Sorry

Okay, for the 4 or 5 of you who read this blog, I apologize for not posting much this month. I work in the grocery business, so November is a very busy time for me. That coupled with the new baby caused me to procrastinate posting much of anything. Well, something happened recently that has caused me to want to post something that's been bothering me since this event.

Okay, first off - I am not perfect. I make mistakes in my life. Some are really big ones, others are minor. I don't always consider the feelings of others, I curse more than I should, I don't eat a balanced diet, I talk about people behind their back, I talk about breasts a lot, I watch too much TV, I have downloaded songs illegally, I don't mow my lawn or do yardwork religiously, I am blunt with the truth, these and many other traits are things that I am not always proud of.

But one thing I am not is a sanctimonious flake of a person, who casts people aside like they are garbage if they exhibit a flaw, or do something to me that I don't like. If a person wrongs me, realizes their mistake and apologizes, I am more than willing to accept them into my life again. I do believe in second chances for people whom I have welcomed into my life as friends. I only "burn the bridge" with a person after repeated violations of my trust or if there is no sorrow for their actions. I also am not a person who just meets sorrow with silence, and will accept an apology with words when sorrow is expressed. I just don't understand how someone, who claims to be a Christian, would do this. It's spelled out in the Bible, to forgive people. No one is asking you to forget, for the love, and move on like nothing happened. I'm not even asking to be welcomed back into your good graces. All I am asking for is to be forgiven, and then if the bridge is still too far to cross, then it doesn't have to be. It's just frustrating for me right now, as I have lost someone that was important for me from my life.

What I did was wrong, and I am sorry for it. But let's just get this straight: I have apologized, over and over. I cannot do more than that.

The Final Countdown

Well, today marked the end of Allison's first season of competitive soccer. Last Sunday was supposed to be the end, but due to the weather last week, it was decided to postpone the final weekend to November 3-4th. The last weekend of Pottsgrove soccer is called a tournament, as all the teams play 3 games, and the association turns into festival mode as well. There were soccer vendors, a moon-bounce, but no funnel cake. Disappointed was I. Daniel and Zachary were able to take part in some of their games, but as Becky was leaving that day as well, they weren't able to play in all of them. Zach made two games, and Daniel only one. It was very cold, and the wind was swirling, but we were only able to stay for half of one of Zachary's games. Lindsay was bundled up, but even so, with the wind blustering across her little face, it just made it difficult for us to rationalize us staying. Becky came back to the house, and left soon after she packed a few more things into her SUV before her trip home. Our year of service came to an end, with tears of thanks, and a brief hug with each of them. They arrived home safely in Carolina at 8:00 PM or so. Things seem quiet again without them, and I do miss having them around after getting used to them being here. I hope that they will adjust to being home with Mom again well, but have no doubt they will.

Allison's games were on Sunday, starting at 2:00 PM. For the rest of the season, the first half hour is spent on drills, and a mini-practice for a half hour. The rest of the hour is spent on the game, it's really up to the coaches. Well, this weekend there was no practice time, just three 20 minute games with no half-time break. The first game went great, with Allison's team scoring a ton of goals, and most of them by players who hadn't scored at all in the rest of the season. The second game was more of the same, as the team showed real signs of progress from the beginning of the year when we had only two kids who ever scored. That game showed that Allison was tired, and she ended up playing with a boy on the other team more than the soccer game. Coach Chris looked at us at one point and said, "Looks like someone has a little boyfriend." We laughed, and then mosied over to the last field for the final game. We ended up getting hammered that game (even though no official score is ever kept) by that team, but all the kids were tired and just wanted it to be over. Allison came over to us and was so excited about getting her trophy. Coach Vince gathered the kids around him, and handed a trophy to each of the players, with words of praise for each of them. Allison was called, and Coach Vince said, "This player was scared to play sharks and minnows when we first started, but she overcame that and scored a goal this season." He was great with her, and I thanked him for all his help in getting Allison to understand the game and enjoy herself. If he's coaching in the spring for the afternoon session, I want him to coach her again. Rachel and I are toying with the idea of trying to coach a pee wee team, if my schedule permits. Congrats Allie on your first foray into competitive sports .... you BETTER DO WELL !!! (giggles)

