you on that."

Biden:

When he mentions taking the train.
When he refers to Senator McCain as "John."

Every time he says, "Scranton" "Wall Street," "main street," "malarkey" or "Geraldine Ferraro," or refers to himself in the third person, or anyone else as his "good friend."

I don't have the liver anymore.

9:02
Gwen calls them to order. Here we go...

9:05
Biden: Bush = bad. Took him about 5 seconds to mention "middle class."
Palin: Fear that soccer moms & dads are feeling over economics.

9:10
Both seem very practiced. Palin attacks with a smile.

9:13
11 minutes, 2 "Darn right"s from Palin.

I hope Biden hammers the point home about which candidate would actually lower middle class taxes more.

9:18
Taxes:
Biden obviously feels comfortable talking taxes and impact on the middle class.
Palin's response takes issue with how to redistribute wealth.
Again, as with the first Obama/McCain debate, just depends on what your worldview is.

9:24
Neither candidate wants to take anything off the table after the $700B is committed. Obama & McCain didn't want to touch this one either when Lehrer asked the question.

9:26
Ok, we're one-third of the way through. Palin is clearly much more prepared for this than a 1:1 with Katie C.

As for JoeBi, he knows his s**t.

9:32
Palin obviously feels comfortable talking about energy.....I would argue regardless of what question Ifill asks her.

Global warming -- manmade (Biden) vs. cyclical temperature changes (Palin).

9:37
Debate shifts from taxes and energy to social issues: First up, same sex benefits. Palin gracious and tolerant in her response but clear that she does not support gay marriage.

9:47
Jumping to foreign policy to Iraq, Iran & Pakistan. I was hoping we'd get one more domestic policy question for Palin -- either her opposition of abortion even in the case of rape or incest or her thoughts on teaching creationism in public schools.

Palin calling Obama "naive." Um, that seems a bit of a stretch.

9:55
I disagree that "every administration makes blunders" quite like the last eight years.

10:00
Homestretch...2/3 of the way through.

Biden says 3 times that we spend more in 3 weeks on combat operations in Iraq than what we've spent in 7 years in Afghanistan. That's a pretty simple fact for Joe Sixpack to get his head around.

10:04
Amy's done. Disappointed in Ifill's questions. There does seem to be too much of a format where Ifill throws out a topic and lets each one ramble on to the camera. I'm an Ifill fan (even wanted her considered for Russert's replacement on MTP), but I have to agree w/ the wife.

10:15
Palin tries to rehash Reagan's successful "There you go again" line he used against Jimmy Carter in 1980.

10:17
Biden: "Dick Cheney has been the most dangerous Vice President in the history of America."

10:18
What is your Achilles' heel?
Palin talking about energy independence again.

10:24
Final question: Single issue where you had to change a long held view to accomodate circumstances....

Yawner.

10:29
Closing statements...

Palin: "I like to answer these questions without the filter of the mainstream media." Huh? She & McCain will fight for freedom so we dont' have to tell kids & grandkids about the good old days of freedom. Cold war-ish.

Biden: "Most important election you've voted for in your entire life."

Summary
I think both candidates where strong in presenting their views and their candidate's positions. In short, I think this Veep debate had a lot of pregame hype but in the end won't change anyone's positions one way or the other. It simply reinforced support for both sides.

Veep Show

2008-10-02T13:09:00.003-04:00

Vice Presidential Debate
We'll be live blogging it here at 9pm tonight. In the meantime, here are some great moments in Veep debate history:

Lloyd Bentsen's "You're no Jack Kennedy" dismissal of Dan Quayle:

George Bush dismisses Geraldine Ferraro's lack of foreign policy knowledge:

Al Gore pokes fun at himself in 1996 debate with Jack Kemp:

And the king of Veep debaters, Admiral Stockdale, loses his train of thought...

....and his hearing aid.

Cheers!

Live blogging here.

