February 28th, 2022

 You aren’t living life if you’re not in the thick of shit.

I’m not one of these guys that has to prove myself by climbing a mountain. The valley is where the life is living.

Okay, Okay, Okay….. this is going lollipops and unicorns!

It’s the last day of February…. It’s Lundi Gras (Fat Monday).

Not many shits and giggles these days. Just when you thought we can take off our masks and unpack the firecrackers and whoopie cushions….. CCCP!

Adolph Putin has plans to disrupt the lives of innocent people and ruin spring for Europe.

I try not to get too political on the chalkboard, but this is a historical event that can’t be ignored.

Ninety years ago we ignored a similar situation and six million Jews stopped living.

“History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men…… Godzilla!” BOC

One last thing…. Did Nostradamus predict this shit show?

February 27th, 2022

 The boldest people I’ve come across in my life are nuns. Nuns were a second mom to many of us born before 1975.

Being a woman in a world that gave women an inferior roll wasn’t easy. Nuns are the reason the Catholic Church made it through the Twentieth Century. The lack of a bold roll for women in the church today is part of its demise.

“And also with your Spirit!”

Through all the scandal the priests brought on, nuns were the cheap labor that educated us, protected us and prepared us.

Though being left handed, nuns are the reason I have such horseshit handwriting.

I wasn’t planning on writing about Penguins this morning. I asked myself, “who is the boldest person in my life?”

The answer was nuns!

The toughest kid I came across in the Catholic grade schools I attended was a guy named Speckman. If he hit you with a dodgeball it stung. If Sister Francis Irene hit you with a dodgeball…. You’d be on your ass!

All you guys that patted yourselves on the back for “Dry January,” the “Dry February” guys will join you tomorrow with all the congratulations!

I’ll be one upping all of you next week when I start my annual “Sixty Days Celebrating Cecilia.”

It’s going to be a gorgeous Sunday in Chicagoland…. Finish February strong! Summer is just 91 days away!

Well…. MY official start of Summer is when they drink milk at the finish line!

Last visit with my father (February 25th, 2019)

       At the mercy of Amtrak I find myself watching the Sunrise just south of Lake Erie. The hard winter winds slowed the “Capital Limited” down between DC and Pittsburgh... picking me up early this morning or should I say later than I expected!

I broke bread, shared stories, hugged hard and left Pittsburgh loved and cared for.... I have a family created on a step.... merged from two failed marriages into one glorious one! It gave me a few more people in this world that love me and as my dad reminded me this weekend.... “Moose, not many people in this world think your special, hold tightly the ones that do!”

I spent several hours this weekend sitting on the edge of my fathers bed shooting the shit.

He is slowly graying and living the end of his stay in a poor quality of life. Something I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.... even ex Hinsdale mother in laws.

Our conversations touched all aspects of our relationship with each other.... our relationship with God.... childhood, both his and mine....parenthood, both his and mine.... divorce, both his and now mine.

And in the end I reassured my father of his greatness. I told him his triumphs far outnumbered his defeats... I told him it’s alright to go to heaven and I told him I loved him!

If I were a betting man I’d bet that I kissed and hugged my father for the last time.... though he is a stubborn Limey Kraut! Like he said, “I might just last longer than this fucking President we have.... I was born when FDR was President... I don’t want to die with this silly son of a bitch in the White House!!!!”

I told my dad where I was in life and he gave me plays to jot down that could help me play life a little better. His advice and knowledge has always been important.... it’s probably a large part of what I am.....

I’m going to spend the rest of my morning watching Ohio and Indiana crawl past my window and formulate where I’m going when I debark the train and walk to the Board of Trade.... late!

I hope I come home a better Father, a better friend and a stronger man.... because I boarded the train a loved son!

February 26th, 2022

 Last night I was eating gumbo at Mother’s in New Orleans with Big Rich, Greg B and Stacey L from high school. It was a bright sunny day.

