General News
Hope Is In The Air
Election day is over. I’ve had a chance to let the results sink in…results that I have been dreaming of for over a year. Now, as I have had time to reflect, I sit here, filled with a great sense of relief that the waiting is over, and optimism that change really is coming. For the first time in my short 29 years, I can honestly say I’m excited about what a leader can do for this country. I sit in the comfort of my home, glued to the news, watching how these results have affected an entire nation. I am not ashamed to admit on several occasions watching post-election coverage, I got choked up when I saw how much it means to people, and let’s face it, how large of a step it is in attempting to make amends for the disgusting history this nation has in terms of how it has treated its African-American people. I hope deeply in my heart that it only leads to similarly large steps in eradicating ignorance among the people of our nation.
Likewise, I am impressed with Obama’s ability to reach people who you might not expect him to reach. Just this evening, I asked Cindy if she was disappointed, and she said “not in the least, I’m fine with the results.” I know those words seem lacking in enthusiasm, but I promise you those words shine a lot brighter than you might expect coming from a generally strong conservative like Cindy.
While it’s way too early to label Obama the savior of our nation, and he is not without his flaws, he has certainly inspired me, and seemingly a nation to be able to look towards a future that in a day’s time seems a lot brighter than it did just a short time ago. I’m so proud that my son gets to start his life off in a history-making period in our nation’s lifetime.
Edit: I also feel it is my obligation to say that while I’m glad he lost, McCain would have been an improvement over the scum that has infested our nation for the past 8 years. He has give so much to this country, and for that we all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Long Time No Blog
Ok, so I know it’s been like, 4 months since I’ve posted anything. But, I’ve upgraded my blog and I’m gonna make a point to start blogging regularly again. I forget how many people actually read this thing until I get yelled at for not posting. It’s not difficult to come up with useful stuff to write these days, as our life has pretty much been consumed with the rapidly growing spawn of my loins. This kid is growing like a weed, and destroying everything of mine he can get his strained-carrot coated hands on. Since I last blogged, he’s popped two teeth, started popping two more, started babbling “mama” or “dada,” learned to crawl, pulls himself up using furniture, your leg, a dangling laptop cable, or whatever is available, can stand on his own, drops solid deuces, waves, and generally isn’t afraid to tell you what he thinks (at least in baby language). Tonight, he took his first step. Woah.
One more thing…I’ve always been in search of a neat tag-line for my blog, and tonight I’ve decided upon “The cool side of the pillow.” It’s in reference to this phenomenon that my dad and I have experienced for years where you constantly flip your pillow over throughout the night so that your head is resting comfortably on the cool side. My mom vehemently denies this phenomenon exists, but I beg to differ. If you practice the simple act of pillow flipping, post in the comments below. My dad and I can’t be the only ones!
It’s crazy to think that Colton is 10 months old already! As requested, there are some recent photos below, and the link to all of our photos is over there to the right. I’ve also uploaded some videos of him. If you want to see them, shoot me an email. Enjoy!
My Three Moms
I know it’s a little late, but we got back late last night, and I didn’t get time to write this until now. So, with that said, here’s a tribute to my three moms.
Deb “The People Pleaser” Jansen has been my mom for the past 29 years. She’s wiped my ass, carted me from one important event in my childhood to another, supplied me with food in my poorer college days, supported me emotionally in some of the most difficult times in my life…in short, she’s always been there for me. I cannot ever remember a time she has deserted me, whether I needed her help or not. I’ve realized over the years that one of the things she’s provided me was never-ending support. If there was ever a time I needed some advice in which I already knew the answer but doubted myself, all I had to do was call her up and she’d nudge me in the right direction. She represents the true epitome of unconditional love. She takes more pride in and gives more dedication to her family than I have ever seen displayed by another person. She loves her new grandson, and seeing her face light up when she sees him gives me total and complete joy. She’s never divulged this to me, but she quit smoking for Colton, I’d bet the farm on that, and to have my mom healthy, happy, and hopefully with us for lot longer, I am grateful. For all these reasons, she is the best mom I could have asked for.