Happy Birthday

2008-09-29T22:58:00.003-04:00

I need to sign off with an upbeat note since I am too worked up reading about the bailout collapse.

On that note, today is Granddaddy's birthday.

Happy Birthday Billy!

Cheers!

Frank Criticism

2008-09-29T22:54:00.004-04:00

Barney Frank in his trademark bluntness in response to the alleged 12 representatives that supposedly changed their vote to oppose the bailout because of an (admittedly misguided) partisan speech by Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

$1.1 Trillion Loss

2008-09-29T22:03:00.008-04:00

Here's an understatement. Today was a really bad day.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to come to agreement on a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street investment banks as the vote failed 228-205 in the House. Reacting to the unexpected stalemate, the stock market plunged a record 777 points in two hours. How big is that? A 7% drop that we saw this afternoon is a $1.1 trillion loss in wealth. Everyone with 401k's, IRA's, individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds in the market -- we're all affected. And the bloodbath is sure to continue tomorrow.

There is no shortage of blame to go around here. Investment greed is part of it -- from Wall Street banks to irresponsible mortgage peddling to individuals that bought homes they could not come close to affording. I'm not going to pretend I understand derivatives and complicated mortgage backed securities that fell like a house of cards. But that is why I, Joe Average American citizen, rely on elected officials to appoint people to positions to understand this and oversee it. So lack of regulation was a part of this collapse too.

So while I want the causes of this collapse to be investigated so we learn the lessons for the future, I am even more disheartened by the vote today. First of all no one wants to sign up for a $700 billion bill. It is a mind-boggling sum of money on top of all the problems we face and our kids and grandkids will face.

But when two of the foremost financial minds in the country -- the Treasury Secretary and the Federal Reserve Chairman -- beg and plead for bipartisan action to be taken to avoid certain impending financial hardship for the country, it is deflating when politicians fail to take action. No wonder people think so little of their elected government in Washington D.C.

Politicians from both sides have to shoulder the responsibility of this not passing. From the Republican side this vacuum of leadership from the President to push this through is the single biggest reason why I want a change in November. The President's capital is so bankrupt from all the failures and missteps for the past eight years that he cannot rally a majority of his own party in Congress to support the bailout his Administration put forward.

Enter the Democrats. To their credit they got 2/3 majority of their Representatives to support the buyout. But what does the Speaker of the House do right before the roll call vote? She takes the opportunity to lecture the Republicans with a snotty partisan "We told you so" speech that added a degree of divisiveness that completely could have been avoided if she would have taken the "This is for the greater good and unfortunately is the medicine we have to swallow" approach.

So while I understand the Republicans' frustration with her pettiness and I somewhat sympathize with the reluctance of many not to support government intervention in the free market (I'm a free marketer myself), the majority of Republicans in the House refused to put the needs of the country ahead of either pure ideology or childish partisanship. It is just completely disheartening and frustrating.

How bad is it going to get? We are about to see. This piece from Steven Pearlstein's is the best summary I have read on the situation in one page -- "They Just Don't Get It."

The basic problem here is that too many people don't understand the seriousness of the situation.

Americans fail to understand that they are facing the real prospect of a decade of little or no economic growth because of the bursting of a credit bubble that they helped create and that now threatens to bring down the global financial system.

Politicians worry less about preventing a financial meltdown than about ideology, partisan posturing and teaching people a lesson. Financiers have yet to own up publicly to their own greed, arrogance and incompetence. And leaders of foreign governments still think that this is an American problem and that they have no need to mount similar rescue efforts in their own countries.
In the coming weeks and months, all of these people will come to understand how deep the hole really is and how we're all in it together.
They'll come to understand that the giant sucking sound they hear is of a massive deleveraging of the global economy and the global financial system as households and governments, businesses and investment funds adjust to living in a world with less debt and more inflation.

SNL

2008-09-28T16:40:00.001-04:00

"Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines."
"I'm sorry?"
"I'd like to phone a friend."

Funny stuff.