Then I was running on the Blaze pitch with Normy, Steno, Buddha and el Presidente. My legs were fresh and the sun was bright.

Finally I was walking along Lake Michigan in Edgewater with someone on a bright summer day.

Great dreams, weird dreams… dreams that could possibly come true.

I woke up from the last dream to, “Daddy, I need to blow my nose!”

So I never found out who I was walking with on the northside.

Six Nations this weekend!

The Mardi Gras colors are flying!

The Shepkids want breakfast…. Enjoy the weekend!

February 25th, 2022

       The next line following today’s chalkboard quote is… “and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde

I disagree with him..... witnessing the dawn and a good sunrise is a reward not a punishment.

I like the moonlight, but I do my dreaming on a pillow.

The dream that brings me back to high school... in my underwear… standing in front of my locker symbolizes that I’ll always be vulnerable.

The dream that involves the mother of my children symbolizes that I’ll always be vulnerable.

The dream that involves me at my parents house symbolizes that I’ll always be vulnerable.

Looks like my dreams are stuck in a rut!

Well actually I was stuck in a rut driving to work this morning.

A Snow Rut!

The real vulnerability was driving on unplowed streets this morning at 4:30am.

I don’t know what my reoccurring dreams signify, but I always wake up from these three dreams relieved I still have a couple hours of sleep.

The last weekend of February 2022. There will be snow on the ground and a bright sun in the sky.

A sun with shorter angles…

Clam Chowder Day…. I prefer Manhattan over New England any day….

Mardi Gras Weekend!!!

February 24th, 2022

       Waking up to headlines that announce the beginning of WWIII is a great way to forget that the world has been in a pandemic for two years.

Time to find that old “kill a commie for mommy” poster! I saved it with my “Ayatollah Assaholla” poster.

Thirteen year old John Shepley had Walter Payton, Willie Stargell and Earl Campbell on one wall. My political posters mentioned in the above paragraph on the opposite wall.

And I can’t forget the Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs poster on the ceiling above my bed!

If we are going to war I might as well quote Winston Churchill.

I’m going to worry about raising kids and going to work everyday. As long as my truck starts and everyone I love is healthy I don’t care about Eastern Europe!

It’s Mardi Gras season and February is near it’s short stay.

“Que la paix roule dans nos coeurs!

Laissiez le bon temps rouler!”

February 23rd, 2022

 Think how crappy a movie would be without a soundtrack.

I’m not talking about the hit song from a movie, but the music that helps develop the scene or set the mood.

Think how great life would be if you had it orchestrated at every moment of the day.

Take a mix of “Chariots of Fire” and throw in some “Jaws” maybe a little “Saint Elmo’s Fire” and for sure “The Godfather.”

When you hear a sudden note you’ll know what is going to happen.

Wake up tired, drag through the shower and getting dressed…. Suddenly you hear “Chariots of Fire” and you find the energy to attack the day.

Anytime you walk into work or a bar full of bikers the Darth Vader theme from “Star Wars” starts blasting.

That makes for a great day at work and free shots from the Hells Angels.

Unfortunately life doesn’t come with a soundtrack. Life comes with ringing ears, cracking bones and grunts and moans.

The daily moments in our lives aren’t very cinematic.

We don’t know when a horrible moment or a special moment is going to happen until it’s done.

Our lives are changing everyday and it doesn’t give us a heads up or a timeout.

Speaking of timeouts….

“HEADLIGHTS!!!!!!”

I played on a lot of streets in my life.

Football, baseball, kickball, stickball.

From Chicago’s Northside to Chicago’s Southside, but the best memories of screaming “headlights “ was on Indianola in Indianapolis.

The 6100 block in Broad Ripple to be exact.

That was my Gramma’s block and today she would be 116. She lived to 106!

Happy birthday LoLo!

Can’t wait to cross paths in 2051 and see her again!

February 22nd, 2022

 Today is 2/22/22

My mom’s Angel number is 222 and many times she wakes me up at 2:22am.

