Elijah is NINE

Wow. What a sentence that is. Elijah is NINE YEARS OLD TODAY!! That means that I've been a daddy for nine years. At this point, it's all a blur but when I stop to think about it, I feel ancient. I shouldn't - I mean my dad has been a daddy for 41 and a half years. What does that make him?

This morning when Elijah woke up, he was in a fantastic mood, as expected. He was giving hugs to everyone for his birthday and I saw Hannah say, "Happy Birthday, Brother" and give him a hug. That was sweet. My favorite part of the morning, however, was when he turned to me and said, "Dad, I'm glad I made you a daddy." That was ultra-cool. I was all, "awwwww that was sweet" as I turned my head so he would not see the gloss in my eyes. Everything is a tear-jerker these days for me. Sometimes when Sadie says good morning to me, I choke up.

We were all in the kitchen at 8.10 this morning, which is 10.10 EST - the time Elijah was born. Deb said, "this is it - you were born exactly nine years ago this minute!" and, for just a second, I was whisked back to that day he arrived. The story of Elijah's birth and the days just before are classic and are well documented in a 30 minute piece of video we shot at the hospital. It was painful for all of us but Deb says it was the most painful of all three by far.

Tonight we went to the restaurant of Elijah's choice - Red Robin. They have the "cheesiest mac n cheese in the world" so we went to pump our cholesterol up a few notches. We gave him a DS game for his birthday. Bobe and Zeide got him a DS so we got him his first game. As I type this, he ran upstairs (10.36pm!) to tell me he reached a new level. STINKER!!! "I am already playing too much so I am going to bed" he just told me. LOL. You know, a year ago I would have had to take the game away but now he knows his limits with things and, every night, he is getting a good night's sleep and he does it on his own. It's amazing how kids grow up like that.

Now, Elijah's interests are baseball cards, Pokemon, video games and heavy metal. You can see some examples of his baseball card interest here.

So...Happy Birthday Elijah!!! Your last year of single-digits! Thanks for making me a daddy. I love you.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We enjoyed a nice dinner with Rabbi Rosen and Keren at their house with their new baby, Tali. The kids loved it and Elijah fell in love with playing pool (hmmmm....Hanukkah idea?). Anyway, we finished the weekend with a trip to the mall and Elijah snuck the video camera along for the trip. See the shenanigans here.....

Abuela Was Here!

Abuela was here for 5 days! We had a great time at the zoo and at the pool and, of course, consuming copious amounts of chicken soup. Do you think Abuela enjoyed her grandchildren?

Sadie Pearl is Three

Well, Sadie-Boo, in just a few hours you will turn three years old. Honestly, I cannot wrap my head around that fact. Tonight you and I spent 15 minutes looking at pictures from your first few years of life and it blows my mind how the time has flown by.

You were born on November 11, 2005. It was just at the beginning of all the madness surrounding our pending move to Utah. You only spent a few weeks in our house in NJ before we sold it and moved up the street to Abuela's house. You spent three months there before boarding a plane with the rest of us and flying to the only home you've ever known, right here to Salt Lake City, Utah.

It's no secret that my feelings were mixed when we first found out that we were going to be adding you to our family. As I wrote when I broke the news of the pregnancy here in Jawdy's Basement on April 25, 2005....

How could this be? We are not supposed to be able to conceive!?! First emotion, disbelief. Then shock. Anger. Resentment. Virtual hatred of everything that is the reproductive process. I withdrew. I was rude to Deb, I was a nasty person for days. Unaccepting of what was fact. Emotionally, I was spent by 10am each day. Between thoughts of bankruptcy (paying for another daycare) and guilt (why could this not be happening to my sister, who is trying so hard for her FIRST), and selfishness (what will become of my home office now that we need the room?)

The title of that post was revealing on it's own - "Anything That I've Ever Done That Ultimately Was Worthwhile Initially Scared Me to Death." How true!!

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. Later on the post I explain how I was OK with it, that I had decided I had two choices - to accept or reject a child. Obviously I would decide to cherish the thought and the post came to a close with me stating that fact:

I emerged from my self-imposed funk and decided I had two choices. One was to resent my new child and the other was to come to appreciate fatherhood more and agree that enlonging the period of diaper changing and pureed squash was, indeed, a gift from God. No need to stop and think about my decision. So there is going to be a new baby! A new bundle of joy. New smiles and new noises. Another set of first steps, first foods, first words.

I get mushy writing this because it's shocking to me that I ever felt that way. I remember telling Mommy that I wished you would be perfect so it would make life easier. Sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Well, sweet girl, my wish came true. You have been about the most wonderful joy a Dad could ever pray for. The answer to all my prayers during that pregnancy. You've made being a Dad the easiest job in the world.

It has not always been easy! Just in the last year, I've seen things from a two year old that I've NEVER seen or read about in my life. Like the time you found a black Sharpie, climbed up three drawers to the top of your dresser, opened the Sharpie and redecorated your dresser top, window sill and several stuffed animals sitting on that sill. I remember the queasy feeling in my stomach when I discovered that. I wanted to sue the schmucks who made those damn Sharpie pens.

Then there was the incident in the motel we stayed at the night we lost power here last winter. You decided to do your best Mary Lou Retton on the bed and fell face first into the corner of the headboard, creating a sound that no parent should ever hear. Hospital? Not you. Just a softball sized lump that sat over your right eye for two months.

