Garage Sales and Toothaches . . .

Well, we've just come off a fairly busy and eventful weekend.

We had a garage sale this past weekend at the outlaws house in Caronport. It was a good "cleansing" experience for us. We had a lot of junk which, surprisingly to us, turned out to in fact be other people's treasure. When it was all said and done we were able to sell pretty much everything we had hoped to sell.

The outlaws didn't fair as well and so, as a result, we will be hosting another garage sale at our house this weekend in Moose Jaw. We'll see if the "city folks" are a little more into the garage sales then the rural setting of Caronport.

It nevers ceases to amaze me at the stuff people buy at garage sales. There were things that were for sale that I thought would sell in a heartbeat and other stuff that I thought you'd have to be crazy to spend money on. Guess what stuff is still sitting in the garage and which stuff has now found a new home?

I think part of that probably has to do with the fiscal make-up of Caronport where most people are trying to make the most out of the little they actually have. Thrifty would be an understatement.

Unfortunately the garage sale did not come without an injury. My little guy, Carter, was running around with a bunch of his little friends and ended up running into a bed frame that was set-up, minus the box spring and mattress, in the middle of the driveway. This led to a major face-plant onto the hard driveway which has now led to an appointment with the dentist (which my wife and son are at as I type). We took him to an on-call dentist on Friday night after it happened because we were afraid he had pushed his two front teeth up into his gums. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

However, 4 days later our little guy still refuses to eat basically anything and that includes the things he loves the most- yogurt, ice cream, chocolate pudding, and french fries- so we're sure he's in a lot more pain then he's leading on. Basically his two front teeth are mess. His one tooth is pushed back and the other one is chipped basically in half. He's also got a good-sized gash on his gums so I don't doubt that eating pretty much sucks right now. We just pray that he doesn't have to go through any major dental work- praying for both Carter and the poor dentist who would have to try and tackle that next-to-impossible feat.

Thankfully he's going to lose those teeth eventually anyways but hopefully there's no permanent damage done that could cause problems later on.

On a totally unrelated note, it was a sad night last night watching the final episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. The funniest sitcom since Seinfeld provided yours truly with countless belly laughs and numerous moments where I wondered if the writer's had just spent a week in my life. I think anyone who watched this show probably experienced the same feelings. I noticed a poll on CNN.com the other day where they asked if people considered Everybody Loves Raymond to be one of the alltime great sitcoms. I was shocked to see that, at the time I replied to the poll, that only 41% or respondents had said yes.

I will watch Raymond re-runs for as long as they are on-air. It is hands-down the funniest sitcom I've ever watched.

So, I say cudo's to Ray Romano and the rest of the crew for going out with class and for going out on top. It takes a lot of guts to stop while you're still at the top of your game when the rest of the world would tell you to stretch out every last penny you could.

It's a dark time for TV sitcom fans when all we're left with is Two and a Half Men and the painfully awful Hope & Faith (I have hope, and will hold out faith that some will eventually give the axe to that terrible show).

Good to be a Canadian sports fan. . .

These days it's good to be a sports fan in Canada.

This weekend the surprising Blue Jays took 2 of 3 from the evil Empire in Yankee Stadium. Sure it's early in the season and sure in 5 months time the Yank's will be headed to the post-season (maybe) while the Jays will be fighting to finish the season at .500 (almost definitely). But hey, the fact right now is that the Yankees and there $200 million-plus payroll are below .500 and actually looking up at the Jays and there sub-$50 million payroll. The Jays have looked good for the most part this season minus a little 5-game spell versus the same Yankees and the even more surprising Baltimore Orioles. If Vernon Wells ever gets going for the Jays and Shea Hillenbrand remains hot, this team will compete. And how good did Roy Halladay look on Friday night against the Big Unit? Say what you want about Dave Stieb's no-hitter but that game Friday night has to be one of the best-pitched games the Blue Jay's have had in a long, long time.

Moving to basketball, the NBA playoffs continued tonight and Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns polished off the Memphis Grizzlies tonight. Perhaps after tonight's sweep critics will finally start to give the Suns their props. 62 regular season wins, a decisive first-round sweep of a very good Grizzlies team, and still the so-called experts want to say that the Suns aren't for real.

Say what you will about this team but I say they are the real deal. Not only that, Steve Nash is the MVP this season. Hands down. The Heat proved through the last month of the season, and through the first-round of their series against the Nets, that they can win without Shaq as long as they have Dwayne Wade (a future MVP).

The Suns on the other hand proved that when playing without Nash they are still a good team, but more like a 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs, not the dominant #1 they are now. No player makes a bigger impact on his club than Nash does with the Suns.

This is a great story for Canada but not one I think that gets near enough press time. While Canadian media continues to want to focus on the NHL lockout like a dejected junior high girlfriend (get over it already), the Steve Nash story is something our country should be celebrating more. Sure he's way down south playing in Arizona but the guy has never hidden the fact that he's proud to be Canadian, and Canadian's should be returning the favor and showing how proud we are of him.

I think back to when Mike Weir won the Master's and how proud this country was of that achievement. Everyone jumped on the Mike Weir bandwagon then, whether they were a golf fan or not. The guy's got his own line of clothing now for crying out loud.