Carol “The Hip Nana” Hillmann has been my mother-in-law for the past 3.5 years. She’s wiped my…plate when I pick the onions out of her amazing food, carted herself to and from her house two days a week to watch her grandson out of the kindness of her heart, supplied me with some pretty awesome meals during my time with Cindy, and has also accepted me 100% for who I am, even though I come from a different place in some of my beliefs. Most people would be satisfied with being able to tolerate their mother-in-law. I simply adore mine. She’s definitely hip, that’s no joke. She’s got a wonderful sense of humor, is a fantastic mother to her children, whom I feel she has also dedicated her life to. She makes the effort to come to TurdFest every year because she knows it’s important to me (plus, let’s face it, she likes to drink and get silly with my friends and family). I owe the best of my wardrobe to her (I can’t blame the “I Have Gas” t-shirt on her) as she has a knack for picking out some pimpin’ work clothes for me. And, even though she’s a registered republican, she can still speak rationally and candidly about politics, and we even agree on some things. For all these things, I’m glad to have her in my life.
Cindy “The Trophy Wife” Jansen has been my wife for the past 3.5 years. She’s dealt with my messy habits, my addiction to all things geeky, put up with my sometimes shocking sense of humor and/or gaseous emissions, and has given me more laughs and good times than I’ve had with anyone. She’s 100% dedicated to our marriage, and works her tail off to do her part to make our marriage work. She’s a wonderful mom to our son, does more than her fair share to keep our house in order, and deserves my utmost appreciation for all that she does. We come from such different family backgrounds politically, spiritually, and otherwise, yet we connect so well. She balances me out, and makes me feel like a king. She’s dealt with my obsession to Tecmo Super Bowl and other video games, and even hopped in on some of the video game action herself. I’d say I married my perfect match, and I’m lucky to have such a great person to spend my life with.
So, I know it’s a little late, but happy mother’s day to my three moms!
Love,
Travis and Colton
TurdFest 2007
Well, TurdFest came and went like a fart in the wind, and once again proved to be a blast. The 8th annual event included nachos from a real nacho dispenser (read: stainless steel glorified cheese pump, but still awesome), a chocolate fountain, two more washer toss winners, and the obligatory nudity that has come to be a staple of the Festiva De Turdez.
Unfortunately, the nudity was not that of what I would personally deem the good kind, even though I was a part of it. Picture this…it’s night time, my parents, their friends, my mother-in-law, and various other more inhibited friends are circled around the fire, and inside the pool was more sausage than a Johnsonville packing plant. Now, what do you think would possess six dudes in the pool with nary a female in sight to strip down to the buff and engage in a grueling battle of water basketball? Alcohol? Stupidity? A hint of sexual confusion? Whatever the cause, our fun took a turn for the worse as my brother and several other party-goers decided to steal our suits and place them in a crumpled heap next to the Schwann’s ice-cream bars in my parent’s freezer.
Hilarity ensued as we put on a show for all the patio to see. I was the first to shamelessly step out onto the patio, and rather than face the crowd with a Seinfeld-worthy “I was in the pool!” excuse, I ran the other way, streaking around my parent’s house. Timely enough, the floodlight turned on at the very moment I took off. Then, each of my friends took turns stepping out of the pool with utmost confidence. Hmm…suddenly my “I was in the pool!” excuse held less ground. They too were in the pool, but had nothing to fear.
Inadequacies aside, the party was a blast, even if Cindy has become the only person in TF history to have won the washer tournament twice. Though, I must proclaim that it was bittersweet, as my mother-in-law, Carol, who magically was paired with Cindy, won the tournament on her virgin appearance. Congrats to Cindy and Carol, and thanks to all those who participated in making this year’s fest a great one. I hope to continue this tradition of being able to get all my favorite people in one place, and to allow me to be your piano man, helping you forget about life for a while…
Recap
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog entry. We had a crazy month, that’s for sure. Where to begin! Well, I’ll start off with the good news.
About a month ago, I finally bought one of those toys I had been wanting for a long time, but the timing had just not been right. That’s right folks, I’m the proud owner of a 2006 Honda Shadow motorcycle. My friend at work was selling it because he’s a tall mofo and grew out of it too quick. I kept saying no because it just wasn’t the right time, considering we’re aiming to move into a new house sometime in the next year or so.
One day I was daydreaming about riding, and I threw him a really low number via email on a whim, half expecting him to laugh me to death. He came back with a reasonable number for both of us, and I pulled the trigger. It’s a beautiful bike with lots of goodies. I’ve been waiting long for the day when I could ride with my old man, and now that dream can come true. Now if it would ever warm up, cripes! Having something to do outside in Wisconsin has given me a new hatred for its weather. I don’t have a newer picture yet, but here’s a photo minus some of the goodies taken last year.
