As I sat at my desk (11hrs into my typical work day), I looked up and stared out the office window for a moment to contemplate.  I let out a pathetic sigh and thought…Where the hell did my summer go?  I was tired and desperately in need of some time to recharge my oh-so depleted batteries.  I revisted my travel blog to decide where I could escape to.  What about Miami?  It’s on my travel wish-list for this year, so why not now? 

I had considered the idea of going to Miami this year, but Kathleen didn’t seem the least bit interested.  She hit me with an emphatic…”No, it’s too damn hot, and I’m not interested in going to that cultural cesspool”!  As all these thoughts swirled around my head, I reached a moment of absolute clarity:  “If Kathleen can’t come with me, I’ll just go myself.”  I closed my laptop, looked up at my colleague Emma and said:  “I need to unplug and will be taking a long weekend next week”.  She smiled at me an replied:  “Good, you need it…so do it.  Will you be spending time at home?”  ”Nope,” I said, “I’m going to Miami.”    continue reading »

The plan was set…Venue selected…Invitations distributed…Food and drink handled…The only thing remaining? Hoping that we’d have a strong turn-out for the big day.  Would people show?  Well…over 70 people made an appearance, check!  Would it really be a big surprise?  Well…My dad was shocked beyond belief (trust me), check!  Would the entire event go off without a hitch?   Well…All appeared to have a great time and everything ran smoothly, so I’d give that a big check too!

I always knew the party had the potential to be something really special for my dad.  At a minimum, it had the foundations of a great party…Food, family and drink.  However, when the prospect of including former soccer players that my dad had coached back in the day was considered, I was both intrigued and inspired.  Combine that with a heart-felt speech and an amazing gift…Boom!  Forget special, we might even be able to enter the realm of spectacular. 

The emotional, yet prideful, look on my father’s face well after the event said it all.  He didn’t have to say anything as I knew what he was thinking:  Spectacular it was… continue reading »