Daddy and John Patrick on Halloween.

Young Jane, Phil, Jude and John Patrick.

Wolf and Scout, on the front porch swing, getting ready to trick or treat in the Hood.

Halloween in the Hood!!

Our friends, Troy and Cyndi Baines and their children, Wolf, Scout and Finn arrived in town yesterday for the 6th Annual Leaf Party. Tonight, we loaded up the strollers and trick or treated in the Hood. Although it was hit or miss, we visited several houses in the neighborhood where Wolf and Scout, dressed as a vampire and a witch, respectively, got lots of treats.

We stopped by the fire station on 12th Avenue and Wolf and Scout actually gave the firemen a bunch of candy. We also stepped inside and took a look at one of the firetrucks. The kids were impressed.

After Cyndi and Jude put the kids to bed, Troy and I stopped by Hal Humphreys' 40th birthday party ("Hal-loween") on Halcyon Street. Then, we grabbed a quick bite at Mafiozza's and came home for the night.

Tomorrow, the Leaf Party!

I took this photo today, as John Patrick and I strolled through our neighborhood. The gargoyle sits atop a pretty cool building that a developer completed nearby. I think there are four condominiums each in two buildings.

Decison 2008

Our neighborhood is replete with election signs in anticipation of Election Day, November 4, 2008. This is one of the more interesting ones I've seen.

My friend, Hal Humphries, and John Patrick, on Hal's front porch on a lazy, fall Sunday afternoon.

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

This afternoon, I took John Patrick for a long stroll on an absolutely gorgeous fall afternoon. The cloudless sky was a deep shade of blue, there was a slight breeze and the temperature was right at 70 degrees. Perfect.

I was anxious to spend some time with John Patrick, since I had gone to Knoxville yesterday to see the Tennessee vs. Alabama football game. The Vols lost badly, of course, but I stayed overnight at Warren and Jennifer Sanger's newly renovated house, along with Todd Blankenbecler and his wife, Kristin. Warren and Jennifer have three boys (Josh, James and David) and Todd and Kristin have two girls (Caroline and Charlotte), so there was a lot going on.

This morning, I was in the Sanger's living room, watching David bang on the piano, when I saw some framed photographs on the wall of Jennifer at their wedding. I was in the wedding, more than 14 years ago, which is hard to believe. Jennifer looks so young in the photographs. When David asked me what I was looking at, I explained I was there when his parents got married. He looked at me for another couple of seconds, then started banging on the piano again.

Warren, Todd and I are fraternity brothers and have been friends for more than twenty years. We sit together at the Tennessee football games and, in fact, have had our season tickets together for ten years. We've been through a lot together, over the years. I hope John Patrick has friends like that some day.

Anyway, as we left the house this afternoon, I thought we might stroll down to Sevier Park. I stopped by my friend Hal Humphries' house on Halcyon Street. He saw me peering over the privacy fence and came around to the front porch for a chat. When John Patrick awoke, I lifted him out of the stroller and he sat up on the front porch between Hal and me, as we talked. After a while, we left, then strolled up to the Frothy Monkey, then back home.

That's just about a ideal afternoon.

A Ray of Hope

Every spring, when my law partners and I go to Las Vegas, I make a long shot bet on a major league baseball team to win the world series. Typically, I pick a team I wouldn't normally have any other reason to pay attention to during the baseball season.

Last March, I missed the annual trip to Las Vegas, since John Patrick's birth was imminent. So as not to break with tradition, I asked Mark (Puryear) to bet $50 for me on the Tampa Bay Rays to win the world series. Keep in mind, of course, the Rays had never had a winning season in franchise history. Well, out of nowhere, they won the American League East, beat the White Sox in the division championship series, then beat the Red Sox in seven games in the league championship series.

Now, here they are, in the world series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rays won tonight to in Tampa to even the series at 1-1. Three more wins and John Patrick has $4,000 in his college fund.

John Patrick, exhausted after a morning at the St. Louis Zoo. Boy, was he tired.

I'm not sure who was happier to visit the St. Louis Zoo today - John Patrick or Jude.

A Morning for Flamingos at the St. Louis Zoo

Grandma, James "the Godfather" White and John Patrick in our hotel room at the Mayfair in St. Louis, MO.

Daddy and John Patrick at McDonald's in New Baden, IL.

This is a great photo, I think, of Jude and John Patrick.

I'm Lovin' It!

St. Louis!

It was with some trepidation, on my part, not Jude's, that we departed with John Patrick for St. Louis, MO, Thursday morning. Jude's cousin, Christie White, was getting married and almost the entire White clan was scheduled to be there for the festivities. I was more than a little nervous with the idea of traveling with John Patrick for five hours in a car, in addition to being couped up in a hotel room with him for a couple of days and nights.

