Coming Home

I've been slowly phasing out the blog at Jawdy's Basement in recent months.  This has been a work in progress now for six years and this is post number 210.  I've gone through phases with the blog throughout the years and have experienced times of incredible inspiration and times of incredible non-inspiration.  Over the last year or so, I have felt more uninspired than anything else and have therefore written far less posts.

It's funny because sometimes people will say to me, "just write something!"  They don't understand that I don't write for the sake of getting another tick on the number of posts chart.  I write because I am called to the computer to do so - no other reason.  I just have not been called to the computer to write much over the last 12-18 months or so.  Not your fault!  :-)

In addition to the inspiration factor, there's been Elijah's incredible journey into the best game in the land - Baseball.  He's become obsessed over the last 8-10 months and now knows more about most of the players than I do.  He's really gotten into Baseball Cards and I have jumped in with both feet with him.  As a result, I spend most of my creative computer time making videos on YouTube with Elijah as we open boxes of baseball cards and report the contents.  We have become quite popular over there and the number of YouTubers who have subscribed to Jawdy's Basement videos is now over 320.  Along with that venture, I have partnered up with another YouTuber named JoshSamBob as co-authors of the Baseball Card blog, Cardaholics Anonymous.  I've been posting there for the last month about the hobby.  Finally, there is the mighty Facebook.  I've been regularly updating the comings and goings there for the past year or so.

Anyway, I have no intention of closing Jawdy's Basement down here.  I am just waiting for the inspiration to return....which just may happen now that Jawdy's Basement is moving back to NJ.

It's a long story that I won't go into much here but I will give you some bullet points:

• In Tuesday March 3, I got word from my corporate headquarters that the company was closing our Utah and Chicago branch locations
• I was offered a job in NJ at the headquarters in a similar role
• The job in NJ begins on April 6th, which gave me under four weeks to move my family of five to NJ
• I laid off my entire staff on March 5th, an excruciating day that I hope to forget very quickly
• I 've been spending some time in the office here in Utah wrapping up operations and boxing up items for shipment
• My full-time job this month is preparing the house for sale, as it goes up on the market on April 1st
• The five of us are flying to NJ on April 1st.  Four of us have one-way tickets.  Deb will return to Utah on the 11th and live in the house while it, hopefully, sells.
• Elijah and Hannah are enrolled at Bret Harte school and Sadie will be at the JCC in Cherry Hill full time beginning on April 13th.
• We will be living at my parent's house for the foreseeable future....at least until the house in Utah sells.

Part of the "deal" that was cut with me from my employer is that, although they are giving me a job, there is NO relocation involved.  Zero.  Sooooo, doing some quick math....it cost them just under $25,000 to move us here in 2006, and it will cost them NOTHING to move me back.  Yeah...that means selling all my stuff and going on the cheap.  So far, I have sold a leather couch, table and chairs, refrigerator, commercial freezer, BBQ, lawn mower, backyard furniture and the piano that has been in my family for over 45 years.  That last one was the biggest bummer but the buyers are close friends of mine here so I feel good that they will take care of it.

Once the house sells, I will take a long vacation and fly out here with Dad and a friend or two.  We will rent a truck and pack it with the stuff I have left.  Then drive it across the country and put the stuff in storage.

I am shipping one car on a carrier this Thursday so I have something to drive in NJ.

Crazy, huh?

The kids are happy.  Elijah's first words were, "I'M GOING HOME!!"  Says a lot, doesn't it?  Utah was never home for him.  The girls are excited too.  The adventure is over.  

So there's the update.  I am sneezing my way through the dust each day and donating literally thousands of pounds of stuff to Deseret Industries.  They are coming with a truck to haul away our goodies and there will be lots of underprivileged kids in Utah having great Christmases this year!

It will be starting from scratch back in NJ, that's for sure.  The good FAR outweighs the bad.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about that lately and made a little chart so I could really gauge the return fairly....

The Good

1. Family.  I get to finally be a real uncle to Mick, who is two years old and slowly becoming a Mets fan.  That has to stop.  
2. Friends.  Never connected with anyone out here that could compare.  I've missed my boys immensely.  Breakfast Club will return at the Country Club Diner and all will be well in the world.
3. Jews.  Yes, yes, yes....I know.  Those who know me well are aware that I am not a big fan of the "yenta" neighborhoods.  However, I smiled when I realized that the week we return, the kids will have DAYS OFF for Passover.  Here, when you say Passover, they think you are referring to a highway.
4. Food.  Mexican food is great here.  Best in the world....and I've eaten the food in Mexico.  However, the rest of it sucks.  They don't have good Chinese or Italian here.  The bagels suck.  The cream cheese is all whipped.  Whatever.  I need lox.  You ask for lox here and they send you to the hardware store.
5. Education.  Overcrowding is a huge issue here in the youngest state in the country.  30 students in a classroom is too much.  Education is not Utah's strong point.  I am happy the kids get to return to an academic area where 10 year olds get their trust funds garnished if they get a 'B'.
6. Philly, New York, The Shore.  Spencer and Lynne already have dates picked out for us to stay at the shorehouse with Spencer's parents.  Awesome.  I miss the cities and can't wait to return to Philly cheesesteaks and Tastycake.  Fugetaboutit.
7. THE PHILS!  Elijah has a schedule and is circling the 82 games he wants to go to this season.  Next year I will have to re-up my season tickets so he can go yell at the players.  "WHAT THE CRAP, VICTORINO!!!!"

