JoBu's Whole Lot of Nothing

The Art of Wifer Bauer

2012-01-28T20:28:00.002-05:00

We were watching some Yo Gabba Gabba this morning, and the Mrs. got creative. This is pretty good for just goofing around on a magna doodle.

"Samsung" is a reference to our TV.

Regarding my last post

2012-01-22T13:38:00.001-05:00

My wifer says (to paraphrase) "I can't believe you posted that. That post is total douchebaggery."

My Week in Complements

2012-01-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

This isn't really a humblebrag, because I don't plan to say anything self-depricating. However, this post is being done (mostly) tongue-in-cheek.

This past weekend, my friend Holly (@hollyjane23) called my comedy "layered and complex". This ranks as one of the greatest complements I have ever received. To back up my status as a funny guy, Local NBC Meteorologist Jamie Jarosik (@wdtn_jamie) states that "you crack me up". My Wifer did not really like Holly's complement because she knows it only encourages me.

Wine expert, marketer, and internet celebrity Gary Vaynerchuk, a man with his own Wikipedia page (@garyvee) called me "super cool".

The excellent soccer podcast Men in Blazers (@meninblazers) has bestowed upon me the title of "GFOP" (great friend of the pod).

Dayton Flyers Observations

2012-01-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

I'm only a day late on these. I know, I'm like the print media. Anyways:

Watching a team overachieve is more fun that watching a team underachieve

The last few years in the Brian Gregory era at UD can be summed up as "Start the season with high hopes. Finish in the middle of the A-10. Go to the NIT." Essentially the same team that beat West Virginia in the 2009 NCAA tournament was there the last 2 years, and all they could do was finish 8-8 in conference play and play in the NIT's. That's not really all that fun to cheer for. It feels very underwhelming.

Watching this team on the other hand? So much fun. I won't like to you, I figured they would finish about .500 and lose most of their major non-conference games. Instead? They won the Old Spice Classic, beat SLU, beat Temple, ran Alabama out of the gym, and just zipped up Xavier. Matt Kavanaugh has developed the offensive game that Flyer fans begged Kurt Huelsman to develop, Luke Fabrizius has shown glimpses of being able to do a little more than pop 3's, and the team is doing all of this short handed. I love watching this team.

Yesterday, it never once felt that Xavier was the better team

Now, it did feel that Xavier had some better players than Dayton (hello, Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway), but all game it felt like Dayton was the better unit. Strangely enough, it didn't feel like Xavier really showed up. Xavier gave off the impression they were just sleepwalking through the game. Heck, even the X fans who were in attendance really weren't that loud. The only guy who gave off the impression that he was really up for the game was Mark Lyons, but that's just because you could see him running his mouth even from the nosebleed seats. Xavier came into this season highly ranked, and you can certainly see that the team has talent, but it just wasn't working for them as a cohesive team. Speaking of Mark Lyons...

It seemed to me that Mark Lyons cares more about the name on the back of the jersey than the name on the front of the jersey.

Maybe I'm wrong, just my impression. That being said, I felt he was the best player out on the court yesterday. The rankings would be:

Mark Lyons
Kevin Dillard
Tu Holloway

I haven't heard one Dayton fan say they miss Juwan Staten or Brandon Spearman

I'm sure both players will end up being good college players, but there hasn't been any wailing and gnashing of teeth over their departures. A lot of that credit goes to Kevin Dillard, who would have made Juwan Staten a bench player this year.

These 2 personify everything that annoys me about Xavier fans

These guys had seats outside of the Xavier section, and this is what they were doing. In the first half after every Xavier basket, these 2 would stand up, chest bump, make an "x" with their arms, then sit down. It's a blatant "look at what awesome Xavier fans we are" move, and was grating to watch.

Of course, when Dayton was up by almost 20, the chest bumping stopped, and they left the game well before it was over.

The CBB quotes of the year

2012-01-20T16:44:00.001-05:00

In honor of tomorrow's Dayton - Xavier love-fest, I share with you my favorite Xavier quotes from this season :

“We got a whole bunch of gangsters in our locker room. Not thugs, but tough guys on the court. We went out there and zipped ’em up (put them in body bags) at the end of the game. That’s our motto — zip ‘em up.” - Tu Holloway

“I’m getting back to my ways,” he said. “I’m gonna be tough, I’m gonna talk, I’m gonna do what I gotta do. Because when I wasn’t, we were losing.” -Mark Lyons

Go. Flyers.

I have failed as a father

2012-01-19T09:49:00.001-05:00

The following conversation took place last night:

Me to Daughter: "Can you say 'Go Cubs'"?

Daughter: "pppbbbbttttt"!

Wifer: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Can you say 'Go Reds'"?

Daughter: "Go Reds!"

Epic. Fail.

Now, every time I ask my Daughter to give me a "Go Cubs!", she's responding with "ppppbbbbbttttt".

Dance off!

2012-01-11T22:59:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, I had the brilliant idea to decorate our basement with a hunting lodge theme. You, know : animal heads on the walls, tasteful use of camouflage, that sort of thing. However, being the tender heart that she is, the Wifer said "no way in hell". I couldn't just let this brilliant idea just die, so I tried to salvage it the best way I could think of.

I challenged my Wife to a dance off.

Our daughter can't be counted on to make an unbiased judgment, plus she's only 18 months old. Instead, we fired up the xbox and threw in dance central 2. Now I admit: I am a horrible dancer. But I figured that the power of the hunting lodge would will me to victory.