The trip to St. Louis was largely uneventful. Much to our delight, John Patrick slept almost the entire way, with Jude sitting by his side in the back seat of her Honda Pilot. I had burned cds of several podcasts of shows Jude and I watch on television or listen to on the radio. We particularly enjoyed listening to an episode of Bill Maher's show (HBO), laughing hysterically at his take on the election as November 4 draws nearer and nearer.

About an hour out of St. Louis, we stopped in New Baden, IL, at what turned out to be the cleanest, friendliest and most hospitable McDonald's I've ever visited. I realize that sounds kind of strange, but we had a great time there. Inside, it looked like a McDonald's from the 1950s, with a red and white tiled floor and a statue of Ronald McDonald sitting on a bench, facing the cash registers. Jude danced with John Patrick, as we sang along to "golden oldies" music playing over the speakers in the restaurant. We sat down together (my family, wow!) at a booth, fed John Patrick, ate a little ourselves, then left . . . but not before taking a photograph of John Patrick sitting in Ronald McDonald's lap!

We got to our hotel - the Mayfair downtown - early that evening, where we hooked up with Jude's parents. Jimdad and I ordered takeout food from the restaurant just off the lobby. We had a beer while we waited . . . and waited . . . and waited for our food. After eating dinner in our room, Jude, John Patrick and I turned in for the night. John Patrick went right to sleep and I was convinced Jude and I were the smartest, most worldly parents in history. That all changed about 4:00 a.m., when the alarm on the digital clock suddently went off right next to where John Patrick was sleeping peacefully in his Pack n Play. He immediately began screaming and it took Jude 30 minutes or so to get him back to sleep.

Friday morning, I went for down Washington Avenue, then ran into Jude, her brother James, and his fiance, Megan, at Starbucks afterward. While I worked in the room for a while, Jude and her folks strolled with John Patrick down to the Arch, then to lunch.

Friday night, we had a very nice babysitter from a local babysitting service, Shirley Decker, watch John Patrick while we attended Christie White's wedding at the old Cathedral downtown. The church was beautiful, as was the wedding service. The reception was right across the street at the Renaissance Hotel, so Jude was able to go return to our room to feed John Patrick and put him to bed, then come back to the reception to eat dinner. We danced a couple of dances, then went back to our room about 10:30 p.m. when the reception ended.

This morning, it took forever to check out of the hotel, as only two elevators were working. Also, the hotel was overrun with high school band member in town for a band contest. It was crazy. Jimdad, James and I ended up carrying the stroller and most of John Patrick's other accessories down seven flights of stairs in a very narrow stairwell. What a mess.

Next, Jude, James, John Patrick and I got lost on the way to the zoo, where we planned to meet he cousin, Chad White, his wife, Misty, and their two children, Colton and Maddie. After stopping to ask directions three different times, we finally found the zoo. We also located Chad, Misty, et al., saw some animals, then headed over to Joe White's (Jude's uncle) house for lunch. Finally, about 3:15 p.m., we got on the road to Nashville and actually arrive home about 9 p.m.

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend on the road. It's nice to know we can travel with John Patrick.

A Run to Remember

Not that I am complaining in the slightest, but one of the big adjustments I've had to make since John Patrick was born is finding time to go for a run. For years, I've run on a regular basis, but it's hard to find time now, when I want to spend as much of my free time as possible with him. For example, I don't want to go for a run after work in downtown Franklin, as I often did in the past, because doing so would only allow me a few minutes with John Patrick before he went to bed.

In the mornings, I normally change his diaper and get him dressed, after Jude breast feeds him. Jude usually goes into work first. After she leaves, I feed him some rice cereal and fruit, then hand him off to one of our nannies. It's just too hectic to try and squeeze a run in before work, because we are both occupied with getting ourselves ready for work and getting him ready for the nanny.

The upshot of all this is I've not been making the time to run as much as I would like. So, last night, I decided to get up really, really early today and go for a run. At 5:05 a.m., I woke up, got out of bed and quietly walked downstairs. My running gear was in my truck, so I walked outside, got my gym bag, then came back inside, changed and put on my running shoes. I opted for my glasses instead of putting my contacts in, because I didn't want to risk waking John Patrick by going into the bathroom in the nursery/men's lounge to retrieve my contacts.

