The Brubakers of Round Lake

To a few of you out there and you know who you are! lol

2010-03-11T08:02:00.001-06:00

Treatment Day 8-15

2009-09-22T01:46:00.001-05:00

Up until this past weekend things have really been pretty good. It was tough this weekend on the pain side of things but not terrible. Sunday and Monday were better days and I hope that continues through the week. I guess the next two weeks (last two also!) are the highest doses of radiation so side effects and issues may increase significantly now. I think I can handle about 300% more and still make it through the day to day treatments. I won't be happy and cheery but I'll make it. :)

Life seems to running fairly smooth. The kids are back on an even keel and seem to be comfortable with what is going on. It really helps that our daily (their daily) routines have not really altered from any of this stuff. I am worrying a lot about Lori. She is showing strength on the outside but I know this is eating her from the inside out. I can't wait until this is all over and past us so her stress level lowers way down.

Spirits are good but my energy level is very low. Starting to have to prioritize what to do everyday because I can't work and get everything else done. Time to seriously start looking at unloading responsibilities.

Treatment Day 7

2009-09-09T23:52:00.002-05:00

Long day at work. Packed 2 hours of football practice into 1 hour and 15 minutes so the kids could get to their school open houses tonight. We are looking better everyday. Hopefully we can get one in the W column this Sunday.

Rad and Chemo are are going well. I get very tired around 10pm and just need to shut down but I sleep better than I have in a long time. Overall it has not been too bad.

I'm worried about this healthcare reform talk. I really hope they have thought this stuff thru.

Feeling good all day.

Treatment Day 6

2009-09-08T23:14:00.003-05:00

No radiation or chemo over the weekend or holidays so it was a nice three days off. Went to the Bristol Renaissance Fair on Saturday which pretty much killed me for the rest of the weekend.

6 down 19 to go.

Feeling food - spirits high.

Treatment Day 5

2009-09-04T11:22:00.000-05:00

No side effects today at all. Feeling great. Taking the kids to the Lake County Cowboys game tonight in Kenosha for the GFL Superbowl! Go Cowboys!

inspiration of the day... old man passes by me in the hall at the hospital. We havr seen eachother everyday this week in the waiting room but not talked. He looks tired and weak this morning but looks at me and says... "give it hell today."... Not sure why but I said it..."you're f'ing right give it hell." He then proceeds to give me knuckles. lol Right on old timer give it hell.

First week done and feeling good. No radiation or chemo until Tuesday.

Treatment Day 4

2009-09-03T23:54:00.001-05:00

Woke up feeling good. The whole day felt great. Went to the Bears preseason game with the Tovars and dragged our little buddy Owen along with us. I think he and the rest of the kids had a great time.

Haven't stayed up that late for a long time and it was a little difficult being in the condition I'm in but the kids energy and excitement was so contagious!

We dropped Owen off around 11pm and the first thing he tells his mom is; "we ate NACHOS!" They must have been some awesome nachos!

Good day overall I hope I don't pay for in tomorrow but then again I'll just go to bed at 6pm.

Feeling good and spirits high again today. Here comes day 5 around the bend!

Treatment Day 3

2009-09-02T22:07:00.012-05:00

Today was really good. Didn't really feel anything from these pills other than a metalic type taste in your mouth. Chewing gum seams to help.

Made it through football practice well. Kids seem to be getting better everyday. Jake's school had open house which I missed. The DC school trip meeting went well. Jake is stoked to go. Just have to save up the $1000. It sounds like a great time. Can't wait for him to go.

I saw this man at radiation today and he was loud and joyful. Such a nice change from everyone being quiet and dreary. I can't blame anyone there its nice your favorite place to be and a lot of people are there as last ditch efforts so the whole place is a little depressing. I have resolved to not be dreary. Chin up, big smile and only think happy thoughts. There are three things that get me through the treatments everyday with a smile... Jake, Shelby and Josh. My three biggest and most impressive accomplishments.

Feeling good and high spirits today.

Treatment Day 2

2009-09-01T22:00:00.009-05:00

Monday night was a little rought. Not too bad but physically just exhausted which has never really happened to me before. I've been tired... really tired but never to the point I couldn't do anything. Woke up this morning feeling real good. All day felt decent. If this is as bad as it gets I can do this all the time. I suspect that it will get a little worse but it will still be bearable. Mouth tastes like tinfoil. Metalic taste is always there from the pills.

Had a good night with the kids talking and goofing around a little bit. No football or cheer practice so it was a relaxing evening. Jake is in Student Council, has open house tomorrow night, will be going on a school trip to DC this year (meeting tomorrow night), 8th grade mentor and has been moved up to an advanced science class. Shelby is joining band and just about everything else she hears about. lol

Josh is just happy that it has stopped raining and he can play wall ball and football with his best bud Nicki at recess.

feeling good and spirits high.

Treatment Day 1

2009-08-31T08:43:00.005-05:00

I'm starting to blog again. I find it therapeutic at times and a good way for friends to check on what is going on without having to feel weird about calling and not knowing what to say sometimes. I also want to document how I feel. People always ask me how I feel and I always say fine, great, awesome or perfect. I'm not one to complain so this is where I can be a little more honest if I'm not perfect. I need to be a able to tell the doctors how I really feel so they can adjust treatment if necessary. These posts won't be as polished as before. I don't really have the time or drive to write, critique and re-write for fear of sounding stupid or uneducated. This will be raw Brian for a while.

Today is the first day of my colorectal cancer treatment. I have been diagnosed with a T3,N0,Mx Stage 2 cancer. It has been a long awaited 2 weeks for today to come. Part of me is scared like I've never been scared before and part of me is relieved that it starts today because the final treatment is one day closer.

First phase of radiation and chemo is everyday M-F for the next 5 weeks.

I just took the first 5 of my 10 daily Chemo pills. It is actually a very surreal feeling. I'm sitting hear waiting to feel side effects or glow in the dark which will probably be non-existent for at least several days if not weeks... the side effects part not the glowing the dark! :)

First Radiation treatment is today at 11am. Another milestone in my journey to beat this thing. Again I have lots of apprehension about the radiation but also relieved that it is finally here.

Enough talking and planning it is time to start killing this thing.

THANK YOU for all the kind words, offers of encouragement and support. I rest easier knowing that my friend network has now become a care network for my family.

Jake and Shelby seem to be handling everything well. Josh is having a hard time with this at night, especially when he is tired. Lots of daddy snuggle time and questions.

It was a great weekend. Met up with some friends from HS Friday night and Saturday. Football ALL day Sunday. Josh's team got killed but showed promise. Fished with the kids on Saturday afternoon and Sunday early evening and then watched the Bears with the Tovar's at the house.

Lot's on my mind this morning including one of our good friend's boys that is going in on Wednesday to have a lump removed from his neck. I pray it is nothing.

I feel good today.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!

2009-06-05T14:11:00.002-05:00

Semi-Pro Football

Tonight 6:30pm

Ron Schmidt Field @ Hart Hill in Round Lake

Lake County Cowboys vs. Kenosha Cougars

Come out and watch a great football game for free!

and RLP we need to do lunch next week! :) I'll call you...

Ouch!

2009-04-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

Last night ranks in the top three worst ass kickings I have ever endured. Not sure how I feel as I still know that I was the best of the candidates for trustee but with that being said it is time to rally around our new leadership and support them and move this village forward.

Like an old friend of mine says "you looked like a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest".

Good luck to the Change Party.

Who to vote for on Tuesday

2009-04-05T09:41:00.003-05:00

People have been asking about all the races and my standard response is to visit the websites and contact the slates or people to discuss their positions and platforms. But here are a few that I'm voting for...

Round Lake Area Park District Commissioner (2 year term) -- Paul Hollingsworth
Paul has been involved with the Spartan football and cheer program in various capacities, he has children that are between K and 8th grade and has professional experience in the private sector.

Avon Township Supervisor -- Sam Yingling
Highway Commissioner-- Tom Brust
I have met all the challengers and spoke at length. I just don't know if removing an entire board is the most prudent way to go. I would suggest that you pick half of the Trustee incumbents and half the Trustee challengers. I don't think it makes much of a difference but the top spot would be a start.

Round Lake District 116 School Board Member -- All incumbents. Unfortunately I do not feel comfortable enough with any of the new comers and a few have waffled on some things so I'm inclined to re-seat those who are re-running at this point. I encourage the new comers to engage themselves with the district more frequently than before an election.

Route 53 Advisory Referendum -- YES!!!!
What else can I say. It may be a pie in the sky dream but we need to keep it on the main stage or it will just go away.

Update!

2009-03-06T14:36:00.003-06:00

Having a great week! Work is going very well and smooth! The court case has been dismissed for lack of a case. Hopefully they will just go away.

AND the winds of change are a blowing. Can't wait to see where the leaves fall...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Double Digits!

2009-01-22T07:15:00.003-06:00

At 5:29pm 10 years ago today Shelby Reese arrived into our world and it has never been the same since. Being the middle child and only girl she takes a lot of abuse from her brothers that flank her. Amazingly protecting her has never really been a concern of mine. She is incredibly smart and can be quite vicious when necessary. She is a lot like her mother... never afraid to say what's on her mind or step in when she thinks something or someone is being treated wrong. AND she holds her ground.

Today she is making quite the big deal our of going into double digits. Evidently turning 9 almost requires a new outfit for school, waking up very early and sitting at the edge of your bed shaking like you have been holding your pee for 2 days hoping everyone will rush in and sing you happy birthday.

Then 7am Aunt Penny calls to sing you happy birthday and her smile could not have been any bigger. Shelby is the first of our family to celebrate our births, Mine is in February, then Lori in March, then Jake in April and lastly Josh in September. I love my children's birthdays because they remind me of THE three greatest days of my life.

Happy Birthday Shelby! I hope it is as special as you hope.!

Nobody wants a job?

2009-01-14T16:58:00.004-06:00

Amazingly North Chicago, Zion-Benton and Waukegan have not filled their Head Football Coach positions as of today. While most schools are preparing their athletes for competition next season these schools are stagnant. Fortunately I think they have a lot of talented kids that have matured through their youth programs so they should fair well but whats the hold up?

For more info Click here to be redirected to "The Locker Room". This guy seems to understand the importance of off-season training and preparation which has been lacking in RL as well until late.

I hope for the athlete's sake at these respective schools that the administration pulls it together and gets someone in the seat quickly.

If you know of anyone wanting to try to be a football head coach send them over to eastern Lake County.

Crazy, crazy, crazy

2008-12-27T18:46:00.003-06:00

Well it's been a long time since I've been here. Work has been busy and of course football and cheer season. I've been off for the past 8 or 9 days and off all next week so it is time to start things up again and organize for 2009!

Here is a few high lights from the past 5-6 months:

Rented a boat and went out on the chain of lakes with our good friends the Tovar's and had one of the greatest days of the summer.

Football ran great. We made a lot of better ball players this year and are looking forward to next season.

Cheer ran great. Our PeeWee and Featherweight squads qualified for the Inaugural State Championship held by the IRCA. PW took second and FW took first!

Jake has been on Honor Roll since 4th quarter last year!

Josh finished his second season of football and decided to take up wrestling.

Lori's mother was hospitalized for a few days and it was very scary but in the end she showed her true strength and faith in god and pulled through and is doing well.

Josh is in first grade and kicking butt. He has Mrs. Leafblad who is an outstanding educator.

Jake is on the yearbook committee at the middle school and excited.

Lori is working at the Park District as in the past.

We all have discovered the most addictive website ever... Facebook.com!

Christmas was great. Saw lots of family and friends and blessed that everyone is relatively healthy.

The ex-high school football coach is trying to sue me. This is a long story but quite funny. I'm confident he will be disappointed late second quarter unless you can sue people for freedom of speech.

and lastly the local election season is almost upon us and I will be re-running for my Trustee seat. It looks to be a contested race so it will be interesting.

To all my readers and followers out there I'm sorry for such a long hiatus but life got in the way. Please check back and I promise to TRY and be better at updating this with fun and informative stuff.

May we all experience a happy, healthy and profitable 2009!

Petty Pet Peeves

2008-07-20T13:47:00.002-05:00

So this morning I was driving down Rte 12 to pick our boys up from my brothers house who had them overnight for their cousins birthday party. As I was negotiating traffic with my coffee in hand I noticed a vanity license plate for one of those fancy Armada crossovers. The plate read "ARMADA". So are you telling me that you are so boring or unaccomplished in life that you can't find anything to put on your vanity plate that remotely identifies you in any way at all other than what the brand name of your car is?! Why waste the extra money. After all the name is just above the bumper in the lower right hand corner of the hatch.

For all you fans out there this is a great barometer of how perfect my life is. I have nothing more important to think about or let bother me than uncreative people and their license plates. ;)

Back to the Brubaker Utopia!

Little Miss Round Lake 2008!

2008-06-29T22:48:00.002-05:00

Most of you know how I feel about this stuff but after realizing how much she wanted this; who could deny her?

Envirocrite

2008-06-05T21:13:00.003-05:00

So as long as some people are surfing definitions and things I figured I would create a new word and definition myself.

Envirocrite - somebody who pretends to have environmental principles, beliefs, or feelings but behaves otherwise.

I was driving up Fairfield road coming home from work on Tuesday afternoon and noticed this lady in front of me smoking. Smoking does not bother me, it is a life choice. But for the 20-25 minutes that we were on the road I watched as she puffed down 3-4 cigs and discarded them out her window. Now this really pisses me off. I can't stand when people throw stuff out their car windows. If anyone knows me, all trash stays in my car, sometimes for months!

So as we approach the intersection of 120 and Fairfield I notice that she is driving one of those new fancy hybrid cars with enviro bumper stickers all over it. Now I just start to laugh. Here she is smoking and littering but in her own little mind is an environmentalist.

Stop at most intersections and look in the gutter. It's a sad state we live in right now. Remember back in the late 70's and early 80's with the "Hoot Hoot don't pollute", smokey the bear stop forest fires and the crying indian commercials?What are we teaching our children?