Halloween

Our last holiday with the boys ended up being Halloween. The original plan was for Becky to stay with us through Thanksgiving, and then she would return to North Carolina with the boys over their school break. Unfortunately, Becky was only getting two weeks leave from her unit, since she extended her active duty stint with the Army. We had already planned to have the boys with us, so we got costumes ready for the big night. Rachel and I were having a hard time with Allison deciding on a costume, as she kept changing her mind. Shocker, I know. We were at Target, and found a SuperGirl costume she really loved, but it was too big for her. She was so upset that it wasn't going to fit her, and we were back at square one. Finally, a few days before Halloween, we ended up at K-Mart, as all their costumes were discounted by 50%, and we were determined to find something that would work. Well, we found the same Supergirl costume there, but it was still one size too big. We bought it anyway, and decided in pure parent fashion to "make it work" by pinning it if we had to. Ryleigh was pretty easy, as we found an adorable Red Riding Hood costume almost right away. I got a hold of Becky while she was still in Carolina, and told her that Zach wanted to be a Carolina Panthers football player. She was able to get hold of a jersey (a freakin' nice one for a kid), and he was done. Daniel was done a long time ago, as he first wanted to be Diego. Rachel and I felt that was really juvenile for him, and he was that last year anyway. He changed to a Power Ranger, even though I felt this was juvenile, too. We were at Kohl's and found a nice costume, for cheap, and bought it weeks ago. So, we were done.

Rachel and I have been going with the Gallion's for trick-or-treating in their neighborhood for the last two years, and decided to go ahead and do that again. So, off we went. It ended up being a good time, albeit with the older kids having to be constantly reminded to wait for the younger kids. It was so funny, since this was Ryleigh's first year of T-o-T, and the first two or three houses she kept wanted me to open her candy immediately. She soon got the hang of it, and had fun with it. By the end of the night, she wanted to walk like the other kids, but wouldn't let go of her little duck that her prizes were stored in. So, I was the caboose in our train with her, and Allie ended up walking with Kirk Gallion and holding his hand. I am so glad we have them as friends, and that my kids feel comfortable with Dee and Kirk. By the time we took the 10 minute trip home, Ryleigh was crashed, and ended up with her costume as her pajama's as well. Oh, well, it was fun in any case.

Our Newest Addition

Hoo-Ray !!

Today, October 20th, we welcomed Lindsay Erin Palmer into this branch of the Palmer Family Tree. She weighed 8 lbs. and 2 ozs, and measured 19 inches long. Rachel was again, a trooper, during the whole thing, and yet again, a very short labor. We arrived, checked in, and were in the room by 10 AM then Lindsay made her appearance at 12:55 PM. There was another woman delivering in the room next to ours, and when Rachel said she had to push, I went to try and find a nurse. None to be had, and the doctor was AWOL, too. So, I hit the red cross call button on the bed, and went into the hallway to wait. Marcia (more on her later) came, and asked if everything was okay. I said that Rachel said she needed to push, so she came in, and checked. The doctor showed up 2 mins later, and then here's Lindser. She already has a nickname, too. They put her up on Rachel's chest, and she took one look at the baby, and Rachel says, "You're Momma's little Tank, huh?" Just a chubby, healthy baby, with a nickname only Daddy could love.

Marcia was our nurse today that helped deliver Lins. Marcia was also the nurse that helped deliver Allison, 4 1/2 years ago. Marcia was also the nurse that we took our LaMaize (sp?) class from in the hospital before Allie was born. We're officially inducting her into the honorary Aaron and Rachel Palmer family as an emeritus member. Anyone who is that involved in starting our family deserves it. Thank you also to Doctor Tucker, who was on-call this weekend, for delivering a healthy baby. She was great !!

