Buckeye Mike

I hate moving. Heavy furniture, aching backs, and stairs have been my enemy over the last few days and will continue to be. But the silver lining is the bittersweet moments that certain parts of packing inevitably lead to. Remembering why my room (now nearly empty) has purple walls. Finding my memory box and leafing through it, reminiscing about high school, salt and vinegar chips, and even the pocketwatch. Packing flannel shirts in the closet and the memories of getting them back after being "stolen". But the one memory that I plunged into today was when I packed the blue jean quilt. I remember my mom making the quilts. Mine was blue and thin, but the warmest blanket I ever slept under. Angie's was pink. I think I was 4 when we got them, and I held on to mine for years, into my thirties. I passed mine to John-Michael, but it was tattered and worn. I had every square saved, though, and vowed that someday I would have her fix it. It disappeared a couple of years ago (prett...

Not more than 2 weeks ago I found myself in such a funk. I would go to work so tired and unmotivated. I would come home and take a long nap. Get up, have dinner, or a close resemblance of it, then go to bed for the night. I didn't want to do anything. Even going to the grocery store was something I had to force myself to do. I had so much on my mind and the only way I could even handle it was to shut down. I felt myself spiraling downward yet had no idea how to make it stop. Then the heart scare happened, and that threw me into analyzation mode. A very good friend of mine lives by a creed that I have adopted as one of my own. "If it affects me in a good way, encourage it. If it affects me in a bad way, eliminate it. If it doesn't affect me it doesn't exist". During my pilgrimage to The Point (see post titled the same) I put this creed into play. I needed to find a way to eliminate the bad. I put a plan in place, followed it through step by step, and let go of some...

I have all kinds of issues. I am having health problems, and am going to have to make major changes to fix them. I am having financial issues, and am losing my home next weekend. I am having personal issues, and feel like I am on an island and even questioning myself as a friend, father, brother, and son. In short, I have issues, and I have found myself being very whiny about them. Woe is me. Perspective. I do not know the Bish family, except for the brief meeting I had at my mothers funeral. My sister knows them well. Today the Bish's were sent home from the hospital with their young son Sam. Though I cannot recall his age, I believe he is around Tanners age, 6. See, the cancer has spread through his little body. There is medically no more they can do except make him comfortable. I sit with tears in my eyes at the passing thought what if this was my son. My heart aches for them. Please please, say your prayers for that family tonite. Pray for a miracle, but also pray for their str...

Often when I am on the road here or there, I will keep a bunch of change in the car. Never know when you are going to run across a roadside sweet corn stand or need money to feed the meter downtown. But the main reason for the quarters and dimes is for me to be able to indulge in a soft serve ice cream cone when I pass one of those little dairy twist ice cream stands you can find on the side of the road in every small town in America. And today was no exception. I traveled north, almost to Lake Erie. On my way back I passed through Attica, Ohio, just north of Bucyrus on Route 4. Thats when I spotted the place where I could cave to my cool weakness, and I walked up to the window. "Small vanilla cone", I told the gray haired lady inside, anxiously awaiting my treat. She handed it to me. I was amazed. The amount of ice cream she put on this cone was easily enough to feed not only myself, but could have satisfied the sweet tooth of all three of my boys. The size of this co...

I think the greatest invention in the history of our technologically driven society has to be the delete button. Think about it, with one press of control d you can erase files and pictures and pretty much anything else you do not want bogging down your computer, phone, or device. When I moved out of my house, my ex wife deleted my Mii from the Wii. Her little way of revenge I suppose. When I had a stalker on facebook, I deleted their profile. Good bye! But I did not know the full power of that delete button until last night. I used it many times and felt suddenly free, liberated, almost happy, though the moment was bittersweet. And it did leave me wishing the delete button worked for my real life memory too. In order to forget the past we must face an uncertain future. I have heard that expression time and time again and now am living by its words. I am cautiously excited about what the next few months holds. I could be making one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Or I could be taki...

I have been a lot of places and seen a lot of things. I have stood on the beach in Virginia and looked out over the Atlantic Ocean, then a week later stood on the beach in Coos Bay Oregon and watched the waves crash in off the Pacific. I know the cold of a winter morning on Cape Cod, and the heat of a summer day in Santiago de Chile. But my favorite place in all the world is The Point at Buckeye Lake in Ohio. A tiny finger of land that juts out into the water, this place has always been a place of great serenity for me. It is where I go when I need to think, and when I need to make peace within myself. And that's why I went there tonight. The brisk wind and rippling water welcomed me back like an old friend and for the first time in a very long time I took a true breath of relaxation. The struggle of life has been tripping me a lot lately. From health issues to job stresses and 100 other things, I have been bogged down for a few weeks. Many of you know some of the story, though no ...

