I grew up in a military family back in the days when being in the military wasn’t fashionable nor did it pay well.  As an enlisted man with five kids my father moonlighted all the time and around Christmas it never failed that he picked up a third job.  Reality was, we were poor, just like all the other military families of the time.

But, all the money in the world could not have recreated the joy, love, and excitment that I experienced as a child.

I remember one Christmas in particular, it had to be 1970 or 1971, which would have been right after my Dad’s last tour in Vietnam and we were in Frankfurt, Germany.  All five of us kids woke up to a Christmas Tree with gifts literally covering every inch of floor space in our living room.  Our family tradition was that all gifts were opened one at a time and we took turns.  Gift opening took hours that Christmas!

I remember, being at the age where I knew there was no Santa but still having to believe because of my younger sisters and brother, looking over at my Dad and there he was, sitting in his housecoat, his hair a mess and obviously having missed quite a few hours of sleep over the last month or so, and noticing that while he opened no gifts for himself, he was so full of joy and happiness. 

At the time I just realized that he was going to be really let down when he opened my gift becuase there was no way it was going to match what he and “Santa” had gotten me…

I marvel at that Christmas because there was no such thing as credit cards back then.  I got my first record player that Christmas.  It was a plastic portable record player where the speaker was actually the detachable top….and it only played 45’s.  The first record I played was Jay and the Americans, “This Magic Moment”  We were definitely a family that was blessed.  I can only imagine the scarifices my father and mother endured for their kids.

When I was 2 we moved to Germany and lived on the local economy.  Thus, I went to a german kindergarten and ended up speaking no english (that was the early 60’s and when we played army it was Americans against the Nazi’s…and even I wanted to be a Nazi!  At least until I made my first trip to Dachau.) 

So, we returned to the United States where I started the first grade in Texas and I was shuffled to the class with all the “slow” kids because english as a second language wasn’t offered back then.  I didn’t learn to spell my last name until I was in the third grade and by the fourth grade my Dad was drilling me and my younger by a year brillant sister on memorizing the multiplication table.  I cannot count the number of times I heard, “…God, you are so stupid…” and was dodging the deck of flash cards…

Then in the sixth grade I was “redeemed.”  A teacher recommended that my parents have my hearing checked and we found out that I suffered a severe hearing loss.  Whew!  I wasn’t slow after all but actually just couldn’t hear.  But because of my Dad I still can recite the multiplication table, I can name all fifty states and their capitals, and I can name all the countries of the world….and I can duck flying objects like a trooper!

When I played basketball it was always commented on how good my eye hand coordination was and I would always give my Dad credit for that!  I cannot count the number of holidays we spent without my Dad or we spent waiting on him to return from base but there is a long history of burned dried out turkeys in my childhood.  I played basketball all the way through college and my Dad only made two of my games.  But I can still remember the day I was out on a playground shooting hoops and I look up and I see him walking toward to court….

Even though he took most of his shots from between his legs….he earned my respect.

Christmas has never been the same since he died and neither has my family.  They just don’t make men like him anymore….

Now to go and enjoy the present Christmas which would be meaningless without the memories of Christmas past.

Merry Christmas!

Well, now I know why everything is so expensive at Casual Male!  They give free clothes to NBA players and we have to pay for it!  Can you BELIEVE this:

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, a Chicago clothing store — Casual Male — alleges New York Knicks center Eddy Curry ran up a tab of more than $41,000 on clothes, and two years later it remains unpaid. Gulp.

Kara Spak of the Chicago Sun Times reports:

”It’s just a matter of him buying clothing he didn’t pay for,” said Edward Margolis, the attorney representing Casual Male and Jared M. Custom Clothing, a business popular with professional athletes that once was owned by Casual Male. […]

Purchases on Curry’s shopping trips, which occurred between January and April 2006, included $22,000 in suits, eight sweaters ranging from a $750 wool crew-neck to a $1,390 cashmere V-neck and more than $3,700 in ties.

The company also wants an additional $5,424 in interest.

And yes, before you ask, Casual Male is the largest specialty retailer of big and tall men’s apparel, with over 520 store locations throughout the United States, London, England and Canada.

Big and tall. Eddy Curry. Go nuts.

I wonder what $41,000 in clothes looks like? How much closet space do you need for that much clothes? I wonder how much of it was Made in the USA?

