We went to Italy last weekend.

What's in a name?

Ceasar Augustus Thibodeau?
Well, we know we're having a boy now so that pretty much leaves picking a name as the only remaining loose end. Picking a name for your baby is a huge deal. Think about it; the name you give your unborn child is something he will carry for his entire life. So how do you go about picking a name? One obvious way is name your son after yourself. For those who don't know, I am a junior, named after my dad. When I was younger, I had always thought that I would do the same and carry on the tradition. This changed very quickly when I was in college and got a crash course in the dangers of being a junior - I filled out one of those credit things at Sears for the free gift and neglected to put the "JR" after my name on the application form and was subsequently greeted with a phone call by my father who spent the better part of 5 minutes cursing at me for ruining his credit rating. I decided right then that I would never give my son my name.

We picked the X Man's name rather quickly. My heritage is French Canadian so I kind of wanted to give my son a French name but the problem was that I hate most of them - Pierre, Francois, Jacques...they all sound pretentious. So I was in Germany for a class, perusing the internet sites for baby names but finding nothing. Frustrated, I slumped in my chair and asked my buddy Paul Granneman, "What the hell am I going to name my kid?" It was rhetorical but without missing a beat, Paul quickly replied "Xavier". I knew right away that he was right. I loved it. Surprisingly the wife did too and the legend of the X Man was born. We were living in Italy at the time so I also wanted an Italian name so we went with the most famous Italian of all time; Michelangelo.

And now it's time to do it all over again. We were both kind of hoping for a girl this time (actually, the wife was REALLY hoping for a girl) so we already had a name picked out: Scarlett Reagan. However, we hadn't really thought about boy's names so we currently have none. We don't really have a system for picking names so occasionally one of us will throw out a name and see if the other person likes it. The problem is, while we both agreed on Scarlett pretty quickly, we've yet to find a boy's name that both of us agree on. For my part, I would really like to give our second son a prolific name, a name of someone who has made an indelible mark on history. My favorites are Augustus, Ceasar (or the Italian form, Cesare, a very popular name in Italy), Napolean, Fausto, Romulus, Constantino, Hannibal, Ulysses. Those are names destined for greatness. Naturally the wife hates all of these.

I wonder how she would feel about "Manny Papi Larry Brady Moss Cam Bobby Beckett Curt Raymond Ted Youk Pedro Wes McHale Garnett Yaz Thibodeau"?

So...

Stay tuned for news...

At approximately 1530 CET (that's 3:30 pm Central European Time for all you civilian types), we have an appointment with the German clinic downtown for the ultrasound during which we will of course find out the sex of our unborn baby. I will be posting the results here afterwards so check in later if you want to find out.

Sup.

I'm bringing it back!

The goatee that is...

A Very Gino Christmas

[Editor's Note: Gino sent this to me over the holidays but since I wasn't at work I didn't get it in time to post it. It is in response to my "Ghost of Christmas Past" post on December 23rd. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.]

It isn’t often that I think about Christmas past, but Rik’s last blog entry started me thinking about what is great about Bon Natale.

My greatest gift was as a 9 year old I received a Red Ryder BB gun. It was carbine action that held 650 rounds, had the leather saddle strap attached, and the burned in image of the Red Ryder with his lasso in hand on the stock. It remained my favorite gift for 35 years.

Christmas Eve ‘07 I watched from my rocking chair as my son Jake opened his very own Red Ryder BB gun. It hangs by the backdoor, every time he leaves the house it is in his hand. Our homestead is now safe from cattle rustlers, storm troopers, and all around “bad guys”.

My favorite gift is still the Red Ryder, only now it’s in the hands of my son.

Thanks Pardner!

Worst New Years...EVER.

A few days after Christmas, the wife got really sick with the flu. It was more of an intestinal bug than anything as there was no fever, just a lot of vomiting out of "both ends", if you know what I mean. It got so bad that we even had to call the doctor to be sure that we shouldn't worry about it having any negative effect on the baby. The doctor said nothing to worry about, as long as it doesn't last too long.

