Month: April 2011

A Sad Happiness

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Chattanooga Tennessee taking it all in.  The name of the hotel is The Chattanooga Choo Choo.  It’s an old train station that has been converted into a hotel.  It’s a pretty cool place that has train-car rooms, shops and restaurants.  I’m lucky enough to have a balcony overlooking a really cool pool.

 

As I’m sitting hear, I’m thinking a lot about my family.  I miss them.  Although I’m only gone a few days and although my kids are still only 8 and 4 ½ I can’t help but think of all the wonderful times I’ve had with them.  The pool that is directly in front of me reminds me of the many resorts I’ve been to with my kids and of the first swimming strokes they ever took.

 

The hotel reminds me of times when my son was 3 or 4 years old and how we’d sit by railroad crossings waiting for trains to come.  Oh what a thrill that was for him.  It reminds me of all those Thomas The Tank Engines he was once so fascinated by.  Now he’s a regular boy who’s more interested in baseball, basketball and football.

 

I guess I’m writing this because as I’m sitting here with some free time on my hands, my mind can’t help but wander.  And although I’m actually quite sad right now, it’s a sort of “happy sad.”  I guess I should be grateful that when my mind wanders and thinks about the past, the thoughts are good ones.

 

Do yourself a favor:  the next time you find your mind wandering around a bit, embrace the positive thoughts.

Make Time For Family

I don’t know about you, but my life is pretty damn busy. Regardless, my wife and kids absolutely come first. I plan my entire schedule around them, and I’m proud of that. Although they are my family, I also have my other family: my parents and my 3 siblings. All of us live within 15 minutes of each other and although we talk most days, I barely see them. And it’s 100% my fault.

I decided to invite my parents over for dinner yesterday. After I hung-up the phone I said to myself, “why don’t I ask my twin-sister to come over too.” Duh!! This is the person I spent the first 9 months with in my mother’s womb and although we are very close and love each other very much, we don’t spend that much quality time together. Again, my fault! Well, she and her daughter did come over too and we all enjoyed the butternut squash lasagna I made. Well at least I did. But the moral of this story is this:

MAKE TIME FOR YOUR FAMILY!

Mine is a stone throw away and I’m lucky if I see them once a month. I actually feel guilty about this and am now making a commitment to see them more, whatever it takes. Unfortunately my schedule is only going to get busier as I continue to travel around the country filming episodes for my upcoming television series. So here’s one thing I did: I talked to my twin about flying-out with me to one of the shoots and she is super-excited. I can’t wait….