Unfortunately, there is no video of the actual dance off, but as I recall, my dancing pretty much looked like this:

You would have thought that would have been enough to win, but the Wifer was dancing like this:

Folks, it was a massacre. Like I said, there is no video of the actual match, but I do have evidence of the results:

My score is the one of the left, in case you weren't sure. I. Got. Punked. There is a lesson to learn. If your wifer has a dance background and you don't, then don't challenge her to a dance off.

Sesame Street: S___ yeah

2011-12-31T17:35:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the greatness that is Youtube, my Daughter loves Tilly and the Wall's version of the ABC song for Sesame Street. You haven't seen it before? Here it is.

You probably won't notice the 1st time you watch, and you might not even notice the first 100 times you watch it, but there is something written on one of those tap shoes. I didn't even notice until I finally saw the bit played on an episode of Sesame Street in high definition.

That shoe reads "Shit yea", and that is taken from the PBS feed of the show.

So there you have it: a dirty word made it on Sesame Street.

Our Little Girl - November 2011

2011-12-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

Then and Now

2011-11-01T22:09:00.003-04:00

Almost 3 months old. 1st day at the sitter's.

16 months old.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:56:00.000-04:00

That's our ladybug. Pay no attention to the remote control.

Save Ferris

2011-10-14T22:15:00.001-04:00

There is cool, there is very cool, and there is getting your photo taken in front of the Wrigley Field sign when it reads "SAVE FERRIS".

By the way, the Wifer* is giving the thumbs down out of loyalty to her Cincinnati Reds. That poor, misguided soul.

Kinda, Sorta, Photowalking Chicago

2011-10-14T22:06:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I went up to Chicago for a dear friend's wedding.

That's us with the happy couple. This is the view from the place we stayed. I honestly could have just spent the time staring out the window.

Anyhoo, because we were up there for the wedding, I didn't get a chance to participate in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk. However, even though I didn't get to join a walk, I spent part of my time doing an impromptu solo walk up and down Grant Park. Here are some of the pictures I took:

So as I was walking around shooting photos indiscriminately, I realized something. I'm pretty sure that when a pro or someone with an aptitude for photography presses the shutter, they expect the photo to turn out well. When I press the shutter, I hope that the photo turns out well. That's a pretty huge difference. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't stop me from having fun, but if I want to get better, maybe I should be changing my mindset.

Our Little Girl - September 2011

2011-10-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Part 8 - Go Bucks?

2011-10-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

My buddy Mike was nice enough to invite me to go to the OSU - Akron game with him. It was hot as blazes (approximate temperature: 147 degrees), people were passing out in the stands and in the concourse, and Ohio State tore Akron a new one.

Hindsight now tells us that meant nothing.

Akron is terrible, no good, very bad team, and Ohio State's pure talent is more then enough to whoop a team like that. Turns out, once Ohio State got to real competition, bad things happen.

Really, I posted this picture from the stadium just so I could vent. What the hell is going on with that team? I know there have been suspensions, suspensions, and more suspensions, but it's not like the cupboard should be bare. Every class on that team has been a top notch recruiting class, so why is the sum so much less than its parts?

And Joe Bauserman... what... the... hell!?!?!? He looked great against Akron, but I think I could look like a competent QB against Akron. And his "accuracy"... my goodness! Against Miami and Nebraska he is a combined what? 3/34? Is Kenny Guiton or Taylor Grahm so terrible that they can't get unglued from the bench once Braxton Miller goes down?

Bottom line is this is a lost season. Fickell got put into a position he couldn't succeed in and now he's going to have to go. I would prefer Urban Meyer as the next coach for selfish reasons, but as long as the next coach is competent and installs a new offense, I'll be ok.

Oh, and I'd prefer it if Gene Smith doesn't get the chance to make the hire. He's gotta go.

How I spent my summer vacation part 7-3: Our 3C Staycation - CTown

2011-10-11T12:00:00.000-04:00

I cannot think of Cleveland without thinking of this video.

Cleveland was meh, but we were going up there more for business than for pleasure. The one thing to take away from the visit though was that we tried to eat our dinner at Melt. My Wifer* and daughter love cheese, so it seemed like a logical place to go. However, when we got there, we were told it was going to like a 90 minute - 1hr 45 minute wait. When you've got a little one, that's just not an option. We then thought we'd outsmart the system by ordering carryout, but that was the same wait. So we scrapped the idea and ended up eating elsewhere.

That was Cleveland. Ho Hum.

How I spent my summer vacation part 7-2: Our 3C Staycation - Cbus

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love Columbus. It is where I grew up, my Mom is still there, a close friend lives there... it still feels like home. So a day and a half in the city was very welcome. While Columbus still feels like home, I haven't really lived there in over 10 years, so I'm woefully out of date when it comes to the cool things to do in town. Therefor it isn't hard to find things to do in town that are new to me.

*note: here are the things I did when I lived in Columbus: went to the zoo, went to Wyandot Lake (which isn't even called Wyandot Lake anymore), went to COSI... then when I got older it was hang out at friends' houses. So finding new things to do in Columbus for me to do is pretty damn easy.

So how did we spend our magical weekend in Columbus? First we went to the Dublin Irish Festival. The Irish Festival stood out to me for 2 reasons. First, when I say I grew up in Columbus, what I mean is I grew up in Dublin. I lived in Dublin for 15 years or so, and I never had been to the Irish Fest. Second, the time I finally make it to the Irish fest, it was approximately 147 degrees outside. It was HOT out, folks.