I'm sure her other car is a Hummer with no catalytic converter.

I recycle, I don't throw trash out my window and I make some level of effort to preserve our world but I own a truck with a Hemi, I have bon fires and have on occasion pee'd outside. I don't claim to be a tree hugger because I choose not to live that life style but people that fool themselves into thinking they do bother me.

"...one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

2008-05-24T10:22:00.009-05:00

This is always a bittersweet holiday. Commemorated every year with family picnics and tons of events with the kids. But at the end of it all the purpose of this weekend is to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our country and those who are on the line now.

So when we are out at our picnics this weekend, getting fat eating ribs and BBQ remember the sacrifices our military personnel and their families make everyday. Voluntary or not they are/were there to protect us from things we can't even fathom.

Here is a shout out to the members of our family that did or are serving our country. May God bless your families and bring you peace.

Donal M Brubaker I
Donal M Brubaker II
Charles W Brubaker
Paul Studebaker
Gary Studebaker
John Studebaker
Jeff Studebaker
Jim Studebaker
Roy Haines
Phil Reynolds
Melvin Eugene VanSky
Michael Carlson

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

AMEN!

Athletic Supporters?!

2008-05-19T23:08:00.005-05:00

So here is the email from one of our more illustrious HS teachers. It was sent at 11:53am. From what I can tell it was sent to the entire HS staff minus a few select individuals as well as to a few other individuals outside the HS. 5th period ending bell doesn't ring until 11:55am so one has to wonder what class he was blowing off during 5th period to write this email?

Bold emphasis is my comments;

From: Conkling, Howard
Sent: Wed 11/14/2007 11:53AM
To: (removed)
Subject: Thursday’s board meeting

Hello Again!

For most of you this is a reminder that during Thursday night’s board meeting, people will be there to discuss the future of Coach Moss and the High School program. (No tonight is to discuss that we the parents and taxpayers of D116 want our football program fixed. Whether that be with new coaches or equipment or whatever it takes) As many of you know, the president of the Spartan football (our youth program) will be there. (my name is Brian Brubaker and the Spartans are not YOUR youth program nor does the Spartans have anything to do with what is going on. At no time was the Spartan Organization part of any of this.) As you also know, he made a public meeting very private when two supporters of the football program were asked to leave the meeting. (There was no public meeting made private. It was a private meeting of HS parents and incoming freshman parents that kicked your two self proclaimed athletic supports out because of their intimidation tactics and trying to video record the meeting. In fact one of them threatened me while being escorted out of the meeting by the police. These two athletic supports are a class act.)
I’m asking you to show up and support Coach Moss. Many of you know what happened to him last year. It’s happening to him again. (What happened?)
Many of our younger teachers are worried about showing up to the board meeting and being seen. (I doubt they are worried about being seen. It’s more like they are tired of your silly games) I guess times have changed. (YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD HERE! Probably your most prolific statement in this whole thing!) In Coach Mosses first year he went out on strike and put himself in jeopardy by standing out as a first year teacher. That’s a testament of the man. (Nobody will take that away from him. In fact most of us parents actually support the union efforts and continue to do so. It’s only about 6-8 of you that give the union a bad name.)
Please consider going to the board meeting. Please consider bringing a friend. I’ll leave you with this thought. If someone from the community can raise this kind of hell, (with insider knowledge), what will happen to the rest of the coaches and teachers Please consider attending the meeting. A good person like Coach Moss should not be treated this way.

Howard Conkling

Now this really gets me. What insider knowledge would that be? Could it be the 27 games you all coached in front of a crowd on Fridays and Saturdays? Could it be the fact that we all took notice when our kids walked in the Homecoming Parade ALONE while the coaches sat at the school and waited for them? Could it be we watched as kids got out of hand in front of you time and time again and not one coached stepped up to control it? Could it be that we were told that the football players were unwilling to come to school early for weightlifting and they are lazy but those same kids show up at 6am to run sprints in the halls for basketball?

The funniest thing is that this had nothing to do with coach Moss. It had everything to do with the program and its lack of competitiveness. We want the program fixed and the fix is left up to the administration and school board. The problem is nobody ever steps up and demands what these kids deserve. We just wanted improvement.

Now the funniest part of his whole email is about the athletic supporters that came to the meeting armed with a video camera and the reference to “insider knowledge”. I have spoken nothing but truth, fact and public knowledge. Let’s see what "insider knowledge" these guys get to use… stay tuned it is almost time to wash the athletic supporters.

More on the RLHS Saga

2008-05-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

To set this all up it is important to understand the WHOLE scenario of events leading up to the email and other posts that will be posted tomorrow or over the weekend.

During the 2006 season many parents began contacting me through mutual friends regarding the RLHS football program. At that time I was asked what I thought was wrong with the program and what was needed to get it on track. Following the 2006 football season I received even more phone calls. I explained that I felt that the high school program needed two things immediately; 1. a mandatory weightlifting and conditioning program for athletes and 2. more accountability or respect for the program from athletes as well as from coaches. I told them to contact the HS Athletic Director and Principal and voice their concerns for the program. As I have posted before the HS administration tried to make some changes and other things to no avail.

Sometime in 2007, prior to the football season I went to a board meeting and stated that I felt the football program and several other athletic programs and activities were in disarray and in need of improvement. I stated that many parents felt his way but were scared to speak in fear of their kids not starting or making the teams. I stated that I would be their advocate and asked the school board to take notice and help us.

During the 2007 season the calls began again. Parents wanted to know what to do. I told them to go to a school board meeting and voice their concerns. Prior to their attendance several parents approached me in person and let me read their statements they were going to recite at the meeting. They were too specific for a public meeting citing individual coaches, players, etc. I advised them to speak about the PROGRAM and state that they wanted it to be fixed. It is not our job as taxpayers to debate coaching or such but rather let the school board and administration what our expectations are.

I was then asked if I could help them craft such a statement. I told them I would be willing to hold a meeting to discuss what they thought should be said and how. The meeting was organized and attended by several HS football parents as well as many incoming freshman football parents.

Overall it was a good meeting and they were able to get their thoughts concise and hit the core issues and expectations.

Prior to the meeting a former RLHS teacher showed up to attend along with another gentleman that I did not recognize. They were armed with their handy dandy video camera and proceeded to try and video tape the meeting. I asked them to leave several times or turn off the camera which they vehemently declined. At which point the police were called. They were ultimately removed from the premises but did not do so before one of them threatened me verbally.

Why were they there you ask? Simply to intimidate the parents that were attending to educate themselves. Several parents ran out the back door prior to these two clowns entrance because they were afraid that if they were identified their kids would endure some type of retribution.

Sad but true. The returned once the "supporters of the program" left the building.

The parents attended the upcoming school board meeting and remained professional and courteous which was the whole point of the meeting in the first place. The last thing anyone wanted was everyone yelling and screaming at a meeting or listening to the same thing 30 different times.

Prior to the school board meeting there was a fury of emails sent around the HS and school district of which a few were forwarded to me. It is fairly interesting and has a funny ending to the story.

I'll try to make some time tomorrow or over the weekend to post the email and my comments.

Quote from a reader

2008-05-07T22:54:00.000-05:00

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences. - Susan B. Anthony

Frog Legs!

2008-05-05T07:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back we went to Steitz's resort for dinner. Josh noticed that they had frog legs on the menu and asked if he could get them. At the time we said no. Ever since then he has been bugging us to go back and let him try them so last night was the night! My brother Isaac and his fiance were looking at homes in the area and dropped by to say hi and subsequently got stuck going to dinner with us too.

Well we all tried the frog legs and Josh, Isaac and I all liked them. Lori, Shelby, Jake and Amy were a no go but at least they all tried it.

I have to admit, I have never seen nor eaten frog legs before. It was my thought that they would come out on a plate and be little legs maybe like chicken wings but smaller. Well they show up and it is two long legs and what looks to be the lower half of the body. This made me a little worried. Questions like is there poop in there? Is that the butt? are their bones? and a host of other questions race through my mind. Not to be outdone by my 6 year old I grab a set and start ripping it apart. the waitress comes buy and I ask "How do you eat these things?" She responds that she does not know. Great! Probably eating poop.

Here are some pics of the event. In the end they were actually quite good.

RLHS Football Part 5

2008-05-03T00:58:00.003-05:00

"It would have been nice to have more time," he said, "to see if we could build something."

How much time would be adequate? The previous coach squandered away 10-12 Seniors' seasons before he wised up and figured out he lost his edge. What's wrong with parents (taxpayers) stepping up and demanding more? I think it was quite apparent that it was going to continue to be same old same old.

Note: WOW! This must of hit a cord with many. I've gotten about 80 emails in support. Thanks for keeping up with me on this ride. The next few post will be really interesting. I have not written them yet, only know what I want to focus on so it may take a day or two.

RLHS Football Part 4

2008-05-01T23:56:00.003-05:00

"Moss and his wife, Cheryl, are expecting their second child in April. The couple's daughter, Ann, will be 2 in February.

While he'll have more time for his young family, Moss is disappointed he won't be coaching football."

Nothing to say here except I think it is pretty sh$%*y to pull the wife and kid card for sympathy. Especially when you hunted down the reporter.

PS - thanks for all of you that are emailing me with your comments and support. I'm happy to be the mouth piece and carry your torch. I also understand your concerns of repercussions to your children if you lose your anonymity. You are safe with me. For APArrowidiot: there are more than 4-5. It's more like 45-50 (half the program probably) and that is only the ones that will talk. Play in your own sandbox.

RLHS Football Part 3

2008-04-30T19:55:00.001-05:00

"Moss hopes to continue as a social studies/history teacher at the school. He's in his eighth season as freshman coach for the girls basketball team."

This statement is just plain stupid. Everybody including Moss knows he is tenured and protected. He is not the Head football coach. He still retains his teaching position whether he is a good teacher or not.

One thing is for sure (at least this year); they seem to coach girls basketball well.

RLHS Football Part 2

2008-04-29T19:54:00.003-05:00

"It is (tough)," he acknowledged, "because we had kind of started the rebuilding process and the kids started to buy into it."

Rebuilding?!!! Let's see; 1-8 first year, 3-6 second year and back to 1-8 third year. sounds like we are going backwards and that is only at the varsity level. Why are the freshman teams historically very strong and then get weaker as they get older? Hmmm, I wonder. Why do you continually loose more and more players at the higher levels? Hmmm, I wonder. The elders say it's because of the mobility rate in the district but according to the district brass the mobility rate has been going down so shouldn't your numbers being improving? We all know that's a crock.

Buying into it? Just ask any player. Even the kids don't buy this BS.

RLHS Football Part 1

2008-04-27T20:08:00.003-05:00

If you look a few posts back you will see an article from the Daily Herald about our past head football coach. It appears that he sought out the writer to cry his river on all of us. So, let’s break the article down and go at this a little each day.

The article states;

"The Panthers went 1-8 in Moss' first season as head coach two years ago. After the team went 3-6 last season, he said a bad coaching evaluation resulted in his termination as head coach.

But the evaluation was overturned, he said, because it wasn't accurate. District supervisors then reinstated him."

I say let’s see the actual evaluation. Hell it was probably the first evaluation EVER for any coach at the HS. Who says it was bad other than Coach Moss? Overturned by District Supervisors? So why was it a bad evaluation? Because you went from 1-8 to 3-6 during the evaluation year or is that you returned for a third season to go 1-8 again? Tell me where the improvement is because I can't see it. I also saw your sophomore team go from 8-1 (as freshman) to 0-8-1 this year. What the hell happened there?! I also see that your Soph team was comprised of 15-16 kids, what happened to the 25-30 from their previous Frosh year? How about the pathetic showing of players at your Fall Sports Award Night. These just show how much the coaching staff motivates these kids.

Time for a Little Therapy

2008-04-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

Well it has been a while since chiming in on the RLHS football situation and I felt time away from the blog would help heal some wounds or at least let the little boils heal up. But my name has been drug around enough and I think it is time to let some venom out.

Stay tuned for my multi-post story. I don't know where it will lead us but I promise to keep some humor in the whole thing. This story has many twists and turns and I don't know where I will stop but hang on and have fun!

At the end I think we will find Waldo or is it altparrowman?

Ding Ding

2008-04-09T22:06:00.003-05:00

So this evening was quite action packed at the Brubaker house. I got home from work around 5:50 and had grab Josh and run across town for his first baseball practice. Of course he didn't want to go at first because "baseball is stupid. You can't hit anybody." Well we get there and he loved it. After practice we race home for dinner and Lori has her friend Jennie over to cut her and Shelby's hair. Jennie has her two kids, Joey and Becca so it is a full house, a full LOUD house. The kids are downstairs playing and having fun while the ladies are up stairs washing, cutting, drying and yapping. All of the sudden we hear the front door slam shut and Joey and Josh are high tailing it across the yard. A few minutes later Becca, Shelby and Jake are screaming that Joey and Josh just ran down the street to DING DONG DITCH the neighbors. Well Lori goes from nice mom to B*&%ch in less than three shakes of a pups tale and is at the door to meet the two boys as they attempt to re-enter the residence. If you could have seen the look on Josh's face when he looked up and saw her! OMG! So Josh immediately is sent to his room, Joey is in the kitchen singing like a canary about how it was his idea yadda yadda. Meanwhile I'm trying not to piss my pants from laughing.

So being the good parental units we all are we made the boys return to the ding dong ditchee and apologize. Turns out nobody was home anyway. The best news is that we know just about everyone on our block and they would have probably thought it was as funny as I did being that the squirt (Josh) is only 6.

It was one of those moments as a dad where you knew you had to back mom up and show that it was wrong but in the back of your mind you thinking; "that's my boy!"

So as me and Lori sit here tonight reminiscing of the funny events today and trying to salvage a laugh or two for sanity sake we started to surf for a funny ding dong ditch video and came across this...

Can't wait for the flaming dog poop bag on the doorstep to be played!

Take Your Stinking Paws Off Me You Damn Dirty Ape!