So last night before I fell asleep I told my mom that tomorrow is her day. Kick the bed and pull the covers to let me know you’re well.

She didn’t wake me at 2:22am, but I woke up from a crazy dream at 2:35am.

I was chasing a half dozen nazis off the el at Grand Avenue on the Howard subway.

I was running like Earl Campbell.. knocking them down with ease. I got to the head nazi and it was a familiar face. Startled I woke up at 2:35am and said, “Mom! I hate Illinois nazis!”

I looked at today’s quote and thought about the special days in my life and the memories they brought.

The good moments, the bad moments…. They’ve made us who we are…. The mortar in our foundation.

For many of you I can remember the day we met… it was a good moment… maybe an awkward moment… maybe it wasn’t much… maybe a song was playing that makes the moment shine?

I know many of you hear Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” and think of me…

What song brings back memories for you?

February 21st, 2022

 A Monday off in February! Thank you Mr President.

I’ve woken up in Vegas on this day, Fort Lauderdale on this day, New York, Cancun and New Orleans.

All great memories! Mostly hungover, but memories with stories to match.

Sure beats walking to the Congress el with a wind chill of negative fifty!

So thank you Mr. President!

Today’s quote comes from one of my favorite characters to live in the White House. Old Hickory… our seventh President, Andrew Jackson.

My Gramma often used this quote about going to mass. Give Jesus an hour out of your weekend if you want to go to heaven!

I watch mass on television between “CBS Sunday Morning” and “Sportcenter.”

Nobody in my living room gives me the evil eye when I say, “and also with you.”

“And with your spirit?” Okay Father Svengoolie! (Chicago thing)

Might be another day of Matzo Ball Soup and scones… no it’s not Covid….

I got lucky getting a cold on a long weekend without the kids.

Enjoy the short week. Short weeks always seem longer…. I don’t know why!

The last week of February… Mardi Gras next Tuesday! Westside Irish Parade on the fifth and “Sixty Days in Celebration of Cecilia” on the sixth.

Here comes the sun…. Do da do do!

February 20th, Weekend edition

 Weekend Edition:

Last week a Chicago lady didn’t do her “Wordle.” Her two daughters waited all day for their mom to get her daily puzzle completed so the three of them could match their words.

The daughters became nervous and had the police do a well being check.

The police found mom was safe, but she had a home invasion by a mentally ill man. He was arrested and the mom was safe because she didn’t finish her “Wordle.”

I didn’t post the Saturday Morning Chalkboard and I received over a dozen well being checks. That made me feel good!

I am safe, but I do have a horrible cold and I ripped my suit pants going to a funeral. From the zipper, up my big ass to the waist band. It was extremely cold and the shrinkage lasted through dinner time.

The trading floor has been closed for two years. I rarely had a high temperature or a soar throat. We worked in a Petri dish. I have the worst soar throat and runny nose.

I need Jewish Penicillin!

Warm and windy today and it’s cherry pie day!

Radishes, swings and beauty salons (posted 2/18/2019)

 I pitched an unused carton of radishes in the garbage. My son George loves having radishes when he comes over on the weekends. George didn't make the trip to my home and his brother and sister haven't acquired the spicy taste. I was sad seeing the radishes go to waste, but more sad that my son didn't want to see me over the weekend. Same age my dad and I started butting heads. I know of a couple weekends I canceled my trip to see my dad. Now I know how sad it made him.

Years ago my Mom and Dad were going to drive down to Indianapolis for the long weekend to visit her family. My Grampa was excited for the visit and to see his four year old grandson who was named after him. So John Zoellner hung the swing in the cherry tree in his backyard. We ended up not driving down that weekend and Grampa John was very sad. He took the swing down the next week. It was a cold autumn day as his wife looked out the kitchen window... she could see her husband was disappointed. The cherry tree never hung that swing again because Grampa John died a few weeks later.