When I was in Chile, I remember going to the little Peruvian restaurant 4 blocks from the hotel. It quickly became my favorite restaurant in the world because of the variety of absolutely perfect food I could get there. It was my favorite place I have ever eaten. Until tonight. I had heard about Monell's from my team. They explained the food and environment, but little could prepare me for the experience. When we walked up to the building in Germantown , the flowers and small coy pond caught my attention. The garden these sat in was just to the right of the circa 1880 old brick home that had been renovated into this establishment. Above the door going in was a sign that read "Come in as strangers, leave as friends". The four of us (Jodi, Blanca , Mike, and I) waited about 20 minutes before we were led to our table. There are only 8 tables in the dining room. But each one seat 12-14. We sat down, and 8 people we had never met before sat down with us. A man with his pregna...

It has not been a great week by any stretch of the imagination. Starting with my visit to the Emergency Room on Sunday, I have not felt good at all. I went to the doctor Tuesday, and he informed me that not only do I need to make changes, I am going to be going through a series of tests and appointments in the coming weeks. I have never liked going to the doctor, but I am going to have to suck it up. After hearing what he had to say, I am fully on board and already beginning to make changes in my diet and habits to bring the old me back. After the appointment I didn't feel real great. At first I thought it was stress. Then I realized it was actually the Philly Cheesesteak sub I had for lunch. I was up all night Tuesday night with food poisoning, and it continued into Wednesday. I went to work anyway, as I cannot be away from the projects I have running. Yesterday afternoon, still sick and very tired, I drove to Tennessee for my last day in Clarksville at the Sewage Treatment Pla...

10 years ago today we welcomed our second son into the world. Benjamin Jacob Newman is my little artist who is everything you would think a boy should be. He loves his superheroes ( Spiderman and Ironman especially), is very sweet and polite most the time, but has his moments where you would swear he is a demon spawn. But he is my Benny through and through and I wouldn't change any part of him for anything in the world. Happy Birthday Ben! My vacation is over, but my venue has changed. I am no longer in Clarksville , Tennessee. I have a new project in a new city. The good news is that the new city is home!! So I get to see the boys and spend my time with them while I am here. I do have to make a return trip to Middle Tennessee at the end of the week, but it should be my last trip there for awhile. I will miss the great people I met there, but truthfully, I am glad to be in Columbus. It was a very interesting vacation. I saw some people I hadn't seen in awhile, which is alwa...

Most of you know that I lost my mother on January 5 of last year. What a lot of you may not realize is the downward spiral I soon caught myself in, and the people I left in my wake on the way to rock bottom. Today I had the chance to re-connect with one of them, one of the most important people in my life at that time. I am so happy that she is thriving in life and am grateful for the opportunity to apologize to her face to face. She came into my life shortly after I lost mom. And though our friendship/relationship was tumultuous at times, she also was my rock and shoulder many nights when I shed tears and told her stories about my mother. She helped me more than I can ever do justice with words. She was a great friend first and foremost, and tried to catch me as I fell. I told her that I was dreading my birthday. Because every year my mother would call me at 6:30 am (the time I was born) and wish me a happy birthday. I knew that call was not coming. On March 3rd, though, at that exact...

First let me apologize if punctuation in this post is off. I am writing it from my blackberry and sometimes apostrophes and commas are not translated well from the device. I am now 3 days in to my vacation. The weekend was tremendous, as the boys and I did a lot of cool stuff. Bonfires and barbecues, fireworks, smoothies, and even Shrek 4. It has been awesome spending this time with them. Although I am in a tough place in life right now, they know how to make me smile. A vacation spent cleaning and packing is not a lot of fun. However, that's what this week is for me. I spent the day scrubbing floors and cleaning up (my house has not been well taken care of while I have been gone). Tonight, I needed a break. So I made a trip to Walhalla Road. For those not familiar, Walhalla is just off Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. Someone once asked me to drive down that street because of the uniqueness of it. It is like driving through the country, 5 minutes from downtown. Lots of little twi...

Many people know that this weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. The Fourth of July is by far and away my favorite holiday. It signals the start of summer. It mean bonfires and music and fireworks. But mostly, it is a celebration of our nation, our freedom, and our way of life. I do not speak about my real father very often. It is not out of bitterness or hard feelings. My Dad is Michael Bromberg and has been since since I was 13. And I could not ask for a better role model. My father, John Michael Slusher , seemed like a long lost uncle when I was growing up rather than a Dad. But it was because of his calling in life. My Father was in the US Air Force. He served his country for 19 and a half years before passing away suddenly in 1996. I am proud of his service to our country, and keep a photograph of him in dress blues on my dresser at home. It is a reminder to me of where I cam from and, no matter how bad things get, how grateful I should be to him and all servicemen for the ...