Christmas letter 2014
Well it looks like we had another big year at the Ponderosa.
There’s a lot to cover so let’s get to it!
1.
Unemployed. Well as I hinted last year,
Dell offered a voluntary severance package in December to become effective in
February. Obviously I couldn’t mention
it then, but I took it. And I am
thankful I spent 15 years there. What I
learned, the people I met, and the places I was able to visit are
immeasurable. So in February I began my
Kwai Chang Caine journey to discover myself and decide what would be the next
big thing. I figured with two young’uns
and being 45 and all, this was probably my last chance for
rediscovery/reinvention. So I really
took some time (not as much as advised from mentors) to do some soul
searching. And frankly it was awesome
taking the kids to school and picking them up in my golf cart most days. I really enjoyed being so involved. Spoiler alert, I definitely see the attraction
of SAHM. One thing I was mindful to do was trust in the Lord. We have a motto that God has always pulled us
through; why would we doubt this time?
He didn’t let us down.
2.
New Dog. Our neighbor sent Nita a text. She said, “We’re going to pick up these
adorable puppies, they are free…don’t you want a dog?” Nita has been stalling me for a long time
now. As most of you know there is never
a “right” time for anything anymore. You
just do. Execute. Make it happen. Plus,
I figured with me not having a job, it’d be the perfect time to train it. So
off we go to our two hour drive. We get
there and Josie immediately picks up a dog and carries her around. Well hello, Brownie Brown Dog, welcome to the
family! Of course she has torn up
everything from toys to our outdoor furniture cushions, hoses, has dug big
holes, etc. There is a company that
advertises “rip proof dog toys with a squeaker.” It took Brownie a week. Her mother was a champion border collie and
her dad was a mangy lab who jumped the fence.
But we do love us some Brownie and she is still a little hyper but she
is a very smart and good dog. She was
house broken in two weeks. The kids have even written a song about her.
3.
Josie
dance recital. Nita signed Josie up
for dance tap and toe. It was
adorable. Her instructor was a dance
purist so much so that all dancers were required to wear “cover ups” outside of
dance class. Also dance shoes were for
the studio only. They also had to have their hair in a
“dancer’s bun.” Josie was fantastic, her
class was during my job search and I was able to take her and watch her class. Josie and Connor are definitely different
people. Josie is a rule follower and she
has laser-like focus. She follows
instructions and is very competitive. She also doesn’t melt under
pressure. The studio held the recital at
a home for the elderly and I think Josie nailed her routine and of course
thought she was the best dancer. And
then she said she didn’t want to do it anymore.
What a shame because she looked ADOREABLE in her tutu. Luckily we were
able to put her in Connor’s gymnastics class (because he lost interest in it)
and she is thriving there. She even
asked if we could buy some of the apparatus to have in the back yard to
practice. Although I also love watching
her in gymnastics, I miss seeing her hopping around in her little tutu.
4.
Beachin’. Once I finalized my offer for the new job, we
took two quick vacations. One to an
awesome safari place (more on this later) and the second to our annual trip to
Port Aransas. A friend who also took the
Dell package had a condo down there with a golf cart and a pool. We met a couple of friends and two little
girls that were in Connor and Josie’s preschool class. One of them was totally in love with Connor
and it was so sweet. She even drew a little picture of herself and Connor on
the beach…red hair and all. We had a
great time and that boy is a total water bug.
He’d spend hours in the ocean, just body surfing, looking for crabs,
shrimp (of course he caught one – Shrimpy).
Meanwhile Josie wore her little cover up in the tent and ate her weight
in watermelon. They love the water. We
spent a good portion of the summer going to the club pool where Connor and
Josie really grew in both size and bravery.
Josie is a veteran diving board jumper and can retrieve diving
sticks. Connor can do the dive stick
thing, snorkel, and kind of protect himself.
I taught him a little thing about the thumb and well, some kid at the
pool tried to push his head under. Connor grabbed his thumb and yanked it
backwards. The kid let go and ran
off. I was very proud of him. I figure he’ll get bullied plenty as a red
head…but it’ll be my fault if he doesn’t know how to handle it. So we’ll work
on some stuff and maybe turn him into a wrestler (foreshadow).
5.
New Job.
While figuring out what I was going to do after Dell, I stumbled into a
great opportunity. I looked at options
from buying a franchise, to starting a business, to helping a Belgian company
create a U.S. affiliate. I also looked
at other large corporations and some medium-sized start-ups. I blew up my network and asked for and
received a lot of great advice from friends and mentors. As I was narrowing my list I called a friend
from our golf club to seek his advice on starting a new business. We talked about his businesses and my
aspirations and as luck would have it he needed a new sales and marketing
leader for his company. And I have been
lucky enough to have found a great home in this new company and am really
enjoying the challenges and problem solving opportunities. All is going very well. One thing I can tell
you is that small business and large corporations have VERY different cultures
and dynamics. This has been my biggest learning curve.
6.