2008-04-06T23:11:00.003-05:00

I lot of fun and laughs as well as quotes have come from Charlton Heston over the years. Planet of the Apes was a mysterious time in my life. I think every kid my age has quoted the "dirty ape" or "my cold dead hands" quote.

I always found the apes oddly intriguing. Even back then they did a pretty good job with makeup.

Now all the NRA has in Ted Nugent. Another fascinating person. Again I find myself glued to him in interviews and shows. His extremism is intoxicating. Wouldn't that be a great vacation?! Three days on the Nugent farm.
I'd do it.

Day Dreaming

2008-04-04T07:58:00.002-05:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963. Eight years before my introduction to the world. 45 years later it appears that things are better but are they really? I believe so but I also believe there is still a lot of hate and prejudice out there.

A funny story about how hate and prejudice is a learned behavior; when we first moved to RL and Jake was in school for several months he kept talking about this little girl in hims class. Every few nights he would talk about her and the conversations and fun they had at school. One day school pictures show up and we ask Jake which one is the girl in the class picture. Jake responds the one with brown eyes and black hair. Well that narrowed it down to about 4 (at least the female and dark hair, couldn't see the eye color). So I say "come over here and point her out you knucklehead". He proceeds to come to the table and points to the only black girl in the picture. I say "well it's nice to finally put a face to the name", and Jake scampers off to play or watch TV. As I sat there thumbing through the pictures and laughing at some of the kids funny facial expressions it hits me. I look at Lori and ask "wouldn't it have been easier to just say the black girl"?

I don't know how he would explain her now but at that point as a kindergartner or first grader Jake did not see skin color at all. Yet at that same age I had heard kids at the parks and fields using derogatory words and slang sayings.

I have been known to stereo-type and probably because of lack of ability or cleverness to argue the point at hand. At the end of the day we are a bunch of idiots at one time or another. In fact I pride myself in not being prejudice or racist rather I don't like everybody and anybody equally. That is a fact. Actions speak louder than words and my actions show that I dislike people from all walks equally. Likewise, I also have friends with people of all walks as well.

To my point of this post. Who would have thought that in 2008 AMERICA would be holding a presidential primary where a black man and a women would be considered for the President of the United States of America. I know I would have never thought it 5, 10, 15 years ago. Heck I don't think I would have believed it 3-4 years ago.

I don't endorse either but I think it shows how far we, as a nation, have come to date. There is still a long road for equality but we have covered a lot of ground as well.

Now if we could just get everyone to conduct themselves with good character, even semi-good character....

Lordy Lordy, She is almost 40!

2008-03-05T06:51:00.000-06:00

Today is the wife's birthday. This weekend she has several events planned to mark the "anniversary of her 29th birthday".

Who would have thought that I could sweep that young 24 year old off her feet and convince her to spend the rest of her life with me. It seems just like yesterday that me a a friend were stumbling into Northwest Metalcraft in Arlington Heights to buy a grill igniter and running in to her. As luck would have my mojo was no full tilt that day and I was able extract her number. I could tell she wanted me from the minute I caught her staring at me. She could not control her urges any longer and had to have me.

Well she will have a better story, but that one sounds good to me...

So the conversation last night before bed goes as follows:

Brian: So, what do you want for your birthday dinner?
Lori: I don't know.
Brian: Come on you always cook me my favorite meal for my birthday and the kids and I want to do it for you.
Lori: Well, that is a nice gesture but you can't cook anything unless its microwaveable or in a can.
Brian: Now that is not very nice! I can cook quite well thank you. I think.
Lori: Coming from a guy that had to call me to ask why the Rice a Roni was not getting soft because he didn't add water.
Brian: I was merely browning the rice as per the directions on the box. I should have finished reading them!
Lori: What ever, good night.

So it looks like we will be dining out.

If you see her and the girls out between now and Sunday make sure you stop by and say happy birthday.

Church and State

2008-02-28T22:13:00.008-06:00

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that I would grow up to discuss the separation of Church and State let alone even give a crap about it.

So this morning I read in the DH about this guy in town that is opposing fliers being distributed in one of the district schools from a faith based after school club because he is an Atheist and is citing that this is not separation of church and state. Furthermore he tries to strength his belief and argument that the district is exerting resources to promote this club. In the process he is also jeopardizing ANY club or organization distributing fliers which in the end hurts their enrollment and limits their offering.

Now I completely 100% believe in our Constitution and laws of this country and one of those is the separation of church and state. But to what degree? Isn't he infringing on my right to receive this information? Would it be too much to just ask him to discard the flier and throw it in the trash? Possibly even use the situation to strengthen his belief with his child and explain his position? Instead he comes to a meeting and grandstands like a half cocked loony. And yes I was at the meeting. He was unprepared, repeated himself and conducted himself unprofessionally.

There are studies that show that children have a better opportunity to be successful in life when they engage in extra-curricular activities. Whether those be sports, academic, religious or other programs and clubs. Does this guy feel offended when they send home a flier promoting kickball, student council or Wendy's night?

Why is this so offensive to him? Is he worried that his child might be intrigued by the opportunity and stray from the clutches of his choice? Oh, wait a minute we paid the teachers to spend 1/10 of a second passing out the fliers which is his gripe, right? So then why bring the religion part into it? Why don't you cry about the ATYB, Spartans, AYSO, RLAPD, Character Counts, Young Rembrandt's, etc, etc, etc.

If we don't offer these opportunities to our children we will pay for it later. One way or another it hits our pocketbooks. It can be up front and positive or it can be from lack there of and we will pay for three squares and a cell later on.

I say don't sweat the small stuff and throw it away if you really don't like it.

On a side bar I would love to ask him if he believes in evil, ghosts or hell because you know what they say... you can't believe in one and not the other.

And as I sit here proof reading this entry I think to myself, what a great country we live in where we can have this situation. He should thank our fore founders for this opportunity. I know I do.

Pre-game and Predictions

2008-01-20T13:09:00.001-06:00

ESPN from the wee hours of the morn then into standard programING all the while scanning websites checking the lines on the games, injury reports etc.

TheN came a lull around 12:30 where more attention needed to be focused on the family. So I cleaned the hall bathroom real quick to ready for company and then moved back into the front room where I rev'd up the kids with some shouting and simulated touchdown plays from the '85 Bears Superbowl appearance. Josh was center/wide out, Shelby cheered (of course), Jake played DB and Lori just sat there looking at us like we were a bunch of crazies.

After our short reenactment I decided to scan the Sirius radio stations on dish to pump us up some more and learned a valuable lesson.

Never, never ever, never mix singing "Too late for love" (Def Lepard) and hot Cheetos. I broke out into the chorus and flew up to my feet in an attempt to demonstrate my prowess on the air guitar when I sucked in some hot Cheeto dust and went into a coughing tirade. As I returned to my couch seat I grabbed for my Jack and Dr. Pepper (splash of DP) and gulped down two swigs hoping to extinguish the burning sensation worse than the feeling when you throw up 100 x's after a night of drinking. So I have calmed down now and am sipping some milk to coat my scarred esophagus.

So here are the predictions for today's games.

Packers 13 pts over the Giants
Patriots 6 pts over the Chargers (I'm gambling on SD having a hell of a D game!)

LET ME HEAR YA!

But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Yes it's too late too late, too late
TOO LATE FOR LOVE!

Round Lake ousts Moss -- again

2007-11-30T05:08:00.000-06:00

From the Daily Herald today:

By Joe Aguilar
Published: 11/30/2007 12:23 AM

Doug Moss said he temporarily lost his job as head coach of Round Lake's football team a year ago.

On Tuesday, he lost it for good, seemingly.
After 14 years as a coach for the Panthers, Moss was informed that he was being dismissed.

"I'm 100 percent broke off from Round Lake football," Moss said. "I told the kids (Tuesday) what happened and I was done."

The Panthers went 1-8 in Moss' first season as head coach two years ago. After the team went 3-6 last season, he said a bad coaching evaluation resulted in his termination as head coach.

But the evaluation was overturned, he said, because it wasn't accurate. District supervisors then reinstated him.

The Panthers went just 1-8 this fall. So now Moss is no longer part of a program he has been with since his hiring at the high school in 1994.

"It is (tough)," he acknowledged, "because we had kind of started the rebuilding process and the kids started to buy into it."

Moss hopes to continue as a social studies/history teacher at the school. He's in his eighth season as freshman coach for the girls basketball team.

Moss and his wife, Cheryl, are expecting their second child in April. The couple's daughter, Ann, will be 2 in February.

While he'll have more time for his young family, Moss is disappointed he won't be coaching football.

"It would have been nice to have more time," he said, "to see if we could build something."

I will definitely have more to say on this whole thing in the future so check back often!

Found This Appropriate Today

2007-11-02T07:45:00.000-05:00

Let’s make them wear helmets!

2007-08-08T20:11:00.001-05:00

WTF! is this world coming to? Every time there is a tragic event we run around like a bunch of chicken Little's yelling the sky is falling.

First, the MN bridge collapse. Horrible. Yes. Tragic. For sure. Then our wonderful state leaders send out all our guys to RE-CHECK all the bridges in IL. What? Wasn't the annual check done right in the first place? Why duplicate the effort and spend the money. If they need to go check every bridge again then we need to fire some inspectors as well as their bosses.

Second, (which fired me up the most and got me off my dead ass to blog for the first time in a long time) is an article in the DH sports section this morning. This column was about the minor league coach that died from a head injury sustained from a line drive hit. It seems that he thinks coaches should wear helmets as base coaches to protect them. Fine. Then make the pitcher, third baseman and first baseman wear them as well since they have a much higher risk of the ball actually being hit anywhere near them. I mean come on people! It was a freak accident. could it have been prevented with a helmet? Probably. But do we need to live in bubble wrap as a society? What happens after you make them wear helmets and they take a shot in the face and die? Will we mandate face masks as well? Then what happens when they take a shot in the chest and die? again we will mandate chest protectors. I have a better idea. Lets put up a huge jumbotron and make them compete on a PS3. The worst that can happen is a sprained thumb.

There is inherent risk with any sport or recreational activity at any level. The best we can do is minimize the highest potential risks with protective equipment and training and play the game. Stop putting us in a bubble. It's like the moms that walk around with that anti-bacteria lotion and every time little Joey touches dirt we must whip out the sterile blanket, barricade the perimeter and immediately administer the lotion to kill any possible germs. 30 years later little Joey, now big Joey, suffers from an acute case of cooties from his new girlfriend because he is at the pool in a speedo and could not hide his 3 gallon anti-bacteria lotion bottle in his pants and the guard won't let him bring in his man purse.

OK. I think I'm better. Now where did I put my Prozac?

Let’s make them wear helmets
By Marty Maciaszek
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com
Posted Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Seeing someone in the first- or third-base coaching box wearing a baseball helmet is definitely strange.

The Illinois High School Association requires kids to wear a helmet when they are coaching the bases or protecting teammates who are warming up.

And now it’s time to have the adults grab a helmet after the death of minor-league coach Mike Coolbaugh from a line drive in the head in the first-base box.

No doubt this was a freak incident. Odds aren’t likely it will happen again anytime soon.

Why take the chance?

Coaches can take all the precautions they want and move back for more powerful hitters. They’re still 90 to 100 feet from home plate without a glove.

There’s an old saying in baseball that “the ball will find you.” Ask any coach who has been in the high school game for any length of time, and they can recount getting drilled in the legs, shoulders, back or some other body part.

IHSA assistant executive director Anthony Holman, who oversees baseball, said there hasn’t been a push to have coaches wear helmets. But Holman expects the topic to come up at an advisory committee meeting later this month.

It would take awhile to get used to seeing baseball coaches in helmets as the rule rather than the exception.

It beats the potentially devastating alternative.

Quotes from high school baseball coaches:

Mike Manno, St. Viator

“I don’t think so (helmets are necessary). Have there been close calls? You’ve always got to be on your toes, no question about that.”

Ross Giusti, Prospect

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing one … but it’s not out of the question. I think there is some merit to doing something like that.”

Fred Bencriscutto, Dundee-Crown

“Is wearing a helmet that invasive? I don’t think so … but I don’t see it as something that should be mandated.”

GO GATORS!

2007-06-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

We've been down in Orlando for the past 7 days unwinding and enjoying ourselves. I will probably only blog this one time since the TH we are renting for the vacation only has dial up capabilities. I could walk down to the clubhouse that has an ok wireless connection but the only signal I can get is right by the entrance to the water park pool! We've been to Universal, Island of Adventure, Sea World and Gatorland so far. The most exciting day was Saturday when a MI hillbilly who was parked on the side of the road decided to whip a U-Turn right in front of us causing a near head on collision. Luckily I was able to swerve and take a glancing blow but we were a little banged up and called it quits for the day. We have a small private enclosed pool in our TH so we spent the rest of Saturday calling insurance companies, National Car Rental and jumping in the pool. These f'ing tourists need to learn how to drive!

Here are some pictures from Gatorland. They are phone pics of the actual pics so they suck but it was cool to see the kids on a real live alligator!

I Can't Stand Rosie...

2007-06-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

So this hits the spot just right tonight!

Thanks Rip!

Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and Quasimodo were together
one day, talking about life, love and happiness.

Sleeping Beauty said, "All my life I have been told this and I do believe I must be the most beautiful girl in all the world."

Tom Thumb said, "I know I must certainly be the smallest person in the world."

Quasimodo said, "And I absolutely have to be the ugliest, most
disgusting person in the world."

They decided to go to the Guinness Book of World Records to have this verified and claim their place in that important hall of fame.

Sleeping Beauty went in first and came out deliriously happy. It 's official, I AM the most beautiful girl in the world."

Tom Thumb went next and emerged triumphant, "I am now
officially the smallest person in the world."

Sometime later, Quasimodo comes out looking utterly confused & frustrated and says,

"Who the hell is Rosie O ' Donnell?"

Weekend at RL Festival!