Mommy and I spent a few hundred bucks buying fencing to keep your tiny body centralized when you learned to crawl. I don't think an electric fence would have kept you from disappearing every 10 minutes. The most used phrase in our house for the past two years has, without a doubt, been "WHERE'S SADIE?!?!?!" The ensuing search for you would no doubt end up with an entire roll of toilet paper stuffed in the toilet, Mommy's perfume sprayed all over you, several drawers of your clothes spread about the floor as you make decisions on what to try on next.....it goes on and on and on.....

I could not mention your birthday without also thinking about Buba Pearl, who passed away in the summer before you were born. It's a shame you never got to meet her, but you got the ultimate honor of getting her name. It's amazing, too, because so many of your mannerisms are exact replicas of Buba's....like carrying around a napkin for no reason and wiping your mouth with it - even when you are not eating.

Happy Birthday Sadie Pearl Borenstein. I love you very much and could never imagine my life being as full and joyful as it's been if you had not been with me the last three years.

UPDATE: See pics and vids of the birthday celebration HERE.

Halloween 2008

Click here for Halloween pics from this week here in Utah.

Chase Utley Says it All

No Words Required

The World Series

Welcome back to the Basement. WHAT A WEEK this has been!! I've been away but not GONE.. I had the fortunate privilege to purchase a World Series ticket to Game 3 in Philly and did it. It was the best $240 I've spent in a LONG time. First of all, thanks to my company for calling a sales meeting in NJ during the week of the World Series. It gave me a chance to watch a bunch of Series games with my Dad and Sister. Secondly, thanks to my buddy SAMMY for allowing me to buy a ticket to Game 3 at face value when he was selling his other tickets for thousands of dollars. I bought it up, we had fantastic seats, and the game, as you know by now, was a classic Phils win in the bottom of the 9th inning. As I type this, we are still not sure who will win the Series but tomorrow night at this time, I may be celebrating a World Championship.

We were just a few seats in from the field


This is the exact pitch Howard hit for a homer



The two-man outfield with 2 outs in the 9th inning


GO PHILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Election - FORGET Everthing You Know!!

The best candidate you ALL never heard of!! 

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CLICK HERE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!

When a Picture is TRULY Worth A Thousand Words

Bobe and Zeide were here for five days this week. I was going to write all about our wonderful day driving the Alpine Loop and running the corn maze at the harvest festival. I was going to write about the amazing BBQ that Zeide made or the MASSIVE batch of chicken soup that Bobe made (which Hannah made the matzoh balls for). Instead, I decided to let one single picture tell the whole story. We had fun.

Most Precious

For the first few weeks of school, Elijah was walking Hannah to her Kindergarten line at the front of the school before going to his class line. Thing is, his 3rd grade line is completely at the other end and behind the school. He didn't mind one bit. Each morning we drop them off together and watch as Elijah escorts Hannah to the proper line. Then he turns around and starts the long trek around the building - looking back to Hannah several times until he disappears from her sight. It's adorable and I can never get tired of watching that each morning. This week marked Hannah's first week going to the line by herself. We drop Elijah off closer to his line and then drive Hannah to hers. This morning I watched her as she walked to the front of the line and stood there quietly waiting for the bell to ring. These are moments a parent will never forget....

Tonight also marked Elijah's first day of Hebrew School. He's been going to Sunday school for a few years but now he's going on Wednesday nights as well. He's going to start learning Hebrew and he really loved his first day. I got a little nauseous tonight when I realized it was just five years until his Bar Mitzvah.

Sadie likes going to the "synagod" as well. She has the run of the place while she's there - doing laps around the inside of the building and stopping once in awhile to join her friends at her Sunday Training Wheels program. "Daddy, can we go to the synagod and go twimming?"

HOT SAUCE

Most of you won't care a lick about this but for those that like senseless acts of stupidity, read on.

Today was Sandwich Day at my office. Everyone brought in ingredients to make the perfect sandwich. The centerpiece of the event was an intense "eating event" that we called O.U.C.H. This stands for the Organization of Useless Chile Heads. Anyway - if you want to see what happens when grown men and women play with lethal hot sauce, click here. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your weekend in slapstick free peace....

Back!

Thus ends the longest break in the five year history of Jawdy's Basement. I guess I've just been too busy or otherwise distracted to put it all on the blog. Either way, we are back at the keyboard and won't be going away again anytime soon.

The big news of the week is Hannah starting Kindergarten! This morning, Deb, Elijah and I took her to the doors of Ridgecrest for her first day of real school. As Elijah and I watched Deb walk her inside, I could not help but think, "man..this is the first day of about 17 YEARS of school for her..." She ran right into her class happily. Ms. Carter is her teacher and she's a legend around here. She happens to live just a few houses down from us so she recognized Hannah from the neighborhood, which certainly helped. Hannah is in morning Kindergarten, which means she will get bussed to The Winner School for her afternoon daycare every day. The bus went great today and everything went smoothly! We are proud of our little girl!

Last week was Elijah's big day as he started third grade at Ridgecrest. I cannot begin to explain how far this little boy has come. He's grown up and I am amazed by his progress from last year to this year. The best part for me is that he KNOWS IT. He talks about it. He is so proud of himself! He tells me when I pick him up at karate, "Dad, I have TWO PAGES of homework tonight. AND we have to read!" When we get home, we have dinner and he takes out his homework and does it perfectly. We've been reading an Indiana Jones book and he's doing great with that as well. Yesterday, the Sensei at the dojo told me that Elijah had "matured" since last year and acts as a mentor to the new kids in the Kickin' Kids program. He teaches them the rules and takes them under his wing. This could be the beginning of Elijah really "getting it" and taking the oldest child thing to heart. He calms Hannah and Sadie when they are upset and he genuine about it. He's just been adorable and he is amazing me every day.