So we had plans to go out New Year's Eve, the plan was to meet up with a bunch of friends at the Dubliner around 9, hang out, then head to the old bridge to watch the fireworks. Needless to say, the X Man was very excited. The wife was getting better and was feeling well enough to go out so we were looking forward to a fun night. As luck would have it, she got hit with a bout of, erm...well...that is to say...ummm...how do I put this...well, let's just say that she had to go to the bathroom before we left. The X Man and I waited in the living room...and waited...and waited...and waited...eventually I took my coat off because I got hot...waited some more...

And then it happened.

Stomach pain. It came on slowly but surely, but enough so that by the time the wife got out of the bathroom, I told her that I was not feeling good and that we'd better not go. And sure enough, within an hour I was in bed, writhing in pain. I felt like one of the people in the movie "Alien" right before the parasitic creatures come bursting through their stomach. I spent all New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in bed with intense stomach pain, complete with the requisite vomiting and diarrhea.

Of course, the bright side is that I'm starting 2008 about 5 pounds lighter than I left 2007...

The Ghost of Christmas Past...

Me at Christmas, somewhere around 1987:

The X Man is 4 today.

Happy Birthday little man...

The greatest moment in music history...

...just might be the last stanza of Luciano Pavarotti's "Nessun Dorma" when he hits the high note and the orchestra comes to a crescendo. I listen to it almost everyday and every time that part comes on I get goosebumps and (if I'm not driving) I always close my eyes and let the combination of Pavarotti's powerful voice, followed by the driving emotion of the accompanying orchestra take me to a higher place, if only for a brief moment.

Grammy's Visits the X Man

Last week we were fortunate to have a visit from my mother, the X Man's Grammy. She was here for a week and her and the X Man were inseparable during her stay. Despite the freezing cold weather, we were also able to show her a little bit of Germany while she was here. Here are some pics from her visit (click on image to enlarge)...

The X Man greets Grammy as she gets off the plane:

Grammy and the X Man make a Gingerbread House...at one point I walked into the kitchen and the X Man exclaimed "Daddy I'm having so much fun!!!":

We took Grammy to Rothenburg ob Tauber, a quaint little Medieval town where she learned how they punished people back in the middle ages:

We were fortunate to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy:

We normally don't put up our tree until December 1st but we made an exception this year so Grammy could decorate the tree with the X Man:

Grammy couldn't get enough of the X Man. She kept saying she was going to take him home in her suitcase. I'm pretty sure he would have gone too:


Alas, it was time to bring Grammy to the airport and say goodbye:


Come back and visit us soon Grammy, we miss you!

Thanksgiving...Sports Edition.

What I'm thankful for this year...

* I'm thankful for another World Series win by the Red Sox. You spend your entire life living through heartbreak after heartbreak, wondering if you will ever witness the Sox win a World Series, then suddenly they win two of them in 4 years. Which brings me to...

* I'm thankful for John Henry, Larry Luchino and Tom Werner. They have done the impossible since buying the Red Sox a few years back; they've somehow managed to cultivate a winning mentality in Red Sox Nation without laying waste to the traditions and history. Fenway Park for example - while previous owners have cried that they needed to tear it down and build a state of the art stadium to compete, the new owners simply tweaked it, added seats over the Green Monster, and continued to develop new revenue streams in other places. The fact that Red Sox are on the verge of a mini dynasty if they win it all again next year...well, all of Red Sox Nation has a lot to be thankful for. Speaking of which...

* I'm thankful for young players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Clay Buchholz. They are so fun to watch and they give us hope that the Sox will compete for years to come. They are one half of what makes the Sox such a great team - a good blend of young studs and seasoned veterans. And speaking of seasoned veterans...

* I'm thankful that the Red Sox have re-signed my current favorite player, Mike Lowell and one of my all-time favorite players, Curt Schilling. And that they did not make a play for Alex Rodriguez (AKA, "The Cooler"). Things are good in the Nation right now, the last thing we needed was the constant controversy that "Gay-Rod" would have brought. And speaking of controversy...

* I'm thankful for the 2007 New England Patriots. For the new guys like Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth. For the old guard, guys like Bruschi, Vrabel, Brady, Faulk and Harrison. The Patriots were so bad for so long that watching what this year's team is doing doesn't seem real. It's like I'm playing the season on Tecmobowl or something. We're witnessing history. I don't give a damn that the rest of the NFL hates the Pats; I couldn't be more thankful to be a fan and it's all because of one man. Which reminds me...