2007-06-04T06:59:00.000-05:00

It was a crazy busy weekend with the town festival. The kids were running all day long and Lori and I were busy volunteering and getting to many other events such as baseball games, softball games, fishing, graduations and graduation parties on top of attending the festival events.

Here are a couple random pictures taken this weekend and for more info and insight on the weekends events check out these blogs...

Mayor's Blog
Sean's Blog
Al's Blog

Josh and Shelby on the BIG DROP!

Paul Maplethorpe instructing Bob Stone and Matt Bruenning on the finer points of cooking pancakes for the masses. Paul helped us out immensely by getting this griddle for the Spartans Pancake Breakfast Sunday morning.

This is a picture of the Brubaker children trying to pass off fake ID's to get in the beer tent. Luckily the RLPD and Christa were there to thwart their efforts!

I think this was from last weekend. Jake holding a small mouth bass from Round Lake. He was not too impressed with the size but he had fun!

Josh just being a knucklehead.

I don't know where this came from! ;) There was some very funny dialog with this but I can't remember what. I do remember laughing until it hurt.

The Time Has Come to Stand and Be Counted

2007-05-09T07:19:00.000-05:00

For a few years now I have been trying to work with coaches and school leaders to improve the quality of the athletic programs and clubs at the high school. I have decided that is time to bring the people to the front and be heard as a group at the next school board meeting. Below is a short note I am sending to all athletes, club members and participants of extracurricular activities at the high school in hopes that they will show support. It is important that we show strong numbers at the meeting. More to come....

Dear concerned Parents, Student Athletes and Club Members,

With this year coming to a close and new leadership on the horizon I feel it is time to speak and be heard. I do not have children at the high school level yet but I am no stranger to the RLHS athletic programs, clubs and extra curricular activities.

For many years now the district has been in what I would call “damage control” and for the past 5 years they have made tremendous strides to right our ship. I have not spoken until this time because I felt that academics and fiscal stability was first and foremost on the agenda but we have been improving by leaps and bounds in both categories.

It is time to bring back focus to the athletic programs and clubs in our district. Studies have shown that positive extracurricular activities and athletics help elevate academics. I am not preaching to start throwing money at the athletic department and clubs but I strongly believe it is time for the district to start looking at improving our programs.

Before I go further I want to make very clear that this is not a negative campaign or a witch hunt. I have spoken to superintendents, school board members, principals, administrators and parents independently but have not seen much progress. It is time to stand up, be heard and challenge our district to bring our athletics and clubs up to par.

Talk is cheap. There is power in numbers and it does not need to be confrontational. I am asking you as parents, players, members and taxpayers to attend and show your support for our student athletes and clubs at the May 17th School Board meeting at the RLHS Library Media Center at 7pm. I will stand up and speak out and if you feel compelled to do the same I encourage you to do so as well.

Please come and show your support for your athletes and club members.

Josh's Imitation of Nick Nolte

2007-04-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

After several long weeks of being busy I have decided to update the blog. I've written several pieces with the intent to post but they are too critical of the school district and some of the staff/administrators and I felt that before blindsiding them on a blog I would give them the courtesy of my intent in person. There are several things that are on my search and destroy radar from personal life, business life, political life and D116 taxpayer life. What I have found is that I have lost my sense of humor this month and have worked myself into a such a frenzy that nothing can be accomplished in my current state of mind. So this weekend I spent 3-4 hours a day fishing a few spots to reflect and get my mind back into a positive and productive mode.

This morning I took Josh and Jake fishing with me along with several other friends and their kids. Overall it was a slow day fishing but the kids had fun running around and burning some of that cabin fever energy. Josh displayed his incredible knack to attract mud and dirt to him so a bath was in order. Hence the Nick Nolte picture. He has been 'growing it out' for several weeks and won't let us cut it. Let me rephrase that... we are allowing him to grow it out. I asked him why he wanted long hair and both ears pierced. He stated that he just liked how it looked and so we decided that this is his way of expressing himself right now and we could live with his head looking like the business end of a mop for a little while. The pierced ears was out of the question.

Elections are on Tuesday so be sure to vote!!!!

What a Great Weekend!

2007-02-11T20:26:00.001-06:00

The past few weekends have been somewhat mundane (which isn't a bad thing!) but this weekend was packed with fun things and me and the kids got to do something totally new and awesomely fun... ice fishing!

First was the Saturday night Bowling with the Queens fundraiser. Had a lot of fun bowling with Lori and some friends. I joke around about how the Spartan Football and Cheer program produce the most RL Queens but it is not that far off base. Most of the Queens in recent years have been Spartan Cheerleaders or even youth coaches. Maybe it is the Queens that make cheerleaders?! Had a babysitting snafu which was neutralized by our second daughter Brittany.

The coolest thing this weekend (quite literally) was ice fishing at 7am with Paul Hollingsworth and son Nick, Matt Bruenning and son Nick, my kids; Jake, Shelby and Josh and a bunch of other guys. I have never been ice fishing so I was little worried about the cold issue and the potty issue with the kids. Well those were really not too bad of issues in the long run.

We got on the lake and guys were drilling holes with a gas powered auger (cool) and setting up "Tip its" which are fishing lines with flags on them that spring a flag in the air when a fish is on.

We must have caught 3 or 4 fish the first 45 minutes! Kids were running all over the lake (really a pond) checking the tip-its. I took a few pics with the camera but there are more coming hopefully from Paul and Matt.

The biggest fish of the day must have been over 5.5lbs. A BIG large mouth bass being held by Shelby. The funniest thing was that I figured we would only be out there for about and hour and a half because the kids would get cold or bored. Well Josh got too cold after about 2.5 hours so I ran him home but Jake and Shelby were in it for the long haul (about 6 hours).

All the guys were amazed with Shelby. They had her baiting her own hooks and fishing on her own after about 20 minutes. We would look at each other and ask "where's Shelby?" then look around and we would see her sitting over on her bucket by some hole she found no one using trying to catch the big one.

I like fishing when its warm but man was this cool. I am very seriously thinking of investing in a shanty, heater, ice rods and tip-its for next weekend. The kids absolutely went crazy!

Lots of things for this weekend; movie with the kids on Saturday morning, dinner Saturday night with some friends, ice fishing on Sunday and to bed early for Monday.

I can't tell you where we were or I'd have to kill you because it is an elusive jewel.

Stay warm!

CO Detectors: our story

2007-02-07T09:46:00.000-06:00

I have been recieving several emails regarding my post back about a year ago regarding CO detectors and our expierence almost 2 years ago. Since that time thier have been laws passed and codes written to incorporate these needed devices and I'm proud to say that I was part of it.

I still read this post every couple of months to remind me of what could have been and it still sends chills down my spine. CO is more and more prevelant in newer homes because of the quality of newer homes and their high energy efficiencies. Making homes 'tighter' or more leak proof also lowers the amount of fress air allowed to enter your home. Back in the old days homes leaked and that did two things; it wasted energy heating or air conditioning your home which lead to higher utility bills but it also let fresh air in which help the air quality of your home. Now making homes 'tighter' helps the bills but also limits the fresh air unless you open the windows.

Here is the post from December of 2005...

Today started off fairly normal. Lori cleaned the house for our party on Sunday and did a little last minute shopping for some gifts. We made our way over to Penny (Lori's aunt, more like a sister)and Jim's house down in Arlington Heights around 3pm. It was great to see everyone. All were healthy and the kids have all reached an age where they can get along for longer periods of time and not need constant adult supervision. Lori's cousin Sandy and her husband came and brought their new baby boy. He is 6 days old. He was obviously the center of attention with all the women. 7pm rolled around and we made our way back home. We were welcomed in by our CO detector going off. My first thought was to replace the batteries in it but I remembered that I just changed them in the fall. Instead we called the FD. They came out and took a reading of 31ppm in the house. Not good. We evacuated the kids and dog and called an HVAC contractor to come out and take a look at the furnace. $200 (cheaper than I thought) later we were ok to occupy again. Turns out the furnace was fine. It was the hot water heater. I flush it regularly but evidently it is common for the exhaust vent to begin to clog and that was what was causing the elevated CO levels. Somewhat of a surreal event. I remembered that the reason we bought them was 2 years ago this Christmas there was a news story of a family with 5 children who all succumbed to CO poisoning. Lori and I were so emotionally moved by the devastation that family was enduring that next day I went out and bought our two detectors. Someone was watching out for us. We would have gone to bed and possibly not woken up. Instead we are safe, all for $40.I am spending some time looking at ordinances this week to see if there are any in place as there are for smoke detectors.By the way the Kidde Nighthawk is ranked #1 for residential use by Consumer Reports. They also say to replace your CO detectors every 5 years.

Brittany is 18!

2007-02-03T14:16:00.000-06:00

One of the greatest rewards with being so involved with the area's youth is watching them grow up and being a part of it. Sometimes it is from the sidelines and others you are right there next to them.

Almost 6 years ago we met the Woolums Family. Since that time they have become very close friends of ours. On Friday the oldest child in their family turned 18! Brittany starting babysitting for us almost immediately after our families met. She was amazingly responsible and a very dedicated sitter to our children. As our families grew closer our kids began to take on a more dynamic relationship to the point that Brittany and her brother (Kevin) are more like siblings. It made it a little difficult for her to watch them as they were a little more apt to misbehave but she held her ground and continued to provide us with great babysitting.

She is like most other 18 year old HS girls with a certain amount of problems and distractions but amazingly she is level headed and extremely reliable for her age. I feel fortunate to have been in a position to watch her grow and progress through the teen age years in hopes that it will prepare us for Shelby. Somehow I think Shelby will have a lot more drama in her teen years than most girls. ;)

Well, yesterday was her real birthday and tonight is the big party that she had been asking for. Her dad, Lori and I are putting it all together and it starts at 5pm. We have invited about 50 of her friends, a DJ, cake, decorations, food, drinks, the whole works.

In the grand scheme of things 6 years isn't all that long but it seems like we have known her forever. I can't wait to see what she does with her life after HS, after college, etc.

Happy Birthday Brittany. If we are this proud of you; imagine what your mom & dad must feel like!

* This picture is about 2 years old but its one of my favorites because of the way Josh looks in it.

Dive! Dive! Dive!

2007-01-29T07:40:00.000-06:00

I had a little laugh this morning. We usually don't buy the real sugary cereals for the kids but as a treat Lori bought Apple Jacks for the boys and Barbie something or other the Shelby.

This morning Jake woke up and as he was finishing up pulling his socks on he yells down the hall that he wants Apple Jacks for breakfast. Since I was at the kitchen counter checking my email I figured I would start the process for him. On the box they show this cool little digital stop watch as the prize. I read it for a minute and then start to rip open the box with every intent to jamb my arm down to the bottom of the cereal box to claim my prize.

To my horror I pop open the box top and right on top of the sealed inner bag is another little bag containing the prize. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO WORK FOR IT ANYMORE! I yell. Jake is confused and I decide not to even explain in fear of sounding like my father.

I can remember as as little kid sticking your hand arm pit deep into the box and swirling it around until your finger tips felt that ever elusive prize at which point you ripped your arm free dragging 1/3 of the cereal with it and all over the table as your mom and dad yelled at you. My dad would take the prize and put it on top of the fridge and tell us we could not have the prize until we finished the cereal.

The good ole days!

Can you remember the coolest prize ever given out in a cereal box. I was thinking back and the only thing I could come up with was the baking soda submarine in Captn Crunch or Fruit Loops. Man those things were cool.

Dance Monkey! Dance!

2007-01-01T11:09:00.000-06:00

Well it was a pretty low key New Years as usual. We usually buy a few appetizery things and play some games with the kids, watch the ball drop in NYC @ 11pm central time and then go to sleep. This year we bought the kids Dance Dance Revolution for the PS2 and finally got around to opening the box from Christmas. It was hilarious. I always tell my kids that they can be anything if they put their energy and mind to it but I would be willing to place bets that none of them will be Solid Gold Dancers. The only hopeful was Josh but he is too small for his little feet to be able to hit two boxes at the same time with out doing the splits and falling down so it was kind of like watching a 5 year old imitate Matrix type moves.

After several hours flipping between the Bears game and DDR it was time to watch the ball drop. Can anyone tell me why Dick Clark is still on TV? Someone better tell the network and Dick that he is through. We ended up watching it more on MTV than on channel 7 as I am sure most of the viewing audience did as well.

After the kids went down we tried to watch the Chicago area events but grew board of the newsesqe type of coverage and poor entertainment. Channel 2 (I think) had some self proclaimed Hasidic Jewish rapper on. What!? You have to be kidding me. This guy sucked... back to MTV.

We made it all the way to 11:50pm when we both said 'ready for bed?'. Off we went, probably snoring by 11:55.

Can't wait to watch our Fly Kids on DDR again today!

...AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

2006-12-25T00:27:00.000-06:00

The Poop on the Dawn Marie Chute

2006-12-20T14:18:00.000-06:00

Here is what we know:

Cost to hook up all 19 homes is approx. $240k
Ryland has donated into escrow $100k
That is approx. $12,600 per home
The village added the Dawn Marie ‘loop’ which is 4-5 homes which Ryland should not be held accountable for in my opinion.
Those 4-5 homes would cost approx. $60k
The short fall is $80k
Ryland provided the Village an estimate of $96k for all hook ups
The next lowest bidder after the $240k bid was $340k – what the hell is going on?!
Our ex-Village Administrator wrote a letter early 2006 to all Dawn Marie h/o’s stating that it was the intent of the board of trustees to provide the sewer and hook-ups at no cost to them. This letter was not known to me or the other trustees.
The h/o’s of DM will not be forced to tap on until such time that they sell their home or their septic system is not operational anymore. This means they may never need to hook up and too be honest if they need to repair or replace their septic it will probably be a $5k-$8k job anyway so the hook up would be a wash if not cheaper.
There is no agreement between the Village and Developer regarding the hook up reimbursement as stated below… yet.
The “detailed investigation” just finished in the past few weeks.