The Irish Festival was alright, and I'm glad we went, but I gotta say, it didn't exactly blow my mind. Plus, it was about $5 too expensive to get in. Maybe I would have felt differently had I been able to sit down and enjoy the musical acts, but it was 147 degrees out, and so it wasn't the most comfortable experience to just sit there.

We also hit the North Market, but we made a critical mistake: we ate before we visited. HUGE mistake. There were so many places I was dying to sample, but I was full, and so all we got was delicious Jeni's Ice Cream.

But THE best part of the weekend was my Mom being gracious enough to watch our Daughter for us so we could have a night out. You have to understand, we hadn't been out past 9:00 pm together since before our girl was born. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. What we ended up doing was having dinner with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend, then hit up "The Cultural Hub of the Midwest" - Bob's Bar. We both loved Bob's, but we mainly spent the time there staring at each other in disbelief that we were actually out together so late in the evening. We ended up closing out the bar, if the bar would have closed at 11:30.

Our Little Girl - August 2011

2011-10-10T21:20:00.000-04:00

How I spent my summer vacation part 7-1: Our 3C Staycation - Cinci

2011-10-10T16:00:00.000-04:00

Since the Wifer* and I have been together, we try to do something in the summer before the school year starts anew. Our original idea was to head to Charleston to see our friends' new house (and get some beach time), but I couldn't make it worth with the amount of vacation I had available. So instead, we decided to do a weekend around Ohio: Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.

We started the weekend with a visit to the Newport Aquarium. Well, that's not 100% true. I started the weekend with a trip to the Cork n Bottle. I walked out of there with the best spirit I've ever tasted. Old Weller Bourbon, you are awesome.

So after our very un-family friendly start to the weekend, we did something the whole family could enjoy! However, we made the mistake of going during a time strollers weren't allowed. We knew this, so we brought our baby carrier.

That lasted for a bit before she wanted out to walk about. We finally caved, and for the rest of the trip it was a battle of wills. It turns out (at least in our case) that 13 months old was just too young for the aquarium Her favorite part of the entire place was a handicapped accessible ramp that she could run up and down. But we all still had fun, and it was a penguinpalooza!

How I spent my summer vacation part 6: The Shirt

2011-10-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

I honestly do not remember which bar I took this in, but I think it was Bargo's.

The lady on the back of that airbrushed shirt is Elisha Cuthbert. So I ask you: is the odd part commissioning a shirt with Ms. Cuthbert on it? Or wearing it out in public?

How I spent my Summer Vacation Part 5: The Gang

2011-10-10T07:30:00.000-04:00

At a birthday party for one of my Daughter's friends, someone (not I) had the good sense to organize all the kids for a group shot. I love, love, love this. That's a good looking group of kids, is it not?

Our Little Girl - July 2011

2011-10-09T21:22:00.000-04:00

How I spent my Summer Vacation pt. 4 - Stormy

2011-10-09T15:30:00.000-04:00

I mentioned the storm in my ice cream post. Here is what that did to my car.

Let me tell you, my insurance company LOVES me for this one.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 3 - USA! USA!

2011-10-09T14:04:00.000-04:00

Here is how we dressed up our girl for the Centerville (Ohio) Americana Festival. Cute AND Patriotic.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 2 - Ice Cream!

2011-10-09T09:02:00.000-04:00

Over the summer, a bad storm hit our neighborhood, and pretty much only our neighborhood. We ended up losing power for 4 days, when the weather was in the high 80's/low 90's. Since we didn't want to hang out in a very hot house, we decided to head on up to The Greene and hear Jeni Britton Bauer speak to promote her cook book. For those of you that don't know who Jeni Britton Bauer is, she is the founder of Jeni's splendid ice creams. If you've never had Jeni's ice cream, you're missing out. Jeni's is known for some... interesting... flavors. Kona Stout, Rhubarb & Lime Cardamom, beet... but oh - my - goodness are they delicious.

Here is Mrs. Bauer speaking about her ice cream, her passions, and the start of Jeni's Splendid. Oh yeah, there were free samples afterward.

After hearing her talk, the Wifer and I were excited to get her cookbook home and start making some of her recipes. So far, we've made:

Cherry Lambic Sorbet
Strawberry Buttermilk
Sweet Corn Blackberry
Pear Riesling Sorbet
Buckeye State
Strawberry Buttermilk w/ dark chocolate flakes

We also made an attempt at UDF peanut butter and chip ice cream using Jeni's recipes.

The best of the bunch (in our opinion) was the sweet corn ice cream. When I first made it, I didn't expect to like it, and I expected the Wifer* to hate it. Instead, we both loved it!

I will warn you, some of the recipes are a little complex. Jeni tells you how to make the salty caramel for her salty caramel ice cream (her #1 seller), but I don't dare try it. Also, her recipes aren't exactly... diet. She does show you how to make frozen yogurt, but either way you'll be buying a list of ingredients.

That being said, it's worth it. I would recommend the book. If you need a Christmas idea, you could definitely do worse.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part 1

2011-10-08T08:13:00.004-04:00

I'm hearing it from my Wifer and from a friend that I haven't posted since the first of July, so it is time to catch up!

So what did we do this summer? Well first of all, we threw a 1st birthday party for our little girl. We did a bug theme, and the Wifer made 3 cakes from scratch.

They look pretty tasty, don't they? The "1" cake was sugar free. Did our girl like them? I'd say so.

This also marked the last day of daily daughter photos. I've given it up. I'm so happy I did it for the 1st year, but the time came to let it go.