Nita stay
at home mom (SAHM). Nita’s company
had been having less and less success over the last years and she was having even
less fun. Well the kids aren’t getting
any younger right? She and I discussed
it and we decided that she should pack it in, take the buyout and be a full
time stay at home mom. She LOVES it and
the kids do too. I think she is also
finding this as a way to re-live some of her childhood and do all the things
she’d always wanted to do. I swear if
Connor ever says something like, “we never do anything” I’m going to put him in
timeout forever. They do everything. Sometimes I even have to remind them that
they can actually stay home and play in the back yard once in a while. Her nickname is “our lady of the perpetual
field trip.” But as I was downloading
all her iphone pics (she got a new phone) she had some amazing pictures of the
kids doing EVERYTHING.
7. Lizard, lizard, snake, snake, frogs. Two years ago Nita took Connor and Josie to a
herpetology show. Connor loved it; Josie
was “meh.” So Connor asked if I would take him the following day. I figured okay, what’s the big deal? He touched and held every snake they would
allow him to hold. This spring we went
back. The crowd even recognized him but
this year he could tell them all about his new snake. Oh, did I forget to mention? We have/had a
snake. Earlier this spring he caught a
little anole lizard (Pita). We bought
him some crickets and they attacked him and even ate a hole in his side. So we let him go. Then two weeks later Connor caught a Texas
spiny lizard (Spiny). Spiny was a very efficient hunter and the crickets never
had a chance. So we let him go to hunt
free in the wild. We had just put up the
terrarium and as luck would have it Connor found a checkered garter snake in
the back yard. This is the downside of
Nita being a SAHM. Any baby sitter
including the grandparents would have made Connor put the snake down. Nope, we have a snake now (Paco). Paco lived in the terrarium, ate earthworms
and minnows, and was living pretty large.
He grew so fast that he shed his skin three times. And then, Connor lost him…in the house. We have no idea, but Nita did spot him once
in the kitchen scurrying under the fridge. He caught another snake (black
scales) but that one escaped while Josie was playing with it. For his birthday Uncle Pete brought us two
aquatic frogs (Nemo and Swimmy), so that’s where we are with our reptiles.
8. Dove Hunt. We have a Wii at home but
very rarely play it. When we do, it is usually the old version of duck
hunt. Connor is actually a decent
shot. We have a friend who is a Navy
SEAL and offered to help us with firearm safety and technique for the kids (and
who are we kidding, Pete and I were giddy about it too). So we went out to their land and Curtis
helped us out and the kids had a blast (intended). Connor is a big time animal lover, but he
also likes to fish. So I took a shot in
the dark and asked him if he wanted to go Dove hunting this year. He said he did. So another friend has about 500 acres a few
miles south of us and offered to host us.
Said he even had a cut down .410 for Connor to try. The morning of the hunt came and we got up
super early, put on our cammo, and headed out.
I even got Connor a little shell pouch and gave him the Barney Fife
treatment. But at least he had a couple
of shells to hold and have at the ready.
As luck would have it I hit the first bird I aimed at. Connor ran over and got it…the moment of
truth. He smiled the biggest smile and
played with that dove the rest of the morning.
He’d put it in his vest pouch and pull it out again. Once while retrieving one of my ejected hulls
he held it up to his nose and took a big whiff.
My boy! At the end he even wanted
to help me breast them out, which he did.
We went straight to the store and bought some toothpicks and a red bell
pepper. He told everyone who would
listen that we’d been dove hunting that morning. And let’s face it, with that red hair he’s
pretty adorable anyway, but put him in head-to-toe cammo? Please.
That evening for
supper we had BBQ bacon wrapped dove breast with a red bell pepper and cream
cheese middle. Everyone loved them. We
reinforced that we eat what we shoot.
Connor asked to go the next week and of course we did. I had some injuries this spring and summer
that kept me from playing much golf, but this is something we could do forever
together. I am very happy how much fun
he had. Now he wants to go deer hunting
and Josie wants to come with us next year.
I think they are both a couple of years out from that, but I love the
interest. My new job has given me the ability to reconnect with old friends
many of whom have hunting land. There
have been offers left and right for the kids to come out and camp, hunt, fish,
etc. All this from one little decision
to take the package.
9. Connor Kinder. Connor started
kindergarten this year at a private school (he has focus issues). This is his
first year of five day school. He is
doing very well…but it turns out that he might be the class clown. I know right?
We have no idea either?! I’m
demanding a paternity test. Seriously,
he is learning so much, and socially he has broken out of his shell. His first years of school he would play by
himself most of the time (parallel play).
Last year he started playing tag and chase. This year, he seeks out kids and they seek
him out to be part of their activities. The
little girls in his class love him and the boys do too. He has also really expanded his love of the
outdoors. He hunts, fishes, loves to run, dig, and generally play outside, but he
is currently uninterested in sports. I
have to trick him into playing catch with me, which is a shame because he has a
cannon for an arm and he is a big kid.
But I know better than to push him (see gymnastics above), so I’ll just
“bet he can’t throw the ball through the tire swing” for the time being. Josie on the other hand will hit, throw,
catch and wrestle even when you don’t want her to. It is not uncommon for Nita to be cooking, me
to be in my office and all of a sudden you hear Connor screaming for help. Josie is invariably trying out a new
wrestling move Daddy taught her.