Sadie is, as usual, unflappable. She started at The Winner School last week and she has preschool two mornings a week there as well. She's already made that "Sadie Impression" on her teachers and is as well adjusted just two weeks in. Oh yeah, she's cute as ever...








Candice, Scott and Mick were here in Utah for a week! They brought Elijah and Hannah back here from NJ and then, after spending a few days here at the house, left for several days in Moab at Arches National Park. After their time at the park, they returned for another few days here before heading back home to NJ and celebrating Mick's second birthday. The kids absolutely LOVE Mick and they miss him a ton already. Elijah was like a big brother to him and looked after him. Dad told Elijah last night that Mick looks up to him and that he's a good influence on Mick. That made Elijah happy.

Besides all that...the big news here in Utah is the weather breaking. We had a hail storm on Monday and patches of ice remained throughout the day. The mountains got their first snow and we are in the 50's at night. There is NOTHING like fall in Utah!

So, friends and family, there you have the long overdue update. I am sorry for the delay!! We will be back with more very soon.

New Jersey 2008!!!

We are jetlagged and exhausted! We arrived back in Utah this morning after waking at 4am to catch our flight from Philly. "We" is Deb, Sadie and I. Elijah and Hannah will remain in New Jersey through August with their family and friends.

We had a blast with everyone as we reconnected with tons of people and our schedules were packed with event after event.

As usual with these kinds of things, the story is best told through pictures so click here for the story!!

Pat Benetar LIVE!!!

Last night I took Elijah to his first ever concert. No, it wasn't Pat Benetar. That would have been too lame. No, we decided to go from zero to sixty in four seconds on this one. So...last night Elijah and I sat in Energy Solutions Arena and watched DOKKEN and POISON rock Salt Lake City.

For weeks beforehand, I contemplated whether to get Elijah earplugs or eyepatches....or both. Turns out it was not that bad a visual experience for an eight year old. Just some boobs, a few ass cheeks and a whole lotta 40-something rockers. The earplugs came in handy and he wore them all night. He loved it and got some hi-5's from some folks throughout the night paying tribute to the "little man rocker." He got a $40 t-shirt and a wristband that he hasn't taken off since. A rocker is born.

Speaking of rockers being born....we have another budding rocker in the family....sit back and enjoy.....

6/7/8

There are probaby plenty of blog posts with that title today, I am sure...but how many of those folks writing said posts also celebrate a birthday today? A-HA!! I was born on June 7, 1967 - or 6/7/67. A hard date to forget for sure. I remember my birthday in 1989 was 6/7/89. I also remember thinking on that date when the next time my birthday would be cool to write. That day is today - June 7, 2008 - 6/7/8. What's even stranger is that there will not be another birthday of mine that's nearly as cool to write....ever. The cool ones are over. I guess that goes with the territory of being 41.

Actually, 41 aint all that bad. The kids are still young enough where I can collect and write about the most precious of moments....

Elijah came to work with me on Thursday and Friday because camp does not start until Monday. We brought the Wii for him but, aside from that there was not much for him to do so he decided to write letters to four of his current favorite people in the world. You can probably guess them...

1. Duff McKagen - bassist of Guns n Roses. "Please show this to Slash and Axl..."
2. Bret Michaels - singer for Poison. "I am your biggest fan. What's your favorite Guns n Roses song?"
3. Paul Stanley - singer for KISS. "I am Jewish like you and Gene."
4. Chase Utley - Phillies player. "I am from Philadelphia. I only live in Utah."

This morning, Hannah and Elijah woke me up with kisses. It was amazing. Then we all went to IHOP for breakfast and I got to have my favorite - spinach and swiss omelette. Yummy!!

Then I took Elijah with me to the baseball card store and picked up a box of my favorite product of late - 2008 Topps Co-Signers Baseball cards. I broke open the box and posted it on YouTube. Not that any of you would be interested...but if you are - here is the link to my YouTube page which will contain only baseball card box breaks and nothing else.

Deb and Hannah spent the afternoon preparing a great meal for me for dinner. Homemade gnocchi, salad and french bread. Ahhhhhh...it was awesome. We had dinner and Hannah had flour all over her. Literally.

Now we are at the end of the great day and watching Shrek the Third. It's been a great day for my 41st birthday. :-)

Now for some big news!! An e-mail with the details is forthcoming but we have booked our 2008 annual trip to NJ!!! This year's trip has a new twist! We arrive as a 5-piece and will depart as a 3-piece!

All of us will arrive on Friday the 18th of July. We will enjoy a week with our family and friends in NJ and take off on Sunday the 26th in the early morning........almost.

Deb, Sadie and I are leaving on the 26th. Hannah and Elijah will remain in NJ through AUGUST 23rd! That's a mighty long time but they can't wait!! Candice, Scott and Mick will take them back here to Salt Lake on August 23rd and will spend a week in Utah travelling and hanging with us! It worked out perfectly with the airlines after several hours of sweating it out. So we are booked and happy about it!!

Anyway...I didn't want to write a long mushy piece on my birthday like I did a year ago. I re-read that today and it was heavy. Instead, I will leave you with some words of wisdom from Hannah as I sit here and share a fresh peach with her....

"I love you so much Daddy that I will share my peach with you on your birthday."

See y'all in July!!!!!

Dancing Queen

Yesterday we went to Hannah's first dance recital. Since words won't properly describe the event, click here to see the video for yourself. Elijah was our MC and Sadie could not keep her dancing shoes out of video range either.

Happy Birthday MAMA!!! We love you!!!

Busy Weekend!!!!

Click here to see the proof!!!