Perhaps it's because Nash has a hairstyle like a 12-year-old girl that doesn't make him marketable. The fact is, he has a very good chance of being the first ever Canadian NBA MVP. Not only that, but he's a little white dude in a sport dominated by giant, athletically superior non-little white dudes. That in itself should make every little white dude (and Canada has the most of them per-capita) stand up and give their props to the finest professional Canadian athlete to come along in a long, long time.

Enough about Steve Nash, although, in case you couldn't figure out, I'm a big fan.

The World Cup of Hockey has commenced somewhere overseas. My first question is, does anyone really care? As I write this blog I'm watching Sportsnet and they currently have a story running on who's going to start in Canada's next game versus Slovenia. Again, I ask, does anyone really care?

I think Canadian media, along with NHL players, owners and anyone else affiliated with the game, are totally dillusional if they believe that anyone does. This report on the "goaltending situation" has been on for a good 5-minutes now. Interviews with Brodeur, Coach Habscheid, and anyone else wanting to put their forgotten mug in front of a camera. Yet, no one from Sportsnet was down in Memphis to interview Nash after his team sweeps through the first round and now improve to 66-20 on this season. Sorry, I said I was done talking about Nash.

The fact of the matter is that this one-time fan of the NHL has realized that there is life, and good life, without NHL hockey. And I considered myself to be die-hard. So, if it took me, a die-hard fan, only one missed season to basically forget about NHL hockey, how quickly have other's been able to move on who were only moderate or even fairweather fans?

What's more is that I don't plan to come running back to the NHL as soon as these morons make a deal. And so again I ask, if a die-hard fan like myself has little to no interest in whether the NHL ever comes back, how much more apathetic will the casual fan be when the arrogant millionaires of the ice come back to try to show how important they are?

My advice to sports media? Forget the NHL. There are bigger, better, and more inspiring stories to focus on in Canadian sports. Stop wasting our time with reports of who's offering what, who's playing goal in a meaningless game against Slovenia, and acting like anyone really gives a rip about hockey at this point in time anyways.

Sunday thoughts. . .

It's funny how some of life's more simple things can cause you to enter into a contemplative frame of mind.

Tonight my son asked me to play trucks with him in his room. My son will be 3 in September (he was born on the one-year anniversary of 9/11). This was nothing unusual as we often spend time hanging out in his room. Whether it's playing cars, looking at the hockey stickers on his bed, or watching one of the many Bob the Builder or Blues Clues videos he already has memorized, hanging out in his room is one of the things he enjoys doing.

As we were making truck sounds and driving these little plastic trucks around his room I was overwhelmed with the realization that, at that point in time, nothing in the world could have made me want to trade that time we were spending together. It was such a simple thing (to me), and yet, to my little man doing his best dumptruck sound, the time I was spending with him meant everything.

There are many times during my day when my thoughts drift to my kids. I find those times are when I feel both proud, and terrified. It's a confusing twist of emotion really. I mean, for the most part I still feel like a kid myself (or perhaps act is a better choice of words- you'll have to ask my wife on that one).

I do not feel worthy, or capable of the responsibility that comes with raising children. Feelings of inferiority aside though, I press on because I know that my kids need it, and I know that regardless of whatever else I do in this life, my legacy now lies in the people my children grow up to become.

For months (perhaps years) now I have been riding a rollercoaster where I have been trying to figure out where "I fit" in this world. I have a decent job (it's getting better) but it's not something I grew up dreaming of doing. I have a house. A big backyard. A swingset. The world's largest sandbox (which took me an entire Saturday to shovel 5 yards worth of sand from front-yard to back yard). A beautiful wife. Two beautiful children. A faith that, while still young, anchors everything else in my life. I really have nothing to complain about.

And yet, there has always been a part of me that seems insistent on asking, "Isn't there more than this?" And perhaps now, for the first time, I'm starting to realize that all the time I spend wondering about whether there's something better for me is perhaps causing me to miss out on how good I already have it.

As I get to know myself better and start to understand more about what is important to me, I start to realize that first and foremost, I am a family man. As I said before, my legacy lies in the people my children grow-up to become.

The fact is, the job I have now, while not my dream job of playing shortstop for the Chicago Cubs (although with Nomar out perhaps they're looking :-)), allows me to be the type of Dad I want to be- an active one. It allows me to be home by 5 and to be home on the weekends. Very rarely do I have to travel and very rarely do I have to bring any work-related stress or baggage home with me. It also pays the bills, feeds the bellies, and keeps clothes on our backs.

In this day and age when so many people poor themselves into their jobs so that they can have the "perfect life" I find myself going against the flow. Sure it would be nice to have millions of dollars in the bank account. Sure it would be nice to get away from living paycheck to paycheck. But am I willing to sacrifice wrestling matches with my son, or watching my 10-month old little girl experience the wonders of all the new things she learns on a daily basis? No way Jose.

I am understanding that I am in the place that God wants me to be. My anxiousness to "do more" and "be better" is the world trying to tell me that I'm not good enough where I'm at today.

Tonight, my son taking my hand and walking me down the hallway so that just the two of us could have some father and son time told me that I'm actually doing quite well and that, in fact, it doesn't get any better than this.