BONUS DAUGHTER COMMENTARY: bv b zx

One Year

2011-07-17T22:30:00.001-04:00

This is my baby girl at one year old. 365 days. 52 weeks.

I love her so, so, so much.

Our Little Girl - Week 51

2011-07-17T22:12:00.003-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 50

2011-07-17T22:04:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 49

2011-07-17T21:57:00.003-04:00

It's finally time to finish posting year 1.

Our Little Girl - Week 48

2011-06-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 47

2011-06-09T20:47:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 46

2011-06-09T20:42:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 45

2011-06-07T21:57:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 44

2011-06-07T21:49:00.002-04:00

Fine, Fine. No Shortcuts.

Since I'm Way Behind on Baby Photos

2011-06-03T17:29:00.001-04:00

Here is a slide show of every photo I've taken of my little girl (who is getting so big) from 9 months old until now. There are some repeats from previous posts, but there are new photos also.

Our Little Girl - Week 43

2011-05-05T12:49:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 42

2011-05-05T12:43:00.003-04:00

Am I Minivan Material?

2011-04-19T20:57:00.002-04:00

Right now, we own 2 sedans, but the plan for the next car is to get something bigger. However, with gas always high, I want something bigger with decent gas mileage. We like the concept of a Chevy Traverse, but we've also pondered maybe the next ride being a minivan.
Well, as fate would have it, the good folks at Joseph Airport Toyota have let me drive a new Toyota Sienna for a week. We're not looking for a new car yet, but it would have been rude of me to turn down the chance to do a little advanced scouting with a potential future vehicle.

What I like so far:

When I drove the Sienna home, I noticed 2 things immediately. First off, the ride can be described as "plush". It is not like you're isolated from the road, but you definitely feel like you're gliding. Also, the Sienna has some get up and go to it. It's not going to win any drag races, but it certainly feels peppy. Also, it's a big vehicle, but it doesn't feel unwieldy when you're driving. I never feel uncomfortable changing lanes in traffic.

To be honest: putting my daughter in her car seat and taking her out in my sedan is a pain in the butt. I always end up sitting down in the back seat because you can't just set her in there from the outside, and I almost always end up bumping her head into the roof. Doing the same thing in a minivan? Better. Y0u have so much room, and everything is just so much faster and easier. I have friends with CUV's, and it's not as easy as it is in the Sienna. When it comes to dealing with your kid getting in and out of the vehicle, you definitely have to favor the minivan.

I'd love to have the Sienna for road trips. It's so roomy and rides so nicely.

The Sienna has a backup cam, the Wifer LOVES that. It's her favorite part of the minivan.

Wife's second favorite feature: built-in sun shades.

For a minivan, it's pretty good looking.

What I'm "Meh" about:

I'm driving a base Sienna. The standard equipment is alright (it has bluetooth audio hookup, a usb port, automatic sliding doors, and 18 cup holders), but it's obvious it's an entry level trim package. The radio sounds so-so, and there are some cheap feeling materials. For a vehicle that MSRP's for $30,000 I feel like the interior shouldn't feel similar to a basic Corolla.

So am I minivan material? Yeah, I think I am. I like the way the Sienna drives, and when you put the seats down I feel like it has enough room to handle most of the things I could conceivably haul. It's not going to tow a boat, but I don't think I'll be in the boat hauling business anytime soon. Most importantly, it makes transporting my child easier, which is important to me now. When it comes to the Sienna, count me as a fan.

MS Walk: The good and the bad.

2011-04-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, I captained a team in the Western and Southern Dayton MS walk. Team Bauer (I know, very original name) managed to raise well over $2500 for the fight against MS, with donations still coming in. For those of you who couldn't make it, here is a recap of the good and the bad from the MS walk.

Good: I was surprised that some friends showed up unannounced to join the walk. I will keep repeating it until I'm blue in the face: I have some of the best friends in the world, and the friends I have are a source of strength for me. When I was experiencing the worse of my first attack, I always felt better after seeing my friends or family. Having so many friends and family give up their Saturday morning to walk with us in the rain was humbling and so very appreciated.

Bad: The rain. We walked the 5K route, and when we made the first turn out to the main road, the rain was coming in sideways. One of our team members had to retire from the walk because at that time the weather was just too nasty for her little one. Fortunately, the weather improved enough where the walk wasn't bad at all. The worst part was all of the huge puddles of standing water, which meant I had some pretty wet socks at the end of the course.

Good: City Barbeque provided free pulled pork sandwiches to walk participants and volunteers. I love City BBQ, and the smell of pulled pork in the air after the walk was awesome. Plus BBQ always tastes better when it is free.

Bad: I'm currently following the Swank diet's recommendation of not eating red meat for a year. Pork is counted as a red meat, so I was not able to partake in any delicious pulled pork goodness.

Bad: I understand why it was there, but advertising a minivan customized for wheelchair accessibility in a prominent place was sobering to me.

Good: About 6 weeks ago, I didn't think I'd be able to participate in the walk. My feet were numb and I was having a real problem with walking. A few weeks before that I was experiencing severe double vision and motion sickness, which made walking any distance difficult. Fast forward to now. The steroids that I was prescribed did their job, I can see straight, I can feel my feet, and I walked the full 5K course without difficulty. I'm going to go ahead and call that a win.

I want to thank everyone who donated to the walk from the bottom of my heart. I have been so very humbled by the generosity of not only my family and friends, but from people I've never even met before. Thanks to Buffalo Wings and Rings and Beef O' Brady's for hosting fundraisers, and to everyone who was able to make it to those events. And thanks to everyone who has said a prayer, took the time to write me and send me a positive word, or just kept me in their thoughts. Like I said before, it all means the world to me.