I locked the front door behind me, got in my truck and drove ten minutes to Shelby Park in the dark. After arriving at the park, I drove to the parking lot adjacent to Shelby Bottoms, got out of my truck, stretched, and started my run. The temperature was pleasant, probably in the mid-sixties. It was 5:30 a.m. and still dark. By dark, I mean really dark.

As I started out on the paved part of the trail, it got even darker. The light from the street lights in the parking lot faded quickly. I could make out the trail, as I ran, and the outlines of the trees alongside the trail, but little else. The crickets, or what I suppose were crickets, hummed loudly. After almost a mile, I turned off the paved trail and onto the grassy trail that leads to the Cornelia Fort trail.

As I neared the turnoff for the Cornelia Fort trial, it got harder and harder so see where I was going, as the trees closed in on the trail on both sides. I actually missed the trailhead and had to double back to find it, my glasses fogging up as I ran. I made a right turn onto the Cornelia Fort trail, which is quite narrow and travels through fairly heavy woods for about .7 of a mile. It was pitch black on the trail and I slowed my pace as the occasional stray branch slapped me lightly in the face.

It was strange to be on a trail I've run a couple hundred times, if not more . . . a trail that is so familiar to me I could run it in my sleep . . . yet have it look and feel so different, so completely different, in the dark. It was an exhilarating feeling, really.

After I reached my turnaround point and headed back, I caught a glimpse of the full moon, low in the western horizon, peaking through the clouds above the treeline. I ran hard on the way back, a little more confident in my stride as I covered ground I had already run. When I arrived at my truck in the parking lot after finishing six miles, I was breathing hard and my glasses were completely fogged up. It was still dark.

It was a morning of firsts, which was cool. First run in Shelby Bottoms in the dark and first run, ever I think, in my glasses. It was a great morning.

Home sweet home!

Jude and I returned home tonight, about 8:30 p.m., from our weekend in Vegas. Although we had a great time and enjoyed seeing El Jefe, Cindy K., Ironman, Franchise and Stone Bear (all friends from our Foodbrothers' group), we were anxious to return home and see John Patrick. Jude practically jumped out of my SUV when we pulled up in front of the house and ran inside to hold him.

Our nanny, Carley, and her husband, Jon Meade, kept John Patrick for us while we were gone. By and large, their weekend with him was uneventful. He did make an appearance with them at "Itchfest," the Ultimate Frisbee tournament hosted at Vanderbilt annually by their men's and women's ultimate frisbee teams. Carley and Jon rolled him around the playing fields in his stroller and he took a nice nap while they were there. He also attended a friend's birthday party with them.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, Jude and I played in "Itchfest" together, when Nashville's ultimate frisbee community put together a couple of over-30 co-ed teams, "Wine" and "Cheese." In those days, the Vanderbilt kids couldn't get enough college teams to fill out the tournament roster, so the Nashville folks usually fielded one or two teams. I've got some photographs somewhere from that tournament. It's sad, but many of the people who played with us have moved or retired from playing (like us).

Jude and I played in our first Texas Hold'em poker tournaments at the Wynn in Vegas, where we stayed over the weekend. She played in one Saturday afternoon, while I was in the sports book at the Wynn, watching virtually all of the teams I bet on lose or fail to cover the point spread. Saturday evening, we both entered the same poker tournament. Neither of us did too well, though we held our own for a while. Jude actually finished 17th out of 41 players in the afternoon tournament.

Needless to say, we're glad to be home.

Vegas, baby!

Well, tomorrow Jude and I leave for Las Vegas, Nevada, on our annual fall trip there for "the Summit." For the past five or six years, we have traveled there in the fall to meet several of our friends who participate in the "Foodbrothers" football pool, started 24 years ago by one of Jude's best friends from college at Tulane University, Jeff "El Jefe" Williams. It's always great to see our friends, most of whom we only see once a year, in Las Vegas.

We're staying at the Wynn, Jude's favorite hotel in Las Vegas. They have a great sports book in the casino. We'll all camp out there, from dawn until almost midnight, when the last televised college football game ends. We'll bet on football all day and night, win some bets, lose a lot more and generally have a great time hanging out together.

It will be Jude's first night away from John Patrick since he was born, almost six and half months ago. I know she's a little nervous about being away, as am I, but we're fortunate to have our nanny, Carley Farley Meade and her husband, Jon, taking care of him. They're going to stay at our house with him and, most likely, be driven crazy when we call home every ten minutes or so.

John Patrick, getting the hang of eating cereal in the high chair.

Got Cereal?

John Patrick's Throne

Tonight, I assembled a high chair I purchased today at Babies-R-Us. Jude's efforts to feed John Patrick in it met with mixed results, as he appeared, at times, more interested in eating the high chair than eating his cereal.

