Buckeye Mike

When I was a kid growing up in Southwest Ohio, we moved a lot. From Goshen to Sardinia, then on to Colerain, Lynchburg, Goshen again, and Milford, I was the new kid many times in my youth. I was fortunate to spend all of my high school years in Gahanna, which is why I am trying so hard to keep my guys in that school system. But that is a blog for another day. Every time I moved to a new place, the adjustment was difficult and uncomfortable. But no matter which of these towns I found myself in, I could always look forward to the field trips. From the Cincinnati Zoo to the Taft Theatre, these places were a little piece of familiarity for the awkward newbie every year. And my favorite of these school day get-a-ways were the visits to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. Having a standard custody agreement with my ex wife means that I only get to see my guys every other weekend and every Thursday evening. And while I have a good working relationship with their mother and often tak

I went to the dog park yesterday afternoon here in Columbus. Not really an event in and of itself, but when you consider the date, it was pretty significant to be in a sunny and warm park on January 7, watching the dogs pay in the grass and swim in the pond. A stark contrast to last year, when the snow kept coming in waves from the beginning of December until April, or so it seemed. The mild winter is one of many differences from last year to this. I have to be at work in the morning. Like the dog park, heading into the office on a Monday morning doesn't set me apart from most of the population. But considering the failed experiment of the last few months, and the professional monotony I had found myself in for the last year or so, I expect to enjoy tomorrow as much as I have enjoyed the pleasant weather of this weekend. When I turned the New Year into 2011, I was working on a project with Belfor that involved a major hotel. With 2 of my closest friends in the industry on the j

As many times as I have tried to honor my mother's legacy on the pages of this blog, I never recall a more perfect sentiment than I saw on my sister's facebook page this morning. She had posted the song which titles this blog, one of my mom's favorites. I can distinctly remember her singing the lyrics to this Patsy Cline classic many times throughout my life, both when I was a child and into adulthood. Her voice was comparable to the late country star's who, like my mother, left this world far too soon for anyone to understand. Seeing those words posted on Angelia's profile this morning instantly brought back those memories, putting a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. Thank you for that Sis, it was a great way to start my day. It has been 3 years since we lost her to cancer. In some ways it seems like it was only yesterday, and in others it feels like a lifetime since I was standing in that hospital in Illinois, all of our hearts breaking as she left us. This