Thanksgiving Update

I am totally full. Going over to my mother in law's house for the holidays can be very hard on my health. She is an awesome cook and makes insanely good cookies and pies. I do not have enough will power or intelligence to resist over eating. Today was the same as all other holidays there. I ate too much turkey, too much pie and too many cookies. It is 10:00 at night and I think I am going to die.

It was cool to have Quinlan's 1st Thanksgiving. He was awesome all day. He was not fussy at all, he loves the attention that everyone gives and boy does he get attention. He doesn't mind anyone holding him, whether it is his parents, grandparents or cousins, he is cool with it. He played most of the day and took two really quick naps on Daddy's chest. It is so cool to have him sleep on me. It is such a fun bonding thing; the only bad thing is that he rarely sleeps long when he sleeps on me. Today was no different; he only got to sleep on me for 20 and 30 minutes. He is pretty light sleeper. It is hard for him to help it, that is just the way he is. Unfortunately, there are people who feel the need to crap on Holly for him being a light sleeper. Apparently Holly is supposed to set off fireworks while Quinlan slept when he was 3 months.

That is the one tough thing about raising a kid. Some people feel the need to criticize the way you raise your child. Actually, I rarely get the brunt of the criticism, it is mostly Holly. She gets crap from other women who think they are the perfect parents. I have found that every child is different and every parent is different. Unless someone is doing something grossly wrong (like smoking in the car with the kid, not using seat belts, beating the shit out of them, etc.), it is best to keep your comments to yourself. A buddy of mine's wife said the best thing to me this past weekend when I was in Boston, you will learn for yourself what is the best way to raise your child on your own. You can listen to every friend or family member or read every book, but in the end you will learn what works for your kid and when you are ready to do certain things (like letting him cry it out when he goes to bed).

Personally, I think Holly is doing a wonderful job and I could not think of any way she could be a better mother. So it kind of annoys me when people criticize the way she raises Quinlan whether it is bluntly or (more commonly) passive aggressively. I have yet to meet someone that I felt was a flawless parent. Every parent does something that I personally do not agree with. That does not mean that I am a better parent or what they are doing is not the right thing to do. It is just different that what I feel is cool with my kid. But I feel the best thing to do is to keep the comments of their parenting style to myself because who am I to tell them what they are doing with their own kid is right or wrong?

I do not mind when people share what they did with their kids. It is cool to hear what worked for others. Sometimes you hear something that you think might work for your own kid, sometimes you don't. The key thing is, they are not ordering you to raise your child like they did theirs. I don't like it when people tell me that I am "supposed" to do a certain thing with regard to raising my child. They have no clue what works with Quinlan or what does not work with him. That is our job to do.

Wow, that was more whining than I normally do. I better quit while I am ahead.

Boston

I was in Boston last weekend for my buddy Greg's wedding. Great times. It was great to see friends again. It is always hard to fit all the time in to see everyone you want to. I did get to see most of the usual suspects as well as a few I usually don't get to see (Christy!!). The weekend went by quick and I was sick with a cold the majority of the weekend but it was a blast. This should be the last wedding for a while, so I do not have any definite plans to head back. I am going to try and head back for the annual golf trip with the guys. They now go to New Hampshire which is much cooler than the Cape. I have to admit, I hated the Cape. I do not know why, but I always did.

Congrats to Greg! You look happy and your wife seems like a great gal. Have fun making babies.

Comedy

This weekend should be fun shows. I am closing shows in Mankato Friday night and Forest Lake on Saturday night. I am working for most likely my favorite booker in the Midwest, Rox. Her shows are always a blast and she is so fun to work with. I get fired up to do shows for her because she sees the shows and she appreciates what I do. So many of the shows I do, the bookers never see it and it is hard for them to appreciate what I bring to the table by not seeing me. I am finally on that level where I can start closing rooms (and I do here and there), but with some bookers they are not seeing me progress and they are not seeing some of the headliners struggle to follow me. It is frustrating to know I can close a room (granted not as well as the guys that have been doing it a long time), but typically I do a really good job and there are several times I am being approached by crowd members and club owners and they are saying I should be "the last guy." I wish this stuff would get back to the bookers so I can start making more money headlining and making the long trips to some of these shows more worthwhile. I figure if I keep plugging away and always improve, my time will come. No matter what, it is still a ton of fun for me and I enjoy the majority of it.

Who knows, maybe one of these days I will finally get on TV.

Well, I better get going. It is getting late and I need to drive 2 hours to my show tomorrow night (not including stopping at stores to see how much Plasma TV's are on sale for and maybe playing a little poker on the way to Mankato).