A High Point in My Life

I was looking through pictures recently, trying to organize and pick some out for a project that I'm working on. As I was going through them, I found pictures that I forgot I had taken, some that I hadn't seen in a while, and some that I consider treasures.

It was December of 2005, and one of the presents I asked for at Christmas was a membership in the Queensryche fan club. (For those of you who do not know who Queensryche is, shame on you.) It came close to the holiday, and Rachel says, "Go ahead and enroll, it's one of the presents I wanted to get you." YES!! I signed up, and about a month later I got my package of stuff from the fan club - signed 8x10, some stickers, and a certificate. It's a little odd for a 32 (at the time) year old man to be so excited by this, but I don't care. My love for this band goes back to 1992. I had moved in with Tom and Jim in the Main Street house, and I was playing video games with Jim one night in his room. He puts in a CD to listen to, and I was hooked. Queensryche - Empire. Geoff Tate's voice, combined with the guitar licks from Wilton and DeGarmo, the thudding bassline from Eddie, brought together by Scott Rockenfield's drumming just amazed me. I must have borrowed that from Jim 10 times in the first month after this. Well, then Jim bought Operation: Mindcrime, their album that was immediately before Empire. Again, I was blown away. The whole Mindcrime album is a concept album, and tells the story of an underground revolution set to take down the government, and the false idols of religion. From started to finish, just my favorite album of all time. I still listen to it to this day, and if I start the CD, I almost compulsively have to listen to the whole thing. I love it. It also helped me through a rough time of transition for me, as I just left Mom and Dads and was trying to make it on my own. I think that's why it's stuck with me for so long, because that album helped to bring me out of my shell .. hard to explain to another person, but that's what I feel.

One of the things I wanted to do in my life was to see Queensryche perform Mindcrime, but live in concert. I accomplished that in 2005 once, and twice in 2006. Well, then the summer rolls around and they are announced they were the opening band for Judas Priest for their tour. Now, one of the perks of being a fan club member is the requesting of Meet and Greet passes. You actually have to sign up for the passes on their website, for the concerts you are planning on attending. They then pool the requests and randomly (yeah, right) pull people out of a proverbial hat to give passes to. I say randomly, because I don't believe it's random at all. The same people always seem to get passes, all you had to do was see the pics they posted on the forums to see that fact. Well, the time came when they announced the concert in Hershey that I was attending, and the time came and went and no pass. No surprise there, there are two pretty active local fan clubs in this area that have people who usually receive this honor. Well, I get home from work last year, and I see an email from the fan club. I get that nervous, sick feeling as I opened to find that I had been picked to receive two passes to go backstage. Well, the friend in our Ward who I usually metal out with decided against going to this concert, and now I have backstage passes. He still drug his feet, even knowing that I had these passes. Oh, well, fall out. I ended up promising one to this guy on the forum who was pretty cool, and because I didn't want it to go to waste. I told him my only requirement was that he HAD to take pictures of me with the band. Well, the night came, and my instructions were to go to Will Call window, show my ID and pick up my passes. I still didn't believe it. Well, there they were ... one envelope with my name in black marker, and inside were two passes.

I met Scott almost immediately, and we hung out before the concert. He was older than me, a music teacher from the Scranton area, and looked kinda dorky. We were both able to sneak our camera's inside the venue, as the meet and greet was scheduled for during the Judas Priest set. We jammed all through the Ryche's set, a lot of older songs that I hadn't heard live. I took my Rage for Order vinyl record backstage, and sat it on the table with a borrowed silver Sharpie. Well, they all walked in one at a time ... they talked with us, signed my record, posed for pictures, and just were so good with the six people who were backstage with me. As I left the backstage area, I was treated to the LOUDEST music I've ever heard, as Judas Priest was cranking at that point. I left and headed for home, since I was going to this same concert a few days later, and I really felt like a tool alone at the concert. I got what I came for, so no worries. Thank you, Jim Jardine, for turning me onto this incredible band. Thank you, Rachel, for giving me the gift of the fan club. Thank you Queensryche for your music, and for allowing me to fulfill a dream of meeting you face to face. Pictures now -