In the annexation agreement it states, and I quote Section 12, Sub-Section E:

“Dawn Marie Sanitary Sewer Reimbursement Fund. Developer shall within ninety (90) days subsequent to the recording of the final plat of subdivision for the portion of the property zone R-5, deposit $100,000 with the Village for a reimbursement account to be administered by the Village to fund Village approved costs for the Dawn Marie Homeowners to disconnect their existing septic systems and to connect to the planned Village interceptor sewer to be constructed by the Village with the Dawn Marie Drive right-of-way. This deposit is an estimate subject to a detailed investigation of these costs by the Village Engineer and to the terms of an Agreement between the Developer and the Village. As described in Section 12.C, the Residential Developer shall be allowed to recapture a portion of these payments into the Dawn Marie Sanitary Reimbursement based on population equivalents for property outside of the development. The procedure for and terms of application for connection cost reimbursement by Dawn Marie Drive home owners shall be as provided by the Village.”

So here is my take for all that care and for those that don’t that’s ok too:

There was no rush to pass the reimbursement agreement Monday night. It could have been tabled pending the finality of the negotiations with Ryland and then passed but due to the letter (which is not binding) I decided to change my vote to a yes. This shows complete mismanagement of our ex-administrator and poor communication between staff and trustees. That letter should have been in our information packets at some point.

The best part is that the italicized above states that Ryland can recoup the cost by charging it to the people that buy the Emerald Bay TH’s! So at the end of the day Ryland is out zero, nada, zip, zilch, they win.

(I removed the previously posted content because I can not state what it said as fact but more opinion and not a blanket statement as originally posted.)

At the end of the day I don’t think we will have any problem getting the money out of Ryland. They know it; we know it and it will be done. But we let the tail wag the dog again.

And for the record my initial no vote was not in anyway formed by the vocal residents at the meetings. It is our duty as elected to listen to the constituency and form opinion. They were simply following the procedure. I would have voted no 4 months ago as well but that stupid letter that was poorly written back in early 2006 kind of makes it hard to hold the line.

After a lot of work and maneuvering we finally have a competent group of directors and department heads to take this village to a professional level.

Simple Thoughts

2006-12-06T22:10:00.000-06:00

First I want to thank Tim L for bumping up my traffic and letting the cat out of the bag about my blog. Just kidding. I broke my first rule which was to keep it family orientated but I just couldn't remain quiet. Not one of my strong suits.

I think I had 110 some visitors today! No I don't track them but I usually get about 35-40 friends and mostly family viewing the blog on any given day but today I stepped out of the shadows and WHAM everyone is checking it out.

Back to the family part again for a moment...

Funny story... a few years back we were driving to Topeka KS to visit relatives and we try to time the trip so we pass over the Mississippi river during the day either on the way there or back. Well this particular year as we passed over the bridge Shelby asks us if there is a Misterssippi river.

Lori and I laughed for a good couple of minutes but when you think about the question it is not all that silly. I think she was 3 or 4 at the time so that kind of thinking was actually quite impressive. I tell the story to people now and she gets embarrassed but I'm actually impressed with her thought process. She our gifted one. lol

I figured I would post this picture to embarrass her on a more recent event! This is her getting a spa treatment in the basement with a bunch of her friends a while back.

Water Water Nowhere

2006-12-06T07:46:00.000-06:00

On Monday night the Village Board voted down an ordinance to provide water and sewer reimbursement to the homeowners on Dawn Marie Drive. My reasoning in this...

1. Originally the project was to be funded 100% by the developer

2. Originally the project budget was provided by the developer (oops)

3. The developer donated $100k towards the project

4. Now the project will cost $239k (Who pays the difference? You got it, the taxpayers)

5. The residents of Dawn Marie are on septic and well and the county is not condemning there wells or tanks so they can continue as they have for the past 15+ years.

6. In the annexation agreement I believe there is a clause where the village can return to Ryland and renegotiate the contribution for the connection construction costs.

7. At no time was it necessary to hook up the residents on Dawn Marie to the water/ sewer connection. It would have been nice and I think they would rather have it as well.

So in a nut shell it is not what it appears on the surface. It is time for this village to stop approving things that are over budget or not budgeted at all. On Monday night I believe we voted on 3 things over budget. Some for the good of the village and hold more weight but providing sewer and water to Dawn Marie are not essential to the village at a cost of $139K+ to the taxpayers. It is time for staff and officials to be more responsible to the taxpayers of RL. I'm embarrassed that this spun so out of control and I was part of it. We should have had an agreement with Ryland that protected the village or a better budget provided.

Sewer and water connections happen all the time in other villages and in this particular instance villages will fund it partially by developer contributions but not all the way. Having water and sewer raises your property values. No one can argue that fact. So if the developer won't pay the rest of the way then it needs to be split between the homeowners ($6k-$7k) each. They will reap the benefits in the higher sell price of their house one day. The village should waive all connection fees and other administrative costs to help but why does everything have to be free?

Annual Door Decorating Contest

2006-11-30T23:49:00.000-06:00

Every year for the past 5 or 6 years we have participated in the Hillcrest Nursing Center Christmas Door Decorating Contest in Round Lake Beach. It was created by Joel Crabtree (Executive Director I think) of the facility. If you ever want to meet the nicest man in the world stop by and meet Joel. I don't know what it is about him but a few years back Lori interviewed for a position at the center and they have had a connection ever since.

Back to the event; this year the doors to all the residents rooms will be decorated between November 24 and December 19. On December 21 @ 6:30pm it all erupts into one the neatest events of the year. Last year, as in the past years, they had Santa and his wife, 4 foot chocolate fountain, hundreds of cookies, cakes and other sweets and of course the silent auction of all the decorated doors.

One of my favorite parts of the evening is listening to Reverend Kaufman and his blessing to all those who attend. I don't attend his church and I don't attend my church too often either and part of the reason is because I find the Priests, Pastors or Reverends to be out of touch and boring in their sermons and services. But for some reason Reverend Kaufman captivates me. Maybe it his strong throaty words.

I don't do the old people thing very well but it melts my heart to see them and my children interact. Did you know that the state of Illinois is 49 in senior funding?! I think it is about the same spot for schools as well. Kind of ironic that we short change our children and our elderly. I guess its like the bell curve.

The picture is from an artist who's grandmother is a resident at Hillcrest. Every year that we have gone he has decorated one of the doors and he is always the best door. I've bid $200 to $250 dollars on his sketches and not won a single one yet. They are truly amazing works.

I urge everyone to call the center and volunteer to decorate a door. It doesn't take much time and they invite you to this awesome party at the end! 847-546-5300 and help make someones holiday a little brighter!

Not Much to Say Lately, Not!

2006-11-30T21:55:00.000-06:00

Not that I don't have anything to say. But I just hate writting it all out. I can talk a mile a minute but to write is a whole other animal. I've been bad about updating my posts lately but I have been very busy. Our first snow is upon us in about one hour so that will be fun and interesting. It is Christmas part season. I'm concerned about the kids school district. 6 board seats are up for election, the CEO is resigning and they are looking for a new one. The good part is that Lori and I have been asked to participate in an advisory committee to help the search begin. The village is heating up with some big things and the trustee political season has started to take shape. This is all done at night so after pounding on the computer all day at work this is the fun I get to have. I shouldn't complain. I asked for it and I love it.

There is nothing better than being a part of something. I almost enjoy the adversity!

The kids are doing great. Jake made the Honor Role this past grading period and he is really pumped. I told him that if he stays on it all year we will do something big for him. I'm thinking of getting him his own computer.

We are trying to rent our Aruba time share since we won't be going down this March. Instead we will be heading back to Topeka KS to visit relatives in the spring and then as soon as schools lets out we are off to Disney. Kids don't know yet and we are still debating whether to tell them at christmas. I think me and Lori are more excited then they will be.

We have a PTO function in the morning; Donuts with Dad. All that want to participate come to school early for coffee, milk, hot chocolate and a donut with their dads. Should be a fun time to see some of the other dads around. This massive snow storm that should hit any minute will make it a little more fun.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Spartan PeeWee Cheer Hardware

2006-11-14T21:06:00.000-06:00

Well the season is over for Spartan Cheer but they brought home some decent hardware. Bantam and Mascot levels all placed first in their two competitions, PeeWee placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their three, Feather placed fourth in two our of three as did Varsity.

The real success story this year besides the Bantam and Mascots was the PeeWee girls. They placed second at their first competition and then regrouped and changed their routine in 4 practices to come back to the next comp and take first place! This past competition they fell to third place but looked awesome against some really good teams.

This past weekend was the annual cheer competition for our league and was hosted by the RL Spartans! What a weekend! 1200 cheerleaders and probably 4000 spectators all in one location.

Go Blue and Gold!

From a Mile Away

2006-10-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

Foley to reveal name of alleged abuser
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley, who claimed he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic clergyman when he was a teen, will reveal the man's identity to the Archdiocese of Miami, his attorney said Tuesday.

Could you see this coming?! Of course he was molested. Why else would a high ranking politician like to chase down boys that want to be like him. Could it be that he's a sick bastard? And of course he was raised a staunch Roman Catholic Republican. But he couldn't come to grips with his pain or come clean on anything until he got caught. You know that is part of the healing process. Almost as absurd as 'I didn't inhale'. Come on! Just strip him of his credentials and sentence him to what he deserves and be done.

A Must Visit Farm at Harvest Time!

2006-10-16T08:51:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we took the kids pumpkin hunting at Stade Diary Farm (pronounced stody) in Ringwood, IL. One cold day 6 years ago we ventured out and found this place and have been going back very year. This year they topped them all! Plenty of free stuff for the kids to do like a hayride out to the pumpkin patch, corn maze, hay maze, live band, petting zoo as well as some moderately priced entertainment like haunted houses, refreshments, moon walk, train rides, pony rides and even a magic show!

But by far the coolest thing there is the pumpkin cannon or the Bin Laden Bomber as they call it. This baby 'chucks' pumpkins well over 400 yards aiming at huge billboard of Osama Bin Laden in a pasture. All the dads congregate near it in awe of its power and prestige. They fire it off every half hour or hour 4-5 times. We have never seen the taget hit but just seeing a 30lb pumpkin flying 400+ yards is pretty cool.

What really turned us about this place is the pricing of the pumpkins. You really leave the place feeling like you got your moneys worth even dropping $50 during the outing. 5 huge pumpkins, some hot apple cider, pony rides, haunted house, two hay mazes, 30 minute hayride, petting zoo, and the ever impressive pumpkin cannon.

visit their website: http://www.stadedairyfarm.com/

You won't be disappointed.

Forgot to Post Joshua's 5th Birthday!

2006-10-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

A little late but better than never, right? Joshua turned the big 5 September 21st.

I joke with friends when expecting their first born but also believe that every joke holds a little bit of truth. When asked about kids and what it's like I tell them that it is 95% crazy and hell and 5% fun. But it's in that 5% of the time that melts your heart and makes you forget the 95% of the day that gave you 100 additional gray hairs. The picture above was taken after a week of everyone having colds and about 3 hours of yelling and whining about homework, band practice, "he's hitting me", "she's looking at me", "I hate this dinner", "I didn't mess up the room", "why do I always have to let the dog out" and "can we have cake now?" about 300 times. At which point mom and dad just want to throw the damn thing out the back door and send everyone to their rooms! Then all of the sudden the storm front breaks and they are little angels. We didn't even bribe them with the cake. They just stand together and pose for a picture. I pinch myself to make sure I haven't fallen asleep again.

Well the cake with candle picture was a little blurry so this is the one we have to go with. It always amazes me looking at pictures of my kids together. This one pretty much says it all. Guess the title for each one in the picture: most dramatic, the most caring and the most full of sh*^ .

That night as Lori and I were settling into bed we laid down and slid our feet under the covers and rolled on about 12 match box cars. After a few expletives and throwing them onto the floor I laid there and thanked god for that moment. The last thing that happened to me that night reminded me of my children. Seems a little odd but I think that sometimes even something as stupid as laying on a bunch of matchbox cars can remind us of our blessings. Painful as it may be.

BTW- I was reminded in the morning as I stepped out of bed and onto one of them again! Of course at that point you have to blame the kids, right? Who else would have been dumb enough to lay on them then throw them on the floor and then step on them in the morning.

Spartan Football Update!

2006-10-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

3 out of 4 Sunday teams are headed to the playoffs! Our PeeWee, Lightweight and Heavyweight teams are heading into the first round of the playoffs squaring off against North Chicago, and Vernon Hills, respectively. This should be a great grudge match at the PeeWee level. The Spartans pulled out an OT win against North Chicago at their first match up 12-6. The lights lost 19-13 but had several opportunities to take the lead so with a little better play they could be in round 2! The heavys destroyed VH the first time 26-7. The score doesn't do the game justice. Their were too many big hits to count.

Round Lake Football is back!

2006-10-03T08:11:00.000-05:00

The results of the Round Lake Spartans Saturday and Sunday football games:
Bantam Blue - 6 Mundelein - 0
Bantam Gold - 0 Wilmot - 20
PeeWee Saturday - 19 Vernon Hills - 0
PeeWee Sunday - 12 Vernon Hills - 6
Feather Saturday - 27 McHenry - 0
Feather Sunday - 6 Vernon Hills - 0
Lightweights - 13 Vernon Hills - 19
Heavyweights - 26 Vernon Hills - 7

Not too bad!

In my life I have been fortunate enough to be involved in several events or sports that were "Magical". My most memorable team was the 1988 John Hersey High School Varsity Football Team. Now looking back at that year it was a tremendous amount of work. We started 3 weeks after school was out the year prior and practiced, conditioned or lifted weights every single day with few exceptions. When the team formally organized in mid July for 7 on 7 drills it was like we knew where we were going. From day one we ended every practice with the same chant:

WHO ARE WE?! HUSKIES!
WHAT'S OUR GOAL?! STATE CHAMPS!
HOW WE GONNA GET THERE?! PAY THE PRICE!

We went 12-2 that year losing only to Wheeling HS and Palatine HS. We swept everyone in the playoffs and defeated East St. Louis 26-6 in regulation time.