By the way, please don't be afraid to sign in at the Phanfare site when that click above takes you there. I hope it's not keeping you from looking....remember - no personal information is shared and you are all my friends and family so don't be shy!!!!

Five

Dear Hannah,

In 40 minutes, you will officially turn five years old. It seems like yesterday that I was posting this picture when you were turning three.


You have gone from cute to beautiful in just two years and I absolutely cannot believe that time is going this fast.

One of my favorite things about you is when we get to talking about you growing up. I always get a sad face when you announce that you are getting bigger and you always try to make me feel better. "Daddy, you can always hold me whenever you want in your lap - even when I am 25 years old." Sometimes I make the sad face just to hear you say that because it warms my heart.

I love how you share my edamame with me and always ask me to taste whatever it is I am eating. You are so cute when you announce how great it tastes before you even start chewing. The other day I gave you a wasabi almond and you put it in your mouth and announced, "Mmmmm this is just delicious!" After closing your mouth, you realized that it was, indeed, a wasabi almond and made the "oh crap, I just ate a wasabi almond" face and spit it out. Then you took a gulp of 12 ounces of water and announced that it was good that you at least tasted it. I agreed with you.

I think what I love about you most of all is how you take care of Sadie. You are her guardian at school and you always tell me what happened with her that day. You don't know this now, but someday Sadie will thank you for watching over her like you do. It's the most special thing you can do for your sister and it makes you very special.

Now you are turning five and I just sometimes wish that I could stop time because I am afraid of missing anything. When I used to play your song for you in years past you sang it but didn't understand it. Now, you request to hear it in the car every time and you sing the words and understand them all. They are the best words I have ever heard to describe you...

You are the wind at my back
You give what I lack
You're the jewel in my hand
You're like rain on dry land

Yon're the focus the beam
You're realities dream
You're the blue in my black
You're the wind at my back

You are the wind at my back
You give what I lack
You're the jewel in my hand
You're like rain on dry land

And my soul has been kissed
Just because you exist
You're the dream that's a fact
You're the wind at my back

A snippit from a post I made here in the Basement on May 14, 2003 says it all. The post was entitled "The Luckiest Man in the World"....

It's 8:20am and I am in a fog. Last night at 11:40pm, Deb and I were blessed the
most magnificent of gifts. Hannah Leora Borenstein. 6 pounds 12 ounces. 19.5
inches long. Pure joy! She looks like her brother!

I love you Hannah Leora Borenstein!! Happy 5th Birthday from the proudest Daddy in the world. You ARE the wind at my back!!

Spring 2008!!!

Just posted a bunch of goodies at the multimedia site. Click here to see them. There is stuff from Elijah's soccer team, his Blue Belt test (passed!!) as well as our Mother's Day at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake. I'll post again on Wednesday - gotta big week coming up and Hannah turns FIVE on Wednesday!!!!!

A Star is Born

Dude, Back Off!

Elijah and Hannah fight like dogs. Well...maybe fight is not the right word. They have differences and they push eachother's buttons all the time. Knowing the unique, problem free, relationship that I had with my sister growing up, it's always somewhat concerned me that the two of them are always bickering. Elijah will get in trouble with me and when I turn around, Hannah will stick her tongue out at him. Hannah will get yelled at for making a mess and Elijah will announce what her punishment will be. You know, things like that. Sometimes, in more quiet moments, the two of them will get along beautifully and play together for hours. These times are rare but give me hope that, when push comes to shove, they will be there for eachother.

Last weekend at the zoo, I witnessed something between the two of them that solidifies my belief that everything will be OK and shows me the love that exists between the two of them.

Abuela was visiting for a few days and we had a 75 degree day on Sunday and, along with a majority of Salt Lake City, decided to go to the zoo. We had a fantastic time walking the zoo and the weather was perfect. Towards the end, we decided to let the kids tire themselves out a bit by running around the park on the zoo grounds. They have all sorts of slides, monkey bars, etc. After about 30 minutes of them running all over the place, all three of them ended up at the big slide. There are about 25 steps to the top platform and then you sit in an enclosed slide down to the bottom. There were about 20 kids playing on it. I was at the very bottom of the slide so I could help Sadie to the ground when she came down each time.

I started to hear a ruckus coming from the top of the slide so I put my ear to the tube and could hear the conversation perfectly from the top, even though I could not see the top. The conversation was perfectly clear.

Hannah was complaining about a boy who was trying to push her away from the top of the slide. I heard her say, "Hey, stop it, it's my turn!" Then, Elijah...

"Dude, back off! Don't push my sister. Let her in. It's her turn. You're not being nice right now."

Then I heard a little scuffle and Elijah said, "Go ahead Hannah, you can slide down now."

Hannah: "Elijah, I'm scared. Will you hold my hand?"

Elijah: "Sure, sit down in front of me and we will go down together."

Next thing I see is the two of them arriving at the bottom together. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The best part is that he had no clue that I had heard what happened. He wasn't playing up for me or trying to prove anything. It was real. He was standing up for Hannah!

I took Elijah aside when they got to the bottom. I told him I heard what happened and that I was proud of him. I think he learned a great deal about what's important right then and there.

Hannah was on cloud nine. She told us how Elijah saved her life from a mean boy. Wait until you see the video I posted tonight. Click over on the right to the pics and vids site and watch it. You will absolutely melt at what Hannah says.

Meanwhile - today is Passover and we spent a nice night at the Bauman's house. Elijah is thrilled that I bought tickets to the Poison concert here for July 3rd. It will be Elijah's first ever rock concert and he can't stop talking about it. Anyway - there is a very funny video of him playing Bret Michaels of Poison that I took tonight on the vids page so be sure to catch that.