First Pic - Geoff Tate (I was considering naming our child Tate, if it was a boy. Rachel said she would've considered it, and liked that we could nickname him Tater)
Second Pic - Eddie Jackson (great background vocals, and hammering bass)
Third Pic - Michael Wilton (he wanted to made the faces at the camera, not me)
Fourth Pic - Scott Rockenfield (he said that it meant more for him to meet me, than vice versa)
Last Pic - Matt Stone (he replaced Kelly Gray, who replaced Chris DeGarmo when C.D. left the band before the release of Q2K. Stone's wife was so normal, I couldn't believe it)

I posted these pics on the band forum, and one of the comments that was made was asking if I was a giant, or something. She had been to a few meet/greets and remembered how tall she thought Geoff Tate was, and here I am much larger. I replied back something to the effect of - "Yes, I am a giant. Please look for me at the next concert. I'll be on the lawn, devouring little children." She said she couldn't stop laughing after reading my reply.

Email, Email, Email

Okay -

Rachel and I are trying to put together something for the family reunion that I think everyone needs to participate in. No, not think, but HAVE TO participate in. I sent out an email to each of my sibling's email addresses that I have (no spouses, except for Brooke), asking for them to read the email and please respond if you are in or out on this one. I also posted something on the family website, asking for everyone to check all their email addy's for a message from Rachel and I. To this point in time, I only received 3 responses back, all wanting to participate. I even went as far as to make a second posting on the family website, asking for everyone to please email Rachel or I ASAP to tell me if they are in or out on this project Rachel and I are trying to undertake. Well, still nobody new has responded. It's really starting to tick me off at this point. If I can't get everyone to participate, it's fine, and Rachel and I will go on with this project without anyone. Just frustrating, since I see that people have visited the family site, and still haven't sent a simple mail out. Oh, well ... I need to stop obsessing about this for now. Got enough stress to carry me over.

On a lighter note, the Redskins beat down the Lions today at FedEx Field. Rachel and I were having some new ward members over to "try them out" and see if they could fill our vacant friends position that needed to be filled once the Hassells abandoned us. John and Kim Wright (sp?) are a trip! They came over between conference sessions for dinner and to hang out for the second session. Our dear friends, Liz and Ed Ott had a special day today, as it was the baptism of their son, Sam. Liz told Rachel about it yesterday, and invited us to come. They were doing a simple family and friends thing, and didn't want it to be a big deal. So, I took Zachary with me, since he is between Katie and Same in age, and they usually end up playing together once the Otts and us get together. He was a little annoyed, since he wanted to sit and watch football. It was an honor to have the Otts invite us. They only had family there besides me, so it felt good that I was able to go. There was a chance that I was going to have to go on a sev 1, but the page never happened, so I dodged that bullet. We came home after the picnic, and socializing to watch the end of the Skins game. I walked in and John said "Hey, the Skins are getting creamed, it's 24-3." I am never surprised at how the Skins can sometimes disappoint me, so "Oh, well" was my resigned reply. Well, Allison then told me that wasn't true and the Skins were winning by that score. I saw the Carlos Rogers interception run back for a TD, so that was sweet. Then we flipped back to conference, and when the choir sang, we checked on the Chargers game. That was sad, too. Both my Skins and my Chargers won, so a man has to be happy with that, huh?

More later, I have to let some anger die down a little before my typing starts.

It Falls on Me

Well, it seems like almost everyone who voted in the latest poll agreed that Fall was the best of the seasons. I would have to agree, so all those who voted along with me, give yourself 10 bucks. All who didn't agree with me .... assume punishment positions.