Gramma was at work at L.S.Ayres and Grampa was raking leaves in the yard. He must have been tired so he put his rake down and went in to take a nap.... He woke up in heaven! I found out years later we didn't go to Indianapolis because my parents marriage was failing. My mom never saw her dad again. My parents divorced years later.

My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on March 6th of 2016. In the weeks after I found out the news I made the trip to Indianapolis many times. I went to comfort my mom and her younger sister. I also went down to finalize her life as we watched her decline quickly. The last weekend of April we were going to drive down to Indianapolis so George, Fritz and Hazel could see Gramma C.C. one more time.

My mom was excited.... she went to the beauty parlor in the nursing home to get her hair pretty for the visit. I was going through a failing marriage and canceled the trip for a useless lifeline to save the relationship..... it was a bad choice! It didn't save the marriage and that next Friday my mom died. My kids and I didn't see Cecilia Marie alive again.... I moved out a year later.

A bunch of radishes, a swing in a cherry tree and a trip to the beauty parlor....what do they have in common? The story of my Grampa and of my Mom popped to mind when the radishes fell into the garbage. We get so worked up in our current problems, but time keeps moving as they become painful memories.

Though the memories of George pouring salt on his bowl of radishes and eating every last one of them. The memories of Grampa pushing me on the swing and taking his cane to whack cherries off the branches. The memories of impatiently waiting for my mommy at the beauty salon and then going for a treat afterwards.... THOSE are the memories that need to be thought of first.... its all connected..... it all happens so quickly..... its not the corners of my mind that needs light, but the pain in my heart...

February 18th, 2022

 Three is my lucky number.

I have three kids.

God is a Trinity.

Tighthead prop is my favorite rugby position.

I always grab three cookies.

I get up at 3:33am and I look at life in thirds….So that gets me 28.5

28.5 was the end of the first third of my life.

57 the second third of my life and 85.5 is when I’d like to go to heaven.

That gets me to Thanksgiving of 2051. My favorite holiday and perfect day to grab an eternal nap.

So as I’m close to finishing the second third of my life I’ve realized I’m too tired to reach for the stars.

I just look at them now. They’re nice to look at and are well out of my reach.

I’ve also realized I’ve never been stuck in the mud. I’ve gotten my shoes muddy, but I kicked it off and put them back on.

I guess with age I’ve defined what My lows are and what My highs can be…. It’s reality and it ain’t that bad.

I’ll tell you what reality was this morning….. a truck caked in ice and a thermometer at seven degrees.

Lovely Friday morning, but it’s Friday. It’s a three day weekend and I’ll end the day with a made bed.

It’s another made up National holiday day…. Drink wine day!

Also “The “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” season four starts this weekend. So I’ll binge with Midge… yes… I’m probably the only guy that watches this show.

That’s reality!

February 17th, 2022

 Oh no! The chalkboard has the word regret on it this morning.

Even Frank Sinatra had a few regrets.

I was sitting on my couch looking out the window having one of the last Sunday phone calls with my dad.

He talked about his regrets. Some of them involved me, but most of them occurred before I showed up. He was sad and he knew his time was ending.

I looked out the window and told my dad that I didn’t have any regrets. I don’t know if I told him this so he felt comfortable leaving me or If it was really true.

If I would have done a few things differently I wouldn’t have been in Riverside talking to my dad on the telephone. I don’t know where the hell I would have been if I did things differently, but I really was in a happy place when we hung up.

Do I regret not applying myself harder when I was younger? Probably, but I had one solid career throughout my adulthood. I met Some dear friends on that trading floor.

I had a new girlfriend in 2000 that played rugby. She played for Chicago Northshore and flew up to Minneapolis for a tournament.

I went to pick her up at O’Hare late on a Saturday night, but the plane never showed up. It never showed up because the girl I was picking up and another girl were drunk and got kicked off the plane.