Finally - and I was reluctant to post this picture, but what the heck. We had a mustache contest in my office and Mom was here to help judge the finals last Friday. For the first time in 13 years, I shaved my beard. I came in second place but I think I looked kinda hot, don't you?

Deep Thoughts

Sadie, in the car the other day...

"Daddy!!! I wanna ak-s you somfink!!! DADDY!!! I wanna ak-s you somfink!!!!"

"OK, Sadie..go ahead and ask me."

"DADDY DADDY DADDY!!! Please!! I wanna ak-s you somfink!!!"

"Sadie, my precious, I am listening. Go ahead and ask me!"

"OK. What are you finking about?"

"I am thinking about how much I love you!"

"NO DADDY!! What are you finking about???"

"I mean it! I am really really thinking about how much I love you!!"

"OK"

"Sadie, can I ask you something?"

"Mmmm K"

"What are YOU thinking about?"

15 second pause....

"Cheese"

Alyssa

December 29, 1995.....The Coastline.....Cherry Hill, NJ.....sometime around 9:00pm...........

I am wandering the bar as usual, as my roomate Kenny is hooking up left and right with all of the best looking women in the place. It was my duty as his friend and roomate to hit the bars on Fridays and Saturdays. The scenario was always the same; he would bring one home and I would chat on the internet all night. Sometime around 7:00am, I would hear the apartment door open and close, then peek through the blinds to watch her get in her car and drive away. Shortly thereafter, Kenny would emerge from his room and eat breakfast. He would tell me he forgot her name and I would tell him I found a cool new page on AOL to check out. Fun for me, huh?

Anyway, on this particular night, we were at the bar with my friend Evan. One one side of the bar, Evan is engaged in chat with some random woman and I am standing against the wall, sipping my vodka cranberry. Before I know it, Evan approaches me with this woman and she quicky announces herself as my friend from high school. I recognize her...it's Alyssa Rubin. I remember her because I had a massive crush on her at some point. She looked good. She's fast-talking to me about how she wants me to meet this great girl who's her best friend in the world and would I PLEASE talk to her NOW. Then she starts pulling me across the room. We stop and she proceeds to make an introduction.....

"Jordan, this is Debbie....."

I wrote Deb's phone number down on a napkin. Our first date was January 5th, 1996. We were married two years later.

Alyssa Rubin introduced us.

Two weeks ago, Alyssa passed away after suffering a massive heart attack in her home in North Carolina. It's just three weeks before our tenth wedding anniversary. She was only 40 years old.

This is one of the heaviest posts I've ever made in Jawdy's Basement. I really don't quite know what to say....

Alyssa was married shortly after her famous introduction. She married Tom Bass in a Rabbi's apartment in Cherry Hill. Deb and I were the only witnesses. Alyssa and Tom had two beautiful daughters together, Lily and Ava. Lily is Deb's god-daughter. She's eight years old now. Ava is just five.

We had Tom and Alyssa over often so the kids could play together. We called them "T&A". We had dinner parties, played Hearts into the night, celebrated New Years, etc... Lily was Elijah's first friend - she was born six weeks before him.

It's very sad that Alyssa and Deb had recently lost touch. After their move to North Carolina, she seemed to disappear from most of our lives. Some of her best friends had not heard much from her and it was not uncommon for one of us to say, "I wonder how Alyssa is doing..." It's makes it far more sad to know that Deb never had a chance to say goodbye or even catch up to someone who was really her best friend for three of the most difficult years of her life. Deb has said more than once that Alyssa "saved" her from a very dark time in the early nineties. Deb was in a very destructive relationship and Alyssa was the voice of reason. They were inseperable for three years before Alyssa introduced us.

The truth is that there would be no Jordan and Debbie. There would be no Elijah, Hannah and Sadie if Alyssa Rubin Bass had not noticed Evan in the Coastline that night. If she had not literally dragged me to where Deb was standing and so loudly introduced us....who knows where we would be today. She is the reason why our lives have travelled this road for over twelve years. And now she's gone.

I remember one special moment that occurred at our wedding. I snuck up behind Alyssa at her table and whispered in her ear that the celebration was all because of her. I thanked her for being in the right place at the right time and she said something about fate. She always had something to say about fate. She was very spiritual and she felt she had a clear vision of what the future held for everyone. Deb always believed her during the "dark days" because Alyssa insisted that she would meet someone special that would change her life and that she would be happy. She told Deb that she would have three children with this man. Deb made it through those days clinging to the hope that Alyssa's vision would be true. It was.

I'll be forever indebted to you, Alyssa. I know you are seeing this where you are right now. You were the very first regular reader of the original Deuce Daily newsletter before it became this blog. You used to e-mail me and complain when I would go too long without posting. I know you have the site bookmarked up there. When I've looked at our children these last few days, I could not help but think what life would be like if we hadn't produced them. We have you to thank for them. You were our angel. Rest in peace.

Miami 2008!!!

Well, the clan just returned from a sunny week in South Florida. We were there for seven days primarily to attend the festivities of Adam and Trudy's wedding. We got to hang out with a ton of family and it was a wonderful week!! The kids loved being with eachother and it was sad to go at the end. Elijah and Josh were like long lost buddies and the same with Hannah and Arianna.

We hung out on Carlos and Perla's deck for hours, took an amazing boat ride and, of course, attended the wedding. It was an outdoor affair that nearly got flooded out with torrential rains. However, just about thirty minutes before the first prayers were said, the rains stopped and the amazing crew dried up the area and we had a sunny wedding! Hannah was a flower girl and Elijah was one of the ring bearers - along with Joshie. They were spectacular, as you are about to see.

