Lowered Expectations

Well we're finally back once again after a long hiatus, and I for one think it's about f#$&ing time!  What a crazy year it has been so far.  My always busy January travel schedule did not let me down again this year with multiple trips to St Louis, Baltimore (almost) and of course my always popular stop - New York City.  For those of you that don't know me very well, I tend to travel 2 or 3 times a month for my job.  In January, however, my travel ramps up to insanity levels allowing me brief stints at home long enough to remind my family what I look like, wash some clothes and clean the litter boxes (M has deemed this my honorable duty and mine alone).  So now that we have moved into the month of February, I am looking forward to seeing an end to my constant treks through the airport security lines and hopefully I can soon start spending more time with my family, going to band practice, and of course, adding more exciting new posts to this obscure, unknown blog that no one ever reads.

Before I dive into the latest post, let's take a moment and reflect on the year that was 2011.  For me, it was a year of mixed emotions as M and I completed our family with the birth of our son, Alexander Nolan.  As exciting as it was to have another child, we both knew before Lexy was born that he would be our last (cripes, we have something like 50 kids...or so it seems).  Also, earlier in the year, I had my hip fully replaced...something I probably should have done 10 years ago.  And of course, I made it another 12 months without becoming a better person...which is a personal best for me!

The holidays were simple this year.  M and I decided to buy presents for the kids only (and we really meant it this time unlike previous years), but I did manage to score some good gifts from my team at work.

Karen gave me the wonderful gift of holiday bacon:

While Cara gave me my very own signed copy of Jorge Buccio's latest album - This is the Music

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 35 years and don't know Jorge Buccio, he is sometimes known as the "Italian Elvis" and plays at a local Italian restaurant in New York's Little Italy where I like to eat from time to time when I'm in town.  He does a good rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the world famous "Napkin Song".

Now, on with the post:

I sometimes look back at my younger days and think how crazy, hardcore it used to be.  Not in my actions, but in my music.  I listened to bands that were over the top and downright insane.  The front man for Guns n' Roses, Axel Rose, was such a person.  His "F you" attitude, offensive lyrics, and blatant drug abuse made him the poster child for all parents looking to keep their children in Osh Gosh and out of torn leather and ripped hair.

Axel Rose was hardcore!

But then this happened:

Not quite the same level of awesomeness huh?

Same with the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne:

This guy was so out of control, he once bit the head off a bat!  How more hardcore can get?  But now he is this:

These days, Ozzy just sits around trying to remember where he left his house.

Now to be fair, I've listened to a lot of different kinds of music throughout my life, but what made me think about these two in particular is where they were 20 years ago to where they are now.  Growing up, these two icons were evil, out of control miscreants who were deemed too savage and unsuitable for civilized society.  Today, you can't go to a professional sporting event without hearing "Welcome to the Jungle" and even worse than that, "Crazy Train" is now being used to sell minivans...MINIVANS!!!  I would love nothing more than to go back in time and show the world of yesterday what will happen to these people in the world of tomorrow...I can only imagine.

As a dad, I find that I too have lowered the "Bar of Expectations" with my own kids.  What used to be fun for them when they were younger has become mundane and annoying (at least for the older ones...it still works on Adler and Alex).  There was a time Ash would get so excited to see me when I came home from a trip.  He would run into my arms and give me hugs and kisses, or he would go hide and make animal noises until I went to go find him.

These days, it's a little bit different:

OK, so gone are the days when he would get excited just to see me.  So I now have to bring him something to show that I was thinking about him while I was out of town.  The problem with this approach is that he is now expecting me to give him something every time he sees me:

In the case of a response like the one above, it is usually followed by a frowny face while he tries to hold back the tears.  What's worse are the other times:

He seems to be growing out of this phase rather quickly...for some reason.

Ayris is no different.  What used to entertain her and make her smile:

Now annoys the hell out of her:

Wait for it...

Okaaaaayyy...

I can't help but wonder when Ayris becomes a teenager if I am going to be traveling a lot more than I am now.

So there you have it - another post from Edge of the Lemon once again lowering expectations with you the reader.  I hope you all have enjoyed this time away, and you are all excited to be entering another year with random thoughts and posts that should hopefully be coming out more frequently now we are through the busy month of January.

As I close the first post of 2012, I leave you with a picture that has helped to get me through some rough days recently:

I hope you all have a very memorable year...

-Cheers!