I ended up picking her up at Midway Sunday morning. While we were driving home it was everyone else’s fault that it happened….

…the first red flag!

My dad told me to run for the hills!!! Instead I didn’t talk with him for a couple months.

I never got those two months back with my father…. Regret!

I didn’t run for the hills and ended up having three beautiful children with someone who blamed everyone else for getting drunk and getting thrown off an airplane.

Regret? Yeah, but I have a George, a Fritz and a Hazel…. And an ex wife!

If I didn’t get married I would have never moved to Saint Cletus. I have some good friends in that parish that I wouldn’t have today.

I wouldn’t be in Riverside now and I have some Good friends in that town. Friends that I might never have met.

When You enter the last third of your life you need to turn regret into a silver lining.

Look for the fucking Silver Lining!

So when I meet Henry Thoreau in heaven I’ll tell him…. “To regret deeply you must search for the silver lining.”

I don’t regret staying up watching the USA women give their best in a loss to Canada… it was a good hockey game!

Rush hour going home might be a shitshow… stay safe!

February 16th, 2022

 I was visiting my Gramma down in Indianapolis when I was six or seven.

I did something stupid with the neighborhood kids and when I got caught my Gramma told me that she had eyes in the back of her head.

Her hairdo blocked them because I could never see those damn eyes, but she had them.

She died at the age of 106… I was 46! Forty six years and I never saw the eyes in the back of her head, but they were there.

I had a vision this morning on 31st street driving through Westchester.

Not a vision as much as a voice saying, “slow down and let that car ahead of you activate the green light.”

….so I slowed down and ten seconds later a deer ran in front of Me and Betty.

I would have clipped that F’er if I didn’t lay off the gas pedal.

Don’t always trust your eyes when you are looking for something!

Speaking of vision…. The most underrated sports movie… “Vision Quest.”

I know something we won’t be seeing….. Baseball!

I don’t know what’s going on!

I don’t care…. Get off your dicks and end the lockout!

The world is in turmoil and I need the smell of grilled onions and the crack of a line drive!

Today is the full moon, the Snow Moon. It was gorgeous this morning hanging over the western suburbs.

February 15th, 2022

       I hated the weekly vocabulary words followed with the Friday vocab test.

So today’s Chalkboard has a vocab word. Ephemeral- adjective

lasting for a very short time.

No I’m not going where you think I’m going!

The memories of all the first times we did something are usually the fondest.

First tee ball game, first day of school, first Sox game, first Bears game, first kiss, first sip of booze, first time you drove a car.

But what I take from today’s quote would be the last time we did something.

Sometimes those happen so quickly we don’t realize it will be the last time it happens.

The last time our parents carried us. The last time they kissed us good night and tucked us in.

The last time you met the neighborhood kids at the park and played a pick up game.

The last time you listened to the Pacer game on WIBC at Gramma’s house.

The last sporting event when you were younger than the players. At The Chicago Stadium, Old Comiskey, Soldiers Field before they put the toilet in it!

Time is fleeting with every night we turn off the lights.

Was this the last Valentine I spend alone?

Was that the last snowfall for the winter?

Was that the last time I go to the Sears Tower?

Was that my last Jazzfest or Mardi Gras in New Orleans?

Was that the last time I’ll go to the Christkindle Market at Daley Plaza?

It’s easy to remember our first times, but maybe It’s time to do things thinking that it might be the last time!

I sure as hell remember that last vocab test!

Truculent

Gregarious

Anomaly

cacophony

Malinger

Insidious

Ostentatious

I can remember a vocabulary test from April of 1984, but I can’t remember holding my mommy’s hand for the last time. I can’t remember the last time my dad held his handkerchief on my nose and yelled “blow!”

Today is February 15th of 2022. It’s the first and only February 15th, 2022 that we get!

Learn a new vocabulary word today and have a slice of pizza!

February 14th, 2022

 Well it’s Saint Valentine’s Day!