Mr. Fix It

Daddy, studying his handiwork as he assembles John Patrick's high chair. Clearly, three of the the most dangerous words in the English language are "some assembly required."

John Patrick, getting a workout in on the "Exersaucer." Notice, he seems to be enjoying himself.

Saturday Afternoon with the Guys

John Patrick and I spent some time Saturday afternoon at the 12South Tap House with my friends Mike Matteson, Rip Pewett and Phil Byerly.

Debate 2008!

Oddly enough, the second presidential debate is Tuesday night at Belmont University, within walking distance from our house. In fact, John Patrick and I walk through campus at least a couple of times a week, on our way to Bongo Java, the coffee house we frequent Belmont Boulevard. It's pretty wild to imagine John McCain and Barack Obama will be in our neighborhood, so to speak, less than a month before one of the most important elections of my lifetime.

This afternoon, as we do almost every Sunday, John Patrick and I left the house at 2 p.m., headed for Bongo Java. As we approached Belmont University's campus, I noticed that debate preparations were nearly complete. A giant tent - more like a temporary building - has been erected on the infield of the track, so the media will have a place to set up shop. A chain link fence, probably 10 - 12 feet high, has been erected all the way around the campus, for security purposes.

It was strange, because the campus looked kind of like a prison compound, with no one allowed in or out without going through a security checkpoint. There were no kids at all on campus, also strange, but the administration apparently planned fall break around the debate. I saw a few national and local media trucks parked on campus, too.

John Patrick and I were forced to take a detour and walk around the outside of the campus, then cut down a street that runs adjacent to the Curb Center, where the basketball teams play. As we walked down a steep hill, I heard a roar, then saw a gang of Tennessee State Troopers round the corner on their motorcycles, in full uniform. I waved as they drove by, in formation, side by side, but all I got in reponse were somber nods from a few of the Troopers, their eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. It was kind of surreal.

Finally, we arrived at Bongo Java, where I got a cup of coffee and settled in at one of the tables inside. John Patrick slept in his stroller while I worked a crossword puzzle. I looked up and saw a television cameraman setting up in the coffee shop - for interviews, I suppose.

We left after an hour or so, and strolled over to Wedgewood Avenue, again detouring around the outside of Belmont University's campus. I did stop, though, and have someone take our picutre in front of one of the debate signs, so I can show John Patrick one day that the presidential candidates in 2008 were in our neighborhood!

Precious Time

It's right at 5:30 p.m. and I'm sitting outside the Frothy Monkey, a coffee house on 12th Avenue South, a mile or so from our house. Traffic on 12th Avenue is heavy, as people head home after work. I've seen several people walking, running or biking down the sidewalk, taking advantage of a beautiful fall evening. There's a light breeze, the sky is an azure blue and the temperature is just right - about 65 degrees. Nice.

I actually strolled John Patrick to the Frothy Monkey last Thursday morning, as well. I had taken the day off work to watch him, because Carley, one of our nannies, was out of town. Anyway, as we were walking through the neighborhood, enjoying the morning, I was thinking how lucky I am to have a job that affords me the opportunity to take time off when I want to, to spend with John Patrick.

I've always realized, at least conceptually, that working for myself in our small, Franklin law firm, improves my quality of life tremendously. However, since John Patrick was born a little over six months ago, I've really grown to appreciate the flexibility I enjoy with my work schedule.

Anyway, that morning, I continued thinking about how precious time is, to everyone, really. Sometimes we don't realize it, but it's our most valuable resource, our most treasured asset. There's never enough of it. We can't buy it. We try like hell to save it, but we can't, no matter how hard we try. Once we've lost it, it's gone forever. The best we can do is to "manage" it, whatever that means.

As I walked and thought, I had a bit of an epiphany. Time is more valuable, even, than money. Sure, money or earning a lot of money provides us the opportunity to purchase a nicer house, a more expensive car or take a more extravagant vacation. In most cases, though, to earn more money we have to work harder, work longer hours or work in a more stressful job. The end result, of course, is that we lose time . . . time with our family and friends. Again, we can make more money, but we can't get back the time we lose along the way.

Today, October 1, 2008, my son, who is sleeping beside me in his stroller on this wonderful Nashville evening, is six months and three days old. This is the 188th day of his life. When he goes to sleep tonight and then, later, when I go to sleep tonight, this day will be gone. Forever. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I wish or how much money I make, I will never get this day back . . . the 188th day of my son's life. I'll hold on to this day for a little while longer, at least, as we walk back home. After it's gone, I'll have the memory of this day in my heart. Forever. And that's something money can't buy.