Our Little Girl - Weeks 40 & 41

2011-04-17T21:57:00.002-04:00

Fun Announcement #2 - Beef O' Brady's Fundraiser.

2011-03-31T22:17:00.006-04:00

For the past number of years, I've played softball for a Beef O' Brady's sponsored team. That is why I am pleased to announce that Beefs has also offered to hold a fundraiser for our MS walk team. The Centerville Beef O' Brady's fundraiser will be Monday, April 11th.

The same rules as our first fundraiser apply: just print out this form, present it to your server, and enjoy a delicious meal.

My team, and especially myself truly appreciate all the help we can get in working to help find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.

If you are unable to make it out to this event, but still would like to help our team, please visit here for information on how to donate to the cause.

1st Fun Announcement - Buffalo Wings & Rings Fundraiser!

2011-03-31T22:14:00.007-04:00

So I'm happy to announce that we've partnered with two restaurants to help raise money for the MS Society's Multiple Sclerosis Walk on April 16th. Our first fundraiser will be Wednesday, April 6th at Buffalo Wings & Rings in Centerville, Ohio.

How you can help is simple: just print out this form and give it to your server. That's it! Come on down, enjoy some delicious wings (and rings!) and help us raise money to beat Multiple Sclerosis.

If you are unable to make it out to this event, but still would like to help our team, please visit here for information on how to donate to the cause.

Our Little Girl - Week 39

2011-03-31T21:22:00.002-04:00

I've been organizing these photos in 3 month intervals. Starting tomorrow, I'll have to start her final album for her first year. My little girl is 9 months old tomorrow.

In more fun news, she's standing up. The milestones are coming fast and furious.

Our Little Girl - Week 38

2011-03-24T20:56:00.003-04:00

Our daughter is 38 weeks old today. She's been alive for 266 days. In that time, according to my Picasa, I have taken over 1615 photos of her. I might have a problem.

Speaking of Picasa, I cannot recommend the software enough. I'm a Lightroom owner, and Lightroom is amazing software as well. But for the money, NOTHING beats Google Picasa. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Me and my girl at story time.

Our Little Girl - Week 37

2011-03-18T20:28:00.002-04:00

MS update - A Mixed Bag

2011-03-11T21:17:00.003-05:00

So there are 2 main developments in my fledging MS journey.

On Monday, we took a trip up to the Mellen Center at the Cleveland clinic. We did this because our research indicated that the Cleveland Clinic was one of the best places to go in the nation if you have MS. Truthfully, Cleveland was a mixed bag. I really liked the doctor we met, and she spent 2 hours with us and was very thorough. So that was the good. Also, she seemed very competent and invested in my well being. Right now I'd be just fine using her as my main doc, even with the drive. The not so good is that according to her the MS hit a little harder than you normally see this early. Also, there were some spots in the spinal column, which normally don't happen super early. So that was a little concerning. Plus it's one thing to fight some concept like MS, it's another thing to be staring at an MRI of your brain and spine and seeing just what the hell is wrong with you (nobody until then ever did that with me). It took me 2 days to get my mind back to right, but I'm back on track.

The other thing that came out of the meeting is they want to switch my medicine to one of the more cutting edge drugs.The thing about those though is that while the rewards are greater, so are the risks. Currently drugs like rebif (which I'm currently on) and copaxone are about 30% effective in preventing relapses. There is a drug called Tysabri which is 70-80% in preventing relapses. The issue is the listed side effects are frightening. They include possibly developing an infection of the brain called PML. If you get that, you're dead. Its not a likely occurrence, but it has happened, so.... The other drug is a pill you can take and was just approved last year. It's about 50% effective, but can slow your heart to 0. So there's that. I'm weighing the options and I have to let them know what decision I'm going to make about switching drugs soon. Truthfully, my choice changes about 3 times a day.

The other big issue is that my eyesight has returned, but my feet and legs went numb, so I'm having some trouble walking around right now. They put me back on steroids thinking the first round wasn't aggressive enough and hopefully that'll get my feet back.

We've looked into those diets and we're starting to transition to more of an unprocessed foods diet. I'm cutting red meat completely out of my diet and we're ordering the cookbooks. If switching diets helps, I'm all on board.

Our Little Girl - Week 36

2011-03-11T21:10:00.002-05:00

The Wifer took this picture with her iPhone. I think it's amazing. A great picture of our girl with her Grandpappy.

Our Little Girl - Week 35

2011-03-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Our Little Girl - Week 34

2011-03-04T12:00:00.001-05:00

I finally missed a day.

In almost 8 months of having our Daughter in our lives, I had never once missed capturing a day in her life on a camera. However, on February 18th, I didn't get a picture because I spent the day in the hospital. My in-laws were watching her that day so maybe they have a picture of her, but I haven't asked yet.

I LOVE this photo.

I thought this photo was in focus also. My eyes were pretty messed up.

Our Little Girl - Week 33

2011-03-03T20:24:00.003-05:00

I swear at the time I thought this was in frame and in focus. My eyes were pretty messed up.

How Lucky am I?

2011-02-28T21:30:00.004-05:00

Ten days ago, I found out I have multiple sclerosis. 4 days ago, I announced via the Internet that I have the disease. Since then, I have been overwhelmed by the kindness and goodness of others.