Some of my observations about the trip - in no particular order....

• Everyone in Miami is pissed off. Literally. We went to the Mens Warehouse tuxedo rental store in the mall to pick up our tuxedos. You would have thought the woman at the counter was being forced to violate her own sister or something. She threw around the tuxes, answered our questions with one or two words, and treated Brian like a second class citizen when he asked about a problem with Joshie's tux. I had similar experiences at the Macy's buying socks and at the Walgreens buying a frigging magazine.
• I think I got cut-off by drivers in Miami 419 times in seven days. WHATEVER! People speed up in the convertable Bentleys just so you can't make it off the exit ramp.
• Miami has more square footage of LEG than anywhere in the world. The woman in Miami have legs that go on forever. Honestly, I thought that some of them didn't have a crotch at all. There was a foot in a heel, an ankle, and calf, several feet up there was a knee, then a shiny thigh, then a few ruffles that made up the bottom of the mini-skirt, or should I say, MICRO skirt, and then a BELT. Several inches above the belt there was a belly button and then a mass of silicone followed by a bronzed neck with tatoos and a head. NO ASS. They skipped the whole area that makes up most people's tuchus and hoo-ha. Nada. Makes me wonder where they put it! For an ass man like me, I wasn't all that impressed.
• Business is done way different in Miami. Perfect example - gas was generally $3,25 a gallon everywhere I noticed. When I went to return the car to Hertz, there was ONE gas station within a mile or so. The price? $3,49 per gallon. Sleazy.
• The Miami nights in the springtime are absolutely brilliant. The sunset is incredible and the breeze off the water is heavenly. I could have sat on that deck all night, every night.
• Carlos and Perla were fantastic hosts. We felt totally taken care of the entire time we were there. The BBQ was insane, we got to have Perla's famous flan, and got to spend time in the magnificent massage chair in their living room. Hannah especially liked the leg massage as you will see in the video.

We didn't bring a single diaper with us to Miami!! Sadie is in panties all day and pull-ups at night. For the last few days, she's had a dry pull-up in the mornings too!! We are going shopping for bunk beds this weekend - the crib will soon be gone forever!!

We had a magnificent time in Miami. Thanks again to Carlos and Perla for your hospitality - we love you very much! Congrats to Adam and Trudy, currently on a two week jaunt in Europe. Love to all our family - it was great to see everyone - especially our nieces and nephews!! Gordie, Zac, Brandon and THE ROCK - we love you and it was great seeing you!! Lauren, Jessie, Joshie, Ari, DD, and Izzy!!! See y'all in Jersey in July!!!

Now for the goodies - but first a quick note from our sponser...

When you click over to my pictures and videos the next time, you will be asked to register with a username and password. This is the new, improved Phanfare application. I know it's a pain to register, but please take a moment to do this - you only need to do it once. Some of you will receive invitaions but I honestly do not know who is hopping over to the site so I don't have all your e-mails. Here's the link!! Or you can always use the link to the right as usual.

The Perfect Dessert!!!

Click here for the five minute video of the Borenstein Kids enjoying the perfect dessert.....

Why I Love My Mother

E-Mail from Tuesday afternoon:

Hello Jordan:

I just wanted to remind you that you still have your parents living and healthy in the State of New Jersey.

I don't ever remember being so busy that I could not call and say hello to my mother.

I hope you are well.

Love, Mom

Go ahead - you can laugh. It's true. Sometimes life gets too fast and days pass by. We speak a few times a week but I admit, I am not as good as she is at making calls. But, then again, getting e-mails like this reminds me of how much I love her. She has the ability to absolutely crack me up. I laughed for fifteen minutes when I read this tonight. I anticipate getting a similar one sent to me once she notices that I posted it here in the Basement.

Truth is, I am not too busy to say hello to my mother. So, I will do it right here for all to see:

HI MOM!!!!!

I love you!! Don't ever change.

Jews at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Hee hee...that title should attract some interesting Google searchers to Jawdy's Basement!! :-)

But it's TRUE!!

Elijah took part in the Interfaith Concert a few weeks back and got to sing with his Hebrew School choir at the Tabernacle downtown!! Click here for the pictures and videos of this event. It was very cool and, even though you can't really see him sitting up in the rafters singing, he was definately there belting out "Shabbat Shalom" at the top of his lungs!!

Days of Future Past

My friend Gary and I used to spend countless hours in the original Jawdy's Basement on Country Club Drive in Cherry Hill, NJ jumping around playing air guitar to our favorite Judas Priest and Def Leppard songs in the early 1980's. When I say hours...I mean HOURS. Between those jam sessions and playing Intellivision and Strat-O-Matic, there was little time for anything else. All I can think of now is....THANK GOD THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS GUITAR HERO BACK THEN....

If you have been in a cave for the last few years, this is what I am talking about. Deb bought it for me this week and I knew as soon as I strapped that guitar to my body that I was in for something spiritual. Since I got the game on Tuesday I have not stopped playing it. I've been transformed into a guitar god and am finally realizing my dream of stepping on the stage and making 23 year old girls throw their bras at me. Plus my kids think I am totally cool.

Gary has the game as well. He got it last month. We both play it on the Nintendo Wii and that means we can hook up via the net to play with eachother in career mode. When that happens, all of the memories of the jam sessions in Jawdy's Basement will return.