The news about jobs and the economy have been overwhelmingly bad for the last couple of months and it can give one a feeling of helplessness but I did come upon a little bit of information that I found to be quite eye opening and very optimistic. Here it is:If every man, woman and child in the United States would just shift $20 dollars a month of their existing monthly expenditures from imported goods to Made in the USA goods we could create 5 million new jobs.That’s 5 million new jobs that did not require any effort on the part of the government or that required any extra ordinary effort on the part of anyone other than to become conscious of what we purchase and where these purchased goods are manufactured. No one is being asked to purchase anything of lesser quality and or value.No one has asked us to purchase more or to sacrifice quality but rather just to shift $240 dollars of our annual current purchases from imported goods to domestically produced goods. This amount does not represent an automobile or anything of that nature; $240 does not represent a major purchase by any means but it could result in some dramatic changes in our country.What if we then took this concept one step further and made a conscious effort to purchase these goods from locally owned businesses we could also:

Top Ten reasons to Think Local - Buy Local - Be Local

Buy Local — Support yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms — continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.(Click here to see summaries of a variety of economic impact studies; these include case studies showing that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and our tax base.)

Support community groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.

Keep our community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun — all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit. “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust.

Reduce environmental impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.

Create more good jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents.

Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.

Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.

Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.

Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

Encourage local prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

While we realize that it is not always possible to buy what you need locally and or and so merely ask you to Think Local and Made in the USA FIRST!

For a mere $20.00 we could be investing in ourselves, our communities, our country, and building a much brighter future for our children!  A little good news this holiday for everyone!

Here are two great resources to begin making a difference:

WELL, this is a novel idea!  Change your environment to lose weight!  Check this out:

TIANJIN, China (AFP) – Three American men have taken the unusual step of moving to China in an extreme attempt to shed huge amounts of weight at a fat reduction clinic — and have become surprise local celebrities. Alonzo Bland, 33, and brothers Walt and David Anderson, 56 and 50, have lived in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin since the middle of this year as part of an effort to break away from their unhealthy lifestyles back home.

Together, they have lost a combined 192 kilogrammes (427 pounds) and are aiming to shed over 100 more.

“The reason why I think it works here is that China is away from everything, all the stuff that I’m familiar with,” said Alonzo, who has lost 103 kilogrammes from the 291 kilos he weighed when he first arrived in Tianjin.

He decided to come after winning a contest organised by China Connection, a US firm promoting traditional Chinese medicine, and was being treated free of charge for as long as it took to lose his target weight — like Walt and David.

Alonzo, who had a tracheotomy in 2000 because the fat in his face was pressing down on his windpipe, left a fiancee and two children behind in Wisconsin.

For David, an unmarried dishwasher in a casino in Iowa who sold his car and ditched his job to come to China, the move was a life-saver.

“Before I came over, it got to the point that I couldn’t walk 20 feet without gasping for breath,” said David, who is down to 104 kilogrammes after losing 41 kilos.

“I don’t think I would have made my 51st birthday.”

Every morning, the three lie down in their spartan bedrooms at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital for acupuncture, which doctors say increases the metabolism rate and reduces appetite.

“When I sent an email to my friends from here, I think I scared them when I told them how deep those needles go,” said Walt, who has shed 48 kilogrammes off his original 179 kilogrammes.

But the rest of the weight-loss treatment is similar to the West — exercise twice a day and good nutrition, albeit Chinese-style with rice, fried vegetables, tofu, meat and soup the staples of their diet.

As they sat down for lunch in the basic canteen they eat in every day along with other Chinese people trying to lose weight, the three looked at each other and laughed when asked about the local food.

“Don’t get me wrong, the food here is good. But it’s just not having certain things for a certain period of time — it wears on you,” said Alonzo.

“You’re thinking about all the steaks you want to have.”

The three have featured prominently in local media, prompting a Chinese woman to ask to meet Walt when she saw his photo in the newspaper and subsequently proposing to him — an offer he refused.

“I didn’t come here to find a Chinese wife,” he said. “I don’t need a wife.”

Later, as the three walked out of a bus and onto the streets during their break, locals openly stared at them as they strolled by — a situation the three said was even more pronounced when they first arrived and were bigger.

Taxi drivers were reluctant to stop for them due to their size, they said, which meant they were at the mercy of the hospital’s transport if they wanted to get around.

“For us (Chinese people), it’s very hard to see such obese people,” explained Su Zhixin, their doctor.

“Alonzo is the heaviest person to have come here since our hospital was set up in 1998.”

Sighing, Alonzo said it had been difficult to cope with the attention when he first got to Tianjin.

“It was unbearable, I just wanted to not go out at all. But then the weight started coming off, and I thought — I am who I am,” he said.

Walt claimed that he missed driving his car more than food in the United States, but for Alonzo, it was his children and fiancee that he pined after.

“But my aim is 220 pounds — the lowest I can remember weighing is 360 at high school,” he said, pledging to stick it out.

When asked whether they would be able to withstand all the temptations back in the United States, the trio said they were determined to keep the weight off.

At that, Walt began to dream about the day they went home.

“Riding the airplane over, we had to get a seatbelt extension because we were so big,” he said.

“Now we can just get on that plane, sit down and fly home,” he said. “That’s going to be a real thrill.”