My girls are gone!

This morning, at about 6:30 my girls left for Salem, Mass.

Sarah and Natasha (along with Carolynn and Baba Lex) have gone down (by car) to spend some time with the Loretta, Randy, Andre and Khira. This will be Sarah's last and Tasha's only chance to see the house on Salem, before the whole clam moves to Kingston this summer. I know Sarah was looking forward to the trip and I really want them to have a good time. They're going to be gone until the 7th of May. Eight days.

Eight days.

Eight days?

EIGHT DAYS!


I've never been apart from Tasha more than twelve hours. This is going to be very, very challenging.

Before they left this morning, Sarah put Tasha in bed with me. She immediately snuggled up and stared at me with a very calm face. She took her hand and started gently stroking my forehead and cheeks, in a very soothing fashion. "Don't worry Daddy", is what I imagine she was saying.

So my eight month old princess and my queen are off on an adventure. Have fun girls. I'll be thinking about you - constantly.

Video of Talkin' Tasha

Here is some video that Sarah shot this month during one of her trips to the Zoo with Natasha. You can see and hear that she just loves to babble.

For those of you trying to keep track, Natasha did in fact turn EIGHT MONTHS OLD on Tuesday April 25th. Unbelievable how fast the past eight months have just flown by.

Not a day goes by that Sarah and I don't ask "How did we get so lucky?"

Marsden dead at 69

Earlier today, one of my former colleagues at the FAN 590, and a Canadian broadcasting legend Pat Marsden lost his long battle with cancer.

Marsden, best known on the national scale for being the voice of the CFL for so many years was a guy who could tell a terrible story and make it compelling.

I interacted with Pat a lot during my days at The Fan when I was working overnights and Pat was co-hosting the morning show with John Davidson.

He'd look at me and say in his snarly voice, "You still work here? I thought I told Millman [program director] to fire your ass". The first time he said that I panicked a little. 'What did I do to piss off Marsden?'

When he used that same line for the next couple months in lieu of "hello" I realized that this man was all about getting in a good rib.

One story I'll never forget.... in the early 80's, Marsden was out in Edmonton for a CFL game. Pat was never one for political correctness, and got himself thrown in jail for comments he made on the air. This was on a Friday night. He was bailed out by Ron Lancaster. Three days later he was working an Ottawa Roughrider game, and got thrown in jail again! This time he was bailed out by Brian Mulroney.

He was a one of a kind, and a true original in an industry that fosters so many imitators. Thank you Pat.

Marsden was 69. He is survived by his wife T.A., daughter Taylor, Connor, and children Mike, Patti-Lee, and Ruth Mary, from his first marriage.

School's done!

I did it - I wrote my English Lit exam tonight, ending my first year back at school. I was terrified going into the exam, but I think I did pretty damn well.

I got my essays back that I handed in and got A- on all of them.

I told Sarah tonight how grateful I am to her for basically forcing me to go back to school. I knew I wanted to, but didn't have the confidence to think I could succeed. I feel so much better about myself and my future plans in education.

Thank you sweetheart.

Ding Dong Quinn is Gone!

What a great day! I wake up this morning and tune into the radio to hear that Pat Quinn has finally been fired. The highest paid coach in the NHL who has never won a damn thing (other than that gold at the Olympics four years ago) has finally been let go. Unfortunately, the man who canned him, Leaf GM John Ferguson Jr, still has a gig - but one step at a time.

I've heard fans defend Quinn for years - and never understood it. Tell me, what sort of systems do Quinn teams employ? What young player has he ever developed into a star? Do you know that Quinn's practices NEVER consist of special teams work, power play options or anything else that most teams have had success doing?


Quinn is a 63 year old dinosaur. He's one of the good ol' boys of the NHL who refuses to adapt and grow with the game. The game changed this year. Quinn did not.

Did you know Matts Sundin, one of the top players on Earth, has been saddled with the same amount of ice time as many 3rd and 4th line players on other decent teams. WHY? Quinn believes in rolling four lines and playing everyone equally. How the hell would that have worked 13 years ago if Pat Burns had played Gilmour the same amount he was playing Eastwood. I'll tell you one thing, we wouldn't have gone to the final four twice.