The Bad

1. Climate.  There nothing like standing outside on a 70 degree day with 15% humidity and blue skies.  Nothing.  OK - better description - I didn't sweat here.  Yes, read that again.  It's true.  No sweat.  When I go to Philly, my head gets shiny and does not dull down...ever.  I am going to miss the climate here immensely.
2. Nice People.  Go through the Drive-Thru at McDonalds here:  "Good afternoon Mister Sir.  What can I interest you in on this fine 70 degree day with 15% humidity?"  Smiles all the way.  In Cherry Hill?  "DUDE - you're up.  Waddaya want for lunch?"
3. Money.  It goes way farther here.  WAY FARTHER.  Our home here is 2,300 square feet and we pay $2,000 per year in property taxes.  That's about a quarter's worth in NJ.  Car insurance - same thing.  It will cost the same amount for Sadie in daycare in NJ as it did for BOTH Sadie and Hannah here.
4. Mountains.  Just amazing creatures, they are.  To experience a 30 degree temperature drop in a five mile drive from my house is amazing.  So much so that I would choose to vacation here in a second and probably will return in that capacity at some point in the future.

There are other things I will miss about Utah as well, like running my own office and working three miles from home.  However, NJ wins out on the important stuff.  Maybe the jerks at McDonald's will keep me from eating Big Macs.  Nah.  Let's not go that far....

So...there's the story.  Life starts a new chapter on April Fools Day, 2009.  I've always been a guy that has trouble thinking past his next fifteen minutes.  Honestly, I have no idea what the future brings.  In a way, it's another adventure just as the move to Utah was to be.  This time, though, one thing is for certain - the chapter won't end in another move.

Thanks for reading...now back to your regularly scheduled humidity.

jb

Dinner Conversation

"Mommy you have big nipples."

"What?"

"Mommy you have big nipples.  I have small nipples.  See them?  They are small nipples.  Yours are bigger."

(Sadie pulls her shirt down and shows her nipples, which are intermixed with some of the Rice A Roni shes been dropping off her fork all meal)

"Sadie, which one is your nipple?"

"It's the brown one that tastes like chicken"

Hannah's Big Night

Tonight we returned to the Tabernacle Hall on Temple Square for the annual Interfaith Concert. This was the same concert that Elijah got to sing in last year. This year it was Hannah's turn and she did great! It was a fun night! Check out the compilation video here!

The Greatest Date

Hello, blog. My name is Jordan. Remember me? It's been awhile......

Happy New Year? It is January 2009, right?

Somehow I've lost some track of time here....it's been over a month since my last post and I have no excuses. The New Year came and went and here we are in mid-January and the days are just passing by....

This past Saturday was a good one, though. I had the best 5-hour date ever! It started about a week ago when Hannah asked to speak to me in private. She pulled me into the bedroom and sat on the bed. She looked serious. I asked her what was on her mind and she kinda beat around the bush for a few sentences. "You know how you spend all that time with Sadie?" Oh boy, I thought. She's sad because we have not had a lot of alone time in awhile. "Well, um, I think you should spend some time with JUST ME."

So we planned a date. I told her to think about what she wanted to do and we would do it! Friday night she had trouble going to sleep in anticipation. Saturday she got up and put on the outfit that she knew I loved the most. Then, around noontime, we set off...

1st stop: Toys R Us. Hannah wanted to go in and look at toys to get an idea of "what I can get for my birthday and next Hanukkah." We walked the entire store and looked at all the Hannah Montana stuff. You can't walk into a retail store of ANY KIND and not see something with Hannah Montana's face on it anymore. It's overkill to me but to Hannah - it's friggin awesome. I ended up getting her a waterbottle with her name on it. Cheap date so far!

2nd stop: Macaroni Grill. It was time for lunch. We drove to Hannah's favorite establishment - the Macaroni Grill. We got a table for two and read the menu. Hannah asked the waitress for "a kid's Coke, a salad with white ranch dip dressing with extra tomato and a kid's mac n cheese please!" I had a soup and sandwich combo.


Hannah shared my soup. It was delicious! Hannah didn't really like the oil dip for the bread but that's OK because she had crunchy croutons in her salad.


3rd stop: Olympus Lanes for a couple games of bowling. Hannah's been asking to go bowling for awhile now and since she can lift 6 pounds now (the lightest ball), we decided to go. She looked so damn cute in her bowling shoes and black tights!!! Hannah rolled the first few frames without a ramp but the ball got heavy so she used a ramp for the rest of the two games. She did great!!!




4th and final stop: Barnes and Noble. I love taking the kids there because they love the kids book section and they have a cool cafe where we can get hot cocoa. Hannah and I spent over an hour in the cafe. She had a hot cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie and I had a coffee and a peanut butter cookie. We played checkers for the entire time and Hannah nearly beat me!! I could not believe it! She refused to say "King Me", instead opting for "Queen Me." She shouted it out everytime she reached the back line. "QUEEN ME, Daddy. You are in TA-RUBBB-LE!" Afterwards, as we were getting up to leave, a woman who was sitting next to us the entire time told me that I had the most adorable daughter she'd ever seen. I told her she was a good judge of character.


We got home after 5pm and Hannah was beaming. A day with Daddy. I had just as much fun as she did. I also think it's important for her to experience what it's like to be treated right on a date and to demand respect and courtesy when she's on a date. Hopefully she will take these experiences with her for the rest of her life.

Next week it's Sadie's turn for a date with Daddy and then Elijah the week after. We are starting a tradition!

I LOVE YOU HANNAH!!!

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!! 

GET ON THE BANDWAGON!!!!!

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.....