I've always been very fortunate to have great friends, but their response and support has been humbling and so very appreciated. I actually made it out to see some of them Friday night, and since then, I've really started getting back to normal. I personally don't think that is a coincidence. I am so happy to keep in the company of such great people, and I cannot say enough about them.

What really has amazed me is the number of people I have never met before, but have read my story and reached out to me. These notes from total strangers have been an amazing source of strength and resolve, especially the notes from people currently dealing with multiple sclerosis. What I've learned from both groups is almost everyone knows someone who is dealing with MS, and the disease doesn't mean I can't live a life like I currently do.

Because of all of this, I don't know if I could be more optimistic. It doesn't hurt that in the past few days I started to feel close to my old self. My vision hasn't fully come back, but the double vision is hardly present now. With my vision improving, so has my balance. I am no longer just relegated to the couch, which was the case for a few weeks. I started taking my MS medication yesterday, and I know it was harder on my Wife than it was on myself. We're also looking to transition to a new diet that will hopefully help. I accept that with this disease there will be new routines in my life. I can handle that.

Overall, (and you'll be hearing this a lot in the future), I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to think of me, to help spread my story, and most of all to those people who have donated to our MS walk team. I'm not really all that comfortable asking people to make donations, so the amount of money that has been raised in the last 4 days I find almost embarrassing.

Thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart.

Our Little Girl - Week 32

2011-02-28T21:24:00.002-05:00

I'll be honest, this week of pictures is a blur to me. I'm just glad I have the time captured. And regarding the blurry photos: they looked in focus to me at the time.

I have Multiple Sclerosis, and I need your help.

2011-02-24T17:15:00.005-05:00

My name is Joseph Bauer. I’m 32 years old, Husband to the greatest woman I know and Father to an adorable 8 month old little girl.

Last week I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

There is no history of the disease in my family, and I’ve never really been sick before. But those facts are moot right now. What’s relevant to me now is that I have MS, and I need your help.

If you’re reading this, I could really use the following:

The first thing (and what I could use the most) is thoughts and prayers. Not only for me, but also for my Wife and child. Please pray for us so we can have the strength to do our best living with this new reality.

The second item I could use from you is inspiration. If you have multiple sclerosis, or you know someone with MS and you think you have something that could help, please let me know. Leave a comment here, send me a tweet, email me, send me a message on Facebook, etc. However you want to get in touch with me is fine by me. Also, I humbly ask that you help me get this information out. Please post this link on your Twitter/Facebook/Blog pages. If you’re involved in an organization, bring me up. The way I see it, knowledge is power. The more I can learn, the better I can fight this disease.

Lastly, my Wife has started up a team for the MS walk in Kettering, Ohio on April 16th. If you’d like to donate to our efforts, that would be fantastic. If you’d like to walk with us, that would be great as well.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, and ANY assistance you can provide is greatly valued.

Thank you,
Joseph Bauer

Our Little Girl - Week 31

2011-02-05T14:04:00.002-05:00

She's now 7 months old. She's sitting on her own now, she can stand if I hold her up, she's got teeth, she's eating solids. I think I'm hitting the stage where I want the time to slow down a little bit, because before I know it she'll no longer be a baby.

Our Little Girl - Week 30

2011-01-27T20:51:00.002-05:00

...And now I'm all caught up.

Our Little Girl - Week 29

2011-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Her poor little chapped face.

Holding court.

Sitting so well.

Our Little Girl - Week 28

2011-01-26T20:42:00.002-05:00

I haven't updated this for a while. It's not that I have forgotten about it, and it is certainly because I have stopped taking pictures.

A few weeks ago I accidentally stepped on my laptop. I was getting stuff put together for the baby and I wasn't paying attention, and... CRACK. So I've been out of commission for a little bit.

Our Little Girl - Week 27

2011-01-06T21:52:00.004-05:00

In the past 7 days we've found out she's got 2 (!!) teeth coming in, and she started sitting up on her own. She also has learned how to "talk" (consonant sounds) so she's quite chatty lately. Big week for our little girl!

Her first Dayton Flyers game

Our Little Girl - Weeks 25 & 26

2011-01-01T22:16:00.003-05:00

At Play

2010-12-18T13:06:00.003-05:00

I made this video to answer my Mom's question of "does she like her new exersaucer?" I've already posted it on Facebook, so I might as well post it here.

Our Little Girl - Weeks 23 & 24

2010-12-18T11:27:00.003-05:00

Last.fm find of the week

2010-12-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Last.fm find of the week

2010-12-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

Our Little Girl - Week 22

2010-12-04T15:01:00.003-05:00

5 months old!

Playing in her new toy from Grandma.

Early Christmas with my family.

Last.fm find of the week

2010-11-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

Our Little Girl - Weeks 20 & 21.

2010-11-25T22:00:00.003-05:00

A lot of life happened last week, so I didn't get a chance to post her 20th week. So today I'm posting a Thanksgiving 2 week mega-post. As you can see, she's been really busy the past 2 weeks. She has been hanging out with lots of friends and lots of family. She even got to meet her ~~nephew~~ cousin for the first time ever. I was going to count up just how many little babies and family members she's been socializing with in the past 2 weeks, but I'm in too much of a meat coma right now to figure it out. Trust me though, it's been a lot.

Baptism!

Last.fm find of the week

2010-11-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Deadspin rips off the Blackburn Review?