So is it bad for a 40 year old father of three to spend time jumping around his living room with a toy guitar strapped to his back screaming, "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!!!!"??? The answer is simple. NOT if his kids are screaming back at him, "GO DADDY!!! YOU RAWK!!!!!!!"

I am just worried that I may stuff my slacks with a few pair of those tube socks I never threw away....

Anyway - on the subject of music. Most of you know my passion for most anything that rocks. I don't discuss music here in the Basement much because people always expect stories about the kids and such. However, there is so much fantastic music coming out these days and I am in heaven. My commute to work is so short so my listening times are at night when the kids are in bed and the headphones are strapped to my head (like now!). Anyway - my tastes are quite progressive these days and have been for a few years. If you want to hear GREAT music that rocks but is not the shite that's all over modern radio - check out some of the following albums - all released in the last twelve months...

The Dear Hunter - The Meaning of & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third
The Pineapple Thief - What We Have Sown
Ayreon - 01011001
Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement
Sieges Even - Paramount
Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
Fish - 13th Star
Sixx A.M. - The Heroin Diaries
Kim Mitchell - Aint Life Amazing
Threshold - Dead Reckoning
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

OK - there's the music section that most everyone will skip. LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC!!!!

Oh - one more thing. That trip to Alaska that I wrote about? The defendant is GUILTY as charged! Guess I did my job! See the story here.

OK!! Back to shredding my toy guitar to Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me!!"

Seth

Most of you know that I spent ten years as a chaptor advisor in South Jersey Region AZA. My chapter was the Marlcrest Muchachos #2149. These ten years were some of the more rewarding and fulfilling of my life. The aspect of the whole experience that I never expected was the lasting relationships that I would forge during those years. To this day, I am still very much in touch with about a dozen of my "old kids" and Deb is in touch with a bunch of her girls as well.

This past Tuesday, there was a terrible tragedy in Hoboken, NJ. There was an apartment fire that displaced 40 families and took a young man's life. That man was Seth Dembowitz.

Click here for the story.

Seth Dembowitz was the older of two of the most charismatic brothers I've ever met. The other being his younger brother, Adam. Seth was of one of the first Godols (Presidents) in our chapter history. He made his mark as a strong leader and showed skills well beyond his years. Deb and I had a special relationship with Seth because he was dating one of Deb's girls (Elise Lipoff) and the two of them were the sweethearts of our region for awhile. We remember one specific evening when we invited Seth and Elise to our apartment for a double date. Deb cooked dinner for the four of us and it was a night I never forgot.

Seth went on to become President of his college Fraternity at Rutgers and continued to hone his leadership skills in recent years working for several large companies in New York City while living in Hoboken.

The news hit Deb and I like a ton of bricks. If we were in NJ, all of the BBYO kids from back in the day would have been at our house grieiving and talking about Seth. We especially hurt for Adam, who had become almost like a son to us over the years and who was very close with his brother, especially in recent years.

The funeral was today. Deb is in on a business trip in Malibu and I am here with the kids, unable to travel east. Plus I'm just over a weeklong battle with what the doctor called "mild pneumonia". Probably could not fly anyway. I heard the ceremony was beautiful. There were about a dozen Marlcrest guys there to represent, which was nice to hear.

So that's been my day. Getting over being sick, single dad for six days, unable to fly to PA for a funeral that I really should have been at and now Hannah is sick with a fever. Somebody throw me a bone!

Oh yeah and the flippin' Giants had to win the Superbowl too....

Rest in Peace, Seth Dembowitz...one of the greatest Muchachos in history....

Alaska?

When we were moving to Utah in 2006, I would ask people to guess where we were moving. They either said Utah or Alaska. So how fitting is it that I got to travel to Alaska this week for a business trip?

I flew through Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks, for those who don'e know, is way inland. It's a small town of 90,000 people that's a three hour and twenty minute flight from Juneau, the state capital. It's WAY in there.

I had been looking up the temperatures in the days preceding the trip to see what I was in for. It had been ten or fifteen degrees earlier in the week but was going to dip to SIXTEEN BELOW for the two days I was there. I could not wait.

I arrived in pitch darkness at 6:15pm and took a taxi to the hotel. I had meetings on Friday with a bunch of people and so I went to bed early. Friday turned out to be one of the most memorable days I've had in a long, long time.

I was there with three other people. One women is from Orange County, CA and the other two are from Washington D.C. The four of us stuck together most of the day. Anyway, at some point early on, the woman from Orange County struck up a conversation with some man she had met there. We were going to have the entire afternoon free and she wound up actually asking this man if he would show us around. To make a long story short, this amazing man took us in his pickup truck with minus-ten degree temperatures and drove us on a two and a half hour tour of Fairbanks. What a guy!! I'll give him props. Click here to see him. It turns out he is a state representative and never told us! I just Googled him when I got home. What a nice man. He showed us the Alaskan pipeline, took us to the town of North Pole and showed us some cool air force bases there. We were just a 45 minute plane ride from Russia, so naturally there are large bases and a large military population there.

We went to an amazing dinner that night and when we left the restaurant, it was twenty-four degrees below zero outside. To describe when that felt like would do it a disservice. My pants (I was wearing khakis) immediately stiffened up and the wind literelly pecked at my face. Breathing was difficult and I started to suffer brain freeze after about sixty seconds. I felt like pounding my head against the side of the car to rattle my head a little bit. It was certainly a strange feeling, to say the least.

In Fairbanks, your car needs to be equipped with a special electric plug to the battery and oil pan. In sub-zero temperatures, you plug your car in to a standard outlet at night so the oil pan stays warm. When you go to start your car in the morning, the warm oil coats the pistons and helps get your car going. Failure to do this, or have a heated garage, will keep your car from starting until it gets warm again. Not good!