I was watching the movie Friday Night Lights the other night and it really hit home when the coach was speaking to the players at half time about 'being perfect' and just doing their job and leaving everything on the field. Our 1988 season was like that. I can remember coming out of the huddle and only having to worry about what my assignment was and knowing full well that the other 10 guys on my team were going to do theirs.

Well to get back to my point... It does not happen often in one's life when you get that feeling that everything is going your way and you are unstoppable. Some people never experience that feeling. Maybe that is part of the reason I love to coach. I want those kids to have that experience. Well, after 6 long seasons of ups and downs our heavyweight team is showing this promise. I have been watching them practice and play for about 9 weeks. After the second game I started to think this was their year. After this past weekend I see that they trust one another and rely on that trust to execute to their full potential.

This Sunday will be the tell all game. The 4-1 Spartans are going head to head with the undefeated McHenry Warriors. This game will set the tone for the playoffs as we will surely face them again in the post season. Gold and Blue against Orange and Black.

The game is at 2:15 in McHenry for anyone that wants to come. Its a must see event for any football fan.

Yahoo Home Page Tonight

2006-09-26T00:05:00.000-05:00

Top story:

DAYTIME TALKSHOW SMACKDOWN!
It's Rachael Ray vs. Megan Mullally in a battle of buzz. Which new show is on top?

I don't really care about either show but as long as one of them is on top of the other I'm all in.

Bringin' the 'tude to Lake Villa

2006-09-21T19:35:00.000-05:00

This week we face off against Lake Villa on Saturday and Sunday. The kids are pumped because they get to play at Carmel HS on the astro-turf so this is a big game. We have been limping our website along for a few long months but Shawn Bubloni has stepped up and started to clean up our photo section. Above is one of my favorites from this years Corn & Brat games. You want a piece of that kid?! I didn't think so!

Somber Day of Learning

2006-09-12T00:32:00.000-05:00

Woke up today like any other day. Turned on the news and saw all the tributes and news blitz about the 5 year anniversary. Turned off the TV and started the day but couldn't get the events of that day out of my head.

I was on my way to work when all the radio stations were broadcasting what was going on. Got to the office just after the second plane hit the WTC. Me and about 20 other employees in the office just sat in front of the TV in amazement of what had just happened. Some of us were getting mad, others worried about friends, co-workers and family that were traveling that day.

After about 45 minutes the magnatude of what just happened really started to sink in but it really took several months. No one realized the pain, fright and anquish that was going on in those building that day. I still can't fathome the thought process and pain one must of had to be enduring to throw themselves out a window knowing it was certain death.

My heart is especially heavy to all the children that lost parents that day. Lori called me during all of it and we discussed getting the kids out of school and home but decided it would be better for them to stay there.

After 5 years there is a lot of political BS still going on but I for one support our troops and our Presidents decision to take the actions that he did. We Americans have gotten complacent with being the big kid on the block. We should all learn from Israel and see what they go through every single day. You can't but a same day plane ticket into or out of Israel. Security is always high and daily bombings are expected.

God bless our troops, firemen, policemen and our President. Give them the strength and knowledge to continue to keep us and themselves safe.

Open Weekend for Youth Football!

2006-09-05T00:05:00.000-05:00

Well the 2006 season started off on a good note. RL went 5 for 8 and the 3 losses were good learning experiences. We don't know where we will be playing on Saturday but Sunday teams will face off in Zion. We are very optimistic on this coming weeks outcome.

RLHS has a bittersweet win on Friday night. We won handily over Main East putting us at 2-0 for the season but they lost thier starting QB with a broken collar bone for the season. It will be a long week for the offensive coaches to get the second string guy up to speed.

below are the scores of the RL Spartans for Saturday and Sunday:

Bantam Blue: 7 - Fox Lake: 25
Bantam Gold: 12 - Vernon Hills: 26
PeeWee Saturday: 32 - Zion: 0
PeeWee Sunday: 18 - Wauconda: 0
Feather Saturday: 12 - Fox Lake: 6
Feather Sunday: 0 - Wauconda: 14
Lightweights: 13 - Wauconda: 0
Heavyweights: 44 - Wauconda: 6

Corn and Brat is Around the Corner

2006-08-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

August 26th is the biggest event in the Round Lake Area. With well over 2500 people expect to attend it is sure to be a great event. The weather forecast is changing everyday but I am confindent that it will cooperate.

All day football and cheerleading and plenty of corn, brats and other concessions as well as one of the best raffles in town, over $3000 dollars in prizes!

At 12:15 there will be a short ceremony to dedicate the field in honor of Ron Schmidt.

Here is a short bio on Ron...

Ronald William Schmidt (November 20, 1942 – August 30, 1996)

Ronald William Schmidt, son of Marion and William Schmidt, was born in Chicago on November 20, 1942. Looking for opportunity the Schmidt family moved to Round Lake Park in 1945. Ron attended Murphy school and Round Lake High School graduating in 1960. Ron was active in the community and played sports throughout high school. Ron worked at Fiat Allis in Lake County which was a manufacturing machine shop.

Ron never married nor had children. Probably because he was too busy mentoring and coaching all the kids in the Round Lake area. In early 1963 Ron took his own money, bought some football equipment and found an open field in the area to start a football program.

People often ask how the Spartans name came to be. As the team was forming Ron would visit the local schools to recruit kids to play. When asked what the name of the team was he turned it back to the kids and asked what they were studying. It just so happened that the kids were studying about Spartan warriors in class that week, the Round Lake Spartans were born.

In the beginning, practices and games were held at St. Joseph Church and at the Round Lake High School. Today the Spartans play games at Hart Hill and practice at Indian Hill School under lights provided by the Round Lake Area Park District.

In addition to being the founder of our organization Ron was involved at St. Joseph School and the ATYB. Ron was an accomplished referee for baseball, football and basketball for area youth programs. On August 30, 1996 Ron suffered a heart attack at a high school football game in Libertyville. To the very end of his life Ron was doing what he loved to do.

Ron ran the Spartans from 1963 to 1993.

Life is a Beach

2006-08-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

Not much to do this weekend. Saturday relaxed most of the day and then took the kids to the Frazier/Henderschott birthday party. They rented the public pool for 2 hours and the kids had a great time. Sunday did about the same thing except Jake went to Nick's house in the afternoon and I took Josh and Shelby to go fishing at Round Lake.

We did pretty good. We were there about 2 hours and caught 8-10 fish. Nothing huge but a few blues the size of Shelby's hand. Of coarse it would not be a Brubaker event without a small mishap and today was no exception. Josh fell off the fishing pier so we needed to retrieve him and Shelby was running down the pier and fell and skinned her knee and elbow. No major injuries to report so we packed up the poles and walked down to the beach for the last hour. It was a perfect day. Hot enough to swim but late enough that there were only about 4 families there. They have this cool play area at the top of the beach where children can play with tubes and water. (pictured)

Finished the night watching Alfred Hitchcock's "psycho" with the kids.

Feeling Lucky

2006-08-06T21:05:00.000-05:00

With football and cheerleading in full gear for the past two weeks things have been crazy. We have three short week until the Corn & Brat game and then things should get a little easier.

We spent all day Saturday at the Spartan Cheer car wash and had a very good day. Sunday was lazy in the morning but then picked up in the afternoon. We went to Anabell Rodriguez's 9th birthday party around 3pm and then drifted over to our neighbors house (Diego and Flor Quazada) for an hour or so. I found out that their chihuahua had puppies and Lori has claimed one for us. I'm not too happy about it but she has told the kids already so my hands are tied.

Some of the weekends events made me realize how blessed my family is right now. We are strong, healthy and stable. For at least the time being.

Not everyone is so lucky.

An Epiphany

2006-08-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

For several years I have been trying to figure out why all these small towns we live in have such crazy cut throat politics. About 6 months ago I finally figured it out. Those who are elected to run these towns are not politicians. They may be 'wanna be' politicians but if you boil it all down they are elected to run the town. To make good sound decisions for the town and its people. The politicians are the Mayors. They should be the ones out shaking hands, informing residents etc, etc, etc.

If you are walking around town and one of us approaches you don't be afraid to tell them to go study their bi-monthly packets better and make good decisions vs. kissing babies and shaking hands.

Too many poor decisions are made because we have gotten too big for our britches or aspire to be more than what we have been elected to do and have made deals with people that are out for the one and not all.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!

2006-07-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well tonight was the official last game of baseball for the Brubakers. Jakes team was defeated 10-5 in 6 innings. It was bittersweet. I love to watch the kids play ball and having a great time but cheer started on Monday and football starts on the 26th so we are out of one sport and right back into another with no free time in between.

I have been thinking of a better or more fun way to communicate with the parents and kids of the RL Spartans and I might try to weave this little blog into it. Maybe have a game of the week blog or a Spartan Forum.

I talked to Ron Schmidt's mom last night for about a half hour. I could barely understand her from her elation and tears of hearing about the dedication of Harts Field in Ron's honor.

I had some really cool pictures of hits and tackles but I had to post with my boys. I don't know what happened to me back when I played but I loved the O-line. No glory just hard work but the team lives and dies on your performance as an offensive line.

A Round Lake Spartan Legend

2006-07-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

As many of you know I am very big on tradition and history. Several years ago our family joined the Round Lake Spartans Football & Cheerleading Organization. Every year the organization presents a plaque to a person they feel in the Volunteer of the Year. The second year we were involved I asked what this Ron Schmidt Volunteer of the Year Award was and how it came to be. Nobody that I asked knew exactly other than Ron Schmidt 'did a lot' for the Spartans. Well the first year I became president of the Spartans I felt the award was not given proper attention so I began to investigate who this guy really was. At the end of it all I found that he started the organization and was a volunteer for many others including St. Joe's and ATYB. Ron died of a heart attack ref'ing a HS football game in Libertyville. After his passing the award was created to honor his dedication to the organization and our youth.

As I was interviewing people and asking about Ron a swell of old players, parents, coaches and friends approached me and asked me if we could dedicate our Sunday game field to Ron Schmidt. I posed the question to the Spartan Board who approved the idea unanimously. The next step was to petition the Round Lake Park District for their approval. The field is located at Hart Hill which is a beautiful piece of property donated to the RLAPD by the Hart Family many years ago. After some brief discussion the RLAPD commissioners approved the motion unanimously as well. So the field will be known as Ron Schmidt Field at Hart Hill.

We plan a small dedication ceremony on August 25, 2006 and plan on flying Ron's mom up from Florida for the ceremony.

Every year I get a lot of positive feedback from people commending me or the board on how great we run the organization. I always respond that it is certainly not me. There are 10-12 people on the board that make it all happen. I just get the glory. But I also tell them that what we do is easy compared to the beginning. It is fairly simple to take a good product and continue its upkeep but to create a product from scratch requires a tremendous amount of time, energy and capital. Ron had all of those things and then some.

Hope to see you there!

Time for "The Talk"

2006-07-14T06:09:00.000-05:00

No not that kind of talk. Well actually Lori had a talk with Shelby this week about how babies are made. But the funnier talk this week was with Jake. It seems that the Tooth Fairy forgot to pick up Jake's last tooth and leave something for it since about 4 weeks ago. Oops. Probably a Jack moment. Well he started to question why so Lori decided it was time to come clean. She explained that there was no Tooth Fairy and it was us. Then Jake looked at here with welled up eyes and a quivering lip and said "and and and s s s s s santa?". Lori had to lay it all out there. She began the list... Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman the list went on. His right of passage to manhood had begun. Before finishing the talk she made him promise not to tell the other two younger ones under penalty of severe beatings and possible death.

For those of you who know us well you will understand how devastating could have been for Jake. Since he could understand about Santa he was always told and believed his Grandpa was Santa, Grandma was Mrs. Clause and her wheel chair turned into the sleigh on Christmas night. Man did we have fun with this but alas it is over for our oldest. Now we must help him find a new motivation to behave all year. :)

Time for a Vacation!

2006-07-05T05:40:00.000-05:00

It has been a whirlwind weekend. My cousin and his family came to visit us from their hometown of Topeka Kansas. They were going to stay in a hotel but we would not allow that to happen. So all 5 of them stayed at the Brubaker Ranch and Grill. It was awesome. We went to Great America on Friday, Mineola on Saturday, Sunday we had a party at the house and Monday took it easy until they left at noon for their 11 hour ride home.

Friday night we cut out of GA early and took the kids rock climbing at the park district. There is nothing cooler than running six kids so hard all day that they all just pass out where they are standing at night. I think we showed them a good time Chicago style.

We have some pictures on the digital but can't seem to find it for the last couple days so when we are done cleaning hopefully we will find it and post some pics.

Last night we went to the fireworks in RLB. It was a great show and a lot of people were there. We ran into about 50 Spartans and tons of kids from baseball. Shelby, Josh and Jake all participated in the parade in the morning. Didn't seem like the crowd was as big as previous years but there were a lot of people out there. I don't think anyone on Shelby's or Jake's team floats were dry including the coaches!

Time to get back to work after a long 7 day weekend.

It has been 20 days

2006-06-25T22:45:00.000-05:00

since my last post. Way too Long. I will try to be better.

It has been crazy busy for a long time. I find myself barely hanging on at 10pm trying to catch the news. Work all day, run kids all night and squeeze in the other junk in between the kids' stuff. Today was a very productive but slow day. We worked on the yard all day and I really did a doozy on Lori's front yard shrubs. We bought a new electric hedge trimmer and I got a bit over-zealous before Lori could come out and supervise. If the bushes were Josh this is what they would look like...

Lori actually blessed this idea before we started. Josh has been asking for a mohawk for a long time now so now he got one. I have flash backs of the Yes, Dear episode where Greg's brother-in-law gives his kid a mullet. Business in the front, party in the back! I digress.Jake and Shelby have kept us busy running to the baseball/softball fields every single day for the past 2 weeks. Lori has reinstated the dinner plan of "I'm not cooking. If we have a game we are eating hotdogs at the field".