My Bike (minus new bags, new windshield)
Now for the bad news…it was a normal day, Cindy had just gotten home from work, she got into her comfy clothes, and sat down to relax and talk about our day. As we were talking, I had heard a loud bang next door, and that is odd considering we never hear our neighbor. I got up to check it out, and I saw some sulfur smelling smoke lingering on my neighbor’s patio. As we looked up in horror, we saw a cloud of black smoke billowing from the top floor window of his condo. Quickly, I called 911, and within minutes, the scene was utter chaos. Firefighters were busting out his windows as more and more smoke poured from every opening it could find. It was later determined that a lamp had fallen over onto a mattress in his basement, causing the blaze.
What’s more, smoke poured from an opening in a shared wall from his place into ours, filling our place with black smoke. After the fire was contained and extinguished, the fire chief told us it was o.k. to get into our place and grab some of our stuff. Everything smelled like smoke. Just to walk through the place, I had to wet a rag and hold it over my mouth. After we gathered our stuff, we got checked out by the paramedics and were sent to the hospital for Carbon Monoxide testing. We tested out fine and were on our way to stay at my mother-in-law’s house. She graciously let us take over her place for the next week while the cleaners did their thing at our place. The worst part? Our clothes were (and still are at the time of this piece) out at the cleaners getting professionally cleaned and freshened. So, we’ve been living off a very limited supply of clothing the past few weeks. After all is said and done, we’re glad that no one got hurt, and cannot wait until everything is back to normal.
Happy Holidays and Whatnot
Wow, Christmas came up fast! I can’t believe it’ll be here in a few short weeks.� Our holiday season began on Thanksgiving with the Jansens and continued early into the next morning where we waited in line at Best Buy at 3am in hopes of scoring some sweet deals.� My dad got a 56″ TV, as well as some gifts for us. It’s unfortunate that we saw them, but it doesn’t matter, it was too hard to pass up those deals. After braving the cold and crowds, we went home and crashed for a few hours in attempt to replenish the energy we lost previously. All-in-all, it was a success. On to Christmas!
As I sit here typing this from my hotel room in Chicago, there’s not much more to do than sit alone with my thoughts and watch tv.� Throughout this week, I’ve thought a lot about my friends and family, and I’m thankful you’re all a part of my life.� I wish you all a safe and happy holidays, and I truly hope I get a chance to see some of you in person this holiday season.� If not, have a great holiday season anyways.
Anniversary 2006
Cindy & I just got back from our 2nd anniversary vacation in New Buffalo, MI.� This is our second trip to the area, and it proved to be just as fun as the last time.
We stayed at the New Buffalo Inn again this year and had the same room we had last year.� It featured a fireplace, full kitchen, in-room jacuzzi, a deck, an outdoor hot-tub, and a very kick-ass shower (I know, that’s a weird thing to say, but it really was nice).� We also use this trip as a way to re-stock our wine collection by following a “wine trail.” Basically, you can stop at up to 25 different wineries over a two-day period.� Each stop offers a featured appetizer as well as up to 5 pours of their wines, all included in your ticket price.� We are predominately white wine drinkers, so we had nearly depleted our stash of whites, leaving some extra reds leftover. So, this year we focused mostly on white wines, mostly sweet and semi-dry Rieslings, Demi-Secs, and some other specialty wines. We ended up with 12 bottles of wine, some wine-horseradish dip, and some of the most amazing chocolate candies on Earth.
The first night we dined on some Mexican food across the street from our Inn, and then last night we had an amazing Prime Rib dinner.� It was a great weekend in Michigan, and we’re sad that it’s over.
P.S. When we got back home, we got a little nervous because our kitchen window was slid open, and things seemed out of place.� When we arrived upstairs, we found relief and surprise as Cindy’s Mom, and Sister and Family had broken in over the weekend and painted our master bedroom and hung up shelves and decorated for us. It was a great present, and such a nice gesture as it’s something we had been procrastinating on. There are a few teaser pictures of our weekend (and bedroom) below.� If you want to see the entire set of photos from our weekend, please visit our photo album!