So What Else Is New?

Since I've gotten back into the blogging habit again, it seems like I should write and catch everything up on whats been happening since I last regularly posted in June. I'll try to keep this short and simple:

Home Life/Victoria: Pretty much the same thing here, as most new and exciting stuff revolves around the little one. We did manage to take a trip up to New York over the summer to see the Red Sox play the Yankees at the soon to be demolished Yankee Stadium. It was wet and rainy, and my Sox unfortunately lost, but it was a good trip and the baseball fan in me was glad to see such a historic stadium, especially Legends Feild. Victoria continues to grow by leaps and bounds. On the plus side, she's as cute as ever , her vocabulary has grown to a point where I can actually have a small conversation with her, and she's shown a real fondness for music, dancing, books and coloring. On the downside, she's started the terrible twos early. She quite determined to get her way and isn't shy to throw a fit or exaggerate an boo-boo. Despite this, she remains my perfect little princess.

Family: the big news here is that I became an uncle again! My brother Andy and his girlfriend decided to adopt a newborn, who was born November 19th. Welcome to the family Cameron Michael! My mom is doing very well. She recently returned to work and has just started the last stage of her treatment. She's in good spirits and things are going very well. Also along the new uncle vein, Meredith's brother Mark and his girlfriend are expecting in March, and my niece Angelina had the first of her procedures to remedy the cleft lip. Her beautiful smile is even better now.

Work: I'm still working at both LCC and Radio Shack. LCC recently moved to a more visible location in Staunton, and as result we've gotten more customers, which keeps me quite busy. I'm still enjoying both jobs, even if all those hours wear me out sometimes.

And finally, to those who've had birthdays since I last blogged regularly: Happy Birthday (Belated) to my wife Meredith, siblings Andy and Tess, Goddaughter Gail, nephew Cameron, and sibs-in-law Ronald, Inez, Ryan, and Tiffany!

Happy Aniversary

Congratulations to my parents, Tom and Sally, on their 29th wedding anniversary! They were role models as I was growing, as I got married, and when I became a parent. Have a great day, mom and dad. We love you.

Catching Up, Again...

Random tidbits to bring the blogging world up to speed...

What do you do when you have a blog but haven't updated consistently lately? You agree to contribute to a 2nd one of course! I have been contributing to Parents2Parents, a blog started by my good friend Jen. It's just a bunch of parents sharing their parenting stories. Good stuff - check it out!

I'm officially at the half-way point in my effort to grow 10 inches of hair for Locks For Love. So far I've resisted putting it back into a ponytail, but with the summer heat coming around, I may have no choice. If the average growth of 1/2 inch per month holds, I'm looking getting my next haircut March 2009! My wife, who is also growing her hair out, has decided to donate hers instead to breast cancer victims. Obviously influenced by my mom's situation, but with the added benefit of needing only 8 inches. (If she cuts her hair short, she's at 7 already!)

Victoria continues to grow way too fast. She hasn't started walking yet, but has recently started taking steps. She has begun to say/understand the word "up" and even said my sister's name "Abbey" while we were up in New York.

I'm still working two jobs. Things have been slow lately at both, although there have been some real nasty computer viruses coming in lately at LCC that have been keeping us on our toes.

Tomorrow I get to go to Baltimore to see the Red Sox play the Orioles. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to see Manny hit his 500th HR.

Reality Check

And just like that, the world changes forever.

The weekend before Memorial Weekend, I found out my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. My mom found out during a routine mammogram. (Smart woman, my mom - breast cancer runs in our family. Learn the lesson well, women of the world - it's worth the inconvenience to get checked.) Anyway, this past Friday she went in for surgery to remove it. The doctor removed the tumor, along with 8-10 lymph nodes, a relatively small amount, and part of her breast. The doctor was confident he got everything. She had to spend one night in the hospital, then was able to come home and relax. Next up is probably some radiation treatment.

Needless to say, my wife, daughter, and I made a last-minute trip up north. We felt it was important to be there as a show of support. Besides, what better distraction than a cute 1-year-old who my family absolutely adores? It was a worthwhile trip, as there were plenty of smiles and laughs all around.

Where things go from here, no one knows. My folks consider this a "bump" in life's road, and I can consider it nothing greater as well. I am however still getting used to the concept of my mom as an official "cancer survivor". "Mom" and "Busha" were and always will be more fitting labels.

Easter 2008

There are people in the Christian Faith who I like to call Bi-annuals - they only come to mass on Christmas and Easter. I think my family is unintentionally becoming the opposite. After missing Christmas Mass due to illness, we completed the bookend by missing Easter Mass. We got ready, hopped in the van, and headed onto the interstate to make our way to church. Along that interstate, we got a flat tire. A piece of metal was in our lane, and I thought I served enough to avoid it, but it just got the side of a back wheel and tore it up. By the time we got a spare on, Mass was over. Oh Well. We decided to use our time to visit baby Angelina and then on to the in-laws for Easter dinner. A strange beginning to the day, but a good ending.

Not Quite Dead Yet!

Yeah, so here I've been, constantly noting endless things to blog about in my mind, and yet not actually updating the blog in quite some time. What can I say, my life is apparently moving way to fast for me to document. I've been busy with work, obviously, and the rest of my time is usually quality time with Victoria and Meredith. Next thing I know, it's late and I'm too tired to blog. Let's try catching up a bit, shall we?

First of all, a belated welcome to the world to my niece, Angelina Faith, who was born February 26. My brother-in-law Paul and his girlfriend Ashley have a beautiful young daughter now. She's quite tiny, and it's amazing to see how my little Victoria is so much bigger than her cousin.