The Village of Round Lake is hosting its annual Landscaping Contest this month so it's a good thing we are ineligible since I massacred her bushes.

This will be a busy week as well. Baseball or softball everyday and we have family coming in from Kansas for the Holiday weekend. We are pulling out all the stops to show them a good time in the Windy City and everything in a 35 miles radius.

Great Family Weekend

2006-06-05T05:41:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend of baseball, fishing, Great America and cookouts!

Friday night - kickball which resulted in our perfect loosing record followed by a few hours and BW3's.

Saturday - the Jake and Shelby had baseball and softball at 9am. Both teams had great games. Did some house cleaning in the early morning and then went to the McHenry Dam to fish with the kids for a few hours. Finished the night off sitting on our neighbors patio with a few beers until 1am.

Sunday - rose early and got the kids going. We met neighbors Tim, Jenny and Katie, friends Mauricio, Alma Junior and Nicki at the dam for the second day in a row. We spent almost 7 hours there! The kids fished most of the time we set up camp and grilled out lunch and dinner. Got a little sunburn but it was worth it.

It will be a busy week with work and even busier with the kids in the evenings. They have games or practice every night!

Remembering Those Who did, Those Who Are and Those Who Will...

2006-05-30T06:07:00.000-05:00

Dear Heavenly Father,

As we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we think of how they have followed in the footsteps of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please hold our service men and women in your strong arms. Cover them with your sheltering grace and presence as they stand in the gap for our protection.
We also remember the families of our troops, and ask for your unique blessings to fill their homes and your peace, provision and strength to fill their lives.
May the members of our armed forces be filled with courage to face each day and may they trust in the Lord's mighty power to accomplish each task. Let our military brothers and sisters feel our love and support.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

It was a fast moving whirl wind of a weekend. With parades, BBQ's and friends I did not have much time to reflect on this weekends true meaning. Hope all those politicians in the parade get some votes off our veterans backs... but I will save that for another day.

Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Started the morning off trying to let Lori sleep late. That went ok. Got everyone in the kitchen around 10am to start cooking breakfast. Hashbrowns, bagels and eggs (to order). Finally got everyone showered and dressed around 2pm and off to Lori's folks house. We stopped in Long Grove to pick up our customary pound of chocolate covered strawberries and Myrtles. Stopped off to pick up McDonalds for the kids since they hadn't eaten since 10am. The kids were actually fairly well behaved! Lori's mom and dad get such a kick out the little devils. Got to my folks around 5pm. Grilled out and got to visit with Linda's dad (he came in for my brother Isaac's graduation from Iowa on Saturday as well as my sister Elana's Prom night). My other brother Kevin and his family (Julie and the 3 kids) were there as well. It is really cool how it all worked out. We both have 3 children and they are all very close in age so they are more like friends than cousins.

We raced home so that Lori could catch the season finale of Desperate Housewives and Gray's Anatomy.

Three cheers to all the moms out there who keep this world turning and the kids from spinning off of it!

Missing Child From Round Lake

2006-05-13T16:50:00.000-05:00

The Round Lake Police Department is investigating the disappearance of a 15-year old resident, Corina Sveica. Corina was last seen at her home on Friday, May 5, 2006. Corina lives in the Valley Lakes Subdivision of Round Lake and attends Big Hollow School in Fox Lake, Illinois. No foul play is suspected. The Round Lake Police Department is seeking individuals who know the whereabouts of Corina or information leading to her return. Persons with information should call Detective Gerard Hendricks at (847) 270-9111.

Corina Sveica
Female15 years old
5’-0” tall, 130 lbsBrown eyes / Brown Hair
Light brown complexion

Outdoors All Day!

2006-05-07T23:11:00.000-05:00

Today we were outside all day. We had friends Alma and Mauricio Tovar with their two boys Mauricio Jr. and Nicki as well as Michelle Anderson and her son Chris. Michelle's husband Shon would have been there too but he had a motorcycle meeting.

We grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and al ranchera with corn tortillas. Lori made homemade pico de gallo and guacamole. It was a blast. We sat on the deck talking and laughing for almost 7 hours as the kids ran around and had a great time with themselves. They rode their bikes around the block, played hide and seek, tag, soccer, sidewalk chalk and even a little water gun fight.

We are all beat from the past two days but thankful that we got to spend almost all of it together. It has been a long time since we had this much time with nothing to do for the village, football, baseball, PTO, school or work.

Have I Become My Father?!

2006-05-06T23:38:00.000-05:00

Well today was busy. Started out around 8am getting Jake to his first baseball game of the year. Lori couldn't make it because she was busy shuttling Shelby to her softball practice. Got home after lunch and finished digging the hole for our new Redbud tree. Greg Mahoney came by with his backhoe and helped set the 400lb root ball into the ground. 14 bags of new top soil and 20 gallons of water and we were done.

After the planting was done it was time for some lawn grooming. Jake has been bugging me to let him mow the lawn but I have been reluctant to do so. I felt that he was still a little too young and uncomfortable with him using machinery. Well he bugged me enough today and I gave in...

The first 15 minutes was a little nerve racking but he did a great job. As he was finishing I was standing there in the middle of the front yard scanning the grass and pointing out all the missed spots. As I found the last one it had occurred to me... I have become my dad! No!!!!!!! I quickly reflected back upon the past 45 minutes and it was true. I had spoken the same words of safety and OCD that my father did 25 years prior.

We first started out with lawnmower safety. Each time I saw Jake roll his eyes I responded with "if you don't want to learn about safety then I guess you don't want to mow!" and I would restart the safety training segment. Then we moved into the logistics of mowing the lawn. All that important stuff a 10 year old needs to know. How to keep the mower just on the edge so that you cut as much grass per pass as to not waste any time, how to mow and make all the lines look straight and finally... making sure you didn't miss any areas.

Yes that is right, I have become my father. I began to weep and ask god why this has happened but there was no reply.

After lawn care 101 it was time for some fun. I played with the kids and took some fun pictures to finish off the daylight hours.

The back was a little stiff from all the digging and yard work I loosened it up with an old friend Jack. He helped me fall asleep too.

Oh, I almost forgot. While buying fuel for the mower at BP I ran into my good friend and RL resident Jesse. He noticed me and my handsome looks from the gas pump adjacent to me but quickly cut off eye contact and left. In fact I don't know if he actually bought gas since we pulled up at the same time. Life is too short to let people determine your schedule. Just get your gas next to me it's ok.

It was a great day to spend with the kids outdoors.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2006-05-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight we celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the kid's school. The Village school PTO and ESL teachers pulled off another great event! There must have been 500 people there tonight. There was a DJ, crafts, homemade Mexican cuisine, churros, tamales and more than I can remember. It was great to see most if not all the teachers in attendance and supporting the event. It was a great final event for the 2005-06 school year.

Lots of children and lots of parents.

Looking forward to next years events!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...

2006-04-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

We have lived in Round Lake for almost 10 years now and all that time we have subscribed to the Lakeland newspaper. We always heard people talk about how dumb it was to read a paper with week old news and that the reporting was jaded etc. But we always liked its hometown stories and very regionalized eye on Round Lake. Well it has been a few months since the paper was sold to a new company and they made a few changes to the paper. Aesthetically I don't care for it but I can deal with it but the articles and quality of reporting is terrible. Basically they have 8 articles a week that don't really pertain to anything I want to read and the rest is advertising. It's too bad. I really liked the paper before. I understand the need to make money but nobody wants to read a bunch of ads. We want to read about our community and the events and people in it.

My subscription will lapse if it does not improve.

Welcome to the World of the Nuts.

2006-04-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

Today I received and email from a constituent that has a lot of half baked issues with the village and school district. No one including the park district, school district all the surrounding mayors and trustees can figure out just what this guy is driving at or what we can do to help him other than surrender our elected positions to him. As you can see below that would probably not be such a wise choice at this point. At least all of us can make sense and spell (most of the time).

It seems that he feels we are prediduce and does not like the fact that we are holding a special census to facilitate the village getting more tax dollars from the state and feds. The census will cost about $150k and will pay for it self twice in the first year (2007). I don't know where this guy comes from but in my book that makes pretty fricken good sense. I have a sneaky feeling he is a puppet a few of the old timers that don't have the balls to fight their own battles so they send this guy at us. News flash... this guy isn't helping the cause. My 10 year old understands more than this guy does. He still thinks his tax dollars are funding Grayslake schools when he lives in the Round Lake School District. Maybe he will listen to you guys, please help this misguided person.

You can tell this guy has never been to a whole board meeting before or he would quickly realize none of the trustees are in cahoots with eachother to pass everything on the agenda.

Then he bitches about his taxes being high all the time. The village is on a path to jump start the retail/ commercial in the village which would help subsidize the taxes yet he questions that as well.

Here is the deal... I'm not prejudice against anyone. Except stupid people. They keep my taxes high, run government poorly and drill school districts into the ground. This guy and our village ape are two of them.

The best one is I think he is blasting me about my blog. "Hey Jesse... Don't read it if you don't want to!"

The subject line is "agenda" which makes no sense either.

One more thing buy this guy a full version of word so he can use spell check! BTW - I have not changed or modified the original email.

Enjoy!

"Mr. Brian why is the need of the census bureau at this late of of the decade ?
let me guess that the village needs more spending money to build the downtown area for what? what the Mayor need is to tighten up the spending and shop around for a better price and why not change the all of your enegineer and architectures for the village I'm sure there are much better and cheaper out ther or are they friends of the village committe ? By the way why you and the Mayor must put on the internet about your life style who really cares about this, you guys must keep this to yourself because it will only hurt you on the long run because thanks to yours internet information about your doing or life style we all know what to expect from all of you , and you got to be kidding about your personal life styles everybody have one but we don't expose of it like selfish person and why don't you stop this personal information about the operation of your wife and where you went and what you eat ,sleep etc etc etc. All you must have better things to do especially to improve this village and who is paying for the internet gosip of your personal life's ?.Let me guess the tax payers money of course .
I would like to know is why there is not a hispanic in your commite board ? and why do all of you's have all the jobs inside the village commite?If so i would like to have an internal investigation about this village commite that all of you's approve on anything that benifits to the village not to the community . I know that the Mayor doesn't want no more hispanic bussiness in round lake especially on the down town area why ,or because he wants to modernized the area of which you and the committe approve for the plans of round lake about the cost almost of 1/4 of a million dollars for what ? and all of the committe are in cahoots with each others to approve everything on the agenda why? hope to hear from you soon thanks no hard feelings but the facts only a concern tax payer . jesse"

Where is my parenting handbook?

2006-04-22T22:41:00.000-05:00

It was a great day today! The sun was out, the neighborhood was filled with kids and as usually most of them were at our house. The kids all got kites from the Easter Bunny last week so they were trying them out. Since the wind was not too strong Josh thought that it would be better to stand on the back of Diego's bike with the kite as he rode up and down the street. It actually worked but did not seem to be the safest decision he ever made. Lori was "suggesting" to me to go out there and stop this from going on but after 10-12 minutes it seemed that they had perfected the task so I simply shut the blinds so she couldn't see outside.

After a hard days play this is how we ended up....

It has been three days Post Op for Lori and the Dr. won't let her take a shower or bath until tomorrow. Shelby and I thought it would be neat to take a picture of mom and her cool hairdo but she felt differently. Good thing she can't walk or run. We tried to sneak up on her a few times to snap a shot but couldn't get a good one. You'll have to take our word for it... she was a beauty queen!

Before and After

2006-04-21T23:31:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a long couple of weeks and a very long couple of days. Lori is two days post Op and I am doing everything I can to do half of what she usually does. I can't wait until she is back 100% and I can just under-appreciate everything she does.

Here is a before and after picture of her kitchen. Since her surgery she can't get around too well so things get pretty shabby until she passes through and yells at me to get my ass in gear. She did not catch this mess and she can't sit at the computer because it is too uncomfortable to sit in the desk chair so I should be safe.

The flowers in the background are from the wonderful people at the Village. They really perked her up when she got them.

BTW - it took me almost 36 hours to get the kitchen back to a respectable level of order.

Guess Who Turned 10 Today!

2006-04-20T22:19:00.000-05:00

Well it was Jake. Legally known as Michael Jacob Brubaker. We went to Lovin Oven to pick up 30 HUGE cookies for his classmates and teachers yesterday and he had the great idea of picking up a Reeses peanut butter cake there as well. Not that I'm complaining but $27 for a cake. Holy crap! I couldn't say no and to be honest it tasted awesome. As you can see brother Josh was not in a photogenic mood but we took it anyway. Sister Shelby is off to the side. All three blew out the candles which equated to a nice verbal fight between them all. Nothing says happy birthday like sibling rivalry.

Mom was able to hobble into the kitchen to partake in the festivities. Not too bad for being one day out of surgery!

It was a busy day. I had to catch up on work and then off to our every Thursday sports camp at the new complex. We ran a few hand eye coordination drills and then 45 minutes of Steal the Treasure. After that it was a mad dash home for 8:00 cake festivities and then off to bed.

Happy Birthday Jake. We love you.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore Toto

2006-04-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

Lost our second game in kickball Friday night. Team Brubaker isn't fairing so well in the run department. We are also floundering for a cool name. Saturday I took the boys to get their hairs cut, did some small grocery shopping and cleaned the house for Easter Sunday. Sunday we colored eggs with the kids after our annual Brubaker Easter Egg hunt. Lori sat at the kitchen table and directed me in the art of making deviled eggs, ham and potato salad. It actually tasted really good! Dan and Maurine Girimonte came over to have Easter dinner with us. It was a very laid back and nice time.

Lori goes in for surgery on Wednesday so we have some scheduling to take care of early this week to make sure the kids get off the bus safely.

We talked with my brother Isaac this weekend also. He is a senior at University of Iowa and stayed there for the weekend. They had a reported 5-8 tornados a few days ago and on hit about 3 blocks from his apartment and actually hit the sorority house of his girlfriend. He and she are both fine but the family was a little worried for him. He sent me some cool pictures, this was one of them.