You can see some pictures and videos, as usual, right here. I hope to go back again someday...in the summer. The summertime brings 21 hours of sunlight per day and an average temperature of 70 degrees. Now, it gets light around 10:30 and then gets dark again around 4:30. They say it's going down to fifty below this weekend!!

Utah in a Nutshell

Have you seen the weather today? We got slammed with the worst storm we've had since we moved here. I was not expecting it to snow; had no idea at all. I woke up this morning and took a look on my deck and saw six inches on my table. Plus the snow was literally pouring down. It was 7am and I had to be at work for an important 8am meeting. Deb and the kids were off today for the holiday.

I quickly showered and threw on some boots to go dig out and start up my car. I planned on coming back in the house to gather some things before leaving for the day. I opened my front door and could barely see the end of the walkway with all the snow. As I neared the driveway, I heard banging coming from the pavement ahead. I could not believe what I saw next.

Standing there on my driveway with snow halfway up his calves, was my next door neighbor, Paul. The kids call him Mr. Paul. He's taken a liking to us since we moved here. He's not a Mormon but he's a Deacon for a Presbyterian church nearby and absolutely loves our kids. Plus, his wife's name is Leora, which is Hannah's middle name. Anyway, there he was, shoveling MY DRIVEWAY at 7:05 in the morning with a regular old shovel. He had already paved the way for me to leave and was in the process of cleaning off my car with a massive snow brush when I caught him red-handed.

"Mr. Paul...what on earth are you doing? Your house is over THERE," I said, pointing next door. His driveway had not been touched.

"Ha ha...I know. I just woke up this morning and took one look outside and said, 'There's no way Jordan is going to get to work on time today'. I'm just being a good neighbor."

Now, Mr. Paul is no spring chicken. He's 64 years old. And he was SHOVELING MY DRIVEWAY at 7 in the freaking morning!!

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Paul....I honestly have never witnessed such incredible kindness in a neighbor in my entire life."

I couldn't! All I had to do was start my car, pull out and drive to work. No shoveling required. Mr. Paul probably went back home and shoveled his whole driveway when he was done with mine. Amazing.

I was thinking how this would never happen in New Jersey. Back there, the neighbors make it a point to shovel their own driveways and DUMP THE SNOW ON YOURS.

There is a greater lesson to be gained from this as well....not to get all sappy on the Basement readers...but it's true...

I spent the entire morning and most of the day with a good attitude. I was smiling and had an extra skip in my step all day. Even though we were slammed with almost TWO FEET of snow and it was cold as hell, I spent the day with a smile. It's because of Mr. Paul. He get's the "Wattaguy Award" for the year so far. I don't know how to repay him.

I always tell the kids, do the unexpected. Everyone knows the saying, "Do what you've always done and you'll get what you've always gotten." Well, what about if you do something special for someone? Perform a random act of kindness. Pay it forward, so to speak. Not only is it good karma, but is builds self esteem and can really change the outcome of a person's day. Plus, everyone wins. I am sure that Mr. Paul had an extra hop in his step today too. How amazing is that? He got his butt out of bed at 7am to shovel MY DRIVEWAY because he thought it would make it easier for ME to get to work. ME!! What have I ever done for him? I think I remember a time last summer when we were at a street BBQ and I had to pass gas and I made sure I turned AWAY from Mr. Paul. Did he remember that????? Maybe he was repaying my courtesy?

I have a feeling this will leave a lasting impression on me. I also told the story in my morning sales meeting with my staff and to the kids when I got home. I don't know if he reads the Basement but, "Thanks Mr. Paul. You made my day!!"

My Biggest Fans

Since I started Jawdy's Basement nearly five years ago, there have been amazing upgrades and improvements made to the Blogger service. Some I am using like videos and pictures, and some I don't dabble much in because I am not an expert in coding websites and things of that nature.

Some of the coolest enhancements to the Blogger service are actually created by outside companies, such as the cool FlicR picture strip on the site. One of this cool apps is called Feedjit. They provide a service that allows me to see from where in the world people who land on the site are from. Of course, I don't get any personal ID information, just the city and state or country the person is in when they land on Jawdy's Basement.

Now, sometimes people land here as a direct result of them searching for a topic on Yahoo or Google. My site comes up as a hit for that search and, viola, here they are. The cool thing about Feedjit is that I can actually SEE the search tags that people type in on the search engine.

Several months ago, I started compiling a list of some of the most outrageous search engine searches people used that led them to Jawdy's Basement. Here are some of my favorites..

Now, keep in mind that the searches were typed in my the people in the EXACT format that you are seeing them below....

"When DYFS comes to your home"

"Suzanne Sommers Playboy" (I get this one a LOT - at least once a week)

"Stuck on Band Aid"

"Swallowed bone surgery"

"I hear flapping noises in my walls"

"Happy Birthday burrito"

"First trip to the urologists office"

"24 hour suitcase store in Utah"

"Photos of severed testes and penis"

"Sliced scrotum"

"vasectomy+double hernia"

People look for some really sick shit and I am more than happy to provide them pictures of my kids when they do this.

I am going to continue to compile the best of the best and post them here now and again.

By the way, the five year anniversary of Jawdy's Basement is on March 25th. Guess I'll have to do something special to mark the occasion. Maybe I'll just toss up a post with 25 or so vile and disgusting phrases so I can attract more traffic to the site!!

New Years with the Turers!

Click here to see pictures and videos of our week with the Turers here which culminated in a homeade pizza making New Years party!! We had a great time with our friends and were very sad when they left.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!