* I'm thankful for Bill Belichick. I don't care that he got caught doing something that plenty of other teams have been doing for years. I don't care that he dislikes and distrusts the media. What I care about is the way he has molded the Patriots into a juggernaut. How he has won three Superbowls and is on pace for a fourth. How, when many of us couldn't see it at the time, he realized that replacing a pro bowl QB with a sixth round draft pick that nobody had heard of was the right thing to do. How he is able to pluck supposedly "washed up" players off the scrap heap and turn them into valuable cogs in the Patriots Machine. How he has built a team that top tier free agents are actually willing to take less money to join. How he has created a system and atmosphere that can turn malcontents into team players and model citizens. Take your spygate and shove it up your culo...I wouldn't trade BB for anything. He's given Boston fans our first dynasty since the great Celtics teams of the 80's. Speaking of whom...

* I'm so thankful that the Celtics have finally become fun to watch again. I'm thankful for the new "Big 3" of course but I'm equally thankful for the "other guys" who are providing legitimate hope of a 17th banner; Posey, House, Perkins, Allen, Rondo, Pollard, Big Baby Davis...and yes, even Brian Scalabrine. It's a shame that all the focus and credit for the C's hot start has been given to Pierce, Garnett and Allen but I am extremely thankful for the role players as well as their play has been impressive. I don't want this season to ever end! And speaking of seasons ending...

* I'm thankful that Notre Dame's season will soon mercifully be over. I don't think I've ever seen a worse college football team in my life than this year's edition of the not-so-Fighting Irish. I'm thankful that it will all soon be over and we can start looking to the future.

* I'm thankful that my beloved Italy - the Azzuri - are World Champions and have just topped their qualifying group for Euro 2008 next year. During my 6 years in Italy I watched every single match the Azzuri played so it has been great to relish in their current success.

Overall, I am very thankful this year because - Notre Lame aside - I am in the middle of the best hot streaks that any fan has ever seen. This will probably never happen again so I'm enjoying every minute of it.

2007 is indeed a year in which a Boston sports fan has quite a bit to be thankful for. And 2008 is looking like it may be even better...

Grammy is here.

She arrived yesterday morning and the X Man has not stopped playing with her since then. He sure loves his Grammy.

"Kiss the Chef"

People I Miss

I started thinking about people I miss; whether they are friends and family from back home or people who I have met in my travels. Although I know I will regret this since there are bound to be people I will forget and who will think that I've snubbed them on purpose, I'm going to spend the next few minutes trying to think of people who have made their mark on my life and whom I miss considerably since I moved to Europe back in 1998.

I'll start with Pepere. The man that I admire most in this world. WW2 vet, sacrificed everything for his family regardless of the cost. I can only hope to be a fraction of the man that he is. They just don;t make men like him anymore and that's a shame.

Eric, my brother. We were born a year apart and spent much of our lives apart for various reasons. But for some strange reason, through it all, nobody understands me more than Eric does. We have a unique bond, as only brothers can have I guess.

My parents, Judy and Dick. Divorced when I was very young but I've learned many life lessons from both of them. Judy in particular, struggled her whole life but still made sure that we had everything we needed. I could never repay her for everything she has done for me in my life. Dad, aka Dick, gave me my love of the outdoors. I miss the conversations we used to have. He married a total sweetheart a few years back named Nancy. She is a wonderful lady and I really regret living so far away and not being able to spend more time getting to know her. Dick has very good taste.

Steve Lester. My love for Steve-O is well documented on this blog. Steve and I became friends in high school but it wasn't until I arrived in Germany in 1998 that our friendship really took off. Since then we have shared so much that I can honestly say he has become my best friend. It is no small thing to say that I - as well as Virginia and the X Man - look forward to his annual visits more than any other. When Steve-O is here, all is right with the world. I only wish he could visit twice a year...

Giampietro e Agnese. Our neighbors in Italy. They really became our surrogate parents during our time in Italy. They often had us often for dinner, taught us so much about Italy, and practically adopted the X Man as their own grandchild. When we finally had to say goodbye, poor Agnese bawled her eyes out and still calls us once a month to talk to the X Man. When I think of how much I miss them, my heart hurts. In some ways, I was closer to them than my own family.

