My Preciousssssssss! Noooooooooooooo!

UPDATE - 03/09/2010: Upgraded! Now with Otter Box for maximum protection. I think I love my wife!!!



My precioussssssssssssssssssssss!

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UPDATE - 03/06/2010: A year and a half has passed since the maiming of my precious. I regret to report she has been given the last rites. Not only is the screen still busted but:

• There are broken screen pixels causing permanent gray horizontal bars across the screen
• One cannot hear incoming calls without the use of a Bluetooth headset (which I hate wearing)
• The phone doesn't ring or vibrate when a new call comes in
• The phone thinks headphones are plugged in thereby preventing one from hearing sound from the phone
• The phone is scratched like a rabid squirrel went berserk while using it.
  

I just needed to chronicle this journey out of respect.

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So I'm running across the street during lunch trying to make the yellow light when my iPhone pops out of my case and falls on the street face down. I've had my iPhone drop before and from all the reports I've seen and my own experience, this sucker is pretty durable. As I pick the thing off the street, no real concerns since there no pieces falling off as I breath a sigh of relief. Yet, when I turn the thing over, my heart literally stops beating for five long seconds. I found it hard to breathe with no air coming into my lungs. This is what happened to my precious!



I had been so careful, though! I tried, Lord knows I tried to protect it as best as I could. I listened to the salesman at the AT&T store to get the best case possible. It took months even for me to take the plastic off. It even meant denying both Baby Wheel and Momma Wheel from touching it for extended periods for fear of something "bad" happening.

What makes me mad is that there's no insurance for the phone via Apple. And although the phone is under warranty, they won't replace it because of accidents like this, just defects of the phone. It's fully functional, but just has a cracked screen. However Apple doesn't repair the phones and essentially I would have to pay for a whole new one.

Why can't I ever keep a phone? Either they fall into the toilet (don't ask), fall apart or get dropped and lost. I never spent this much for a phone, and I promised myself that this time would be different.

(takes a deep breath) "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!!" (as lightning flashes violently in the background)

Well, I think I'll pull out my classic James Ingram's greatest hits album and fire up, Just Once, turn down the lights and reflect on what could have been, because I'm just in that kind of mood.

Just Once
James Ingram

I did my best
But I guess my best wasn't good enough
'Cause here we are back where we were before
Seems nothing ever changes
We're back to being strangers
Wondering if we oughta stay
Or head on out the door

Just once can't we figure out what we keep doing wrong
Why we never last for very long
What are we doing wrong
Just once can't we find a way to finally make it right
Make the magic last for more than just one night
If we could just get to it
I know we could break through it

I gave my all
But I think my all may have been too much
'Cause Lord knows we're not getting anywhere
Seems we're always blowing whatever we got going
And seems at times with all we've got
We haven't got a prayer
Just once can't we figure out what we keep doing wrong
Why the goodtimes never last for very long
Seems we're always blowing
Whatever we got going

Just once can't we find a way to finally make it right
Make the magic last for more than just one night
If we could just get to it
I know we could break through it

Just once I want to understand
Why it always come back to good-bye
Why can't we get ourselves in hand
And admit to one another
That we're no good with out the other
Take the best and make it better
Find a way to stay together

Just once can't we find a way to finally make it right
Make the magic last for more than just one night
I know we can break through it
If we could just get to it

Just once
If we could get to it

Just Once...

--Poppa Wheel

ER

What seemed like a breath of fresh air as we drove down the mountain back to the concrete jungle, was really just a quick dose back into reality. We have not been back from vacation for one week and:

1. Someone hit our car and ran. We had to pay our $500 deductible, and you know how poor you are when coming from vacation :) lol

2. We rushed BabyWheel to the ER last night with a dislocated tendon in her elbow.

*exhale*

Normally in situations that seem overwhelming and that pop up so quickly one after the other, it is easy to be consumed by them, to allow them to steal whatever sort of joy you have in your life.

I made conscious effort to "count it all joy."

James 1:2 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations"

I am reminded that God allows suffering and trials to happen in our lives, but He still loves us.

James 5:11 "We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

Instead of worry, I choose joy. Instead of idle thoughts that solve nothing, I chose to trust that God has our best interest at heart.

BabyWheel is back to normal and is her wacky, chatty, LOUD self again. I wonder where she gets that from?