One day I took both
kids to hit golf balls at our club driving range. They were going just fine for a while and
then Josie asked if she was going to get a trophy. At first I said, “No sweetheart, you get
trophies BECAUSE you practice and get better than everyone.” And then I thought…she’s three she wants
something shiny. So I said, “YES of course you get a trophy.” We got home and I had some old golf trophies
and I made a big deal presenting them to Josie and Connor while Nita cheered
and clapped. I went straight to an
on-line trophy shop and ordered 15 trophies each of a girl and a boy golfer
with caption “Josie Martinez- practicing with daddy, Connor Martinez practicing
with dad.” *takes a bow* Thank you,
thank you very much.
Thanksgiving
addendum. A friend gave me two tickets to the hockey game the day before
Thanksgiving. I took Connor and he LOVED it.
He said it was so much fun, when Nita was putting him to bed that night
he asked, “Do you think Daddy will take me to a football game?” Hell yes I will, and baseball, and
basketball, and wrestling matches (HS). This could turn out to be a game changer. Previously he wouldn’t even watch a game on
TV with me, once he even mentioned that he “hated sports.” I had hoped we’d
play tee ball next spring, but he was showing no interest. So we may not make it, but we might actually
have a fighting chance now, we’ll see. After
Thanksgiving addendum. Speaking of fighting chance, Connor asked if I
wanted to wrestle after Sunday dinner.
We wrestled for 20 minutes, just working on “getting to your base” and
breaking some hand holds. When Nita took
him upstairs to be, he begged her to let him come and wrestle for five more
minutes. The next day after dinner, same thing.
“Let’s wrestle dad!” We did, and
he wants to make it the after dinner routine now. Three weeks later, we still
wrestle every day and he now knows sequences, take downs, and pins. We went to a high school dual meet and the
coach let us wrestle on the mat before the matches started. Connor is actually getting good and Josie is
even getting in on it. Can it be? A
Christmas Miracle?!
10. Josie big bed. Remember the princess bed drama that almost
led to a divorce last year? Okay so
maybe that’s being a little over dramatic. J Anyway, Nita decided Josie needed a new bed,
so she bought it. Josie loves it. No
muss no fuss…but I did put a disco ball on it.
So now we have little dance parties in her room and we use the disco
light to read her bedtime stories. In
school she is also a big hit. She is a
class leader and has a vocabulary that is peerless. In fact, last May we took the kids to Fossil
Rim in Glen Rose, Texas. It is like a
feeding zoo safari place. My old high
school friend Lynn set us up with accommodations in the big house and we got to
eat breakfast by the animal’s watering hole, feed all kinds of giraffes,
ostriches, deer, zebra, exotics, etc.
The highlight was during a private safari our guide was asking what you
call animals that come out during the night.
She answered her own question (nocturnal). She then asked what you call animals that
come out in the day…before she could answer Josie yelled out, “Diurnal!” We all looked at each other in shock. The
guide stopped the jeep and turned around to let us know that no one ever gets
that right. Josie was very pleased with
herself (as were we).
11. Petting zoo frost alert. We scheduled
the kid’s petting zoo birthday party and Nita checked the weather
relentlessly. However, it kept
delivering bad news, cold and rain. Nita
came to me 9 days before the event and said, let’s move it to this Sunday! I said, “Sunday like two days from now?” She
said yes. Okay so, I’ve been told that
when I am presented with a time sensitive challenge or problem to solve that
has a significant sense of urgency, I no longer regard feelings. I essentially start moving pieces, giving
commands, and getting the job done. Not
unlike last year’s princess bed moment.
Nita did not appreciate problem-solving-Marco in this moment. My very take-charge response to her “thinking
out loud” moment went over like a lead balloon.
We decided that kids love petting zoos and playing outside in the cold
and wet. Only adults are annoyed. So we
said whatever was going to happen was going to happen. Long story short, it
went great. We borrowed outdoor heaters
from some friends, set up a hospitality tent, had some hot cocoa in a big urn,
some cocktails, and the petting zoo went off brilliantly. We then had Queen Elsa show up which
absolutely made Josie’s day and then went on to beating piñatas. The funny thing about poor Queen Elsa, was
that of course she couldn’t wear a jacket…because…say it…say it…”The Cold
doesn’t bother her anyway!” Oh, on that front, the kids bought a piñata and
then later found two more that they preferred instead. I thought, “Who returns a piñata?” So I went to Raj at Oak Liquor and picked up
a bunch of those little one ounce spirit bottles. I stuffed them in the piñata and we had one
station for adults this year. Watching
grownups wail away on a little pink pony filled with liquor was a hoot. Second only to watching them scrounge on the
ground for the bottles. *takes a bow* Thank you, thank you very much. So our
cold, wet, outdoor children’s party actually ran for three hours. I’d call that a success.
Well friends, another year jam packed with events and
blessings. We have had a lot of moving
parts and some highs and lows, but as we say around the Martinez house…all
first world problems. We would like to wish
you the best of holidays, a very Merry Christmas, all of God’s blessings, and a
Happy New Year.
Marco, Nita, Connor, Josie, and Brownie (maybe Paco, still
haven’t found him)!