Mike and Jen (Hen) Buczynski. Mike was my best friend for many years before I came to Europe back in 1998. We had so much in common and I used to spend so much time over their house that I probably should have had my own room. We hardly ever talk anymore since I've been in Europe but when we do it's like we never parted. To me, that's the true test of a friendship. Our biggest bond was always the Boston sports teams - especially the Red Sox so the past few years has been really tough since we have had to rejoice in the Sox success alone. But we always make it a point to talk on the phone whenever the Sox are in the World Series.

Dave "Slav" Broussard. Dave and I have been best friends since the 4th grade. To this day we spend hours talking about sports and this and that. Dave is unique among my friends in that he is the only American friend I have whose passion for soccer matches mine. Dave is like a brother to me. Has been since the 4th grade.

Eugene Lynn "Gino" Martin. What can I say about Gino. Those of you who follow this blog should know what he means to me. In a short time, Gino has become like a brother to me as well. If you want tot know how much Gino means to me, consider this; when I went to the States last spring, my hotel offered 60 free minutes of free calling each night anywhere in the US...I called Gino and talked sports with him almost every night for the full 60 minutes. I miss the hell out of that sonofabitch. Gino and I once had a deal in place with AFN in Vicenza to let us host a weekly on-air sports talk show. Unfortunately it never materialized, but it doesn't matter - we would have killed. Gino, I know you're reading this so let me just say...you're the Michael Wilbon to my Tony Kornheiser.

Fausto. Those of you who read my blog regularly know of my Italian buddy, Fausto. He is awesome, a true Italian and I miss the hell out of him.

My sister Tracy. In a way, I'm sort of living Tracy's dream - living amongst the castles and fairytale cities of Europe. Growing up, we didn't get along that well but as we got older we have developed a bond and I often tell my wife how much I wish she could spend some time with us here so we could share a little bit of this place together. Tracy also has a little boy a couple months older than the X Man so it would be so perfect for them to grow up together. Unfortunately, as it is, they only see each other once a year or so.

Mark and Jane Santaw. Friends we met in Vicenza, it was almost like a match made in Heaven. For one thing, Jane is a Filipina (born and raised in the US) so her and Virginia get along swimmingly. Someone in Virginia's family is from the same town in the Philippines as someone from Jane's family but Virginia is in a bad mood as I'm writing this and doesn't want to answer my questions (must be pregnancy hormones, which means it's my fault as usual...) so I'm not sure exactly who, what, where, etc. And in a strange coincidence, Mark was actually a high school classmate of my cousin, Brent.

Steve and Tammy Lentz. My best friends during my first two years in Germany. We shared so much in such a short time. They're back in Philly now and someday I really hope to be able to go to the city of brotherly love to visit them. I'm confident that we could go years without talking and still go out for a pint and pick up like we never left. Steve and Tammy are special people.

Mike and Karen Rayfield. Sort of the Steve and Tammy of Italy for me. I was devastated when they left. I owe so much to them.

Ranger and Simonetta Pitt. Two of our best friends in Italy. Many of the people and places in Italy I came to love, I owe to Ranger (John) Pitt. I often say that were it not for him, I would not have developed the love for Italy that I have. He has such a "joie de vivre", he almost forced me to appreciate everything that Italy had to offer and I am eternally grateful.

The residents of Caldogno. Seriously, practically the entire town of Caldogno adopted us as their own. There are many people I miss there; Sylvia (Bar da Sylvia), Luca, Antonio (Pizzeria Antonio), and so many others.

Danielle and Elisa Rossato. Danielle is the owner of "The Sports Bar" in Caldogno. Elisa is his daughter. I met them during my first week living in Caldogno as they were my local bar. In my 6+ years there I probably spent more time at their bar than any other place. It was my home away from home. They treated me like part of the family and it made my time there more enjoyable than you can ever imagine. When I married Virginia and had the X Man, they both were also adopted as part of the family. To this day, it's free candy and ice cream whenever the X Man goes in there. God I miss that place.