Lake Harmony

Our summer has been full of vacations that have the word "lake" in them....that's fine by me. :) We went away to celebrate my in laws' 40th wedding anniversary. With all the kids in tow, we headed up to the Poconos mountains to relax and regroup, and boy oh boy, did we.

I don't think I've had that much rest in a long time. I was able to really see how much BabyWheel has grown and how much vocabulary (read: motormouth) she has around other kids (her cousins) and to see that she is just as much the social butterfly as her momma.

Every morning, I woke up to cool mountain air and birds singing, looking out of this window:














And BabyWheel hammed it up for the camera every time...saying CHEESE to the top of her lungs.

And me and PoppaWheel were able to reconnect and just love on each other, pray with and for each other and just have a great time with our extended family.

Here are some shots:










































Don't you just love it when you can wear your jammies all day or not and chill out? We'll be back, Lake Harmony!

Hello Kitty???

So, we're on the eve of a new addition to the Philly Wheel household. The title of this post represents my mental dilemma with preparing for our first family pet, a cat named "Andre the Giant". I must confess that I approach tomorrow with much trepidation. Oh, I love animals -- when they're deliciously prepared especially with fried onions and peppers on my plate! In all seriousness, I am not an animal lover. I am very uncomfortable around them. Growing up, we never had any pets because my mom and brother were both allergic to pet hair, fur, etc. As a result, my attitudes towards pets were apathetic at best, antagonistic at worst, shaped by my somewhat negatives experiences with them. I could classify all my issues into one of the four categories below. These give me tremendous unease:

1. Cleanliness. Growing up we had some friends who were extremely fond of animals. These were the kind of people that would pick up stray animals off the street. Kind of reminds me of this lady:



When we spent the night over their house, it literally was like a zoo. The stench of the place was enough to punch you in the gut and cause you to shake spasmodically while dry heaving. It smelled exactly like a herd of Alaskan Musk Oxen were living in the house.

True, while an extreme example, what is much more common is visiting friends with family pets and being greeted with that unpleasant odor that there's an animal living in the house. I dread that. Oh sure, I hear some people say, "well cats are well groomed and lick themselves clean - as a matter of fact they may be cleaner then humans!" I don't buy it! Instead of washing your hands before dinner next time, try licking them instead. See how long it takes before your paws start reeking. Until I see a cat using Ivory for that 99.44% clean, I refuse to concede the point!

2. Meddlesome. I know cats are naturally curious, but I hope that is not Andre's undoing. I just have this mental picture that the cat is going to destroy some valuable belongings (pictures, TV, or my Xbox 360 for heaven's sake!) because it was too curious. Even worse, I'll be putting on my shoes, getting ready for work, on only to feel that soft "squish" followed by that sickening realization that I just stepped into some mess because the thing had a problem with its bowels and couldn't make it to the litter box in time.

But even this is eclipsed by a greater fear - having the cat mess with my food! When it comes to my food, I have borderline OCD. My hands must be absolutely clean, the food unblemished, un-sampled, and unspoiled before it goes into my mouth. Part of the reason why I don't like eating food at picnics is because people don't cover their food properly! If I even suspect that an insect (i.e., flies or bees) has touched my food I'd rather go hungry and starve. Seriously, that's how picky I am. How could you eat that juicy burger when there was this huge horsefly that was sucking on it earlier, possibly pregnant and laid eggs in it? You can imagine the cardiac arrest that I'd go into if I found out the cat nibbled or licked my food before I did.

3. Unpredictability. I have a very weird sense of humor such that I get much glee out of watching the "When Animals Attack" series. There something fascinating about watching the ignorance and arrogance of humans to think they can fully understand and predict behaviors of various species of the animal kingdom.

While funny, I truly understand that stuff ain't funny when it happens to you. Throughout my life, I have been chased and bitten by dogs, the biggest a huge Doberman Pincher. I have been the target airborne bombing raids by birds on numerous occasions. I have been attacked by a snake in the woods. I have been stung by a nest of freakishly huge black hornets. I was viciously charged at on a farm by a seemingly docile, but crazed and maddened cow. I was nearly decapitated and thrown from the back of a horse that, apparently, was demon possessed.

So, yeah I known my share of trouble from animals and while I giggle watching the unpredictable nature of animals on TV, I know first hand how those giggles can become easily become screams of horror when it happens to you personally. So, who really knows when the cat could snap and go ballistic like this?