Update on Lori's Knee

2006-04-13T23:21:00.000-05:00

Well we took her back to the Dr. to review the MRI films of her knee and it is confirmed that she has at least torn her meniscus Disk in her left knee. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday at noon. The encouraging news is that the recovery will be several weeks to get back to 100% but she will be able to move around almost immediately in a limited capacity because the surgery can be done arthroscopically. This is good news from a few angles... 1) She can return our lives back to the way we were very soon (selfish, I know) and 2) she is getting very cranky not being able to move around or do things (selfish again but she really gets mean sometimes).

We were hoping to get her in at NW Community Hospital but the Dr. is not scheduled there until after Wednesday so we opted for the sooner of the two and are going to Condell, better known as the Death Star. We try to avoid Condell but the Dr. is confident and we trust him.

Should be a fun juggling act on Wednesday. Getting Jake and Shelby off the bus, watching Josh all day and being with Lori at the hospital. Time to call in the friends and neighbors for help!

It's been a hard couple of days...

2006-04-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

I was watching one of Lori's favorite TV shows tonight and there was a great statement at the end, it is an old Mexican proverb...

"The house does not rest upon the ground, but on the woman."

How true this is for the Brubakers. Lori has been down since Friday night with a serious knee injury. I have assumed the duties of 'mom' for the past 5-6 days and it is not fun. I joke around about how easy it is to be a stay at home mom or even a half the time stay at home mom but deep down I know how hard it is to do it right. The past few days I not only know it, I have lived it. It is taking every once of energy and patience to just for me to do things half ass. I find myself hoping that the prognosis is better than we are being led to believe so that she can return us to our normal life.

Normally I would read the above proverb and concur that it wouldn't be so bad if my wife was under the house or something along those lines but today it means something different.

If I am out of commission not much changes around the house except maybe some repair issues but Lori goes down and we start contemplating maid service, meal service, grocery delivery, etc. Actually the grocery delivery and maid service are under way, now I just need to find a cook.

Oh yeah... a laundry service also.

Cubs Win! Cubs Sweep the Cards!

2006-04-09T23:47:00.000-05:00

Forgot to add the second coolest thing this weekend... Cubs sweep the Cards in first series of the year.

We just have to keep Prior and Wood healthy.

Go to http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=chc and click on Barrett's Grand slam video. Gives me goose bumps.

Back to Action Packed Weekends!

2006-04-09T23:21:00.000-05:00

It has been a few short months since we had to run around to several things all weekend but that will all change starting this week. Between football, baseball, cheerleading, village, PTO, gymnastics (soon), school events, Easter Egg hunts, registrations and family stuff we will be on the run.

This past weekend we had co-ed adult kickball on Friday night. (Lori blew her knee out so she was laid up all weekend long) Saturday morning I woke up early to set up the sound system at Hart Hill for the annual Easter Egg Hunt by the Park District. After that I ran home picked up Josh and Shelby and just made it time for the Madrona Village HOA Egg Hunt 10am. I get a huge kick watching all the kids in a frenzy! Jake went had baseball practice from 11am-1pm so we had our friends Mauricio and Alma take them with their son Junior. Josh, Shelby and I continued our Egg hunt over at Hart Hill at 11am. They 'hid' 20,000 eggs! It probably took a few hours to get them all out there and about 7 minutes for the kids to scoop them all up! What a great event. As soon as that was over we packed up and made our way over to the Sports Complex for the Spartan football and cheerleading registration. After picking Jake up and closing down the registration I took the three kiddies to Buffalo Wild Wings where we ran into some neighborhood friends. Back home for a few hours of quality mom time since she had been cooped up in the house all day. She is such a delight when she is immobile and trapped.

Sunday we stayed home. I did about 6 loads of laundry, 2 loads of dishes and cleaned the house. I was entertaining watching Lori on the couch getting increasingly more irritated watching me do things wrong, or at least not to her specifications. Eventually she just got up and tried to contribute but I know it was killing her knee. I will be interviewing maids on Monday!

The coolest thing we (me and the kids) did was on Saturday. During registration the kids got to rock climb for an hour. It is only $5 for a whole hour! All the kids started to get very tired and sore after about 35 minutes but Josh and Shelby would not slow down. Pain or no pain they were going to get their 60 minutes worth. Josh thought it was fun to climb as high as he could (almost to the top) and then try to jump off the wall and slowly ascend to the floor like he was flying. I think that raised the nerve of the instructor a little. The picture above is Josh and Shelby racing up the wall. Josh won on speed but Shelby was able to climb higher.

Time to get ready for the morning... it's picture day at school, we will need to get Lori to the Orthopedic early and I still need to work. I have a feeling the fun has just begun.

Mathematically Still In It!

2006-04-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

Wonder what the attendance will be at last years World Series Champs' Stadium. Maybe they will continue the "Buy one ticket, bring your dog to fill the other" day.

It's Been a While

2006-04-07T11:57:00.000-05:00

Well it has been awhile since my last post and at least one of my loyal readers noticed! I have been overwhelmed at work and personally. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. On top of all that last week was spring break and we took the kids back to Topeka Kansas to visit my relatives. 20 hours of driving total but worth every painful minute to see my grandma, aunts and uncles.

Tonight was game 1 of the coed kickball league. Team Brubaker did not fair too well against the 'Screwballs' but it was a lot of fun. The two pictures sum up Lori's night. She twisted up her knee half way through the game and tried to tough it out but after a few minutes at home she decided it was time to go to the ER. Her friend Sue took her while I stayed home with the kids. Lori's good friend Kathy is a unit secretary and Condell for the ER so Lori called Kathy to see if they were busy. They weren't. As lori was walking out the door Kathy called back and asked her to pickup smokes and coffee on the way since she was about to get off work. I quess it is going to turn into a hen party.

more to come...

Zoning and Codes

2006-03-17T18:08:00.000-06:00

Well it has been over a week with no post. I am slammed at work and am just too tired to mess with this lately but some people have requested that I do some posting so that the egg post moves out of site. (can't blame them)

One of my neighbors was complaining about zoning and code enforcement in town and why is there such a thing. I think the picture argues that point well...

Today's Events in a Nut (Egg) Shell

2006-03-09T22:39:00.000-06:00

Jake broke his glasses yesterday. Not too bad. First time in 17 months. I took him with me to the eye doctor to get his prescription updated and buy new specks. Since the schools are administering the ISAT's next week I decided to buy the lenses and frames at the Dr's office and get them by Monday. Cost about $150 more than it should but he needs them. Best part of the visit is he gets up to look out the exam room door since we were sitting there for so long. I figured he was just antsy. Well it turns out he had to fart and he wanted to make sure nobody was within ear shot. Nice. After I get dusted I tell him that I'm going to tell the doctor. As soon as she walks in (I think Jake has a crush on her) I announce that Jake has a secret to tell her. She bites and asks what it is. I start to tell her that Jake broke his glasses yesterday. His face begins to turn back to normal color and he grins at me. We don't know her very well or else I would have told her the truth. Hey, if you can't embarrass your kids who can you embarrass.

Shelby had a hard time this morning. Actually Shelby has been having a hard time every morning. It seems she likes to dilly dally around all morning and complain about how she can't do things instead of just doing them. Next thing she knows the bus is rumbling down the street and she still doesn't have her shoes on, her teeth brushed, her hair brushed or eaten breakfast. So if anybody sees a little girl walking down the street looking like a bag lady with smelly breath and a growling stomach make sure you smile and wave to Shelby.

The picture above is Josh's breakfast this morning. After a bowl of cereal he got quiet. We all know that quiet is not good when Josh is near. Next thing I hear is the microwave closing. I finish kicking Shelby out the door and enter the kitchen where I find Josh sitting on the floor with a very ominous grin on his face. I ask him if he has put something in the microwave. He tells me no. I begin to survey the kitchen and notice the egg carton on the counter. I assume that the noise I heard was the fridge door closing and I ask him if he would like me to make some eggs. He replies no and that he has already eaten them. I again survey the kitchen trying to find the bowl with overcooked eggs stuck to the edge and ketchup all over but there is nothing. I look into the sink and see a bowl with a yellow yolky tint to it and 4 cracked egg shells on the counter. I survey the kitchen again looking for a gooey egg mess everywhere but find nothing. I then ask him if he cracked the eggs himself into the bowl and ate them with a spoon. He grins, laughs and runs out of the kitchen yelling yes. My stomach turns as I realize he has chugged down 4 raw eggs. Then I am amazed that he actually cracked them in a bowl without making a mess. Should I be mad or impressed? I'm still not sure....

Movie Night

2006-03-08T05:40:00.000-06:00

We don't watch a lot of TV or movies for that matter but this weekend we rented 5 DVD's to watch during the snow storm (not as bad as they thought) and during the kids day off yesterday. The plan worked. The kids were entertained and it fun to watch a some of them together. Sunday we watched Madagascar. The kids had seen it but Lori and I hadn't. Had a lot of fun laughing with the kids. Last night we watch Zoro. A little racy for the little guys but man do they love the action. Josh is jumping up and down, wrestling with the dog and wants to take sword lessons. Great. Jake and Shelby are debating on what would happen next the whole movie. We got a late start so they didn't get to bed until 9pm and it was hard to get them wound down from all the excitement and suspense from the movie.

After they were down Lori started her PTO stuff on the computer and I proceeded to watch deuce Bigalo - European Gigilo. I'm a little embarrassed to admit but I love these stupid kind of movies. Maybe it's because I operate at such a high intellectual level all day that these lower brain function movies are a retreat for me. Ha! Tell me that isn't pompous. Actually I just enjoy stupid movies. It won't win any awards but it was funny. All the little sayings like, man-whore, he-pussy, prosti-dude and the names Heinz Hummer, Assapopolous. Then there are the acts that they name... sneaker Castro, Belgium steamer, Mongolian sticky bun, Turkish snow cone, chili rainbow and my favorite the chocolate Tonto. Although I'm not an expert on this stuff I can only assume that these are made up and not actual acts. I'm sure I will have to satisfy my thirst for knowledge and search the internet at some point to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Finally... Cake!

2006-03-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

Kids were off of school today for Kashmir Pulaski Day. I am buried at work but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We did not celebrate with cake on Lori's birthday Sunday night because of attitude problems so we held the ceremony tonight. Lori was surrounded by her 4 biggest fans... Jake, Shelby, Josh and her loyal companion Samantha the Dog. The cake was too small for all the candle so we made a '3' and a '6' out of them. For those who care it is not easy lighting a 3 and 6 without losing some arm hair. I had to scoot right after the cake to make it to a village board meeting on time.

I should have just stayed home. I have to be honest it is getting a little embarrassing the way we sit up there in front of the public and whisper, throw little tantrums and make inappropriate comments to each other. The Village Administrator gave out Robert's Rules of Order books to all of us prior to the meeting. I hope we all take the hint that our conduct needs to greatly improve and that we should listen and respect each others opinion. We don't need to agree but respect is paramount. Of course we all think we are the shit sitting up there being the big bad trustees. Give me a break. I get more satisfaction getting yelled at by parents from football and cheerleading. At least there I know I am making a difference in a positive way.

Happy 29th B-Day to Lori

2006-03-05T22:22:00.000-06:00

Today marked the 7th anniversary of Lori's 29th birthday. She stated that she has never had a problem getting older until this year. It seems that since she can no longer check the demographic box of 25-35 and now must check the 35-45 box she has some issues. We had an exciting day... first Lori made breakfast for us, then we all went grocery shopping together and then returned home to watch Madagascar and some other movie. Finally we were going to have cake and ice-cream when the kids had a meltdown and were immediately sentenced to their rooms for an early bedtime. The cake went back into the fridge and we hope to finish the ceremony tomorrow night pending better behavior.

I hope the cake thong doesn't wilt! Just kidding the cake we actually got was a Bratz cake that the kids picked out. Actually we bought two since nobody could decide on white or chocolate. The chocolate cake has rings on it with pictures of dogs.

I offered to let Lori unwrap her gift from me tonite but she declined telling me that it as her birthday.

Saturday Night Candyland Tournament

2006-03-05T08:43:00.000-06:00

I spent the entire latter part of the day finding sites to place some registration signs for the Spartans. Yes, it's that time of year again! First registration date in March 18th noon to 4pm at the the new RLAPD Sports Complex.

I finished the day off by attending a Candyland Tournament I was invited to by Sean G. I was knocked out of the running by none other than Mr. Gillette himself and finished a respectable 6th place. I was the gumdrop leader going in but he forced me into molasses swamp and I could not recover. I met some interesting people and look forward to the next event. I brought a fellow Bright Meadows resident, Dan Giramonte as my wingman. Dan was not as fortunate as I to go deep into the tournament but did have some interesting conversations regarding weapons and ammo.

Bowling with the Tovars

2006-03-03T22:35:00.000-06:00

After finishing up work for the day we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary (one day late) and Lori's birthday (three days early). After some deliberation as to what to do we decided it would be fun and romantic to go bowling with the kids! Well - not really on the romantic part, we are married and have three kids romance is no longer an option, more like survival. We called our friends Mauricio and Alma Tovar to have their family join us. So 6pm and we are off to Krisof's Family Entertainment Center! Not that bowling is so exciting but it was fun to sit back and watch the kids compete. Josh and Nicky (the two youngest) we hysterical. They would throw their ball and then run back to score table sliding on their knees giving everyone the 'Rock-on' salute. About half way in the middle of the second game they decided it was time to start fighting and wrestling with each other.

Of course you can't leave Kristof's without dumping $10-$15 in arcade games for the kids.

We returned home around 8pm got into our pajamas and curled up on the couch and watched Trauma: Life in the ER or something like that. I hate watching those shows. Blood and cutting gross me out so it is always a big joke to the kids because they are like Lori and love that stuff.

9:30pm off to bed.

Gene Blome (Spartan parent and friend) made up some kick ass signs for the Spartans registration so I will be up early in an attempt to get up for next weeks registration.