2010-11-17T13:23:00.001-05:00

I'm sure all of you Flyer fans have seen Marcus Johnson's poster job dunk over in Germany that is making the rounds. If not, here it is. However, want to see something else that is interesting? Here is what Blackburn Review said when they posted the dunk yesterday:

Had to get this short clip up of Marcus DeWayne Johnson pulling a Tom Chambers on some poor unidentified black male. It appears that Marcus no longer enjoys the thrill that comes with playing in front of 13,000+ fans. MJ is currently plying his trade for VfB 1900 Giessen Pointers, a German Pro B squad.

And here is the first comment on the post:

there are what ? 35 people in that gym, clearly he has reached the big time pretty sure London and Charles play in front of more then that... now that Lebron has posted this ten bucks says he gets signed by some NBA or bigger team

Now here is what Deadspin wrote up when they posted the dunk today:

Best we can tell, this is from the third level of the German pro basketball system, and that's University of Dayton grad Marcus Johnson going all Tom Chambers on some poor schmo. All 35 fans were thrilled.

You be the judge. Heck, maybe there is just one way you can write up that dunk. Who knows... All I'm saying is that I see a lot of similarities in the 2 posts.

Last.fm find of the week

2010-11-15T18:29:00.001-05:00

Our Little Girl - Week 19

2010-11-11T20:17:00.002-05:00

A big thank you to my wonderful, outstanding Wife for taking the bulk of photos this past week. She's a budding Ansel Adams.

First time eating solids!

Thank You, Veterans

2010-11-11T10:28:00.005-05:00

I mentioned this on Twitter earlier. Both of my Grandfathers and two of my Uncles served our country. One of those Grandfathers fought in WWII and my Great Uncle was KIA and awarded the bronze star in the Philippines. Thank you to them and to all Veterans today.

*Note, I don't seem to have a picture of my uncle in uniform, but I feel he looks sufficiently bad-arsed and Marine-like in this one.

About Vanderbilt

2010-11-10T21:09:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, some friends and myself met in Nashville to check out the Vanderbilt - Florida game. We've met before in West Lafayette, Clemson, and Columbus; and for this time we wanted to experience an SEC game.

What we got instead was a Florida scrimmage.

Vanderbilt's team is terrible this year. It was like watching a crappy high school team. But what stuck us most were the fans. Based on what I saw, I have to say Vanderbilt fans are the worst fans in college football. My friends and I were discussing this in length after the game and we could not come up with a worse college football fan base. Very few students showed up, and the ones that did show seemed to be there more to meet their friends at the stadium than watch the game. I know that wearing team apparel doesn't necessary mean you're a super fan, but almost no one at the game was wearing any Vandy apparel.

Actually, as you can see by the picture to the right, most of the stadium was Florida fans. Fine, that will happen with a fan base as big as UF's, but the Vanderbilt fans put up no resistance whatsoever. The only time the crowd got vocal is when Urban Meyer (who played his role as villain perfectly) challenged a possible Vandy fumble when he was already up 4 touchdowns in the first half. Other than that, the Commodore fans just rolled over and played dead while the Gators took over the stadium. Overall, it was a pathetic showing by the Vandy "fans".

Last.fm find of the week

2010-11-08T17:20:00.001-05:00

Something other than baby photos. You might find this song old news, but these are songs that I've heard while listening to last.fm that I found pretty cool.

Our Little Girl - Week 18

2010-11-07T19:50:00.004-05:00

I was out of town with some good friends checking out the Vanderbilt - Florida football game (more on that later), so I am late getting these up.

She's now rolling from her back to her tummy all the time. What this means for us is getting up a lot in the middle of the night because she's rolling in the middle of the night and then not getting back over.

She also had solid food for the first time tonight, but that's for next week's batch.

Last.fm find of the week

2010-11-01T17:04:00.000-04:00

Something other than baby photos. You might find this song old news, but these are songs that I've heard while listening to last.fm that I found pretty cool.

Our Little Girl - Week 17

2010-10-28T21:02:00.002-04:00

Last.fm find of the week

2010-10-25T21:15:00.000-04:00

Something other than baby photos. You might find this song old news, but these are songs that I've heard while listening to last.fm that I found pretty cool.

Our Little Girl - Week 16

2010-10-21T22:25:00.000-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 15

2010-10-14T20:52:00.004-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 14

2010-10-07T21:23:00.003-04:00

A couple of items of note this week. She turned 3 months this week. It does almost feel like we just walked her out of the hospital yesterday, and now she's been in our house for 1/4 year. It's something I say almost every day, but she really has gotten so big. I mean, just look at her!

Also, with that milestone, she has started to go to the babysitter during the day. It certainly is a big adjustment for all 3 of us, but so far so good. It helps to have a good person as the babysitter, which I believe we have.

Our Little Girl - Week 13

2010-09-30T21:03:00.003-04:00

The company that did the newborn photos at the hospital where we delivered came out a while ago to the house and took more pictures of our daughter. Then, in move of sheer cunning, they scheduled a sales meeting with the Wifer when I was at work. The result was a pretty big picture order. Well, we finally got the pictures yesterday, and they're freaking adorable. So if you know me and you want a wallet of my kid, hit me up and let me know.

I think this is my favorite picture so far.

2010-09-23T21:25:00.001-04:00

The ladies in my life
Originally uploaded by jobu415

Our Little Girl - Week 12

2010-09-23T20:22:00.005-04:00

Then and Now

2010-09-22T22:01:00.004-04:00

My buddy Chris mentioned that it looks like our little girl has really filled out. You be the judge.

12 long weeks ago.

Now

On a related note, I keep thinking of actually trying to break the monotony of just posting pictures of my girl, but so far I got nothing.