4. Maintenance. I may have insinuated earlier that we never cared for animals growing up. That's not entirely correct. While my parents and younger sister wanted no part of it, my two older brothers and I had a number of carnivorous fish that included piranhas, sharks, snakeheads and oscars. But as I look back on this, these were never family pets. They were only for blood sport, subject to whims of three crazy boys who enjoyed watching goldfish swim for their lives from the larger predators.

As for caring for these things, I was extremely lazy when it came to cleaning their living quarters. The fish tanks resembled a fetid, murky swamp found in the bayous of Louisiana. It looked like the fish were swimming in dirt. And since we're being honest here, I confess that I couldn't even feed the things properly because getting to the pet store was so far out and a major hassle. Consequently some of the fish turned to cannibalism or even died, because I was neglectful. Flushing a dead fish down the toilet is pretty quick and painless . But flushing the carcass of a cat down the toilet becomes a bit more problematic. Fortunately, I can easily get cat food from the local supermarket.

It goes beyond just food, however. Is this thing going to be high maintenance?How much bonding time does it need? How much training is required? Do I need to walk it? Take off days from work so that it can have that heart operation and get a pace maker when it gets older? I just don't want anything to suffer because of my laziness, so you can appreciate my concern.

These are some of the things that have made me staunchly against having a four-legged beast in the house. Having said all that, I can no longer deny the plea of Momma Wheel to get a family pet. She's had one before - a dog - growing up. She's been asking for one for several years now way before Baby Wheel was born. Seeing how Baby Wheel responds to pets is hilarious. She goes crazy especially over cats. A friend, who is a cat owner, babysat Baby Wheel one night. When we picked her up, we were told she did not stop talking to the cat the entire night. As a matter of fact, Baby Wheel stalked the animal to the point where she had the cat backed up into a corner on top of the microwave trying to get away because it had enough. That's too funny.

So in spite of my bad experiences, I need to stop being selfish. Therefore, I've softened my position. Momma Wheel and Baby Wheel deserve more. My hang-ups shouldn't get in the way of them experiencing the joy and fun of a family pet. Who knows, maybe I will really come to like the thing in a way that I wouldn't have ever dared thought.

But make no mistake! The moment the fur ball bites my toes in the middle of the night is the day I call the SPCA. Andre, you've been warned!

--Poppa Wheel

Merenge and Bellies

My co-workers and I talk about fitness sometimes and although we all do our own individual attempts at staying healthy, we decided to make it a group venture by going to take a Merengue Dance class. It was hilarious.

First, we went to this really cool Mexican restaurant called Adobe and then we thought it would be a nice idea to walk to the dance class. Googlemaps said it was only .6 miles and some change. No problem right? Did I forget to tell you the restaurant was in Roxborough? Think San Fransisco hills on steroids! It was brutal. What was supposed to be less than a 5 min drive turned into a 40 minute walk. I am NOT taking the fall for the walk business. lol We decided together that it would be a good idea to walk. :) At first, it was fun. We were laughing at how steep the hills were, imagining what it would be like to live in the tiny houses at the tip top of the hills. It was all uphill from there *rimshot* :) The conversation got thinner and thinner, heck, so did our waistlines.

We finally made it to the class. My boss and I took up the task of interpreting the session since 2 of our other co-workers were deaf. The class was filled with "those kinds of people" the experts who make you feel so bad that they have all the technique down and swirl and twirl around you when you're still on step one. lol

The dance instructor had THE thickest dominican accent. I almost wished he would speak spanish instead because I could not understand a word he said. HA!

All in all, we had a GREAT TIME! We're going again next month if anyone else wants to join us??? :) Trish, Natalie, Jen? :)

The belly part of this post will have to wait for another time... :)

--MommaWheel

18 Months Old

Dear BabyWheel,

You're 18 months old! I never knew that loving a little person would be so fulfilling. God has blessed me with the honor of being your momma. I can't stand it. :) I promise to always love you and squeeze you and teach you and cuddle with you and laugh with you and feed you and go to the park with you and show you everything I know and just...be with you. I will keep teaching you about God and His love for you. I hope that you can understand just how much that is.

I remember when I first laid eyes on you. You were crying and wiggling and I cut the cord that sustained you as you grew. We've been tight ever since, girl. As you learn new words and experience new things, I marvel at what a miracle your little life is. It is all going way too fast for me, so I will just stop and smell you, touch you, hold you, and just let you be my little baby for just a while longer. You run from me when I want to kissie kissie now. You speak in complete sentences saying things like...BabyWheel wants THAT book, Mommy. You make me laugh with your antics. You are eating at the table with a fork and spoon like a big girl, and you don't cry as much when I do your hair. You seriously rock the afropuffs like a champ.