You know...there are so many others that I know some of you are going to be offended that I forgot you. I apologize now for that but I've been writing for too long and I need a break (and a refill of my vino!) so I will end here. Besides, I doubt most of you have even bothered to read the whole thing so far, lol...anyway, if I have forgotten you, please forgive me. There are really just too many of you to remember. Until next post; onward and upward...

Don't Tase me Bro!

The X Man in his Halloween costume (click on image to enlarge):

WORLD CHAMPIONS!

They did it again! 2007 World Champions! I woke up the X Man at the start of the bottom half of the 9th inning so he was able to witness something that his daddy had to wait 33 years for. It was around 5 AM and he was sleeping soundly but he woke up quickly and seemed to be excited about seeing the Sox win it all. After the final out, he celebrated with me and as they were showing the players celebrating, he said "Daddy, Manny is my favorite player". Manny Ramirez is the X Man's favorite player. My little man is becoming a Red Sox fan.

Special shout out to Gino: Welcome to Red Sox Nation my friend.

CONGRATULATIONS 2007 RED SOX AND THANKS FOR A GREAT SEASON!

I'm back.

Just got back from 2 weeks in dreary St. Louis this afternoon. If you live in St. Louis, my apologies, but that is just not a fun town. Of course I stay at Scott Air Force Base which is about 20 minutes east of St. Louis but...well, I guess I'm just not a Midwestern kind of guy. I've said it before but I really feel like a foreigner in my own country when I go back now.

Anyway, here are some random thoughts collected from the past two weeks...

* Yesterday (26 Oct) was our five year anniversary. I arrived to Heidelberg today around 3 pm and we celebrated a day late with a fantastic dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in town. We had cozze (mussels, which are currently in season), pasta w/ Salmon, minestrone, bruschetta w/ pomodoro and basil and a beautiful bistecca al funghi - a steak cooked medium rare (just the way I like it) covered in sauteed mushrooms and served in a brandy cream sauce. For the vino I chose the Barbera which, although pedestrian and non-threatening, complimented the bistecca nicely.

* Virginia had the first ultrasound while I was away and the doctor told her that the due date is actually around the first week of June rather than the previously prescribed 23 May. The wife's birthday is 28 May and mine is 30 June so it looks like the baby will come somewhere in between.

* My hatred of flying continues. Flying around the US probably isn't much of a problem but flying internationally? PAINFUL. If it's a straight shot, no problem however, from Frankfurt to St. Louis, you must change in either Dallas or Chicago. And when you do so, you have to first clear customs then claim your bags then recheck your bags, then go through screening again. This always takes longer than the time you have to make your connection of course so you end up on the later flight to your final destination. Then you get there late and you're exhausted and...I hate flying.

* I stayed on base this time which means I had very little to do except watch TV and work out. As a result I packed on a bit of bulk while I've been away which the wife...ahem...seems to be enjoying.

* Of course the best thing about being in the States was being able to watch the World Series at a normal hour. Now that I'm back in Europe, I will be forced to wake up at 2AM to watch, starting tonight. But, being the diehard fan that I am, I will. I'm praying the Sox finish the Rockies off in 4 so I can get some sleep...

* I was on the long leg of the flight back home today - 9 hours from Chicago to Frankfurt - and was reaching the point where I was starting to get restless and not sure if I could last the final 2 hours of the flight when lo and behold, what comes on the in-flight entertainment screen? Back to back episodes of "Cheers". After being in a strange city where I felt like a stranger, it was so nice to be in a place where everybody knows your name. It got me through the rest of the flight without a hitch.

More later...

Some final thoughts...

...before I leave for the conference. Oh yeah, in case I forgot to tell you, I'll be at a conference in St. Louis for the next two weeks and I'll have very limited online access so there will probably be no blog updates until I get back.

The wife is doing great. Her appetite is going crazy and she's eating everything in sight. At the rate she's gaining weight, I'm kind of worried that she might be having tw...tw...nevermind, I can't even bring myself to say that word. The X Man is getting excited as well. He keeps asking when his sister is coming out. If we end up with another boy, he's going to be quite disappointed.

Anyway, I leave for the airport in a few short hours (ugh). I'll check in when I get back in a couple weeks...GO SOX!