This now opens the door for Paul Maurice, who has been coaching the Toronto Marlies this season. Maurice took the Hurricanes to the Cup Finals a few seasons ago and has a great eye for the new NHL. He understands how to develop talent, he's media friendly and a tactitican in the mold of a Scotty Bowman or Ken Hitchcock.

See ya Patty, it's been real and it's been fun, but it ain't been real fun!

Talkin up a storm...

So apparently Natasha's new favourite things to do are to show off her lungs and yelling out insightful bits of baby musings like, "baa baa", "bla bla", "da da" or just "yaaaaaaaah!".

I won't lie, i'm partial to "Da Da". I have a video on the computer that Sarah shot last week. I'll upload it in the next day or so for you all to enjoy.

She's growing up so fast. She tried pulling herself up the other day in her crib by hanging onto the side.

I updated the April 2006 folder on Shutterfly, so go check out the new pictures!

Thanks to everyone who gave Tasha an Easter gift. It REALLY wasn't necessary but it is appreciated.

Well, I should get back to studying...

Tasha's first Jays Game

On Saturday, Natasha got to see her favourite baseball team up close in personal. My dad, Humberto, Serene and Lucas and came with Sarah, Natasha and myself to the Rogers Centre to take in the fun.

We got great seats too. Fourth row, section 114 on the first base side. Awesome seats. How close were we? I heard parts of the conversation between the guys standing at first base!

How close were we? Kids at my school came up to me today saying they saw me on TV holding my baby.

We had an awesome time... The only down sides were when the Jays were scored on after a misplayed ball, and when Zaun knocked a homerun out of the park ... At those points the park got a little too loud all at once and Tasha yelled right back. Not a 'i'm chipping in' yell - but more of a "everyone shutup now" noise.

I think it'll be a while before she heads back down to the dome... but in the meantime, she has her little Jays cap that matches daddy's, and she can park right next to me on the couch and take in as many games as she likes.

It's baseball season...

With my best Jerry Howarth voice, "The Blue Jays are in flight" having opened their season on Tuesday and taking two out of three from the Twins.

Natasha is getting into the spirit of baseball season, as you can see here rockin' her pink Blue Jays merchandise that was a gift from her Uncle Dan-e-o when she was just a couple weeks old!

Upon donning the pink pin stripes, my future athlete grabbed the nearest pink hardball and showed daddy her split-finger and circle-change grips. I was pretty impressed but told her to stick to fastballs until she's a little older to avoid injury.

You'll also be happy to know that there are more pics of Tasha in her baseball gear, and pics of her with Uncle Dan-e-o on the ShutterFly site.

Walking for Wendy

My sister Diane will be participating in a very special event called The Weekend to End Breast Cancer.

As was posted here on this blog, we lost a friend in Wendy Parent in January to cancer. Diane was very close to Wendy, and the entire Parent family and plans to help out with more than just thoughts and words.

She plans to walk 60 kilometres over the course of one weekend with thousands of other women and men. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, treatment, and services through the Princess Margaret Hospital.

She has agreed to raise at least $2,000, and she will need your help. Would you please consider making a donation? Any amount that you can give will help her get closer to her goal. Please keep in mind how far she's walking - and how hard she will have to train.

According to the National Cancer Institute of Canada, approximately 20,500 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and about 5,400 will die from the disease.

Click here to visit Diane's personal sponsorship page...

Click here t see the page dedicated to Wendy's Walkers...

Tasha's first words!?

THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOL'S PRANK!

This may be the last picture you see of my little angel with a soother in her mouth. After today, she may never want to be baby-muzzled again!

You are all going to think we're nuts, but Sarah and I are pretty sure that our baby genius has spoken her first coherent english-language words!

At about 9:30 this morning we were all giggling and playing when Tasha unmistakebly said "OH YEAAAH". Sarah and I both started laughing and couldn't even believe our ears. After a few more minutes of cooing and giggling, Tasha let out another "Yeaaah". I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

15 minutes later while sitting on my lap looking at her mom, Tasha said "Heeeeey". This was not a grunt that 'sounded' like "hey" this was CLEARLY and unmistakebly "Heeeey".

7 months old and she's already said more than baby Maggie Simpson has in 17 years!
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My verbal little girl has officially uttered her first words - purposely or accidentally, I'm counting it.

Awesome.