I am shocked that you know sign language....you actually are learning from the time we spend together. I love how you YELL my name to the top of your lungs when you think I'm not paying attention. Don't worry, little girl. I got you!

You play silly games with Daddy on the floor, and your squeals of delight just warm my heart. You can count up to 13, maybe more when we're not listening...And, just today, Mrs. Trish said you sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Thanks for going right to sleep so Momma can get her fitness on at the gym. I promise to stay strong and healthy so we will be together for as long as God allows.

I love reading to you. Your favorite book is Silly Sally. Sally is upside down in the book, so to make things right in the world, you flip your head upside down. You're so smart. You know where your head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth and nose are, thanks to the song.

I love when you squeeze my neck really tight and close your eyes to give me a BIG HUG. You scream SHOOOOOOESSS and JUIIIIIIICCCCE and sign milk when you want those things.

I am saying a lot, but I just want to say that I love you, and you have taught me patience, to think before I act and speak, and to just consider the things that I don't see before I react. For that, I am grateful.

Love,

--MommaWheel

Review: The Dark Knight

I just saw this for the first time last night. One word would describe it adequately: WOW. There is a reason why this movie is setting box office records. Continue reading for Poppa Wheel’s review of this summer blockbluster.

Note: While I will not give away the movie, this post may contain mild spoilers. Please consider carefully before reading.

Story: Set in the fictional Gotham City, this movie tells the tale of the Batman and his arch-nemesis the Joker. Let me just say, this movie is NOT for children. A lot of people are killed. There was little blood and cursing, but this skirted the edge of an “R” rating. In addition to the violence, there are some dark and mature themes that are explored such as corruption, betrayal, terrorism, assassination and murder. I also enjoyed the other themes brought up regarding heroism, sacrifice and the boundaries of morality and justice.

What I loved most about the movie was the gritty story telling that stays true to its roots in the comics. Forget the goofy, over-the-top, campy foolishness that you may remember from the other Batman movies (i.e., Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger). Ultimately, we learn why the Batman is not known as a “hero” in the conventional sense of the word. As such, the “Dark Knight” is such an appropriate moniker.

Character Development: Typically, you don’t think of character progression in an action movie. But I think they did an excellent job of showing not only the physical struggles of the Batman, but his mental and psychological struggles as well as he tries to come to grips with his motivation and his purpose. Similarly, the Joker is introduced as an inconsequential bank robber who eventually (and purposefully) becomes the principal criminal mastermind of the entire city. We get to learn some of his motivations are not rooted in money, but anarchy and psychological chaos. Although the main story was between the Batman and Joker, there were a number of support characters that were superbly presented.

One of my favorite lines of the movie is when the Joker says to the Batman, “you...complete...me!” Remember that line from Jerry McGuire? His argument was that they needed each other (good vs. evil; yin vs. yang.) and that is presented very well.

Acting: I’ll be honest, I thought all the talk of Heath Ledger being considered for an Oscar nomination was nothing more than over hyped regret because he’s now dead. That was before I saw the movie. After seeing it, wow – I’m now on the bandwagon. He nailed that performance unlike any I’ve seen. Heath's portrayal of the Joker made Jack Nicholson’s rendition seem like it was high-school play. I’m serious it was that good. He faithfully played the part of a psychopathic, murdering, terror inducing criminal mastermind. A humorous, but wickedly demented performance that makes you wonder if he got into the role of the Joker a little too heavily.

Action/Special Effects: Great action sequences. This is what you’d expect from a big summer blockbuster. There were some moments where this lagged, but it was appropriate, particularly how it done to progress the plot and the various characters. While the special effects were good, they weren’t over the top. They were quite believable for a guy that doesn’t have any super-powers, rather he relies on his intellect in addition to state of the art technology and gadgets.

Ambiance: The mood of this movie is really dark and gritty (almost grimy). The film made ample use of shadows and low-lighting to great effect. I thought the sound and music score did an incredible job of creating the feeling of tension, anxiety and terror.

Overall Rating: This was probably the best movie I’ve seen all year. I think it’s a very complete movie – plot, characters, acting, action, mood, special effects, even a little romance for those of you who like that sort of thing.

All in all, I give it a coveted 5 wheels out of 5!

Now to convince the wife to see it so I can see it again!

--Poppa Wheel