Speaking of Victoria, she's doing great. She's almost a year already! She's crawling around everywhere, including up the stairs, in the kitchen, etc. She can stand on her own, and walk when someone holds a hand. She even has about 6 or 7 teeth. She growing way too fast.

Meredith is doing good too. She's still working part time as a mentor, and has done an excellent job as a stay at home mother.

Work is going well for me, although Radio Shack has been very slow lately. LCC however is keeping me busy. I'm still growing my hair out for Locks For Love, and currently I'm about 4 or 5 inches in length. Not much else going on though. Baseball season begins soon, and I've got my fantasy teams set. Otherwise my life has been work, family, eat, sleep. Fun stuff.

Happy Birthday Dad & Rich!

Happy birthday to my dad and brother, who both celebrated birthdays this month. Dad/Grandpapa was born on the 17th, while Rich/Uncle Buck celebrated his birthday yesterday.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our dear family and friends. Enjoy the day, and each other.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my Mom, who has the joy of celebrating her birth every Christmas Eve. This will be the first of her birthdays that I won't be there in person for, but thanks to modern technology, we can get around that. As an early gift, my wife and I got a set of web cams and mailed one to my folks in NY. Now my daughter can see and hear her Busha (that's grandmother for you non-Polish types) and wish her a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday Nick!

A very happy birthday to the youngest of the Keppel boys! Nick celebrated by doing what every young teenager dreams of - he got his permit. have a good one Nick!

Abbey

Today my sister Abbey went through her Confirmation ceremony. It's a bittersweet moment for me. She asked me to be her sponsor, a tremendous honor, but I was unable to attend due to work. My mom substituted for me though. I'm very proud of the young woman my sister has become, and hope her faith grows with her every day.

Happy Birthday Tessie!

Happy 14th birthday to the youngest of my siblings! 14 years! She was born while I was away for my first semester of college. I feel old now. Tess, I hope you have a great birthday!

Happy Birthday Gail!

Special birthday greetings to my cousin/God-daughter Gail. She turns 11 today! I hope she has a fantastic day today filled with all sorts of great surprises.

Homeward Bound

It's Labor Day Weekend , and for many, it's a weekend to travel and visit with family and friends. For me, that time gets to happen next weekend. My family and I are taking a 4 day weekend to go up to my hometown of Dunkirk. Next Saturday is the 45th annual Keppel reunion. I missed the reunion for my mother's side of the family last month, so I'm really glad to have this opportunity to go to this one. It will be the first time most of my extended family will get to see the newest Keppel. It will also be the first time my immediate family has seen her since her baptism in May. (Except for my brother Rich, who has yet to meet his his niece.)

I also will be lucky enough to take a small side trip up to Rochester to see a bunch of friends from my Fisher days. One friend, Vallon, is visiting from Trinidad for awhile, so it'll be good to see him especially. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with most of my friends in the area.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this upcoming weekend. I can't wait for everyone to meet my daughter!

Happy Birthday Meredith!

Today is Meredith's birthday! 27 years ago, my wife was born. Victoria and I made her breakfast in bed, and later today we're going out to dinner with her parents. Happy birthday, Dear! I love you!

An Unexpected Slumber Party

My in-laws are coming over to spend the night. They have well water at their home and they just discovered it has gone dry. Apparently the pump used to give water to the horses wasn't shut off properly, so now they have no water for dishes, showers, etc. Hopefully they won't have to dig a new well, as that would cost a few thousand dollars. Throw in the fact that their AC went bye bye recently, and now they get to spend a luxurious night at the Hotel Keppel. Maybe I should put a mint on the air mattress?

Happy Birthday Andy!

A happy 27th to my brother Andy! 2007 seems to be a good year for him so far. He and his long time girlfriend recently moved into a new house, so hopefully it won't be too long before we get to see it. He also got his accounting degree and will soon start classes again to get his associates in personal finance. Happy birthday Bro!

Fathers Day Reflections

You would think Fathers Day for a first time father would lend itself to a natural blog entry, but to be honest, I really don't have much to contribute in that regard. Don't get me wrong, I had a great day, it's just hard to feel worthy of the recognition thrown my way. Victoria is merely 2 months old, and too be honest, it's been easy going so far. She eats, she sleeps, she poops. My job has been easy so far. (I know, I know...it won't last.) Basically what I mean is I don't feel like I've done anything worthy of accolades yet.

So instead I dedicate this post to one more deserving than I. In the 9 months leading up to parenthood, I had plenty of time to wonder what fatherhood would be like and what kind of father I'll be. Fortunately, I'm blessed with a fantastic role model. If I do half the job that my father has, Victoria will be just fine. I was reminded again today exactly what kind of man my dad is. I called him this afternoon, and as luck would have it, he had just gotten home from working a double shift. (He works the midnight shift) On a day when the focus should be on him, he focuses on his family. On a day when he should take it easy, he works a double so my siblings never lack for anything. That's my dad for you - selfless. What's more remarkable is that he didn't have much of a role model for fatherhood himself. his dad, my grandfather, died when he was I think 14. Where he learned to be such a great father, I don't know, but I have big shoes to fill. I think I'm up for the challenge.

Here's to you dad. Happy Fathers Day. You earned it.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parent's 28th wedding anniversary. If ever there was a model of love and friendship for me to base my own marriage on, this is it. For that, I am eternally blessed. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Lots of love from your son, "daughter", and granddaughter!

Meet The Family

This past weekend, my parent and 3 of my siblings made the trip down from New York to meet the newest addition to the family. Busha (that's Polish for Grandmother), Grandpapa, Aunt Abbey, Aunt Tess, and Uncle Nick were only here for the weekend, but every minute of it was time well spent. They'll be back Memorial Weekend for Victoria's baptism. As if I wasn't lagging behind on my photograph organizing, now I have twice as many to deal with!