In Chicago it’s the day the Southside Italian gang destroyed the Northside Irish gang.

I spent seventeen Valentine Days with the same girl. I only remember the first one and the last one.

The best Saint Valentine’s Day I ever had was in 1990.

Chicagoland was hit with a blizzard. We received 12 inches of snow with 30 mph winds and temperatures dropping to zero by sunset.

I bought flowers and went to pick up my girlfriend at her dad’s house. When I arrived she told me that we had to shovel her dad’s driveway.

It was a thin driveway, but it went back 125 feet to the garage. So I grabbed a shovel and we started the job.

….And we shoveled and we shoveled and we shoveled.

It was nearly 9:00pm when we finally finished. We were wet, we were cold, we were twenty three, we were in love.

So we got into the car and drove down to Giovanni’s on Roosevelt Road and had our romantic dinner.

My pants were wet and cold sitting on the vinyl seat, but my heart was warm and my loins were on fire.

That was the best Valentine I ever had…

The girl?

We fell out of love, but she is one of my closest friends. She is George’s Godmother and we had dinner the other night with her boyfriend.

My dad told me not many people think you’re very special. So keep the ones that do in your life.

This girl thought I was special so I kept her in my life. That’s what love really is!

Tonight?

I’m going to make dinner for one and watch “Love Story.” Because that was my Mommy’s favorite movie and Ali MacGraw is hot!

Happy VD!

February 13th, 2022

         I can name the first twenty five Superbowl winners, but I couldn’t tell you who won the last five.

For those of you that were born in 1966, did you know the Superbowl number is the age you turn that year?

I can use a fine example to explain this….

Superbowl XX was played on January 26th, 1986. I turned 20 that year. I can also tell you who won that game and what the score was.

I’d like to see Joe Burrow win the game tonight. I’d like to watch the Hip Hop halftime show…

….unfortunately my Sunday night programs are on at the same time.

Sunday night is PBS night.

At 6:00pm is a documentary on Queen Anne, The Mother of Great Britain.

Following that at 7:00pm is the latest remake of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.”

Last, but not least…. “All Creatures Great and Small” at 8:00pm.

We are already in the middle of the month this week… it’s gonna be cold, then warmer and then cold again.

It’s gonna rain, it’s gonna snow, it’s gonna be windy.

Thirty years ago I woke up on a Monday on a cot on a balcony in the French Quarter. I woke up next to an Australian girl that called my “Chippy” with a pillow made of Mardi Gras beads…. since then I’ve never complained about crappy February weather on a Monday morning.

Memories light the corners of my mind!

February 12th, 2022

  I picked up the Shepkids after school yesterday on a very tense driveway at their mothers house.

Before I could even get off the block that they live on… the two redheads started grilling me.

They are under the impression that I’ve bugged their mother’s townhouse and I have someone stalking her. She is looking for the evidence so she can have me arrested.

This coming from my twelve and eight year old kids. Their older brother hinted at it last week.

Who puts their children in this position? A woman who is often up to no good, that’s who….

The Friday traffic is always horrible when I pick them up, but yesterday it was a blur. A minor distraction as my thoughts and fears scrambled.

How do I repair this? Do I call my lawyer buddies and ask for advice? Do I call my cop buddies and ask for advice?

This isn’t Putin invading Ukraine. This is me being accused of stalking my ex wife…. And my children are the wounded soldiers on the boarder!

Two of my biggest supporters through the divorce have died recently.

My dad who made me promise to be a better ex husband before he died and John Wagner.

Wags told me to forgive my ex wife. Find a positive place in my life for her. He saw the Holy Spirit and realized the strength of forgiveness.

Dad and Wags have ME under surveillance… so I’ve been trying hard to follow their advice and not break my promise to them.

BUTT…..

I angrily defended myself before I reached Mannheim Road.

“Kids, I hate your mom so much I’ve done everything possible to stay away from her! So there is no reason for me to stalk her. Your mother doesn’t exist except when I pick you guys up!”

