Thoughts, rants and commentary from a husband, father of five and professional web geek

A man that a man can look up to

Posted on July 29th, 2008 in On Manhood, Personal Messages | No Comments »

Today I had the blessing of getting a call from my friend Greg. Greg is a friend of mine through marriage. His wife Yolanda has been very good friends with my wife since they were in grade school so naturally when Sandi and I got married I inherited some of her friends. Namely, Greg and Yolanda.

Greg is, to put it in terms a guy might understand, a man among men. He has always been the image of what a man should be like to me. I probably should have tried to mimic him at some point in my life because I always get the impressions that Greg is constantly looking forward and always succeeding. He just knows how to be a man and he lives it everyday.

A few weeks ago I was able to spend some time with Greg and we had a wonderful talk. We talked about our marriages, our money, our work.. all the things guys talk about when they get together and talk over food. I was amazed to find out that Greg has had some struggles with stuff that have had a severe impact on him, his marriage and his family. He was actually a real person, not just a real man, for the first time since I have known him.

Truth be told I developed a whole new respect for him that day. He already had made changes within himself that have started to improve his situation. He is stepping out and helping friends of his. He is making decisions and taking care of business. I love how he is handling this situation. But, back to the point I was making when I started this post…

I got a call from Greg today and was very happy at how our conversation went. Greg knows about my realization that I have am in search of my manhood. He is aware that I am going through some stuff right now just he is and that he can reach out to me. That means more to me than I can put into words here. And as we wrapped up our phone call Greg something to me that I think every man needs to hear at least once in his life, if not once a day:

Set the bar so damn high that you cannot even see it. If you set it too low you are going to trip over it. If you set it to where you know you can reach it you are going to end up hitting your head on it and knocking yourself out. Set the bar to a point where you have no choice but to go after it then get to getting after it. If you don’t set it outside of your reach how will you ever know how far you can reach?

Greg Dixon

Man to man Greg, I love you. I so needed to hear this today. Thanks for being my bud and thanks for being an example of a man that I can follow.

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Partying with the Hubers

Posted on July 21st, 2008 in Personal Messages | No Comments »

Not last night but the night before (sounds like a funny song or something huh?) my family was blessed to spend some time with some very close family friends of ours. The Hubers had moved to Washington state a while ago and had not been back since except for a brief stint about a year ago.

There are few things that I love in my life as much as getting together with the Hubers. Hanging out with my friend Ray is just one of those things that all men should get to experience. His common sense nature, his ability to find humor in almost anything, his rugged, UFC masculine nature mixed with the soft side of his father persona  make hanging out with him a treat for me every single time. He is just the kind of guy a guy wants to hang with and not in that gay guy kind of way. Plus he eats like a horse and brings out of me the best of my eating abilities.

It was a much desired and much needed time of fellowship for me Saturday evening. I was able to hang out with Ray and our mutual friend Tim. We talked UFC, work, parenting preteen girls, food… the whole bit. We ate and ate and ate. We watched UFC. It was awesome man time. Plus it gave Sandi a pretty good amount of girl time, too. All in all it was a great time.

We even had their oldest daughter, Kayla, spend the night with us so our girls had a hugely loud and obnoxious time the night before a big old birthday party for Alaynah. So this past weekend was a great weekend for me and my family. Part of me is sad it is over and part of me just wants to rest.

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The Hubers are here!

Posted on July 19th, 2008 in On Friendship, Personal Messages | No Comments »

I am so thrilled beyond imagination at the thought of seeing our very closest family friends today. The Hubers moved to Washington some time ago and we have missed them something awful since then. Today they are back in town for a few days so I get to see my very good friend Ray and his family. Especially my Godson James. Man how I miss that boy.

I can’t wait to see them today. I am so looking forward to it. Hopefully I will be able to take lots of pictures. If not, at least I know I will be able to get to some serious eating with my friends. Followed up of course by some ice cream. Because anyone who knows anything about Ray Huber knows dinner isn’t done until the ice cream is finished.

Can’t wait to see you Ray, Cee Cee and kids. I am really more excited that words on a screen can convey.

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