Our Little Girl - Week 11

2010-09-18T22:02:00.003-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 10

2010-09-11T07:58:00.004-04:00

This is always the busy time of year for me professionally, so I've spent the week getting home just in time to watch her fall asleep. The perils of being a working Dad.

Also, I've planted an easter egg in one of this week's photos. It is not too tough to find, but I am offering no hints as to where it is.

Our Little Girl - Week 9

2010-09-02T20:43:00.003-04:00

Our little girl turned 2 months old this week. I didn't get any special pictures to mark the occasion, just the usual. That's a mistake on my part, but that day was very hectic.

This week also marked her 2 month appointment. If she was in a room with 100 babies, statistically she'd be taller than 97 of them. Just based on the eyeball test I figured she was tall, but I didn't know she'd be that tall!

Also, it was my birthday this past week, which is the reason for so many Daddy-centric outfits.

First Ohio State game of her life. She was resting up for all of the excitement.

Our Little Girl - Week 8

2010-08-26T21:03:00.003-04:00

I know this place is now just a spot for me to show off pictures of my girl, but don't say I didn't warn you.

I love seeing my girl smile.

2010-08-21T11:16:00.001-04:00

No matter how shitty the actual picture is, these are the most priceless photos I can have.

Our Little Girl - Week 7

2010-08-21T10:54:00.002-04:00

The photographer Chase Jarvis preaches "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You™"*. In my quest to keep a photo record of my daughter, I've really embraced that saying. My the camera on my Droid Incredible saves me time and time again when it comes to getting daily pictures of my daughter. Quality-wise, is it the best camera out there? Sorry HTC, but no. Is it good enough for what I'm trying to attempt? Sure is.

*As you can tell, he also has trademarked the phrase.

Smile!

2010-08-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned her smiling before, here is official proof.

Our Little Girl - Week 6

2010-08-12T19:54:00.003-04:00

As the days at work have gotten more busy I've found myself getting into bad habits. Most of the baby pictures are getting taken later in the night, hence the all the sleeper photos. They're also getting taken with my camera phone, because it's the closest phone to me, but that tends to make her face VERY PALE.

Also, she's starting to not mind her bouncy chair, so that's why you're seeing it in more and more photos.

Yes, she's been a little fussy the past few days (6 week growth spurt?), but she's still overall a fantastic baby.

Like I said, she's been a little fussy the past few days.

This week marked the return of TOP BANANA!!! Bask in its corny awesomeness!

This is the only photo of her from July 9th. But 1 is better than 0.

Her confused look is because she cannot believe how bad the Cubs are this year. #1 payroll in the National League! 19 games under .500! Why did you do this to me, Daddy?!

Our Little Girl - Week 5

2010-08-05T21:54:00.003-04:00

The plan has always been to take at least one photo of the Daughter a day for as long as I can keep it going, but for at least one year. The week, however, was a little tough. I didn't have my point-and-shoot for most of the week so I was relying on camera phones a LOT this week. I still managed over a photo a day, so the streak is still alive.

Thanks to the Wifer for this shot. I just didn't get a good shot this day.

One Month Old

2010-08-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

This is my Daughter at one month. She's grown so much already, and she's even starting to smile when I sing to her. Well, it's either that or my off-key wailing gives her gas...

Our Little Girl - Week 4 (!!)

2010-07-31T09:10:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Week 3

2010-07-22T19:23:00.003-04:00

Daddy's team (along with one Uncle, and one Grandfather).

Mommy's team (along with 3 Grandparents, 3 Great-Grandparents, an Uncle, and an Aunt).

My Droid Incredible Initial Impressions

2010-07-17T11:15:00.006-04:00

Right before we went into the hospital for the birth of our Daughter, I finally got my hands on a Droid Incredible. I had ordered the thing a full month before I received it, but due to the high demand it took a while to finally get into my hands.

Unboxing my Droid Incredible

So far, I like the thing. I've been a Google guy for a while now, so getting an Android phone made perfect sense for me. I honestly haven't had a chance to customize it too much (the whole 1st time parent thing is time consuming), but setting up my accounts was easy and I love using my phone to check my Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook. I tried installing Swype on the phone and it reports as installed, but I can't yet figure out how to actually make it the default keyboard. However, it's not like I need a different keyboard. The HTC default keyboard is very responsive and easy to use. This is my first phone without a hard keyboard, but I don't really miss the thing. The Incredible's camera is also pretty nice. I know it's no iPhone camera, but it's good enough where I don't worry about leaving my compact camera at home. It takes good pictures of my daughter, which is what concerns me the most, and I like being able to immediately post those pictures to Twitter and/or Facebook.

The phone is not without its flaws. The battery life on the thing is TERRIBLE. I basically have to recharge the phone every 9 hours. I'm going to have to invest in a couple of extra recharge cables for work and the car just to make sure I never get into a situation where my phone is dead. If I use the turn by turn navigation in the car (which I'm definitely going to want to do), then its going to have to be plugged in while I use it. Also, I wish I could remove default apps from the phone. The Incredible comes pre-installed with a Twitter app called Peep. I am not going to use this app at all. I want to use either the Twitter for Android app or Seesmic. So why on earth can't I remove Peep from the phone? That's pretty freaking stupid.

If you've got any tips, questions, or comments, don't hesitate to share. And if you're thinking of buying a Droid Incredible and can live with the battery life, I would recommend picking one up.

Our Little Girl - Week 2

2010-07-17T00:30:00.002-04:00

Our Little Girl - Day 7

2010-07-13T21:03:00.000-04:00