Well the redheads became very silent and my Dad and Wags just lost their shit in heaven.

As we crossed into Riverside I apologized to them for saying that.

“What I said was mean and hateful! I’m sorry.”

“At one point in my life I loved your mommy and I probably still do deep down…. Because she gave me the three biggest gifts I have in my life, you guys!”

The saving grace of childhood is resilience. When I parked Betty the Blazer in the Divorced Dad District of Riverside the kids got out picking on each other and running down the sidewalk happy.

Just like kids should!!!

Unfortunately I know the pain of two sides of Mannheim Road. Forty years ago I drove in the pain of I-65. Divorce is a horrible thing for kids to experience.

I’ve got to keep my shit together better. I need to realize maybe something is happening in the ex wife’s life that has been stressful the last few weeks???

I need to do my part to heal and nurture the three biggest gifts that woman gave me.

There really was a day I tried to make her happy and let her know she was the prettiest girl in the world!

That ended when Guinevere met Lancelot…..

Six Nations continues this week!

I’m rooting for the Irish and the Scots this morning. Confusing the Shepkids even more because we hate Ireland and Scotland when they play England!

Bundle up today! It’s going to be colder than your Mother in Laws kiss!

February 11th, 2022

 Take a chance!

Push your Luck!

Just Getting up every morning and doing your routine is risky business.

Todays quote could be in a locker room tunnel. In a weight room. On one of those cheap signs they sell at Hobby Lobby.

The ice covered sidewalk between my front door and my truck was hazardous to walk on this morning….. Risky!?!

Risk is driving your car and trusting the guy driving in the other lane won’t hit you. You don’t know who that guy is… he’s a stranger.

But everyday we take risk by trusting strangers.

Risk is heroic when Jim McMahon is running into the end zone knowing he’s going to get helicoptered by three defenders.

Risk is romantic when Julia Roberts is running in a hurricane chasing a cab with a heartbroken Mathew McConaughey in it.

I’m not the Punky QB or a handsome actor.

I’m just a divorced dad trying to raise my kids so they can take chances and risk heartbreak or broken bones.

I’m just a Board of Trade guy taking risk with every order I fill. If I fat finger an extra zero on my keyboard it will cost a bunch more zeros!

Those hand signals in the trading pit were so much easier than the platform on my computer.

Rainy Fridays bring cold weekends…. Memorial Day will be here before we know it!

February 10th, 2022

 When I picked the kids up at school My daughter asked if she could play “Mindshaft” on my phone. I told her no and she told me she hated me.

“Why do you hate me Hazel?”

Her answer was because her mom hates me.

“Well Love, sometimes I don’t like you, but I always Love you!”

Let’s hope the seed planted to the East of Mannheim road has deeper roots than the one planted in the west.

Later…..

I left the news on longer than I usually do when the Shepkids are in Riverside.

The news story was about an older kid who shot his younger cousin in the chest and he died. The younger child was teasing his teenage cousin.

“That’s not the right thing to do dad…. Is it because they are black?”

F***!

Do we have to go there tonight?

Not the conversation I needed to have on a Wednesday night with my eight year old daughter!

I spread logical JumboLove onto the subject and planted a seed that will hopefully help her understand.

I’ve said it before… Parenthood is leaving the world a better you. Planting stronger Seeds than our parents planted is the way to do it.

To reiterate my parenthood theory….

I won’t plant a seed, but instead an earworm.

“I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside!”

Enjoy, I hope you can hit those high Whitney notes today!

“Wordle”

I’ve done a few of them already! The third one I did was a word synonymous with damp or wet. Started with an “M” ended with a “T”

I think I’m going to like this game!

I read an article yesterday that mentioned good first words to start

Your morning “Wordle” with. I put a couple examples on the Morning Chalkboard….

They don’t allow the word that I want to use.

Am I the only one who thinks “eatme” is one word?